Flippy

I’ve never seen the second one - they sure look like regular goblins.

No, no - these were already different groups at that time. It’s just that the “regular” goblin minis were so old that the newer Night Goblins were used as the basic troops for the goblin part of O&G. Were the regular goblins from the 80ties ever refreshed? I don’t think so.

These fans would have to be well over 40 now to remember regular old grots. For me, the Night Goblins were the regular goblins - and that was in the late 90ties.

Yes, I do. Not always but often enough. Do I ingest anything? Maybe, but if I do the routine is usually: water --> paper towel --> water --> paper towel --> licking to shape and check the wetness. I can live with such risk.

Behold! The Synthwave Legion in all its 1000 pts glory💀If I find some time I will make a separate thread on how I approached them; the keywords are: speedpainting, decent quality, visual coherence and striking looks.

Just to be clear - I don’t want to compare the showrunners and their many sins to the historical creative decisions of the Andrzej Sapkowski. These are very different things. I was just trying to explain why he might endorse the show while hating the games - the reasons may not be apparent for those who do not know the full story.

I don’t want to turn this topic into the Witcher discussion, but… I’ve been a keen fan of Sapkowski works since the 90ties. They were - in their time - a formative reading experience for many people and highly praised by non-genre media and critics. The first problem here is (I know how this sounds) that Sapkowski himself never seemed to really understand what made the audience love the Witcher stories; this first became apparent once the Tower of the Swallow was published. Then came the Lady of the Lake which disappointed many fans (still a great book though) and the Hussite Trilogy - an amazing, outstanding work of literature that somehow failed to touch the hearts. The thing is - I’m not sure that he ever cared. Fast forward and he comes back with the Season of Storms, a nice Geralt read, sure , but also a proof that Sapkowski should probably leave the Witcher for good. This becomes 100% sure once he starts critiquing the games - arguably the best thing that happened to his stories and the one that managed to recreate this thing that made the books so beloved. Which brings us to the second problem - the money. It has never been a secret that the man has a very mercantile approach when it comes to the IP. Netflix pays and gets the praise. An undeserved praise; I don’t believe that this show has any chance for redemption at this point 😞

Necropolis Stalkers are done - and so is my OBR 1000 points army, which I’ve started in August. This topic has been really helpful in maintaining the discipline! I will try to take some decent pictures of the whole project and post them later on - for now, the Stalkers.

A book can be weaker (power-level wise) and still better than the previous one. Competitive power is just a single factor in an overall picture. If I remember correctly, IDK used to be very strong and one-dimensional. Are they not reasonably strong and more flexible now?

8 Xenos + 5 Chaos + 5 Imperium + SM = 19. Taking into account the SM range & method (same minis for "different" armies) I would say it's close to AoS. In a much bigger game.

The official equivalence of the models is a really good idea. Really good.

I really like my Bonereapers, but you are not entirely wrong. The Wildwood Rangers / Eternal Guards box is another level.

The phoenix is ok, though a bit static. But was he really better than this?

Their backstory is guarding the Shrine of Asuryan. Anyway, the baffling part is that of all the High Elves of that time (Eldritch Council, Ordo Draconic, Swifthawk Agents, Phoenix Temple) this is the one faction they decided not only to spare, but also (apparently) to keep in the next book. I would have never put my money on that. Like, seriously, these were the worst-looking minis of the High Elves line-up of that time, while some of the squatted ones still look better than the Lumineth.

A unit of Stalkers - this one is for sure; the final element of my OBR 1000 points army. Then it is either Kainan's Reapers or the catapult.

Neither they ever implied that these armies would get a second wave. What I'm saying is that there is no rule here and we should not expect that every army will reach the Lumineth or Seraphon size. At the same time, I agree that GW does not state such things and, unfortunately, we have to read between the lines. Elsewhere you mentioned Harlequins and that is a very good example. They even had their own book last edition - but did you ever expect them to grow beyond their current size? Lore-wise they are what they should be, another flavour of Aeldari, not to be recommended for anyone looking for a deep army.

Aren’t these the exceptions that prove the rule? Also, is there any obligation on GW side (or should we at least have reasonable expectation) to bring all the factions to a certain standard? I’ve said it before - not all armies are created equal. GW can surprise in a positive manner, but I would not buy Ironjawz or FEC with any hope for a second wave.

I will not defend them as I have mixed feelings on this approach. What I meant is that it seemed to an intended approach. It’s far easier now to complete the army (even money-wise) than back in the days of WHFB - and once it is complete you can either pray for the second wave or just start something else for a change.

You can always rotate your armies. I have a feeling that this the recommended / encouraged solution for the new factions with limited range.

Currently the rules feel bugged, yes. That's why we need a new tome. I don't know anything about that; while I bought them a long time ago, I only started playing with the third edition. Anyway, does anybody really care about the specific weapon loadout on the minis? That is true and SoB are definitely a bridge (or two bridges) two far in this regard.

I don't know. Some factions (specifically the ones with fresh kits only) don't really need new minis. I have a KO army and it looks... complete. I know that GW can explore further, and it would be nice, but the faction is perfectly playable and fun for many years to come the way it is. The same goes for OBR (I'm working on these guys at the moment). Just some work on the rules, please.

You know, I like to look for design tendencies. GW can either take a certain idea and go really deep or pull back and go for a broader faction type. Most WHFB armies were broad, and the existence of particular cultures / sub-factions was only indicated by a specific unit or two. Remember the 4th edition Undead army book? Nagash, von Carstines, Arkhan, Krell, Settra, vampires, mummies, liches, zombies, ghouls, skeletons, spirits, zombie dragons, chariots, catapult - many, many ideas and tropes, later used to create Vampire Counts, Tomb Kings, Nighthaunts, FEC, OBR and SBGL. AoS armies are different - Fyreslayers and KO are not just pieces of the Dwarfes from the olden days, waiting to be united; they are separate factions with different cultures and aesthetics. Would I like to see KO supplemented with a Gyrocopter? No, not really. The same goes for GSG - I want GW to explore the factions they settled on for AoS and if they want to introduce the Gitmob then do it properly, not by regressing to some mixed forces "goblins united" army. We know they can do this right, Hedonites of Slaanesh are amazing.

I get it, really. I used to play WHFB 25 years ago. But we're not in the Old World anymore, are we? The Spiderfang may be conceptually half of the grots in Gloomspite, but in reality, we are talking about two outdated WHFB sets (Riders, Gigantic Spider) and a single decent one (Arachnarok). They would never have made it into the GSG if the army was designed for AoS from scrap, as the aesthetic gap is too big. AoS native armies (think KO, Idoneth, OBR, Lumineth) have a very coherent and tight design - and I would say this is the way to go. If they are bringing back the normal goblins to the goblin faction like the old days, what is their next step? Bringing back the corsairs, executioners and cold ones to DoK like the old days? After all, Druchii are Druchii. FEC and Soulblight joining forces? Vampire Lords of Sylvania approve this!

I get this; they could make a nice second grot army out of this stuff and introduce some alliance system with the existing one. Meanwhile, you have the modern GSG aesthetic which is (spiderfang excluded) based on “fairy tale horror from under the mountains” approach. The gitz come from below, emerge from their caves, wet and mouldy; their squish charge from rocky slopes, troggoths toss boulders - you get the idea. How could you possibly add steppe culture riders to the picture and keep it somewhat coherent? No idea.

I suspect that this is THE reason for the return of Gitmob.