Neverchosen

Here are a few of my unpopular opinions or at least opinions I do not often see expressed. I equally enjoy both Duardin and Aelves and find the rivalry between the two groups and their fans pretty tedious. Honestly, it is mostly regular humans that I find to be extremely boring. I much prefer the lore, setting and aesthetic of AOS to both WHFB and 40k. I know this is not an unpopular opinion here on TGA, but I still think it is not the standard feelings in the community at large. I find Stormcast more interesting visually and narratively than Space Marines and I feel Chaos Warriors are also much better than their one dimensional Evil Space Marine equivalents. I think that a lot of the issues people have with armies either in terms of aesthetics or play style is often derive from the generic paint schemes or the competitive play styles. I think with the right paint scheme or unit composition most people will find greater pleasure from most factions. For example, I am not a big fan of gunline armies but I would enjoy creating a list around Gotrek with lots of boats functioning as weapons platforms supporting a mighty champion. I also do not love any of the standard colour schemes for Stormcast but I think the sculpts are fantastic and look great with most unique schemes I see. I do know that there are likely exceptions for some people to both of these points but I often enjoy looking for inspiration in an army that did not speak to me initially. Finally, I personally think Pineapple pairs really well with pizza and I am fine if people do not like the combination. I have no clue why people are so passionate about what toppings people enjoy and I think this can extend to other questions of taste.

So with the new rule for Knight Draconis and Lord Celestant on Dracoth, allowing Stormcast to field smaller units of their respect unit types, does anyone suspect a similar rule for Varanguard and Knights of the Empty Throne? Also how would this effect the unit? Could this replace Chaos Lord's on Demonic mounts? If we get a foot variant of Varanguard would this replace exalted champions?

Sigmar: Grungni!!! Why are my Stormcast dying to goblin knives! Grungni: Why are they fighting goblins?! This armour is made out of gold which is extremely soft and malleable. Sigmar: But I thought it was magical Sigmarite gold. Grungni: I mean it is, but only because you say it is... you just brought me a bunch of gold and called it Sigmarite. Sigmar: What!? Grungi: I thought that was just what we called gold now, like how you just started calling me a Duardin. I just thought you wanted to show off how Stormcast could magically come back to life by putting them in paper thin golden armour. Sigmar: This is bad! Grungi: Well at least my Dwar... I mean Duardin are all fully armoured!

Here is the link to the article @Chikout is quoting and some art showcasing the result of striking out in Goblin Baseball https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/10/13/how-to-gang-up-on-your-enemies-and-stick-em-good-with-da-kunnin-krew-in-harrowdeep/

My friend is going to give me a number of Stormcast models that will bring me over my initial plan for 2000 points and I am now considering ways to make my army stand out. I have been considering a chess theme and paint a portion of my army with white armour (or pauldrons) and a portion with black armour (or pauldrons). I will then actually use them for chess games... I will use paladins for rooks, cavalry for knights, raptors/praetors for bishops, battleline for pawns, heroes for Kings and Queens. Now I am wondering about how to divide my army thematically? Should I split them between chambers, traditional/thunderstrike, separate stormkeep/scion lists, aim for approximate unit parity? I see positives and negatives to each form of splitting the army to create the two sides of the army. But I still think it will be a fun project... I am not sure if I will keep everything and I might just grab enough units to get to 2000 points. Units: x2 units of Liberators x2 units Vindictors* x2 units of Sequitors** 1 unit of Decimators 1 unit of Annihilators* 1 Unit of Praetors* 1 unit of Castigators 1 unit of Raptors (need to get second hand birds 😨) 1 Celestar Ballista Heroes: Lord-Imperatant* Lord Arcanum on Gryph Knight Arcanum (Will run as an Incantor)* Knight Incantor* Vexillor with Banner* Knight-Questor Named: Vandus, Gaveriel Yndrasta* Here is my chess themed mock up: *Currently own. **have one unit so far.

true nearly as classic a story as Elf and Kangaroo ^Spoilers for the next few Lumineth temples

A Kangaroo/Hadrosaurid mount with a rider with a funny hat seems pretty tame next to Dragon Demon Elf King of Shadows... and that isn't even scratching the surface of Malerion's personal relationship dynamics. I dunno Goblin baseball just seems like a fun game maybe AOS' equivalent to Blood Bowl.

Oh I am counting on this sooo hard!

Hooray, my ideas aren't terrible for once 😁 I am inclined to agree that is how GW seems to portray them in terms of paint scheme and artwork... but it would still be a really cool rule maybe it could be tied to a specific subfaction cursed by Nagash into a particularly ectomplasmatic state? Once again, it seems to be a good thing I am not a rules writer.

Maybe I am way off on this guess but I can imagine Ethereal becoming a ward and replacing deathless spirits. It would also be cool if they ignored save modifiers (such as all out defense) to showcase their ghostly weapons passing through raised shields and the like. Wave of Terror should activate on the charge roll being higher than enemy bravery. Feed on terror, Aura of Dread, Spectral Summons and From the Underworld They Come can all remain the same. I don't know maybe everything I wrote would make them too powerful but I would like Nighthaunt to at least have rules to match their awesome models. In essence they would be a well rounded army with terrible saves but a decent army wide ward protection that placed emphasis on manipulating enemy bravery.

New Underworlds article with some fantastic art to remind you why Warhammer is so fun! https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/10/12/dont-be-afraid-to-take-risks-with-xandires-truthseekers-in-harrowdeep/

I would love to start a Nautical Nighthaunt army! I would have to clip the graves from the bases and try and make the base look like frozen water. I would buy a gloomtide shipwreck convert into a black coach and run Lauchon the Soulseeker as a knight of shrouds and have the new Ship be the centre piece. The only issue is that it would be more expense than I can cover in the foreseeable future and I would probably forgo cavalry which will likely be attached to the Start Collecting set. Particularly as GW loves to toss Hexwraiths into boxes and the mounted Knight of Shrouds is still not available on its own. Also it is strange that we have a better guess at the next death tome and no idea what is next for Chaos.

Well if I am remembering my rumours correctly we are getting Chaos Dwarves just after the Stormcast Drakes and the Hobgrot Wolf riders...

So I have a question, are we likely to get battalions, path to glory and other 3.0 rules for Lumineth, Soulblight and Hedonites in a campaign supplement, white dwarf or an updated battletome?

Not liking Space Marines is not the same thing as 40k bashing... well it shouldn't be but since they are the only thing with actual support I guess it sorta is the same thing ☹️

I don't get it is this a limited time model it is so much better than the generic Vampire. Like why the artificial scarcity on models? I would willingly pay for certain models but they either were unavailable or I was not collecting the faction at the time. But I could not get that Tournament Exclusive Chaos Lord and would have gladly paid for it. I do not know if I will ever start a death army but this vampire will not be around if I do and it is frustrating.

If a model is more detailed than these they are over designed, if they are less detailed then these they are under designed. But in reality it is relative to the faction and character being portrayed. Be'lakor has as much detail as Archaon but I like his model much more, I think Stormcast Paladins are overly busy but dracoth riders are fine. I equally like the highly detailed Lotann, Warden of the Soul Ledgers and the somewhat less detailed Namartii Thralls. I guess that I think there is more to the design than the number of details but how clearly the details can be read.

Yeah it was more of a dream release but I hope that Chaos Duardin open the door to more Demon engines, I actually hope the various bull units are reimagined as mechanical demonic entities. I also am hoping that the Spiders in the Varanspire are AOS equivalents of Venomcrawlers.

My dream release would be: New Plastic Demon Prince, Plastic Ruinstorm Styled Demons, Chaos Warriors and Knights Unmounted Varanguard Chaos Dwarf Infantry (optional melee or ranged builds) Chaos Dwarf Sorcerror Lord Chaos Dwarf Helcannon Hobgrots Chaos Dwarf Lord on Bull Taurus Bullcentaurs for an earlier Warcry release

I mean there is nothing saying that a souped armies subfaction won't get a massive refresh down the line. Honestly I think that it actually makes it more likely to occur as it means that they are still supporting the line to some degree and therefore they are getting some community support unlike during the WHFB days of waiting entire editions for a new tome without any real model support. We already saw expansions of Troggoths and Moonclans in the Gloomspite tome and we have the small possibility of new Spiderfang with Warcry. However, we are all just speculating at this point as we don't know the internal choices going on, for example did Kruelboyz take precedence over the other Orruk models or would the alternative been simply a plastic hero and battletome. The reality is that we sadly do not know unless someone from the company explains the behind the scene process. Also I will confess that my optimism might be entirely misplaced and maybe spiderfang, bonesplitterz, Ironweld and Fyreslayers never get new releases. But I still remember when forrest goblins, savage orcs, steamtanks and slayers were simply parts of Orcs and Goblins, Empire and Dwarves not having dedicated subfaction rules. But I apologize for taking this topic further afield than usual. Lets all hope that there is some AOS related content revealed today wether it be the long awaited rest of the Stormcast or the new Underworlds set.

I mean if the alternative was retiring the line completely I think this is still my preferred option. But for some people not being top tier or getting regular releases is just as bad as being squatted.

This is why I am typically in favour of soups to be honest, it means that low selling armies will still get rules support and possibly have people give it a second look to add to their larger collection. I have said this a number of times regarding Choas Dwarves. They could get a lot of support in a Slaves to Darkness army as it is a popular range with dedicated fans and they would gladly add some models to their collection. Furthermore with the right rules you could run a pure Chaos Dwarf army providing fans with the ability to play their preferred faction. It would also not be hard to justify from a lore perspective permitting Chaos Dwarves to be a distinct culture that Archaon has allied with in promise of rewards for the Duardins and firepower for the Slaves to Darkness.

Honestly I am a little embarrassed to share, but here we go: My narrative focuses around a frozen region originally inhabited by Ogors and goblins later colonized by humans. In the area a young man was born and became a hero devoted to Sigmar. He valiantly fought the forces of Chaos in the region. Eventually he won the admiration of a Chaos Warqueen who became his fiercest lieutenant and together they journeyed on a massive crusade to the Eightpoints to end Chaos once and for all. Upon seeing the overwhelming might and power of Chaos the hero fell to the dark powers. The Warqueen remained faithful to her newfound faith and lead some followers to rebel against the former hero. The Warqueen and her followers were slain by their former comrades and were reforged by Sigmar for their noble stand. Now the fallen hero leads a chaotic force back into the frozen region to conquer it in the name of the dark gods. The Warqueen has returned with her faithful followers to oppose this dark crusade with one of light. Finally the nomadic Ogors oppose both forces wanting to rid the region of the humans that have damaged the area beyond repair. I also have decided that if I ever create a death army it will be the wandering souls of the dead left behind by the crusaders who had no one to protect them from the monsters in the frigid region. Additionally if I get into Old World I might build a Kislev army as the army prior to the crusade against the eight points. I do not want either Chaos or the Stormcast to be seen as the heroes in the narrative but rather show that the battle of good and evil harms the people caught in between. Namely the lost civilian population and the Ogors in the wild that just wanted peace. Here is an example of a test map I made using an online tool but I prefer to draw them out. I must add maps make Path to Glory significantly more interesting and they can also give an end point to the campaign as you take over territories. I have argued with friends that the Old World can exist within the Mortal Realms, so if people want to use those maps and similar political boundaries they absolutely can do so.

This is why I have created my own little setting within the mortal realms. I have never chosen a specific realm as I used realm rules for different provinces and settings within my little homebrewed map. If I want it to be its own little self contained diegetic space it can be, but if I want to connect it to the larger universe I can always explain those areas are influenced by hidden realm gates making the territories more akin to the realms they are connected to. That is always my goal, to develop a unique narrative informed by the lore but not beholden to it. So that way it becomes my own thing but also I can fit it into a larger narrative of others armies.