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Ehhh. The poses are very nice, but overall, that's IT? No monster? No crazy specialist? At least the smoke effect could turn into a demonic fiend or something, like the smoke skull from the battle mage kit. That way they could still walk around most cities without notice, but have something interesting during combat :/ (not that most of the other crews would be all that suspicious in big towns or cities if they can stop talking about their gods, like, an Unmade is provably not that far of from a regular crazed traveler from Shysh)

I think the Cypher Lords may well be my favourite of the 6.

I think all the warbands are great GW sculpts, but the Corvus Cabal is a tier beyond and makes the others look lacking in comparison.

Thelast warband is pretty cool but it is held back by the lack of a crazy centrepiece model like the Corvus or Unmade leaders, the Ogre in Iron Golems or warbeast in the... warbeasty one.


If I had to sort them on looks alone:

S tier: Corvus Cabal
A tier: Untamed Beasts, Cypher Lords, Splintered Fang, The Unmade
B tier: Iron Golems
C tier: nothing!

I like them quite a lot. Probably best of the mixed bag of warbands we've seen so far.

Then again, lack of uniformity is what always stopped me from collecting Chaos, so I may not be the target audience!

I like them. Not as much as some of the others, but still good stuff.

If I had to rank them, my preferences would be:

1. Untamed Beast
2. Corvus Cabal
3. Iron Golems
4. Cypher Lords
5. The Unmade
6. Splintered Fang

What I really appreciate is the variety of preferences I have seen in others. Rarely do I read two identical listings, which to me means that GW has done a great job in catering to different tastes.

I can fund a use for these. Well, for anything below the chin anyway.

I appreciate having the assembled warband pictures side by side, all with the same background. Looks good and ties them all together in spite of all the various styles.

Looking forward to any information on the Chaos warbands now, too.

GoatboyBeta wrote:
Less savage tribe and more "civilised" cult makes for an interesting change. Visually I'm getting something of a Graeco-Roman and Aztec vibe from them.

I wonder if this Nochseed is an Order or Chaos city?

I think it's safe to say it's an Order city. Kind of pointless having Chaos cultists blend into society in a Chaos city.

These guys are definitely my least favorite of the six, though I think they would look markedly better if you cut their plumes off (maybe keep them on the faster?)

I will say I really love how different all the warbands look and how everybody seems to have different favorite and least favorite warbands. It shows GW did a very good job making distinctive and interesting warbands.

My personal favorite are still the Iron Golems, but I will also be picking up the Unmade and Splintered Fang on release (and the Untamed Beast because they come in the starter).

I'm sure I'll end up with Corvus Cabal sooner or later too.

I am not too fond of Cypher Lords but I intend to buy the whole range nevertheless. As a completely new project, Warcry could be perfect time to give Contrast paints a go. I have already started gathering basing materials and testing colour schemes on terrain pieces.

Not sure if I'll get the Cypher Lords yet it depends whether they have rules, tokens etc. in the warband boxes. I've been looking for an excuse to paint some Kairic Acolytes and I think they would be a good counts as. I already have some spare Bestigors and Gors that will be done up as an Untamed Beasts Warband.

Some quick photoshoppy things for altered Cypher minis:

No plume:



No "any of that excessive headgear":



Kairic Acolyte (no idea how they will actually scale):



And finally, while I was planning to try some Daughters of Khaine mask, I figured a normal head with some sort of veil might fit the aesthetics too. Which I'd say it does:

Man, I like these. Are they 'mad' because they are one of the few warhammer factions sane enough to wear helmets?

I think next to raven boys, it's the best band, and pretty good for Thousand Son cultists, both much better looking than the existing tzeenthy bois. Finally someone remembered chaos doesn't need to consist only of rabid cavemen swinging sticks and bones around and can be much more dangerous in a 'civilized' way...

 Thargrim wrote:
I kinda like them, they're pretty different from the other ones. I definitely get a thousand sons vibe from them a little bit.

If they are as tall as other human models are recently, the double swords guy would make perfect Thousand Son Khenetai blademaster from 30K, especially if you wanted to make a diorama with them sparring in their time off as other marines are watching.

 Kanluwen wrote:
I would be surprised if it is Hysh...

So, you were saying?

One thing to consider is that most of these warbands appear to have visual styles and fluff that allows them to "flit" between chaos gods. This is likely intentional and plays on the lore established that there are mortal followers who the chaos gods (or more likely their greater demon agents) fight over for the worship of.

So if a group looks Slanneshy, but also Tzeentchy then it could be that both those dark gods have influenced that people at different times. With the peoples swapping over as their patron gods wax and wane in their support.

Chaos followers are not slaves to dead gods, they require their gods to bless them with gifts as much as they bless the gods with their patronage.

First few seconds I liked them. Then.. we’ll the muscles are just horrendously sculpted. Second only to fyreslayers, I think.
The previously revealed slaaneshy warband is just much prettier.

First warband to not really do it for me, which is actually a relief 'cause it was getting a bit silly. Now a rules preview or two wouldn't go amiss.

Initially I was disappointed with these latest chaps. However, after a second look I am coming around to them.

Personally am pleased that we have had such variety -some I like and some I don't but at least we have some choice in appearance, gender and even race.

When I look back at the earlier AOS ranges its a very good thing.

I may be in the minority here, but I think they are the best looking warband of the 6 shown. They offer something new and different to the usual chaos image of savagery, skulls, spikes, and leering faces. These look very much like the idea of a cult, something which can blend into their society and corrupt from within. That is a theme that has sadly been missing from the chaos range for quite some time.

After the disappointment that was the unmade, these are welcome. Now we just need to hear how the game actually plays.

is preorder confirmed for the 20th?

Starter set posted by Ben Johnson - it's on display at ATC

Looks like the warband boxes have their own cards

if only he had a sprue pic

Personally I really like most of those bands. Not a huge fan of the Serpent ones, and the Corvus Cabal is a bit of a miss for me. Top ones in my opinions are the Iron Golems and the Unmade. Still, all of them look good.

The set seems awesome, and really modular. Seems like a great box.

Ok, so the vulture thinges and the Harpies appear to be in the main box. I'm guessing their random monsters/NPCs.

Terrain sure is interesting.

 lord_blackfang wrote:
I think all the warbands are great GW sculpts, but the Corvus Cabal is a tier beyond and makes the others look lacking in comparison.

Thelast warband is pretty cool but it is held back by the lack of a crazy centrepiece model like the Corvus or Unmade leaders, the Ogre in Iron Golems or warbeast in the... warbeasty one.


If I had to sort them on looks alone:

S tier: Corvus Cabal
A tier: Untamed Beasts, Cypher Lords, Splintered Fang, The Unmade
B tier: Iron Golems
C tier: nothing!

Interesting, I tend to put them this way
Fang, Lords
Golems, Beasts
Corvus, Unmade

A few of the sculpts in the last two aren't terrible, but the 'centerpiece models' are exactly what drag them down for me. Entirely too silly and impractical. Some of the other Corvus models aren't great either.

Fangs, Corvus and Unmade at the top for me
Lords and Untamed in the middle
Golems dead last. Just...uninspired compared to the rest.

Iron Golems strike me as the most ‘vanilla’, in terms of established Chaos aesthetics.

But I really do quite like them. They look properly brutal, even if some of the poses aren’t quite to taste.

I'm pretty sure I'll be picking up at least one set of all six warbands, plus extra copies of those most suitable for conversion fodder. I don't dislike a single one of them.

If forced to prioritise, I think my preference ranking is probably:

The Unmade
Cypher Lords, Corvus Cabal
Iron Golems, Splintered Fang
Untamed Beasts

I'm not sold on the faux-stone-age weapons of the Beasts in a setting that has gunpowder and steampunk airships. But I certainly don't dislike them, and they'll be useful models for 13th Age even if they don't quite seem to fit AoS.

Nothing beats the crow warband. Be interested to see what the game is like.

I like these guys but yes, the crow guys are the best.

I will like the unmade when i can read their background fluff without giggling.

Top Tier: splintered fangs, cypher lords
Mid Tier: corvus cabal, untamed beasts (with weapon swaps)
Low Tier: Iron Golems
Uninterested: The Unmade

that said, all of them are great conversion fodder, and I can see myself getting them all just to convert with.