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Those spells are not great...

I agree with the "low budget" comment.

A lot of it's the yellow. It's too cartoony.

I am really disappointed with those endless spells, to me they are the worst set GW has released. That it is for Lumineth is salt in the wound.

Agreed with most of you on the endless spell models, meh. The terrain better look good if it comes out in this launch. GW is saving me some money.

I actually think the Lumineth spells are kind of low key and not ridiculously “in your face”. I like em.

I like 'em. Of course, I'm not looking at it from a AOS perspective. I'm looking at it from a "How can I use these in a 40K RPG?" perspective, and the answer is "Eldar psychic power effects/strange alien artefacts".

I mean those three rune thingies would make a great ritual circle that a Deathwatch Kill-Team has to stop.

I'd much rather they have finished the concept out and made the pieces glue together into a complete circle. It just looks... derpy the way it is. To me, of course.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
I'd much rather they have finished the concept out and made the pieces glue together into a complete circle. It just looks... derpy the way it is. To me, of course.

Depending on how it works you probably need to place the three pieces around a unit. Not much room inside that circle if they’re all joined up.

Having them like that makes for a benefit of several aspects

1) as noted you can spread them out around a bigger unit

2) It's perhaps more practical on a real table where you might actually have only room to place one or two if you're near some terrain features

3) Transporting - its FAR more practical than having a big fixed ring of hollow plastic to cart around. Much like how the new Wild Woods are instead 3 big trees with the same tri-corner design instead of the old big flat pad with trees stuck on it.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/05/15/mysteries-of-the-mortal-realmsgw-homepage-post-1/

I wonder how many of these are legit teasers and how many are just for fun?

*Josef Bugman exists in the Mortal Realms (Could be cool for a Warcry team of duardin rangers, although no warbands have had actual named heroes leading them)

*Fyreslayers

*Seraphon vs Gloomspite (box set maybe, even though the latter had a box set already)

*Slaanesh escaping

*Vampires or possibly just Malerion

*Draconith playing some role ahead?

Most are likely just for fun. Same as how the Regimental Standard is jsut for fun - don't forget a few months back they previewed in that dog units for the Imperial Guard. etc....

Sure some might end up becoming bits of lore and some might be referring to little tidbits of lore hidden here and there; but these things should never be taken as rumours or hints.


Most of it is just a bit of fun.

It seems to be trying to say 'there might not even be a Malerion' at the end, which has interesting connotations.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
It seems to be trying to say 'there might not even be a Malerion' at the end, which has interesting connotations.

The fact that the author was murdered in the middle of writing lends itself well to speculation that Shadow Elves may be next.

 Manfred von Drakken wrote:

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
It seems to be trying to say 'there might not even be a Malerion' at the end, which has interesting connotations.

The fact that the author was murdered in the middle of writing lends itself well to speculation that Shadow Elves may be next.

I don't know if redoing the 'skaven obviously don't exist,' but with shadow elves, is going to work.

Besides, we still need to chug through cow elves and giants.

I tend to agree with Overread, though. Like RS, these are just on-the-nose jokes.

I don't think it will be that. But we know that Malerion as an entity ostensibly does exist; it would take significant ret-cons to change that. So how does that mix with 'there might not even be a Malerion'? Could it be that Malerion is just an assumed identity, potentially having multiple individuals play the part over time? Could it be the inverse where Malerion takes over other bodies? Could 'Malerion' be multiple aspects that do not truly exist as a single whole?

It puts the fluff between 'Malerion is fake' and 'Malerion is a 'normal' god' which makes things interesting to speculate about.

Or its just a "Daily Mail/Sun" style bit of reporting from the Mortal Realms - ergo sensationalist and not accurate and just a bit of fun.



Also somewhat sad news it seems that Josh Reynolds is moving on from writing for the Black Library
https://twitter.com/JMReynolds/status/1260914214421630981

 NinthMusketeer wrote:
I don't think it will be that. But we know that Malerion as an entity ostensibly does exist; it would take significant ret-cons to change that. So how does that mix with 'there might not even be a Malerion'? Could it be that Malerion is just an assumed identity, potentially having multiple individuals play the part over time? Could it be the inverse where Malerion takes over other bodies? Could 'Malerion' be multiple aspects that do not truly exist as a single whole?

It puts the fluff between 'Malerion is fake' and 'Malerion is a 'normal' god' which makes things interesting to speculate about.

Well I think it has something to do "what" Malerion is, as unlike other gods (or demigods) Malerion doesn't have an physical body in a normal sense.


Also, it would make scary amount of sense that some vampires would ally with Malerion (or shadow demons also like sucking blood).

 Overread wrote:
Or its just a "Daily Mail/Sun" style bit of reporting from the Mortal Realms - ergo sensationalist and not accurate and just a bit of fun.



Also somewhat sad news it seems that Josh Reynolds is moving on from writing for the Black Library
https://twitter.com/JMReynolds/status/1260914214421630981

Ah crap thats bad news - there was some nice bits in AOS Soulbound as well which seemed his - big loss to BL :(

re the "news" articles - yeah its tabloids reporting at its worst - unless you subscribe to the Men in Black view that these are True stories

Well I think it has something to do "what" Malerion is, as unlike other gods (or demigods) Malerion doesn't have an physical body in a normal sense. Also, it would make scary amount of sense that some vampires would ally with Malerion (or shadow demons also like sucking blood).

Nagash is very unahppy with the Aelf gods - but he is unhappy with all other gods (and mortals) - Vampires don't espcially like rivals for blood

Malerion was part of Sigmars Pantheon and helped him with the Stormcast - in particular the "Danger Room" style training arena as well as being part of the bind Slaanesh and drag the souls out of him plot.

 Mr Morden wrote:

 Overread wrote:
Or its just a "Daily Mail/Sun" style bit of reporting from the Mortal Realms - ergo sensationalist and not accurate and just a bit of fun.



Also somewhat sad news it seems that Josh Reynolds is moving on from writing for the Black Library
https://twitter.com/JMReynolds/status/1260914214421630981

Ah crap thats bad news - there was some nice bits in AOS Soulbound as well which seemed his - big loss to BL :(

re the "news" articles - yeah its tabloids reporting at its worst - unless you subscribe to the Men in Black view that these are True stories

Well I think it has something to do "what" Malerion is, as unlike other gods (or demigods) Malerion doesn't have an physical body in a normal sense. Also, it would make scary amount of sense that some vampires would ally with Malerion (or shadow demons also like sucking blood).

Nagash is very unahppy with the Aelf gods - but he is unhappy with all other gods (and mortals) - Vampires don't espcially like rivals for blood

Malerion was part of Sigmars Pantheon and helped him with the Stormcast - in particular the "Danger Room" style training arena as well as being part of the bind Slaanesh and drag the souls out of him plot.

Well you see Nagash is kinda a ass for an boss and vampires don't really like him as he tries to boss them around like some minions. And Nagash in return doesn't like undead creatures that aren't 100% loyal to him and only him.

And as vampires inherently flock to shadows and darkness already, Malerion, a god of literal darkness, spite and hatred (and who does not care about morals) could make a nice ally and a way to get away from Nagash.


... Or that is what I thought about. Could be absolutely rubbish.

It would take some epic rationale to have any kind of vampire rebellion against or betrayal of Nagash... unless he was complicit in it for his own goals. Everything that is dead is bound to Nagash. It's impossible for them to betray him.

 lare2 wrote:
It would take some epic rationale to have any kind of vampire rebellion against or betrayal of Nagash... unless he was complicit in it for his own goals. Everything that is dead is bound to Nagash. It's impossible for them to betray him.

Well that's a bit boring.

 lare2 wrote:
It would take some epic rationale to have any kind of vampire rebellion against or betrayal of Nagash... unless he was complicit in it for his own goals. Everything that is dead is bound to Nagash. It's impossible for them to betray him.

The dead are not only linked to Nagash although thats definately what Nagash says is the case - but there are other gods of Death that he devoured. I would think that if they were somehow freed then they could take his place....

That is incredably unlikely however.... Neferata and Mannfred betray him now and again - but its hard to say if its a real betrayal or just them acting acording to his plan. Its not even certain that they are anyting more than recreations of what Nagash remembers about them and Arkyn has stated that they are just aspects of Nagash. Even if thats the case- they would rebel - if they could - neither of them have any love for their master - quite the opposite. Several others have challenged Nagash and all have paid the price including the leader of the Blood Knights - which is why he is bound to his realm travelling castle

Sigmar obviously felt this was the case as he wanted to treat with Neferata sending forces early in the Realmgate Wars to parly with her and assist her in defending her favourite city but then he doubtless knew her from the days of the Pantheon.

Vampire and Nagash have always been uneasy master and minons - especially since Nagash wants everything both dead (and that has major issues for vampire feeding) and direclty under his control - Vampires don;t like being told what to do. Both in the World-that-was and the Mortal realms however they it risks their existance to move against Nagash

And as vampires inherently flock to shadows and darkness already, Malerion, a god of literal darkness, spite and hatred (and who does not care about morals) could make a nice ally and a way to get away from Nagash.

But is Malerion really going to be a better master.....Malerion is Shadows and Illusion not darkness I think

Really not a fan of those endless spells.
Of all the ones we have currently (faction based ones)
These for me are the worst.

Elves are always magic heavy so I’d expect flashy and excessive.
These just look pretty plain and average at best sadly.

We do have confirmation Malerion exists, since I'm pretty sure they've released stories which he's actually present, or at least, is talking with Morathi

GaroRobe wrote:
We do have confirmation Malerion exists, since I'm pretty sure they've released stories which he's actually present, or at least, is talking with Morathi

One of the short stories in Malign Portents has them talking meanwhile Malarion has been interacting with the other gods all the time in the background. The only reason his faction is "missing" from the setting is more because the army just isnt' out yet which means GW hasn't put much focus on them. A few short stories/novella have referenced the shadow aelves and that realm, though keeping things quite shady at the same time so as not to put too much detail/focus on them. They also comprise the greater population of the Realm of Shadow so it would be exceptionally odd for GW to remove them at this stage.

What's more surprising is that they are one of the two big armies that were hinted at very early on and yet they are coming out later. Meanwhile armies like Ossiarchs and Giants have appeared from almost nowhere.


Interestingly this reminds me that the Light Aelves were oft described as being a bit angelic - I wonder if this means that there's some winged aelves hiding in the clouds that we might see in the future. Perhaps one of the other elemental powers after the Bull has clearly claimed the more earthy elements.

Tyrion's Elves were described as angelic.

Also worth mentioning that we haven't actually had much reference to the Shadowkin outside of the name.

I would absolutely love to see an undead legion that isn’t bound to Nagash and is either Order or Destruction. Like a faction of Necromancers trying to achieve immortality by replicating the Katophranes’ success with Shadeglass, or by some other means, specifically because they don’t want to end up in Nagash’s clutches, and surround themselves with armies of failed experiments, some of which have undergone … upgrades… of a sort. I’m thinking lightningpunk zombies fit to match the best of Clan Moulder’s work, just less ratty. In both senses of the word.

 Mr_Rose wrote:
I would absolutely love to see an undead legion that isn’t bound to Nagash and is either Order or Destruction. Like a faction of Necromancers trying to achieve immortality by replicating the Katophranes’ success with Shadeglass, or by some other means, specifically because they don’t want to end up in Nagash’s clutches, and surround themselves with armies of failed experiments, some of which have undergone … upgrades… of a sort. I’m thinking lightningpunk zombies fit to match the best of Clan Moulder’s work, just less ratty. In both senses of the word.

Sounds great to me !

Nagash and many Undead are all about Order.

There are a number of these in the Lore and agreed it would be great to see more variety - they did a tiny bit with the Mercenary's you could add to factions in the Generals Handbooks - so for instance you can have a Free City with a small number of Blood Knights or a Necromancy and their dead horde.

The Amethyst Princedoms are very anti-Nagash - those that survive and so are many Flesh-Eater Courts.

Nagash gaining hugely in power after the Necroquake has forced alot of the Undead back under his control however.

 Mr_Rose wrote:
I would absolutely love to see an undead legion that isn’t bound to Nagash and is either Order or Destruction. Like a faction of Necromancers trying to achieve immortality by replicating the Katophranes’ success with Shadeglass, or by some other means, specifically because they don’t want to end up in Nagash’s clutches, and surround themselves with armies of failed experiments, some of which have undergone … upgrades… of a sort. I’m thinking lightningpunk zombies fit to match the best of Clan Moulder’s work, just less ratty. In both senses of the word.

#BringBackRichterKreuger

I wonder how they are going to handle Malerion, if he does exist, contrary to what this snippet claims. When the End Times came around, Malekith got a redemption arc of sorts. He became the Eternity King, got to marry Alarielle (even though that was kind of a loveless marriage), and outlawed the Cult of Khaine. I doubt he'll be too happy with Morathi bringing back the Cult.