Day Two of Warhammer Fest is upon us and today is all about Age of Sigmar. 

Skaven

The ratmen are getting a new Deathmaster model to go with their upcoming Battle Tome. Deathmasters are the battlefield assassins of Clan Eshin, specialising in taking out enemy characters. Honestly, I’m a little surprised this might be all that Skaven are getting for their new Battle Tome, scuttlebutt amongst the community is that a few of the Skaven models could do with a refresh. But we shall see, Games Workshop may surprise us yet. 

All in all it’s a great looking model though, certainly not helping my half baked plans to one day actually collect some Skaven. Especially with the recent release of Warhammer Underworld Nethermaze, in which Skaven finally gets a new warband. Maybe one day, I do want a “horde” style army at some point. Might be Skaven, might be something like Tyranids. 

Sylvaneth

Next up the angry tree-folk are getting a glut of new models for their new Battle Tome, much to the jealousy of Skaven players I imagine. 

• Lady of Vines. A special character by the looks of things, I’m not familiar with Age of Sigmar lore unfortunately. It is a suitably impressive model but I do worry about the various branches being so thin, I can see a lot of them getting snapped accidentally. 

• Gossamid Archers. The unholy mix of elf, tree and fairy. Armed with bows these guys look like they can move quickly and unleash a flurry of damage at range. Lovely models and I’m sure many a painter is going to have fun with blends and freehanding on the wings. 

• Spiterider Lancers. Speaking of fast moving and hard hitting, soon available to the Sylvaneth forces will be the Spiterider Lancers. 

• Revenant Seekers. The alternative build option for the Spiterider Lancers; where the lancers are heavy hitters, the Revenant Seekers scour the battlefield looking for Sylvaneth to resurrect.  

Slaves to Darkness

Stomping in for the forces of Chaos are the Ogroid Theridons. Beastmen ogres with giant axes, what’s not to like? They also get an option for swapping the axes for sword and shield. I wish I had more to say about these guys, they look great and if I was inclined to collect Age of Sigmar Chaos I’m sure I’d grab some. 

Sigmars’ Crusades

On the one hand, I can appreciate Games Workshop using Age of Sigmar to create their own universe that isn’t quite so grounded in traditional fantasy. For example, dwarfs in fantasy live underground in the mountains and mine precious metals. In Age of Sigmar, while there are Duardin (aka dwarves) who do live underground, the army that Games Workshop produces are the Kharadron Overlords, who are dwarves that roam about in steampunk airships. Likewise, the Sylvaneth aren’t wood elves so much as they are spirits of aelves reborn into trees. Even the quintessential human race in Age of Sigmar, the Stormcast Eternals, are magic enhanced immortal warriors. All in all there’s very little room for the everyday human character in Age of Sigmar. In fact just about the only “mortals” in Age of Sigmar are in the Cities of Sigmar faction. Now, the Cities of Sigmar faction is essentially all the leftover kits from Warhammer Fantasy Battles that don’t fit into any of the new races and factions. 

Sigmars’ Crusades are, I believe, an attempt to fix that. The renders look to me more like upgrade kits. So it’s my guess that they will be some bits you can stick to the old kits to bring their aesthetic in line with existing Age of Sigmar kits. 

I could be wrong though. 

General’s Handbook

Effectively Chapter Approved but for Age of Sigmar? Although I’m not sure why Chapter Approved is a hardback book while this is ring bound. Also good to hear that points changes are being released for free through the Age of Sigmar app. 

Cado Ezechiar & Drekki Flynt

The last two reveals of the day are two Black Library characters. Both have featured in a couple of short stories each but they’re both getting a full length novel each. 

The first character is Cado Ezechiar, a vampire that slots neatly into a Soulblight Gravelords army. I quite like that his armour looks very old and rusted, along with his tattered cape. It really sells that he’s a wandering hero rather than a military general. His upcoming novel is The Hollow King by John French. 

The second is Drekki Flynt for the Kharadron Overlords faction. He’s essentially a pirate but you couldn’t tell from the model. I suppose we did just get a stereotypical looking pirate in the form of Blackpowder's Buccaneers for Warhammer Underworld. In any case, Drekki Flynt’s upcoming novel is The Arkanaut’s Oath by Guy Haley. 

Always nice that the Black Library characters are getting some models, like Severina Raine and Gaunt's Ghosts for Warhammer 40,000. I’d love for them to release some custom scenarios/battles based on events from the books as well. But I guess they leave it up to the players to forge their own narratives.