Hollow

I'm not surprised to see this, although I am a bit disappointed. Still so much up in the air about the project, not really a fan of the super slow drip of information. I think it works for a new announcement like 10th edition 40k, but I would much prefer to get an overview of what the hell they are actually planning. How many factions are they planning and how are they going to be represented? Army Books? Cards? Compendium? There are lots of new plastic kits coming but for what? It's been years and for a company of this size it's getting a bit frustrating tbh.

A big part of that will come down to the print run I am assuming. The number one thing that costs money in making a book is the spine. (It's part of the reason why I think that GW is moving to card decks, they are cheaper to produce, the margins are higher and you can do smaller batch runs) I have absolutely no idea how many books GW does in a run (If I were to guess I would say 500/1000 Limited Edition and maybe 3000/5000 Battletomes) but the shear volume of books that they put out (all using the same general formatting and a lot of reused work) means the margins must be pretty high. I can't see a battle tome costing more than a few pounds to produce.

I have found the AoS app to be pretty good. It's nicely laid out, makes sense, and is easy to navigate. The problem is the process of having to buy a full book, to enter a code to unlock further content. This is archaic in 2023 and GamesWorkshop needs to fundamentally change how they deliver their content. 10th edition has me hopeful that they understand this (although I think they are moving too slowly)

Recently I've been putting together some Sisters in preparation for 40k 10th (They will be my 10th Edition main) and the Arco-flagellants and the Sister's Repentia give me a lot of hope for where CoS Flagellants might go.

It was decent. This might be a weird thought, but I wish they would show the characters "out of armour". It's one of the issues I have with the general world-building of Warhammer. When she was woken from her dreams and went walking to find another Stormcast sitting fully armored drinking ale by the fire, it just doesn't sit well with me. Warhammer needs to explore more of the civilian life aspect of the world, IMO.

When it comes to Warhammer Plus, the optimist in me thinks that the entire exercise has essentially been a proof of concept, which lead to the Cavill/Amazon announcement.

All this talk around lore compendiums and fleshing out of the Mortal Realms makes my creative juices flow. (At least I think those are creative juices) I would love to see a lavish 10-book series written in the style of a great explorer, who set out to try and map the mortal realms. 1 book for each of the 8 Mortal Realms, 1 for the 8 points, and 1 for the Atheric Void between realms. Not novels, but more like a series of journals (Think "There and Back Again" from LotR). Perhaps the protagonist could have some distant connection to one of The Old World's greatest explorers, Marco Colombo! (Aboard a giant flying ship of course!) Big chunky leather bound covers (a bit like the limited edition Horus Heresy books) Filled with maps, sketches and tales of wonder. Detailed, in-depth looks at the citizenry, politics, architecture, nomenclature and cultural traditions of the many different races and societies that populate the realms. They could include some fun and flavourful terrain and campaign rules (A bit like 2004's Lustria book for Warhammer Fantasy) with each tomb as thick as a core rulebook. I'm getting carried away, but damn... so much potential there.

Was that not the initial intention with the different Stormhost Shield options? They were discontinued because they didn't sell.

That would be awesome. I really should read up on the Warcry stuff, been looking at getting a Warband. Modular Seraphon dungeon tiles would be great, especially if it meant more Seraphon kits.

Perhaps we could see a 'Boarding Patrol-type' expansion for AoS in the future? Rather than the interior of a spacecraft, it would be the interior of the underground dungeons that sprawl the Mortal Realms. Would be cool for AoS 4.0 and I would love a full fantasy plastic dungeon board kit similar to the Boarding Actions Terrain Kit for 40k. It would fit really well with the aforementioned "Duradin Underlords", "Underguts", Skaven etc, as well. I want AoS Mine of Moria. 🙃

I think it's utterly absurd to categorize people interested in TOW as a single "community" to start with. Like life, there will be all kinds of different people and groups. If you don't like a particular group or person, find someone else or another group to play with. Wargaming in general has a percentage of perpetually unhappy 'comic book guys'. 40k has plenty of toxicity as well (just read Dakka lol) Don't let any single group define what a setting (That appeals to millions of people) is or isn't.

I don't think units should be hard-capped in that way. I'd like to see the return of standard regiment sizes of 12/20 depending on the troop type. (I'd love to see the return of the 20-man regiment boxes with full command and movement tray, with Elites being 5/10 12/16 depending)

Ulgu would be a cool setting to introduce a destruction insectoid faction. The flutter of insect wings through the thick fog.

There was a whole host of reasons The End Times came. Whilst there is little to no debate about the initial launch being problematic, AoS has developed and matured into its own setting. I do think that many underestimate or don't really consider the significant paradigm shift across the cultural zeitgeist when it comes to fantasy settings since The End Times. Fantasy settings have exploded over the last decade, with Game of Thrones, Lord of the Rings, Dungeons and Dragons and more all being hugely popular. The lack of support and stagnation certainly contributed but I also think that the customer base (and more importantly GW) was just in a different place at the time, Fantasy had begun to lose its identity and direction. When The End Times came Games Workshop's share price was around 500p per share. Today it sits at around 10,000p per share (it was even higher during Covid) The company is still clearly going through growing pains but I feel like the Games Workshop of today is in a much better position to launch and support ToW than frankly at any other time. Finally, I know people don't like to admit it but customer spending habits have also completely changed and they are willing to drop significantly more money on products like this.

I won't be holding my breath, but I don't think it is out of the realm of possibility. Last year (as I understand) GW opened up a brand new dedicated factory for their "Citadel Colour" range. Freeing up 1000Sqm+ from their main factory floor. Whilst I presume this space is being filled (probably already has been) with new machinery, GW has further expansionist plans. (I could see a "Citadel Scenery" department focused purely on the development and production of scenery and gaming mats.) GamesWorkshop seems to be coming around to the idea that some diversification is good for the bottom line. The push into Animation and Subscriptions has been paying off and with the potential monster of Amazon on the horizon, Games Workshop would be foolish to leave money on the table by not making them.

Some of the AoS scenery kits are really nice. I wish GW would take scenery more seriously. I can't for the life of me understand why they don't have a full scenery department. I'd love for there to be 8 proper 'Battlefield Boxes' representing each of the 8 Mortal Realms. GW should try and come up with a good way of having a full-sized gaming surface in a box (or tube). Folded paper and card kinda suck, proper Neoprene matts would be awesome.

I found that getting to grips with the different realms helped me get invested in the setting. (The maps of important continents in each of the realms helped a lot) I also think it is actually a really cool sequel setting to the ToW (The fact that ToW is returning was such a big turning point for me, I actually think the End Times is a great concept and love the ballsy GrimDark concept of fighting to the literal death of the world before rebirth) Having echos of the Old world throughout Age of Sigmar is cool, but as you said, it's important to approach it as it's own setting. After a rocky few years (which let's face it, was always going to be the case with such drastic action) AoS is hitting its stride.

I think there might be a bit of rumour reverb occurring here. 😅 Regarding the potential launch of ToW this winter, I see no reason why not. We have all seen the development and production output from GW increase significantly over the years. With 40k, 30k, AoS and ToW, I can totally see them pursuing a two "Tent-pole" per year release schedule. (A big release for Summer and Winter) by cycling through their four "Warhammer Universes". The next 5 years could look something like this. Summer 2023 -Warhammer 40k 10th - Winter 2023 - Warhammer The Old World Summer 2024 - Warhammer Age of Sigmar 4th - Winter 2024 - Epic Heresy Summer 2025 - Warhammer 40k Kill Team - Winter 2025 - Warcry Summer 2026 - Warhammer 40k 11th - Winter 2026 - Necromunda Summer 2027 - Warhammer Age of Sigmar 5th - Winter 2027 - Warhammer The Old World

The same way as The Horus Heresy is just fancy conversion material for marines. There is no reason why some factions can't have cross Game support and others not, it is all Warhammer after all. Nurgle, Khorne, Tzeench and Slaanesh are present in all 4 settings and whilst each can get a few system-specific models, most of the Demon range can be used in all 4 systems.

All this talk about what does and doesn't make sense in regard to model releases depends entirely on how Games Workshop promotes and develops its IPs going forward. It's clear that they are looking to expand and develop 40k, 30k, AoS and ToW into their own distinct "Warhammer Worlds" each with their own dedicated design teams and studios (I understand that ToW is currently a part of the "Boxed Games" studio but if things go well it will surely become its own vehicle, but it might give a little insight into how the Launch and support for ToW might look) There are so many different ways they can approach this. The design team could release "Index" like rules for all of the factions that were present in the game up until 8th Edition. Then focus entirely on "New" Old World Factions or "New takes" on existing factions like the Empire (The change in period helps) for new models. It means people will have rules to use older existing armies, but new minis will be for new factions. So you could play "The Empire" using the index rules using your old models in "New ToW edition" or you could play "The New Empire Faction" using the rules for them in their new army book. It would mean that there would be rules for legacy Lizardmen armies (and for people who wanted to put together the army using various minis following the Index rules) but there wouldn't actually be any Lizardmen model releases. Just their rules. New plastics will be for armies that are "unique" to ToW, I can see a launch of Tomb Kings V Bretonnia start box, with Index Rules for Beastmen, Chaos Dwarfs, Daemons of Chaos, Dark Elves, Dwarfs, The Empire, High Elves, Lizardmen, Ogre Kingdoms, Orcs and Goblins, Skaven, Vampire Counts, Warriors of Chaos and Wood Elves (With Made to Order batches for older models). New launches for things like Kislev, Cathy, The Empire States (Which will be pretty different from The Empire due to the time jump) Or they could say ****** it and go for a fully supported 20-faction plastic update. (We can dream)

What I find so incredibly frustrating is that it could have been amazing. It turns out it was just a cash grab and has left a really bitter taste.

I've cancelled. What an utter disaster.

I love them... although I do think the super bright paint schemes can be improved. Can't wait to see a more grim-dark take on them.

Since when is 50 old? yeash... If you think it's normal to have significant cognitive decline at that age you should really speak to a doctor and look at your lifestyle and diet. Seriously.