CJPT

Apols if this has been discussed already, but the new WHQ isn't just notable because they're all existing models: it's notable because all of those models already have rules for Silver Tower through the app or hero card pack. The only exceptions are the Blight Kings (assuming one of those isn't a Lord of Plagues, in which case it DOES have rules) and the Chaos Marauder-looking dude to the left of the Castellant (unless he's the other Slaughterpriest.) They could all get NEW rules, of course, but that smells a little fishy to me.

Yeah, that's 100% fair. Fingers crossed for Disciples of Slaanesh sometime this year!

If this were the case I don't think Slaanesh would be getting mentions in the novels, in Disciples of Tzeentch, etc. If their plan was to kill off the god in the transition period between WHFB and AoS they'd have just done so: said 'Slaanesh is gone, the Horned Rat is the new fourth god, thanks bye'.

Here's my guess: in the 40K storyline, the Elder defeat/merge with/pull all of their souls out of Slaanesh, taking her out of commission for a bit - as in AoS, but not for as long. This leads up to the relaunch of the Eldar as Aeldari, possibly also in conjunction with the rumoured new edition of 40K. And either Slaanesh is relaunched at the same time, or the Aeldari ARE the new Slaaneshi forces in some way. Then, immediately afterwards, we get Aelves/Slaanesh stuff in AoS. I'm thinking of the precedent set by Thousand Sons/Disciples of Tzeentch: two game-specific sets of models flanking a bunch of new plastic daemons that can be used in either.

It's also notable that the absence of Old World-style cities and relatable day-to-day humans was one of the most common criticisms of AoS when it was launched. Given the timescale of GW's planning and production process, it's likely that this new set of releases is one of the first to be conceived after that feedback came in. Maybe they're course correcting a little bit by giving Free Peoples some love before doubling down on Flying Robo-Dwarves?

I suspect a Witch Hunter or mounted member of the Order of Azyr. Both groups are mentioned in the latest White Dwarf, and both will feature in the next novel. I wonder if we've been barking up the wrong tree with Steamhead, at least for the time being - the conflict that GW are setting up is explicitly Free Peoples and Stormcast vs. Arcanite cults. We may well get new Duardin stuff, but maybe in a Cities of Sigmar context?

The rules are completely different, though. The Summoner's familiars are more like tokens that denote specific buffs, and can be treated as ablative wounds but only if your opponent opts to do so.

This is interesting. It makes sense, because the familiars are on the main Silver Tower adversaries sprue with the tzaangors, horrors, acolytes, skaven and so on. The Thaumaturge and Gaunt Summoner are both on their own standalone sprues, which will be what is in these clampacks. However, that means that we'll basically have three pointed-up warscrolls for two Summoner models: Gaunt Summoner on Disc, Gaunt Summoner with Familiars, and Gaunt Summoner with No Friends And No Ride.

Does it mention the Familiars in the Gaunt Summoner's description? I'm surprised that they're not in the picture. That suggests an entirely new Warscroll for this model, as the rules for the Familiars make up about 50% of the current one.

There's also the Tzeentch Sorceror Lord, who is visually consistent with the Gaunt Summoner/acolytes but doesn't have the Arcanites keyword. And his spell summons Chaos Spawn, which only optionally have the Tzeentch keyword. And then there are, y'know, Daemon Princes of Tzeentch, which don't have the Arcanite keyword either. Basically, if it's not Tzeentch allegiance than GW have just given themselves (and us) a headache.

I suspect it will. Given that they just changed the rules for Pink Horrors in 40k in order to properly introduce Blue/Brimstones Horrors, I wouldn't be surprised if some of the book is dedicated to that kind of thing. I assume it'll also include Tzeentch allegiance abilities/spells, because daemons badly need them too to rescue Pink Horrors from the rule of 1. Honestly, I wouldn't say no to a full refresh of the daemon warscrolls. There's some janky stuff in there, particularly when it comes to summoning. They really need to fix the Ogroid Thaumaturge's spell for matched play, for one.

Worth noting that this is specifically the Silver Tower Gaunt Summoner with the dagger and book - the pose is the same.

Splash art from the Twitch stream. More or less confirms a standalone Ogroid Thaumaturge as an Arcanite hero. I'd guess it'd be the same model as the Silver Tower one, because it's rad (and looks exactly like this art.)

Awesome! Love the Tzaangor archers on discs at the back. I've got a pet theory that the shooting for Tzeentch forces is going to get reworked or rebalanced in the next release. Having played daemons for a while, it just feels a bit 'off'. In particular, having pink horrors be (a) totally rubbish in combat and (b) okay at shooting means that they're best held back until you absolutely need to charge them in, which is completely at odds with their miniatures and fluff. I'd love to see the faction to get more 'true' shooting units like flamers, a long with some way to take advantage of multiple wizards despite the rule of one. I'm all-in on bird dudes, though: three months spent painting demons won't have gone to waste!

From this week's Rumour Engine. Looks a little Eldar-ish to me, but if it's AoS: probably Aelves?

Yeah, that's a fair point. I suppose I want a Tzeentch faction that is as well-rounded as Bloodbound to the extent that I'm willing to wish it into being. That said, I'd be surprised if 'acolyes+tzaangors+the silver tower baddies' was all there was to it.

I thought about this too, but bear in mind that Khorne has fully represented mortal AND demon options for most if not all of these archetypes. That's where Tzeentch is massively lacking at the moment.

It's definitely a weird list, and probably pieced together out of information that's really easy to guess: for one thing, Blue and Brimstone Horrors just got proper rules in 40K and need models, so that's a nobrainer. An increased focus on Tzeentch with no easily-available LoC is also dumb, so expect that to change (lol). And Tzaangors only need a proper warscroll to account for the banners/great weapons/etc on the 40K sprues and they might as well be released already. So I'd say that all of the above releases are a safe bet, and some of them might be here pretty soon: after all, 40K players are waiting for those horrors. But that doesn't mean that the rumour itself is anything more than a pretty easy guess. For one thing, this leaves major gaps in the Arcanite faction, which is obvious if you compare it to Bloodbound: Bloodreaver equivalent: Kairic Acolytes (unconfirmed as standalone) Blood Warrior equivalent: Tzaangors (seems likely) Elite infantry/skullreaper equivalent: ????? Fast unit/cavalry: ?????? ...and so on. Then even if we expect standalone releases of the Tzeentch Sorceror Lord, Ogroid Thaumaturge and Gaunt Summoner with Familiars, that leaves a bunch of room for new heroes. New Lord on Disc? Tzaangor heroes? Something else completely? Bear in mind that Bloodbound, discounting older metal/resin models but including weapon variants, have access to more than 10 individual plastic hero models.

Just when I thought I'd finished painting gold trim on Liberace's angry bird-dudes.