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What do people think about the new faction from GW?

I quite like it a lot. Build soildiers from bone, stuff several souls in there to make it a better combatant. They are like the afia. Claim some bones or feth you up.

Visually they also look cool.

However, I feel like this makes the chances Tomb Kings coming back a bit smaller. It is what they sued to do with their War Constructs.

To me, it’s right in line with GW’s policy of moving away from “generic” fantasy models. Tomb Kings were generic skellies with bows, or spear and shield. This gives them a stylized Skeleton army made from trademarkium materials.

 greatbigtree wrote:
To me, it’s right in line with GW’s policy of moving away from “generic” fantasy models. Tomb Kings were generic skellies with bows, or spear and shield. This gives them a stylized Skeleton army made from trademarkium materials.

If by trademark you mean terracotta in bone instead of clay

I think those looking at GW and thinking they are moving away from "generic" fantasy are looking at it all wrong. Heck stormcast are visually just big humans in heavy plate armour whilst they've also got a huge stardragon which is far more generic western dragon than the serpentine dragons of old GW fantasy.

I think its less GW is "moving away from" and more that they are moving toward an epic high fantasy setting and bringing the rest along for a ride. They've still got orks and elves and humans; they've still got all those generic dwarves running around in mines with cannon and such. Heck the Kurnothi (elfish warband for underworlds) are just tree elves with centaurs and fauns whilst you've got Warcry which is basically extreme human worshippers of chaos - you've got conan style barbarians all over the place along with Set....er snake priests and such.

I think we’re saying the same thing. Bretonian *models* for example, are generic looking peasants and Knights that you could easily swap *any* generic medieval peasant / Knight model on the tabletop and have a proper looking army. Same deal with old Tomb Kings units. You could put anyone’s skeletons with handweapon and shield down and boom. Tomb king army. High Elves were in a similar boat. “Normal” dwarves. Standard humans.

Nobody’s making Skellies that could be counts-as Necrons with a metallic paint job. Nobody’s making Underwater Elves, or flying Dwarves. Generic Goblins? Yes. But Goblins wearing the garb of a racist group from the southern States? (Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. )

I agree they’re moving away from low fantasy towards high fantasy, and along the way they’re dropping support for model lines that *look* generic. It absolutely makes marketing sense to do that. It doesn’t bother me, per se.

WHFB when I was young had my first love in Orcs and Goblins. I loved the wild variety of units that could all be mashed together into one force. Orc boyz fighting with Black Orcs and spider riding goblins with Night Goblins and their fanatics interspersed, while rock lobbas and Doom Divers hammered away and squigs hopped all over the place. To be fair to GW, I could have bought *any* catapult model and put a couple of Orcs around it. I could have bought any * generic* Orcs or Gobbos for my line infantry.

So I understand the push towards the Looncurse (?) style Goblins with a heavy focus on Squigs. Nobody is making models that look like that. So they’re “monopolizing” the look of their models and selling rules that support that. It makes good sense to do that.

 greatbigtree wrote:
To me, it’s right in line with GW’s policy of moving away from “generic” fantasy models. Tomb Kings were generic skellies with bows, or spear and shield. This gives them a stylized Skeleton army made from trademarkium materials.

These things are bog standard generic. They're just skeletons, but bigger, or with more arms. Tomb Kings had style. They rode into battle on giant snake skeletons, or stone sphynx's, or with an ark of the covenant.

Also, I am bitter. /snarl

These guys aren’t generic. They have some nice elements of old school but in a very interesting style. They’re not just skellies, they’re constructs of bone plating with souls put into them, and the oriental vibe hasn’t often been explored in undead as much as your typical medieval skellies. Also the Prometheus/Aliens/Gigar inspiration here is far from typical skellies fantasy.

But I also agree that Tomb Kings weren’t super generic either. While they were typical skellies, their sphinxes and snakes and stuff were quite unique and awesome.

 greatbigtree wrote:
I think we’re saying the same thing. Bretonian *models* for example, are generic looking peasants and Knights that you could easily swap *any* generic medieval peasant / Knight model on the tabletop and have a proper looking army. Same deal with old Tomb Kings units. You could put anyone’s skeletons with handweapon and shield down and boom. Tomb king army. High Elves were in a similar boat. “Normal” dwarves. Standard humans.

Nobody’s making Skellies that could be counts-as Necrons with a metallic paint job. Nobody’s making Underwater Elves, or flying Dwarves. Generic Goblins? Yes. But Goblins wearing the garb of a racist group from the southern States? (Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. )

I agree they’re moving away from low fantasy towards high fantasy, and along the way they’re dropping support for model lines that *look* generic. It absolutely makes marketing sense to do that. It doesn’t bother me, per se.

Thing is GW can make whatever they want because they are big enoguh that multiple 3rd parties will make look-a-likes. Doesn't matter if they are men on horses or godbeasts riding stone constructs. GW sets a trend and others will follow and in the end those who want to buy 3rd party will; whilst the majority will stick with GW own brand.


I just don't see the distinction, outside of the naming convention, that is all this IP protection and "avoiding the generic". Especially when GW releases things like furies, melusai, morathi, etc... models that are completely ripped from traditional themes. Heck Morathi is a very accurate gorgon of medusa - snake hair; snake body; wings - she's got it all! Melusai are just the same and they even have one variation with a bow and arrow straight out of the films and lore.



Any way whatever their choices I really like this bone army. One thing I really hope GW goes for is more constructs. I would love to see the Reapers take on dragons, lions, giant bulls - whatever. Just giant beastial and mechanical beast machines! We already have a taste with the catapult and I'm hungry to see more like that!

This rumour engine has me pumped for what other big things the Ossiarchs will be bringing to the table. It may not be related but sure as hell looks like it is.

Honestly, I think they are rather bland. The guards on the big one seem to look cool. But the massive statue is not something I am really that interested in.

Also the big one reminds me of those posing dolls you can buy for drawing and animation. Katakros is his name I think.

The *models* are far from generic, regardless of the inspiration. Nobody is making models that look like Daughters of Khaine. NOBODY sells a giant she-serpent with wings that looks anything like Morathi.

Yes, people may make recasts, or knock offs. But nobody is selling an army’s worth of steampunk Dwarves in Power Armour, are they?

Fluff and inspiration be damned. The *models* being released don’t exist en masses in any other range. Who else is selling an elf riding a turtle on a flying base? I can’t understand what is not obvious about this in terms of developing the brand and “enforcing” customer loyalty.

Again, I don’t say this in an angry way towards GW. They have a business model and I like the developing models. I can’t knock the new developments. I just feel like the developments are part on an overarching pattern of letting the old fade away (naturally) and being replaced with models that are uniquely GW. For example, I’m looking forward to seeing if a Human faction will be released that isn’t Stormcast. (Realizing they’re spirit warriors, or whatever. They still look heroic human to me.) What will the models be inspired by? It won’t be medieval Europe, that’s for certain.

I'm waiting for the rules. I have a deep tomb kings collection. If the rules are neat and let me play games without getting throttled by my opponents who are min/maxing, then I'll mostly use my tomb king models.

The new model range revealed, other than the mortarch and the catapult, leave nothing to me to want to collect. I don't like that cartoon aesthetic.

looks like an AoS take on tomb kings.
atleast that was my immediate toughts after seeing the first pics.

Wasn't blown away by the range but would be glad to add some of them to my collection of undead.

The big stalker chaps are definitely getting bought. Will NOT have a bad word said against them!

Honestly it really highlights a big issue of AoS for me. If some other company had released them I'd probably think 'nice' but now it's just eh. They're Tomb Kings but less interesting and shallower. They have a big interesting mortarch who supposedly leads them but it doesn't mean anything, it's someone saying their guy is super awesome and badass but everything I read about them made me think discount Settra.

To be fair so far we've not really had any lore on them. This is an army quite out of the blue from GW really - some subtle hints here and there but its really quite a sudden appearance. We've heard more of the dark and light aelves and of them we've hardly anything at all.

I'm sure once they are out and witha battletome we'll get more lore on them and see them flesh out into a more diverse army.

 Overread wrote:
To be fair so far we've not really had any lore on them. This is an army quite out of the blue from GW really - some subtle hints here and there but its really quite a sudden appearance. We've heard more of the dark and light aelves and of them we've hardly anything at all.

I'm sure once they are out and witha battletome we'll get more lore on them and see them flesh out into a more diverse army.

Probably and that's genuinely good for people who like AoS but they're playing catch up with Tomb Kings and they always will be. GW tried to have their cake and eat it with AoS because they want to make a new thing but it's a sequel to Fantasy in a lot of ways and it's a bad one but GW didn't cut the cord.

The concept sounds like good be fun to me,
(sure, needs growth and development)
but the figures don't inspire me...

To me they look like a blend of skelleton, tyranids, and necrons.
I'm not sure which model design aspects hits me like that,
it's just how they hit me.

I like them, myself. The four-arms not so much because I can't unsee tyranid warrior, but other than that thumbs up for me.

I think for some they might be a bit like genestealer cults were to me. When I first saw them I didn't like them all that much. Oh the sculpts were good but they didn't "grab" me. It didn't help that at that time they were mostly a few units, a random rock truck and then imperial forces with the odd stealer emblem on them. Basically they were Imperial Guard with a few oddball additions.

Then the second wave hit and they got fast attack bikes and buggies; a new vehicle; several new leaders and units and suddenly they moved from a bolt-on to an actual army. With a unified design asthetic and style that played to their origins as workers on Imperial worlds gone mad with infestation.



I figure this new army is the same; that they don't likely appear all that good to some because there's so little of them. That plus we know very little about their general identity save that they harvest bones as a Tithe. I think once the lore is out; once there's a BL book or two; a battletome and at least more models if not a full second wave then they will establish themselves more so.

I feel like I’m in the minority, but I like them. I do want to see what they look like in the flesh, no pun intended. In one thread someone said they looked like they are from a Wayne Barlowe painting, had no idea who he was but after a quick google search I understand why it was said and after looking through his art I’m far more sold on these guys. I do like how with each release GW are branching out and doing things differently.

 auticus wrote:
I'm waiting for the rules. I have a deep tomb kings collection. If the rules are neat and let me play games without getting throttled by my opponents who are min/maxing, then I'll mostly use my tomb king models.

The new model range revealed, other than the mortarch and the catapult, leave nothing to me to want to collect. I don't like that cartoon aesthetic.

This.

I do like them. I'm also baffled by how people can claim models that have no egyptian theme, no connection in lore to TK, and look completely different save for being, you know, skeletons, are "discount Tomb Kings". I suppose fifty years from now GW will release lazer skeletons riding pink unicorns, and some octogenarian will stammer "discount tomb kings, settra does not...what was I saying?"

Eh, they are less Egyptian and more Roman. Those foot soldiers have a certain centurion look about them, and the big general guy looks like some sort of Greco-Roman Statue. He's also probably the best miniature of the lot and doesn't look too terrible goofy.
Same classical period, different culture...well, ok, not really. The Romans did conquer Egypt and the Ptolemies were Greeks.

I can see why people call them bonecrons though. Some of the models do look a little similar to lychguard.

Cronch wrote:
I do like them. I'm also baffled by how people can claim models that have no egyptian theme, no connection in lore to TK, and look completely different save for being, you know, skeletons, are "discount Tomb Kings". I suppose fifty years from now GW will release lazer skeletons riding pink unicorns, and some octogenarian will stammer "discount tomb kings, settra does not...what was I saying?"

becouse it is the core idea.
they removed a pure skeletal army for no reason other then moust likely cash, and then behold, the same army reappears just with a different wrapper and background.

there will ever only be one mono skeleton army in fantasy/aos, and that is tomb kings. there is no reasons to try to reinvent the wheel....

But Tomb Kings were just cheap rip-off of Undead army, there was no reason to reinvent the wheel.
Anyway, I guess TK fans just want to stay mad forever.

Except that there's already two skeleton armies in AoS now. There are several skelton warriors as skeletons in the Legions of Nagash as it is. Bonereapers are simply another take on the concept but are very different in visual design and lore.

The only difference is that the skeletons in the Legion are somewhat just "there" and the legion is a sort of catch all for bits of armies that got shattered up or are just old and awaiting updates. I can well see GW fleshing those out when they perhaps update Vampires in a big way or even split them off into their own full skeleton army.

What do you mean by Undead Army? Did you mean Vampire Counts? You do realize that Vampire counts, unlike tomb kings, did not consist of solely skeletons and stone constructs (which were a much later addition), but also zombies, ghosts, and Vampires? Not to mention the lack of ranged attacks in a Vampire Counts, of which there are plenty in a Tomb Kings army? As well as the different magic mechanics? How are Tomb Kings a cheap rip off?

They're weird. Don't like them. If I was going to play undead (and I did start buying models to do so around End Times) I'd just use the regular undead, much prefer them.

Not sure I could ever bring myself to say Ossiarch Bonereapers out loud either. It's ridiculous, just too "Fantasybollox NounVerbers"...

Crispy78 wrote:
They're weird. Don't like them. If I was going to play undead (and I did start buying models to do so around End Times) I'd just use the regular undead, much prefer them.

Not sure I could ever bring myself to say Ossiarch Bonereapers out loud either. It's ridiculous, just too "Fantasybollox NounVerbers"...

I think Ossiarch sounds fine, oddly enough.
Its bonereaper I have an issue with. It sounds like they are trying really hard to sound badass, and failing. It also doesn't make sense; how does one reap bone? Are there bone fields that need harvesting? Do the bonereapers use bonescythes, or bonethreshers? Or perhaps bonecombineharverters? Is there a bonehopper involved?

Now, I get soulreaper, because of the hole grim reaper harvesting souls thing. But bonereaper? I don't get it.

 CthuluIsSpy wrote:

Crispy78 wrote:
They're weird. Don't like them. If I was going to play undead (and I did start buying models to do so around End Times) I'd just use the regular undead, much prefer them.

Not sure I could ever bring myself to say Ossiarch Bonereapers out loud either. It's ridiculous, just too "Fantasybollox NounVerbers"...

I think Ossiarch sounds fine, oddly enough.
Its bonereaper I have an issue with. It sounds like they are trying really hard to sound badass, and failing. It also doesn't make sense; how does one reap bone? Are there bone fields that need harvesting? Do the bonereapers use bonescythes, or bonethreshers? Or perhaps bonecombineharverters? Is there a bonehopper involved?

Now, I get soulreaper, because of the hole grim reaper harvesting souls thing. But bonereaper? I don't get it.

They clearly also soul reap - one of the hero models shown is clearly using an etherial scythe to slice through the enemy and tear their souls from their bodies before using a magical bottle to suck the caught soul off the blade and into storage. Likely to be later worn down to its core soul and re-used to forge new warriors

And yes they do reap bones. They travel to city after city demanding a tithe be paid to Nagash in dead bodies and bones. If a city refuses to or is unable to pay their tithe then they are harvested. To the Ossiarch the living are the crop that grows new bones for them to harvest and souls to steal; and as Nagash already has legions of souls, all the Ossiarch really have to harvest are the bones of the dead. To grind them down to make into newly forged warriors for their armies and constructs for their war machine.


Right now the only weakness to the force that I can see, lore wise, is that they've no "downtime" concept established. That is when they aren't reaping and killing and forging what are they up too. The warriors sound like they have individuality yet some have multiple personalities and with no (currently that we are aware of) need for food or water do they have to have downtime? Does the legion pause for a break every so often. Are there undead construct "camp followers" following after the legion on their march over the realms. Would they ever pause and instead of reaping pop-into the pub for a, if not drink, then to soak up the atmosphere and trade stories warrior to warrior.