Acrozatarim

Some folks who sound very halfling-esque in terms of stature etc appear as the Rockwrists, one of the native Aqshyian groups in God Eater's Son. This particular group also have periwinkle skin.

I don't think the banner piece will be a Dawnbringers release. They suggested the books from 2 onwards would have a GA focus; 2 had entirely Destruction models released with it, and 3 had entirely Order models released. This would suggest any more Order models have missed the boat for a Dawnbringers role. More likely the model is either a side-game release, so part of an Underworlds or Warcry unit, or is going to be released during 4th ed either alongside the new DoK battletome, or as part of something else new then.

Stuff from rumour engines doesn't necessarily come out any time near their RE preview. Even if this is a Morai-Heg-related AoS model, there's no guarantee it'll be out as part of Dawnbringers, is there?

A new Cities of Sigmar Morai-Heg-worshipping elf unit would be a wild and unforeseen twist indeed.

Wildcard suggestion: The Death side of this match-up could be Morai-Heg aligned. (I really doubt it - I'd assume those following Morai-Heg would be Order-aligned - but it's not completely impossible)

Sorry for this wild tangent, Noserenda, but... is that a Shattered Tower tabard I espy in your profile pic?

The idea of a Dawnbringers book 5 comes from what the presenters said at Warhammer Day, when they said there would be a Dawnbringers book focusing on each of the other Grand Alliances after 2 was Destruction focused.

I don't personally think Ulgu is particularly likely for 4th. If Dawnbringers is leading into some hint of Skaven as the foe for the 4th ed starter, well, it's focused entirely on Aqshy and Ghyran. A reveal of some sinister Skaven plan therefore feels more likely to imply one of those two realms as the backdrop. Then again, maybe 4th ed just won't have a realm focus in the vein of 3rd's Ghur.

It's worth noting the Death-focused book is unlikely to include anything new mechanically for FEC, precisely because the new FEC book is probably coming out soon. FEC already got their new thing for Dawnbringers in book 1, so while they might feature in the narrative you're more likely to see other Death factions getting actual new minis for whichever of DB4 or DB5 will be the 'Death' book of the series. I suspect Ossiarchs will get some good new stuff, personally, though that's pure guesswork on my part.

I wouldn't count out elf/satyr Kurnothi just yet, definitely. I think it's very likely we'll see more of 'em in the future. They're a popular aesthetic that lots of people are looking forward to, and they definitely have that AoS feel.

I assume FEC stuff like the Summerking (if he's coming) will be out with the FEC battletome itself. It'd be weird to release him with a Dawnbringer book a month or so before the actual battletome itself.

I do find myself kinda wishing Belthanos was properly seated on his beetle mount rather than being another character just sort of surfing their steed. It's a nice model, and it has cool implications wrt Kurnoth's worship and followers, but I'm not quite sure why he's standing on the poor thing.

They work pretty well for straight-up Steelhelms, though I'd definitely love to see the return of elite Freeguild foot troops in the future which these would be absolutely perfect for.

That was an alright preview. Not a massive amount for AoS but the stuff about the armies of renown in DB3 sounds cool, and both the new minis are very nice additions to the range. I have to admit, I expected they'd go in for some sort of bigger 40-year celebration stuff as well but I'm not outraged or scandalised that they didn't.

That's actually quite a lot of new stuff for Bretonnia. I was expecting it to be far more just a retread of the old stuff with maybe one, maybe two characters added, but this is piles of characters and a new infantry unit as well.

If there are going to be Dawnbringer books with a Chaos focus and Death focus yet to come, I figure we'll see some of the hinted stuff like the Lady of Ruin and FEC coming with those books.

Open-face Striking Scorpions look really odd to me, for some reason

Implied five books for Dawnbringers, as they suggested there will be books focused on Death and Chaos yet to come.

Oooh, and that's a cool detail - his dragon is trying to find the draconith underworld in Shyish to protect or recover it from Nagash!

Quite a nice dragon, that, and a nice callback to the very first boxed set.

The hanging exhaust pipe is definitely... a choice I kinda wish the legs were more jointed and chicken-leg style, and overall there was a bit more exoskeleton, but the core silliness of the model does work for me.

...I have to admit, I actually kinda like the completely absurd Dishonoured-Tallboy-style aesthetic of the sniper on stilts.

Next AoS eShort story is out: Black Library - The Thorn Mile (eShort) "A betrayed and injured Stormcast Eternal walks a deadly road in an attempt to save the city he has pledged to defend."

New Age of Sigmar eshorts series starts over on Black Library today with Krakenbane's Curse. Doesn't look like there's a specific theme to this eshort bundle, just some general AoS goodness?

I would be very surprised if Age of Sigmar got End Times'd any time soon. Even once all factions and their model ranges are fully updated, I expect that'll be more a case of AoS entering its prime than the beginning of the end. Creating and building on an IP like this takes huge amounts of effort and money. I doubt anyone is in any sort of rush to move on from AoS unless the financials make it a necessary move for the company's health, as may have been the case with WHFB in the end.