While I was up the Mountain GW quietly slit WHFB's throat

Is GW about to let Fantasy bleed out?

While I was climbing Mt Kahikatea on the South Island with a hundred 11 and 12 year olds last week, GW did something unspeakable to it's fluff and rules.

30 years of fluff about to bleed out into the dust?  (Click to Pete's blog article on this)

Speculation is now hotter than ever with the leaks and hints, and the direction that GW seems to be taking. Rage quitters and fanboys alike now wait with abated breath for 9th Ed.

Interesting (End) times indeed. The last End Times book, Archaon. Wrath of Khorne (yay!)
But:
Rip out the restrictions on army builds (with exception of having only one Army standard) Ouch... what about  tournaments and gentlemanly play. This is not cricket. Let all hell break loose!
Free-for-all is now the new black! May be something akin to a bar fight:

Khorne release: 

Some nice new models BUT with my growing insecurity about WHFB's direction, I am staying that hand that is straying to my wallet.
Looking to Saga on Gripping Beast and Wayland games websites instead for my monthly fix of plastic crack (Thanks for that term, Tim).

Really great new Khorne models, but I think no purchases from GW until 9th Ed comes and shows its true colours. I do love the Skarr and wrathmonger/skullreaper kits and the Skarr model, none the less.

Skarr Bloodwrath:
M4 WS8 BS3 S5 T5 W3 I7 A5 Ld8
Bloodstorm Blades: Magic weapons, +2S first round of combat, and grants Impact Hits(d3)
His Bloodborn rule is great.

Stat lines:

 

Formations in the last book brings us Boom-boom-shake-the-room-multishot dwarf canons 

(Last hurrah for the stunties before they join the Lizards, Orcs and Ogres on a trip into oblivion ?)

Bit of nerf in this one for Elves. Would rather dust off them dwarfs. Boom boom!

So, for me...I'll just sit and wait.

Paint some Turks or ANZACs to while the time away while we wait for 9th Ed and the things to come. 

Maybe some Saga when the books arrive. Maybe some FoW... 

Been watching the 3rd season of Vikings on Lightbox (The 1st 4 episodes) 

I would recommend it if you are a dark ages fan!

...Adding some impetus to my leaning to Saga.

Full image of Caravaggio's "Abraham sacrificing Isaac" (Uffizzi, Italy) 1603

Devine intervention stopping Abraham from sacrificing his son. I'm hoping something similar will occur to prevent the demise of WHFB as we know it.

Some viewers may have found the cropped image unsettling. Apologies if any sensitivities were disturbed, that was not the intention

Thanquol and Boneripper stats leaked - and what he will cost you ! More Furry Love to come

'Ere we go: End Times Skaven: Thanquol and Boneripper (v.XXX) stats:

Thanquol and Boneripper 650pts
M6 WS4 BS3 S6 T5 W8 I5 A5 Ld7 Monster (Special Character)

Magic: Level 4
Equpiment: Warpfire projectors, or Warpfire braziers
Large Target, Terror, Unbreakable, Blessing of the Horned Rat (4+ ward)

Warpstone Addiction: immune from suffering wounds from warpstone powers
Warpfire Projector: Boneripper may fire at two different targets each time resolved one at a time

Magic Items
Staff of the Horned Rat: +1 to casting rolls
Warp Amulet: 5+ each turn to regain 1 lost wound
Warpstone Tokens: D6+2 warpstone tokens

Warpfire Braziers
Combat, S+1, Flaming Attacks, Multiple Wounds(d3), Storm of Attacks(reroll failed to-wound rolls), Warp Fumes(all models in btb make T test or suffer a wound), Warpstone Weapon(magical)

Warpfire Projectors
S5 Flaming Attacks, Multiple wounds(d3), Move of fire, Quick to fire, Warpstone weapon(magical), Wildly off-target(hits friendlies within 12" on a misfire)

End Times 4: Skaven Incoming ! Veminlord sighted

So it is Skaven Next up! Verminlord in 5 incarnations sighted

First pics from the White Dwarf have leaked and advance order is open on the GW site:

Pete and Hamish lick your chops ! Verminlord options x 5, as big as Nagash. On the picture you can just make out Nagash's Sceptre and Spirit hots. That gives you an idea of the size of the Verminlord.

White Dwarf cover and the massive Verminlord, which is  one of 5 different builds from the Verminlord kit:

"Verminlords are living icons of ruin; towering figures possessed of raw power and feral savagery. As avatars of the Horned Rat they can call upon fell energies, manipulating the weak-willed into doing almost anything they will.

 Towering over the rest of the Skaven range, this is a fantastic centrepiece miniature that oozes menace.

 This multi-part plastic kit can be made one of five distinct Verminlords. Whichever one you choose to assemble, the legs and body are used as the core to then add the following details to:

 Verminlord Warbringer is armed with a doom glaive and punch-dagger and is notable for featuring a spiked helmet.

 Verminlord Warpseer is armed with a doom glaive and scry-orb.

 Verminlord Deceiver is armed with a doomstar (in the shape of the Clan Eshin rune) and a warpstiletto. It’s head wears a mask and hood to hide its features.

 Verminlord Corruptor is armed with 2 plaguereapers. It has a skull head with broken horns and a mane of long hair.

 Skreech Verminking is armed with a plaguereaper and a doom glaive and has a unique half rotten face.

 The Verminlord has 61 components and is supplied with a 60x100mm monster base.

....Now lets wait for the stats...

Images and description copyright GW, No infringement intended merely a fan...

The new Vermin Lord is as large as the Nagash model judging from the pics

The January release schedule is as follows:

10th (preorders Fri 2nd) is the new Vermin Lord

17th Thanquol End Times book and model

24th new unit, armoured rat ogres called Stormfiends plus clam pack Warlord and Grey Seer and re release of old Warlock Engineers

Stat Rumours ex Faeit 212:

Verminlord Deceiver is one of the builds from the new kit. He is a level 4 wizard that must have Skitterleap as one of his spells. Crazy number of rules. Immune to psychology, terror, scurry away, large target. He has a 5+ ward save, is a Rat Daemon with Daemonic Attacks, which makes all his attacks magical.

He can re-roll casting for skitterleap and all shooting attacks against him are at a -1.

He has a stiletto that is armour piercing and poisoned and a ranged weapon 12" that has poisoned attacks, quick to fire, and arced attacks, meaning he gets as many shots as what is in the first rank of the unit being targeted.

I'm sure you have seen the pictures by now, but he is huge with 6 wounds and a toughness of 6. Definitely crazy.

We saw the new cover art for End times 4. It's rat caster riding some Monster with a cannon. (Sorry not to familiar with skaven)

Plastic Vermin Lord to make 5 different kits: White dwarf 2 weeks from now will feature the release of a plastic vermin lord kit, will make 5 alternate models with different themes:

1. Eshin, 1 Grey Seer, 1 Warlord, 1 Moulder and one supposed "Vermin King".

Eshin one can be skitterleapt and gets re-rolls to cast skitterleap, grey seer one always gets 6 on the d6+1 part of warp lightning casts. No further information about the others or point costs, but allegedly he's going to be about the same dimensions as Nagash.

"Came the rules of the Great Deceiver infested, one of the five options of assembly for this new kit. Not everyone knows the rules in English, so let's see the translation.  Unfortunately there is a word not visible due to the reflection of light on the page, but it's just the name of a magic weapon, then you will not find a rule truncated."

English Tranlation (LOL: Google Translate, so you will need to "read between the lines" when the English gets wierd)

Great Deceiver Infested
500 Pts

M8 AC8 AB4 FO6 R6 FE6 I10 A5 D8
Type you Troop : Monster Character

A Great Deceiver Infested can be included in a Skaven army . His point cost falls within the maximum affordable for Lords .

MAGIC : A Great Deceiver infested is a Wizard of Level 4. One of his spells to be Agile Dodge ; the remaining can be generated by Knowledge Skaven Plague of Ruin or in any combination .

SPECIAL RULES : Immune to Psychology , Large Target , Terror , Street Racing (!) 

Demonic attacks : attacks made by a model with this special rule are magic . This includes any special attack , and draft Trampling .

Protection of the Horned Rat : a model with this special rule has a saving throw 5+ . Demon Rat : A Great Deceiver is a demon infested and is influenced by any rule , abilities , weapons , spells , etc. that affect the Demons . Can never be the General of the Army.

Wrapped in the Dark : enemy units that target the Great infested with a shooting attack suffer a -1 modifier to the attack roll , in addition to any other modifiers .

Walker in Darkness : A Great Deceiver Infested can repeat failed attempts to cast the spell Agile Dodge and can choose himself as the target of the spell .

MAGIC ITEMS :

Stiletto Warp : Magic Weapon . Attacks made with this weapon have special rules Armour Piercing and Poisoned Attacks .

??? : Magic Weapon . This is a missile weapon with the following profile : Height 12 " Force User Special Rules Death in Arco , Poisoned Attacks , Quick Shot

Death at Arco : a weapon with this special rule makes a number of attacks equal to the number of models in that range are in the front rank of the target unit .

In addition to the complete rules of the Great Deceiver infested , there is some small detail on other Great infest .

- All the Great infest have I10
- The third type of Big infested is called King of Worms Skreech
- The King of Worms Skreech always knows the Thirteenth Enchantment and repeated shots failed to launch it.
- The Great infested most expensive reaches 650 pts
Original Text (Italian)

Grande Infesto Ingannatore

500 P.ti

M8 AC8 AB4 Fo6 R6 Fe6 I10 A5 D8

Tipo ti Truppa: Mostro Personaggio

Un Grande Infesto Ingannatore può essere incluso in un esercito di Skaven. Il suo costo in punti rientra nel massimo acquistabile per i Grandi Eroi.

MAGIA:
Un Grande Infesto Ingannatore è un Mago di Livello 4. Uno dei suoi incantesimi deve essere Agile Balzo; i restanti possono essere generati dai Saperi Skaven della Rovina o della Peste in qualsiasi combinazione.

REGOLE SPECIALI:Immune alla Psicologia, Bersaglio Grande, Terrore, Via di Corsa!

Attacchi Demoniaci: gli attacchi effettuati da un modello con questa regola speciale sono magici. Questo include qualsiasi attacco speciale, da tiro e da Calpestamento.

Protezione del Ratto Cornuto: un modello con questa regola speciale ha un Tiro Salvezza 5+.

Demone Ratto: Un Grande Infesto Ingannatore è un Demone ed è influenzato da qualsiasi regola, abilità, arma, incantesimo e così via che influenzi i Demoni. Non può essere mai il Generale dell'Armata.

Avvolto nell'Oscurità: le unità nemiche che bersagliano il Grande Infesto con un attacco da tiro subiscono un modificatore -1 al Tiro per Colpire, oltre a qualsiasi altro modificatore.

Camminatore dell'Oscurità: Un Grande Infesto Ingannatore può ripetere i tentativi di lancio falliti per l'incantesimo Agile Balzo e può scegliere se stesso come bersaglio dell'incantesimo.

OGGETTI MAGICI:
Stiletto Warp: Arma Magica. Gli attacchi effettuati con quest'arma hanno le regole speciali Penetrazione dell'Armatura e Attacchi Venefici.

???: Arma Magica. Questa è un'arma da tiro con il seguente profilo:
Gittata 12" Forza Utilizzatore Regole Speciali Morte ad Arco, Attacchi Venefici, Tiro Rapido

Morte ad Arco: un'arma con questa regola speciale effettua un numero di attacchi pari al numero di modelli in gittata che si trovino nel rango frontale dell'unità bersaglio.



Oltre alle regole complete del Grande Infesto Ingannatore, c'è qualche piccolo dettaglio su altri Grandi Infesti.
- Tutti i Grandi Infesti hanno I10
- Il terzo tipo di Grande Infesto si chiama Re dei Vermi Skreech
- Il Re dei Vermi Skreech conosce sempre il Tredicesimo Incantesimo e ripete i tiri falliti per lanciarlo.
- Il Grande Infesto più costoso raggiunge i 650 P.ti.

(Les) Maggot Lords: Tamurkhan is Dead: 3 Pretenders to the throne arrive

Maggot Lords bust out:The Maggot Lord is Dead. Three pretenders to the throne?

Rumours offa da net, and navel gazing/internet trawling insights

Alas, alack, Tamurkhan, the Original Maggot Lord is missing in action.He seems to have been swallowed by the void. He would have made a great maggot lord.

The Maggot Lord is dead?  Long live the (New) Maggot Lords...
Hey, where did Tamurkhan go? Forge World Site suddenly (more) sparse.

I went onto their website, and noticed that the already sparse fantasy offerings were growing thinner be the day. Tamurkhan is now also gone, as is the Slaanesh Greater Daemon. I have already remarked on the Empire models going in previous posts or comments.

I think the discounts on the Tamurkan book should have been a clue as tho what Nottingham was up to. Anyhow the King is gone, and in his place comes a corpulent pustule containing the (New) maggot lords. Must be the End Times, for sure. GW actually discounting something !

You've probably all seen the other leaked pics from the White Dwarf, so I'm not gonna elaborate. Pictures suggest a Daemon choice in DoC, not Chaos United in WoC, but the fluff will tell us eventually.

So what do we know?

" They all have 3+ armour save.
The puking one (Bloab) is a lvl. 3 mage and has a ranged attack st. 3(4) with 24 inch range That allows no armour save (vile bile) I think.

Morbidex Twiceborn has a 6+ ward save, fear, regeneration, mark of nurgle, eye of the gods and a st.6 range 6 poison attack, nurglings within 12" also get regeneration, 385 points maybe ?"
E60 price tag in EU, so with the GW special exchange rate for NZ somewhere between NZ $150 and $200

These appear to be DoC, no clear cross-over w WoC as yet, but likely some unholy alliance like tomb kings and undead in the wings

Speculation: 4 horsemen of the apocalypse deal, first death, now pestilence that leaves famine and war. Can we expect to see Archaon or Valkia leading the Khorne (War) release ?

Leaks: Nurgle Chaos Releases Incoming: Putrid Blightknights

Chaos Release: Nurgle First Up: Putrid Blightkings: NOT Monstrous Infantry

Blurry pics off the web:

Erratum: It appears these are regular infantry, not monstrous. Albeit WS6.

Usable in all 3 Chaos armies.

(In that case pricey at $110.00.)

And the Sticker Shock/Plackard Pain: Same as other similar releases'

Blightking $110 Gutrot Spume (Sounds a bit Orcy, doesn't it?) $34

Could have been reasonable for a monstrous cavalry unit, but regular infantry? 

S-T-I-C-K-E-R  S-H-O-C-K  again!

More Navel Gazing: Rumour Drums: Crom and Valten, Chaos Unleashed: Cult of Slaanesh and Theodore Bruckner missing in Action ?

 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.

A nagging rumour or aghast? Nagash is back!

The Boy is Back in town! Nagash surfaces!

Rumours running rife, and the first picture from the next White Dwarf surfaces. Nagash is back in town!
What will his stat line be? I note "phenominally powerful" and "terrifying in combat" is bandied about in the text. So the Darkness descends...

Absent for several decades, Nagash returns to a table-top near you! Second in what may be a string of bad attitude lords being re-released. Belakor came first, but flew under the radar for a great extent, as no new model was released, only the "Battlescroll"

Is this GWs attempt to stem the haemorrhage of players from WHFB to Warmachine ?
Are we to see a change in the game with the next edition that will allow you to field these "super-characters?

Will WHFB go the way of 40K? All monsters and overpowered lords? I sincerely hope not.

Have they considered cost and field-ability ? A 600 or 800 pt lord may be well neigh useless for most 2000-3000 pt games (Read 2400 comp). Or will this release indicate the start of the game changing ?

Can't say the first photo of the model rocks my boat. Judging from the only picture leaked, as above, I can see several spindly bits that will break off easily. The ghost toasties floating around him suggests that he's not made for ranking up, but I may be wrong on that account. Just a little too many echoes of Alien Brood Mother there for my liking. Or did he bump off some Tyranids along the way ?. Anyhow, no-one will be able to say he's spineless. He has at least 7 of those.

So, Nagash 101, boys and girls, for those of you who were not even a glint in your daddy's eye when he last walked the Warhammer World":

History:
Nagash is the First Necromancer and arguably the most evil character to ever curse the Warhammer Fantasy world. Ever. He is also a combat tank and will go in hand-to-hand combat with the likes of Sigmar.

(Nagash also happens to be the name of a town in Northern Ethiopia, Africa, sad, if that was your hometown. Blame GW, but then again they dreamed up a name like Heirich (ahem) Kemmler. Really? I know a lot of names are a it tongue-in-cheek, like Tik-Tak-To. But Kemmler's getting a bit close to the bone. But that's an aside...)

Background
Nagash started as a hierophant consecrated to the gods of Nehekhara while his brother was the priest-king of Khemri. This was because, in Nehekhara, the firstborn sons of the nobles were given to the temples as priests and the second sons became the kings. Miffed about this, he decided he to increase his magical power. Initially, his reasons also included that he thought his brother Thutep was a weak king, jealously over wanting Thutep's wife, and Nagash thought only he could make Khemri great again. Unfortunately for the Khemri, he got his hands on a Dark Elf sorceresses (or two) who'd been taken prisoner. She (they) spilled the beans.

From her(them)  he learned about the winds of magic and also figured out how to increase his own life expectancy and probably dabbled in magic much more evil than he initially intended. Regardless, when Nagash was done with the Druchii, he brutally killed them and consumed their souls. (When someone can out-evil and out-betray Dark Elves, you know they're pretty mean)(Well he didn't really out-evil them, he out-smarted them).

After many experiments which mostly demanded human sacrifice, and other sick stuff, Nagash created an elixir which allowed him to stay alive. This elixir would be the basis for the creation of the Vampire Counts.

Nagash killed his brother, and sorta mummified alive his wife and then started a war on Nehekhara which ended in the complete annihilation of all life there. Unfortunately for him the Skaven sabotaged his plans of world domination and he got chopped to pieces by the last king of his former nation. When Alcadizzar killed Nagash, it wasn't through any failing on Nagash's part. It was basically the ultimate sacrifice - killing Nagash cost Alcadizzar literally everything. His kingdom - the largest empire in the world - was killed to a man, his family died, his sanity was shattered and the weapon he needed to use to kill Nagash was so potent it killed the wielder as well. That weapon was created by the Skaven; the Council of Thirteen were so terrified of Nagash they stopped their in-fighting and co-operated (for the first time in Skaven history) to create it.

His story doesn't end here; he came back after a couple of centuries (the Skaven had vaporized his remains so it took a lot of time for him to reconstitute himself). After wiping out the Skaven who'd taken over his fortress, Nagash raised an army and attacked the newborn Empire of Man. During the final battle he fought in a duel with Sigmar and nearly defeated him. Sigmar, realizing what was at stake went on a holy rampage and finally crushed Nagash's skull with his hammer. The spirit of Nagash fled the battlefield and went back to his fortress were he recovered, having learned that the world now has powers capable to match his.

Even Sigmar at the height of his power only just managed to defeat Nagash, and even then only by wearing Nagash's own crown to protect him from Nagash's magic. A crown that had pretty much sent Sigmar insane the last time he wore it. No one knows for sure what's he gonna do next but considering his profile it won't be anything pretty.

Why Nagash is so evil

While most evil characters on the game have done their share of bad deeds Nagash has an special place amongst them, the following lists illustrates how sick this beggar is:

• Entombed his own brother alive and stole his wife.
• Turned said wife into an agony-ridden walking corpse and kept her that way for centuries. The process he used to accomplish this involved tricking her into drinking the blood of her murdered son; who also happened to be Nagash's nephew.
• Usurped Nehekhara's throne; then his reign was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people, and he nearly destroyed the kingdom's economy to build his Black Pyramid.
• Captured the spirits of his enemies and kept them in eternal torment.
• Started a war which destroyed most of the Nehekharan cities and killed even more of the population.
• Broke the covenant between the Nehekharan gods and their people, not only removing the divine powers of the Nehekharans but ensuring that after death they wouldn't be able to go to their gods and would have to stay in a nether dimension forever. Especially jarring if you remember that he used to be the High Priest of their religion.
• Indirectly corrupted some of the nobility of Nehekhara, who then became the first vampires.
• Turned a whole tribe of his followers into ghouls because they annoyed him several times by asking him to give them a promised reward.
• Used his loyal vassals as tools in a terrible incantation to make himself a magic set of armour and then, for the only time in any of his fluff, he does something nice for someone besides himself (he compliments them for exceeding his expectations). After complimenting them he devoured their souls as a thank-you..
• Started a new war against Nehekhara which cost thousands more lives.
• Used a horrible plague spell to annihilate the entire Nehekharan civilization after losing the war against them.
• Raised the Nehekharan dead, turning them into millions of undead minions with the idea of annihilating all life in the world.
• Almost destroyed the Empire and nearly crippled Sigmar in a duel by using a poisoned blade.
• Cursed the Vampires with a vulnerability to Sigmar's power after they were too self-absorbed during the war with the Empire to help Nagash out.
• Corrupted the dragon's graveyard and created the zombie dragons. (Are we to see the return of Zacharias too? Just askin')

While any of the deeds on this list could easily been performed by your average Skaven or Chaos Lord there is a basic difference between them and Nagash, the former usually do this either to advance their entire race, clan, tribe or to appease and/or promote their gods.

Nagash on the other hand doesn't care about anyone, despises the gods and has no empathy for his people. I suspect he gets this tendency from his Druchii teachers.

He corrupted his own nation and a large section of the world for his own personal gain and, so far as the fluff goes, he has never cared or done anything for anyone other than himself, with his ultimate plan being quite literally to turn everything into undead with no will under his command
(So he's basically the Emperor of the Dark side of the Warhammer Fantasy Universe) To be fair, he honestly and misguidedly believes this to be the best thing for the Warhammer world. And he might be right.
While Chaos has a hard time corrupting the undead, Nagash has already managed to steal one of Khorne's favoured champions (Krell).

Replacement Warhammer Fantasy Dark Lord?
All that said, Nagash is sometimes rumoured to be a knock off, attempting to one up the original Dark Lord, Drachenfels. He's not really evil, he's just trying too hard.

Drachenfels is much older than Nagash in the setting, while in real life, Drachenfels fluff dates back to 1989, Nagash's 1994. Nagash was introduced to supplant Drachenfels as the setting's 'dark lord' hence the trying to hard with his over the top evil. Though it may not be over-the-top evil to take Drachenfels out of focus.

You can have more than one 'dark lord' in a setting, otherwise why haven't any of the Everchosens of Chaos fought Nagash? Also, Drachenfels is a backseat kind of dark lord; a subtle manipulator out-living the opposition, going along, taking what he wants along the way. Nagash is intelligent, but also an aggressive, sociopathic control-freak who wants to rule the world.

Functionally, Nagash is Warhammer's big bad wolf to 40k's Abaddon. Except Nagash is notably more competent.
When Abaddon tried to conquer the galaxy, he tried 13 times and basically got nowhere read the lore, apparently the armless wonder had a plan and now all 12 crusades "achieved their goals" and the 13th is still ongoing).
When Nagash decided to conquer Nehekara, only one man survived, and even then it was because Nagash wanted him alive. When Nagash decided to raise up every person who had died in Nehekara over the past 1500 years, he succeeded.

In the Game (recent history)

Nagash was actually a special character back when it was just "Warhammer Armies: Undead" and all the dead boys were united in one armybook. Despite being described as "a pale shadow of his former self" he was an unholy rape-train - a statline with the lowest stats being 6's (init and attacks) and everything else being a 7. Add in a completely un-modifiable 4+ save against everything (including any and all spell effects), a sword that gives him +1 str and lets him use any wounds he causes to heal himself and being one of the most powerful mages in the game making him pretty much unstoppable. (Unless you threw a High Mage at him with Drain Magic and Banishment.)

No original statline easily accessible, but I found this:
Nagash :  650 pts.

M   WS   BS  S  T   W    I     A     L
4       7      4   7   7   4     6     6     10

If the stat-line remains the same, nothing short of the direct intervention of gods would stop him and even then, the world would be a graveyard (Nah, there are some who could arguably beat him: Sigmar, Kroak, arguably Morathi and Malekith, Aenerion; Teclis is described as being if not his equal, then close behind; First Spawning Slann would simply think Nagash out of existence, if they cared).

To keep that from happening, Games Workshop in the past chose to give him what might very well be the single most "derptastic" model to ever blight a tabletop with its presence, an unholy abomination of fail so ridiculous that it makes the Tyranid Biovore look like a towering monument of awe and might in comparison. Even the beardiest of cheesemongers thought twice before fielding it, knowing all too well that they would pay for it not only in army points, but in dignity and self-respect. (Vide supra)

The old Nagash had the nickname of the "Undead Clown" in some circles. His enormous hat, the shoulder flaps, boat like pointy shoes, uninspiring pose and the confused look on his face all contributed to this model not being particularly liked. Strange bthat this new model would appear to have a bit of the tyranid in its genepool...

(Pictures and text from blogs around the web, with some moderation and embelishment on my part. No copyright or such infringement intended. Happ to credit anyone. Just let me know)

Be'Lakor the Dark Master: Rules 40K and WHFB

Statline and Rules for Belakor, Special Character "Slate/Scroll" from GW

Verbatim from "The Artifcer"

Be'Lakor, The Dark Master Dataslate/Battlescroll

The Dark Master is back.  That's right, the first daemon prince has his own rules again.  But unlike before, where he only had rules in Warhammer, he now also has rules in the far future.  For simplicity's sake, the first half of the post will be about his 40k rules, and the second half about his fantasy battles rules. So, without further ado:

40K:
Okay, for starters, The Dark Master has a seriously nasty sat line:
Weapon Skill 9
Ballistic Skill 5
Strength 6
Toughness 5
4 Wounds
Initiative 8
5 Attacks (6 on the charge)
Leadership 10
4+ Invulnerable Save
Special Rules
Daemon
Eternal Warrior
Fearless (what's you expect, he's almost a greater daemon)
Psyker (Mastery level 3)
Flying Monstrous Creature
Shadow Form: Be'Lakor has a 4+ invulnerable save and the shrouded special rule (+2 to cover)

Lord of Torment: Be'Lakor recieves D3 additional warp charge points if an enemy unit failed a morale check in the previous turn.

Psyker: Be'lakor knows all the spells from the telepathy discipline.

To add to this, Be-Lakor's warlord trait causes a -1 leadership penalty to all enemy units as long as he is alive.

Hellforged Artifact: The Blade of Shadows: Be'Lakor's sword has a strength of user +1 and an AP of 2.  In addition, it has the armor bane (strength+2d6 for penetration), fleshbane (wounds on a 2), Master-crafted (re-roll one failed to hit roll), and specialist weapon (no benefit for additional close combat weapon.

And you can get all this in a Chaos Daemons or Chaos Space Marines list for 350 points.

Now, on to the fantasy battles version.


Be'Lakor has pretty much the same stats in Fantasy as he has in 40k, with the exception that he has an 8 inch movement and that 4+ save is a ward save.

Special Rules:

Terror
Unbreakable
Fly
Loremaster (Lore of Shadow)
Shadow Form: similar to before, Be'Lakor has a 4+ ward save and a -2 to hit modifier.

The Dark Master: enemy units within 12 inches of Be'Lakor get a -1 penalty to their leadership.

Lord of Torment: similar with the 40k version, Be'Lakor gets D3 additional power dice if an enemy unit failed it's morale test in the previous phase.

Magic: Be'Lakor is a level 4 wizard.

Blade of Shadows:  This time, the blade of shadows is a magic weapon that ignore all armor saves.


So, there you have it. Even when you consider how much the rules have changed from his previous incarnation, he still can be said to have gotten a lot nastier

Dark Elf Rules Leak

The Original Carybdis

Dark Elves Rules "Leak" Info from the latest White Dwarf magazine, via Kiwihammer and Jossy:

New Releases

• Matt Ward authored the new book
• Largest dual kit is the Cauldron of Blood /Bloodwrack Medusa. You can also use this kit to make the special character Crone Hellebron.(Think I'll be getting this)
• The next dual kit is Witch Elves and the Sisters of Slaughter – Sisters of Slaughter are apparently the lost daughters of fallen noble houses and look great. (Will keep my old WEs, definitely make the SoS)
• The new DE Core box allows you to make your warriors with Spears, Swords and Shields or Repeater Cross-bows. (Bleh, don't-a'lika tha newa look)
• The Dual Hydra/Kharibdyss kit looks pretty good, there are pictures of the Hydra with different paint schemes that actually look a lot better than the leaked photo we’ve already seen. (Will do Kharibdyss - have 2 Hydras in my Army already. Maybe they'll look less cartoony with their lips painted differently) 
• The Special Character Shadowblade  is a single pose figure that will come in a clampack (Probably won't get - have several assassin-type figures from various brands)
• There is a Lore of Dark Magic Card set being released. (No surprises here, but the content)
• Army Special Rules/Points Cost
• Dark Elves now have the army-wide special rule of ASF (unsure if this will apply to monsters/cold ones. Should have had this all along. Elves, are n't they?)
• Dark Elves also have Hatred but presumably only in the first round (What about the eternal hatred HE rule ?)
• Black Guard have eternal hatred (Yay! - all races, I presume. DE Elites needed some sort of buff to remain competitive. What about Executioners? )
• New Rule called murderous prowess allows Dark Elves to re-roll 1′s to wound. Unsure if this will extend to shooting and magic.(DEs will need something in the world of Monstrous cavalry, as it seems they're not getting any)
• There is a new Beastmaster Lord Level Character which costs 300 points when naked on a Manticore (Good to see Beastmaster characters back, been missing their caste of DEs from the prev Ed) 
• Witch Elves are core and 11 points per model. They can also take magical banners.
• A unit of 40 Spear Elves and of 30 Xbow Elves with Full command costs 390 points. Unsure what options were used but that means the warriors were 12 points per model. If you do the maths on this it means that Spears are 9ppm and Crossbows are 12.
• A DE Sorceress Hero looks to be 80 points
• Cauldrons of Blood still come out of Hero slots and look to have increased in points. They can join units (That's new and useful ! All units or just Khiainite units? Limits on numbers of cauldrons ? More than 1 per army? ) and one of their powers allows a unit to re-roll to wound. (ASF, Hatred and reroll wounds, stacking - Ouch! Bring on the pain!) In the Batrep a unit with a Cauldron and this buff up deletes a unit of Sobunz.
• Bloodwrack Medusas are rare and have a shooting attack called Bloodwrack Stare. Not sure what it does
• Hydras can now regain wounds in a manner similar to the Slann with the regen power of the old ones. They are now 180 points, have monster+handler but have to buy their breath weapon. (Can live with that) 
• Lore of Dark Magic – The attribute is called spiteful conjuration and does extra wounds to enemies that have spells cast on them. Unsure of how the mechanic works but could be similar to Tz lore attribute? (Time will tell about the rest of the magic)
• Lore of Dark Magic – Only spell mentioned is called Word of Pain and it reduces WS/BS/I
• A Dreadlord with Heavy Armour and a Shield on a Black Dragon costs 449 points.
• Cold Ones are 30 points and have 2 Attacks, unsure if the cold ones themselves have ASF (They needed to be improved. Suppose they still suffer from stupidlty. Unlikely mounts and monsters will get ASF IMO)

More photos and a first sneak look on Jossy's blog: http://plastickrak.blogspot.co.nz/

  

Can(on) of Khorne

Can(on) of Khorne

Much has been said at our  club about the Daemons' need for artillery (or not) and speculation on the stats on the Skull Canon of Khorne, now called the Can of Khorne for short. 

The model does have some aspects that make it less appealing to some, as Sam has nicely pointed out in his blog: Napalm elf and rebel scum

Very entertaining visual there. I'm not clear if Sam likes the motorcycle bits or not. I do not. Obviously there for the benefit of the 40K faction. I particularly dislike the parrot beak, that seems to be making its appearance everywhere. Does someone at GW have a Parrot Fetish?

The parrot-like Demigryphs and Griffons in the Empire army was bad enough. I was forced to buy 6 of these dislikeable animals just to remain competitive with my Empire Army, as everyone is now getting monstrous cavalry....Wondering what will the Dwarfs and Dark Elves will get??

 I was lucky enough to get 2 Forgeworld demigryphs for Xmas, but size is an issue. The Fantasy players at the club know how long I have been procrastinating on these disagreeable monstrosities. One box is half-way built, and the other still on the sprue.

Now the parrot pops up in the Daemon Army too. I have reconsidered on my knee jerk reaction about purchasing this apparently powerful weapon for my DoC army, and started rummaging in my bitz box.

I came up with this item that I originally intended to build a Chaos Cannon out of, but found too small. I also thought that it may attracts some derisory comments due to its phallic looks.

I recon I could construct a very nice Khornish Nasty out of this, using two bloodletters as crew, and modifying the carriage. Will lose the little tracked bit, skulls by the score and a handful of greenstuff...Khorne's your Uncle!

A passable Can o' Khorne!

I think it is most appropriate for a weapon that looks like it may flaming attacks and a 48 inch 

reach, D6W’.  It looks like it can move and shoot like an Ironblaster and is only 135 points.

If it hits you you are probably F*%$#d.

So the phallic look may be very appropriate.

To be continued...