Hollow

If I were a betting man I would say that Warcry will have a set number of Warbands for sale at any one time and then do splash release runs of certain bands every so often (like the recent run of Underworld warbands) I can see warbands that fully fit a faction being more integrated into their respective faction.

I just want to state clearly that this move makes me the opposite of angry. Look, I get it, it sucks if you have a particular model, kit or faction you really love and it ends up on the chopping block. However, I think issuing rules at the start of the new edition and having those rules be viable for a full year, then moving them to Legends (after selling and supporting said models for 10/15/20+ years!) is a completely reasonable thing for GW to do. I'm actually a little disappointed not to see either the Duardin or Dark Elves from the coS range listed.

Yeah, can't help but feel just a tiny little bit vindicated. I found it pretty surprising how many people pushed back on what was clearly going to happen with BoC, Bonesplitterz. I've been arguing for weeks that this was going to happen. BoC to ToW. The Skaven are no surprise. A decent amount of SCE which shows to me that the AoS design studio is trying to stay on top of bloat for the range (which I think is a good thing)

I could also see a "Warband Regiment", allowing you to take a hero and 3 warbands.

From a purely thematic and "RP" type of direction, I like having a Hero coming with their own Regiment. It would make sense if you were an actual general trying to muster an army in the Realms. Approaching various warlords, captains, leaders etc and convincing them to join your cause, or to give ownership of certain units to fledgling commanders. I like the idea of it, let's hope the practical gaming part works out.

Funny, I love the duel wield ones (Although would want to work on their poses a bit)

I find it funny how GW loves to change words and have a million different names for things.... just because. So the new Spearhead (Previously Vanguard) boxes are essentially Regiments. (1 hero and 3 units) I wonder if we will see some different kinds of "regiment" boxes sold for factions.

Apart from all the obvious practical reasons why SCE are the poster boys of AoS, I like them as a concept. I think warriors from across the realm who are chosen by Sigmar and stolen from Nagash at their point of death, only to have to fight and die again and again and again... cool. Sure there is a Saturday morning cartoon level of depth to it all but Warhammer has always been a bit like that.

I could see a future edition (Not this one) where they look to completely redefine how they "present" factions/lore/art etc. For example. An edition where a unit Battlescroll comes with the kit and is available for free as a PDF online (and available to buy in physical decks) and then published books consolidated factions based around race, culture, fitting and focused more on lore, art, collecting/modelling/painting. Funnily enough, they could go as extreme as going back to a single large Grand Alliance book and then card decks for each faction. If the desire to print Battlescrolls in Battletomes goes away that's a lots of pages of printed material.

I don't think there should be faction terrain either 😅 I DO think there should be proper Biome or Realm-themed terrain sets though.

If you like them that is fair enough. I see it as a case of having them means we don't get other things. Resources are finite. Logistics, design, manufacturing what it takes to produce, stock and support endless spells means less kits/units for factions. If the question is "Would you rather AoS support the endless spell kits, or get rid of them and release 9 new kits for various factions? I know which I would rather have.

A wee personal spicy take regarding Endless spells. They suck! The models are not good quality. The thematics and aesthetics are incredibly hit-and-miss. They take up valuable inventory, logistics and shelf space. Get rid!

With all the speculation regarding BoC, CoS Duardin, Dark Elves etc I think it is important to occasionally place integration, thematics, personal desires, "what has gone before" and "what I think fits" with cold, hard, pragmatic business sense. Plastic kits come from Moulds. These Moulds have shelf lives. After a certain number of runs, the mould needs to be recut. It may be the case that CoS Duardin kits have been kept around for so long because they were selling at a decent rate consistently and have had their moulds recut at least once during their lifetime. Meaning, many more thousands of prints left in them. Why not keep them around if they are selling ok and the moulds are still good? If/When they are replaced and moved over to ToW (Which is basically over the next handful of months with the Dwarves previewed for ToW and AoS 4 on the way) I really hope we them replaced with a proper new CoS Duardin kit or not just removed completely. A similar thing can be said for the DE kits. They have kept selling at a rate deemed high enough to keep them around. They may be at or near the end of their mould lives. Would it be worth it to invest in new tooling for these kits? With a potential Malerion faction on the way, to have a full DE faction in the ToW (which in many ways directly competes with a potential Malerion faction in AoS) could require a significant investment in recutting moulds etc (for kits that have been available for the last 10 years and they might not have great sales data) This is all complete speculation of course, but there are a million reasons why it would make perfect sense to "squat" BoC or Duardin, or Elves.... (Or any other faction!) This is the company that literally blew up the ToW. The idea that "Removing a faction from AoS that has some ancient plastic kits and has had a Battletome" is a pretty shaky position. I do hope that GW uses the launch of AoS4 to communicate not just the immediate release schedule but an over-arching roadmap to give people some idea of the general direction of the design studio.

It's not good for the game to stagnate and never change either. I can see at least a good dozen reasons why GW are going in this direction. It makes perfect sense to me.

Your definition is different to mine. "GW Released a free PDF index and then literally nothing else for the faction over a 3-year period" doesn't mean "surviving an edition" to me. They will get a free pdf pack at the start of the edition and THAT'S IT. This isn't directed at you in particular but some people really cannot read what is right in front of them. ALL BOC models are being moved to TOW and BOC will NOT get a BOC AoS4 edition. Just look at the site, the product line. This is happening.

Exactly. Of course, BoC were always going to get an Index (Called it being an Index edition not long after seeing what happened in 40k). They just won't be getting a Battletome under the name BoC if there is a "Beast-like" BT on AoS4 at all. BoC will not exist as they currently do by the end of AoS 4. All the BoC (Including the Shaman and Warlord) will be sold for ToW and the range will be reimagined or removed.

Having re-watched the cinematic I must say that I really like it. Starting by being felled in battle after putting up a hell of a fight, chosen and stolen from Nagash (who looked fantastic) being killed across the epochs Chaos, Necro and Beast then seeing Blight City manifest in the realms. (We assume that this has only happened in Aqshy, but I wonder if Skaven have appeared elsewhere) If the 40k cinematic is anything to go by, the stuff we saw in the trailer will be a pretty accurate representation of what we will see in model form. Man... I wish GW would sort out their Amazon, Warhammer + stuff. This trailer could easily be the basis of a full series. Would be awesome.

It's almost like they have multiple product lines and games and are showing them off.

I like the The Brethren Of The Bolt. Trying to ignore it but damn, Twitch chat is unbearable, toxic sludge. What a bunch of horrific, entitled, rude, scum-bags. Yuck.

You both should be banished to the Forum stocks for such blasphemy! Blanche is 100% Iconic Warhammer IMO. Off with yer heads!

Funnily enough, talking about value. With a 20% discount, I think that Cursed City is one of the best value boxes that GW does! 60 fantastic minis! books, cards, tokens, tiles etc all for £100.

Oh, you are very much preaching to the choir. I love GW and I'm generally very positive regarding their releases and products, but as a (very) long-term customer, I think the quality/quantity and price equilibrium around their books is way off. IMO new Army books should have newly commissioned front cover art and multiple new art pieces throughout the publication. Significantly more lore/ background (Significant new content each time) and should be a minimum of 150+ pages. (Most hover around just under 100). A new book should be exciting for rules lovers as well as lore/art/collectors.

GW Publications are a strange one. I feel very satisfied with my purchases sometimes (The recent TOW books, Dark Angel Supplement) and other times I feel like the value is not there in terms of content (The Dawnbringers series, Arcane Journals) I do still think that going into a GW, buying a new Codex or Army book for 30 quid and sitting with a cup of tea reading it and putting together lists and really getting into the army is one of the most enjoyable aspects of the "GW hobby". My 2nd edition Eldar Codex still sits proudly on a shelf. I like getting the publications but I will be a lot more discerning when it comes to which ones I really want to get as I feel like GW has been really squeezing the price to content ratio lately.

I'm not so sure. We are only midway through March and O+G are up for preorder already and we may see the next faction reveal in a couple of days at Adepticon. I think they are roughly going for 2 factions a quarter with all 9 factions released by Q1 2025. The first "Campaign" book released in the spring/summer of next year.

I don't know what is telling me this but I feel that GW is moving away from the Vrs boxes and moving towards more Spearhead/Combat Patrol - Splash Army box releases. I'm not entirely sure that the Vrs boxes were that big of a hit as several were around for some time. With SCE and Skaven coming in summer, I would like to see AoS keep the ball rolling at a good pace and have a large update/addition to at least one other faction before the end of the year. Whatever is happening with Beasts, or a 2nd wave for one of the lighter factions.