The End Times are upon us.... But it is certainly not the end of fun times! Quite the opposite in fact. I have never been so over the top pumped for warhammer and excited to see what happens next.
Games workshop are really knocking it out of the park at the moment. The models are just simply incredible with not one being a flop in my opinion. The fluff is just spectacular with more exciting events happening than have happened it past 10 years of black library books. The progression of fluff is a brilliant and a positive step forward for warhammer, inspiring more and more story based games. Finally the rules and scenarios have also really moved the game forwards without destroying what is frankly the best warhammer fantasy rules set that has been in place.
So to start off im going to talk about warhammer 8th edition and its current state for those who either don't play, dabble or are just curious. I have played since 5th edition and Warhammer has never been better, the rules are well balanced and the individual armies are also mostly fairly balanced. Yes some extreme tournament lists will blow non-honed armies out of the water but in my experience it more comes down to player skill and the mistakes that are made. Above all, it is the most fun it has ever been.
At the launch of 8th edition it was hailed as a poor ruleset which was very random and too unpredictable due to random charge distances, pre measuring and mental magic phases. Well random is fun and never the same, it's a Dice game after all, and actually if you think and plan your moves the randomness can be mitigated which is what war is all about! Pre measuring was one of the best additions to rules, it utterly removes arguments and speeds the game up no end. Finally the magic phase is simply brilliant, no one phase or situation is the same and there is endless opportunity for new tactics. It is a high stakes poker game which you can spend hours pondering about how best to manage your dice in future games.
I won't go into detail on the story to avoid blurting some awesome spoilers but if you want to get up to speed I can massively recommend the 3 part Garagehammer Nagash review. 12 hours or so of excellent commentary on the biggest thing to happen to warhammer since its inception (in my opinion!). The crux of it all is that the world is in flux and "Legions" of factions are forming allowing you to take proper allied armies in the mainstream. The cynical among you may see this as GW trying to get more of your money (I won't lecture you on supporting a business which provides more £/fun ratio than any other imo!!!) but i will try to explain why this is just so good for the hobby.
By building and telling such a compelling story of change it utterly immerses you in a fantasy world that you want to be part of. Armies and characters thrust together in common cause through their own will or against it gives gravitas to your army list and a solid setting for your games. Models become heroes, units become hardened veterans and monster become dreaded denizens of the battlefield!
Giving you the option to field two (or more!) parts of your collection gives you endless longevity to your army, the options (competitive or not) will never be exhausted. I am a person who as you know paints quite quickly and as such I go through armies in short order getting bored or hungry for new toys to colour in, so being able to add new units here and there from multiple sources really excites me. My next project is no longer defined and limited to the empire but will instead be "the forces of light" with no definitive end. This is a sea change for me, always I was thinking "what will I do next?" " one day I'll finish playing and painting warhammer" but now I don't see an end to my hobby, only possibilities.
Instead of buying in and painting in bulk, I now intend to slowly add and paint units for my legion. One month it might be a unit of dwarf ironbreakers, the next a high elf dragon, the following a Brettonian knight lance. I can paint whatever I want without feeling like I'm "wasting" my time and not focusing on my army. Sales wise this is great news for GW and will hopefully secure them and sustain their output for the foreseeable future.
Rules wise yes this can lead to some broken combinations but so can the current rules and in my experience an enjoyable game is determined by the spirit of the game and how "arsey" an opponent is with the rules. Luckily I have only ever played a few bad games against a person whom I did not get on with (can only think of one at the moment lol). Yes 50% lords and heroes can lead to some daft hero hammer lists at tournaments but i think there is a simple solution...
This neatly brings me to how I think the tournament scene will have to handle the inevitable march of change, panel comp list submission. The Aussies are famous for it and their scene has really re emerged in a big way since the infamous rage quits. There are some daft combinations possible with 50% characters and legions lists (chaos more than undead) and these really will need curbed to ensure the game is played in the spirit if not letter of the rules. No one will argue that triple nurgle daemon prince with two skull cannons and horror core is a balanced and fun army list but a Khorne Lord in a unit of skull crushers, flesh hounds, skull cannons and Khorne warriors sounds awesomely fluffy but also pretty competitive!
Legions lists are happening and will be the future so in my opinion we need to establish a "spirit of the game" charter or mission statement to ensure the scene stays as strong as it is without it descending into super power gaming or on the other end of the spectrum preventing competitive players playing close fought games and players migrating away. I would be excited to see tournaments embrace this and have "teams" playing within each faction that cannot play against each other but work together to gain a team and individual win. Dan Quirk has led the pack with his forthcoming end times tournament, major props to him for being brave, hope I can make it! More info here:
So as it stands there are two confirmed legions:
The undead legions:
Led by Nagash the shambling hordes of the dead combine the vampire counts and tomb king books. Actually pretty balanced and great fun to see played!
The Chaos Legions
An unholy alliance of the ruinous powers led by Archaon the everchosen. This legion combines warriors, daemons and beasts of chaos with the Glotkin book leading the charge with plague ridden hordes. Very early days but have the potential to be ultra powerful. On my opinion single mark or undivided (with comp) may be the best of both worlds to curb the daft lists out there.
In the pipe line and based on my guesses I think the following legions may surface:
The forces of Order in the old world:
Empire, Brettonia, dwarfs, wood elves and high elves (led by Imirk and/or Teclis) unite to defend the old world from chaos and Nagash. Maybe also some mercenary ogres?! Personally this is what I'm super excited about and can see me developing a mighty collection and becoming the "goodie" in my group :)
Cult of Slaanesh
The storm of chaos revitalised list combining dark elves (led by Morathi), Slaanesh (sigvald?!)warriors and slaanesh daemons (n'kai returning?). Awesomely cool and the story build up will be probably one of the best. I wonder how the prophecy for malekith's death (if it happens at all, he is finecast at the moment!) will be played out, dying to a male elf sorcerer.
The Cult of Khaine
It is my belief that Tyrion will draw the sword of khaine and unite all of the khainite elves from dark, high and wood elves. Each of these factions will also splinter and join either the forces of order or the cult of slaanesh, thus reflecting the 3 major parts of the elf race: Decadence(dark elves), fury(all three) and nobility(high and wood elves).
Ragnarork
Grimgor and Skarsnik unite warring tribes to form the greatest waaaagh! Ever seen enlisting the aid of the ogres and perhaps the skaven (not sure what else they could do with them legion wise?). Attacking from the south they embattle the dwarfs, the empire and Nagash.
The great exodus
I'm really not sure what they will do with the lizardmen... Perhaps help the high elves but the ominous exodus mention I'm the opening of the Nagash book might signify them moving to the island of Albion where the dark shadows campaign was set. Alternatively the Lizardman may go to the southlands to engage Nagash or more interestingly we may see Nippon or Cathay coming into the story more. Business wise I have always wondered if GW would make a big move into China and off the back of a Cathay army release this could work well.
Chaos Dorfs
Not a real army.
So really in summary it genuinely is the golden age of warhammer. I look forward to my games more and plan my armies in greater detail. My advice: get involved, for the end times are nigh...
