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or was Hermiatus trying to make himself immortal and he's being re-created because he programmed his special genestealers to bring him back if he died?

 Mr_Rose wrote:
Not sure what the problem is? Saving a copy of a personality and growing it a new body is a canon Tyranid ability even if they only use it for things like the Swarmlord. Brood minds are also established to be miniature hive minds in almost all respects so this should be a simple thing. The only anomaly is that the Patriarch keeps creating Hermiatus-clones, which seems almost like a twisted sort of filial affection… did Hermiatus Prime actually succeed in creating a more human genestealer?

At the very least he's managed to make himself into an equivalent of the Swarmlord - a singular identity within the Swarm that is kept singular, but which can be re-created and preserved within it.
Of course the Tyranids might have more that can do that (we don't really know much if anything about the Norn Queens for example), but so far its him and the Swarmlord who can pull this trick.


Interesting twist would be if a Swarm ever came to the world and it linked up with the greater Hive Mind - what would he become within the greater swarm.

Seems the Malstrain are precisely why Hive Fleets seem to avoid Necromunda.

So have we seen Hermiatus before, in the old old Confrontation fluff or the merely old Necromunda fluff?

 streetsamurai wrote:

 Overread wrote:

 streetsamurai wrote:
very cool mini, which is, unfortunately, a bit ruined by the cutesy genestealer familiar.

The fluff is pretty bad though, and seems to go against what we knows about genestealers cult

That's the point though - this isn't a pure genestealer cult. It's one that has been messed with on a genetic level. It's going to behave very differently.

I get this, but I dont see why he couldn't have simply been infected by the patriarch, like a good regular victim. Does breaking the established fluff makes this character more interesting? (I dont think it is the case, but that's mostly subjective). Might be me, but I find that newcromunda fluff writers tries a bit too much to be edgy and different (I still can't get over the abomination that is the Delaque origin story lol )

That's assuming that there is a regular Patriarch rather than something perhaps more akin to the Twisted Helix, where they biohacked their way to being a cult without any original infection or even genestealers.
The Malstrain Patriarch is probably not the first genestealer in the way you might expect and might even be Hermiatus prime himself or what's left - the Flesh is Weak, afterall.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Seems the Malstrain are precisely why Hive Fleets seem to avoid Necromunda.

It was an excellent idea to explain why Necromunda isn't in danger from it's long-standing (Almost 2 hundred of years at this point?) genestealer infestation attracting nids, particularly since the "move the timeline forward" (RIP Helmawr, 7,000 years but couldn't survive post 8th ed 40k GW writers.) people have taken over Necromunda. Though it's also likely any nids are still ways off anyway.

Also a good way to make new models people will buy (Can't let people just buy normal 40k Genestealers need to keep track of each game's sales) without having to think up any particularly new ideas and likely just using the existing genestealer files and messing them up a little bit. Actually some kind of Malstrain warrioresque model would be a good one for Warhammer +. It's not clear if the Genestealers could make other Tyranid bioforms, they don't ever seem to but then these ones were descended from experiments anyway. It's never clear if the Genestealers on space hulks breed and multiply or just sleep until something to eat shows up. Similarly it might just be one of many Jurassic Park ("Life finds a way") references as to how the Tyranids who "evolve" wings and escape in the Anphelion Project increased their numbers. Overthinking it we also have things like the Catachan devil which is implied to somehow be a viable species descended from Tyranids who have been cut off from their hive. Tyranids don't seem to have genitals or engage in sexual reproduction is my point.

Though I think it's a bit of a shame that the whole mystery and mystique of what is going on in the ruins of Secundus, surrounded by an Escape From New York style wall is replaced with a throwaway campaign book.

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
So have we seen Hermiatus before, in the old old Confrontation fluff or the merely old Necromunda fluff?

Space Crusade: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/368381/space-crusade-renegade

NightReconnaissance wrote:
It's not clear if the Genestealers could make other Tyranid bioforms

The Metamorphs pop out seemingly random mutations that resemble the adaptations of other Tyrannoforms, so the potential exists for the emergence of a 'purer' form, even if such would never evolve in a 'standard' cult hierarchy.

Vorian wrote:

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
So have we seen Hermiatus before, in the old old Confrontation fluff or the merely old Necromunda fluff?

Space Crusade: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/368381/space-crusade-renegade

That is some glorious old school fluff mining

Vorian wrote:

 Kid_Kyoto wrote:
So have we seen Hermiatus before, in the old old Confrontation fluff or the merely old Necromunda fluff?

Space Crusade: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/368381/space-crusade-renegade

Cheers!

Edit- geeze I think I have that issue too

NightReconnaissance wrote:
(RIP Helmawr, 7,000 years but couldn't survive post 8th ed 40k GW writers.)

Wasn't Helmawr last seen as alive, but in the "care" of his bastard, Kal Jericho? Possibly escaping offworld?

 Dysartes wrote:

NightReconnaissance wrote:
(RIP Helmawr, 7,000 years but couldn't survive post 8th ed 40k GW writers.)

Wasn't Helmawr last seen as alive, but in the "care" of his bastard, Kal Jericho? Possibly escaping offworld?

Yes. Kal basically kidnapped him in his stasis pod to who knows where.

 Segersgia wrote:

 Dysartes wrote:

NightReconnaissance wrote:
(RIP Helmawr, 7,000 years but couldn't survive post 8th ed 40k GW writers.)

Wasn't Helmawr last seen as alive, but in the "care" of his bastard, Kal Jericho? Possibly escaping offworld?

Yes. Kal basically kidnapped him in his stasis pod to who knows where.

Also since when is he 7000 years old? 2-300 at most. Gerontius was not the first Helmawr and I’m pretty sure the Helmawr line itself doesn’t predate the Age of Apostasy.

IIRC, Helmawr has been the Imperial House for around 7,000 years. Not Gerontius personally.

Anyway, IMNSHO it's about damn time they are "advancing the timeline". It's been 5 minutes 'til Midnight on 999.M41 for the last 20+ years (here on Old Terra). Same with the rest of the setting.

We can speculate that they are keeping on with the Aranthian Succession storyline, with the preview of the Lady Haera with New Hat!, I mean new Spyrer suit. The question is, are they going to keep important rules and lore information locked in the box set? Or is that all going to be generic with important stuff in the oncoming campaign books?

For sure the plot's going in a separate book. Just imagine the furor that would erupt if they put plot in the boxed set and didn't publish it elsewhere.

 SgtEeveell wrote:

We can speculate that they are keeping on with the Aranthian Succession storyline, with the preview of the Lady Haera with New Hat!, I mean new Spyrer suit. The question is, are they going to keep important rules and lore information locked in the box set? Or is that all going to be generic with important stuff in the oncoming campaign books?

They have already said that some things that have been shown off will have their rules in an upcoming book.
I think there is a good chance the lore in the box's book will be generic Secundus lore not tied to a particular date, so that the box will work with whatever they have planned for the moving timeline.

Don't we need a Book of the Outlands for the new setting before jetting off into Aranthian Succession? It's unlikely there will be two campaigns in a book.

(EDIT: wait, nevermind, the campaign rules weren't in Outlands. Still, there was a sourcebook for the new setting without the metaplot last time.)

(Still hoping that they reel the ongoing narrative in a bit, for all that they clearly aren't killing it entirely.)

twoseventwo wrote:
Don't we need a Book of the Outlands for the new setting before jetting off into Aranthian Succession? It's unlikely there will be two campaigns in a book.

(EDIT: wait, nevermind, the campaign rules weren't in Outlands. Still, there was a sourcebook for the new setting without the metaplot last time.)

(Still hoping that they reel the ongoing narrative in a bit, for all that they clearly aren't killing it entirely.)

Yeah, the campaign rules are in the Ash Wastes box set, and the vehicle design rules (except for the Cost to Repair table) are in the Bo-Outlands. So you really need both of them. And the full rules for the Squats and Ash Wastes Nomads were in Bo-Outlands too.

I'll bet we're going to see something like that this time too. With the Malstrains just getting a Gangs of Legends style pamphlet in the box, and the full gang rules in The Book of the Underlands.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2024/07/14/sunday-preview-horrors-in-the-underhells-and-dwarfs-in-the-old-world/

I was thinking we might get a non plot pushing book (How about Book of the Underhells?) but if it has rules for Lady Herae I would expect it to do a plot progression.

Preorder of the boxset next weekend.

Think I’ll just be in for the book right now.

Recent serious unpleasantness has thrown a right spanner in the works, and I need to go super easy money wise as I’ve now a trip to Scotland and Back at an as yet unspecified point in time.

I predict...
Box set will be US$250.
Ruined Terrain set US$80.

Is it just me or does the box look very..underwhelming laid out like that?

Yeah, it isn't inspiring, especially when you remember that the terrain is the 2017 doors you likely already have a bunch of.

Would it be too much to ask that they shoot the blast sprue in a new color, or are they still working though stock that is years old at this point?

 SgtEeveell wrote:
I predict...
Box set will be US$250.
Ruined Terrain set US$80.

The current wall sections are $100;
So going $25 more on each will be the safer bet.

Box is $170
Ruined Walls $85
Data Stacks $52

So... not terrible?

The only one that is close to what I was expecting were the Data Stacks since I figured they were going to be similar to the Marketplace and Promethium Station.

Shocked that the box isn't over $200 since it has what I expect to have four codes' worth of gangs in there (Scum, Malstrain, Secundus Van Saar, and Spyrers). Figured the Ruins would be $100 to match the Mortalis Walls price.

Not that I doubt you, just wondering if it was a shop posting preorder prices or something?

 Robert Facepalmer wrote:
Box is $170
Ruined Walls $85
Data Stacks $52

Got a source for those? Much better than I was expecting, pretty pleased if accurate.