The motherfucker’s back!
Nagash is back, the dead are rising, daemons are popping out from Lustria to the Worlds Edge Mountains, and Chaos has spewed forth from the North to lay waste to world, both old and new. Winter is indeed coming! As the second installment of The End Times is unleashed, I thought it’s about time I did a promised brief recap of the origins, the return of the mighty ‘Gash and the apocalyptic happenings in the Warhammer world. So strap yourselves in, and prepare for some heavy duty reading, as it’s a sprawling tale
Storm Of Chaos didn’t happen, and Archaon is still in the Chaos Wastes gathering his legions. Get that in your heads, just like its 40K equivalent The 13th Black Crusade, it’s been retconned and you’re back at the 2 minutes to midnight doomsday scenario. The army books going back to Vampire Counts, and recent Black Library novels, have been hinting at the impending doom though. So, if you’re like me and you want to up your fluff game before you dive into The End Times, where do you start reading? Before you jump into the Undead side of things, I’d recommend starting with the big dude’s origins. Archaon: Everchosen takes you on a journey from his humble start, right up to gathering followers into one huge legion to unleash upon the mortal realm and usher in the The End Times. One book, nice and simple, before we get stuck in to the bones of saga
As a prelude, Sigmar’s Blood takes up the story from the blood-sucking dudes, into the workings of top vampire Mannfred Von Carstein, his trolling of the Empire, and his plan to harness power from some notable undead artefacts. Followed by The Bone Cage where important people of faith are being gathered for important rituals, it leads nicely into The Return Of Nagash which is a companion novel to the first 2 chapters of the main book, and shit starts to get real
I’m going to try and avoid some major spoilers and the nitty gritty details, but it’s difficult, so where are we at? Earthquakes, volcanoes popping off, the earth itself is in rebellion. Archaon and the big 4 are on the move, and Kislev is gone. Lustria is besieged by both Daemons and Skaven, the Great Plan™ has failed and an exodus of some sorts is mooted. Naggaroth is under siege from the legions of Khorne, a host led by Valkia The Bloody. Ulthuan is drowning in Daemons, the Phoenix King is a.w.o.l, Teclis is scheming (think Varys or Littlefinger levels of interfering) and Tyrion has been putting sword where he shouldn’t. The Horned Rat itself has told the Skaven to stop bickering, unite and pour forth from their holes. Tilea, The Border Princes and Estalia have been drowned in a tide of vermin, and Araby is next. Ogres are on the move west after their mountains erupted. Orcs & Goblins are united by, not 1, but 2 massive Waagghhs, led by Grimgor and Skarsnik respectively. Dwarfs have a choice to make, do they retreat into their holds and try to ignore the coming storm, or do they stand with the men and Elves? In the middle of all this, besieged in parts by Vampires, Undead, Beastmen herds, Daemons and all manner of evil are the poor Wood Elves, Bretonnians and Empire,
Getting down to the core of the story, Mannfred is collecting the relics of Nagash in order to amass power and make Sylvania it’s own Empire, with him at the head of it. In order to do this, the blood of important people must be used in a ritual including none other than Volkmar the Sigmar pope dude and Princess Aliathra (Everchild of the High Elves). Assisted by the scheming Arkhan The Black, who wants his master back in action, prepare for plenty of drama and back-stabbing from untrustworthy Vampires and their allies. Rescue attempts are mounted by joint forces of High Elves, Wood Elves, Men and a contingent of Dwarfs. Spoiler alert: Nagash returns!
Nagash returns, bigger, badder and grander than ever. He’s been pulling some strings beyond the veil, and now you serve him, or you’re reduced to ash. This time he wants to turn the world into a graveyard, become the master of all Undeath and magic, deny the big 4 any mortal souls, and consume all Gods. Basically, it’s go big or go home, and the world is flooded with the power to raise the dead. Not all goes to plan though, the Chaos gods plainly not happy with this threat try and throw a spanner in the works. He’s also assisted it seems by some big player(s) in the forces of order, perhaps unwittingly. The stage is set though, and his first task is to gather his forces, increase his strength, crush Nehekhara and fuck up some dusty Tomb Kings
The Empire are stuck in between all of this, and are unwittingly being played by both sides, as they try to keep the Vampires penned in, and the Chaos hordes from their Northern borders. This truly is a grimdark setting now, and I’m excited to see who will survive the forthcoming onslaught, as if the visions Mannfred was privy to in his scrying pool come true, the world of Warhammer will be a very different place, and totally change the dynamic for 9th edition. The distinction between good and evil will not be clear, and some unlikely alliances are already happening, with some even more unexpected ones possibly on the horizon.
Are you ready to welcome your new Chaos/Undead* overlords, and usher in The End Times?
*delete as applicable