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Kargan3033 wrote:
As for the men of iron you can bring them back by having them return to the home galaxy after they fled to once the war turned against with all sorts of new weapons, tech and a host of cyborg slave that they turned other organic life forms into if they reached another galaxy as the war was coming to a close.

I think the Men of Iron would just be too redundant, another robot threat from the past.

It could be done well, maybe they're nanotech grey goo monsters instead of shiny metal dudes, but then we're into a whole new concept.

I would like zombies though. If not Enslavers with legions of psy zombies, how about Necron Zombie makers? Semi cyber dues ala the Borg.

Who of course make new zombies during the battle.

 Dysartes wrote:

 Strg Alt wrote:

 Dysartes wrote:

 Strg Alt wrote:
When you are doing these new cyber-zombies don´t model them with stupid grinning faces like they botched the new version of the plague zombies. Shudder!

The Poxwalkers aren't botched - the grins are a side-effect of the specific disease they're infected with.

That´s a half-assed reason people pulled out of their butts to make the models suitable for Little Timmy. Up to now I have never seen a Romero-Zombie wear a stupid grin on his face.

Good job the Poxwalkers aren't regular Romero-esque zombies, then, isn't it? For the most recent interpretation of that trope, try the Deadwalker Zombies from AOS, which don't feature the manic grin of the Poxwalker.

As the unit they were when introduced - and pointedly not a generic Plague Zombie - they're victims of a specific disease, the Walking Pox, and the rictus grin is a side effect of that infection. That you don't like it means sweet FA - it is an established element of Poxwalkers, just like the jolliness is of Nurgle himself, and the boisterousness of Beasts of Nurgle.

True. No GENERIC plague zombies allowed anymore because in the Age of IP we can´t have that. Unit needs to be linked directly to GW. Final nail in the coffin is the stupid name of Poxwalkers implemented by GW lawyers like they did in the whole AoS segment. Groan!

New AoS zombies look promising. One question though: Why do they need to have roots puncturing their bodies?

 Strg Alt wrote:
One question though: Why do they need to have roots puncturing their bodies?

Corpses provide the nutrients for plants to grow. Only natural that some zombies would end up with roots growing through their bodies.
The stakes are because the people of the Mortal Realms know necromancy is a common thing and it's an attempt to prevent the zombies from rising from their graves in a more literal sense by weighing them down.

That's where we get "wooden stakes kill vampires" from. Originally wooden stakes were literally used to nail them to their graves so they couldn't get back up (but notably they'd still be alive). Stories also included placing a sickle around their neck so if they tried to sit up they'd decapitate themselves (although one wonders, if that's an option why not just decapitate them in the first place).
The stakes actually killing them was a development of that initial take.

Almost endless niches, but warehouse space, need for kits and art, and slots in the codex treadmill are considerable bottlenecks.

Instead of new factions, one-off kits, small kill teams, Necromunda miniatures, mercenary rules and the like would be a good way to further explore the vast setting. Rogue Trader style.

GW have long fought against the inescapable army book straitjacket and codex treadmill. Dreadfleet, Space Hulk, Specialist games and so on are all proof of this.

This is why it seems so bizarre not to use the Tau as a way into that. You don't even have to add lots of units just enough to keep things interesting.

 Gert wrote:

 Strg Alt wrote:
One question though: Why do they need to have roots puncturing their bodies?

Corpses provide the nutrients for plants to grow. Only natural that some zombies would end up with roots growing through their bodies.
The stakes are because the people of the Mortal Realms know necromancy is a common thing and it's an attempt to prevent the zombies from rising from their graves in a more literal sense by weighing them down.

Looked them up a few minutes ago. They are looking good but the roots are going to snap easily. You need to have to be truly cautious with them. Reminds me of vintage Catachan radios. Also the price is...ridiculous! 20 zombies cost 42,50 Euro. 100 zombies from ZOMBIES!!! board game have cost me 10 Euro.

 Gert wrote:
Men of Iron would be too big a threat to bring in. They were War in Heaven Necrons levels of strength. Star destroying weapons, world consumers, gravity weapons, and self-replicating nanite swarms that would cover entire planets.
People keep forgetting that the Cybernetic Revolt almost ended the galaxy, not just Mankind.

I don't think that's accurate. Prior to the fall of the Eldar empire they were the dominant force in the galaxy.


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 Flipsiders wrote:

A bit off-topic, but: There's something super captivating and unnerving about having the most basic necron warrior listed as "unknown" in the core rulebook.
It would be great if they retained that sense of menace today, but alas, the ultramarines must have punched one too many c'tan.

Yes, also retaining that sense of menace would detract from the hyperprotagonization of the Astartes, and they don't want that.

Hecaton wrote:
I don't think that's accurate. Prior to the fall of the Eldar empire they were the dominant force in the galaxy.

Dominant doesn't mean they ruled the galaxy though.
The Aeldari empire did control a large portion of the galaxy but they were xenophobic and isolationist. They kept to their Paradise worlds and their culture evolved into the decadence and hedonism that caused the Fall.
Humanity was able to expand into a large empire of its own and while they did engage in conflict with both the Aeldari and Orks, it didn't stop their Golden Age from lasting from M.1 until M.25/26. Humanity wasn't some backwater feral empire, it was at the zenith of its scientific discoveries and the first Psykers were starting to emerge. The Cybernetic Revolt ended the Human Golden Age and was the first domino to fall in the series of events that threw the Human race into the Age of Strife. The Aeldari weren't sending massed armies out into the galaxy for conquest or to keep the lesser (read as all non-Aeldari) races in line because it wasn't their problem. The Old Ones were gone, the old enemy was hibernating and the Aeldari could live long lives of pleasure and joy without a care in the world. Who cares if some upstart race has built cybernetic organisms with free thought. Unless they came near the borders of the Aeldari empire they weren't a problem.

 kirotheavenger wrote:
(although one wonders, if that's an option why not just decapitate them in the first place).

Mutilating corpses is a major taboo in just about every culture. Even your enemies' corpses much less your loved ones'.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:

 kirotheavenger wrote:
(although one wonders, if that's an option why not just decapitate them in the first place).

Mutilating corpses is a major taboo in just about every culture. Even your enemies' corpses much less your loved ones'.

starts whistling in march 11. 1499....and 22. july.

Squats. But not, because GW would have to give them an atrocious name like Halfstra Bearditarium or Vulkan He'short or something. The models would look amazing but be posed so dynamically that you couldn't make them look like they weren't falling over or dancing to a nursery rhyme even with all the greenstuff and sliced thumbs in the world. In short, they'd fit right in to the modern 40k experience. Oh and for good measure Primaris Marines would not be able to ride in a Leviathan because reasons.

Always thought 40k could do with a Predator influenced species. Fights for the thrill of the hunt, in small very elite groups using advanced technology... but sadly ai think the scale of the game has grown beyond that idea being feasible. The game is no longer a platoon level game, and with Custodies being a thing now it would step on their very small elite force too much.

Given how the lore has been fleshed out so well for all of the factions I think the only real places left that would work with the current game would be to reintroduce Squats, and to make a Lizardmen/Old Ones remnants faction.

How about an all girl Thunder Warriors faction, with really suggestive models? Like Escher meets Goliath! Ooooh yeah!

A faction that can completely ignore invuls and/or FNP but have no AP.

To be honest I'm a bit wary of them introducing any new factions. Adding more is not necessarily good.

Re-introducing the Squats however is more than fine; the idea of Deep Rock Galactic space miners burrowing into planets, fighting Orks and Genestealers, is great in the context of the setting. They should say that the mysterious Squat-like Demiurge were Squats all along.

Humans/Abhumans:

- Humans = Humans
- Squats = Dwarfs
- Ogryns = Ogres
- Ratlings = N/A (Skaven?)

Eldar:

- Craftworld Eldar = High Elves
- Eldar Exodites = Wood Elves
- Dark Eldar = Dark Elves

Orkoids:

- Orks = Orks
- Gretchens = Goblins
- Snotlings = Snotlings

Other Xenos:

- Necrons = Tomb Kings
- Tyranids = N/A
- Tau = N/A
- N/A (Slann?) = Lizardmen

Chaos:

- Chaos Space Marines = Chaos Warriors
- Chaos Daemons = Chaos Daemons
- N/A = Beastmen

If they absolutely had to introduce another race, the Hrud as a companion of the Skaven seem okay. They should leave the Slann alone, as degenerated primitives with clubs on a couple of planets, and not fall into the temptation of having ancient races return, which would probably break the setting's coherency.

Well with squats i suppose a niche not really filled yet, would be a slow moving, heavy hitting but low attack army.

So an army that would not have many weapons that would extend beyond 24" with the average being 18" but they were very heavy hitting.

Then with melee their attacks would be low, but they would be very hard hitting, and would be able to take a lot of hits as well.

Ratlings are Halflings

As for the Squats, I always felt the Tau took the Squats' place. The shooty and durable army, not a perfect match but role-wise pretty close. No psychics/magic but fantastic tech.

How the Legions of Voltage will work is still an open question. Adeptus Mech kind of took the Steampunk niche that Epic Squats had, and Tau have the near future high tech niche so...

We shall see.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
As for the Squats, I always felt the Tau took the Squats' place. The shooty and durable army, not a perfect match but role-wise pretty close. No psychics/magic but fantastic tech.

Ah, so we have another reason to think that the Tau should be removed from the game with extreme prejudice...

And on the WHFB vs. 40k comparison chart someone was posting above, Beastmen = Beastmen - we've got Tzanngors in play at present, there's a generic Beastman in Necromunda, and I think there were some other Chaos ones in BSF, if I'm not mistaken. Whether we see the return of Pestigors, Slaangors (especially with their size change in AOS) and Khorngors (sp?) down the line is another thing entirely.