Hollow

A little side comment. This evening, I built the fantastic Wildcorp Hunters kit for my Cities of Sigmar project. It's such a characterful and fun kit. I would love to see more CoS kits for Warcry.

There are many Cairns across Scotland - A cairn is a human-made pile (or stack) of stones raised for a purpose, usually as a marker or as a burial mound. Would be cool to see something like the Fen Beast return. Matches perfectly.

The names are a good idea, factions can have multiple different Spearheads more easily this way.

I'd rather have 2 or 3 shorter 1-hour games with multiple friends than slugging it out in a single match for 3+ hours.

This is such a major point in favour of Combat Patrol/Spearhead. I love the new Sisters of Battle miniatures and bought the Combat Patrol (plus a couple of other things I just liked) I would like to have a huge Sisters army but the reality of building and painting the models became more of a chore. I was able to finish the Combat Patrol and have something I can use in a game but that is where I will likely stop with them.

Funnily enough, I think that Combat Patrol and Spearhead systems appeal more to older veteran players who have money and know the game, but just don't want to invest several hours into playing a game and the potential huge amount of time and effort collecting a faction can become. I like the idea of being able to buy a single box as a hobby project and be able to play a game with the results without any other purchases. It gives me the ability to get a flavour of a particular faction before deciding if I want to invest more time/effort and money in to the faction. I have bought 3 different 40k Combat patrols for factions that I have always fancied but never really wanted to open the can of worms that collecting a faction can become. These were fun "one-and-done" projects that were contained and manageable. There are several other people I know in their 30's and 40's that just have a lot going on in their lives and for each of them to be able to pick a faction, buy a box, build/paint it in a reasonable time and all be able to play with and against each other in a quick evening session is very appealing.

I still think the AoS Launch box will be priced at £150.

I knew from the outset that Warhammer Fest wasn't going to work. A venue capable of hosting thousands of people over 3 days would require a staffing count of several hundred people and a huge amount of tables and models. Logistically and financially it just didn't make sense. I've said it before, I think GW should move to a "Last Weekend of the Month" Preview Show calendar. Streaming simultaneously on YouTube and Twitch. Have a defined segment for the 40k AoS HH ToW settings and the games, goings-on and releases for each setting/system. Have it on a Sat or Sun at mid-afternoon GMT (Allowing more people, across the world to tune in at a reasonable time) and keep it tight with a run time of 60mins. Having an actual schedule of Preview shows would allow for much clearer communication and a much larger audience to build over time. It would allow GW to build it up into its own thing rather than trying to work around event schedules.

Funnily enough, I actually think there should be a "consolidation" of published material but an increase in faction/sub-faction diversity. Allow for the exploration of Mortal Kingdoms that aren't necessarily associated with the established Gods. Or are, but not just to Sigmar.

I suppose they are also pretty straightforward to convert/proxy.

It has to be in a holding pattern due to Amazon. GW could add so much more value to Warhammer+ I think they could honestly have 500k subscribers paying £10 a month. That would require significant investment and a proper plan though.

A fundamental shift in how rules/lore are delivered. I would like for AoS to move away from the Battletome format. Not only do I think they are slow and cumbersome, they are expensive and due to the nature of rule updates often out of date shortly after release. They are also pretty limiting regarding where the design studio can go.

It's not a coincidence that the Spearhead boxes are the same structure as a Battalion in AoS 4. (1 Hero and 3 Units) I wouldn't be surprised if we see more Battlation-sized boxes (pick your name) that allow for the purchase of a battalion at a slight discount. It echoes the "plug and play" philosophy designers mentioned when designing the rules. Potential Christmas Battalion boxes (Which could be a "command battalion") with a larger Hero and up to 4 units.

To play devil's advocate, there are numerous examples of when orders from high command dictate that there is a high-priority target on the field. The eradication of said target would be seen as more of a victory regarding a larger war. The BT is simple and clear. Not sure why people would want to have it be needlessly complicated.

I played a "final game" of AoS 3 the other day. We met at 6 (chatted, went over lists, set up etc) and the game officially started at 7. The game concluded at about 9:30. (We stopped for around 10 mins for smoke, snack, bathroom break) Once finished we packed up and he left at about 10:30. So even though the game ran pretty smoothly between 2 people who knew their lists, that is a pretty big chunk of time.

I have suggested this might be something that could be explored in the future of AoS and was shot down as it "could only be done with Marines" I can seriously see GW trying to release a large Battletome for a faction and then supplement tomes for sub-factions. How does GW make more money from a person buying publications? They are pushing the absolute limit in terms of per-book price. GW beancounters will be salivating at the idea that players will purchase a Battletome, Index Cards and a supplement to play their faction. It's standard to see how more money can be made for supplying essentially the same thing. My prediction is that we are going to see Sub-faction "mini-tomes" for factions across AoS 4.

and what exactly have they done? Remove models that had a big flashing neon sign above them that screamed "NOT LONG FOR THIS WORLD". The fact you didn't use your eyes or brain isn't GW fault. Also, I thought you were done with the hobby now that Beasts are gone?

From people that don't have the slightest clue about GW or how it's product lines work. Not only are Ogres safe, they are more than safe. Everyone with eyes knew this cull was going to happen. The only surprising thing about it is how light it has been.

I would love a "Necromunda" style game set within the Mortal Realms. As others have mentioned I think Warcry has pivoted to be a way for units to be released for factions outside their AoS release windows. The mechanics of the game are solid and with the removal of some of the Chaos Warbands, it frees up space to explore other units. I have nothing against Underworlds but just see it as the logical area that might see a "replacement" if it's the case that Gw would rather replace a system than start up another one. A Necromunda-style system with different seasons set in renowned cities across the realms would be cool.

I don't see how. I suppose it would depend on how they did it, but I think it would be perfectly reasonable for the Design Studio to want to explore new space. I don't like the idea that nothing can ever change, or because GW releases a product or game it needs to be "supported" forever. I can only imagine how stifling that would be for a group of creative people. I have no doubt that there are dozens of ideas for new games, systems and concepts set within Warhammer settings swirling around the design studio. I think it would be a shame if GW never explored any of them outside what they already have.

If Gw were to expand the production of mini-minis then I think I would prefer them to expand upon LI and have full EPIC. If something like Underworlds were to be retired/replaced I would love to see a new fantasy naval game although it has next to 0% happening due to the Dreadfleet debacle.

I think the 2024 July half-year financial report will be an interesting read. The previous couple of quarters had the launch of 40K 10th edition. In July we will see how a six-month period with two specialist game releases (Imperialis and ToW) compared to a period with a new 40k Edition. GW has been expanding what "Warhammer" is, they have moved towards having 4 clearly defined "Warhammer Settings" - 40K,AoS,HH and ToW with 40K and AoS having 3 "other" games within their settings. Kill Team, Necormunda and Quest for 40k. Warcry, Underworlds and Quest for AoS. If there was a particular system (Underworlds for example) that was deemed to have "run its course" I could see GW removing a system to make space for a new one. An "AoS Necromunda" type game.

The answer to piracy is to make legit media better quality, more accessible and convenient than pirated content. Imagine they still published much smaller runs of physical books in the future but a Warhammer+ subscription came with access to PDF's of all of GW material, with new digital publications released each week. Rules updated, FAQ's implemented and all fully integrated with army-building apps. The value add to the app would be insane. Combined with current content, having Warhammer+ as the primary hub for releasing "content" through a $10-a-month subscription service is a future I can easily see.

I wonder how sustainable GW's approach to publishing is in the medium to long term. They have the numbers and nobody can say they haven't pumped the publishing bandwagon for every penny it is worth. However, I feel that more and more people (% wise at least) are forgoing the purchase of Battletomes/Codexs. I do not doubt that the AoS design studio probably has most (If not all) of AoS 4 already planned out and are at the conceptual stages of AoS 5 and beyond. Will we just see a continuation of the status quo with how "Factions" are presented? I could see GW wanting to try and consolidate publications in a few years so that a single book appeals to more people (Campaign books) rather than splitting up the publications as much as they do now. I can see rules becoming ever more digital. What do Battletomes become if you remove the printed Battlescrolls and Rules? 50 Odd pages of lore and unit descriptions? If digital ever becomes the main delivery system for rules and updates (which I can see happening by the end of this decade) then the whole concept of "faction number" might become almost irrelevant.

I'm a visual learner, so the colour coding and icons are fantastic. The 7 Ability icons are pretty intuitive. I think I could have told you what each of them is without being told exactly. Maybe the Special and Control Icons are a bit more abstract. I also find the "Portrait" layout of the Warscroll (as opposed to a Landscape layout kinda interesting) They seem a bit too long to print 4 to a page in a Battletome. As with the Icons, I find the colouring of Yellow>Grey>Teal>Orange>Red>Purple to be pretty easy to remember. So the UX design for me is so far so good. I do still think that GW is too wordy when it comes to rules.