Baron Klatz

Oh I love the NightHaunt, the execution sword being the actual brains of the operation reminds me of that one Zelda boss that starts by unleashing the sealed cursed blade(bonus points it’s the game where Link looks effected by the Realm of Beasts ) Both Warcry & UnderWorlds are also rocking amazing road maps packed with content. Gotta say this feels more like AoS’ year than 40k’s. Those are definitely all AoS alongside the silhouette of the Freeguild cavalier.(you can tell his helmet is topped by one of those emblem renders we saw for the Dawncrusades and he has the hammer shown off already as well) Kruleboyz worship both Kragnos & Mork. They’re biologically even classified as Morruks. Besides Whitefang saying there’s Destruction love in the future and “a new Troggoth not for Warcry” we haven’t had much rumors on what the Orruk face could mean. Could be a new unit(like say armored trogg for Ironjawz or Kruleboyz wave) or could just be part of the upcoming narrative campaign books. If it’s wrong then I don’t want to be right. All the UnderWorlds warbands hold up so I’m more than okay with repackaged Shadespire stuff on par with Crypt of Blood using them in new ways.

Yeah I really don’t want to get into the arguments again but going off what tidbits we know from Runebrush’s 2020 interview and it’s smaller status as a specialist game(one that has to rely on re-releasing old models to just stay relevant) I don’t think looking at it for new models is a great idea. Like even ignoring the AoS Studio & TOW FW team having no communication with eachother it’s gonna be a game that’s likely gonna take years to just get the regular factions under control with a few releases per year on possibly Aeronautica levels. Once AoS gets it’s full steam back as it’s been doing it’ll easily outpace that by miles and be the more sure fire of the two to see Morghur pop up as a new god model and new beasties if I had any wager.

@CommissarRotke had a really good theory it’s representing the main big events. Necroquake(Shyish and red energy emanating from there), Life-Rite(Ghyran and green energy) and now all the beast energy flowing everywhere causing monsters to multiply and go wild, animalistic mutations, incarnates to go on rampages and even people to exhibit more savage tendencies. Could be a hint at the new narrative tomes, new Orruk releases(Kruleboyz, new Bonesplitterz, or Ironjawz after Gordrakk actually went and got those artifacts he passed up to attack Excelsis) or all the above. The Broken Realms story “Brutal” might have a part here as Gordrakk actually got to talk to Gork that was possessing an Ironjawz that became a Bonesplitterz.(and pretty fun Mork fake-out by the Gloomspite shaman that released in Malign Portents, RIP 🪦🍄 ) https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/06/25/broken-realms-fiction-brutal/

Honestly to me it’s closer to those “I can’t play the old warhammer editions because GW sent goons to my house and stole all my old copies and models” but Wizards of the Coast saw those joke posts and went: ”Huh, not a bad idea.”

Haha, I have a friend new to the Warhammer franchise and went from learning about AoS& 40k to playing Total War say the same. ”They feel like an AoS faction trapped in WHFB” I’m fairly certain their fans would take anything up to 40k Beastmen being ported over at this point. 😅 The AoS teased stuff like Realm affected Gors becoming things like Ghur Mammothmen, Ghyran Mantismen or Shyish albino lionmen along with the Gavespawn faction wanting everything turned into primordial ooze for really twisted aberrations would be cool though. Oh, Wizards of the Coast sent dangerous thugs to retrieve leaked cards from a YouTuber. Just part of their downward spiral of public opinion among a chain of other horrid decisions. Great image upgrade for GW & Paizo though.

Broke: worrying about how to afford both new Cities of Sigmar and Flesh-Eater Courts. Woke: thinking about how to kitbash ghoulish Shyishian soldiers that can work in both armies as crazed ghouls that see themselves as noble Dawncrusaders. The Mallus coins they took when “drunk” in reality a Ghoul King’s teeth after they blacked out from the madness. Good call! 🤩 My first thought at the lance arm was the Oni cannibal from Samurai Shodown. (which you can’t blame me for. Literally a man turned into a mad cannibal demon that eats his opponents. It’s one-to-one)

I mean there’s lots of cool stuff not manifested as models yet but GW also works 3-5 years from idea to design to production so a lot can still yet to be seen. Take the current Gnarlwoods for example. That started off as just a brief mention in the Ironjawz 2016 battletome they’ve since built on over the years and now are going all in on the setting. Phil Kelly has a great vid on it with concept sketches shown off at the end to show the work they had to do over the years. Nothing’s off the table when a 2016 Battletome lore blurb evolved into a 2021 Warcry setting that’s pulling other systems into it. Just to clarify you know I was just using her as a recent example right? There’s lots of other werewolf-hybrid heroes and units Hrunspuul spawned before her I could’ve pointed to from the actual 2021 release. The new hero just shows how much that’s overflowed now from back when it was just a new entry in the Zodiacal God-beast listings.

Not true! In fact they like to lock a lot of secrets behind WD. Like before the big Cursed City & Soulblight reveals in 2021 the December 2020 White Dwarf talked about the Shyishian God-beast Hrunspuul, Guardian Hound of the Cairns which was apparently spreading it’s own vampire bloodline. Then a few months later the Cursed City and Vyrkos were revealed and now we’re up to our necks in werewolf-vampire hybrids who confirmed Hrunspuul was the progenitor of their animal-blood line. On other examples the 2016 Beastclaw Raiders battletome namedropped NightHaunt who were summoned by a necromancer woman in a “soul boat” which yeah- we got both now. And then the 2018 Corebook talked about both light aelves in locked away Hysh and the Sons of Behemat’s origins that we got to see in full glory in the same year of 2020. And I don’t think I have to say anything about all the Chuardin & Gholemkin lore hints we’ve been getting. Edit: oh yeah, in 2015 there was also the AoS Starter book mentioning “Steamhead Duardin” and a later book with the Stormhosts searching Chamon for allies as “strange lights flashed in the clouds above” that eventually was revealed to be Kharadron. The 2015 Realmgate Wars novel with Mannfred leading the Ironbulls stormhost to Nagash had him bargain with a host of ghouls for safe passage he couldn’t control with them White Dwarfs hinting at a “hungry host” on the horizon that was revealed to be the Flesh-Eater Courts. And the 2018 Legions of Nagash battletome talked about souls vanishing from Nagash’s grasp and him vowing to find the thieves before it was revealed to be the Deepkin who launched several months later. GW does like to do build ups.

I’m sure Ironjawz will eventually get a new wave. They’ve been writing about them a lot in the stories(besides being front and center in the Hamilcar animation). We got Gordrakk’s story from December and the White Dwarf Flashpoint campaign has been going since 2021 to now of Ka-Rokk rampaging through Lendu from the top of the continent all the way down building up to the siege of Everquake city. newest flashpoint article btw: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/04/10/white-dwarf-487-brings-more-arks-of-omen-more-great-stomps-and-more-warhammer-hobby-perfection/ “Over in the Mortal Realms, there’s more from Flashpoint Rondhol and the Great Stomp, with new campaign rules for fighting in the Land of Living Peaks. Part two of our Waaagh!-sized feature on collecting and painting Orruks also appears.” (if you can’t read the story: Continues the Lendu flashpoint, from what I can read zoomed in Ka-rokk hasn’t reached Everquake city yet, is trying to going through a Sigmarite settlement called Harm’s Way that’s half-swallowed by the Lendu’s chasms but survived and he can’t there yet because the leader of the Kraken Blades Stormhost reforge exploded in the mountains causing a landslide that blocked his Waaagh off. The Ogor captain Targug looked like an obstacle for Ka-Rokk but was hunting down Tzeentch’s forces that sunk and mutated half his force and when he ate the flesh of the Tzeentch-spawn it changed him causing him to sail who knows where under the light of Gnorl.) Interestingly there is also Bonesplitterz rules for it:

Would be nice if that’s a surprise Bonesplitterz refresh with a boar-tusk change for both that Wereboar spell and to show the Beast Energy from Ghur is changing them for being so spiritually connected to it. Then Seraphon, Bonesplitterz, Cities and FEC have all gotten the long awaited model updates they’ve been needing with AoS4 poised to give Skaven their due.

Shyish and Greenskins could also connect to the rumored Spider Incarnate. The spider gods are mainly living in Nagash’s basement. But who knows though? I’m surprised more rumors haven’t been circling if it’s gonna contain that much stuff with the Destruction & Kurnothi love Whitefang mentioned being teased now when we still have a full plate of CoS, Narrative campaigns(maybe that’s where Destruction is for now?), FEC and Nightmare Quest on our hands amidst a 40k launch. 😵‍💫 Yes to this. For Chuardin just go full evil Megazords with a named leader daemon-engine leading a pack of other ones to go rampaging through the enemy like mechanized Sons of Behemat. It does feel like they’re setting them up to have way more interactions with the races rather than being just dino-phantasms that pop down in starlight to wipe out a chaos cult plot and then vanish without a trace. . > “Where magical nexus points were settled by other races of Order, the Slann would send down forces of Seraphon to help bolster the defenders in an uneasy alliance. In the Age of the Beast they have a vested interest in the Dawnbringer Crusades succeeding, since many of these are settling on nexus points. The humans are often wary of the Saurus helping them guard their township, but will accept the assistance. When it comes down to it though, the Saurus will do what needs to be done to guard the nexus points, not the citizens of the newly formed city. Speaking of cities, many of the larger Cities of Sigmar also host Seraphon ziggurats inside of their walls, as a sort of embassy, headed up by a Skink Starpriest.” There’s a lot to unpack with Coalesced Saurus forming their own brutal societies and noted as far more superstitious than their Starborne counterparts, the red-crested skinks secretly hunting chaos worshippers in the free cities, Slann & Draconith councils discussing what to do about the rampaging incarnates. Plus plenty of space-faring shenanigans they’re getting up to. Ever wondered what’s on the other side of a Realm since most are flat planes? Well one temple-ship bypassed an area infected with Belakor’s cursed skies by doing just that and landing upside-down UNDERNEATH the Realm-disc. That alone would be worth at least an novella to see what’s on the other side!

Personally I think extremely close as FW only started dropping off fantasy models after TOW was announced. So it does feel like they’re making room exclusively for it. Wfb reviving as a FW product with discontinued armies and new big resin releases(as Hastings said) does sound like a foundation shifter when compared to the past. Especially if it is replacing Horus Heresy as their new main project. Age of Guilliman, let’s go! 👏

Maybe they’re planning a big re-release of all old armies and discontinued stuff on Forge World? As of right now the only non-Bloodbowl fantasy stuff they have left is a Khorne Herald with the rest of that store site’s fantasy section suspiciously empty: https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-US/Warhammer-Age-of-Sigmar

Some easy to miss news. First off a number of small board games hitting US that you can now get at places like Barnes and Nobles. The Warhammer Quest is a big one for me as I’ve been trying to get it. Super basic and good for beginners while getting the nifty warband + lord. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/04/21/get-your-start-in-the-worlds-of-warhammer-with-three-fantastic-games/ Then Yndrasta is getting a big pile of celestial love with a big new novel and some other goodies besides: https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/04/26/join-yndrasta-on-a-legendary-hunt-in-her-first-first-full-length-black-library-outing/ Really cool background city as well: “Yndrsata has her work cut out for her – she’s been sent to defend the sled-city of Riika-Min, a nomadic metropolis that skids across the icy tundras of Ghur, from the gargantuan kraken that threatens to smash it asunder. To get the lay of the land, the gold-clad huntress befriends Njda, a local who soon discovers that Yndrasta’s ferocity may even outstrip the leviathan menacing her home.“ Speaking of backgrounds, the Blacktalon article showcases some great jaw-droppers. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2023/04/26/the-making-of-blacktalon-how-the-mortal-realms-were-brought-to-life-for-warhammer/ Finally, an auspicious day for Khorne fans as Reddit managed to post 2 corny jokes near the same time. Not really news but that’s gotta mean something in this crazy reality.

I mean…that would be the problem. The AoS factions would wipe out the Wfb factions that are much more grounded and treat something like wizard-infantry or ghost armies as either myths or doomsday scenarios. You could do it but don’t be surprised if you take more than “over-the-top unit turned back into a epic hero” when the Kharadron completely warp the setting into something old players cringe at. Eh, AoS3 got hit by Covid so I say just wait for the verdict on that. They keep expanding the Stormcast, NightHaunt and Sylvaneth out on their one concept over and over again(and we see it leaking into TWW with Cathay & Kislev getting the Space Wolves treatment at times). Cause lorewise there’s toooons of stuff Fyreslayers, Kharadron and Deepkin are still sitting on not touched by the models yet like Magmaqueens, Gholem mechas(not associated with Gholemkin, they’re Kharadron Titans), flying battle whales, etc. I think that would be the best compromise of we have to go that direction. A new K’daai destroyer model would be a must no matter what(big plus if they made mini-k’daai destroyers for AoS smaller monster units)

I’d say they do when comparing the settings. In Wfb ghosts are a rare unit only controllable by the most potent undead generals as just a handful of the ethereal horrors can turn the tide of battle as mortal weapons fail to touch them or they can strike in a siege without pause and kill enemy generals & wizards. In AoS there’s billions of them swarming over the realms like Tyranids only being held back by more abundant magic the Everyman can use and literal physical gods. Same with Ironjawz being greenskin mega-leaders made into a full army instead of legendary figures only, Snarlfangs taking the wolf rider concept to maximum with well-armed grots and huge direwolves with Komodo dragon venom, Fyreslayers taking the rare slayers and mythic shard dragons into a mainstay force that’s common mercenaries, etc. I’d expect similar for the Chuardin for their rare units and leaders to blown up into mainstays for AoS so instead one dude in a exo-suit it’s whole units, the Dreadquakes are battleline with hover capabilities to navigate the shifting realmscapes and armored ensorcelled siege gargants are a regular sight marching amongst their mechanized legions. Basically all cranked up to 12 as is AoS standard.

This. ^ Much like Lumineth there should be a obvious aesthetic connection but they should have something new to show they come from the new setting(even chaos warriors have rune mark pendants to give them a new tell). An in-between of the human Hashut armor and the Iron Golems could be great way to mix things up while keeping the themes.

I would say the issue is unlike the other forces of chaos that can be ported over between settings(literally in some cases like the Order of the Fly being ex-Bretonnians who mocked the Lady as they fought the Stormcast in the Realmgate Wars) with little issue as they’re all mostly magic-dependent brutes with no care for progress. Chuardin would both be big force of “pushing the envelope” of what daemon engines are capable of and a AoS roster is gonna be Much smaller with a focus on elite units so they should be suitably more advanced.(at least some mecha-armored Bull-centaurs to compete with Stormcast dragon cavalry and flying lightning eels) Ideally they should be the chaos equivalent to Kharadron if they don’t end up being a commentary that pure industrial focus can lead to stagnancy over actual progress. (also c’mon. Ghost armies that feed on fear and can swarm through fortresses without pause, magic orruks that can turn battlefields into swamp mires in an instant with shamans on greater daemon power-levels with a centaur god at their head and Lumineth wizard-infantry, kangaroos and giant spirits are nothing to put down. )

Cyberpunk haircuts not doing it for ya’? Luckily both the Dominion set & her small battle force on the store include the Banner-Knight so the head swap is right there either way. Another option that also expands your Stormhost is getting the Knight-Judicator too. He comes with two alternate masks and the initial one looks pretty alright on her while the archer demigod can rock the Trojan crest mask.

The Sylvaneth & NightHaunt releases were pretty crazy with the bug warriors and three-armed NightHaunt hero, the Sons of Behemat as Brodd is covered in new creatures, Kharadron ruleslawyer with mega-phones and a robotic library on his back and the new Freeguild are looking to balance the line with plate-armored militia as a minimum. Seraphon are arguable as even the basic troops are taking advantage of their higher tech angle with the Spawn of Chotec even having a cerebral mechanical implant in it’s head. I think some of the toned down elements are mostly for this season of Ghur. It wouldn’t be as thematically appropriate to release crazy stuff like Stormcast aether-vessels or Skaven parasite engines when the focus is on monsters and hunters in wastelands & swamps while the big threat is Vietcong greenskins. So if Chuardin release while in Ghur they could get a pass but if we go to the Realm of Shadows and everyone is super magic & shadow daemons charged with illusionist themes then they should up their game again too. Really wish she got that face-helm as a second option. Seemed odd she’s the only main hero without the option, the Amberfall project one would’ve been perfect for her playing on the Arcanum’s creepier eldritch masks with a hint of Protector-paladin mask in there. But at least the Apotheosis banner mask-helm works really well. The forehead comet matched up great with all the other baroque details. I hope the new book puts part of her adventures from the Thondia tome in there. Loved the part where her retinue was okay with the mutated crowd touching their sacred armor looking for salvation as they’re going to save them(compared to say…Astartes who would’ve started purging the unclean) And the battle was badass. When she got multi-impaled by the shaman’s Amber Spear spells I thought it was gonna end with her blasting off to reforge but she tanked it, won the day(barely) and even had a conversation with Karazai afterwards. She’s terrifying. I do hope the others get some future stories as well. Aventis deserves a novel with his running of Hammerhal Aqshy, dealing with the emberstone in his chest causing him to contain his fury that blazes out and his friendship with his Tauralon which left it’s litter in Azyr to aid the Stormcast in the desperate wars it saw as a greater cause in keeping the war away from it’s children. Then a novella for Solbright and the Resurrection Crusades as they explore the underworlds and capture rare undead & god-beasts to study their immortality to improve the Reforging process while Sureheart, Tornus and others can get short stories to explore their current adventures in saving the innocent, redeeming the fallen and liberating the oppressed in the new era.

Not to mention the Realms already make many of their things mundane. Fire daemons? Aqshy has dancing Fire elementals and flame-djinn listed as common dangers alongside chaos reavers. Big metal beasts and machinery? Chamon is literally crawling with it. And of course as mentioned the big hats are taken with even more impressive specimens. They need to bring their S+ game to stand out in the Mortal Realms.

Difference being for AoS the horses are all gryph-hybrids, the mountain is a sleeping god and those things on the other side are all widely available as public transport in almost every city. AoS does crank things up to 12 so it’d be fitting for the Chuardin as well to have stuff like cyborg bodysuit units and hover trains as they’ve both had over 10,000 years to perfect their craft in the Realm of Chaos and in AoS duardin don’t suffer the stone curse anymore as magical fused beings themselves(even GW didn’t deny them the Arcane Tome like Khornites were). They should be way more sophisticated to Kharadron levels at least. I imagine they’ll start by being a Soulblight sub-faction eventually with Varkos Varactyr and his famed Wraith Fleet of Aqshy. Captain vampire hero, 2 new units of mariner zombies and rotten sea beast titans(the giant crabs) battleline while unlocking NightHaunt coalition with a bonus that instead of Ethereal they get flaming attacks to fly with his ghost fleet(battle trait for teleports) as they set sea vessels and the gases or caustic Magic’s of sky-fleets ablaze.

Can we take a break on the Sooners? Guy just said November because that’s a rumor going around, not what the counter guy implied.(most based on a random calendar jpeg GW used) I’m sure they’ll come to both games eventually but it can easily be years down the line and the guy doing guesswork like everyone else. The daemon smith could’ve just hanged on longer than the other discontinued stuff because it was newer.

They’re coming to AoS 100%. But I’m a bit baffled why “soons” and “November release” are popping up from this. Even if the guy isn’t just playing up chorf TWW hype to get more attention and sales he could’ve just heard a off-hand mention for TOW that could be several years away still as the devs are in the design phase while AoS Chuardin could be anywhere from 2024 to even 5th edition in the Realm of Metal where they seek all that metal for themselves while undoing Grungni’s progress for a big duardin war. There’s no real time tables here and I doubt Chorfs are a priority for the world-that-was when even Kislev & Cathay are but whispers.

God-king willing a new massive priest/wizard wagon but those “Sigmar is a wheel!!” fanatics intervened enough to stop the blasphemous use of wheels rolling through the mud so they slapped it on a metalith they tug around instead.