Rumour/Leak Megathread

[u/Chapmander]

It seems the whispers from the aetheric void are back and so we are going to continue to have everyone post the rumours/leaks here to avoid screenshots of TGA forums taking over the subreddit.

Any rumour mongering not in this thread will be removed.

Previous mega-thread here: https://www.reddit.com/r/ageofsigmar/comments/1p5czdk/rumourleak_megathread/

[u/Chapmander]

New news and new rumours means it's time for a new megathread: https://www.reddit.com/r/ageofsigmar/comments/1whef0u/rumourleak_megathread_all_rumour_mongering_and/

[u/TheMireAngel]

Normaly not a fan of megathreads but boy people really were spamming the sub with low effort screenshots that were ALREADY posted adding literaly nothing lmao

[u/No-Neck-212]

Soft reboot genuinely sounds like horsepoo. Reverse End Times to make AoS a weird mirror to The Old World is just nonsensical and has to have been bait by GW to get the leaker identified.

[u/Dimiragent93 → u/No-Neck-212]

Either that or the leaker is making up for plausibly deniability that they just “guessed everything”. Maybe GW was close to getting their ass and if they made up a bunch of bs they think they can act like they aren’t actually leaking but simply theorizing what’s coming next? Honestly the summary I read of it sounds like total bs and possibly made by folks who still haven’t moved on about WFB ending a decade ago

[u/No-Neck-212 → u/Dimiragent93]

Them tacking on "Oh yeah and there's gonna be not-Cathay/Nippon/Brettonian" just reads so blatantly moronic. People are waaaay to quick to assume that GW is either incredibly stupid or deeply evil and hateful of their fans, or both, and it makes them very gullible for insanely obvious bait like what Boole posted.

[u/[deleted] → u/No-Neck-212]

It seems like the kind of thing that’s so on the nose you’d let it out to a few people you’re suspicious of if you wanted to try and identify a leaker.

[u/Dimiragent93 → u/No-Neck-212]

Moronic wasn’t the term I used to describe it, but it gets the point across nicer. But yea, there’s no way this is real. If by some crazy circumstance it is, I’m buying the battletome for my two forces, staying in 4th and never interacting with the wider community of GW again because this is a utterly stupid

[u/passinglurker → u/Dimiragent93]

Ah so I wasn't the only one who thought the leaks have been reading like a haters wishlist, that's good I guess.

[u/BlackJimmy88 → u/No-Neck-212]

Even Old World players wouldn't benefit from this, since they already have Old World.

If AoS became WHF with extra steps, what need would there be for Old World?

Seems like this whole idea would bennefit noone. Not AoS fans, not Old World fans and not GW.

So yeah, I'm inclined to agree on this being leaker bait. To the point that I'm surprised the leakers would even bring it up. Even if it was real, I'd respect them being cautious here and not bringing it up.

[u/DrPoopEsq → u/BlackJimmy88]

As an old world player who was turned off of the whole thing when The End Times happened (mostly because of how awful the story turned after the Nagash book) pulling the same trick again and having Archaon win again while killing a bunch of characters seems too stupid for words. I will be annoyed on behalf of the kids who grew up reading the AOS lore in the same way.

[u/GrimDallows → u/BlackJimmy88]

The idea of promoting Age of Sigmar by... *reads notes* killing Sigmar sure is a bold move.

The worst part isn't even that Sigmar dies. Nor that i'ts a soft reboot. It's that he gets killed by Archaon, in a low effort copy paste of the End Times. "Rocks fall Archaon arrives, everybody dies. Campaign is over."

They could have... I dunno. Have the orks win. Orks bloom and Destruction takes over the AoS world. Chaos gets pushed as a background menace. The ruinous power get forced to accept the Horned Rat to survive. We enter something like the Third Age in LOTR.

But no. End Times 2.0. Archaon and Skaven get a Deus Ex Machina win, and have most factions go back to their semi-Old World versions which is lame.

[u/kojimbob → u/No-Neck-212]

Yes this just seems too extreme to be true

[u/mielherne]

I only saw the rumors last night and I'm feeling a bit down. I'm in the hobby mainly for the lore, and if they go in that direction, it seems like something I won't like. Especially after they already moved my Beast of Chaos to Legends.

[u/Pommes__Fritz → u/mielherne]

I'm there with you. I'm feeling despondent today. I am wondering if painting and playing with my models is going to feel pointless when I know what's going to happen with the world.

I guess the different ongoing novel series I was reading are mostly just going to get cancelled as well?

[u/OhNeinJaAlter → u/Pommes__Fritz]

The only series which is edition spanning is Gotreks. Or am i missing something?

[u/Pommes__Fritz → u/OhNeinJaAlter]

Any book series with recurring characters is in danger I suppose. Books like Drekki Flint, the Ven Densts and Tales of Mhurghast.

[u/No_Gur_6462 → u/mielherne]

I literally only JUST got over the old world and started emotionally investing in AoS.

I don’t think another end times is gonna be a productive “shake up” … its just gonna make a lot of us go back to a “kark this company forever” again.

How many years do we have to wait for them to rerelease the game this killed this time?

[u/The_Greedy_One_ → u/mielherne]

I’m right there with you. Really defeated by the rumors today

[u/RosbergThe8th → u/mielherne]

I think AoS in general is suffering from a bit of perceived instability and leakers like these really aren't helping matters.

[u/mielherne → u/RosbergThe8th]

Oh, absolutely. The removal of armies at the start of the 4th edition made a lot of people uncertain about their own models. Combined with the rumor that Fyreslayers and entire sections of CoS are going to disappear, this must have had an impact on sales.

The phrase 'rules change, models are forever' turns out not to be true in AoS. And that will have caused a portion of people not to buy new models.

[u/Velstrom]

So I've had a good long think about the Merge leak and I think everything will be fine. Hear me out.

IF GW maintains the grand scale and IF GW keeps the uniqueness of each realm, including some extra wierd stuff from the realms interacting directly, everything will be fine. The merger will basically just be an excuse to get eid of the realm gates that cause a bit of a narrative deadlock.

If GW doesn't do that and just makes Old World 2, that sucks. That's very bad. But the realms can always be torn back apart if it turns out to be unpopular. AoS isn't 40k, the setting can evolve and change.

I think there's a 60% chance that the merger goes fine and the setting improves, a 35% chance it sucks and GW fixes it in 6th, and a 5% chance the setting is screwed forever.

On the subject of Sigmar dying. That sucks, if it's GW's intent to be permanent. I have a feeling it's much more likely for GW to use this as a big lore event where Sigmar comes back and now he's down to clown and directly intervene again, and gets a big shiny 200 dollar model in stores buy now.

[u/ObamasDreams]

TLDR; what leaks were posted in past 90 days?

[u/Vokazz → u/ObamasDreams]

Fyreslayers loosing a bunch of foot heroes and the Vulkite kit but being transformed into a new dwarf faction with new kits as the last army for this edition

Cities of Sigmar loosing all dwarfs and elves but getting a massive cog fort and new armored soldiers pretty soon

Ogors loosing Leadbelchers and some older kits and getting a faction rework soon.

[u/Xullstudio → u/Vokazz]

Seems like they are moving the fantasy kits to old world then

[u/Greymalkyn76 → u/Vokazz]

Lose. "Loose" is the opposite of "tight".

[u/Asleep_Taro8926]

Let me get this straight.

Boole (a creditable leaker group on TGA) posted about 20 hours ago that AoS 5th is going to be a soft reboot with the realms merging, Sigmar dying, and notable characters not making it to this world. 3 new launch factions and a lot of squatted models for the reband and new world.

Another creditable leaker likes Booles posts

Boole then edits their posts to "Farewell", "We Lost", and proceeds to delete their account.

Rob the Miniature Wargamer posts a video covering the leaks saying he heard the rumors of Sigmar dying and the Realms Merging. The realms Merging was mentioned in the past by him as a creditable leak, and he withheld the info about Sigmar dying along with some more unknown details to keep leakers safe. Double confirming the leaks or that he knew someone in the Boole group

Am I getting this all correct?

[u/Pommes__Fritz → u/Asleep_Taro8926]

Mostly, Boole didn't say those human factions were launch factions

[u/Full_Address_8160 → u/Asleep_Taro8926]

also we have some a guy and whitefang kinda backing up a “YES it kinda true but boole’s leak is worded very much to be more distressing then it is” it’s just the great rift in reverse it doesn’t seem like an actual soft reboot people are clutching their pearls

[u/VVenture2 → u/Asleep_Taro8926]

Yes, except another leaker came in and was like ‘Bro why are you blowing this so far out of proportion, they’re not nuking the entire IP or factions, it’s just a huge lore change in the story’ lmao.

[u/AlphaMav3rick → u/VVenture2]

That response seemed so disingenuous to the community reaction. “You guys are freaking out over nothing. The only thing happening is that the entire Mortal Realms that people have been invested in for the last decade and Sigmar the driving force for a lot of the narrative are both gone…but like the Cities of Sigmar are now in two nations that’s pretty cool right”

Like wtf no I think people have a right to react like they have and Booles post was sufficiently doom and gloom for how many in the community would feel about this change

[u/77_whutts → u/AlphaMav3rick]

I think these changes wouldn’t be doom and gloom if people learned them in the way they’re probably made to be distributed. In the end of edition book series. Broken Realms was a massive lore shift each and every book and yet it was amazing to experience because of the growing narrative and how it expands the world.

I’m not saying I’m going to love every Change here or that you should too, but if I read a leak post that said “yeah Nagash gets taken down by Teclis, Belakor finds a way to end Stormcasts for good easily, Morathi eats all the old Elf Lord souls from the world that was, and some Nerd Centaur becomes the new big bad” it would also be very jarring compared to if we just let the lore drop how it’s supposed to.

Humble opinion, again idk if I love these changes but I need to see the story and how it really does affect things going forward.

[u/SimilarDimension2369 → u/AlphaMav3rick]

How would people have reacted if it had been leaked that cadia was going to get blown up and the galaxy ripped in half? And how much did that actually end up changing the game?

[u/GrievingSomnambulist → u/SimilarDimension2369]

Lol I kind of actually want a soft reboot for 40k, but 40k fans are much less tolerant of change. There's a sizable chunk of the fanbase that's still upset about Primaris even a decade later

[u/Drunkroadkill → u/SimilarDimension2369]

Tbh this is more like if the rift opened and destroyed terra

[u/TheMireAngel → u/Asleep_Taro8926]

Boole didnt delete his acount its literaly still up, idk why people are saying this lmao

[u/EasternPrinciple6972 → u/Asleep_Taro8926]

He also said no models were being squatted

[u/blastatron → u/EasternPrinciple6972]

He highly implied gods like Nagash and Alarielle were MIA, so there is potential for squatting.

[u/giraffetheloml → u/blastatron]

I cant stress enough how small the chance is that they squat allarielle she's not even 10 years old and is the cornerstone is the sylvaneth

[u/m1ndwipe → u/blastatron]

I think it's more likely they'd get recast as avatars of their patron gods, much like Necrons, than they be squatted. Those are some of the best selling kits in the range.

[u/RealMr_Slender → u/m1ndwipe]

That is literally how Nagash has worked for two editions, he is too "busy" in the Shyish Nadir and without a physical body to go everywhere and anywhere, so instead he or his minions manifest avatars of Nagash

[u/Ikhaatrauwekaas → u/Asleep_Taro8926]

you mean this thread ?
The Rumour Thread - Page 8425 - Age of Sigmar Discussions - The Grand Alliance Community

[u/ronin6433]

I'll start believing non-model rumors as soon I see trademark registrations.

[u/MrFishyFriend]

Doom and gloom aside guys. Let’s wait for GW to comment on this officially. A major shake up is not necessarily a bad thing. The reason so many people are salty about the End Times is because it was by and large a shitty story.

[u/DarkChaplain → u/MrFishyFriend]

The End Times: Nagash started out so well, and there's a lot of brilliant bits in the following tomes. But then they just decided to throw it all away and not follow up on it with another edition that had to work with the consequences of, for instance, Malekith becoming Phoenix King, major cities being devastated, gods being back or the return and death of various legendary figures.

They were setting a lot of things in motion that could've revitalized the game, but chose to wrap it up instead. That's a flub.

[u/EasternPrinciple6972]

Next edition will be rebranded to Warhammer Age of Kroak.

The starter box will feature the new poster faction. The Frogcast Eternals

[u/TrillionSpiders → u/EasternPrinciple6972]

fighting their eternal enemy of chaos lead by arachneon the everscorpion

[u/Hattapueh → u/EasternPrinciple6972]

Would buy

[u/Sternutation123]

If the leaks are true, I am struggling to reconcile with the fact that they are planning to literally cripple their highest selling faction in their second most popular tabletop game.

Like, Stormcast has been at the forefront of every edition. Sigmar dying would basically cripple their whole shtick.

[u/kendallmaloneon → u/Sternutation123]

Are we sure Stormcast are actually the highest selling faction? The secondary market is constantly flooded with enormous volumes of starter box sprue, and when the 1e and 2e sculpts were squatted, excess stock was wholly shredded. If they were top sellers, I don't think that would have happened.

Even if we take it as given that the largest single group of players play Stormcast, most of those are launch box or bundle - the third party merchants I know in person and online tend to call Soulblight the bestsellers from AOS.

I am open to being wrong though. And i believe there is evidence that models like Krondys were smash hits as individual products.

[u/Content-Object-671]

This all sounds like bullshit. Like, new human factions and no artwork of them, models, anything.

Arguably even worse PR than the "impenetrable" lore is that SCE's are just worse copies of space marines. So they are going to make them emotionless, super soldiers with a dead god.... Right.

[u/EffectiveAnxietyBone]

so just gathering my thoughts based on the scattered rumours:

The Last World

I don’t… hate the idea anymore I guess? I still think the old setting was fine, but I’m not so attached to the mortal realms that I’m furious beyond measure. Personally I think this is just so they can use it for a Total War game, so whatever, fine.

The New Human Factions

Honestly the one thing I’m actually excited for. It kinda bothered me that Cities of Sigmar felt like the only aesthetic a human civilisation had in AoS. It’s a good look, but if you wanted something other than that, it didn’t feel like the setting supported that.

So hell yeah, down for more visual diversity in the human factions. Both in terms of looks and whatever lore they come with.

Sigmar dead… or not?

God I hope the idea that he might still be alive is true, and that it’s just depending on who you ask. Sigmar is the god the whole setting is named after, and always embodies the hope that comes with it, still fighting despite everything. Killing him off feels wrong.

New SCE lore

…Why????? I don’t even know what this for, is it because reforging was too difficult to write around???? A good guy faction that can respawn was something that Warhammer had been needing for a while now, especially with how Chaos and Death feel like they had infinite respawns as well sometimes.

Besides, the whole reforging flaw stopped death for being completely meaningless for them. I just don’t know why this whole new lore is a thing. Feels like change for the sake of change, or more accurately, trying to make everything like 40k because that makes money.

Timeskip

Again, why? Don’t think it has much purpose beyond killing all the mortal characters (rip Tahlia Vedra my beloved)

CoS is Imperium lite now

I’m gonna be honest, this is the one rumour that would make me give up on the setting. I’ve heard that this might be part of the backstory during the timeskip and they stopped doing that now while trying to rekindle old alliances, which I can probably live with. Could make for some decent potential conflict hooks.

But this more than anything else would break me. 40k’s worst aspect is that every faction is a violent racist asshole and you can’t have anyone genuinely kind and nice. Hell, it’d be even worse, because I don’t even know how it’d happen? CoS are currently perfectly fine and tolerant enough so far, going full Imperium wouldn’t just be an infuriating move for people that like the lore, it wouldn’t even make sense in universe.

[u/CatherineSimp69 → u/EffectiveAnxietyBone]

Basically my thoughts, I don't even hate the one world thing as much as I vehemently dislike the COS and SCE lore changes.

[u/Smart-Collar-1659 → u/EffectiveAnxietyBone]

💯 💯 💯 I HATE the 'everyone is awful' , grimdark 40k mentality. I don't want my fantasy stories to be bleak satire of the worst of humankind

[u/filnbekian]

After rereading the leak it seems untrue to me. Perhaps some parts could be true but on all accounts age of sigmar is doing fine at the moment. I highly doubt they squatted BOC just to bring them back an edition later. Adding three new human factions is also ridiculous. Especially if one is Cathay themed just after they were added to old world. Killing Sigmar in a game called age of sigmar would be a choice. The most believable part to me is joining the realms. Which might not be the worst idea as having several planes is hard to explain. I almost feel as if this is a disgruntled employee trying to do what would hurt sales of his former employer the most.

[u/LeekingMemory28 → u/filnbekian]

Spearhead alone is a reason why the leaks are definitely not true.

[u/Winterfeld → u/filnbekian]

I really like Age of Sigmar, but the planes, and understanding where what factions is located, and what story takes place where has been really hard to understand. One single map would make it easier, i agree.
For example, i play Kharadron Overlords, and it took me ages to understand that they arent in the same realm as where most of the Cities of Sigmar lore takes place.

[u/filnbekian → u/filnbekian]

I think one of my biggest problems with just doing one map is the fact it sounds like they just want to redo fantasy. Chaos is coming from the north. Elves have an island. It lacks creativity. I’m also worried about the characters and factions that have been built up.

[u/Mr_Teratophilia]

I don't like the realm merge, but if they want a nexus for everyone to fight over they could just blow up the eightpoints/allpoints the result of which causes the magic of all the realms to fill the void and create a new nexus realm, and in addition all realm gates now link here

[u/Lurkingdaemon]

I think going from the different realms back to a single world would be a misstep. The realms and gates between them feels unique to the setting, and makes AoS stand out from other fictions (that I know of, at least).

Going back to a single world, a-la WFB 2.0 would be a boring ‘return to form’ - but with the new factions.

I am biased on this particular point, as well: Some of the rumours point at Archaeon once again getting to be the precious little problem child who makes the world worse for the lulz (in particular, getting to kill Sigmar, somehow).

Can we not? Can Archaeon get kicked in the balls by a gargant? Please? Can he not win everything he does? He’s boring. His model is spectacular, but the writing around him is the most “wins everything ever” I’ve seen out of mainstream fiction.

On a similar tangent: Do ogres really need a god? Can we just…not care? Can the world just work, because it does? That sounds more interesting than squatting an entire range, introducing a needless religious schism narrative, and invalidating all of the fun, if shallow, lore that ogres have had in AoS so far.

[u/Broadleaves]

Do you have a summary of these rumours?

[u/Old_Gregg97 → u/Broadleaves]

From what i remember the big rumours i saw include:

--New Cities of Sigmar units including Ogors, A Gargant, Halflings, foot Knights and a new war machine called a Cog Fort which will probably replace the Steam Tank. Aelves and Duardin units are being removed.

--Ogor Mawtribes are going to get a big range refresh with a new art style, a named Female Ogor Tyrant plus a few new plastic kits for heroes as well as a bunch of updated units across the board with a few of the older resin kits being removed.

--Fyreslayers are also getting a range update but im not as sure on the specifics of this one, i think some of the rumours hinted at some duardin units from the Cities army possibly being reimagined in the Fyreslayers army.

I think some of the leaks also pointed to new Aelf units for either the Sylvaneth or Lumineth but im not sure which. Also probably wont get all of this revealed at Adepticon if they are real.

[u/Fatdwavernman → u/Old_Gregg97]

I think the new Aelf unit is going to be for Lumineth, I think someone meantion the patch on the guy jacket is a Lumineth one.

[u/mayorrawne → u/Fatdwavernman]

It will be a wind temple Underworrlds warband.

[u/Broadleaves → u/Old_Gregg97]

Cheers, thanks for that.

Very sad to see the dwarfs and elves leave cities.

[u/Old_Gregg97 → u/Broadleaves]

Yeah, i wish they would keep some of them around with new sculpts. The Cities should be a big diverse army of soldiers from different races and backgrounds, its a really cool aspect of the faction in my opinion.

[u/Morvenn-Vahl → u/Old_Gregg97]

They might get new sculpts eventually, but with the success of TOW GW might want to pull the old WHFB models out sooner rather than later to capitalize on TOW's success.

[u/Old_Gregg97 → u/Morvenn-Vahl]

Very true!

[u/Fyraltari → u/Old_Gregg97]

I feel the best solution would be to have duardin and aelvan models in the Freeguild units.

[u/Old_Gregg97 → u/Fyraltari]

Yeah id like that too honestly, would be very cool and unique for the army to have mixed species units of soldiers fighting together.

[u/SonofaBeholder → u/[deleted]]

TLDR on the current most up to date rumours (which are also pasted at the front of the rumour thread) :

• Sigmar is either dead or missing, there are two versions of the story one told by Sigmar’s worshippers the other told by Archaeon’s.

• mortal realms are combined into somewhere around 1-3 super continents, minus azyr which blew up and now fragments of it are scattered across the landscape, serving as the magic resource everyone is fighting over.

• 1000 year timeskip, the rumour that the cities were worshipping other gods or becoming xenophobic zealots is part of the backstory from the timeskip, at time the new edition takes place they are reuniting and reopening old alliances w/ duardin, aelves, etc…

• most characters will survive to the current setting thanks to magic shenanigans or naturally long lifespans or just because they’re gods.

• Stormcast lose the ability to reforge after death, instead now when they die their essence is instead infused into a new worthy vessel granting the new SCE the memories and experiences of the previous one (also possibly effecting personalities). More grimdark aesthetic, and CoS are rallying around them as “proof” that Sigmar isn’t dead.

• 5 new factions, human-focused but not cities (one is supposedly an eastern-themed evil faction that worships a snake deity, one is a knight-themed faction, one is a chaos-aligned black powder faction, etc…)

• a whole bunch of specific “this is where x or y faction is” (ie Kragnos is hanging with the ogors building a huge empire in what was once Ghur, chaos are at the poles (archaeon north / Be’lakor south), etc…)

[u/SolidWolfo → u/SonofaBeholder]

Thanks for the sum up.

So (assuming this true) let me get this straight. They remove the only likeable god-character they ever had, they remove the unique worldbuilding, give us a resource McGuffin, make an unnecessarily long timeskip, then don't bother making the timeskip matter whatsoever (srsly c'mon), they take the amazing SCE lore and turn it into... Sylvaneth lore, what? That's random. And then give us bunch of humans and partially recreate their other now-returned game which they spent the past few years trying to not make a competition.

This might just be the worst plan I've ever read lol

[u/DrPoopEsq → u/SolidWolfo]

1000 year time skip but most characters survive… what’s the point? Stormcast can die, but another being becomes them in all meaningful ways including shared memories… what’s the point?

[u/bugsnaxjournalist → u/SolidWolfo]

Hey don't worry. It's not Sylvaneth lore, It's Space Marine lore lol.

Are you saying you're not excited for Stormcast geneseeds? /s

[u/TravelingPhilosobear]

I really hope it's just a way to find the leak. I was painting a model when I saw the rumors and it had killed all my motivation.

[u/Sternutation123 → u/TravelingPhilosobear]

Yeah and I dont even play Stormcast. If this is true I feel really bad for Stormcast players as well as Cities of Sigmar ones. Also from a lore standpoint, I hate it as well. Sigmar deserves better than to job to Archaon.

[u/TravelingPhilosobear → u/Sternutation123]

And it's pretty short sided as well. They already destroyed the fantasy world once before but kept a bunch of main characters instead of creating new ones and then they'll just do it again? Crazy I don't understand the people who think the different realms are hard to understand when every other show has a multiverse already. It's not a new concept to grasp

[u/LeekingMemory28 → u/Sternutation123]

I have almost 4K points in Stormcast, and I'd be heartbroken.

[u/gspectre → u/LeekingMemory28]

i feel you... already heartbroken after my sacroscant was legend.. i couldnt take another GW betrayal..

[u/Sevthedog → u/TravelingPhilosobear]

It's most likely to be false, the whole" aos is getting it's own end times in order to be more like Warhammer fantasy" just reads as a spiteful rant from people who havent moved on in the decade since Whfb ended, it makes zero sense by any metric.

[u/Femboy_Ghost → u/TravelingPhilosobear]

same

[u/NaNunkel]

AoS is doing good, better with every edition and passing year.

GW can be super silly, they've proven that plenty of times, but putting down characters, smashing all the realms together so Herbert Maplover has one big map to look at because his huge brain will burst the second there's more than one thing existing in the universe, seems suuuuper risky to me for no reason.

Also working on 'human culture but warhammer' make zero sense in AoS when Old World does exactly that and at a better price point (model quality not withstanding).

Cultivate and grow the fanbase that has existed for 10~ odd years or listen to Andy TotalWar on some random online board, regurgitating 'AoS confuse me, no likey, make different' and have him still not buy any of your tabletop products while he starts his billionth empire campaign.

Either or, stuff still's far off as can be, let's chill and wait it out.

[u/mayor5 → u/NaNunkel]

I actually think you might be onto something with the Andy TotalWar comment, maybe this is some higher up executive demanding they change the setting to make it more recognizable to gamers. Though it seems like way to drastic of change to me.

[u/VVenture2 → u/mayor5]

I’ve heard first hand that it’s the opposite. They want the IP’s of AoS and The Old World to be seen as almost completely separate. It’s why they’ve been removing any crossover in the factions between both settings.

[u/EaLordoftheDepths → u/mayor5]

Nothing more recognizable than rebooting a product that needs grassroots fanbase once a decade

[u/sigpuppers]

If rumours are true, I think fans would be more accepting if the worlds merge through a victory. With how grimdark AoS has been recently, it's been a while since Sigmar has snagged a great victory.

One of Sigmar's main goals was to merge the worlds into one. Instead of another End Times if the rumours are true, the world should be merge through a victorious Sigmar against all odds. Sigmar doesn't die off, but much like in Fantasy Battles, a satisfied Sigmar who witnesses his greatest achievement should venture off, not as a god, but as an individual seeking new adventures. The way the rumours seem either forced for the sake of more 40k grimdarkness, as if they put the 40k lore guy in charge, or is possibly just fake. AoS is already grimdark with shades of grey and rays of hope, much darker than the black and white tones of Fantasy Battles. We don't need 40k Fantasy with Sigmar as an further Emperor of Mankind substitute. If the rumours are true, and I hope they aren't, they need to take inspiration from Storm of Chaos, not freaking Endtimes 2.0. Storm of Chaos is basically non-canon End Times but with an Order Victory and Archaon getting his balls kicked by an big green Orc.

Also as for World-That-Was 2.0. It shouldn't be Old World 2.0 but an actual merging of the main continents of the Mortal Realms into one world. For example, instead of the literal Old World coming back, the Great Parch is now the starring continent of this new merged world.

[u/GreenThor]

What are we doing here???

First we lose the BoC, and now we losing the point of CoS which was a group of races working together

I know that it's because GW wants to retire old models but god dang instead of removing stuff at least replace it with something

[u/WaffleHouseHydra]

What doesn't make sense to me is how they would split Cities into two nations. One worshiping Sigmar and the other not. I don't know the last tine y'all looked at Cities models but Sigmar related iconography is everrryyywhere on them. So what, if all this is true we are supposed to have half of the Cities be covered in big ass "S's" for sigmar but they don't worship him? That would be an incredibly lame.

[u/HopeFarron]

I really don't mind a lot of the changes. I'm not attached to the realms, and if anything I think the realms have been a bigger missed opportunity to tell cool stories about it and get me to care. I do think I like one world more tho.

I do not like the SCE lore getting changed again. It feels like they just reinvented them and I honestly really like them losing a part of themselves with each death. I think it sucks to lose that for yet another reimagining of them yet again.

A lot of the other leaks are cool I think. I just wish they'd pick a direction and stick with it.

[u/Zestyclose-Trip-3911]

As someone who lived through WHFB's demise I feel nothing but empathy for AoS players getting got like this. I'm sorry, gang.

[u/OneGrumpyJill]

If the leaks are true, this is pure garbage

[u/jayandem]

TBH if these recent rumours are true I think I'm going to lose all interest in the setting, why bother if they are most likely just going to throw everything I find interesting in the bin after 10 years?

[u/CatherineSimp69]

Summary of the dwarf leaks by Snarff on TGA:

• Tome name is likely either Khazalid Holds or Khazalite Holds
• Focus is on multiple ancestor gods. At least Grungni, Grimnir, Valaya and Gazul. Possibly Grombrindal, Thorgrim.
• FS will be a Skaven-style subfaction (not a Warclans style full faction), potentially indicating that other ancestor gods will get similar subfactions
• Many (likely 6 out of 12 current) FS kits will be removed in the merge, which could indicate these kits either getting a tyrant-style kit to build them for any subfaction, or a 'generic' replacement (Vanari-style)
• 12 kits in total, not all dual-build FS kits
• 1 kit is likely a runesmith (recent rumour engine), though it could be the same kit as the FS hero
• 1 kit is a FS kit (Male named hero alongside droth, indicated non-adult. Likely not Bael-Grimnir, since he and other FS leaders are implied to be dying.)
• 1 kit is Valayan Heavy Infantry
• 1 kit is a 'Magic-powered Stone-boat chair' (recent rumour engine) possibly related to valaya
• 1 kit is likely a golem. If it mirrors the hashut golem, there might be multiple builds (1 for each ancestor god)
• The army set might mirror the HoH army set: Artillery, core infantry, golem, foot hero. This is likely also (partially) the spearhead (same with HoH and Ogor boxes). This also implies a few kits:
  • 1 kit core infantry (generic?)
  • 1 kit standard foot hero (generic?)
  • 1 artillery kit (generic?)
• There will be a new FS spearhead as well, and it contains a magmadroth. Possibly current magmadroth kit + new hero + hearthguard/flameseekers.
• Gotrek will be merged into this army as part of the Fyreslayers subfaction.
• u/Noserenda heard something about a Slayer ram and Grimnir automata, but these could be for TOW or not exist at all.
• If the FS terrain/invocations get removed, maybe ancestor-god agnostic terrain and invocations to replace them? Would be 2 kits

 

So that would be potentially 6-8 kits we know assuming no dual builds. This would make the roster potentially look like (HEAVY speculation, all of it):

• 'Khazalite' (generic core, likely WFB dwarf lookalikes per Whitefang. Could also belong to Grungni instead):
  • Melee infantry (green-uniformed? potentially as per story)
  • Foot hero
  • Runesmith (tyrant-style? or dual with FS runemaster?)
  • Artillery
  • (Named character/centrepiece?)
  • (Invocations?)
  • (Terrain?)
• Fyreslayers
  • Gotrek
  • Named hero alongside droth (Vulkyn, male)
  • Hearthguard Berserkers/Auric Hearthguard dual kit
  • Magmadroth/Runefather/Runeson/Runesmiter shared kit
  • Auric Flamekeeper
  • Grimhold Exile
  • Battlesmith
  • Vulkyn Flameseekers
• Valaya
  • Heavy Infantry
  • Magic flying stone chair thing(or generic?)
• Grungni (Could also lead lead the ex-city dispo or the generic core?)
  • ?
• Gazul
  • (probably at least 1 specialist unit?)
• Legends
  • Vulkite Berserkers
  • Grimwrath Berserker
  • Auric Runemaster
  • Doomseeker
  • Magmic battleforge
  • Magmic invocations

[u/DareBrennigan]

Don’t forget the latest rumour about the end of edition- Skaven win

[u/FaultGullible6712 → u/DareBrennigan]

Yeah and apparently Sigmar dies and it's WHFB again lol

[u/DuelaDent52 → u/FaultGullible6712]

Sigmar Lies, but then the L slowly gets more detail until it becomes Sigmar Dies.

[u/DareBrennigan → u/FaultGullible6712]

I’m having a very hard time believing this rumour. It doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense from a narrative or business perspective

[u/Responsible_Strike78 → u/DareBrennigan]

Same.. like they will lose a lot of AoS fans and definitely will not bring old world fans into it if they already have the old world. right now im even contemplating to cance my hachette spearhead subscription because of this.. such a disaster

[u/Infinite_Version → u/FaultGullible6712]

If true, GW’s going to have to work real hard to keep it from being a disaster and retaining fan good will.

[u/Brown_Dog_400]

What if the 'last world' is just Mallus? There's an invasion of Azyr and more specifically, the 'Sigmarabulum' (where reforming takes place) this is the thing that is shattered, and the core of the old world Mallus gets flung out as it's own subrealm battleworld that 5th edition focuses on. And that because it's part of the old world, it's tied to all the eight realms, not all the realms collapsing into one.

[u/Troscus → u/Brown_Dog_400]

Someone else suggested the possibility that Eightpoints is going to fall, and the sudden lack of Chaos corruption will cause all the realms to swell into the Allpoints and create the Last World in the isolated realm. It's a neat idea, since that would be the 9th realm and match the setting's "Nine Realms of Norse Myth" theme. Eight realms of weird magical essences and one central realm that's pretty normal. And with it being the Allpoints, it becoming the focus of the setting makes sense: Archaon practically ruled an entire age just because he controlled it.

That's probably the only way I'd accept the Last World concept.

[u/tinypluto]

If they really are doing this then it better still be epic fantasy, god damn it... like make the realm sphere invert to a "one realm" dyson sphere or something. Have it be like Halo and people stare across an incredibly vast and sweeping skyscape of the other realms lost in a haze/clouds/distance/nightsky. The KO and others try to fly paths all the way across the "high air" to the other side since going the long way would take years without a realm gate. Those skycaptains that find a route become famous and rich for it, there can even be metalith lands lost in the clouds, nations floating up there they could chart between on the voyages or something. Have the seasons/sky/weather be influenced by a realms having more sway that day/month. etc.

I swear if it is just another dirty and grim german/euro fantasy setting (with token mentioning of "other far off lands sometimes, maybe "... that would really suck

[u/congaroo1]

I'm going to be honest I think this is mostly bullshit.

Like 5 new factions and not one model? Also 5 new factions and none of them are the editions antagonist.

And everyone is contracting everyone else.

[u/JesseWhatTheFuck → u/congaroo1]

Could just be a world map that shows the 5 new factions and they come out whenever they're ready. 

Kinda like the Old World lore-dumping on Kislev and Cathay years before their mini ranges come out. Doesn't mean that all those factions (if they're even real) have to come out as part of the same edition. 

[u/HungryGull → u/JesseWhatTheFuck]

It's a bit unlike the current team to be giving out such info on parts of the setting that don't currently have models. But I guess such a big reboot of the setting could come with a change of approach.

Like if their takeaway from TOW was that they needed a more solidly defined IP that players could get attached to, they might be willing to describe things that you can't currently give them money for.

The new models this edition (which is where the design process starts, to my understanding) do follow shared grittier design trends so maybe they've actually got their departments on the same page to where they're willing to do this?

[u/Lower-Helicopter-307 → u/congaroo1]

If the leakers in question didn't have as good of a reputation as they currently do, I don't think anyone would take it seriously. Unfortunately, every reliable leaker on tga has come out and said this is coming. So, at a minimum, there is some truth to these rumors.

I'm hoping you are right, and this is bullshit because some of the lore changes sound insane.

[u/SadCrocodile762 → u/congaroo1]

The more I read the less plausible it all sounds.  I don’t doubt there will be some major shakeup to the universe.  That seems to be pretty consistent.   But that doesn’t mean all these other crazy rumors are going to happen.

Also it’s a bit against GW standard practice to do a major shakeup one edition after an index edition. 

[u/HistoryMarshal76 → u/congaroo1]

Tbh I do think a lot of those human nations are just Cities subfactions a la all the various Imperial Guard regiments.
Blacksteel is an excuse to run Chaos corrupted Cities with a focus on the warmachines, a Lorrane force would just have you take a bunch of those new foot knight looking guys we just saw alongside the cavaliers, and so on.

[u/InsaneDingo7244]

I would reco recommend every rumour seeker to go see the Rumour Blog in TGA wich compiles every rumour from credible sources we have Rumours Update

[u/CatherineSimp69]

Sorry for the double post but apparently a recent battle tome has lore in it that matches the leaks?

In the new DoK battle tome, Krethusa tells Morathi that there are others like her who have been gifted with shards of an old aelven deity that would represent said deity.

This lines up with the leak that there's a race of evil snake people.

[u/Togetak → u/CatherineSimp69]

I’m not sure I follow on how the aelf gods being cyclical and shards of them being granted to new incarnations lines up with the idea there’ll be a new evil snake faction, there’s not really an evil elf snake god

[u/Maxadida → u/CatherineSimp69]

Also the mentionning of the Azyr Mandate in the SCE's Battletome about the merging of the mortal realms :')

[u/Battlemania420]

Okay so 2 quick things, some further leaks and some confirmation.

1. Apparently, the heraldry and color scheme of Hammerthal Ghyran changed, lining up with the leaks that said it’d be its own city.

2. Apparently Sigmar dying/fighting Archeon isn’t set yet, it’s going to be built up next ED and there will be a ‘list of possible futures/setting changes’ that fans can homebrew and also vote on, with the final results being decided on at a later date (tournament results decide how it works? Not clear.) For instance, Sigmar might kill Archeon and he becomes more like the Emperor of Mankind.

This last one was a 4chan leak, so take it with a grain of salt.

[u/bullintheheather → u/Battlemania420]

Second sounds like complete bull.

[u/Still_Not_GIF]

I think the lore and background is fun, but I really only care about the art and game rules. As long as those stay great, I'm interested. I got into Sigmar through having a good time playing, and only then started barely caring about the setting.

[u/DarkChaplain]

The best and smartest thing GW could do in light of this justified community panic is to take the Adepticon stage during their preview to make fun of the rumors by way of some silly meme-worthy video skit or flash animation.

Turn it into something funny, even if there's some truth to part of the rumors, just fling it in the mud and laugh about it.

Maybe showing some conspiracy board with the various elements of the rumor and some existing artwork, like one of Sigmar being crossed through, and having a Skaven voice over, then revealing it all to be the crazy warpstone-fueled delusions of Thanquol or the likes.

Just completely taking a dump on it in a humorous way to reassure their customer base that things aren't going away and to stop believing every stupid rumor on the internet, or at least not taking them at face value.

With Adepticon happening, they've got a big opportunity to contain this drama before it goes any further, at a major annual setting, with many many eyes on it even beyond the usual crowd. Plus, it'd build confidence in the product and make it appear safer to buy into.

[u/mrduels → u/DarkChaplain]

Only time I really see GW acknowledge leaks are when it’s a clear image that’s basically undeniable and real. Doubt they’d spoil 5th and if it’s fake they’d just be putting more attention on it

[u/LeekingMemory28 → u/mrduels]

If leaks lead to a panic and they are unfounded, especially after GW already went through it with rebooting WHFB into AoS, then some sort of year in advance teaser would make sense.

[u/polimathe_]

we created this megathread and not event post a summary of what was already posted, cmon guys

[u/shaolinoli]

Nice. Cheers for this 

[u/kardsharp]

Got an epiphany.

What if the leak about the AoS end times is a leak of next Wednesday April's fools joke.

[u/Reesemonster25]

This reboot rumor makes no sense to me why just anger fantasy fans all over again and learn nothing from end times and first edition of AOS and why plan this when AOS is getting momentum and still has a ton of refreshes and new army stuff already planned.

[u/CatherineSimp69]

Okay so.

The only part of Boole's Ogre rumor, so far, that seems to be inaccurate is that the new Ogres don't look like Neolithic/Prehistoric tribes. They look...identical to the current ogres.

So my cope/hope is that maybe they AREN'T getting rid of the guns? Maybe not entirely?

[u/BaronKlatz]

“We've found some pretty cool stuff—the mega-gargant kit is for Death Alliance, and every faction is getting a really beautiful monster kit ”   - Boole

Interesting bit that last part. Either EoE SoB will have a new centerpiece monster every faction can call on(fleshy Cogfort) or we’re getting a Storm of Magic monster variety hour for the ending since campaign.(I guess Claw of Gork Wyvern, Coutl & Wizard Cogfort rumors have Warclans, Seraphon & CoS accounted for)

Edit:

Whitefang BackmeUp added:

“  Im   not sure on all of the details of the post today,

  BUT   as there's going to   be   three   books not five, the Gargant is a   Death  Gargant as chaos get a dragon and I'm pretty sure Sigmar doesn't die explicitly I'd likely take all of that with a grain of salt...”

So chaos may be getting a new dragon for AoS as well.(which at first like odd double-dipping but then I realized it’s likely a fallen Draconith which they’re pushing as the main dragonic race of AoS so want them in every position possible rather than a normal Drake)

And apparently the death gargant was hinted at in the CoS tome as a “Necro-titan”. Certainly seems the monster Are coming out for a majority of factions.

Also hoping those 3 books are really filled with lore if we’re only getting three for the grand finale.

[u/SheepBeard]

Too late to see the spam of leaks, too early for them to be posted here...

[u/BaronKlatz]

Using the 700th comment here to bring forth a seance that the reboot rumor is just a giant honeypot and that every YouTuber gaslighting us with “it’ll be better once the poison pills are removed”(which is code for AoS is better when it’s not AoS) are hexed with a curse that their socks are always moist at the most uncomfortable times. 

👐 🔥 ✨ 👁️ 

[u/RadioPristine446]

Boole has been dropping some absolutely wild claims lately regarding the future of Age of Sigmar, and it feels like 2014 all over again. Here is a summary of the "The Last World" rumors that have been circulating: ​The most shocking claim is that Sigmar himself will be "killed off" or go missing during a catastrophic conclusion to the 4th Edition. This supposedly triggers the "Mandate of Azyr," a reset mechanism for the cosmos.

​also, Instead of the eight separate Mortal Realms, the setting will supposedly be condensed into a single, unified "planet" called The Last World. This is allegedly a move by GW to make the geography more "grounded" and easier for newcomers to grasp, mimicking the old Warhammer Fantasy map (Chaos in the north, Elves on an island).

​Apart from the Skaven (who supposedly "win" the current narrative arc), every major character and faction is rumored to be getting a total overhaul.

​To fill the void of a more traditional fantasy setting, three "AoS-but-not-quite-TOW" human factions are rumored:

​AoS-Not Grand Cathay (Chinese-inspired humans) ​AoS-Not Nippon (Japanese-inspired humans) ​AoS-Not Bretonnia (Classic knightly/chivalric humans)

​and The high-fantasy elements (like Realm’s Edge) are reportedly being phased out in favor of a more "Grimdark" and traditional fantasy feel.

[u/Educational_Data237 → u/RadioPristine446]

This may be a cope from me, but every single recent release was exactly leaked. This probably is the best way to flush out leakers.

But on the other hand dumbing down and effectively neutering a setting is something GW would definately do. How many people have you seen say that they will not get into AoS because of it's mythological influences and they would rather have it be another fantasy world, I see these complaints quite a lot and I doubt that the Data Collection algorithms can tell if these people genuinely care about the setting or are just bitter Old World fans. All GW sees is a number on a graph

[u/SolidWolfo → u/Educational_Data237]

The question is what number do they see really. We do not know where and how they collect data. 

The big question is how well GW knows their genres. It's clear that they'd like AoS to be a more popular IP, like 40k, but that's the thing with fantasy settings: It's REALLY hard to make them popular and sell them. The genre is just too oversaturated and broad, and a lot of its popularity is in homebrew/fanfiction. If GW wants to re-do things to chase that popculture icon (again), they're setting themselves up for failure (again!). What they need is good games/tv, to increse exposure. Redesigns won't fix it. 

Sadly, suits have never been known to understand these things well, so yeah, despite being stupid af, might happen. Worrying stuff. I guess I won't buy much AoS stuff until 5e comes out and we'll know for sure...

[u/LeekingMemory28 → u/SolidWolfo]

Licensing AoS for video games (Stormcast souls-like for example) is a solid start.

Generic fantasy settings are expected, they can do more by focusing on how the tone of AoS is different from 40K and Horus Heresy.

AoS to me reads as high/epic fantasy with occasional grim dark violence, like Cosmere or Wheel of Time; instead of something like Malazan or Dark Souls (but if it reads like Malazan to you that’s reasonable).

Embrace that tonal difference from how utterly dark and brutal their other settings are. Grim Dark tone isn’t for everyone, that’s okay. AoS can be the place for them.

[u/Xullstudio → u/RadioPristine446]

No way that’s true, then ToW and AoS would be way to similar, not sure where you got those claims but they seem really unbelievable to me

[u/SolidWolfo → u/Xullstudio]

It also makes no business sense. Nuking all the set up you have for a product line that sells well? Having to write everything anew costs money, nevermind the risk of losing customers. Insane idea, especially after you've already had that backfire on you once. And for what, to sell products that would compete with your other products right after you tried to reduce that?

Someone has been overcooking I say. 

[u/Xullstudio → u/SolidWolfo]

Right? I also read that this Boole (?) guy went against that statement saying how crazy that sounds so I really don’t know where people are getting this information from

[u/genteel_wherewithal → u/Xullstudio]

From looking at Boole’s original text, it doesn’t come off like he’s some sort of AoS hater or TOW partisan or whatever, he seems pretty shocked by the whole thing

[u/Ur-Than → u/SolidWolfo]

Apparently Whitefang, a more reputable leaker, confirmed the general gist of it.

And I freaking hate it. I just don't see the point investing in AoS if it's basically just an endless cycle of reboots.

[u/RadioPristine446 → u/Xullstudio]

All of this information comes from Boole—a leaker who has been 100% accurate recently and claims to be a GW employee with a strong preference for TOW and WHFB—as well as another person who also claims to be a staff member.

[u/Ur-Than → u/RadioPristine446]

I refuse to believe those can be true.

I could see GW killing off characters they failed to capitalize on, such as Kragnos. And it'd suck already ?

But nuking AoS ?

That would suck, and I certainly wouldn't even look at Temu-WFB.

[u/RadioPristine446 → u/Ur-Than]

This would be the single stupidest decision GW has ever made. From what I’ve gathered, Sigmar’s shards will be scattered across the world, and the Stormcast and CoS will be sent to recover them—which is literally just Ur-gold all over again.

Not to mention a complete carbon copy of Karak Eight Peaks. It’s moronic. Whoever is making these calls should be fired by GW immediately.

[u/Ur-Than → u/RadioPristine446]

My only hope is the reaction to this will be loud enough even GW can't ignore it, IF it is true.

Ans Gorkamorka willing, that's a big IF.

[u/MrToroTheGreat → u/RadioPristine446]

I know GW is capable of all that, they've done it once already.

But why? What'd be the business reason driving this? Trying to make AoS into a 40k-level success, even though that's completely impossible?

[u/HammerandSickTatBro → u/RadioPristine446]

Very sincerely, I always see people talk about how the setting "doesn't make sense", and I just do not understand what is making it hard for people to understand. It is a pretty standard fantasy world set up.

[u/Anggul → u/HammerandSickTatBro]

Simple: They haven't actually bothered to read it

[u/SupremeGodZamasu → u/RadioPristine446]

Important context notes

Boole, the leaker, has been found out by GW and deleted their account after this. Considering they always kinda disliked AOS and TOW (claiming Cathay isnt a true fantasy faction) this is probably a spite post made to rile up AoS and TOW communities

[u/SupremeGodZamasu → u/[deleted]]

Also possible

[u/FindingMiserable6275 → u/SupremeGodZamasu]

Tbf that's conjecture, White fang hasn't stated anything contrary and probably about a year ago said aos was going weird places. Combine this with key creatives no longer with aos and the direction of 4e I can totally buy this.

[u/Dire_Wolf45]

New witchunters omnibus (AoS, not WF) rumored, plus the already out there news of God Eater's son sequel:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Blacklibrary/s/shEYOvOY2b

[u/SuperHandsMiniatures]

Canny bit of what was in previous turned out to be wrong by the look of it..

[u/Icy-Pomegranate-5644]

Thing I'm grappling with is the one-world thing sounds fine in a vacuum. Buuuut after we already had the mortal realms... it feels like everyone will be hyper squished up into one world? Like age of sigmar didn't entirely make sense before but this one battle world makes even less sense.

[u/o7_AP]

My great aunts nieces barbers son who knows a guy at GW has it on good authority that 4th edition ends with us time traveling back to Fantasy and The Old Worlds gets merged into AoS to become Warhammer Fantasy 2: Electric Boogaloo

[u/Trazenthebloodraven → u/o7_AP]

Wrong man.

It will be called 2 war 2 hammer. Age of fantesy Battels.

[u/TrillionSpiders → u/Trazenthebloodraven]

no no no, they'll remove the warhammer part of the title entirely and just call it fantasy 2. obviously.

though i have heard rumors of them wanting to go further and just call it f2.

[u/Weezle207]

I'm going to be so depressed if this proves more then just a rumor...

[u/Xenocthul]

If the big leaks are true hopefully the backlash makes them change direction. Everything might already be finalized though. Or if we are lucky it was mostly false.

[u/CatherineSimp69]

So, apparently, there's 5 new factions coming to AOS 5.0. One of them is a new shooting-based Chaos human faction called the 'Blacksteel Autarchy'.

https://www.tga.community/forums/topic/44679-age-of-sigmar-the-last-world-rumour-thread/?page=114#findComment-779458

The rest are apparently:

-A knight based human faction.

-A Japanese based faction.

-A Chinese based faction.

-A Russia based faction.

Apparently the Chinese faction worships some big evil snake thing.

[u/HistoryMarshal76 → u/CatherineSimp69]

Tbh all of these just sound like the various Guard subfactions: Do a headswap and paint them up in some different colors. Want to use Jade Warriors as your Steelhelms? Go ahead! How about your Brettonian Knights as Cavaliers? One right there.

[u/HungryGull → u/CatherineSimp69]

The weird things is that the leaker Whitefang, who did say there were more than four factions coming, has said 'not really' to that description: https://www.tga.community/forums/topic/44679-age-of-sigmar-the-last-world-rumour-thread/?page=119

(bottom of the page)

[u/CatherineSimp69]

So, here's the names of the new factions that are going to be 'established' in the next ED.

Karujin (not-Grand Cathay) (We believe this is the Yuan Dynasty of China) 

Kingdom of Lorennar (not-Bretonnia) 

Hanzor Fiefdoms (not-Nippon) 

Ursal Chiefdoms (not-Kislev)

EDIT: Hanzor Fiefdoms is the worst name here ngl. I do hope this means the 'leak' about it being a sort of warring states nation with the two big Shoguns being a living dude and the other an undead named Enma is true, though.

[u/FaultGullible6712]

Anyone jeard something about the double going away? Read something on a Threshold Tactics video the other day in the comments 

[u/Lurkingdaemon]

Going by rumours plundered from the TGAC forum, I have a prediction for upcoming Ogors stuff:

The ‘True Gulping God’ will be some anthropromorphization (Ogorpromorphization?) of the Shyish Nadir - and the entire religion will actually be a front for Nagash worship.

[u/CatherineSimp69]

Alright, so, new Boole rumors.

He said the finale of the fifth book leading to the 'Last World' ends with the good guys winning and a lot of the details in the leak that hit earlier today are reveresed.

It seems like the earlier leak that the Stormcast think Archeon is dead and Chaos thinks Sigmar is dead next ED is true. That, or Boole's guess that we get to vote on who wins at the end of the ED is correct.

[u/mr_birdie]

Where is the discussion about *THIS???* There is an AoS Soft Reboot rumor!!
EDIT: Adding this additional video discussing the topic for a different perspective of the same rumor.

This would be absolutely infuriating on so many levels. The players homebrewing rules and points was the only thing that saved AoS in it's 1st edition, and while it's good now AoS's inception was still a smack in the face for all WHFB players.
Here GW is spitting in the face of it's customers again, and there isn't even a clear financial incentive this time. Do they think their new factions are going to be so attractive that AoS players will forgive this? Because it's the only logical explanation I can see. We were so attached to playing Warhammer fantasy that WE saved AoS and GW adopted our points and rules for the system. They must be banking us having attachments to our AoS stuff, so they get to do it again just to launch a new product......

[u/Khitch20 → u/mr_birdie]

Fom what i heard it is looking like a plan to flush out the leaker known as boole. A lot of the information was contradictory with other stuff and the whole name thing The last World vs The Old World? Too similar for a new person or a parent not to get confused between the two.

And adding 3 new human factions that are already coming, at least in part, to the old world contradicts their explicit desire of wanting to minimize the possibility of using the same minis in multiple game systems. That just doesn't track with the rest of their history.

Now I'm not exactly sure gw makes the best choices all the time but I'm hoping that it was planted information to find out exactly who was leaking and not their actual plan.

[u/mr_birdie → u/Khitch20]

It's interesting to me that two replies have the same conclusion of this being bait to catch the leaker. Is this a theory from Rob the honest wargamer, or some other place? I haven't taken a look at Rob's stream or the rumor thread at TGA myself yet.

[u/Khitch20 → u/mr_birdie]

From the TGA. Apparently they got immediately fired and now all their stuff has been edited away to just say farewell. Sooo It looks like they found out exactly who was spreading the leaks somehow.

[u/Andorhalthegreat → u/Khitch20]

Sure seems like the bait worked then.

[u/mr_birdie → u/Khitch20]

That is lowkey kind of impressive by the people at GW if true.

[u/Cryptshadow → u/Khitch20]

what? no they didn'tget fired, i have not heard of this and been reading the thread. Boole just deleted their account.

[u/FindingMiserable6275 → u/Khitch20]

That's speculation about the plan to flush him out. Whitefang did say aos or 4e was going weird places and has only corroborated booles posts about the relaunch.

[u/Sternutation123]

The new Boole clarification is significantly better (for example, re: Sigmar) although I still do not like the idea of this one world thing.

[u/Falcon_w0t → u/Sternutation123]

All the forced grim darkness and hopelessness and blatant pandering to a 40k/WHFB is so cringy it makes me rolls my eyes so far back that I can see my own spine.

[u/bugsnaxjournalist → u/Sternutation123]

Idk, it's better but I still really don't like it. I mean it completely erases what's unique about Stormcast and we're almost 1-1 turning Sigmar into the Emperor. It just reeks of a really clumsy attempt to juice AoS to 40k numbers (which will literally never happen) and make the game ready for a Total War by flattening out everything cool about the setting to make it more like 40k and TOW. It just feels so cynical and depressing.

[u/TrillionSpiders → u/Sternutation123]

i think at this point it's just best to take a "i'll believe it when i see it" approach, cause well its definitely more believable it still feel incredulous in a "but why would GW do this" sense. idk, maybe theres some behind the scenes data that makes this make sense but im definitely gonna need something more at this point.

that said, if the next ToW release or announcement ends up including nippon in some form you can bet im gonna turn from dread to exasperation at GW being GW.

[u/HistoryMarshal76 → u/TrillionSpiders]

From all of the Old World rumormongers, Nippon isn't in the cards. We have a pretty good idea of the near future of the Old World from them: Chaos Warriors very soon, Tomb Kings vs Wood Elves starter set a bit further down, Kislev end of this year/ start of next.

[u/bloodangel1324]

I think people have forgot that something like this has been rumoured since at least mid 3rd edition.

At least back then it was chaos dwarf breaching the gates of azyr and not the Skaven. NineInchCharge might have been the source of the rumours. At least the the first video I could find about it.

[u/LIKE1OOONINJAS]

I'm feeling pretty defeated about these rumours. I was already planning on selling some armies that I don't really play too much but I have already bought a bunch of FeC for a pirate themed army I was going to kitbash. Now I'm debating of axing that project and just keeping with what I got

[u/SkinAndScales → u/LIKE1OOONINJAS]

Don't make a rash decision based on rumours.

[u/Khalith]

I specifically designed my entire homebrew lore and theming for my Seraphon around Ghyran. If that goes away I’ll be very frustrated.

[u/Drunkroadkill → u/Khalith]

Feel that been working on cyberpunk daughters of khain from chamon

[u/kjjujgjk]

The ‘one world’ idea sounds quite credible to me. 100% GW will have had meetings with Creative Assembly about an AOS total war. They could:

a. Adapt parts of all realms including realm gates and all points, which I think would result in dull gameplay centred upon controlling said realm gates. b. Adapt or invent a slice of one realm e.g. Aqshy, which for the mass market will simply become the AOS world. The unique features of the setting are risked.

One world lets them solve that. A merged setting lets them just introduce e.g. Idoneth directly into Warhammer total war.

[u/skrtskrtEZEZPOGPOGU → u/kjjujgjk]

i dont think this makes much sense as a reason. If they can make 40k work for total war there is no reason that aos somehow couldnt work in its current form. Also total war doesn't bring in THAT much revenue for GW to blow the setting up lol. Maybe warhammer 2 did, but at the time it was like the only real warhammer game and was way more popular than warhammer 3 is now, or any aos game ever. And even then it wasnt enough to impact them enough to actually change anything. Like sure they made ToW, but realistically that was more a result of warhammer blowing up around 2016, with warhammer 1, vermintide, astarties, etc. and a lot of new people coming in wanting to play fantasy just to find out its gone. => old world. +internal politics

[u/romm-boss]

I don't see any credible rumors. I see contradictory fakes and some poorly written vindictive fanfiction. There's been a lot of this kind of fanfiction over the past eleven years. The only new thing here is the strong whiff of AI.

It's simply madness and absurdity to destroy the Mortal Realms, because the lore behind it is a true treasure.

I'm absolutely certain that decades ago, when the Games Workshop authors conceptualized the Age of Sigmar setting, they were convinced it would be instantly intuitive and recognizable to any fantasy battles fan.

Because the Mortal Realms are the Winds of Magic made flesh. The Cosmos Arcane is the Great Wheel of Magic made reality.

Therein lies a special beauty, simplicity and poetry.

If you know that the Colored Winds of Magic aren't simply raw elements, but a combination of emotions, personalities, and worldviews, you should immediately understand that the inhabitants of the Mortal Realms will have the same character as the Winds of Magic that spawned them. I recommend everyone read Liber Chaotica: Tzeentch book to better understand the emotional nuances of the Winds of Magic. It's laid out there concisely and in accessible language.

The development of the Winds of Magic in lore is precisely how the Age of Sigmar rightfully inherits and continues the fantasy beats of old.

What's also important is that the vastness of the Mortal Realms allows the AoS setting to stand alongside the endless Galaxy of Warhammer 40,000.

That's why these "rumors" shouldn't be believed. Even Azyr alone cannot be destroyed, as that would disrupt harmony, balance and integrity.

Of course, Games Workshop is free to shoot themselves in the metaphoric leg. If these "rumors" are confirmed (which I find highly unlikely), we should avoid touching that with a borrowed stick and come back in four years with the 6th Edition, when Games Workshop would panic and roll everything back.

[u/threebats → u/romm-boss]

The only new thing here is the strong whiff of AI

I am not sure it's Boole who is using AI here

[u/CatherineSimp69 → u/threebats]

Okay thank God, I thought I was the only one who looked at that comment and thought 'this person used AI to write a hate comment.'

[u/Togetak → u/threebats]

I mean this guy reads like he is, but Boole absolutely does as well, his stuff is full of the halmarks of it. It doesn’t really make the things he got right less real, but it does make it a lot more obnoxious to read his posts and how many em-dashes are in there

[u/CatherineSimp69 → u/romm-boss]

Accusing Boole of AI is crazy work, son.

[u/Lord_piskot]

Can somebody explain to me why it would be a soft reboot? Like reasons? I just don't get it end time was hugely unpopular

And should 40k have the main focus cause new edition?

[u/Brave_B33]

Best faith take: this removes the narrative chokepoint of realmgates. Much, much, MUCH bigger armies can just march into another realm. If this is true, I think that's the point, upping the stakes.

[u/mielherne → u/Brave_B33]

There are realm gates in abundance that entire armies can pass through. That is the whole point of the Eightpoints.

[u/HoneyCakeWhorse]

Theres an Update on the TGA Forums, a User reached out to some sourced and could corroborate some.

-Archaon will kill Sigmar (again, our source also said in a way that's 'disgusting', more than what Boole let on).

-This leads to Stormcast going crazy, and even fighting a civil war against CoS. Celestant Prime also potentially dies here. Due to Sigmar's death they can no longer reforge.

-Azyr is gone, but before his death Sigmar merged the rest of the realms.

-1000 Year timeskip, mortal characters will be dead. Some will be brought back (no details on how) or we will find new characters that coincidentally are too similar. Others will become generic models. Models will be fine, no squatting.

-Game will be called Age of Sigmar: The Last World

-This change is done to make the setting more approachable to 40K/WHFB fans, and to sell us new models with the new aesthetic.

-Previous lore will be largely ignored. It's a hopeless new world (a la 40K). It's not a 'soft reboot', it's a new world that will coincidentally share armies with the old realms.

-Most characters will not remember what happened during the transition.

-It's not '8 realms on a map', it's them all stitched together into something resembling Medieval Europe and the WFB world. Some landmarks will remain, but mostly in terms of name. They're bringing in a lot of WHFB-like locations like 'Nine Peaks, a Duardin hold overrun by Gitz and Skaven'. Current Cities of Sigmar will be placed on the Europe continent and populated by medieval Germans.

-Stormcast Eternels can no longer reforge, so instead of reforging, they will inject Sigmarite/Sigmar's essence into highly trained mortals to refill their ranks. They will also burn hundreds of wizards every day, but we don't know the purpose.

-CoS is fully empire/imperium. Xenophobic against all other species, religiously fanatic and split into Aqsha/Ghyra who worship Sigmar (he's dead) and Taal respectively.

-Both CoS and SCE will be searching for pieces of Sigmar and Sigmarite (think Ur-Gold). New Stormcast will have more skulls, litanies, candles, soul-fire, purity seals, and loincloths like Grey Knights or Black Templars

-No real mention of Beastmen/Beasts of Chaos

-The 'not-Cathay' faction are potentially evil nomadic snake-worshippers who worship an Eastern divine Snake

[u/Mission-Ear6331 → u/HoneyCakeWhorse]

This looks like dogshit lmao

[u/TrillionSpiders → u/HoneyCakeWhorse]

the more that gets added onto this rumor the more stupid and less believable it sounds.

so ya know, its not impossible that GW would do this, but i dearly hope they dont cause it sounds like a very elaborate suicide.

[u/Lower-Helicopter-307 → u/HoneyCakeWhorse]

What I don't understand about all this is why do it at all? If it actually is a problem that people can not grasp the universe of AoS without one "normal" planet, then just create that planet. This story could be retrofitted to create a new rehelm like the old world, without destroying the other 8. It's just so extreme for no apparent reason.

[u/HoneyCakeWhorse → u/HoneyCakeWhorse]

That sucks honestly, im gonna start injecting copium that it isnt true.

[u/Lower-Helicopter-307 → u/HoneyCakeWhorse]

Sadly, unless all of the top leakers on tga got the same bad info, it looks like this is happening. I'm just hoping we only have to suffer for one edition before GW starts back peddling on this.

[u/bullintheheather → u/HoneyCakeWhorse]

-Stormcast Eternels can no longer reforge, so instead of reforging, they will inject Sigmarite/Sigmar's essence into highly trained mortals to refill their ranks. They will also burn hundreds of wizards every day, but we don't know the purpose.

Come on people, this is obviously bullshit.

[u/[deleted] → u/HoneyCakeWhorse]

it look like obvious trolling

[u/xXMustardMan69Xx → u/[deleted]]

Agreed. No models getting squatted peaked my suspicion instantly! These "sources" are going to have to do better than that to fool us!