Chaos (Sterbliche) Gerüchte

Next big thing for fantasy is the hordes of Chaos re-release - according to my manager, that's happening in November.

Where the previous Hordes book focused on all manner of chaotic entities from the entire realm of chaos and the chaos wastes, this one will be more themed towards the "armies of the north", as my boss put it. First of all, miniatures will include new metal lords (foot and mounted) which are apparently so detailed as to be mistaken for special characters - incidentally, there will be at least one new special character to add to Archaon and Galrauch, the model for which is apparently drool-inducing. Plastic knights are confirmed, possibly with chosen mutation upgrades and marks included in the kit.

New units for the book include the chaos giant and hellcannon, as seen in the temporary "get-you-by" army list, most likely with some clarified rules for the Hellcannon. Also making an appearance will be a unit called "forsaken" - according to Phil Kelly, in a conversation with my boss, the book will follow both the upward and downward paths of chaos - so, as well as the usual marauder > warrior > chosen > aspiring champ > exalted > Lord > daemon path to glory, there is also a path to spawndom that includes the forsaken; regular folk who sprout mutations and are accidentally damned by the gods with their over generous "gifts". I think these guys are gonna be the mutant marauders that were mentioned or guessed upon some time before. I think its a nice addition, as it means you get crazy bonkers mutant hordes supported by spawn and beasts, as well as the disciplined serried ranks of warriors and champions.

Another addition that the boss seemed very keen on was a sort of "blessing of the gods" table for champions/lords - as they fight challenges with enemy characters, the gods bless them from on high, mid-battle. I don't know how its supposed to work or what exactly you get from it, but it seems that getting your chaos characters into serious bust-ups will be rewarded on the spot, increasing their power and ****-kicking abilities. This ties into the idea that the entire book will be geared towards very offensive armies, that require very agressive playing styles.

Not much word on marks, but I think they are (fluffwise at least) becoming a bit more generalised. The idea is that in the north of the old world, life is tough, so everyday the peoples there pray and submit to the four gods for mere survival - on the eve of battle, they pray to khorne for strength, in a season of plague or famine, they pray to nurgle for relief, at parties they pray to slaanesh, etc, with certain tribes having a certain favourite that they worship above others. I wasn't told how this was to work in game terms, but the fluff seems a bit more realistic. The one thing I did hear was that the Mark of Undivided is going, but its effects are staying - again, life is hard for all northmen, so they are hardy and brave beyond reason, so most units in the army get to reroll break tests as standard.

This is what I've heard from the black shirts above me from their preview of it at HQ, so don't kill me if I've misunderstood something or been told wrong.

-one of the special characters is a shaggoth ('The Lightning God' or something similar) <---just a tad out of left field, but ive had several people say its accurate
-the Slaneeshi special characters sculpt looks remarkably like Sanguinius, minus wings, and has a 'chiseled abs' breastplate, but no pants (only a loincloth). He also suffers from stupidity as he occasionally looks at his 'beautiful reflection' in his polished shield. very Slaneeshi IMO
-Archaon is apparently better and cheaper than he is now.

One of the developers (I think it was in an interview for the Chambers of the Everchosen) basically admitted the White Dwarf List was a phone-in job, and shouldn't be indicative of the next list.

Rumoured list so far:

Special Rules:
'Mark of Chaos Undivided' no longer exists. Instead, it is an army-wide Special Rule justified by the fact that Norsemen are Just That Hard.
The other marks have also been changed. How is not specified, although I for one pray to Tzeentch not to 'bless' each of my Warriors with a Talisman of Protection.
The marks are, as in Daemon armies, designed to work together, although this is somewhat less integral (in this army the marks, if any, decide a bonus, not the whole statline). Norsemen tribes only rarely fully dedicate themselves to a single god, treating the Chaos Gods as a proper pantheon for the most part.

Lord of Chaos
Sorcerer Lord
Daemon Prince

Exalted Champion
Aspiring Champion
Chaos Sorcerer
?Rumoured New Character?: (a greater variety of characters was talked about in the Chamber of the Everchosen)

Warriors of Chaos: Points drop, new marks
Chosen Warriors: Seperate entry, new marks. Points drop? New models?
Marauders: Points drop.
Marauder Horsemen: New plastic models, points drop.
Chaos Cultists: Human stats, Ld6, 2 Handweapons, no armour. May be 'Marked' in a similar manner to Spawn. (eg. different effects)
Warhounds of Chaos: New, plastic models.

Chaos Chariot: Points drop, new Marks. New plastic model.
Knights of Chaos
Chosen Knights: Now a seperate unit choice. 'Stats to rape a Blood Knight'. May ride Daemonic Steeds.
Forsaken Warriors: Infantry unit - halfway between Chaos Spawn and Chaos Warrior.
'Chaos Brutes': As-yet unnamed Ogre unit - may be upgraded to Troll-kin, Ogre-kin or Were-kin. If Dragon Ogres are not in the list, there might also be a Drake-kin option.

Chaos Spawn: As now, 'Marks' altered.
Hellcannon: As now, no Daemonic Gifts, possibly only takes one Rare choice.
Chaos Giant: As now.
Dragon Ogres: May appear in the list as either a Rare choice or an option for being Drake-kin. Main evidence for this is the 'Lightning God' Special Character (see below).

Special Characters:
Archaon and Galrauch return.
A new Slaaneshi character with the visuals of an angel, who has Stupidity due to occasionally becoming enraptured with his own reflection in a mirror-shield.
A new Shaggoth character known as 'The Lightning God'.
Archaon may, in the same manner as Mannfred from the Vampire Counts book, be taken from different eras.

Other Rumoured Special Character set-up:
Archaon the Destined - Archaon in the middle of his rise to power
Archaon the Everchosen - As in the current book, with the new rules for Marks incorporated
Archaon the Once-Vanquished - Archaon after his defeat in the Storm of Chaos?
Crom the Conqueror - Undivided Lord that gives bonuses to Marauders
Arbaal the Undefeated - Juggernaut mounted Khorne Lord with special greatweapon
Valnir the Reaper - Nurgle Lord with special Flail. VERY hard to kill
Dechala the Denied - Slaanesh Hero with special dances
Aekold the Lifebringer - Tzeentch Hero that gives Regeneration

The rumors Ive heard list all the current buys (in the WD list) with the following additions/changes.

1. Chosen will be a seperate Choice
2. Missile troops
3. New unit that is lower then Mauraders - This works as Mauraders are the start to the chaos path. Then you either go up to Warrior Or down to this new unit type. Then you either go up to chosen or down to spawn.
(I kinda like that)

Also this was posted over on warseer by Garanaul the black

"Next big thing for fantasy is the hordes of Chaos re-release - according to my manager, that's happening in November.

Where the previous Hordes book focused on all manner of chaotic entities from the entire realm of chaos and the chaos wastes, this one will be more themed towards the "armies of the north", as my boss put it. First of all, miniatures will include new metal lords (foot and mounted) which are apparently so detailed as to be mistaken for special characters - incidentally, there will be at least one new special character to add to Archaon and Galrauch, the model for which is apparently drool-inducing. Plastic knights are confirmed, possibly with chosen mutation upgrades and marks included in the kit.

New units for the book include the chaos giant and hellcannon, as seen in the temporary "get-you-by" army list, most likely with some clarified rules for the Hellcannon. Also making an appearance will be a unit called "forsaken" - according to Phil Kelly, in a conversation with my boss, the book will follow both the upward and downward paths of chaos - so, as well as the usual marauder > warrior > chosen > aspiring champ > exalted > Lord > daemon path to glory, there is also a path to spawndom that includes the forsaken; regular folk who sprout mutations and are accidentally damned by the gods with their over generous "gifts". I think these guys are gonna be the mutant marauders that were mentioned or guessed upon some time before. I think its a nice addition, as it means you get crazy bonkers mutant hordes supported by spawn and beasts, as well as the disciplined serried ranks of warriors and champions.

Another addition that the boss seemed very keen on was a sort of "blessing of the gods" table for champions/lords - as they fight challenges with enemy characters, the gods bless them from on high, mid-battle. I don't know how its supposed to work or what exactly you get from it, but it seems that getting your chaos characters into serious bust-ups will be rewarded on the spot, increasing their power and ****-kicking abilities. This ties into the idea that the entire book will be geared towards very offensive armies, that require very agressive playing styles.

Not much word on marks, but I think they are (fluffwise at least) becoming a bit more generalised. The idea is that in the north of the old world, life is tough, so everyday the peoples there pray and submit to the four gods for mere survival - on the eve of battle, they pray to khorne for strength, in a season of plague or famine, they pray to nurgle for relief, at parties they pray to slaanesh, etc, with certain tribes having a certain favourite that they worship above others. I wasn't told how this was to work in game terms, but the Fluff seems a bit more realistic. The one thing I did hear was that the Mark of Undivided is going, but its effects are staying - again, life is hard for all northmen, so they are hardy and brave beyond reason, so most units in the army get to reroll break tests as standard.

This is what I've heard from the black shirts above me from their preview of it at HQ, so don't kill me if I've misunderstood something or been told wrong. "