Sister Terminators huh?
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Blood for the Blood God! Talking about Warhammer 40,000
- Thread starter Felicia
- Start date
Not exactly? Looks like a cross between heavier Mechanicus exo-armor and a Terminator, yeah.
Surprised/amused to hear that "there's no-one to play with" has been a common refrain in this thread. Most expats here imagine that any towns/cities in our native countries are overflowing with active communities, and only we suffer a smaller scene. Has been equal parts fun and exhausting helping to grow the community here across multiple cities, but we're in a pretty cushy place now, with players at any point of the skill curve to match up against.
Though for my part I've slid more into the judging and organizing side and don't play as much myself anymore. And am still only chipping away slowly at my huge unpainted or half-painted pile of shame!
Though for my part I've slid more into the judging and organizing side and don't play as much myself anymore. And am still only chipping away slowly at my huge unpainted or half-painted pile of shame!
On april first, Games Workshop announced that they'd be bringing back the Squats, the space-dwarfs beloved by many oldschool Warhammer 40,000 fans. Of course, everyone assumed that it was an April Fool's joke. The next day, Games Workshop announced that no, it wasn't a joke. The McRib Squats are back! With new miniatures and everything! Although now they're not called "Squats" (in fact, that name has apparently been retconned into a derogatory slur used by other species), but "Leagues of Votann". Which is probably partly because the old name was thought to be kind of silly, and partly because the new name is easier for GW to trademark/copyright.
I'm not sure if I'm entirely sold on the new, slightly more high-tech look. But they've only released pictures of one miniature so far, so I hope we get some fantasy details mixed in (at least some power axes!). And since GW has made 40k-scale miniatures of titans, I do hope we get a 40k-scale version of the Land Trains.
I'm not sure if I'm entirely sold on the new, slightly more high-tech look. But they've only released pictures of one miniature so far, so I hope we get some fantasy details mixed in (at least some power axes!). And since GW has made 40k-scale miniatures of titans, I do hope we get a 40k-scale version of the Land Trains.
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Yeah, they look a little bland, a bit too standard generic scifi based on that one mini alone. But we'll have a better idea of the faction's overall visual style as we see more of the range. This style does match up with several of the Rumour Engine teases from the past year, including what looked like a bike or buggy.
I'm hoping they take the braver, more interesting route here and make them a Tau ally rather than an Imperium ally, though. For a federation of allied races, it has always sucked that the Tau have no real allies in-game, while everyone else besides Orks and Necrons does.
I'm hoping they take the braver, more interesting route here and make them a Tau ally rather than an Imperium ally, though. For a federation of allied races, it has always sucked that the Tau have no real allies in-game, while everyone else besides Orks and Necrons does.
Interestingly enough, one of the species that have been mentioned as Tau allies, "The Demiurg", was apparently originally intended to be a modern take on the squats, but they never got furhter than having a few ships in Battlefleet Gothic.
There has been two "modern" squat miniatures released a few years ago for Necromunda that look slightly more interesting, maybe they are hints of what's to come visually as well?
There has been two "modern" squat miniatures released a few years ago for Necromunda that look slightly more interesting, maybe they are hints of what's to come visually as well?
I think what they're saying there is that the Squats on Necromunda dress in Necromunda style outfits, because they're also largely stuck on that planet due to being poor as hell (thus living in squalor down in the under-hive). So the actual Leagues faction with be dressed in their own culture's tech rather than in the usual Necromunda biker miner ganger type duds.
More Leagues of Votann news are coming now and then, including the new version of their old three-wheeled bike. But now it doesn't have wheels!
Also, that rider is apparently female. Which on the one hand is cool, but on the other I'm a little disappointed that the female space dwarfs doesn't also have beards. I always prefer female dwarfs having beards.
Also, that rider is apparently female. Which on the one hand is cool, but on the other I'm a little disappointed that the female space dwarfs doesn't also have beards. I always prefer female dwarfs having beards.
That Squat resembles a few crotchety old ladies I've met or seen over the years, not got a problem with it.
But I still feel like GW are playing avoidant with any kind of femininity because their sculptors simply cannot sculpt women's faces outside of the "bat-faced crone", "pinched spinster", and "square-jawed 'roid head" categories that served their purposes in the 90s. Same way their male faces are largely restricted to "badly drawn french cartoon face" and "square-jawed 'roid head".
But I still feel like GW are playing avoidant with any kind of femininity because their sculptors simply cannot sculpt women's faces outside of the "bat-faced crone", "pinched spinster", and "square-jawed 'roid head" categories that served their purposes in the 90s. Same way their male faces are largely restricted to "badly drawn french cartoon face" and "square-jawed 'roid head".
More squat news! Necromunda is getting a new gang of "Squat Prospectors" (confusingly, these are still called "squats" and are described as "distant relatives of the Leagues of Votann"). I wonder if these miniatures are any indication on what the Votanns will look like, and if they will be used as a unit in that army (like how the old Warhammer Fantasy dwarfs had "dwarf miners" as a unit).
I got really excited at the mention of a "land train", but it turns out that it's just some human truck. I really hope we get some old-school space dwarf land trains capable of busting titans in the future.
I got really excited at the mention of a "land train", but it turns out that it's just some human truck. I really hope we get some old-school space dwarf land trains capable of busting titans in the future.
An interesting piece of Votann lore was revealed recently: Apparently, they're products of cloning and genetic manipulation in ancient times. This seems to be a retcon of the old 40k "abhuman" explanation, that they simply evolved from regular humans while living on high gravity worlds. Maybe that explanation was considered too unscientific? Will we see similar retcons for other abhumans such as ogryns and ratlings?
I dont know if this is the the thread for it but has anyone played the Necromunda shooter game released this year or last or the XComish game, Demonhunters?
I'm hearing good things but I've been hurt too many times before when it comes to WH40k PC games (Space Hulk still stings)
I'm hearing good things but I've been hurt too many times before when it comes to WH40k PC games (Space Hulk still stings)
Not played either. There were a couple of truly terrible Space Hulk versions over the years, and also one decent adaptation of the board game (still slow and a bit clunky as a video game but a decently serviceable replication of the board game's gameplay) as far as I know, so not sure which you encountered there.
But I've heard those two new games are fine. Neither's a genre-best, and they compare poorly to actual genre standouts like X-Com itself or a AAA shooter, but they're meant to be pretty decent and enhanced by their setting? Like Space Marine compared to Gears of War, I suppose.
They also said that Votann are the ones who gave Tau the technology behind Ion weaponry, which was something that the Demiurg (alien dwarves) did previously in the lore - so it's possible they're combining Squats and Demiurg into Votann, either just the Imperium and Tau Empire's flawed or partial understanding of them, or perhaps they only encountered one or two of the Leagues and not the entire species, and there are significant differences between said Leagues.
The latest update on the Votann is the "Ironkin", sentient robots that are apparently treated as equals by the regular Kin. So, yet another thing that would have most members of the Imperium screaming "heresy!"
One sentence in their description that I thought was interesting was this: "However, as artificial beings, they can only imitate the emotions of their biological fellows". Which I think opens up a whole can of sci-fi philosophical worms (intentionally? Unintentionally?), since I know that there are some who would argue about what "real" emotions are, and whether "imitating" emotions could be considered actual emotions. Me, I'm just imagnining a rough space dwarf work robot voiced by Michael Fassbender:
One sentence in their description that I thought was interesting was this: "However, as artificial beings, they can only imitate the emotions of their biological fellows". Which I think opens up a whole can of sci-fi philosophical worms (intentionally? Unintentionally?), since I know that there are some who would argue about what "real" emotions are, and whether "imitating" emotions could be considered actual emotions. Me, I'm just imagnining a rough space dwarf work robot voiced by Michael Fassbender:
Still waiting for the twist on these guys. They had to rush a twist into the Tau after people didn't like them being good (even though them being good but naive and doomed was how they fit into the grimdark), so presumably they will bake something nasty into the Votann beforehand this time.
So the Votann are launching this coming Saturday, in the form of a limited box with the full range releasing later (as happened with the Sisters, Black Templars, and Ork Beast Snaggaz). I've put in an order for them, since I've drifted out of AoS in recent years and so will be selling my Orcs there soon. That leaves me space for a 2nd 40k army again, and overall I've warmed to this faction's "2010s scifi in 40k" aesthetic. I'll have to wait a few weeks after release for it to reach China, but then I'll be hopping on the (Land)train.
Since I have a lot of free time while job-hunting lately, I've also been popping to different parts of the country to catch up with friends I haven't seen in far too long who've scattered to the four winds - and part of that has meant being able to bring my 40k army to different cities and break bread with folks I've not met before, which has been great. Definitely a big fan of the community side of the hobby, and I Covid's made that tricky this past year (after a 2020 where we were basically the only scene getting in regular big events!).
Since I have a lot of free time while job-hunting lately, I've also been popping to different parts of the country to catch up with friends I haven't seen in far too long who've scattered to the four winds - and part of that has meant being able to bring my 40k army to different cities and break bread with folks I've not met before, which has been great. Definitely a big fan of the community side of the hobby, and I Covid's made that tricky this past year (after a 2020 where we were basically the only scene getting in regular big events!).
"What Happened to Gorkamorka?" is a pair of recently published articles that begin with a look at the history of a Warhammer 40,000 spinoff game from the 90s, but then gets into the important shift in corporate culture that it heralded for Games Workshop overall. A really fascinating read for any boardgame fan, not just GW fans.
A fascinating read, thanks. It's interesting that the writer had the question "Why was Gorkamorka cancelled/abandoned?" question going in, and ran into "It was finished" as the answer. I noticed that happening around the Apocalypse and Shadow War rulesets a few years back, where if a wargame doesn't get frequent updates it's considered dead, but then people also say they can't keep with the updates for games like 40k. But perhaps fans never being happy is an ever-present part of the form.
It's looking likely I'll have to move continents at the end of the year, after a decade abroad - which comes with several anxieties and bits of sad, but an unexpectedly big one is the strong likelihood that I'll have to sell my original 40k army. Admech just doesn't travel well! Especially not in vast quantities. So that year-old Votann army'll likely be the only thing I can bring back (since it travels excellently, most things being so very compact and un-spindly). Wasn't deliberate, but there's been a fair amount of identity tied subconsciously to army choice, so I feel weird about not being The Admech Player when I join whatever new scene back home. Not really something I was expecting feeling bittersweet about, given all the other big shakeups that'd accompany this probable move!