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Yep, it rivals the deepkin.

In a span of 2 months we get 3 huge army releases and a new edition.

GW have finally went and outdone themselves. You now have to quit your job to be able to have time to enjoy all the new releases but you must do your job to be able to pay for all the new releases.

Ergo, we're screwed.

Oh my that artwork

So stoked for new Darkoath, decided to ditch my Beastclaw Raiders and use the mounts and beasties for a Norsca theme. so eagerly awaiting these. Remember too in the artwork for Malign Portents were everyone is teaming up against death, by the War Queen are Marauders that don't look like anything we've seen in model form yet. Time for some Skin Wolves me thinks

So glad the generic humans seem to be going for a more suited theme to the setting. Don't get me wrong I always love the Empire but in AoS they just don't fit at all. Well as a standalone Merchant Guild, Free State etc they would be good but it made no sense for the standard armies to be themed this way when most of the Realms or Azyr in particular is just completely different.

Well, 2nd edition AoS seems to be getting more grimdark. There have been a few clues so far with hints in articles and the past 3 revealed armies all getting darker.

GW is doing what we wanted with the narrative - they're explaining the mortal realms better and they are adding more grit to the world, so yes regular humans will feel less and less out of place.

Can it get more grimdark than Warhammer Fantasy Empire? These dudes are barfoot fighting huge monsters only armed with a spear and no visible armour...

If they bring back normal humans fighting monsters without any super-strength or being overall Ubermensch like in WHFB, I'd be very happy. And I don't even have human armies.
I liked that about WHFB. You got a sense that it all about normal people fighting against all odds instead of a super human slug fest, and that gave the setting some drama.

Also steampunk conquistador sounds cool. I'd like to see where they go with that.

If they have a rule that allows them to fight in close formation, I might pick them up.

 Astmeister wrote:
Can it get more grimdark than Warhammer Fantasy Empire? These dudes are barfoot fighting huge monsters only armed with a spear and no visible armour...

The Age of Chaos (where cannibals destroyed all civilization and the gods abandoned the Realms and you were forced to fight not only without shoes but almost entirely naked cf. the Darkoath Chieftain's tragic backstory) - or the whole Horus Heresy / Age of Ignorance civil war bringing down all that the Emperor's vision for Mankind was about - is more grimdark than the life in the Empire (where they at least had cities, cannon, faith, college of magics, trades, and GRYPHONS).

Indeed, since the Seeds of Hope, Malign portents and AOS2nd, GW is obviously making way for (alongside more fantastical races) "common" humans factions ; I hope between now and 2019 we'll see Darkoath and Freeguild.

Idk, the Empire got wrecked pretty hard after the Storm of Chaos, and they are surrounded by Beastmen, Undead, and Skaven, who tend to make frequent raids on Empire towns.
The Empire doesn't sound pleasant to live in in that respect, and its a lot more believable than the Imperium, which is absurdly OTT to the point of comedy. Which is the point, because that's what 40k was.

That said, a spin off game set during Age of Chaos / pre-Empire or Pre-Imperium would be pretty cool.

Well, that is maybe not entirely on topic, but the life in the Empire is fairly better than in the Imperium or in the Mortal Realms during the Age of Chaos.

Of course, after the Storm of Chaos (i.e. a war worse than World War II, and with Deamons), the Empire was in a quite bad state. But it was retconned in 7th and 8th ed.
Compare the life in the Empire with the life in Bretonnia.

TLDR the Empire is at least an (under siege) functioning civilisation, with trades, etc.

On the other hand, the Imperium, because giant religious distopy (now worse with the warp storms everywhere), is not a "functioning" civilization, and there wasn't any civilization at all during the Age of Chaos. The Empire is doing quite well in comparison.

In AOS 2nd Ed. we will see a return of more established civilization in the Realms. And I hope, in parallel, more barbarians in the forms of the Darkoath (if the Warquen is indeed announcing the faction the other Harbingers).

Whatever man. I think when you make it more dire than the Warhammer Fantasy Empire, which is sourrounded by enemies, you will end up with a very unrealistic situation. Humans will just not be able to live there anymore.

But in the end, I just want some ordinary humans fighting against all odds. And not Sigmarine reborn undying super soldiers.

Empire Troops/Free Guild is something were their dial to 11 would actually make a lot of sense! Their plastics are simply old and even upon release the state troops were bad compared to the militia and greatswords, later the archers. They actually lost a lot of their puffy sleeves swag for crying out loud! The feathers got smaller! They went more downtrodden, but not into crazy Mordheim-esque territory, so they're just pretty bland. With less than stellar faces and sculpt quality.

More steampunk-ish muskets, repeater crossbows, ornamented armour and more puffy sleeves could look ace.

I have a couple of artworks of crazy fantasy troops that are a blend of papal guard, knights, conquistadors, Landsknecht and renaissance trappings. Like Marienburger plus awesomeness. I just don't know where in all the pics on my tablet they are. Couldn't find them on Google, either. But those were pretty damn perfect for Empire and probably Azyheim troops. I know they were posted on another forum as well when it came to "what do you want Free Guild to look like". But those would be my dream.

 HorticulusDK wrote:
Well, that is maybe not entirely on topic, but the life in the Empire is fairly better than in the Imperium or in the Mortal Realms during the Age of Chaos.

Of course, after the Storm of Chaos (i.e. a war worse than World War II, and with Deamons), the Empire was in a quite bad state. But it was retconned in 7th and 8th ed.
Compare the life in the Empire with the life in Bretonnia.

TLDR the Empire is at least an (under siege) functioning civilisation, with trades, etc.

On the other hand, the Imperium, because giant religious distopy (now worse with the warp storms everywhere), is not a "functioning" civilization, and there wasn't any civilization at all during the Age of Chaos. The Empire is doing quite well in comparison.

In AOS 2nd Ed. we will see a return of more established civilization in the Realms. And I hope, in parallel, more barbarians in the forms of the Darkoath (if the Warquen is indeed announcing the faction the other Harbingers).

I see your point there. The Empire, whilst in danger, was still a stable civilization.
I'd argue though that as its a functioning society, the fact that it's in danger of collapsing is actually more tragic and grimdark than there not being a working civilization.

There was a perfectly nice civilization, but now its collapsing. To me that's bleaker than there not being a civilization. The scariest part of an apocalyptic setting, imo, is when everything goes wrong, not the aftermath. The Empire was on the brink of everything going wrong.

These are still pretty cool and are based off the empire state troops.

(The topic of failling states / civilization's fall is very interesting indeed. Anyway we have to recognize Karl Franz's statesmanship. During the Storm of Chaos and before the End times, the emperor literally saved the empire and that wasn't only on the battlefield).

I believe the "everyman" way of life in the Mortal Realms will be an important part of AOS 2nd Ed. fluff, as it is quite well explained in the Malign Portents short stories.

Speaking of which : https://malignportents.com/story/the-great-and-the-good/

EDIT : yes CthulusSpy I 100% agree with you ! I would just say it's more tragic (in the Greek sense) than grimdark.

Grimdark "alone" can be quite dull sometimes (looking at you, ever collapsing but still standing Imperium of Mankind )

 ImAGeek wrote:

Davor wrote:
So at the 1:03 on the video above, they show trees in shadow. Could that be new terrain by chance? It's like they wanted to show it but kept it all dark to see the silhouette only.

It’s the Mortarch of Grief that we haven’t seen the model of yet.

I missed this mention? Where was it - thanks

 Mr Morden wrote:

 ImAGeek wrote:

Davor wrote:
So at the 1:03 on the video above, they show trees in shadow. Could that be new terrain by chance? It's like they wanted to show it but kept it all dark to see the silhouette only.

It’s the Mortarch of Grief that we haven’t seen the model of yet.

I missed this mention? Where was it - thanks

In the Facebook WAOS post about the Nighthaunt trailer IIRC.

The last MP story is freaking amazing !!

I've always loved the tragedy of Stormcast. Whilst regular non suped up humans provide a more 'human' story, the Stormcast were all normal human beings once, just ones with exceptional skill and will. Yes they're given super strength and immortality but their souls are now forfeit, doomed to fight eternal even when there is no hope of victory. At least when the average Joe dies, their soul has a chance to reach afterlife and gain peace.

What happens when a Stormcast dies, are they rewarded or do they gain peace for their service that would make most men and women go insane? Nope they have their soul literally hammered away until they can fight again and have whatever bit of humanity remains in them is smashed away, discarded for eternity. Their souls will never know peace and can they escape? Nope because it is by the will of a God.

Imagine whatever struggles you went through in life, when you die you are simply reborn do live through them all over again and each time you 'feel' a little less. Pretty Grimdark if you ask me.

Hope we don't have to wait too long for these Steampunk Conquistadors and Darkoath. Can't wait to see what other new pieces of art there will be.

Well, ordinary humans potentially will be slaves of Nagash or the chaos gods after they die. So the perspective of fighting for sigmar is probably better.
The major problem for me is also that Sigmarines are:
1.) a totally bland copy of Space Marines
2.) Gold
3.) wielding ridiculous warhammers
4.) immortal

2 & 3 can be changed but in the end they look like the dream of 12 year olds.

Sigmar is essentially a 12 year old, even GW say so with their most recent Stormcast chamber reveal video.

All of the Stormcast are standing around, embarrassed as Sigmar makes them wear GOLD armour, making them look like absolute tools.

TBH I feel really sorry for them, they have to put up with the whims and tantrums of their over the top, childish god. Nagash is much better

 Astmeister wrote:
Well, ordinary humans potentially will be slaves of Nagash or the chaos gods after they die. So the perspective of fighting for sigmar is probably better.
The major problem for me is also that Sigmarines are:
1.) a totally bland copy of Space Marines
2.) Gold
3.) wielding ridiculous warhammers
4.) immortal

2 & 3 can be changed but in the end they look like the dream of 12 year olds.

Thing is, they only look like that because adults buy tons of models with that look. If people bought more regular humans GW would make more regular humans.

Am i missing something? The chaos guys in the new pic look like marauders to me, we already have models for those.

We have old models for those. It's been alluded too that the marauders may well be wrapped in with the Darkoath characters. So we could see new marauder kits more in line with the Darkoath chieftain and warqueen, which would be nice.

Also addressing point 1 & 4 above, unlike space marines, Stormcast actually have personalities. And they're not immortal, it's been established since the beginning they suffer true deaths. In fact they have a massive mausoleum to remember their dead.

 tommse wrote:
Am i missing something? The chaos guys in the new pic look like marauders to me, we already have models for those.

Are you looking at the right soldier? There are some guys who aren't stormcasts fighting marauders.

Well, at least I hope that AoS will also get "ordinary humans fighting against all odds".

Doesn't work as well when they're very much emphasising the Space Marines that do most of the fighting.

I hope they have models for all schools of magic. Could use them in d&d and that mouth. Could use that for a large demon I've always wanted to sculpt but affraid to try...

pm713 wrote:
Doesn't work as well when they're very much emphasising the Space Marines that do most of the fighting.

If that is true, nobody needs Kharadron Overlords, Sylvaneth, Daughters of Khaine etc.
AFAIK the Stormcasts are really more like Space Marines and doing commando missions to establish a bridge head. Somebody has to also hold the ground for them.

pm713 wrote:
Doesn't work as well when they're very much emphasising the Space Marines that do most of the fighting.

Yeah, its the same problem in 40k. The thing that made WHFB so special was that there were no Space Marine analogues on the "good guy" side; the only T4 units on the order side that I can think of are Dwarves and Lizards, and they don't get along well with humans. I think grail knights might be T4 as well, but they aren't their own army and are quite rare.

In 40k and AoS you have Marines and Sigmarines taking all the glory; the little guy is just there to die in droves until the big shiny heroes arrive.

Imperial Guard should have been the focus in 40k. Space Marines and their ilk should have been auxiliary.

new rumor engine

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/05/15/rumour-engine-may-8th-2018-2/

Looks vaguely slaanesh. I guess she's out of her prison.

Good bet its possibly a plastic (finally) keeper of secretes.