These old Warhammer Dwarfs were on display at Warhammer World.
Category: warhammer fantasy
Chaos on the ebb
The original Warhammer world was “destroyed” in 2015. The Warhammer: The Game of Fantasy Battles changed forever when Games Workshop (though they said Archaon was responsible) destroyed the world.
Of course we know now that the Old World in Warhammer is coming back.
Reading the most recent Old World Development Diary entry, The Main Factions Revealed we found out what the core factions will be in the game.
I quite like the fact that Chaos is almost non-existent in this era.
The battles of Warhammer: the Old World take place in the decades immediately before the Siege of Praag.
This means that Chaos is not as strong as it was in previous incarnations of Warhammer.
Chaos Daemons have existed in the past and will again, but there is an ebb and flow to the power of Chaos – in our period Chaos is at its lowest ebb in a long time.
You can still play Chaos if you want, but I like the fact that the focus is on the core factions.
Dwarves versus Orcs – Warhammer Fantasy Battle
Dwarves fighting Orcs by a town hall. The buildings are resin castings from Steve Barber models.
The Dwarves are a combination of old and new (well at the time) metal castings.
As well as a Dwarf Wizard (back when there were Dwarf Wizards), there are a couple of original non-slottabase Bugman Rangers as well.
The Orcs are Orc Archers, metal castings with plastic shields.
This is a rescan of an old photograph from the 1990s.
The Old World
It’s on it’s way, but still looks like we will need to wait a while!
The Warhammer Community website gave us another insight into the development of Warhammer: The Old World.
The first mention of this game was in 2019, so we are approaching four years of development, and we’ve not seen a single miniature in all that time.
Though it would appear that the development team have spent hours doing research and playtesting the new game.
Our goal was to create a game that captures the best elements of all the editions of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, but at the same time providing new and exciting rules, and fresh challenges to overcome.
We are getting a lot of background information, the setting won’t be the world we remember from Warhammer Fantasy of the past, but a time before then.
I am looking forward to seeing where this is going and what the final game will look like. Hopefully we might see some miniatures soon.
One can dream…
So over the last week we have had Warhammer Fest Online.
Last weekend as I looked over the list of live shows, it was apparent to me that what I was most interested in was, would there be new Orks for Warhammer 4000, what would be revealed on Thursday for the boxed games and what would be the BIG mystery on Saturday.
Well we found out on Saturday that the mystery was a new edition of Age of Sigmar.
I am guessing exciting for players of Age of Sigmar, for me not so much.
I was hoping we would see the return of the Old World and Warhammer. We know from previous reveals that this was in the works and I am intrigued to see what this new (old) game looks like and what the models will be like, especially as we have seen massive jumps in model detail and development since the end of Warhammer back in 2015.
I was secretly hoping that we would see a relaunch of Epic in the (new) Adeptus Titanicus scale, but that was a far out dream… Well one can dream….
Space Lizards
One of my biggest disappointments with Warhammer 40000 is the lack of space lizardmen. Back when the game was launched, we had space orcs (as in orks) space elves (eldar) and even dwarves (squats). However despite the fact that there were fantasy lizards in Warhammer, there were no space lizards in the same way as the other fantasy races.
Everytime I see a model like the Saurus Scar-Veteran on Carnosaur at Warhammer World I think how would that look in the WH40K universe.
We know that the Slann came from space, so where are the Space Saurus?
Across other games and literature we have seen space lizards.
The Harry Turtledove Worldwar in the Balance series of books had small lizards, the Race, arrive in starships in December 1941 and invade the earth in May 1942. However their equipment is more akin to 1990s Earth technology rather than anything more futuristic, despite the face they travel between the stars.
In the world of Space 1889, though there were no lizards on Mars in 1889, there were some on Venus.
I did once consider converting some Skinks and Saurus warriors that came in the fifth edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle that came out in 1996. However I realised I didn’t have many spare 40K style guns and that idea was left on the workbench. Writing this I now realise that there are quite a few third party stockists of 40K style weaponry that I could use, so if I can find the plastic sprues in the garage maybe I can have a go at that idea.
In the February issue of Wargames Illustrated however there was an advert from Wargames Atlantic about a forthcoming release of Fantasy Lizardmen. However there are options to arm them with muskets or auto-rifles (AK47 style weapons).
This hard plastic box set allows you to field up to 24 Lizardmen with options to arm them with sword and spear, fantasy and British muskets, or auto-rifles. There are four unique head types for all bodies in the set so that you have options to use these figures for fantasy, Victorian Science Fiction, or straight science fiction Lizardmen.
So you could use the musket armed lizardmen in the world of Space 1889 for games on Venus.
The auto gun armed lizardmen could be used as alien invaders, as in the Worldwar in the Balance series, but they may be a little too big, as the Race is described as smaller than humans, but it’s science fiction, so why not. As for rules, well what about Bolt Action?
I think I might get a box and see what I can do with them. In the meantime I think I will dig out my old plastic Saurus warriors.
Dwarf Gyrocopter
Gyrocopters are revolutionary flying machines that provides the armies of the Dwarfs with dedicated aerial support or as a form of fast reconnaissance.
This model was on display at Warhammer World.
These warmachines use a revolutionary rotor-blade steam engine that allows it to take off into the air and land vertically or even hover on the spot, becoming the first technological marvel to achieve the ability of flight. The first Gyrocopter was invented and then improved upon by Dwarf Engineers, and due to its rarity only a trusted member of the Engineers Guild is allowed to maintain and operate one.
Orc Rogue Idol at Warhammer World
This is a Forge World Orc Rogue Idol at Warhammer World. When I first saw this model, I wasn’t too sure, but the more I look at it, the more I liked it.
When greenskin tribes gather for war, foetid effigies depicting the Orc gods Gork and Mork will be constructed. Using rock, dung, old battle trophies and other detritus, these ‘statues’ are intended to bring the favour of Mork (or possibly Gork) to the Orcs and Goblins mustering in their shadow. Some are no more than a heap of stones or no larger than a chapel door, but when a Waaagh! is brewing they can grow to immense proportions, and become so infused with the greenskins’ lust for battle that they are roused into life and will lumber forth to crush and bludgeon the enemy.
If a Waaagh! is subsequently defeated, or the concentration of greenskin magic dissipates, the idol will lapse back into immobility. However, when a Storm of Magic rages across the Warhammer world these gigantic devotions to the greenskin gods may rise up again as a Rogue Idol, mindlessly attacking all in their way until the storm blows its course.
I really like the modelling that has been done and the use of scenic materials to make it really look like it is just stones that are drawn together by magic.
I did think that it could be a good model for a Feral Ork army for WH40K.
Sepulchral Stalker
Sepulchral Stalker at Warhammer World.
Sepulchral Stalkers are massive, reanimated sentinels created by the ancient Nehekharans to delineate the borders of a king’s realm. Over the centuries, they have been swallowed by the shifting sands of the desert, and they now lie hidden beneath the dunes.
Louen Leoncoeur
Louen Leoncoeur, the Lionhearted, also known as the Lion of Bretonnia and the Golden Paladin, is the Duke of Couronne, one of the almighty Grail Knights and the penultimate warrior-King of Bretonnia. He is renowned as a noble and just ruler. Fairness in all matters is his watchword, never allowing the law as written to compromise its noble intent, never refusing anyone a hearing in his presence to air grievances of which must be judged.
Wearing the blessed Crown of Bretonnia, and wielding the legendary Sword of Couronne – forged from exquisite Bretonnian silverine – the fearsome Royarch comes to smite evil from his lands.