Warhammer Twitch Preview - Adepticon 2022
Feels like ages since I’ve done a Twitch Preview article. Been too busy painting boardgame miniatures I suppose! So without further adieu let’s jump in and see if there’s anything that might break my policy to not buy any Warhammer in 2022.
Necromunda: Ash Wastes
Right out of the gate we have the latest expansion to Necromunda, The Ash Wastes. This time taking us outside the claustrophobic confines of the Hive to the windswept waste lands of Necromunda. I know that Necromunda veterans have been excited for this since the new Necromunda was released, and I can see why.
In the Ash Wastes box you get a gang of Orlocks, a gang of Ash Waste Nomads, two Orlock Outrider Quads, four Dustback Helamites and a bucket load of terrain. So let’s break it down one item at a time.
House Orlock gang, the same gang it’s always been, nothing to add here.
Orlock Quads, essentially dune buggies with a mounted gun on the back.The two options shown are a heavy stubber (I assume, I don’t know Necromunda all that well but I’m guessing it’s not a bolter weapon) and some sort of harpoon gun. Games Workshop have managed to make them look suitably ramshackle without drifting into the Ork aesthetic.
Ash Waste Nomads, the new kids on the block. Decked out in rags and rebreathers they certainly seem to be channelling their inner Star Wars Tusken Raiders. But honestly for me, when I first saw them they looked to be calling out for a conversion to Nurgle cultists. I’m already planning on picking up a box of House Cawdor to convert to cultists as it is. Look at me, only at the first reveal and already deciding what I want to buy next.
If the Ash Waste Nomads had some vague Nurgle vibes then the Dustback Helamites were practically screaming it. I mean, they’re riding giant fleas for crying out loud! A few boils and some slime, these guys would fit right in with the Plague Drones of Nurgle or some the more insectoid of the Gellarpox Infected.
Last but not least we have some new terrain for Necromunda. And in typical Necromunda fashion it has much more verticality than Warhammer 40,000 terrain seems to. Consisting of some desert-themed hab-blocks on stilts, presumably to keep the local wildlife out while you’re sleeping, and some walkways it definitely captures that wasteland vibe but I do worry that the habs will be a little top heavy during game play.
Sooner or later I am definitely going to have to pick up some Necromunda miniatures, be it for conversions or for a gang of my own, they are simply too awesome to be left alone. Hopefully, I can abstain until next year otherwise I’ll never get any of my boardgame miniatures painted!
Warhammer Underworlds: Harrowdeep
The reveals continue with yet another warband for Warhammer Underworlds. This particular one being a vampire scientist and his electric undead horde. Well, not a massive horde, perhaps just seven of his most favoured creations? With eight miniatures in total this is certainly one of the most numerous of the warbands we’ve seen so far. Thankfully, it looks like they have a few ways of activating numerous models with a single activation. Otherwise half your grubblies would be standing around doing nothing, as each warband only gets four activations per turn.
Either way, I’m always in favour of more undead models even if these guys look like they should have been an expansion to Curse City that’s been repurposed. I’d be tempted to pick these guys up… but I need to assemble and paint Beastgrave first. And finish painting the Wurmspat too for that matter. If there was one Warhammer purchase that I would be actually tempted to make it would be these guys, as warbands tend not to stick around forever.
Warhammer 40,000 - Renegade Knights
Chaos Knights are getting some love with firstly with a dedicated kit for their War Dogs, previously they just used the same kit as Imperial Armiger’s and it was down to the player to “Chaosify” them. Looks like they only have a single weapon option but they would be easy enough to convert I would imagine.
Hot on the heels of the War Dog Karnivore is the Abominant Knight, a hideous mechanical monstrosity armed with a volkite combustor cannon and an electric flail. Oh, and it’s a psyker as well. One of the few models in 40K with a volkite weapon and I think one of the few psyker knights as well. There’s the Warlord-Sinister Psi Titan in Adeptus Titanicus and I think maybe some of the Eldar walkers might be psykers? I’m not sure how I feel about the birds, but it looks good overall. That electroscourge definitely makes it look like this Knight would be at home in an Iron Warriors army.
Either way, Renegade Knights have been on my wishlist for a little while now and it really is only a matter of time before I grab one of my own. Man, these reveals really seem to be tailor made for me, so far there’s nothing I wouldn’t want. To make things worse, it looks like these two new Chaos Knights are going to be bundled into a convenient army box for when the new Codex drops.
Blood Bowl - Norse Team
The punches really do keep coming don’t they? I might not have much of an interest in Blood Bowl but I do have an interest in all things Norse (see: my Space Wolves army). Once again I find myself looking at these reveals with an eye for conversion rather than their original purpose. Swap the footballs for spears and these guys might make for some decent Fenrisian natives. Or even some Wulfen? But let’s be honest, these are all just excuses to get my hands on those adorable Beer Boars. One of them even has a tiny horned helmet!
Age of Sigmar - Thondian Strongpoint
Ok so far we’re three for three in adding things to my wishlist, let’s see what Age of Sigmar has for us.
Oh my Sigmar it’s some terrain. Now I love me some terrain, they’re a nice break from painting endless amounts of infantry. Case in point, I recently had a lot of fun painting up the Azyrite Ruined Chapel. These bits look pretty cool, although I do feel like a couple of them have been available before in various box sets. Not that I have a need for any more terrain at the moment. If that changes though…
Which it might in 2023.
Just sayin’.
Watch this space.
Age of Sigmar - Awlrach the Drowner
A bone captain and his ghostly bone boat. Now that’s a lot of bone! Dude looks gorgeous though. I’m always a little wary of how fragile Nighthaunt models look, so many small and thin bits of plastic holding other things together. They do look like a lot of fun to paint though. Sadly though my undead allegiance lies with the diseased and reanimated kind rather than the ghostly kind. Unfortunately, I don’t have all that much else to say about it. Cool model, I almost certainly won’t be picking him up however.
Horus Heresy - New Edition
Really Games Workshop? More teasers? We all knew it was coming just show it to us you cowards!
Sigh.
At least we got a look at a couple of models this time. A new Mark V Marine and a new Praetor, both in plastic rather than resin. I can’t say that I have any particular love for “beakie” Marines, my own nostalgia for Warhammer doesn’t go quite that far back, but I’m excited that Heresy is getting some love again. My own force of Heresy Era Space Wolves would certainly welcome some new models, having been rather neglected as I focused more on 40K. That being said I can’t imagine there will be much for my Wolves with the current literary releases focusing on the Siege of Terra, which the Space Wolves did not participate in.
On the other hand, perhaps when the new edition finally drops then it will prompt me to get back into the Hersey Era stuff. It was a lot of fun, even if painting endless amounts of power armour did get a little stale.
Warhammer 40,000 - Chaos Space Marines Codex
Not so much an announcement as another teaser. Although given how Games Workshop often doesn’t wait all that long between announcement and reveal, we could see the full line up on Monday. Or it will be next year, there is no in between.
As for what was actually shown, we can only speculate. However, there definitely seemed to be some non-Astartes in there. Perhaps a new line of cultists? The wings feel like they would be a new Possessed or maybe a new Daemon Prince? Who knows. In any case, I’m sure I’ll be grabbing some Chaos Marines now that I’ve more or less exhausted the Death Guard line of models.
Final Thoughts
A lot of fun things revealed here. Just about everything, aside from the Nighthaunt hero, I could see myself picking up. Very excited to see what the new Chaos models are going to be. Very much hoping it’s at least some new Possessed because damn the existing ones are showing their age. And the Great Possessed shown in Shadowspear (I think) are still not available separately.
Really glad I made a plan not to get any Warhammer this year, otherwise my wallet would be crying. Or maybe it’s already crying in anticipation of the backlog I’m going to have next year. Because I have some big plans. Oh well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now however, I really must get back to painting some Village Attacks models!
P.S. obviously I haven’t completed any painting for this article, so the boardgame miniatures score board remains the same.
Boardgame miniatures left to paint: 731
Boardgame miniatures painted this year: 35