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 RustyNumber wrote:
It'd be cool if Cathay had a more realistic war wagon type unit, more of a high sided cart with more infantry in it rather than a land-hulk.

Closest thing their roster has is the Sky-Junk, though that's much more akin to a floating artillery and missile troop platform.

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/vqtyoanc/old-world-almanack-the-merwyrm-returns-from-the-depths/

My beloved merwyrm is back

Ooooh! I cannot wait to see the full Seaguard list in the Arcane Journal. I am going to need to make at least a small force of Seaguard, Skycutters, Bolt Throwers, Shadow Warriors, and Reavers. It's just a requirement at this point.

YAY for returning models!

I wonder if this means a few other large FW models will come back too - like the old Magamadragon and such!

the merwyrm is a gorgeous model before. somehow have never seen it before, but that's a really compelling piece— definitely the most tempting thing that old world sea elves have. makes me want to start an army just to justify it

Im shocked about all the complaining I’m seeing online

People either hate the model or hate that it’s with high elves

I think it looks great and the merwyrms appear in HE lore

 GaroRobe wrote:
Im shocked about all the complaining I’m seeing online

People either hate the model or hate that it’s with high elves

I think it looks great and the merwyrms appear in HE lore

When did the merwyrm first show up? Was it Storm of Chaos in 6th edition?

I remember it having an army list entry, but no model. You had to kitbash one yourself out of a dragon kit. They had an example. It was blue.

Put me in the "don't like the model" category, but that might be because I still picture it as looking like that kitbash--a classic sinewy Warhammer dragon except watery.

How can people hate such an awesome model!

That said it DID have a long period of being either a generic monster or (in the AoS days) being in "destruction" grand alliance. So its bounced around a bit.

Honestly HE is a great spot - they already have dragons, lions, phonenix and such so a huge undersea wyrm is ideal for them

I'm not a big fan of the model personally - I always envisioned a more traditional sea serpent type monster. I like the concept though so I may look for a good proxy.

well, at the very least, coming into this with no expectations, i love the model. highly detailed and gorgeous


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 Overread wrote:
How can people hate such an awesome model!

That said it DID have a long period of being either a generic monster or (in the AoS days) being in "destruction" grand alliance. So its bounced around a bit.

Honestly HE is a great spot - they already have dragons, lions, phonenix and such so a huge undersea wyrm is ideal for them

imo, it helps He feel more like the proper atlantis sea elves they're supposed to be, rather than generic high elves. would love to see something like this pop up for AOS's sea elves

 Overread wrote:
YAY for returning models!

I wonder if this means a few other large FW models will come back too - like the old Magamadragon and such!

Hopefully the Curs'd Ettin returns!

 GaroRobe wrote:
Im shocked about all the complaining I’m seeing online

People either hate the model or hate that it’s with high elves

I think it looks great and the merwyrms appear in HE lore

Having had high elves and the merwyrm in the past, i can understand what they say. It really doesn't fit the high elf style. It looks far more like a dark elf slave monster or something that should have been reimagined for the deepkin.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:

 GaroRobe wrote:
Im shocked about all the complaining I’m seeing online

People either hate the model or hate that it’s with high elves

I think it looks great and the merwyrms appear in HE lore

Having had high elves and the merwyrm in the past, i can understand what they say. It really doesn't fit the high elf style. It looks far more like a dark elf slave monster or something that should have been reimagined for the deepkin.

One of the most baffling things when this model was part of AoS was that it never became part of the Idoneth army. Almost the perfect choice for FW to put the model into Idoneth and it never happened.

 GaroRobe wrote:
Im shocked about all the complaining I’m seeing online

People either hate the model or hate that it’s with high elves

I think it looks great and the merwyrms appear in HE lore

Don't know if the writers of the SoC list of the Sea Guard had something like this model in their minds. I'd guess it was more the Sea Dragons the Dark Elves used in Man'O'War.

The Trish fish looks more like a really nasty sea-dwelling beast than a dragon. That's fine, though - it's a gorgeous model. It's just not a creature you would expect in a HE army. But I'm okay with that, no need for 'hate'.

I like it. Expect to see monster mash lists from HE more with this.

 Overread wrote:

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:

 GaroRobe wrote:
Im shocked about all the complaining I’m seeing online

People either hate the model or hate that it’s with high elves

I think it looks great and the merwyrms appear in HE lore

Having had high elves and the merwyrm in the past, i can understand what they say. It really doesn't fit the high elf style. It looks far more like a dark elf slave monster or something that should have been reimagined for the deepkin.

One of the most baffling things when this model was part of AoS was that it never became part of the Idoneth army. Almost the perfect choice for FW to put the model into Idoneth and it never happened.

Idoneth need more weird stuff like this, anyway. the pitch is "deep sea elves", but all of the fish in Idoneth are too normal to be deep sea fish. in terms of bespoke models, we've got sharks, eels, and turtles, but true deep sea fish are bizarre and ugly, and the merwyrm definitely has more of that vibe to it

I guess I didn't realize they actually MADE one of these. Guess my Storm of Chaos list is getting a new model.

 Overread wrote:
YAY for returning models!

I wonder if this means a few other large FW models will come back too - like the old Magamadragon and such!

Would love the Basilisk to return, it was super-generic looking, but superbly executed.

I love the merwyrm concept and the model but I don't think it fits particularly well with the high elf range. I agree with Inquisitor Gideon, it would certainly fit more neatly into the dark elf range. It would make a good alternative to the karybdis.

Bit of a Flanderisation isn't it? "HElves can only have creatures aiding them if they're majestic and regal looking."

With that said, a model that looks like it's coming out from the shallows or rampaging would be better than this ones pose.

Absolutely love this model. I was sad, when I couldn’t get it anymore, now it will make a great display piece. Don’t really care about HElves, so the merwyrm in my hands won’t see the tabletop.
But I’m just happy, that Warhammer Forge stuff is slowly climbing back out of the grave.

Spined beast, preyton, ettin, mournghul and a bunch of other cool stuff would make for a great comeback

 RustyNumber wrote:
Bit of a Flanderisation isn't it? "HElves can only have creatures aiding them if they're majestic and regal looking."

With that said, a model that looks like it's coming out from the shallows or rampaging would be better than this ones pose.

That's the thing; one if the many, many reasons why Ulthuan is a difficult place to attack is the profusion of sea monsters that guard its coast. High Elves have had alliances with undersea creatures in the lore for ages.

 RustyNumber wrote:
Bit of a Flanderisation isn't it? "HElves can only have creatures aiding them if they're majestic and regal looking."

Not really. It's a design choice. I'd be fine with pretty elves surrounded by horrific monsters if that was a consistent motif. If the phoenix model was a half undead ghoul bird and the dragons looked like Galrauch or Tamrukhan's toad dragon and the banners of the elves depicted these monstrosities, that would be a great look for the army. However it currently sticks out in a way that I don't find pleasing.

I'd prefer something similar to this, without the watery base, maybe coiled up like the Tyranid Trygon.

 RustyNumber wrote:
Bit of a Flanderisation isn't it? "HElves can only have creatures aiding them if they're majestic and regal looking."

With that said, a model that looks like it's coming out from the shallows or rampaging would be better than this ones pose.

It's an interesting point - we had the same thing with "wait elves can't use huge hammers in battle that's a dwarf thing" when the Lumineth got their hammer warriors.

Sometimes the concepts of what an army should be an get a very narrow lens. It's not helped by the fact that many fantasy and scifi armies often follow very specific design elements so that they really stand out from each other on the battlefield. A hyper amount of variation is actually what most of us expect.

Meanwhile if you compare soldiers of armies in the real world from nations of comparable technology levels you often see very similar styling and designs going on with both sides. Furthermore whilst you can see design similarities in things like vehicles its more driven by "these were all made by the same factory/design team" and "they use the same common parts to keep it easy to support"; but otherwise they aren't afraid of things looking different.

It's actually interesting in Warhammer fantasy that you don't get elves running around with dwarven hammers and cannons; or dwarves with tamed dragons and griffons and so forth.



That is also extends to the wildlife of the setting is doubly interesting. The idea that elves would only choose sleek, elegant and "pretty" animals/beasts to fight alongside whilst only "dark" and evil elves would choose the chunky more brutal looking ones is certainly easy to see from the design language of each faction; however at the same time there's no real reason High Elves wouldn't tame an "ugly" beast if it was within their lands and amenable to being tamed/convinced to fight for them.

I got a shipping notice for my Empire MTO stuff last night... I only bought one War Wagon along with all the metals, guess they stocked up in anticipation.

First people have already received their War Wagon, with the Quality Control sheet saying packed in November

https://www.tabletopwelt.de/uploads/monthly_2025_02/FB_IMG_1738673781559.jpg.87ba2c9b01715a3183e877212fbf8721.jpg

 Prometheum5 wrote:
I got a shipping notice for my Empire MTO stuff last night... I only bought one War Wagon along with all the metals, guess they stocked up in anticipation.

They always do that. Been doing it since the very first middle-earth mto.

Same, my order is on the way already too. Seems standard with MTO from the past few times I bought some. Only one instance were it took near the 180 days limit with the Marauder Giant, otherwise it always looked like they had everything in stock.

SnotlingPimpWagon wrote:
Absolutely love this model. I was sad, when I couldn’t get it anymore, now it will make a great display piece. Don’t really care about HElves, so the merwyrm in my hands won’t see the tabletop.
But I’m just happy, that Warhammer Forge stuff is slowly climbing back out of the grave.

Spined beast, preyton, ettin, mournghul and a bunch of other cool stuff would make for a great comeback

I could see the Beastmen getting the Preyton in their Journal.

 Overread wrote:
It's actually interesting in Warhammer fantasy that you don't get elves running around with dwarven hammers and cannons; or dwarves with tamed dragons and griffons and so forth.

Back in the day - prior to sixth edition - pretty much every army could drag along whatever monsters they wanted (short of, I think, hydras and gorgons being restricted to dark elves?). At the end of fifth GW was almost encouraging people to dilute their army identity by pushing Dogs of War. And then Storm of Magic gave people extra points only to spend on big monsters...

How long before the Old World gets to that stage?