OkayestDM

I hope that we see book releases every other month, meaning that the next two are out by July, but GW said Fall for the next few tomes, so we'll see.

If these speculations are correct, maybe Allarielle will get a once-per-turn ability to automatically make a terrain feature overgrown. It would be both thematic and fitting of her godly status.

That's definitely one of the big questions. Will Sunmetal weapons go away as a faction ability, and Power of Hysh become the means by which a unit gets access to MW? Does it staying the same, but now PoH can only be cast once per turn? Does it work like the Kruelboyz MWs? Will they move it to the wound roll? Is it going to get the Nurgle treatment and be gated somehow? There's lots of ways they could handle it, it's just a matter of what they go with. I'm also curious how they'll tweak the Cathallar and spells like Total Eclipse. Perhaps the Cathallar will now work like the Nighthaunt terror ability, preventing the use of Inspiring Presence to one or more units? Does TE stay the same, or get toned down to only double the CP for the first command issued instead of all of them.

Not for nothing, but a lot of folks felt the same way about Nurgle and Fyreslayers at first too until they hit the table. Thus far 3.0 has less exciting rules for units, but a more stable and robust foundation overall. I wouldn't count out the sneaky rat-men just yet.

Personally I doubt we'll get anything other than the book this time around (I'd certainly be OK with being wrong about that though!) Its possible that the stoneguard ignore rend ability just becomes a part of their warscroll, or gets turned into a unique Alarith Command ability or "once per round, one unit may" ability. I think it very likely that a lot of our rules are just going to go away or get folded into our unit stat lines. That would be on par with other books so far. Most factions seem to have 3-4 allegiance abilities, and I'll be amazed if the current Vanari, Alarith, and Hurakan sub-abilities make the cut. Aetherquartz is almost a shoe-in for one of the Allegiance abilities. Same with Lightning Reflexes. Given the Kruelboyz and Nurgle treatment, I'm curious if Sunmetal Weapons will become one as well. As for units, the one I'm most hoping receives a glow-up are the Bladelords. Fantastic models that just . . . aren't really worth taking at the moment. I just want them to be good in melee. They'll probably keep some iteration of their bodyguard rules, as GW is real fond of those at the moment. Wouldn't mind Dawnriders getting some love either. I'd like our generic cavalry unit to be good against all enemies, not just hordes (then maybe I could finally run an all or mostly cav army with my aelves!) Setting aside my belief that we won't get any new models, I'm curious how GW will keep the River Temple clearly water-based without dipping its toes too much into Idoneth territory. Alarith are tough, and Hurakan are maneuverable, so will water temple units be flexible? Healing/lifegiving? Calm/brave? There's lots of design space in there, the question is, which way will they go? If I recall correctly, the River Temple is supposed to be the most populated of all the temples, which makes me thing the troop will be a 10 strong infantry unit. Not sure what weapon option they would go with though. Swords, spears, and hammers are already covered, and daggers or axes just don't seem like the Lumineth style. Bowstaves maybe?

Honestly, this Lumineth player is just hopeful that a new book will be easier to play and will fix our units so that the army is actually fun to fight against. With the sheer number of rules that I currently need to remember now that we're in 3.0, my Lumineth have been nothing more than a fun paining project thus far. I'd like to play them at some point.

Now I want to make a squad of Kairic Acolytes who delved into too many secrets . . .

I've thought the same thing. Very close in design. I'd love it if an updated Thunderstrike Liberator mirrored that design though, looks freaking amazing.

When you consider their mortal wounds ability, however, it at least makes running them as a larger unit worth considering, rather than utterly useless. Sure, you don't get the benefit of their weapons, but their lightning is still gonna sting, and the survivability boost is nothing to sneeze at. Not the best option, but certainly not the worst.

Ironjawz Da Choppas warclan uses a blue and white checker pattern. I doubt it's them though, I can't imagine Ironjawz favoring a wooden mallet if they could make a metal one. Then again, could be an Underworlds Warband? It would be unusual to make one that wasn't Ironsunz.

To be fair, nothing is preventing players from just agreeing with each other to add in the missing keywords, particularly in narrative play. That said, I agree that it would be nice if a fair amount of thought went in to ensuring that every custom hero could have all the keywords they need. I'm confident that they'll have a method for building a hero from the ground up like last time, but I wonder if they'll also have an "upgrade" system from existing hero warscrolls? If you're using a Chaos Lord on Karkadrach as your AoA hero, will you be able to build off of the official warscroll instead of designing it from the ground up? That would certainly be one way to solve the keyword issue. I have very high hopes for this system, especially since AoA now looks like it will be expanded in all or most battlepacks that are released. I certainly hope they commit to it and do a great job!

With the recent leaks for the new Thondia Battlepack, it looks like the Anvil of Apotheosis is going to be released in installments that are tied to each realm (the first one being for Ghur.) It's altogether too early to tell what this will look like, but I'm very excited! The AoA looks to have about 10 pages of content, and is situated between PtG and Narrative play rules in the book. While not conclusive, this certainly seems to indicate that it isn't meant to mesh with Matched play (and honestly, I'm fine with that.)

Definitely getting the battlepack book. The PtG and 10 page AoA sections alone were enough to secure my purchase. I'd like the terrain and the incarnate, but that's going to be a steep buy-in. Nothing new has dropped for my collection since Stormcast and Warclans came out, so I've been able to build up my hobby fund, but that's a heck of a lot of money to commit, even in this hobby.

Despite my love for Dwarves as a fantasy race, none of the AoS Dwarves have captured my excitement. I remain in hope that a 3rd faction will be released that scratches the itch. Until then, though, I'll be keeping my eye on these new Squats. I don't play 40k, but I've picked up some Necrons just to have. Might even get some of the new Elder, wallet permitting. The one Space Dwarf I've seen so far appeals to me, so I'm hoping the rest of the range will as well. I can certainly see loads of conversions coming out of these guys, and I can't wait to see them!

Looks like 6 PtG scenarios, unique Thondian veteran abilities and territories, and a boatload of other stuff. I like what I'm seeing! Also, Anvil of Apotheosis: Ghur? Go on GW, tell me more. You have my full attention.

I'm intrigued by the Incarnate, though I'll reserve judgment until I know more. With the right paint job it will look amazing, so appearance doesn't bother me. I stated elsewhere that I wondered if this model heralded a forthcoming change to Endless Spells, the majority of which languish in obscurity because their rules just aren't terribly good. As others have said, yet another layer of unique rules doesn't do much to help the game, but I'm hoping we see Endless Spells brought in line as lesser versions of the Incarnates. Similarly, Invocations might also receive a similar rules treatment, but instead of the risk of going wild, they automatically drop down a state unless a priest does something to keep them going (spend their prayer to keep it at it's current state.) This is all pure speculation of course, but it could potentially be a great way of revitalizing the Endless Spells and Invocations if GW chose to move in that direction. If BoLS is right about how the Incarnate works, I'm curious and a little apprehensive to see it on the tabletop. Max 38 damage seems like an "everything goes improbably perfectly" scenario, but the real question is if that damage comes from attack profiles or Mortal Wounds, which will dramatically change how much of a problem this piece is. I like the concept of States as a modified monster bracket for the Incarnate, but I want to see how it's implemented and whether or not this remains a unique design or becomes more universal. Overall, I very much like the potential and opportunities presented by this new design direction, but if it isn't followed through with I suspect that this will just be a flash in the pan like so many Endless Spells before it.

I wonder if the Incarnate is going to be the engine by which GW reworks and revitalizes endless spells. While a fun concept and an interesting idea, endless spells have never truly taken off - other than one or two especially useful ones. I'd love it if GW came at them from a different angle. Not for nothing, but the Necroquake is what first spawned endless spells. Now that the Lifesurge has altered the equilibrium of the realms, you'd think purely magical things like said spells would be altered too. They've already said that the Incarnate is essentially an alpha predator consuming other spells. I feel like there's plenty of room for GW to pursue that theme and revitalize Endless Spells for the Era of the Beast. Doesn't mean they will, but it sure would be cool.

I can't wait to see the Heffalumps and Woozles model!

I'd bet good money that Forgotten Nightmares remains the same. As for High Tide, I suspect that GW will reign it in a bit, probably along the lines of pick 2-3 units to fight first in the combat phase. Still really good, but not oppressively so. The thing I'm interested in is what the Idoneth PtG rules are gonna be like.

I'm 100% in agreement there.

I'd like to offer a counterpoint here. Yes, the BoC buff from the Herdstone is very powerful, but it absolutely requires strategic planning. Since all of the faction abilities are tied to a terrain piece, all it take is for 1 monster to slip into the BoC backlines and smash it to rubble, and suddenly the BoC player is in a world of hurt, because everything has just been turned off. All bullgors sounds great, but you gamble that you won't have the screening forces necessary to protect the Herdstone. I'm not saying this is a mastercraft in design (competitivley I can see this being potentially problematic both ways) but I also don't think that this is BoC's final form. These are just the patch rules, whether they make it into the 3.0 book will depend on feedback. I'll also say that making the Herdstone so central to the BoC is a marvelous case of . . . ludnarrative resonance? The rules compliment the lore here, as Herdstones are central to the BoC spreading raw Chaos, and their foes (even the other chaos factions) are incentivised to destroy them before they warp everything around them beyond repair.

For my part, I think it's safer if it stays narrative, and personally I believe it makes more sense there. The more customization they give us (which I consider desirable) the easier it is for someone to find janky rules exploits that will have the community crying for balance, which could steal away the heart and soul of AoA. Sure, jank could still appear in narrative games to, but the very nature of narrative play implies a system that is less concerned with rules and balance. Customization would find a better home there.

Or is it that 2+ saves are the real monster?

Quite possibly the most popular GHB addition of AoS 2.0 were the Anvil of Apotheosis rules for making your own custom hero. With the new edition, these rules are less compatible than before, but still usable. With that said, I remain hopeful that we'll see the AoA rules brought into alignment with the current edition and expanded upon, and I doubt I'm alone in that regard. As such, I invite you to join me in some shameless wishlisting for what an updated set of Anvil rules might look like, and how you'd like to see it expanded upon! For my part, I would love if the Anvil were given a dedicated rules to make it compatible with Path to Glory, where having a unique and custom hero would shine most brightly. Additionally, I wouldn't mind a small set of unique options for each of the factions that set our heroes apart from the rest while adding flavor and reinforcing themes within that faction.

A house rule that we've used is that your Warlord is an Anvil of Apotheosis character, and they can improve over time by earning more Anvil points. The rules aren't quite 3.0 compatible, but it's fun.