Trouble in the Border Provinces: September 2014

Speculation about October WHFB releases and a startling discovery at Forgeworld: Theodore Bruckner quietly pulled.

Distilling the rumours: Likely next up (following Dark Eldar -and aren't they just purty-) is Chaos, with a possibility of the Cult of Pleasure drawing in my favourite army, the Dark Elves. Chuck in DoC and Skaven?

So from and around the net:

Steve the Warboss:

The book includes, for example (what I know);
-New Archaon Profile
-Cult of Slaanesh for Dark Elves with a new Unit and Chaos Demons
-Chaos Mono-List for Nurgle with Warriors and Demons united
-New Nurgle Chaos Champion (Valnir Aesling?)
-There is a picture with Nurgle Demons and a different looking great unclean one (I'm not sure, new model or conversion)
-Some old Chaos Warrior Chars returns (Van Horstmann, Arbaal, and Aekold Helbrass, Harry the Hammer?)

(Valten and Crom already in the book. New models? )

The statline from the Nagash book. (Thanks Jossy for pointing it out) :

From Nagash Book: Crom Stats, note Valten costing 330 peeking out at left
Could we expect new models with the forthcoming releases ?

<So we can expect Plastic Greater Daemons /Daemon Princes, new characters, Glotkin - akin the Mogahsts ? )>

And previously he said:
"Soon after the Dark Eldar, Endtimes will goes into the next round. It will be a big chaos release with 5-6 week.""There is something we haven't seen yet that will pop out soon enough. A new kind of evil and destruction related to Glotkin.

< Expansion of DoC >

October should be the month of Chaos, the starter kit is there somewhere, < Brets and Chaos?>

I don't know when, the way they told me I thought it would be on September 20th. If you recall earlier in the year we had rumors of several Chaos kits that had been kept on ice for some time. These include the 4 plastic Major Daemons, as well as a "giant Nurgle kit".

The Nagash End Times window was only 3 weeks and I think it is unlikely to see a solid 6 weeks devoted to WFB, plus that is a LOT of chaos product to fill for WFB only at once.

But - if you broke that into two 3-week windows, one being WFB/Archaon/End Times related and one being "generic Chaos" (AKA 40k/WFB related) and you dumped generic dual-system use models like major daemons in there, a lot of these rumors start to make a kind of sense.

Chaos book. 2 big boxes. 1 medium-sized box, and a Special Character
< Medium box being Archaon's Heralds? , which will get redone and now lead the armies of Chaos.
Archaon's Heralds: Van Horstmann, Arbaal, Valnir & Dachala now lead the Chaos Mono Armies.>

Questions posed on Fluff and Magic:
Unholy cards?
Will Malus become a daemon prince?
Will the Cult of Slaanesh (Cult of Pleasure) return?

<Avatars of War have just brought out a new Slaanesh Model. It does sometimes seem that competitors seem to have an inside track. Maybe they just read the same blogs. Maybe they have moles in Nottingham. (Raging Heroes, Avatars, etc)>

Will the anointed druchii come back to obliterate Naggaroth?
Will the Nagarythe prophecy become true?
Will the old chaos champions return?
Is the Caledor dragons prophecy finally here?"

<A Malekith-on-a Monster Combo kit ? >

And the Next Wave? Likely the Axis or Alignment of Good. I would expect to see these with a new box-set for starters released for Xmas. New Brettonians, Empire Characters.

I have been working on my Empire Army of late, having set aside my Undead for a while. I have two Theodore Bruckners in my collection (By happy fluke my wife double-ordered a few years ago)

Wanted to look up his stats, and what? He's disappeared off the FW site! This makes you wonder about what is in store for the Order side of WHFB.

I may quietly predict a Lord Level Combo-Character riding a Demigriff, likely Valten; ? Or Karl Franz invigorated? (Don't think the latter)

The Nagash Book includes rules for Valten and a Chaos Warrior Champion (not Archaon).
Leaks from a Spanish site says Crom the Conqueror is in the Book.

via an anonymous source on Faeit 212
Nagash army will be first of many alliance armies - there will be other in 9th ed - so there won't be free choice alliances, but ready army lists mixing two armies.

(Nagashless) Stirrings of the Undead

So I have decided that the End Times are not for me. I trust that this is just going to be an expansion, and not the shape on 9th Ed. Still have my reservations, as the direction GW is taking seems to be bigger and more expensive models. 40K has gone this way, and I suspect 9th Ed will do the same.

So, never the less, ranting now long over, back to the (under-powered) Oldhammer VC army I had dusted off on anticipation of the coming of Nagash. Seems like Heinrich Kemmler will have to sustain their animation, or Vlad, or whichever of my gallery of GW and Non-GW Vampires.

My concept with the VC Army is that of reanimated Talabheim and Khorne WoC troops, sticking to a black and white theme. The idea is to "compliment" my Talabheim/Talabecland Empire Army, reinforcing the concept of the Empire having to face both their fallen comrades and fallen enemy reanimated by unholy forces.

Fair bit of repainting and painting going on, to try and get a more uniform army look. Many of the pictures are really just WIPs as a result.

Harpy Thangs. Alternative Giant/Fell Bats. Lot of work still to do here

.My Giant Bats/Fell Bats have been replaced by these harpy-like creatures I bought off Sam Campbell during a foray into his hobby space at the end of a KWC Management meeting.

I have never liked the $2 Store look of the GW Bats. The swarms are ok, but I have substituted the Bats w Harpy Things

I picked up a rather nice female necromancer off Trademe, along with Reaper's Monique de Noir. Painting these up as alternative Vamps/necromancers:

Lots more painting to do here too...

Dire Wolves lurch forward

Zombies rise from their graves

Grave guard are pretty much done bar their basing

Have been procrastinating on building this box of Ghouls for some time, but got these going, and same with painting my Vargeists and Vargulf. Finally got going on them. Has fizzled a bit due to my disappointment and sticker-shock (to use Pete's term) when it came to Nagash.