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Davariel

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Posts posted by Davariel

  1. In general I don't mind the tactical rocks. They're a useful tool to create different poses, or make special models stand out a bit more (especially if they'd otherwise be very similar to others in the army). Like anything else in a sculpt, I think it generally depends on the execution.

    Sometimes tactical rocks work amazingly to create a unique composition (the Cavalier Marshal is a top example of this). Sometimes they feel very out of place or lazy. I do think GW overuses them somewhat, though.

  2. I think my most memorable hobby moment was when (way back in WFB 7th) a friend charged his 5 man Empire knight unit - which I think had a captain - into my single rank of puny High Elf archers. Across three rounds of combat the knights with their lances, captain, and 1+ save failed to deal any damage whatsoever to the unarmoured archers, and took one casualty each time. Then they broke, fled, and were run down by the pursuing elves.

    The mere mention of High Elf archers had my friend frothing at the mouth for years afterwards.

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  3. 1 hour ago, Beliman said:

    Sadly, AoS is not designed to build your dudes.

    This is very true. I don't mind the current foot hero paradigm from a gameplay perspective - I think using small heroes as buff pieces works well and is reasonably intuitive and simple. I do get the feeling that it limits the narrative of the game a bit, though. Non monster/special characters feel a little... peripheral sometimes, and personally I find it harder to get invested in stories about largely interchangeable buff heroes who don't have much room for, well, character.

    You can use named characters, of course - and their rules generally do a great job of feeling strongly unique and characterful - but that in turn makes the setting feel a little small, like in all the vastness of the Mortal Realms, only the same handful of characters in each faction are ever doing anything.

  4. You know, I'm a little torn on the attendants. The idea behind them is great, and they're nice models in and of themselves.

    I'm just not sure I like the image of a handful of ordinary humans in an otherwise all SCE army. I like how Stormcast armies look as a force of mighty warriors. I like how mixed armies of Stormcast and ordinary mortals look, too.

    The idea of a full SCE army with just two or three ordinary humans tagging along, though? I can't help but think they'll look a bit out of place.

    Maybe the Ruination Chamber will have more attendants in the rest of the range, who knows. In any case, the Reclusians are wonderful!

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  5. On 4/8/2024 at 5:29 PM, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

    Yeah, I was also thinking that it sucks that we have to consider which model lines are safe or in danger at all.

    It's one thing to note "models that are originally from WHFB are going to very likely get reimagined at some point", but the whole Sacrosanct thing really is a big detriment to the community trust GW has been building the last few editions.

    I was painting some Nighthaunt today and it felt very strange to think that these gorgeous, modern sculpts were released as the counterpart to a range that's just been declared outdated and tossed out.

    Even though I know Sacrosanct is its own case, even though I've had about 3-4 armies go OOP and I'm as inured to it as anyone can be, and even though I haven't played in years and just collect models I like these days... it's still really weird to think of an army that new (and that was so heavily marketed as the face of the game just as it really took off!) getting cut.

  6. The news has me considering redoing the bases on the handful of Beastmen I own. I tried going for a Ghur badlands theme with them (what with the Era of the Beast and all!) but I was never entirely satisfied with the results.

    Now that their story will likely see them menacing Bretonnian peasants instead of Dawnbringer crusades, I might give them some nice forest bases instead.

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  7. Wow. This was a much more brutal culling than I expected, and anyone who's spent hours and hours of love on their armies that are now getting discontinued has my sympathy (I've been there, several times!).

    I will say that this is a really bad look for AoS. Some uncertainty around the model ranges was understandable after the messy launch, and there was certainly a grace period where GW could get away with discontinuing stuff as they tried to figure out what they were doing. However, it's taken AoS way, way too long to "find its feet" and decide what it wants to keep. Around the point everything was covered by a battletome and had received at least minor support (which was late 2nd I think?) they really needed to commit to supporting armies long term (with perhaps an exception for unique cases like Cities).

    Pulling a move like this - especially with the relatively recent Sacrosanct - is pretty terrible for maintaining confidence in the product line and encouraging long term investment in armies. Whether or not that will amount to anything... who knows (probably not). But I do think it's both unhealthy and highly discouraging for AoS to still be conducting major purges this far into its lifespan.

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  8. 7 minutes ago, Neil Arthur Hotep said:

    I suppose the mildly spicy take is that Liberators and Vindictors are more or less the same thing and it's a quirk of history that they are separate units instead of "Liberators with hammers" and "Liberators with spears". They will certainly end up playing the same role at the table, most likely. In that sense, it's fine if they looks similar, but it is good that the old Liberator kit finally gets its visual update. I think people have been getting more positive about the reworked Stormcast design recently, and retiring their old kits which had a much more mixed reception is a good step, IMO.

    I completely agree with this. It's hard to get excited about the new Liberator when it's essentially a weapon swap Vindictor with some very minor armour and shield differences (plus a slightly odd helmet), but it's ultimately a good thing for the game that the SCE range is moving towards a more cohesive, polished, and (by most accounts?) popular design.

  9. 1 hour ago, GenericEdgyName said:

    Curiously, in this picture we can see the old beastlord. Maybe I'm high on copium, but maybe that just means that yes, the current range moves to OW, but AoS beasts get a revamp to fit the new beastlord. I mean, it would be odd to use the old beastlord if the newer one doesn't stay in AoS, right?

    Having just painted the new Beastlord alongside some Gors, there's really not much room to revamp the range to match it.

    The Beastlord has the exact same design language and details as the older Beastmen, it's just a more modern (and lovely!) sculpt.

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  10. I agree with what RexHavoc said. Personally I think AoS tries to have it both ways in terms of being a setting or a story, and the results are often mixed.

    As a story, there's clearly a serious amount of effort that goes into the campaign books and short stories. There are some genuinely big story developments, and major events do take place - but beyond introducing a new army or new model, there isn't always much follow up, or serious consequences. Rather than an organic story that develops naturally and lets events build upon each other, a lot of the time it feels like AoS has a slightly scattershot approach to storytelling - plot threads are introduced out of nowhere, abruptly resolved, or left hanging, and then the story swerves towards the next army release/new edition anyway.

    That sounded a bit more cynical than I intended (and I do like a lot of the AoS narrative!), but sometimes it feels like a lot happens, but nothing really changes.

    Obviously that's important because AoS isn't just a story, and you've got people spending time and money building armies to use in the setting (RIP the stuff I bought to make a themed Har Kuron force, haha). But I think AoS is missing something in its approach as a setting too, The focus is often on the same cast of named characters, and what's going on at the highest level between them and their armies and cities. I love how much room AoS leaves for you to sketch out your own corner of the realms, but it's also so big that I think any force of "your dudes" can feel slightly disconnected from the broader setting.

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  11. It would be funny if the trailer isn't referring to any lie in particular, and instead someone is using it as propaganda, creating a rallying cry against Sigmar for their own ends. 

    Obviously that can't be the Skaven, or it would have said "Sigmar Lied-lied"...

  12. 7 hours ago, Ogregut said:

    This. I'm having a ball building armies from old models and mixing in new one or just using AoS models but I don't want to do anything with the brets I got in the army box until I get the new knights on foot and switch and swap heads and weapons and such. 

    I'm can see the logic of not releasing the 2nd wave of stuff when some people haven't received the 1st wave yet. I wonder if they are producing extra stock. 

    Meanwhile, I'll be very surprised if I manage to paint even half the peasants in the army box before the foot knights are released...

    • Haha 1
  13. I'll be working on my Bretonnians again. They were my first Warhammer army back when I was a teenager, and I never had the money or skill to do much except amass a bunch of badly painted core knights.

    I am excited beyond words to build the army I'd always wanted... well, stock issues depending, haha. At least I've got some unpainted minis or models to strip and repaint in the meantime!

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  14. Is it morally justified to use advanced technology like chariots, if they are only used for the purpose of toppling civilisation? It's a question Beastmen philosophers have been grappling with for centuries.

    Or at least it would be, if Beastmen had any philosophers to speak of.

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  15. Trying to find firm rules about the way GW handles anything is probably a fool's errand.

    They're not exactly known for their consistency. Just when you think you can see a strong pattern... they'll turn around and do something differently for no apparent reason.

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  16. I personally feel like the post-WFB grace period where GW could get away with axing entire armies and figuring out what they wanted to do with the range has passed.

    It's one thing to drop armies that have never had a coherent direction in AoS, it's quite another to drop ones that have had full battletome support. That's not to say GW can't or won't do such a thing, just that I think it would be very toxic and unhealthy for the game.

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  17. It's interesting to hear talk about updating the Witches/SoS, I'd have said they fit seamlessly with the rest of the DoK. Perhaps the biggest flaw of the kit is that it only makes five specific poses... but that's true of many modern kits too.

    Dryads are an interesting case (and one dear to my heart) as the models are actually really old, but they've aged pretty well and still fit the overall Sylvaneth style. I'd definitely expect a new kit at some point, but wouldn't call them a high priority compared to stuff like phasing out resin, replacing the marauders and 25 year old Skaven sculpts, and so on.

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