Mayple

The blade of judgement is very good on the Verminlord corruptor. Additionally, if you're using realm spells, the shadow spell that teleports your own units is a very good addition.

That looks like a bike handle. At the very least the same braking mechanism as what is commonly found on one.

Gonna let @michu's post cover that one. I have an easier time accepting helmetless Stormcast than Space Marines, tbh. Only one of those two have to actively avoid high-caliber bullets to the face

Thanquol fits that description. He's a paragon of his kind. Truly, no grander creature has ever stood up to the ruthless tyranny of 'Seeg-mar' ?

Why should they?

Yes-yes! Finally that pesky Hamilcar-thing has fallen into the clutches of the great Skaven empire

The core rules mentions that at some point, so it should be easy to verify. Not by me though, I'm at work ?

Giant robot rats? Giant robot rats.. Giant robot rats! ?

Yeah, it happened during the end times. Isabella was corrupted by Nurgle, so Vlad slipped his ring on her finger and threw himself and her off a roof/wall, impaling the both of them on a massive spike/stake. Presumably he did this to rid her of the corruption, since the ring did save him from nurgle corruption in 'fall of altdorf' where he (stupidly) tried to drink the blood of one of the Glottkin brothers. Anyway, Vlad died from the impaling, Isabella's fate was not expanded upon, but she was wearing the ring at the time, so she was likely still alive when the world was torn asunder

Yeah, I read that too. But if you look at the art, they look so incredibly skaven! And when I think about it, isn't every skaven a mass murderer/assassin at heart?

I've always enjoyed the excessive 'perfection' aspect of Slaanesh myself - along the lines of Emperor's children. If they throw out something like that, I might just get myself a Slaaneshi army Happy to see the host getting some love, regardless.

I will I'll try to get ahold of it sometime next week. How does it handle hordes? I play skaven, so my model count quickly goes above 200. And what about terrain? Is it all flat, or?

This is great! I'd love to try it out

Yes, but those are very distinct horns. Grey Seers only have a single pair, that's a double horn

Regarding this picture: That one skaven, at the feet of the super-cool spearman/halberd person at the top of the pile of skaven, does he have horns? Thanquol horns? Any thoughts? Might be a hint of things to come.

If I understand you correctly: nah, dark aelven dreadspears/bleakswords/etc also have that mixed gender thing going for them probably some other units as well. The thralls look so good though. Edit: @Enoby you win this round

That's what it is here for

Oh yes, absolutely. Heck, Legion of Night would be even worse to deal with

Thanks for the input That is absolutely correct. An onion can vary in size based on neccessity. It is usually something to employ when you can't actually win a straight up fight, and therefore the resources you throw into it would actually amount to less than what you would lose if you took the fight head on. Since you've already accepted that the layers are there to die, you also lose less of your strategically important pieces, in the sense that you had no other use for them, and if they happen to survive, you actually -gain- resources. In a sense, the onion is motly there to protect your "wall" unit, whether that be a full unit of archers, or a bigger version of one of the layers. In your Black Ark Corsairs example above, for example, you would be spending 240 points across three small units, to ensure that one big unit valued 260 doesn't get wiped out - which it definitely would if it got charged by a dedicated, buffed combat unit such as Ironjawz, Blades of Khorne, or such. That being said, with units that expensive, I would probably only go with two layers at most. 240 for 260 isn't the best trade, but 160 for 260 definitely is. What you put behind your onion is also going to define how you can utilize it for the rest of the game. In your example above, for example, you can afford to be extremely aggressive with it, since not only is it detrimental for your opponent to waste time on running into an outer layer, but you also get to shoot them in the face with the layers behind them. Of course, there's the rest of your army to consider, which the onion should be protecting - and that is going to define your usage of the formation even further. Your layers might just be there to open up the enemy to a charge from one of your more powerful units, like perhaps a Kharibdys, which is safely tucked away behind your lines until you see an opening. Or perhaps everything behind the onion (layers + wall) is pure ranged, which you can realistically get away with since there's really no way for your opponent to get through to you fast enough to avoid getting shot at least two to three times by everything you have. Of course there's the objectives to consider, but that's independent of this formation I think. You'll want to have some plan to how you're gonna grab those, but this formation would at least ensure that your army is healthy enough to contest them. In effect, think of the onion as a piece of machinery within the larger machine that makes up your army. The layers and the wall make up a pseudo-unit, in other words. Only when it breaks, or is no longer needed, should you disband it and use the units within it for something else, like rushing an objective, tying up weakened enemy units, blocking a path, etc. An onion should rarely cost more than 400 points, to allow for more than one. Two separate onion formations covering each flank/front should allow just about any army to go where they want to go without getting torn apart, or tied down by the enemy along the way. But that is all according to preference. Hope that helps

I think there is merit to the Stormcast Warmachine thought. While it is beat up, this might be GW's attempt at throwing out a more battle-worn Stormcast unit, or even chapter. Personally, I'm hoping it'll be Grot sky spirates, more Kharadron, or even an ingenious Skaven machine, but that's just wishful thinking

Skinks would also be hilarious 'I charge you, and then I immediately retreat!' 'but you didn't even attack..'

Defensive Formation: "THE ONION" Named after the multiple layers it uses. When to use: When you know you're going to be hit hard by an aggressive army, preferably one that wants to punch you in the face, since shooting armies have ways to circumvent your outer layers entirely. Notable examples: Ironjawz, Beastclaw Raiders, Bloodbound, and armies with similar playstyles. Mind that it is potentially dangerous to do this versus an Ironjawz army, as their Megaboss on Mawcrusha can chain-charge through your outer layers. In such a matchup, ensure that your outer layers are not weak enough to be wiped out entirely by the mortal wound output of a Mawcrusha charge. What you need: - Several smaller, low-value units (2-3, depending on how many layers, or how wide you want to go) - At least one big bubblewrapping unit (This usually means a unit of 40, but there can be exceptions. This is your "wall") How it works: By using multiple layers of small, low-value units as seen above, you're able to keep an enemy at bay for several turns. This serves both as a stalling maneuver, and as a highly defensive one. The opponent can only charge during their own turn, which limits them to 5 charges during the entire course of the game. If you can force them to charge something with little to no value to you, you've essentially robbed them of 1/5th of an incredibly valuable resource. It is imperative that you keep the separate units safely outside of 3" of each-other. Should the opponent be able to pile in past a unit onto the next, you lose the advantage. If, for some reason, a layer of your onion should survive until your next turn, simply retreat it backwards past the layer behind it, and continue the process until you reach your main bubblewrapping unit. Then, bubblewrap your bubblewrap, and use the opponent's charge as an opportunity to pile-in your 40-man unit with little to no damage in return, piling in your layer-bubblewraps first, then removing casualties in such a manner to make room for your 40-man unit to pile in properly afterwards. You can do this with more valuable elite units as well, since they usually lose quite a bit of their edge if they are hit first. By utilising a layer in this manner, you can ensure that the damage done to you is minimal, and the damage you do in return is maximized. What can an opponent do: An opponent can work around your onion formation with in a number of ways. Do not expect them to play according to your plans, and always be ready to adapt your formation should the need arise. That being said, should the opponent play into your hands and attack the onion head on, then do not stray from the strategy. Any fight done on your terms is a fight in your favor. Among some of the things that can be done to work around the onion formation is the following: - Shooting the outer layers: Can work in your favor if the opponent have to focus a lot of his shooting on your outer layers to open them up, but with good shooting, he should be able to open up gaps, if not outright remove some of the layers entirely. Be smart about what models you remove to ensure you can retain a blockade as long as possible. Even a single well-placed model can be a wrench in your opponent's attempts to charge things beyond it. - Magic: Definitely works in your favor. Any spells used on your outer layers are spells not hurled at your far more valuable units. Otherwise, it serves the same principles as shooting - Flying, teleporting, double pile-ins, extreme mobility etc: Many of these can be worked around, but are all something you have to consider when you place your outer layers. Flying units will love big gaps between each layer, while units with pile-in tricks, or large number of units hurled at the same unit, will take full advantage of smaller gaps, by potentially piling past a destroyed outer layer onto the next. - Alpha/Deep Striking: I will cover this in another entry, but if you are in a position to utilize the onion formation to begin with, you should also have the tools to prevent an alpha/deep strike from hitting anything but an outer layer. Simply alter the form of your formation on demand, and deny your opponent the ability to teleport in behind you (have at least one unit within 9" of either corner, as those are the easiest spots to teleport to) - or, alternatively, build your formation in a more circular manner, to deny even a flank or rear charge. Summary: If utilized correctly, and your flanks are protected (by more layers, perhaps) - then the onion formation should serve well as a defensive maneuver. While it does work offensively as well, it's best used in situations where you don't want to charge anything, and simply want to stall an enemy unit, or large force, for several turns without throwing big resources at it. A good rule of thumb here is to never, ever, charge first. Always let the opponent come to you, while utilizing the rest of the board in such a manner that you decide the overal flow of the game. Force their hand. Be proactive, not reactive. While you want to be defensive, don't be afraid to move aggressively. For example, walk up and layer up in front of an opponent's force, and dare him to charge you - if you do it correctly, and he takes the bait, you've succesfully wasted his time. Got any input? Or think I'm horribly horribly wrong? Feel free to let me know!

A while back when GW did a survey (two-three months ago), I wrote a lengthy constructive piece on why Dark Aelves should get some love, and at the very least get round bases. The only reason I ended up going into Skaven in the end was because the Dark Aelves proved too difficult to collect. So I'd like to think that someone actually listened or it was a happy coincidence! Either way, win win. I wonder what it means in application though.

Highly anticipated? Bigger than new 40k edition!? Could the legends be true..!? SKAVENCAST!?

Morning! I dreamt that the Deepkin were announced They looked really.. well, weird, but that's dreams for ya. All their sea creatures were dark purple/blue, and looked almost like elementals. A smurf riding a go-cart was one of their hero choices the rumour thread then erupted into discussions about an AoS racing game. I may be spending too much time here.