Jaskier

It doesn't matter if you care about Psychic Awakening books or not, they're still going to get released before 9th Edition drops. Chikout is 100% right here. I'd wager we're at absolute minimum a month away from the release period of 9th, but most likely two or three months out.

There are rules leaks up on DakkaDakka; it confirms that the Lumineth regiments (at least the Sentinels and Wardens) are wizards (ala Kairic Acolytes!) and that Aetherquartz exists as an in-game resource, presumably similar to the Kharadron mechanic! Teclis can auto-cast four spells a turn with the casting value roll counting as a ten, and they are strong as heck; one lets Lumineth within 18" ignore wounds on a 5+, another does mortal wounds to every (Chaos, or just boosted against Chaos) unit within 18", and a third forces enemies to use two command points each time they use a command ability rather than the normal one. He's shown using at least six spells, so it's a safe bet he has a bunch on his warscroll and access to the entire Lumineth spell lore. Interestingly, he apparently can also stop enemy wizards from being able to cast spells full stop. Lots of other interesting details, especially deriving points costs, but at first glance Eltharion looks like a total beast for 220 - his only weaknesses appear to be mortal wounds (like anything) and mobility. Teclis at 660 puts him right up there with the big bads, I'm expecting his incredible magical abilities will be hampered by mediocre durability/hitting power relative to other models of that points bracket.

Remember, we aren't sure when the Lumineth box was supposed to drop before the pandemic forced the shut-down. I'd be pleasantly surprised if we get the box before the end of the month, but best not to expect anything at this point. Global pandemics and all, you know! Endless Spells, though? Colour me excited, especially as we know there's at least one more hero they've yet to officially show off (the mounted character) so hopefully we get a return to regular Lumineth previews!

I'm curious what his "bonus damage against heroes" translates to, if it's a flat +1 damage to all attacks made against heroes then he, on the charge and with average rolling, comfortably one-shots a Bloodthirster equivalent. Tanky as hell too, and the article mentioned he has a missile attack of some description. Definitely going to be 200+ points, but I'd rather pay up for awesome models with strong rules than the alternative! Definitely a prime candidate for Mystic Shield.

The operative word with Tyrion has always been 'cool'. I love him but Teclis is by far the more interesting character, and at least as far as 7th Edition and 8th Edition are concerned, was always the stronger choice on the tabletop owing to his insane magical supremacy. It's very clear to me that Tyrion is taking a backseat role with the Lumineth and is almost certainly not going to be part of the release. I can subscribe to GW not knowing exactly which direction they want to take him - especially as the blind swordsman is a trope they've already aped with classic Eltharion - but it could also be they are saving him for a significant plot development down the line, likely tied in with Slaanesh.

I was certain they'd tie the Eltharion Total War news in with the Lumineth article, but alas, one extra day isn't so bad! It's great to see him done justice in Total War, here's hoping he evokes his old badass self for the Realmlords!

I'm hoping he's a 180+ point wizard/fighter-hybrid badass and not Vokmortian 2.0. It'll be even better if he's a generic hero for trait/artifact access, but I guess we'll see.

That got me thinking about the Alarith Mountain Spirit; we know Avalenor is a named character, but do we think the generic version will be both a hero and monster (like a Treelord Ancient) or just a monster (like a Ghorgon)? Could be another reason we haven't seen too many generic heroes yet.

Only issue with the hammer aelves is the ginormous helmets, but like others have suggested, cutting the actual bull head crest out and using that as the head (with some green stuff to form a neck underneath) would probably look much better. Otherwise, they're awesome. The mountain spirits are not at all what I was expecting, but very cool nonetheless!

Yep. Even the countries that have contained COVID-19 relatively 'well' will still take several months to get back to normal at minimum, and the UK badly botched their initial response. I wouldn't expect Games Workshop to re-open for business until June or July at the absolute earliest. It'll make the wait for the Lumineth longer, but the reward will be more satisfying

I love the entire range so far, it's easily my favourite of the new AoS ranges. I only have two quibbles with the models shown so far; Teclis' baggy pants, and the jutting bits on the sides of the mage's helmet. I can get around the former, and I'm betting the latter will look much better at a different angle. Seriously though, that mage sculpt is jaw dropping, even just the way he's (or she's? I genuinely can't tell after studying a close-up) non-chalantly keeping his staff in position without actually holding it. Phenomenal model. It's getting to the stage where Tyrion is becoming an after-thought, because holy heck I can't get enough of what little we've seen of the range as it is. The designers have really outdone themselves with the Lumies, though I will agree the paint scheme they chose to highlight, while very reminiscent of the classic Lothern/archetypal High Elf scheme, doesn't necessarily show the real brush potential this army has.

As a tournament player who doesn't have the pleasure of owning a Seraphon army, I'm both incredibly happy for you all, and very worried about seeing the builds this book is capable of! Don't buy into the pessimism, this book is incredibly strong with some absurd damage output. I'm certain that Terradons and Salamanders in particular are going to give me nightmares to fight against, but simultaneously it looks like all the Saurus options, Kroxigor, Skinks, etc are all super viable and scary with the right support now which is awesome to see! You guys made out very well, and we haven't even seen all the sub-allegiances/artefacts/etc! I'm excited to see all the crazy builds you guys come up with The best tip I can give to ruin someone's day is abuse the fact that the Skink Starpriests' ability affects ALL attacks a friendly Seraphon unit makes...so those extra attacks your Saurus get for being Coalesced and having 15 or more models? Those 80 Boltspitter shots and 80 melee attacks from that blob of 40 Skinks? Those 7 attacks PER MODEL from that squad of Cold One Knights? Yeah, they all do mortal wounds on unmodified 6s to-wound, and there's tonnes of ways to improve your to-hit rolls to maximize how many of those you throw out. Fun times! (but not for your opponents ) Also, a cheeky one for those who may not have noticed yet; Terradons drop their bombs after any move, NOT a normal move. Cue dropping bombs on the charge! Combine with Fangs of Sotek and it's next to impossible to avoid a Terradon alpha-strike, and those bombs get dropped on a 2+ (each dealing D3 mortal wounds!) if you've got the snazzy new Terradon Chief following them around! 12 of those with the aforementioned Starpriest buff will utterly ruin anyone's day, and it's next to impossible to hide from them - even on turn one!

Skinks are most certainly not dead. 40 wounds with a 5+ save (assuming you use bucklers) for just under 250 points is nearly as efficient defensively as Clanrats. Arm them with Boltspitters, buff them with a Starpriest and Priest and that unit is putting out 80 shots at 4+ to-hit, 5+ to-wound with unmodified 6s to-wound dealing mortal wounds in addition to normal damage, all from 16" away PLUS 80 melee attacks that also deal mortals!

In fairness, there's a difference between 'very powerful' and 'most powerful'. Being a better caster than Nagash would be pretty darn exciting!

I've heard very similar things about Teclis, and honestly it would be fitting for him. If he ends up being a better caster than Nagash, it will almost certainly come at the expense of staying power/damage output at least relative to the hat-daddy - just like how he was back in Warhammer Fantasy (though I imagine not quite so frail!)

"Counts as being in cover" still means you follow the rules for cover, and monsters and war machines with eight or more wounds can never claim the cover bonus. As amusing as it would be, the pyramid isn't allowing 2+ save Bastiladons; you still get the -1 to-hit penalty though!

Give us the option to run feral (i.e. unridden) Carnosaurs and I'm totally starting a Seraphon army. Sounds like such a cool and fun army style. And man, Bastiladons in particular with +2 wounds and -1 to damage are going to be scary as hell.

Don't forget an Umbral Spellportal! Even if you aren't too good at snatching souls with Hand of Dust, the sheer threat range usually has a psychological impact on most opponents, making them question their moves and where to position their heroes (especially the expensive ones!) I also recommend a block of either 40 Chainrasps or 40 Skeletons as a cheap way to add extra bodies (which a Nagash list really wants.)

I'm just glad it looks likely we're getting an elite melee infantry option, and I'm pretty sure we're getting an archer unit too. Hopefully the drip feed starts showing some new units in the coming weeks as they've already covered the spear-aelves and cavalry (or Teclis and Eltharion, I guess.)

There's going to be waaaaay more units than they've shown. Wait and see

If you count Bretonnians, the Enchantress can cast two spells. Alarielle is another that can cast 3 spells. If you can wait until the Lumineth release, Teclis (and probably at least one of their generic heroes) will definitely be a multi-caster.

While I'd love Tyrion, just give me a strong ranged component I can build an army around and I'll be happy 😁 That rumour engine certainly points to another big model release for the Lumineth, but whether it's Tyrion or some other beastie is hard to say. Best to keep the expectations low so there's no disappointment, because everything we've seen so far has been fantastic anyway.

I think the hobby should be inclusive and open to everyone 😺 I've had wonderful playing experiences with people who I personally feel hold highly immoral socio-political views, and I will gladly chat to them about our common interests again and again - namely, this amazing hobby! I get wanting to avoid a negative experience and having biases against certain crowds, but I feel like being open to meeting new people and connecting over painting/modelling/playing is honestly the best aspect of this hobby.

With the angle those models hold their shields, you'd have to be trying real hard to get them to snap off. Make sure you use good quality (i.e. non-GW) superglue and you should be fine.

I too really hope Tyrion is in the book, but I'm not holding my breath. I get the idea that they would hold him back for another big preview event so they can drum up hype for him as they did Teclis, but I get the feeling we would have had more hints about him by now. I think at worst you should all set your expectations low and not hype yourselves up by assuming he's in.