Age of Sigmar : first miniatures revealed.

[Orkfaeller]

I think this sums it up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-Mz...=BruvaAlfabusa

[HigoChumbo]

Honestly, I don't really mind that they remove Slaneesh. I always thought it was the only Chaos god that didn't really fit, and that it was the less developed of them all. I like the concept (the god of lust), but the execution was, in my opinion, quite poor, the pinacle of Warhammer's embrace of weird 80s aesthetics.

I think there is not one Slaneesh miniature which I don't find ridiculous and/or really outdated. They should maybe just make those "lust" concepts unique to Dark Elves, you know, some equivalent of what Blood Elves are in WoW (which pretty much depicts them not as "essentially bad guys", but as drug-addicts).

[Son of Horus]

It wasn't the god of lust. It's original incarnation was the god of pleasure. And not in the "pleasure" way that anything was, but literally, the pleasure of doing things. Whether it's turning to the cold side of the pillow, or finding a new song you like, or looking at beautiful paintings/landscapes etc, or anything from which enjoyment could be derived. Slaanesh then reduced the effect that that pleasure had on them, but then increased the intensity of the feeling when they eventually recieved that stimulus. In 40K, for example (about the only time you can link the two settings together), the pleasure of the one of the "Remembrancers" on the fleet of the Emperor's Children attempted to make the most beautiful painting ever of the "perfection embodied" that was Fulgrim.

She was never happy with her creation, despite it coming across as perfect, gradually becoming more and more degenerate in her search for just the right shade and colour, resulting to using her own body, such as blood and other things to paint it, but the painting was not exactly some ultra photorealistic version capturing his image, but a riotous clash of colours that more resembles that appearance of a daemon rather than fulgrim (the irony being that Fulgrim would become possessed by a Daemon and then imprisoned in that same painting).

As for the models, well, I think the boobsnake model of 6th edition fantasy is one of the greatest models ever produced by GW.

Caution, possibly NSFW depending on whether boobsnakes are allowed in your place of work (Japan?)

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

It contains the perversity of the chaos god in its entirety. The snake is often consider perfect; from head to toe, smooth and silky, and a basically its body a living weapon, but it has these objects of desire (boobs) everywhere, when a) it has no right to have them (being reptilian) and b) it's ugly, but pretty at the same time. The Warrior has the Spartan-esque style helm, often considered the perfect warriors, and carries an elven-ish style weapon. It's perverse, but beautiful at the same time, and encapsulates the idea better than anything else, such as the Glottkin, which in anything other than the travesty that the End Times/Age of Sigmar was should have been kept as a plastic Greater Daemon of Nurgle with a Plastic Nurgle Chaos Lord and Chaos Sorcerer as well, at the head of a rebooted plastic Bloodthirster, Keeper of Secrets and Lord of Change. It's just a shame that those models are now just so small compared to things like the Dragons.

In regards to the "lust" aspects of the Dark Elves, with the exception of the Witch Elves, which were originally just your basic insane dark elf hotties in chainmail bikinis at their creation, the Dark Elves got all of their "lust" from the Cults of Pleasure before the Sundering, started by Morathi, who was secretly suborned to the will of Slaanesh even before she was found by Aenarion; whether this was as a result of being captured by the Slaaneshi Daemons during their raids on Naggarythe, or even before then, noone knows, or will ever know.

[MissRarity]

My main issue lies in the fact that GW is trying to make a streamlined game, and yet is just pulling away the flavourful rules that made Warhammer fun (I am looking at you new Bretonnia rules). The issue with Fantasy spess Marines is already established and we don't need another rant on that. Stupid thing is stupid.

I do hope however, for a split. That ''Age of Sigmar'' becomes its own category or style of play, while the older remain for those who want stupid charts for everything and a 5 page printed from your PC with your army list and all special rules.

[HigoChumbo]

boobsnake

Same thing. I dig the concept, the weird perversion of it all, I just don't like the execution. Visually (or artistically, if you prefer) they leave a lot to be desired, in my humble opinion. There are similar concepts done much better out there (couldn't point you in a specific direction right now, but I know I've seen that kind of stuff somewhere).

[Son of Horus]

Slaanesh is the worst of the mayor gods anyways, a feeble attempt to get the number 4 (cuz 4 horsemen of the apocalypse), but avoiding the issue that "death" has no chaos deity, its more necromantic .

Eh, I disagree; while I understand, 4 being the number of the Apocalypse,
aos
Khorne was pride, and martial ability, whether it was through personal combat, generalship, or really big guns, Khorne would always find a place in the fighters heart. The irony was that worshipping Khorne devolved all that into an insensate bout of rage. GW seems to have forgotten that and BLOOD RAGE SKULLS WRAFIHSGFJSNGKWSJ. The writing ability has gone downhill, but the fluff behind it was still possible.
Tzeentch was fate and inevitability, the ability to change things, and become the ultimate at manipulation and knowing the future. There was a mention about how could you fight against someone who knew the future outcome of the fight already" in 6th edition, and that was true, for why else would a Champion of Tzeentch take to battle if he knew he would die? The perversity of Chaos turned that around though, giving you the knowledge of the future, but telling you that the future could not change.
Slaanesh was as above.
and Nurgle was fear of death, so made you immortal, but carried with it the stench of the grave and the plague of death and look ugly, and you spread death while you stayed alive.

[MissRarity]

Same thing. I dig the concept, the weird perversion of it all, I just don't like the execution. Visually (or artistically, if you prefer) they leave a lot to be desired, in my humble opinion. There are similar concepts done much better out there (couldn't point you in a specific direction right now, but I know I've seen that kind of stuff somewhere).

I loved what they did in warhammer 40k roleplaying game (Dark Crusade). Slaanesh really came in to his own there.

[andymate]

In classic games workshop fashion i see them downsizing all their boxes to give you less for a higher price. 16 dwarf warriors will become 10 when they rebrand the dwarfs to duardin for example. I find this stupid because if they were cheaper or better value i might of actually bought more. I actually ended up buying avatars of war slayers which were way cheaper/better value at 20 for $35 aud and actually better looking models. To get a gauge, 10 ironbreakers at games workshop in Australia costs $70 aud. They are pricing themselves out of the market.

[Carl Jung was right]

Honestly, I don't really mind that they remove Slaneesh. I always thought it was the only Chaos god that didn't really fit, and that it was the less developed of them all. I like the concept (the god of lust), but the execution was, in my opinion, quite poor, the pinacle of Warhammer's embrace of weird 80s aesthetics.

I think there is not one Slaneesh miniature which I don't find ridiculous and/or really outdated. They should maybe just make those "lust" concepts unique to Dark Elves, you know, some equivalent of what Blood Elves are in WoW (which pretty much depicts them not as "essentially bad guys", but as drug-addicts).

In terms of miniature looks, I have no comment, as your point is largely sound. I can at the very least understand how some people would find them aesthetically displeasing, and even as a major Chaos fan, I find that Slaanesh miniatures are the least likely that I would want to own. But if from this, you conclude that Slaanesh is an extraneous part of Warhammer canon, then I find myself in strong disagreement. In case you aren't familiar with them already, there were several fluff compendiums, such as Age of Chaos, the Realm of Chaos books and Tamurkhan which went expanded in great detail on the role and purpose of each Chaos god. If not, I highly recommend these books, as they're not only highly entertaining, but also offer an occasionally chillingly relevant perspective on the mentality of religious belief.

The way I see it, whereas the other 3 gods were the products of primordial forces (decay, violence and mutative change) he was the god produced by civilization. This is what made him stand out. He wasn't the god of sexuality and lust per se (elements of this aspect exist in every other chaos god IMO) or simplistic hedonism, but rather excess brought about by the advancement of culture which puts aside no longer relevant concerns of base survival in favor of pursuing extremes of emotional and psychic satisfaction. I actually think this makes him the most sophisticated and multifaceted god, because unlike the others, it takes a certain understanding of human nature to appreciate just how indispensable Slaanesh's role is in the Chaos pantheon, or at least as far as it concerns intelligent, civilized races. In any case, it doesn't make sense to remove such a huge part of the canon which from the outset was always interwoven into any narrative involving the Chaos powers, whether you like it or not.

As I see it, the only reason it was done was to avoid controversy from the SJW crowd (who might complain that the Slaanesh theme is misogynist or trans/homophobic or something) and parents who might raise eyebrows at children browsing shelves stuffed with such racy looking miniatures. But then again, last time I checked the "old" canon is still there, and no decision or announcement from GW is somehow going to erase what some of us fans have grown to love about the 40k/fantasy universe. Even though I have little respect for the company and the direction they're taking, I must nevertheless note that GW's product line have become stale as of late and they can't just keep servicing a diminishing niche market. The decision to create a rules focused overhaul of the core game, the fluff coherence of which be damned (because after all, gamers only care about cool looking miniatures and solid gaming crunch, right?) makes sense from a marketing perspective. Aside from the minority of those such as myself who, as you can say, have more of an established fan interest in the fantasy universe than in GW's product line of plastics, I doubt that this major new development would negatively impact GW's sales sheet in a significant way, especially considering the new targeted niche of younger gamers.

[HigoChumbo]

Well, can't argue with any of that. Great post, buddy.

[DavidtheDuke]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVqSw8UqXEA Arch gives his thoughts

[MissRarity]

In terms of miniature looks, I have no comment, as your point is largely sound. I can at the very least understand how some people would find them aesthetically displeasing, and even as a major Chaos fan, I find that Slaanesh miniatures are the least likely that I would want to own. But if from this, you conclude that Slaanesh is an extraneous part of Warhammer canon, then I find myself in strong disagreement. In case you aren't familiar with them already, there were several fluff compendiums, such as Age of Chaos, the Realm of Chaos books and Tamurkhan which went expanded in great detail on the role and purpose of each Chaos god. If not, I highly recommend these books, as they're not only highly entertaining, but also offer an occasionally chillingly relevant perspective on the mentality of religious belief.

The way I see it, whereas the other 3 gods were the products of primordial forces (decay, violence and mutative change) he was the god produced by civilization. This is what made him stand out. He wasn't the god of sexuality and lust per se (elements of this aspect exist in every other chaos god IMO) or simplistic hedonism, but rather excess brought about by the advancement of culture which puts aside no longer relevant concerns of base survival in favor of pursuing extremes of emotional and psychic satisfaction. I actually think this makes him the most sophisticated and multifaceted god, because unlike the others, it takes a certain understanding of human nature to appreciate just how indispensable Slaanesh's role is in the Chaos pantheon, or at least as far as it concerns intelligent, civilized races. In any case, it doesn't make sense to remove such a huge part of the canon which from the outset was always interwoven into any narrative involving the Chaos powers, whether you like it or not.

As I see it, the only reason it was done was to avoid controversy from the SJW crowd (who might complain that the Slaanesh theme is misogynist or trans/homophobic or something) and parents who might raise eyebrows at children browsing shelves stuffed with such racy looking miniatures. But then again, last time I checked the "old" canon is still there, and no decision or announcement from GW is somehow going to erase what some of us fans have grown to love about the 40k/fantasy universe. Even though I have little respect for the company and the direction they're taking, I must nevertheless note that GW's product line have become stale as of late and they can't just keep servicing a diminishing niche market. The decision to create a rules focused overhaul of the core game, the fluff coherence of which be damned (because after all, gamers only care about cool looking miniatures and solid gaming crunch, right?) makes sense from a marketing perspective. Aside from the minority of those such as myself who, as you can say, have more of an established fan interest in the fantasy universe than in GW's product line of plastics, I doubt that this major new development would negatively impact GW's sales sheet in a significant way, especially considering the new targeted niche of younger gamers.

Its very hard to make Slaneesh homophobic however. But it would not be surprising some people would and will do. Fantastic post.

[alex33]

I love how GW decides to reboot whfb now that a whole bunch of awesome fb games are on their way. sounds like the worst strategy EVER

[Orkfaeller]

I love how GW decides to reboot whfb now that a whole bunch of awesome fb games are on their way. sounds like the worst strategy EVER

While GW is pushing Age of Sigmar; we got a Warhammer, a Mordheim, an End Times and a Blood Bowl game in the making.

Maybe GW gave out all these IPs at once because they thought no one would want to pick them up once AoS was revealed.

[Red Dox]

They were throwing away their 40k license for years now, and most games from this period were crappy smartphone cashgrabs. If they don't care about the 40k license and just want some fast money with it, I don't think there was an ulterior motive for dishing out the fantasy license and get games like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfvCVe8_tFs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FG8DWvIhxhA
I fully expect in the coming years a lot of ed up AoS smartphone games but as long as we got Total Warhammer in the good old world without Sigmarines, who cares

Regarding this
http://www.spikeybits.com/2015/07/ou...stormcast.html
at least Games Workshop must have some major hopes how Age of Sigmar will impact on the wargaming community in long term plans.

-----Red Dox

[MissRarity]

Emperor, give us strength.

I just see that if this whole thing backfires as hard as it seems to be, that GW really just shot themselves in the foot, that they will limp back to the fans, and saying with humility
''We where wrong, here have your true game back''
''We don't want it anymore.''

And they will burn up, like Anakin from Revenge of the Sith.

[Karnil Vark Khaitan]

The Skaven Screaming Bell says if you roll a 13 on 2D6 you win the game.......

which is a joke, and I am sick of that, if you want broken, field archoan and 50 chaos lord, and drown your enemy in chosen warriors.
it is about a 4+ for each lord, so that is at least 25 new unit of chosen, which can be unit size of 5 to ∞.
I have moved on to kings of war.

pleases don't miss understand me, I still like the fantasy universe, I just don't like the rules.

Kings of war rules are free, and you can cut out some paper and play with the rules.
http://www.manticgames.com/free-rules.html

[Orkfaeller]

Wow, GW is going all out with AoS.

[frenchyvinnie]

And on top of the free rules, you can add models that are on average 50-60% of the price GW charges for its own miniatures. And these miniatures are actually much better designed than the recent crap GW has been churning out.

[Karnil Vark Khaitan]

And on top of the free rules, you can add models that are on average 50-60% of the price GW charges for its own miniatures. And these miniatures are actually much better designed than the recent crap GW has been churning out.

yeah more or less, I am using Perry minis, I really like them.