Rogue Explorator

I am well aware of the storyline for the endtimes and thought of it when I wrote the text you quoted. However, by taking up the mantle of Khaine, I did not mean becoming as Khaine or being possessed by him, but taking up the Role of Aelven War god and thus patronage of Witch Aelves. Note also that this was just an example, one of many possible scenarios, under which units from one part of the high/dark elf divide in WHFB could possibly be moved to the other side of the divide in AoS, to show such things are possible, provided old models are reintegrated with the new Factions. As for that representation of the Chaos powers, there is a lot of room to speculate about that, though I do not see its relevance to the speculations at hand, but the source is outdated and seems based on an old draft of the setting, containing a lot of Lore on hidden areas of the Realms that has since stayed unconfirmed and a lot of Lore that has since been contradicted. It may have a hint of future developements, but we simply do not have enough information to draw any half-way reliable conclusions from it.

This release should be exciting to watch. GW has been very open about upcoming releases since the community site launched, but they have been very hush on the Duradin, even though they have been teasing them much longer than other releases. Either they want to compare different preview strategies or they have some reason to keep them under special wraps.

I think if there is a current Aelf minifaction most likely to be joined to Tyrion, it would be Phoenix Temple. They have a very strong connection to the themes of Hysh, seem to be divinely empowered and are overall very mystical. They also do not have a lot of mentions in the lore (that I recall), while many other minifaction have recently gotten a strong connection to the free cities (Scourge Privateers and Eldritch Council) that make them harder to reintegrate with Tyrion/Malerion. Also, I think there are two things to keep in mind when speculating about the factions of the Aelf gods: -It is not guaranteed that, if old miniatures are integrated at all, it would be as straight up as highborn->Tyrion and exiles->Malerion. For example, it might be that Tyrion, essentially, takes up the mantle of Khaine (not meaning him being Khaine, but fullfilling a comparable role) and in that case we may see the daughters of Khaine join him. Also, the Mistweacer Sai bears symbols that were traditionally High Elf/Highborn. -It is not guaranteed either, that Tyrions faction would even be Aelven in any sense we expect at all. The thin amount of Lore we have on Teclis and Tyrion at all, are all referencing his actions and goals during the Age of Myths. A lot could have changed and gone wrong between the "then" and "now", leaving room for a lot of possible surprises.

I find it strange how everyone seems to think Slaaneshi Aelves would take a position similar to Tzaangor in the gods army. Tzaangor take the position Beastmen have always taken in mixed Chaos Armies, meaning numerous and tough (2 wounds, just like beastmen had when I started playing and they where still the same army as Warriors and Daemons), but badly armored. Aelves are not tough, can be weakly to heavily armored and tend not to go around in wild hordes. Also, Tzaangor where no new invention, they have been around in the Lore since Realms of Chaos and have always had a direct equivalent in each of the other gods forces, namely Khorgor, Slaangor and Pestigor. The suggestion that Slaanesh Aelves corrospond to to Tzaangor also seems to asume that a Slaanesh release would follow the same pattern as the Disciple of Tzeentch release, when that release itself is a perfect example of GW not following any pattern at all when it comes to the releases for Chaos god, as there was absolutely no simmilarity to the release of Khorne and Bloodbound. I think, in releasing for Chaos gods, there are four types of Forces every Chaos God has available, but that are not equally available to every Chaos god, nor equally represented with every release. These four would be Mortal Warriors, Daemons, Beastmen/Children of Chaos and Cultists/The Enemy Within. We can see that the Bloodbound release was entirely fokused to Mortal Warriors (Khorgorath my be cathegorized as Children of Chaos), with Daemons of Khorne being pretty much filled out previous to the release, with every unit having a model, all of those plastic, except for Bloodhounds and some Herald variants. Meanwhile, Disciples of Tzeentch provided contributions to three of the four Forces, filling out the Daemon line so only a small number of characters is not plastic (essentially only the blue scribes, since heralds on foot or disk can be build from the burning chariot). It also provided a solid base for both Cults (one unit, multiple heroes) and Children of Chaos (three units, one hero), but left out Warriors completely. Looking at these precedents, I am quite certain that Slaanesh Aelves would arrive in the Cults segment of the army, meaning Kairic Akolytes are propably the closest point of comparison for what such a unit could be like (which doesn't give us much, considering how different Blood Warriors and Putrid Blightkings are). We can propably expect Deamons as well, since GW propably wants all Greater Daemons on the same scale, though not necessarily accompanying an AoS Slaanesh release, 40k may see them arrive first. A Keeper of Secrets might be accompanied by plastic fiends and possibly a plastic masque, though GW has shown with Blightdrones and Brimstone Horrors that they are not averse to creating new variants of existing Deamons. New daemonic special characters are also thinkable, as Khorne and Tzeentch have quite a number of those. Aside from that, there is no telling what a possible Slaanesh release would bring, though I'd venture it depends weather GW cathegorizes Hellstriders and the two Lord models as Warriors or human Cultists. Either way, I would not get my hopes up on the Children of Chaos side get much attention, since Aelves, Daemons and possibly some human Warriors or Cultists would make quite the sizable release already. Yeah, GWs policy of release follows story arc approach gets really tricky when you consider how closely linked Shadowkin, Slaanesh and Tyrions bunch seem to be. It all gives the impression that all three would pretty much have to be released side by side. But I think with some clever storytelling they could still be released one after another. I had thought Shadowkin would come first, followed by Tyrion, with the release of Slaanesh saved for later, but rumors point to Shadowkin and Slaanesh pretty much side by side, with Tyrion propably a fair bit later (I just can not see them filling out the entire GA:Order line so fast, when the other GAs have so many holes). That would need some pretty interesting storytelling (maybe Tyrion has gone full isolationist xenophobe during the Age of Chaos?) As for Old Dark Elves being included with Shadowkin, all the Dark Elves units now have Lore to function as part of their own faction from Azyr, so them joining Malerion (or maybe having been his Agents to begin with) would have to be explained. I think Ordo Serpentis might be the likeliest candidates, but we will have to see.

I can not put into words how happy I am to see "sketchy illustrations one can not buy as mini, but would really like to convert one for" in AoS, it is like a fundamental part of the hobby was still missing for me^^ I'll actually save myself from reading the Lore bits until I can get my hands on the booklet and gorge myself on it in one go. It all looks very promising though. I hope GW offers more like this and with those illustrations, I think WHFRP is back on the table for use in the Mortal Realms!

The thing about the Tenebrael Shard is that it takes the old Warhammer Staple of "Dark Elve Assassin", but instead of going for the old cloaked figure design, goes for, essentially, a male Witch Elf (remember, assassins where a part of the Witch Elf Cult in the World-That-Was). I think the tattered fabric is actually the good old "we wear human (or humanoid) skin" look, it is the same sculpting as found on Dark Eldar Homunculi and Fabius Bile. One, "new" bit on both of the Shadowkin is the use of hooked blades. While blades of similar design are lond a staple of GW Dark Elves and Eldar, I know no precedent of such a strong forward curve. To stay nautical, they look almost like fishing hooks. And yeah, Malerion being an Aelf/Dragon fusion, I too would expect some of his followers to follow suit in a lesser degree.

think it will be akin to that, but also tied in with the old Lore of Shadow and Wind of Uglu, which was not described as dark, but misty grey and infused with illusion. The same way other AoS releases reference the old Winds, such as the prominent use of keys on Fyreslayers, keys having been an old Symbol of the Lore of Aqshy. P.s.: I just noticed that the Tenebrael Shard carries a birds skull, just as the Mistweaver Sai does. I thought it was a fighting Tzeentch reference on the Sai, but both Shadowkin have the element and none of the other ST heroes do. I am very curious now, with no idea what to make of it, but I am quite certain the release will be quite the blast of new Lore.

True, hastings has a very good track record, but also, if I remember correctly, is not always sure on the Lore and mostly reports on miniatures he has seen and his visual impressions. But I doubt he is of mark on, what is propably Shadowkin, being Lovecraftian/Deep One in appearance. There are visual cues to such things in Silver Tower, those being the strange grafts on the Sais arms and her covering up her face and the Tenebrael Shard jumping of a squiqqly tentakles, which I first thought was a Tzeentch hint, but that release has come and gone with no similar design in sight.

This looks very Planescape (D&D). Not a bad thing at all, and logical considering both tackle a similar Concept (Planar towns where worlds collide) and propably share inspiration material, like this: https://www.google.de/search?q=carceri+Giovanni+Battista+Piranesi&biw=1024&bih=674&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiI_rbPsp3SAhVcFMAKHRsQC-wQ_AUIBigB

To bad Slambo is resin and a bit on the chubby side, otherwhise he would make a great basis for all sorts of classic Chaos Warrior customs.

I still have some pieces of those spiders, bats and rats floating among my bits. A redo would be legendary.

Those pictures of the Death World terrain are so much better than the White Dwarf ones. Still, the price is quite steep, I hope it gets split into smaller terrain kits later on. Personaly, I see these better used in bits to spice up basing and terrain projects, rather than massed on the field. Bah, this is clearly the warping power of the Great Mutator at work, none of Nurgles foetid little gardening projects

The haphazard selection of Chaos dedications in the selected opponents propably bothers me the most. But "All new heroes and villains" was certainly promising to much on this set. This is no Silver Tower or Deathwatch:Overkill. That is ok, as long as they still do other sets like those. I really liked the preview and testing ground format, though I appreciate it is a rather major investment from GW to do sets like that. Oh, from a gamers point of view you are absolutely correct about WHQ, which was always an inbetweener to Roleplaygame, Boardgame and Wargame. From a Miniature collector and builder persective, though, it is still quite a bit of a disappointment (which, for the record, does not mean some sort of offense to me).

Hammerhal unboxing by GW is live: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2017/02/16/unboxing-the-new-warhammer-quest/ Actually the most interesting bit to me. Hope I can get my hands on one, could be the first proper free cities illustrations. Also, some closer look pictures of the Stormcast battletome at War of Sigmar. https://war-of-sigmar.herokuapp.com/bloggings/1714 The Aquilor bare head is male after all. Unsurprisingly, I am afraid

Rumor engine could truly be anything, not just due to "skull-policy" reason, but also because it looks like basing. Furthest guees I will venture is that it is propably 40k, due to gothic pointiness. On the front of keeping the Meta fluid, I call in for "Yay". It is not pleasant to be building something only to see the rules for it weakened, but no miniatures get invalidated, the option of Open and Narrative play can soften the blow of "Nerfs" and through the years, we will hopefully see most armies and units enjoy times in the limelight.

I should have been much clearer on my squbble being with the design principle, not with "another army gets something better than mine". That is a field I simply do not care about, particularly with narrative and open play around. It has been the standart as far as I go back with the hobby, that, competitively, there are stark differences between the armies. I am ok with that and do not particularly care if my army choice ends with me handycapped (or the opposite) in a tournament or matched play pick-up game. However, I do care about good game design and to me, the prayers make sense neither for gameplay nor background reasons. From a gameplay perspective, spell lores are great for the game, since without them, wizards are actually a bit weak and uninteresting, particularly with the rule of one in effect. It makes even more sense from a background perspective, it is pretty traditional in fantasy for various wizards to learn different spells for themself and you never know what an individual enemy spellcaster has up their sleeve. The same is not true for priests. In gameplay, priests where already working quite well and as intended, there was no need to boost them or make them more interesting. Unaffected by the rule of one, you could include multiple priests of the same kind and they still did their job. And background related, it seems quite odd to me that a god would grant different abilities to priests of the same rank. Prayers aren't like spells, that you learn and research by yourself, but powers granted by your god. Why would two Warpriests of the same rank be granted different miracles? There is also another design fault in Prayer Lores. Spells have the additional dial of casting difficulty, giving far more space to differentiate and balance (in the sense of not making one spell striktly better than the others). The success rate of prayers is flat, since it depends on the warscroll of the priest and not the prayer itself, making balancing the prayer much tougher. This means we are one further design mistep away from the a particular prayer being an auto include and cast at nauseum (remember, no rule of one). The dig at no seperate pointcosts for Enlightened on foot, on the other hand, was pure sour grapes on my part, I will freely admit. I would love to have a unit of 9 enlightened, simply because I like how it looks, but as things stand, I simply can not justify the cost in money and time of the unit to myself.

So, priests are now pretty much mages but better? Giving them Lores is a big boost, but they can not be unbound and are unaffected by the rule of one. Frankly, from a conceptual position, I would have preferred no priest lores, that would have kept priests different from mages, but noteither striktly better or worse. Also apparently stormcast units can get seperate warscrolls and point costs for a weapon swap, but enlightened can not get that for the much bigger change of going with or without disk. Truly, when it comes to rules, consistency is foreign to GW. Not looking to bash the release or GWs new way in general, but such game design misteps keep sticking out to me.

Wlcome back to the hobby. You have bear cavalry. You can do no wrong from this point on.

I am pretty sure the move goes across the board, looking at the sets for Kairic Acolytes and Tzaangor, I think the sprues where designed for a kit with less miniatures, as you get all sprues in duplicate. There where also the recent mechanised infantry sets for 40k that provide some serious savings. I think the overall move is to make the basic building blocks of an army more attainable (Start Collecting boxes, cheaper battlelines, cheaper troops with transports for 40k), which makes starting an army a much less intimidating prospect. Meanwhile, many elite units, clamp packs and big kits keep their hefty pricing, so if you want the full experience, those still generate their old margins, but may actually sell pay more, since people are more likely to get them with a stable base force aquired.

All the followers congregating there does not mean he is there and judging by the fluff, both Malerion and Teclis are capable of blocking divine omniscience, as they collaborated on blocking the knowledge of Chaos on Azyr for Sigmar and Hysh is also "unscryable", and they can protect other Realms than their home, as again seen with Azyr. I am not saying Slaanesh is not in Uglu, but there seems to be no conclusive confirmation of Slaanesh being there, only indicators.

I am absolutely fine with Saaneshi Elves under Morathi, as long as mortal human warrior followers remain a thing and there are Slaangor in the mix as well. Though I have to question the certainty with which Slaanesh is stated to be in Uglu. Malerion captured Slaanesh in collaboration with Tyrion, couldn't Slaanesh be held in Hysh just as well? Or even somewhere else entirely? You are not exactly hiding something when you just take it to your homebase.

Well, I think this is AoS, mostly since 40k mechanics tend to be either more advanced or more ramshackle. But, since we have been suspecting Steamhead around the corner since December at least now, I will withhold any further speculation. If I remember correctly from some WD a few years back, at least one or two designers, who mostly do 40k vehicles, do have professional engineering knowledge, though I am not sure if it was an actual degree.

So, I suspect for some time now that Witch Elves would get the Fyreslayer treatment and the Original Slaanesh armylist in Slaves to Darkness included Witch Elves. Just a thought, should this (rather salty) rumor turn out to be true. Personally I hope Slaanesh is still some time away, for the purely egostic reason that I already plan to start up some Slaanesh when I have my Tzeentch army up and running, which will take some time.

With the models that came out for Tzeentch and now this release, I can say with some certainty that the name of the next Campaign is obvious now: Brace for the Realmbird Wars! I would wager there will be four books called: -Quest for Gull-Magpie -The Balance of Fowl -Godbirds -All-Birds-All-The-Time Further, I think I can reveal all upcoming Battletome releases: -Swifthawk Agents -Phoenix Temple -Spiderfang Grots are replaced with Birdbeak Grots -Battletome Carrion for Death I for one welcome our new Avian overlords. Brace for next year though, when the Piscine Revenge sees more Tzeentch released, along with Nurgle, Scourge Privateers and finally the release of Fishmen!

I know I am late to the party, but my only beef with the various Gryph creature releases themself is that they are previewed just after I have bought a box of demigryphs for my Lord on Daemonic Mount conversion. Also, does anybody else think the hero mount looks like a Gryph-Giraffe? Though I guess Gyph-Charger is a better selling name than Gryphaffe. If there is one thing this release tells us about the future, it is that the Mortal Realms will only get stranger with each release, whiich is good news for all of us who like weird fantasy. It all makes me think that new Death releases will be absolutely insane, when GW gets around to presenting them.