GW News: Combat phase in #NewAoS

The glyphs don't really give me an Egyptian / Tomb Kings vibe. As for the unit types, yes both TK and these ugly things have some similar unit types, but the aesthetics couldn't be further from one another.

It would almost be like saying that Dwarfs have legs, and these guys have legs, so they are a bit like dwarfs. Of course these Bonereaper models and TK are both undead, so they obviously share that major similarity, but that is about it.

That isn't saying much.

Nighthaunt are much nicer than these.

Are you referring to this dreadnought arm?

 

The angles and general aesthetic seem very far from anything we'd see from the Tomb Kings. Too bulky and much too armoured.

 

The spooky ghost theme behind Nighthaunt is far from interesting, but the model line is rendered deliciously. There is not much going on detail-wise on the minis, yet they look very complete and elegant, and a painted army looks like a beautiful ghastly dance.
The paint scheme suggested from GW is boring though.

 

Nighthaunt are one of the least original and most boring armies GW has ever made for AoS. They do nothing to extend beyond the Grim Reaper trope that has been kicking around the fantasy market for donkeys years. The only plus point is GW’s sculpting of them as @GuaDan said, but then GW’s sculpting is pretty much flawless for all the new AoS miniatures now so that isn’t much of an advantage. Even Sigmarines have some more original aspects to them.

 

To be fair, they have added some interesting models/factions recently (IDK and KO) so I'll forgive them for this 80's comic/TV disaster.

 

I don’t mind the ghost theme overall and like you I do prefer them over zombies and ghouls, but I prefer ghosts as spectral humanoids clothed as they were in life, like the Warriors of the Dead from the Lord of the Rings. I like that sort of thing a lot more than the Grim Reaper trope, so much so that if I was forced at gunpoint to collect Nighthaunt, I would have to use the Middle Earth Warriors of the Dead models, because I really don’t think much of the skull-face Grim Reaper Nighthaunt models at all.

 

Indeed, the presence of Fyreslayers, Idoneth Deepkin, Gloomspite Gitz and Kharadron Overlords still stokes enough interest in me to say that AoS at least has got better than it was before and has potential, even though there are still awful elements.

 

These, my friend, are ghosts as they should be:



In fact there’s an awesome new plastic King of the Dead miniature coming at some point. Looking forward to seeing him!

 

You throw around the words "original" and "boring" with such vigor. I find that quite surprising coming from a guy who loves and endorses Fyreslayers so much. Aside from the inclusion of an average looking monster, there is nothing original about them. They are simply Slayers, who have been around for decades. In terms of boring, the entire Fyreslayers faction (other than the one average looking monster mentioned above) is pretty much the exact same thing. They have less diversity of design than any other faction. To use your phrase "even Sigmarines have some more original aspects to them".

When I say that Nighthaunt > Ossiarch Bonereapers, I'm talking about the beauty of the sculpts. There is no comparison in terms of aesthetics.



vs.





One is a very unique and interesting sculpt and the other has a little guy sticking out of the crotch of the monster (which I suppose is unique as well but not in a good way). You can chose to like which ever faction you want, but I can tell you that the reception that Nighthaunt received was far more positive. Whether or not you like the theme of Nighthaunt, they were good looking models, while these new Bonereapers are tacky and overdone.

 

Wait, I just had another look at that combine harvester thing, does his tail end in a fist?

 

I mean, it looks nicely solid to hit stuff with, but why not just give it a metal ball or something then. Now I'm halfway expecting it to start swinging of vines using it's tail.

 

The Fyreslayers themselves are not the most original thing in the world, no, but the whole concept of a Slayer is, for GW were the first to think of the idea of a Dwarf who has shaven his hair into a Mohawk, dyed it orange, and then goes off into the wilderness seeking a glorious death. The only things I’ve seen from other fantasy wargames companies that are remotely close to Slayers are either copies of them released specifically to allow players to still be able to buy, make and paint and use some in their games since GW killed Fantasy (in the case of Avatars of War) or versions that bear a similarity to them but are not the same lorewise (in the case of Mantic’s Dwarf Berserkers, who are more like Dwarf versions of Viking berserkers whereas Slayers are more like Celtic Fanatics).

Furthermore, the Fyreslayers are not simply direct carbon copies of Slayers made specifically for AoS - one of the things I like most about them is that they are a development, an evolution, of Slayers from a deranged cult as part of a wider faction into a faction of their own right. They now have a way of life based upon that of the old Dwarfs, while at the same time retaining the Slayer tradition of fighting more aggressively than defensively. So they aren’t the same thing as Slayers at all once you delve beyond the familiar exterior.

Nighthaunt have none of that - they aren’t even an extension of Grim Reapers, they are just AoS Grim Reapers made from discontented souls in Nagash’s underworld. No more, no less. They have no culture or religion, nothing that the Fyreslayers have which set them apart from the old Slayers.

As for the unit diversity, that was the fault of the old GW that killed off Fantasy and brought in AoS, as they wanted to bring in new factions as quickly as possible to try and calm the tide of AoS hate coming from Fantasy player all around the world. All the other First Edition factions have a similar problem. If the Fyreslayers had been released in Second Edition, they would have probably had a lot more unit choice to them, and GW may well give them those new units when they’ve finished giving all factions a tome like they did last year with 8th Edition 40K.

To be honest that’s not the best comparison. The skull-faced banshees on Lady Olynder detract from the grace of Olynder herself (who is based on another unoriginal trope that probably stems from Miss Havisham in Great Expectations). The only thing that is really bad about the monster, by contrast, is the skeleton in the crotch, and as I say before, THAT LOOKS AS THOUGH IT CAN BE EASILY REMOVED. You don’t have to have the thing as what it comes as on the box, you can quite easily clip the arms off and probably file the head off or greenstuff over it. Perhaps the banshees on either side of Lady Olynder could have new faces greenstuffed on as well, but then the new faces would stick out more and make their heads look massive.