Baron Klatz

Haha, Yep! (Sorry I didn’t just use spoilers, I forgot how to do them on this site. Little frustrating every forum uses a different system for censors instead of a standard method) And I think he must have played the recent patch of Total war warhammer 3 where you can cheese Ai armies with a flyer leading them everywhere because he and his prosecutors do just that to the Destruction forces to get them away from the crusaders and then ditch the brutes entirely. 😄 edit:before that he and the redeemers basically stomp out a nasty daemon force with him one-shotting the leader(Venator’s special arrow ability) and work in tandem with the Freeguild so their mobile walls funnel Ironjawz into the Stormcast who can match them in combat better.

For Stormcast fans the biggest news is a certain famous someone from Hallowed Knights, that’s not Gardus, and fellow Stormcast Eternals who went from 😈 to 😇 are playing a big role in aiding the Life Crusade! (And making the angel units look cool again, please let the next battletome give our fly bois a big boost) Also today’s video probably had the coolest idea for how to apply a big angry pig to a siege since the Ironjawz x BCR alliance. Final note is the leader of the Ghyran crusade is really cool and now I hope the next Freeguild is Ghyran-based so we get her and beetle cavalry. Just a cool character in general, opposite of the hot headed commanders in Aqshy, nice to see how she focuses much more on terrain tactics and plant growth to affect a battle. Plus she has fun ideas, she saw the Maw-gruntas with those side attachments for Ironjawz to attack from while rushing through enemy formations and immediately thought they could do the same for Steamtanks, 10/10 idea gal.

Yeah I just see this as a way to move stock (this lines up with the old start collecting too well) but they over-tuned it way too much in comparison to the rest. I don’t see this being a harbinger of anything major like 4th edition changes(though of course I expect a new round of better battletomes, that’s just solid money makers) and honestly if one of the merc forces had to be broken i’d take the older army over the new armies which would REEK of power creep to sell the newest minis. Hopefully they just nerf the shooting in a quick FAQ patch when they see the issues. That said, I Love the flavor. Expeditionary force that uses grappling lines on it’s smaller airships to zip around, willing to use trench warfare and go WW1 with their advanced weapons, bigger use of their nullstone weaponry to fight magic armies and a nice shout they call gods abominations as a scientific military force. That’s all excellent. 👌

Lore-wise the heights make sense. Steelhelms: malnourished militia or soldiers living on more inhospitable Realms so smol Cavaliers: either well fed nobles or hard-bitten warriors that fought their way out of their doomed villages and survived crossing the dangerous wastes to civilization so like better off Order of Azyr members or the Arch-knights are very tall(sometimes I wonder if Azyr energy making them be able to reach a Stormcast’s shoulder like the Silver Tower warpriest) Deathrattle: started human-sized with Shadespire but between Shyish’s growing energies causing undead to swell with power and the introduction of Ossiarch Bonereapers weeding out smaller skeletons for parts only the most armored and heroic bone bois can survive the Realmscapes battlefields to fight for their undead kingdoms or under their vampire allies. Same explaination they gave why Soulblight lords are so tall up to Stormcast height really, all that death energy does an undying body good. 💪💀 (well until you slightly overdose and explode into a Vengorian or Vyrkos horror anyway)

Sounds solid. Braggit’s an interesting choice, I can see his boyz as a useful distraction, might your Endless Spells be used to make him a little deadlier? (Annoy an enemy to run right into a Malevolent Maelstrom?)

Haha! That’d make an awesome reference to the voice of Vegeta being Gorgutz from DoW series(that’s why his max health was over 9,000 for the reference. Listen to any video with Vegeta’s voice slowed down and you can hear him, it’s awesome. :D)

Which makes sense. It’s a BIG Waaagh. It doesn’t start out that way, they need to build momentum as smaller clans first showing the others who’s boss first as they conquer them to build up. So a mixed group doesn’t make much sense as a starting point I think the Ironjawz vanguard guesses are on the right track since Kruleboyz are in everything else already(especially since they can keep out just enough points for a great pig big to slot into it for 1000 points Ironjawz ) Ah good call. That’s even how they can differentiate the two. Ironjawz ferals go more nude into battle with their trophy heads that talk to them for the wild spiritualism aspect of Gorkamorka Beast breakas wear more monster pelt and trophies for the Hunter aspect of Gorkamorka.

It does seem a likely direction in-spite of how loyal the Bonesplitterz fans are. That’s the only wriggle about the situation I don’t like because I full support splitting the Orruks up into armies that can be fleshed out and given more attention. Maybe even Weirdbrutes & possible future Weirdguttaz as the Bonesplitterz successors as portions of the Ironjawz & Kruleboyz fall into the Gorkamorka madness and could have the Spiritual Successor of the Big Waaagh with both books having a Weirdwaaagh sub-faction that makes them Battleline and opens up Coalitions with the other one. That way you can take the Ironjawz tome to be more Brutal but kunnin’ Waaagh or the Kruleboyz tome to be a Kunnin’ but Brutal Waaagh. We’ll see next edition, hoping for a refresh of Bonesplitterz(maybe into Wildboyz to make new ones with a new twist so TOW gets the old savages) but expecting something more severe.

Seeing rules talk popping up has me looking at the fun people have been having in recent battle reports and I love seeing how players use their model skirmish lines to their advantage be it in hugging terrain to cut down numbers, stretching a unit out to take advantage of auras or other shenanigans that make the individual models feel like they can alter a battle as AoS flows between mass battles and individual model skirmish importance. With AoS Battlescroll recently easing up Coherency for more elbow room this emboldens it further so here’s my top 3 examples from recent games I’ve watched. First off, proof time is a circle. Beast of Chaos congaline punishing a mirror match for trying to ambush with his army. Maybe Skaven are related because that’s some good cheese. 🧀 👌 Second formation with actual Skaven, this sacrificial skirmish line that actually wraps around the army in a Miniature Wargamers vid. A mighty Skaven victory as their brave slaught-er-Sacrifice! put the charging Chaos Warriors in the middle of the open and sitting ducks for all the artillery to unload with barely anything left to contest objectives that the Stormfiends couldn’t handle. Third is a sneaky Ossiarch tactic of a congaline to contest the vicious Saurus warriors who normally rip them apart but with a Harvestor safely at the back of the long line he kept replacing his losses to slowly overwhelm the space lizards with a continually stream of bone bois. Honorable mentions to a CoS vs Gloomspite battle I keep on hand for inspiration as a brave Freeguild line quickly breaks ranks to hug the terrain to deal with monster swarms on all sides to be slightly more manageable piecemeal attacks And a formation from back in 2019 where a total mad lad used this as the ultimate spearhead for his Demigryphs to charge in after. If y’all have any examples to share(especially pictures!) I’d love to hear/see them and the fun or sneaky strategies and AoS freeform goodness people cook up thinking outside the “blocks”.

Bonesplitterz getting anything would be great to see with how long they’ve suffered since getting shuffled into the Orruk fold. The crazy monster hunters need love one way or another. On Weirdbrutes my first thought is magical focused Brutes for battle shamans. Maybe Gordrakk’s quest for those artifacts he avoided to attack Excelsis instead have paid off being found and energized his boyz with new powers? Another angle could be Brutes being weird and starting to go Bonesplitterz. In the Broken Realms stories Gork contacted Gordrakk by possessing a Ironjawz that converted into the Bonesplitterz so they could go that direct, switch fist-smashed armor for Ward paint and giant spirit cleavers while being hulks. Would be fun if likewise the new Ardboyz included some Kruleboyz changing to Gork & Ironjawz praise and training in hopes they can beef out too into massive warriors. Give a vibe the three Warclans are interconnecting more with paths into eachother rather than be 3 hodgepodge groups crammed together because big green and mean.(or alternatively put Kruleboyz into their own tome….with all the new creatures they’re catching and raising they got room for expansion on their own)

Indeed. The slow replacement of old armies to pure AoS ones is sure to be a painful process but for every bandage removed it’ll be a healthier system and setting as a whole with the “leftovers” feelings gone and AoS making new fresh chapters for itself. On that note I do appreciate both Soulbound and the new book are addressing these things. Era of the Beast already continued the Nullstone Brotherhood as a reason why Phoenicians & Wanderers left the main cities and set out on distant crusades to avoid the persecutions and now the tome gives even explanations why the Phoenicium is less active. (also has a nod to why Hammerhal Aqshy changed it’s colors from Azyrite blue & gold to red and grey as the new generals like Tahlia pushing for natives to represent their city and country. Though stubborn holdouts still try to keep the old colors) Yeah that was a Big problem with CoS that it was barely CoS at all. Even the Sports Station made fun about that: And while it completely side-blinded me they pulled them all out(especially since I kept saying they’d be the big new Coalition army for every faction 😂) I do understand this method of both wanting factions to stand on their own legs and make it easier to balance so they don’t run into obsolete units.

It was probably on your assumption of them taking the place of Stormcast as posterboys. Freeguild are awesome but don’t hold a candle to how easy it is to recognize a Stormcast Eternal by just a glance at their huge shining armor or seraphim masks and between being new painter starters…well this comment on Reddit sums it up: “ BaseballWorking2251 28m Best thing about aos is that i don't have to be a good painter to mount a respectable stormcast army. Cos is for experts. Glad i didn't play the old world, I would not have stuck with it. Look forward to see what some local brush masters can do with some of these.” The new Freeguild are amazing but would scare off people as an entry point with those crazy details, which is an important part of posterboy status for easy entry. Stormcast Eternals are as simple as dipping into a golden paint pot and ready to go. 👌 ⚡️

Expectations: coin flip between new great weapon elite unit or new “Demigryphs”(Gargoylians?) Reality: another Witch Hunter!

It would’ve been cool if it looked closer to the Ottoman bombard from Age of Empires3, I agree. I also wonder if the Whisper Blade is a low key new take on Witch Hunters for the future? But in all I like what I see. The faction is really doing it’s own thing with just the right amount of gothic & 40k spices thrown in to the Mortal Realms curry. Lastly, look at the very bottom monk’s head and the line he shaved down it. Is that supposed to symbolize an upside-down hammer? 😆

I won’t be too surprised if they don’t put in great weapons(yet) just on how buff heavy these all look. Like between the battle-priests in the Steelhelms unit already that look to buff defense and all these “turn weapons into fire swords”, “surgeon & holy healers” and “big priest unit” they might be counting on the imperial guard flavor of stack so many buffs on the plain guardsmen that he becomes a blender. But yeah, I can see teases coming for a 4th edition wave. Maybe the Ghyran side of the city for hardier exotic cavalry and troops used to dense jungles, magic flora & giant insects there they can bring? Edit: also showing these off to Discord friends. They’re loving them! “these models are amazing kinda give me a "what if we put 40k back into fantasy" vibe” “What an incredible mix of berserk and 40k”

Oh I am Swooning over these leaks. 🤩 Guys look like a great aesthetic balance between AoS’ bizarre elements and dipping into the crazed baroque fervor of things like Berserk & Blasphemous. Quick side-tangent on the subject but I’m perfectly happy with the hero unit flood. Lots of armies have had that like Lumineth(count both waves and more than half the releases were heroes) and that fits both the game and setting as a Gods vs Monsters skirmish. The fantasy superheroes carry these forces to survive the surreal magic realities. Likely even CoS will be able to use Battleline knights for an effective 15-20 model force to keep with that skirmish heavy vibe of hero hammer. (can’t wait to see which of these guys make it into Soulbound. Arch-Knight would be perfect for me to craft into a Final Fantasy 9 Steiner character to go with the increased airship activity & floating islands, monster battles and rampaging eidolons/incarnates being summoned ) But yeah, absolutely love they dove into more gargoyle aesthetic with an actual mascot one and the knights sporting snarling beast-mask helms so it all connects. Easily can see how this can be converted to Realms with the tools available. Death Realm is already on the table with so many undead helpers but Ghyran will fit swimmingly with wood armor paint jobs, the animal-mask knights and even the ghost piper picking up vibes from the Sylvaneth ones. Yeah… anyone whining about skin colors in AoS usually has absolutely zero idea about the setting and try to argue using outdated logic on a setting that doesn’t even have an Africa. The hissy fits aimed at Children of Teclis cover with the dark-skinned Lumineth were especially hilarious. When your worlds look like this the “social commentary” arguments are pretty null and void since the social structures are completely made up anyway. It’s over-the-top fantasy fun in magical cosmic space, just have fun with it and hobby on! 👍

Crazy awesome to see an actual gargoyle creature go with all the icons. Love how weirdly baroque the rest look and I think the first arch-knight has an snarling animal faceplate? By Ornstein we need more of those. The bombard unit being also a wall is really sweet too with the whole gunner aesthetic that they’re a moving fortress of walls and panels together.

True. A better way to have put it would be those tribes on “the brink” of chaos with them remaining resistant but could still be pushed or have been transformed by the corrupted realmscapes(like some of God-Eater’s Son reclaimed with odd physiologies like spitting poison) that they need to be saved before they fully commit to chaos and are lost.(a Far cry from the Imperium who would’ve taken one look at such changed tribes and destroyed them with the “saving” being they died pure for the Emperor) Darkoaths might also register as on several occasions their yet-to-be-decided devotion to the dark gods have seen them temporarily allying with Order. Also agreed on some earlier comments about “AoS should continue making it’s own path” as it’s Noblebright nature is very refreshing for the Warhammer universes. Like it’s dark but you can easily get events like the Iliatha Lumineth who mastered magi-tech cloning and created them to such an extent that they were using it instead of natural childbirth and doing surreal stuff that a single aelf was doing with dozens of themself which started to cause a major backlash empowering Slaanesh and getting their nation overrun by daemonettes. When I read that I braced myself for the inevitable warhammer “welp we went to the extreme with this cool thing and suffered. Better lock it all away and call it a forbidden thing never to be touched and always seen as a possible thing that could help save us one day if we actually learned”. But nope, Lumineth instead do this remarkable thing alien to the warhammer franchise called “learned from the mistake and just regulate the cool thing and can continue building off it”. So they still clone but limit it to very few, usually a twin, and are one of the most populated Lumineth nations with burgeoning cities.(and even doubled down on supporting childbirths again through Alarielle & Life Realm worship so they cover both advantages) Similar to other Brighter stuff we see from things like Kharadron changing/breaking outdated rules or traditions for better success with all parties involved in the transaction to even Seraphon knowing they can not do everything themselves so there’s a story where a Slann gets sick from a Shyish energy leaking into their void-ship and the Skinks beam up a Lord-Relictor to ask his help in healing their master. Excelsis, they’re near a major Temple-city and have a sizable Skink city district. Relations were already good but during the Siege of Excelsis it was a Starpriest that convinced the ruling council to hold steady against the millions strong Waaagh and Kroak saving the city that have made very solid ties to the lizardfolk. “The Skinks here have been bemused by the sudden outpouring of generosity from the citizens who have lost so much, yet have still brought many small offerings to their temple in gratitude for Lord Kroak’s recent assistance in saving Excelsis.” At least there’s two nice examples in the older stuff. “Ship Rats” have Kharadron trade with a oriental-flavored mountain top Chamon city that built itself around a daemon that got bored with all the killing in the Age of Chaos and gave peace a chance so they now worship it and in “Court of the Blind Prince” there’s a quick mention of a ocean floor empire of daemons that broke connections with the dark gods and hide beneath the churning primordial magics of the seas making them more neutral.

Agreed but the parallels are gonna happen, they’re regular soldiers serving a God-ruler and his demigod legions in securing civilization across a (magical) cosmos. They might as well play on it like Stormcast crossbow pistols are called “Boltstormers”. Besides, the mantra is handled pretty well to keep it from going grimdark. ”Fiend” & “Wraith” are purely antagonist titles that aren’t telling Freeguilders to go after all corrupted, fallen, deceived or undead in general. Chaos tribes can be taken as Reclaimed(which the Wilder corps use) and helpful undead are to be allied with(see the Hallost ghosts in the Corebook aiding Dawners or the talking mummy head relics employed in the army) And Monster is just a neutral term pointing towards Destruction but can be the average Realms Mega-fauna on the rampage unlike if it had pointed to greenskins or titans in general.(and we got ogors) Lastly, remember 40k’s hopelessness was brought on itself when the imperium willingly wiped out every alien that could’ve helped them. That’s the polar opposite of the free cities being built on multiple races, heavy open alliances with other factions and non-human dieties they worship like Alarielle, Grungni and stuff like a Glymmsforge Saint being a Sigmar devoted gargant.

If you look at the second Battle Priest on the box his relic is also a anvil covered in incense. Anvil giving buffs to shield infantry is very duardin. That kind of stuff makes for very nice visual cues of how integral the duardin are to free city society and infrastructure with the armor & customs echoing them. Another note is something I spied on the box’s lore blurb about the army: “With faith and overwhelming firepower, these mortal armies fight back against the fiend, the monster and the wraith.” That’s a nice combo between the imperial guard’s “the mutant, the heretic and the xeno” while also referring to Chaos, Destruction and Death grand alliances.

I’d love the next Destruction warband to be knight grots but that “these tracks are worrying” does smack of bigger monsters. With all the troggs Harbringer talks about it could wind up a troggherd force that can later accompany the big Realmgate one. Either the mossy troggs or ones that cover themselves in plants & rubble to camouflage as ruins would work well and give a twist on them(ambush troggs). Otherwise I could see another big monster that corresponds to the monster list like the Thornspine Leonax or Garnok(would match up with the Freeguild Manticore as a formerly known chaos creature cleansed of corruption since it resembles the jabberslythe) And of course Ogors are always a good bet. Easy reuse of city assets and they already set up the Gutbusters seeing the hungry meat forests as “holy” and will feed the gaping mouths on the trees and root floors.

Well if you look close at one fighter in the vid she does appear to have aelven ears. Might be some more head choices in that flavor. my favorite bits are the baroque critters. More walking fish because the magical sulphuric seas of Aqshy sped up that evolution, skull head for the chaotic hellscapes and little sock Dobby for the fey creatures even Berserk manga payed homage to. Always a big win when we get to see the bizarre fauna & flora of the Mortal Realms to immerse us in the surreal magic of the realmscapes. 🍻 💫

Yeah the bottom hammer is very similar to Ogor ones, however it’s fair to say they might end up sharing aesthetics like that anyway from them all re-using design ideas under Gorkamorka so it’s a dice roll between Ogors, Troggoths & Ironjawz. Like how both Ironjawz weapons and new Ogors like to put metal teeth on their weapons to symbolize the Gulping God’s mighty bite. Wouldn’t be a stretch to see Ironjawz wielding Ogor design weapons in the reverse.

Really I’m just surprised after such a massive Tyranid reveal none of the recent “is that squishy thing a Nid?” rumors were for them. https://warbosskurgan.blogspot.com/p/rumour-engines.html?m=1#end more than ever they seem rather…fishy to me. 🐠

My bet is the same way Kurnothi & Melusai/Khinerai end in -i is the hint the Ulgurothi are shadow daemon hybrid aelves. I think Ulgu people would be something like Ulguthians.