"New Age of Sigmar miniatures..yuk" Topic

Got an e-mail of GW today with new AoS miniatures not loving the look if I'm honest very much 40k with a bow.

link

I guess the rumours about the big changes being about IP protection hold some water there is certainly nothing quite like these in the miniatures market unlike, for example, the old Empire miniatures.

Those are even uglier than the ones in the box set.

I have collected Empire armies since the late eighties. I would not take these for free.

This whole AoS sounds like the competition has secretly taken over GW…

Why do missile troops require such heavy armor? A lot of the armies I have built had heavy armor for the guys expecting to mix it up and then lighter, skirmishing types to provide some fire support.

I picked up a bunch of the chaos guys on e-bay for a very low price. $35 USD for 40 plastic troopers. I can mix them in with my marauders well enough.

The price will never be low enough for me to buy these guys. They will mix with absolutely nothing. And they all seem to be in a very similar pose, which kind of looks odd.

I can honestly say I think these some of the worst looking figures I have seen. Detail/Quality may be fine, but the look? Power Armour Archers?

I play Infinity and I hate its sculpts. But then it has great rules and I literally need 8 to 16 guys for my army.

I really need to get back to historicals so I can get better value per dollar spent.

According to the rumors, and the fluff so far, these are the "Spacemarines" for fantasy. GW decided that to make money, make Spacemarines, whatever you have to call them to shoehorn them in to the world.

They do not appeal to most of us, but anecdotal evidence suggests they do appeal to the mythical "little Timmy" buyers that GW is trying to encourage to try fantasy.

those are ugly, simply hateful. Erasers with smiley faces look better.

Is that a crossbow or an arquebus?

Does it matter?

They are horrible looking.

I'd change the poses a bit, and the crossbows look pretty bad, but I actually like 'em. Might even snag a box depending on how much fun I have painting up the Stormcast from the AoS box. It's not that I don't miss the old world, but this new fluff is kinda fun too.

A Crossquebus?

I like the, but not the colors chosen.

A Crossquebus?

Don't know but the guy in the bottom right seems to be wielding a bazooka….

There Boltstorm Crossbows, not to be confused with Stormbolter.

Oh! … How I long for the Old World.

The only upside I found on this whole AOS affair is that the rules are quite ok, but not extraordinary.

The figures are a major turn off for me.

They look kinda Warmahordes to me. Is GW trying to take on PP?

Now I thought the starter box was ugly, but these are an even worse eyesore…..

Christopher

How are the younger WH players in game stores feeling about these sculpts? Do they want to buy them?

Fancied the freebie with the last edition of White Dwarf but they mucked up the numbers so sold out really quickly. Wouldn't pay the released prices for them though.

I think they are awesome.

Plan to get some archers, but first I want to paint the starter box minis.

I'm not a huge fan of the bottom ones but I really like the archers too. I will probably add a box or two of these to my Sigmarite army.

The funny thing about the comments about them looking like space marines is that space marines were basically designed to look like full plate armor knights in space.

Now they are just doing the original fantasy version in a way and the space game, which was sort of a parody to start with, has become the cannon and the fantasy idea looks derivative.

That is some very good market penetration there.

The ones that came with the boxed set are great. Massive armoured angels. The bows go great with that look.

I don't particularly care for the guys with the bolt weapons, but I LOVE the archers.

I just think people aren't really getting what GW is trying to achieve here. I seriously don't believe that GW was going for Space Marines in fantasy. I really don't. Every blog and community is saying that, but I don't see it.

These are celestial warriors coming to save the mortal realms from destruction. They do NOT have "power armor". They do NOT have jet packs. They do NOT have laser guns. They have NO sci-fi technology on them. The people who are seeing space marines in these minis are looking at them the wrong way, it's as simple as that.

The thing that makes me laugh about the people criticizing the Celestials for having "bazookas" or "arquebuses"…well you may have forgotten that the Empire has an organ gun! Multi-barrel gunners! The dwarves have a multi-shot organ-type gun! The elves have a multi-shot gatling gun-like crossbow! The ogre kingdoms have lead belchers, which are essentially black powder fantasy bazookas! The Skaven have the "Warp Lightning Cannon", which is littler more than a thinly disguised laser cannon which uses the power of warpstone to generate its destructive power!

So why is no one calling those figures parallels to 40k?

If that were not enough, some of you may forget that there have been crossovers between the fantasy and 40k world since the 1980s! I remember White Dwarf back then having battle reports and photographs showing 40k forces – I'm talking about robots, space armor and laser guns – attacking a Warhammer fortress castle defended by dwarves and Empire troops! The guys in power armor and laser guns were breaching the wall of the castle and had blown a hole in it. It was literally Star Wars meets medieval times, and it is NOT new! GW has had crossovers between both worlds since the beginning.

Now, I don't personally care to have those two worlds cross over. I like the Old World to be intact and separate from the sci-fi Warhammer universe. I keep it pure and separate. But people have really bad memories if they think this is the first time GW has maybe blended the two universes(which in the case of AOS I DON'T think this is one of those attempts).

Blending the two, not my cup of tea, but just saying it's not new, in fact the idea is over twenty five years old.

But what the Celestials have on is spiritual armor in the likeness of Sigmar, almost like religious or spiritual warriors sent by god himself, coming down to save mankind, which you find in every major world religion. They are NOT 40k.

I see in these minis good vs. evil. The people who are saying that these minis don't match the aesthetics of the Old World and its armies, well – they aren't SUPPOSED to match it! That's the whole point. They aren't ordinary soldiers.

But they also aren't space marines.

The archers are fantastic. Who says that archers can't have heavy armor? This is fantasy, not real life.

@Pictors Studio,

"Massive armored angels".

EXACTLY! Perfect description! Spiritual warriors sent by god, that's what I've been saying since the beginning.

The label of "Sigmarines" that the Warhammer community has put on them is just short-sided and foolish in my opinion.

@Baranovich

That's what i've been saying about these guys since they first appeared: They're the personal army of a freakin' GOD! OF COURSE they're gonna be huge and over the top!

…By the way – as one additional note to my post above about the 40k elements found in Fantasy – I didn't mention the dwarves and their IRONDRAKES!

The Irondrakes are armored from head to toe in very 40kish-looking suits of armor. They wield what amounts to little more than magically powered flamethrowers! You could almost glue a power pack onto their backs and connect it to the flamethrower with a power cable for crying out loud.

The Irondrakes, in almost every way, are way more 40kish than they are Fantasy. Yet I don't hear much talking about them, and they've been out for what, a good four years or more now?

So why are people not pointing at those and screaming 40k foul like they are at the Celestials?

Actually, as 20 years dwarf collector, I'd say that I didn't like latest dwarf models, too. I thought at the time of their release that GW wants to jump to Warmahordes business, but at that time nobody could really see the disaster coming.
It might be, that these models might be these much needed 20% lifesavers of GW profit, but it doesn't mean that I'm going to like them. I hate AoS and these models.

GW has always always pushed the envelope with grotesque exaggeration. Some of their models look like nothing so much as escapees from specimen jars. They have also produced years worth of models which are pleasing and even iconic at this point.

AoS IMHO is a desperate winter offensive to reverse their fantasy decline. I think it will fail, even to the point of becoming a laughingstock. Others think it is a stroke of genius, and the ushering in of a Renaissance for (GW's) fantasy.

This is their best effort. The market will decide.

"They look kinda Warmahordes to me. Is GW trying to take on PP?:

Yes. I think they will get their AoS handed to them.

And I thought the Chronopia humies were overe the top…they got NOTHING on these guys.

I can't wait for them to release the $2,500 USD, limited edition FineCast Castle Greyskull playset to go with these.

Baranovich + 1

I think the Stormcast Eternals look great. They don't look like space marines at all except for BA Sanguinary Guard and a few special characters like Dante and Sanguinor.

They are definitely fantasy, not sci-fi. They appear to be influenced by Greek and Roman mythology, specifically the pantheon of pagan gods they worshipped.

When I saw the new archers the first thing I thought of was Apollo in his shining golden armor.

If people look beyond thier upturned noses, they would see that the Sigmarites are clad in full plate mail with sculpted muscles (reminds me of greek hoplites with more armor). They also have faces on their helmets, which 90% of space marines DON'T have. A case could be made for them resembling Sanguinary Guard, but I think that is more of a case of common inspration. But as far as resembling space marines, they have no technology on them to make them resemble powered armor. If they had been released as space marine models, people would be bitching that they didnt look like space marines! They could make a great basis for a conversion for articifer armor however.

The figs arent great, but the simplicity of the Sigmar mythos is so simple it is written for a simple mind. The lack of detail is disgusting….once upon a time a man named Sigmar got his feelings hurt by big ugly monsters so he made his own army to go beat them up…

Mmmm. No.

I think they all look pretty horrible, sadly. Lightning bolts are the new Skullz.

I do think this is all an attempt to make Fantasy more like the better selling 40k. The problem is, of course, that the consumers will not increase their spending, they will divert from 40k, cannibalizing 40k sales.

They've got to be kidding………… is this a late April fools joke?

I was an inch from getting back into Warhammer for several of my friends sake. Man am I glad I didn't!

Said friends are currently seeking new system, what an opportunity for a young company to fill this void.

These are interesting miniatures, but the idea that they are Warhammer is f'ing ridiculous. Just terrible. Like… Really, really terrible. Such a great backstory destroyed. Wow. Terrible.

God these are awful.

From an artistic standpoint, pleasing proportion, interesting fantasy take, logic, historical/fantasy/setting perspective – just awful.

To think at one time the Perry Brothers did figures for GW that set industry standards – well proportioned, nice poses, interesting take on the genre/history etc. of fantasy. And now this.

A possible Razzie for worst figures ever?

One can only hope we have reached the bottom, if they don't sell maybe the jolt will put the company back on the quality track.

Till then we can all save some money.

TomT

Why do missile troops require such heavy armor?

Return fire from other missile troops?

To be fair I've seen portrayals of late medieval missile troops (especially handgunners, but to a lesser extent crossbowmen) with armour almost as extensive as that worn by dismounted men at arms. So the missile troops with heavy armour concept does not bother me.

That being said, I'm not fond of the new AoS figures or the larger scale they are sculpted in, despite the fact I'm not all that hostile to the new rules.

I love them. Remind me of Greek or Roman mythology, or perhaps some kind of fantasy gladiators.

Fantastic.

It seems that those who like to play with the retinue of gods in mythical bubbles of reality like them.

Those who preferred the historical background of WFB don't.

Count me among the latter. The foundation in history was what drew me to WFB. Its gone now, no shred left. All power to those who like the background, but my remaining Empire troops became Maximilian Landsknechts and Gensdarmes in a world touched by fantasy.

I have to say I am neutral on the end of WFB as in truth I never cared for the rules and play of that series of games. I tried to get into various editions and have enjoyed citadel miniatures for decades, but never liked historical troop block menuver war games with fantasy troops and endless special rules. I believe I am in the minority as I got into fantasy through my love of mythology and creativity and found WHFB lacked real creativity or the fantastical. Late medical war game with funny looking troops mostly.
I was always looking for an actual Fantasy game.
GW new AOS stuff is at least new and original to them but they have long ago detached prices to intrinsic value for me. I will not buy them because of their cost, not because I dislike the miniatures or the company. Great stuff for those who care to afford them.

@Baranovich: without detracting from your main point that AoS Sigmarites don't equal Marines some of your other examples don't really support 40K-ness in WHFB.

Empire and Dwarf volley guns derive from Ribauldequin or organ guns that were in use around the Hundred Years war.

The elven multi-shot ballista obviously requires magic but its design is something of a cross between a Roman scorpion and a Chinese repeating cross-bow.

Leadbelchers have black powder cannons that seems to be inspired by well… cannons. :) (Some of the Leadbelcher's guns have trunnions suggesting that they've been ripped from gun carriages).

Dwarves with flamethrowers are perhaps more of an edge case (although not because of head-to-toe armour, that's pretty solidly historical) but even then, have a look at Byzantine Greek-fire throwers.

Anyway, the point is, no one is suggesting these things are 40K-ish or sci-fi in general because they're clearly derived from / inspired by historical designs.

I do think the Sigmarites resemble Sanguinary guard somewhat, but mostly because both are trying to model beautiful and martial angels.