Acrozatarim

Wow, that's quite a spoiler re Duardin stuff in there I guess. Edit: Though I guess it was already kinda indicated by Grungni helping with the latest Stormcast creations, but if I read it correctly, I guess it indicates who the white-haired chap in Belakor was after all?

I think it's Thondia rather than Thondria, which gives a slightly awkward pause on Friday.

This particular rumour came from the extremely vague ‘another forum’ and also had the really dubious claim that the faction is called Fellwater Morruks. To be honest, it looks like someone taking a punt on a few reasonably likely guesses based off other rumours, so I wouldn’t put any particular stock in it.

I'm taking this one with a vast pinch of salt because we've already got Fellwater troggoths, haven't we? I can't imagine them doubling up on the name like that.

Yeah, could well be impact hits with exploding rolls on a 6 or whatnot.

Ah good, we're getting a proper unboxing rather than another preview of a preview.

Also GW are, I suspect, too focused on doing stuff involving big clanky space marines, and lots of big bombastic dramatic statements, and just generally all the BIG SFX EXPLOSION moments of what makes 40k what it is... and the thing is, that's just not really very interesting past the first few times you see a space marine lummoxing along. What makes visual media series interesting are the characters, the interactions between them, and the rich depth of the world being depicted as the context thereof. It looks like there might be some promising bits and pieces in the Warhammer + line-up on that front, but not nearly enough to get me excited. Just animating a space marine having a fight and occasionally growling pithy one-liners through a clenched hypersquare jaw isn't going to get me to put down the money. An animated series focusing on some poor ****** trying to live his life in a hive city as things go increasingly to ******, showing off the way human life has adapted to work in that sort of massive-scale grinding machine of empire, the troubles and problems a person has to tackle trying to achieve something like normality, and the real horror of all the stuff from the wargames juxtaposed against that attempt at normality - showing, by comparison, the sheer horror and insanity of it all? That'd interest me. Bangshoots McSpacebattle? Less so. Edit: To follow up on that a bit in the context of AoS, showing off Stormcast is all very well, but solid programming would give us a lot of looks at life in the Cities, at what things're like where the reach of Sigmar doesn't extend, horror animations that make a single Chaos Warrior a nightmarish foe, and so forth.

I do admit that I struggle to see how they're gonna produce enough Warhammer animation to justify an ongoing subscription to an entire streaming service.

If they're going in with Warclans, as suggested, then I suspect they're all gonna fall under the Orruk header.

I honestly can't make the shield's front out in any detail from the screenshots we've got here.

Let's not get ahead of ourselves - there's no confirmation that's actually a Krool Boy yet.

I think it is pretty clear from what Whitefang's said that Kroolboyz will be part of the Warclans. There's been no suggestion from any trustworthy quarter that we're going to see an expanded Gloomspite Gitz with the Kroolboyz, or that Gitz and Warclans are going to be merged together.

I have every expectation that the Kroolboyz will be: a) part of the Warclans b) fully capable of being fielded as a force in their own right, just like Ironjawz, and c) aesthetically and thematically coherent, rather than a hodgepodge of random greenskin types crammed together in the 'All Others' category of orruk types.

The Grimdark Live guys have come through with what seem like legit rumours but listening to their streams always leaves me grinding my teeth. They're just so determined to hype themselves and be pundit commentators and they're just... not that interesting in their performance or mannerisms to carry it off. They're trying too hard.

So, Kroolboy Warclans rounding out the orruk line-up. I'm... pretty keen? Still a chance they've got fimir as a monster-size unit but it's not very likely at this point, I guess - but I definitely want to see what the new chaps bring to the table.

I'm expecting a lot of barbs, spikes, jagged or serrated blades, etc. Stuff that suggests pain not in Slaanesh's elegant, precisely tuned manner, but in a 'maximum carnage' kind of way.

Honestly, if the new Destruction faction doesn't involve fimir in some way, I'm somewhat inclined to bang together some rules for a full faction of the old one-eyed swamp horrors myself.

I've been mulling over the new Destruction faction rumours since the AoS3 reveal. I think the general collated consensus of lean orcs or similar with a focus on wolf riders is probably gonna turn out to be correct, particularly with the 'new breed of evil' tag-line that'd work nicely for a people who're a bit different from existing grots and orruks. Originally, though, the image I had in mind was along the lines of the gitmob style - plains or steppes dwellers, lots of wolf cavalry, chariots, rolling battlewagons etc. The teaser's swerve towards mist, mires, and woods kinda cuts that idea off, though. The suggested terrain this new faction prefers just doesn't work well for chariots or similar. That doesn't mean it's not wolf-riders, though - if you wanted a form of cavalry who are fairly good at maneuvering through that sort of terrain, a giant wolf is gonna be much more suited than a horse. The bit that's tripping me up, really, is the almost fairytale leanings of the teaser. It suggests something very different about this new orruk faction (and I think they're more likely to slot into Orruk Warclans than Gloomspite Gitz). GW are presumably going to avoid overlap with Spiderfang or Moonclan in aesthetics and style, and the teaser really emphasizes the idea these guys are evil and sinister, not just destructive. Fimir'd feel such a good fit if it weren't for all the other evidence pointing towards lean greens. Oddly enough, the thought that did strike me a bit was the British - the old-style Brits, I mean, the folks resisting the Romans and the like. Delve right into the more sinister side of Celtic mythos, look at the moors and the fens of the UK. Make them the darkness between the forest trees that even a Roman Legion might fear to march into, then give them a coat of green paint and turn the malicious sadism dial right up to 11.

I suspect Whitefang was implying a wide selection of new Stormcast units, some of which will be physically big in size.

That was a reasonably solid preview, I think. Firm confirmation that yes, it's third edition. New Stormcast special character and two new units showed off, along with some of the lore justification thereof. Bit of discussion about some of the thematics about the new edition. Implied confirmation about some of the rumours we've heard re double turn, CPs, and battalions. Teaser about an antagonist faction that really doesn't match up with any of the rumours we've heard so far. I'm fairly happy with that, though obviously I'd have liked to hear more about the new faction/s.

Final teaser for the antagonists who'll be in the starter box does imply a new faction but doesn't really suggest wolf-riding gobborcs at all. Mention of fens and mires, soldiers vanishing, and pinpricks of red in the mists around the camp. Honestly if it weren't for all the rumours about the gobborcs I'd be saying 'Fimir' about now.

Ghur map!

Specifically calling out the double-turn, wanting to keep it but make it an interesting choice. If you choose to go second you get more command points. CPs also do more and in more phases. Matched play - calls out haves and have nots with battalions, mentioned idea of 'core battalions'.

And I think this guy'll go *really* nice with a Dark Souls-esque paint scheme.

Superheavy armour 'Annihilator' with big old shield and armour. Paladin-level Stormcast, new Thunderstrike group again, and the hardest unit of Stormcast in terms of durability. 2+ save, hit likes a ton of bricks apparently.