Nine years ago Games Workshop decided to axe Warhammer Fantasy in favor of a new game, Age of Sigmar. This was because Fantasy sales were worse than either individual 40k armies, paint, or the Space Marine Tactical Squad box, depending on who you believe. Entire armies got axed in favor of new stuff, with said new stuff being ridiculed for either being just fantasy Space Marines (the Stormcast Eternals, mockingly called the Ground Marines or the Sigmarines) or looking extremely stupid (the steampunk dwards who have top hats, monocles and facial hair modelled onto their helmets). But as time went on it found its place, more armies came out, existing armies were expanded (one of the recent ones, the Flesheater Courts, turning into a proper army instead of just being the ghouls, Varghulf and zombie dragon from the Vampire Counts army roster) and things kind of calmed down. The game's approaching its 4th edition now, cutting off some of the chaff it had gathered over the years (3e AoS was a bloated mess of a game, just like 9e 40k). But then on April 4th Games Workshop decided to drop this info:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2024/04/04/whats-leaving-the-warhammer-age-of-sigmar-range/
To trim down the fat on the miniature lines Games Workshop decided to removes quite a few miniatures from their lines. While a few of them will be updated, a significant chunk won't be back. This includes some two dozen units and characters from the Stormcast Eternals line, with the more magically inclined of the bunch being removed permanently. Some of their base infantry will be updated, like the Liberators:
Left the old model, middle the newly announced update, right a more recent model that the update is modelled after.
Next up are the Skaven. The skaven infamously have models dating back to the 90s, with a fair number of them having never been updated to plastic. For now they lose most of their weapon teams, several characters including the now generic character that once was Ikit Claw (playable in Total Warhammer) and two of their basic infantry units. Only the Clanrats are still on sale, but they're Last Chance to Buy with no new models in sight. So if you like Skaven now a shit time to play. They will be the main antagonst of 4e Age of Sigmar, like how Chaos was in 1e, Nagash in 2e and the armies of Destruction in 3e, so they'll likely get their time to shine.
But it gets worse. The Bonesplittez Orks used to be one of the three types of Orks you could field in Age of Sigmar alongside the heavily armored 'Ardboyz and the sneaky Kruleboyz (one is brutally kunnin', the other kunninly brutal). The Bonesplitterz were the savaage orks, running around in loincloths with carved stone weapons. All of these models, including the generic hero that once was Wurrzag (also playable in Total Warhammer), have gotten the boot.
Next there is Warcry. This is a skirmish game where a large variety of Chaos warbands duke it out to gain the favor of the Everchosen. Some of these warbands were really out there, forming a mix of new stuff and things based on older material (like human worshippers of Hashut, the Chaos Dwarf god). Because these clash with the visual theme of the normal Chaos army, and since the Marauders have gotten an upgrade and a namechange that GW can copyright, almost a dozen of them get the boot as well.
Other assorted models here include Valkia the Bloody (who infamously got the shit kicked out of her in her own Total Warhammer trailer) and Drycha of the more tree-aligned part of the Wood Elves (also in Total Warhammer).
Now, all of these will be booted to Legends, meaning that Games Workshop will be making rules for them, but they won't be in the main game and won't be tournament legal. They just get rules so that they remain playable. But there's one army that got shafted even harder, no lube.
The Beastmen, the red-haired stepchild of Chaos and the underdog since as long as I can remember (and I remember the times of 6e, aka 20 years ago), are going to be removed from Age of Sigmar entirely. Yes, their entire miniature line gets the boot. And where do they get booted to? Warhammer: The Old World. Yes, the Fantasy remake is getting the Beastmen because the main game doesn't want them. An entire fucking faction is getting Squatted, something we haven't seen since... well, the launch of Age of Sigmar. Sure there's a few armies that keep their own brands: the Slaanesh army keep their rape goats and the Tzaangors remain in both Age of Sigmar and 40k (much to the chagrin of Thousand Sons fans), but as of everything else in the Beastmen line, including miniatures that have been around since the Beastmen first got their own army book (6th edition) will now be axed in its entire in one fell swoop.
Now obviously, the Age of Sigmar fanbase is NOT amused. The most vocal ones are the Stormcast fans who just had their entire army list invalidated and not being able to field them in normal games. This isn't the WAAC crowd for whom buying a new army every year because that one is now the best is part and parcel: these are people who like an army of armored up lightning wizards zapping their enemies. Or Beastmen fans who have gotten so used to being shat on for two decades who have now been shown the door. It is unknown if the Savage Orks will make their return in The Old World, and we don't know which parts of the Skaven line makes its return. Sure I understand that GW cannot indefinitely maintain every single model kit they sell, but in case of the Warcry stuff some of these boxes aren't even two years old.
So that's what's going on in Age of Sigmar right now. I'll see if I can keep the salt flowing.
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2024/04/04/whats-leaving-the-warhammer-age-of-sigmar-range/
To trim down the fat on the miniature lines Games Workshop decided to removes quite a few miniatures from their lines. While a few of them will be updated, a significant chunk won't be back. This includes some two dozen units and characters from the Stormcast Eternals line, with the more magically inclined of the bunch being removed permanently. Some of their base infantry will be updated, like the Liberators:
Left the old model, middle the newly announced update, right a more recent model that the update is modelled after.
Next up are the Skaven. The skaven infamously have models dating back to the 90s, with a fair number of them having never been updated to plastic. For now they lose most of their weapon teams, several characters including the now generic character that once was Ikit Claw (playable in Total Warhammer) and two of their basic infantry units. Only the Clanrats are still on sale, but they're Last Chance to Buy with no new models in sight. So if you like Skaven now a shit time to play. They will be the main antagonst of 4e Age of Sigmar, like how Chaos was in 1e, Nagash in 2e and the armies of Destruction in 3e, so they'll likely get their time to shine.
But it gets worse. The Bonesplittez Orks used to be one of the three types of Orks you could field in Age of Sigmar alongside the heavily armored 'Ardboyz and the sneaky Kruleboyz (one is brutally kunnin', the other kunninly brutal). The Bonesplitterz were the savaage orks, running around in loincloths with carved stone weapons. All of these models, including the generic hero that once was Wurrzag (also playable in Total Warhammer), have gotten the boot.
Next there is Warcry. This is a skirmish game where a large variety of Chaos warbands duke it out to gain the favor of the Everchosen. Some of these warbands were really out there, forming a mix of new stuff and things based on older material (like human worshippers of Hashut, the Chaos Dwarf god). Because these clash with the visual theme of the normal Chaos army, and since the Marauders have gotten an upgrade and a namechange that GW can copyright, almost a dozen of them get the boot as well.
Other assorted models here include Valkia the Bloody (who infamously got the shit kicked out of her in her own Total Warhammer trailer) and Drycha of the more tree-aligned part of the Wood Elves (also in Total Warhammer).
Now, all of these will be booted to Legends, meaning that Games Workshop will be making rules for them, but they won't be in the main game and won't be tournament legal. They just get rules so that they remain playable. But there's one army that got shafted even harder, no lube.
The Beastmen, the red-haired stepchild of Chaos and the underdog since as long as I can remember (and I remember the times of 6e, aka 20 years ago), are going to be removed from Age of Sigmar entirely. Yes, their entire miniature line gets the boot. And where do they get booted to? Warhammer: The Old World. Yes, the Fantasy remake is getting the Beastmen because the main game doesn't want them. An entire fucking faction is getting Squatted, something we haven't seen since... well, the launch of Age of Sigmar. Sure there's a few armies that keep their own brands: the Slaanesh army keep their rape goats and the Tzaangors remain in both Age of Sigmar and 40k (much to the chagrin of Thousand Sons fans), but as of everything else in the Beastmen line, including miniatures that have been around since the Beastmen first got their own army book (6th edition) will now be axed in its entire in one fell swoop.
Now obviously, the Age of Sigmar fanbase is NOT amused. The most vocal ones are the Stormcast fans who just had their entire army list invalidated and not being able to field them in normal games. This isn't the WAAC crowd for whom buying a new army every year because that one is now the best is part and parcel: these are people who like an army of armored up lightning wizards zapping their enemies. Or Beastmen fans who have gotten so used to being shat on for two decades who have now been shown the door. It is unknown if the Savage Orks will make their return in The Old World, and we don't know which parts of the Skaven line makes its return. Sure I understand that GW cannot indefinitely maintain every single model kit they sell, but in case of the Warcry stuff some of these boxes aren't even two years old.
So that's what's going on in Age of Sigmar right now. I'll see if I can keep the salt flowing.
