Rogue Explorator

What little mention I've seen to Greenskinz all make them seem to me like 40k orcs. Still wild and warlike, but also equipped with some haphazard technical aptitude and civilised enough to form actual settlements, trade and work as mercenaries. All things Bonesplittaz and Ironjawz would never do. Seeing how another Orruk faction would need to be sufficiently differentiated from those two, this may well be the only form I can imagine Greenskinz returning and I could absolutely see Gitmob and/or Grotback Skuttlers to be another part of that. And iirc we had a long while back some trusted rumormonger come out in this thread with rumors of what they believed to be new Ironjawz units that didn't materialise. Add the number of scrppy low tech constructions found in the rumor engine and this may well be happening.

I think you are absolutely correct. All in all, GW has shown itself reluctant to update existing kits all in all. With good reason, I'm afraid, there is less incentive for players to buy a new kit for a unit they already own. But on the other hand, its not even that I want the specific unit updated with a new kit so much as I just want to see its theme and visual get a stronger representation in Chaos again. If they gave Slaves, Tzeentch, Slaanesh and Nurgle a battleline unit and a few heroes in proper full Chaos Plate I'd be happy even if they aren't called Chaos Warriors, just as they may never go back to calling the mortal leaders Chaos Champions. I thought it worked Khorne and the Bloodwarriors and was surprised they didn't do that for the others. Same for beasts, if all the other gods had gotten a unit like Tzaangor I'd even have swallowed beasts being removed altogether. What really has me concerned that in AoS most mortal releases have strayed so far from the Chaos Warrior look, even when their power level would have waranted it. I wouldn't want a Chaos where only Archaon, his Varanguard and a few Khornates still look like Chaos Warriors.

I always though the Ogroid Thaumaturge would be a one of, but there's another Ogroid and not a Tzeentch one to boot. Quite glad too, my Thaumaturge has a special place in my collection, it is a very nice mini. Can't wait to see a better shot of the long beast, the potatoscreenshot view of it at the very least looks absolutely stunning. These are great and as a Chaos mortal fan, I really shouldn't be complaining, seriously. But the truth is, they can give me as many awesome beasts, monstrous infantry and chaotic tribesmen as they want, and Warcry is truly delivering that, I won't be satisfied until I see some good proper Chaos Warriors retake their place at the center of Chaos armies.

Pretty sure that is a kitbash based on the body of the female Khairic Akolyte in the Underworlds Tzeentch band.

I think this may be a contender for the greatest amount GW ever released in one week. Just wow. Actually feels rather overwhelming. There's about two things in AoS that could throw me into a full nerdrage. One would be loosing markable Slaves units, the other would be a full removal of Chaos Warriors as a unit. That being said, I can't see them removing mono-god keywords from Slaves after they went and added battalions so Beasts could be played in Mono-God allegiance just one year ago. However, even if they removed marks and made Slaves only markable by specific battalions, that would be a loss. Its a big difference of being able to take just a unit of warriors and having to cough up three units from a limited palette and a hero. But all in all, I am quite confident we will keep our Mono-God Slaves in some way. My fears for a upcoming Slaves tome revolve more around units being removed. I really like the lord on mount as a conversion project and as a finecast character its in a precarious position. But really, any lost unit stings. In that regard the precedent of Ogre Mawtribes is quite encouraging. But the precedent of Cities of Sigmar is not and makes me fear even for the likes of the Warshrine (another great modeling/conversion project).

Next Preview is not much more than a week from now, Saturday 02.11. at Blood and Glory according to this article: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2019/10/01/upcoming-events-and-conventions/ That will propably be the last studio preview of the year, going by the article. But I'd expect another round of reveals around Christmas, going by the experience of the last two years. So we should have a pretty clear image of what is coming for the rest of the year come the 2nd. Maybe a teaser for the first big project to come out 2020, with a proper reveal Christmas. I really like the Spire Tyrants. They have a very nice eighties fantasy Vibe. Not as unique as some of the others, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. As I've said here before that some of the warbands are so laden with unique parts, it makes it hard to add your own touch. And it makes sense, seeing how the Spire Tyrants are closest to the armies of the Everchosen, they'd have the most of that look. Great to see it's another mixed warband. But I think my favorite is by far that Beastman, a very nice and unexpected boon for all fans of the cloven ones.

There it is. Gotta say, not the best way to roll out Bonereapers for me personally. I get why people with different priorities are thrilled though. I'm a bit annoyed the only units they put up alongside the BT are in a Battlebox, but I guess some things will go for preorder the week after, so that's ok. The Battlebox exclusive character being an SC is good for me, since I don't like to use those anyway. Also helps Coffin guy is the character I was least eager to get into my hands already. Not a fan of special weapons in AoS either, but as long as it's just one in ten its cool. I just hope they never repeat the Tzaangor mess, with three different weapon types and a special troop type in addition to the usual command crew (and then changing the rules of those equipment options so a different mix becomes optimal🙄). I'll propably only preorder a BT next week then. Maybe the terrain if it is really, really affordable. But really, that can wait until I actually have an army to hit the field with and it actually becomes an obligatory possession. Lore whise, I'm a bit dissappointed Ogors just get turned back to their Warhammer Fantasy army. But I'm happy for the ogre fans and consider them the army I am least likely to ever pick up, so even I don't think my oppinion in the matter has any import.

The article itself is headed with "Forge World". So there's still hope they keep the Bonereapers pre-order date and there's another announcement for GW main pre-orders. If not, this is propably the thinnest release week we've had all year.

Looks like they are splitting Shadowspear into two seperate start collecting boxes for each included faction. While that's specifically 40k news, I think with the recent seperate release of the Blackstone baddies, the quick release of the Warcry base contents and the much earlier splitting of the old AoS starter into Start-Collecting boxes, that would be a pretty good signal. It shows that miniatures made for a more limited release are being kept around for some time.

Well, it was much cheaper to play in the nineties. And its not like me (and I guess a lot of others who started so young) started by getting a cohesive army right awy, more like bits and pieces from all over the place and devouring gaming books. Just look how many adult hobbyists struggle to stick to their plans collecting and building. When I was a kid, I changed what army I actually wanted multipler times a day, but it never mattered that I didn't actually build any.

I can pinpoint that quite precisely, I was nine by a few months when my brother came in with the very first White Dwarf in german pretty much as soon as it hit the shelves in December 1994. He discarded it onto me since he was into RPGs, not miniatures and I was hooked. Got the 40k starter that Christmas and the pictures and lore in there, particularly the Codex Imperialis, was unlike anything else I knew. It pretty much was my world for the rest of my childhood. I didn't play until much later and never played much, but I collected miniatures and read the books like crazy since then. My older sister had friends and aquaintaces who used to be into the hobby, one actually lend out the Realms of Chaos Tomes to me for some time and I treated those almost like holy books. It must have been at least at least a decade until I'd get to see what's in there again, but I think I read those so intensely they where edged into my brain. I fell out of the hobby around 16/17, with tabletop RPGs and Videogames pretty much having absorbed its space in my life, but I think its no understatement to say it shaped me and helped me get through a less than stellar childhood. I kept following developements and looking into rejoining the hobby, but it was AoS that actually did the trick, even though I only looked into it because I actually wanted to get back into 40k with Admech having finally hit the table.

Yeah, I didn't mean to particularly pick out your comment, I really found it more constructive than many others, just wanted to answer you along the way since you had posted quoting me. Just a last few bits, before we got fully off-topic (though I'd say we are still discussing an upcoming release in context to a fresh announcement within the rather broad topic of this thread): As you have said, these are wacky, wrong and twisted in a way unlike Chaos or goblins. Which is another important bit for me actually. I am also a great fan of Chaos and really want it to keep its special place and themes, narratively, but also in design. I feel that in the past, with ghouls and vampires in Fantasy Battles, GW have strayed to far into Chaos territory. Crypt Horrors and the more changed Vampires just look to much like mutants to me. Same for the thankfully few mutated goblins in Gloomspite. So personally I am really glad they took the risk and tried something different with the Bonereapers. Funnily, some of it actually elements that could be found in Chaos in the days of Realms of Chaos (when Undead where still a part of Chaos) but have since fallen out of use. Incidentaly, for me Nighthaunt where the big dissapointment in AoS for exactly the reason you mentioned. They where way to cohesive and alike to what came before. I was really looking forward to them and was enthused when they got a big release way sooner than I ever thought. But in the end, I just found them booring and thought GW really hadn't used the creative space the faction offered at all. Just countless variations of the same bedsheet ghost and banshee, when a mad mind like Nagash could twist a soul into any shape. I still got Soul Wars, but in the end I shrugged and moved on. I wouldn't call Bonereapers lacking cohesion though. They carry their design elements, the melded bone, the plating, the cartoushes, the helmets, quite consequently through the entire line. They don't exactly map to any existing culture (which is something I'm very much in favor of) and they are rather nonsensial, but that isn't really the definition of cohesive.

I get that for a lot of people the Bonereapers aren't at all what they expected or wanted. And that it's upsetting, seeing how their existence makes it unlikely GW will ever actually make an army fitting what was desired, wether it's a Tomb King redo, a more grounded skeletal force, a more dignified construct army closer to the Morghast or Ushabti or something else entirely. But personally I really appreciate what GW is doing with these. Only time will tell how well these will actually be received, but I can see I'm not alone. To take your example, them holding on to memmorabilia would have a vastly different effect and connotations. The entire point of the Bonereapers, for me, is how absurd they are, physical manifestations of Nagashes twisted mind and hybris. That your suggestion would be more grounded runs exactly counter to the point I see in these. And it wouldn't have made a whole lot of sense with these being the Spearhead of notorious control freak Nagash. Really, being a fan of this release is starting to get a bit exhausting. It feels a little like the earlier days of AoS, so many people who wanted something different or the old back. That's ok, but I would like a bit more acceptance that others enjoy the Bonereapers and might have a point in doing so.

I think this might be why so many have noses and those grotesque facial expressions. Like they attempt to reshape their forms to fit what they have once been, or believe they have been, but can't get it right and slide straight into the uncanny valley. We don't know how delusional these guys are, but considering they are created by smashing together different souls and with the strong theme of dementia I personally get from Death altogether, I'd venture the Bonereapers are propably more than a little unhinged. To show what I mean when I write theme of Dementia: The Flesheaters delusions. The dissolved and subverted identities of most Nighthaunt. Mortarchs from the old world not really knowing who they are, if they even really are the originals at all. Even Nagash being fuzzy on his own past, unlike the other former incarnates. Chicken Throne man is definitely one of my favorites in the range. The guy himself actually looks far more dignified and threatening than most other reapers, but the hipbone and chickenlegs throne and skelepope hat really offset that nicely. It (quite literally) puts him above the other Reapers, but he's a part of their grotesque procession all the same.

GW has been taking that route for a long time and people have definitely already been prized out a long time ago. I know there where times I looked into getting back into the hobby and found it impossible purely due to cost. I'm only back in due to a combination of slight improvements, patience (getting an army is a very long term prospect for me) and changed priorities. I feel that is where the strong support for Warcry, Underworlds, Warhammer Quest and Kill Team come in. Getting into AoS or 40k is a huge investment, not just monetarily, but also in time time and effort (and that in a great variety of fields to boot, with assembly, painting, loads of rules, at least basic lore, all possibly entirely foreign to interested newcomers). GW seems to currently recognize that there are big hurdles to getting in or just keeping up. The smaller games offer a way to engage for people without the time or money for the big games, as well as those without the nerve to build and paint basic infantry guy #54 or assembling one of those damn tanks. And of course, this allows GW in turn to keep or win these people as customers. As someone who doesn't realistically have the money or energy to really join the fray with a proper army, I'm by and large quite okay with that current direction. I have games where I can realistically participate. And even can still play at trying to build up an army to myself, if occassionally I choose to splurge on miniatures a few months a year. Only problem with all that is when they ramp up the entry barrier for the smaller games too much, though that hasn't really happened yet if you accept that all cards for Underworlds and all Killteam expansions are only really needed if you want to get really competitive. As for those big boxes battleboxes, I simply know they are not for me. I know I'll eventually have access to the miniatures in seperate packs in my prize class, even if it stings a little to know that people who actually have the disposable income actually get savings on the total content (though that is hardly an issue exclusive to our hobby). And if an interesting starter is coming I have enough advance warning to save up for a few months, as I did with Warcry. All things said, while wargaming is certainly not a cheap hobby and is only getting more expensive, there are definitely a lot of hobbys with far more prohibitive cost.

I think the thing about using the rather limited palette of commanding poses they use on the mounted leader types is that they don't look out of place whether they are placed is combat or not. Use a more fighty pose and it looks awkward just deployed. Use a more at ease pose and it doesn't really don't look the part in melee. Now, all in all, I don't think GW is too fussed if a pose doesn't really fit every situation. They go for a rather wild mix of combat action, at ease, doing something non-combat and pure posing with unit kits and less central heroes. But I think it's different for these kind of miniatures. Along with some others, Aekelian Kings, Lord Celestants or now the Liege-Kavalos are intendet to be the go-to Generals of their factions and quite often the first centerpiece a player will get for a new army. That makes them quite important to the appeal of the faction as a whole. So those really need to look good in every marketing shot (so, placed in and out of combat), as well as drawing more attention from their owners. It propably also really helps that they are also the poses people learn to expect to see in paintings and monuments of various generals, immediatly calling them out as army leaders to even casual onlookers.

Thinking about it a little more, I could maybe see 40k Rogue Traders and members of the Astra Telepathica carrying around something fancy looking like that, but it still wouldn't be my first guess. I'd generally rule out aeldar, except maybe something dedicated Ynarri besides the triumvirate, which I still think is only a matter of time.

New side game, spiritual successor to Bloodbowl, Age of Croquet. Can't wait for the Tzeentch Team:

A really odd one. Can't see this being anything but aelven, aside from the style of all decorations being typically aelf, the handle is way to frail for a duradin item and they also tend to have blockier more solid heads on their hammers. GW likes to have artillery crew walking around with light hammers, so maybe it could fit there. If this is Duradin after all, it could either be that or purely ceremonial. Alternatively, we've seen aelves that are heir to the legacies of Mathlann, Khaine, Asurian (Phoenix Temple) and most recently Kurnoth. Maybe Vaul is the next on that list? Though a smiths hammer wouldn't be rounded I think?

Well, that Warcry preview is a pleasant surprise. I like how basic the Spire Tyrant looks. I'm sure many will find him to bland, but while customizing and converting for Warcry, I've found that most of the warbands (all but Untamed Beasts really) have almost too much character and specific detail. Meaning it is very hard to swap in parts from othe kits or make them your own without messing up their style or feeling like taking away their character. So it's nice for me to have a more baseline Chaos warband to go wild on. The Fomoroid is neat. I feel like he might be a way for Slaves to get a replacemen that isn't a Destruction pallet swap for Chaos Trolls and Chaos Ogres in the Monstrous Infantry spot moving forward. But even if he stays a standalone, that is a nice model with lots of conversion potential. More importantly, it is a great signal that Warcry will see miniature support besides warbands and repackages in the future. On another note, I think at this point GW's release strategy after both mainline Games are fully updated is starting to crystalize: - Warcry, Underworlds and Blackstone Fortress have seen some pretty steady miniature releases since their release. I think this is great, as it really adds value to those games, supports hobbyists who aren't into collecting big armies and allows GW to release miniatures for a lot of things that where never really viable in the big games. I suspects it also opens the hobby to a lot of people who wouldn't be interested or mostly stick to the sideline (following lore and releases, but not really commiting) and thus brings in more new people into the hobby. -Interestingly, the same can't be said for Killteam, which saw a lot of rules books (yet still doesn't have an update for the new CSM kit options), but the only dedicated miniature release was Rogue Trader, which had great models, but was, I think, overall a really disappointing product. I wonder if we will see an overhaul or change in direction there. - Classical army updates, that sees a few new or updated kits coming in along with a new codex/battletome, might be getting rarer or even go all together. This year, Space Marines and Hedonites where the only ones I'd put into that cathegory. Everything else was either a minimum effort update, a much bigger release in the new army launch and almost full line overhaul cathegory or a splash release. - 40k had quite a few splash releases this year, with the stretched out Chaos line update, the Space Marine mini dexes, the vehicles coming with Apokalypse and, though it cam with a codex, I'd argue Chaos Knights. And it looks like it is ramping up to do that even more with Psychic Power looking like it is build to deliver Splash releases. - From the above two I'd say in the future for both main games we can expect far fewer traditional army updates, but far more splash releases. While somewhat messy when it comes to rules being all over the place, I feel this is the supperior approach to miniature support, making it less likely players and collectors need to wait years to see a new or updated kit for their factions. -Speaking of updated kits, I think between Gloomspite, Chaos Space Marines, upcoming Sisters of Battle and the previews for Psychic Awakening, I think we can say that GW is once again updating old kits that aren't demons. Something they haven't done for a while before Gloomspite. Even better, only two of these came with a Codex or Battletome. So there is reason to hope for everyone.

Yeah, Monsters and Mercenaries has to be real cheap (like cheaper than GW books ever are) or I'll likely end up skipping it. I've still got a second box of Corvus Cabal, Iron Golems and Cypher lords on my list and after it'll likely be saving for Ossiarchs and the last two warbands. So that's about all my hobby budget for the forseeable future, so M&M is just to early for me to consider dropping something else out of my budget to get it. And the entire CoS situation makes me dread what is coming for Slaves to Darkness. Those where some very nice and recent sculpts among those removed and it makes me fear for a lot of our kits (nevermind I already waved godbies to the Lord on Mount, even though it's my favorite conversion warscroll). If they take the warshrine I'll be seriously upset. I totally get the frustration, the long silence after the kit removal really adds insult to injury.

Not to forget Corvus Corax.

Yeah, I've also added painted on pupils, which really ramps up the unhinged-freak-factor. I think a good approach to these guys will be to do them majorly in some variation of bone, but mix in other elements, seeing how they are constructs any given individualpart could be done in stone, wood, metal, ceramic, shardglass, other Realmstone, like amber bone from Ghur, or whatever else you can think of. There is also the possibility of decoration, the bone could be painted, glazed, jewel encrusted or covered with gold leaf (with the opportunity for some unusual battle damage). The head or just mask/face is of course a standout target for these sort of shenanigans, being such a natural focal point and these particular guys most unusual and controversial feature. It's almost poetic, so many factions run around with their faces, masks and helmets shaped or painted to resemble skulls in Warhammer and here we get these skull headed bone guys with faces shaped to resemble the living.

Yeah, I've noticed that they are at the very least are made to resemble mask. Doesn't really matter if they are or not considering their entire bodies are made from sculpted bone either way. But I think it's a cool nod to them being Nagashes "counter-Stormcast". And I think painting the faces in a set of colour as if they where mask would really change their vibe. I actually already did a quick and dirty coloring in gimp to test some things out. Most ideas need an overhaul but I think I'll do the eyes and face this way.

Edit: One last wish for the Ossiarchs: They absolutely do need chariots and archers. They already have a spiritual follower of half the classic skeleton units of ancient warhammer. Bone Chariots and skeleton archers are missing though. Can you imagine how spectacularly silly a reimagination of the old bone chariots crewed by these would look? Yeah, Skaven are the perfect Nemesis for Nagash. They are the only ones who can compete with each others hybris and mastery of going through with excessively bad ideas. At least Gloomspite know they aren't the big shots. Nagash thinks he is Sigmars number one enemy and that he can easily outwit the Chaos gods. And he can't even keep his recurring pest problem under control.