Age of Sigmar 4th Edition: Divide Factions and Conquer

One aspect of Age of Sigmar’s history that often gets glossed over is that there was a considerable stretch of 1st Edition that included upwards of 60 factions to choose from.  Beginning in 2016 with the rework of the Games Workshop website, this layout existed essentially until 2.0, breaking many of the core factions we think of today into micro-factions currently used as keywords (Scourge Privateer, Brayherd, etc).  While each of these micro-factions only had perhaps 2-6 units to their name, some of them developed into what we know today as core pieces of AoS’s lore, especially Flesh-Eater Courts.

The onset of 4th Edition now looms, and with it, an index.  Factions are going fully digital, receiving a massive revamp, and I wanted to put forth a somewhat radical idea: Break some of the bigger factions up, again.

Not every faction is a great candidate for this, so I want to focus on just a few in this editorial.  These scenarios meet the the following criteria, which I believe are vital to “new” factions to succeed without necessarily getting new models:

1. There are, at minimum, ~10 model kits associated with the faction.  This is in-line with the 9-12 kit release waves factions like Idoneth Deepkin, Kharadron Overlords, and Daughters of Khaine have gotten, and allows there to be diverse enough models on the table for this hypothetical faction to not feel one-note.
2. The associated models have a cohesive aesthetic or style.  This is vital to an army appearing less cobbled-together and more unified.
3. There is a potential lore explanation for their separation.  This is a bit of a vague one, but it’s important to sow the seeds for a breakaway faction, and even intra-faction conflict like with Krethusa in DoK has been thoroughly justified.

Via Tale of Painters

With that, let’s meet candidate number 1, which I feel has the strongest case to be divided from its base faction: The model range associated with Warcry.  This collection of cultists and beasts of the Varanspire began its life in the secondary skirmish game Warcry, being largely a variety of unique infantry options ported over into Slaves to Darkness.  That said, these were meant to be exploratory of Chaos in the Mortal Realms beyond the big four gods, instead channeling chaos in different ways, and being aesthetically unique.

First point in their favor, this faction would have a tremendous amount of model diversity, with over a dozen kits to choose from.  Infantry makes up the bulk of these models, although they fulfill different roles, from the skirmishing Untamed Beasts to the armored juggernauts of the Iron Golems; moreover, there’s also smaller single units, like the Mindstealer Sphiranx, heroes, such as the Centaurion Pit-Marshal, and even forgotten chaff like the Raptoryx.  The only thing truly missing is a behemoth or centerpiece, although that could easily be in something like a single-model release ala Broken Realms or Dawnbringers.

Via Reddit

I think in terms of aesthetic cohesion, it’s more that these cults aren’t necessarily cohesive, but rather share a similar level of detail and ‘vibe’.  They each theoretically come from a different Realm, bringing their customs, armaments, and tactics along for the ride.  This means an army of this faction would be akin to Cities of Sigmar: Unified in purpose, if not in kin.  Crucially, they’re also far more ornamented than something like Darkoath, which takes on a ‘Conan’-esque aesthetic compared to the high fantasy gladiator look of Warcry.

The lore would be potentially difficult, but really it could be as simple as ‘For some reason, the cults of the realms now fight as one, separate from Slaves to Darkness’.  This could be part of a larger narrative such as the one we’re seeing now, where minor or demi-gods receive greater support in Age of Sigmar.  The Great Horned Rat and Hashut are two among them which hold this honor, and even Kragnos essentially operates as a single member of a potential pantheon.

On the whole, this concept has been in the back of my head for a long while, and I feel 4th presents a momentous opportunity to do something crazy in a similar vein.  We’d have a “brand-new” faction with a larger “release wave” than most of the new-to-AoS factions, with no worries about lack of support or model diversity.  I may even spitball some ideas for the faction, in the coming weeks!

Via Warhammer Community

The next big split I’d like to present is the division of Soulblight Gravelords’ Vyrkos dynasty into its own faction.  Ever since the launch of Cursed City, I’ve felt that much of the ‘werewolf’ aesthetic that goes along with Vyrkos has been languishing within the larger context of SBGL, and splitting it off would be quite an easy task, if some of the Cursed City sprues went back into production.

The number of kits is certainly in-question — while much of the Cursed City range has diversity, between the various models in Radukar’s Court, these would need to be expanded into full units to really feel realistic.  The Kosargi are excellent as elite undead, and the Blood-Born as skirmishing vampires, although the fact they’re all on the same sprue is without a doubt to their detriment.  That said, the Vyrkos Dynasty has a huge amount of named characters, and it wouldn’t be a sin to make some of these more generic, if push came to shove.  Importantly, three unique molds bound together on a sprue are currently out of production: Corpse Rats, Bat Swarms, and the tombstone-bound Deadwalkers, which would give quite a bit more diversity to the summonable pool of the army.  Really, the biggest strike against Vyrkos as its own faction comes down to shared sprues, and it would be difficult to sell outside of bundles.

The lore is just as easy as Cursed City’s story itself — Radukar and his ilk are already pretty different compared to the Mortarch-led courts, and their bestial nature naturally separates them.  They could become a City-State of Death, much like what’s happened to Anvilgard/Har Kuron, and be schismed from SBGL as a whole.

Aesthetically, they are tightly-bound, as an entire Warhammer Quest game contained everything one would need to flesh out the force.  There’s not much more to say, these are obviously all cut from the same cloth.

If Vyrkos became its own faction, it would be a tough sell in terms of actual bundling, but if Games Workshop were to expand some of the connected sprues into full boxes of ~6+ models, I think you have a real contender for an interesting army!  Skin Wolves/werewolf armies aren’t something we really have in full right now, and there’s plenty of clamoring for another take on Death’s lineup.

Via Reddit

This is definitely more of a ‘Hear me out’ pick, but I’d like to stretch and ask that Stormcast be divided into its various Chambers, rather than as a single force.  This was the case in much of 1.0, and it could be akin to how in 40k many chapters of Space Marines are unique from one another, with some shared units.

In terms of model density, Stormcast Eternals have been an edition launch faction every single edition, and their book is getting bulky.  Splitting the chambers off between Sacrosanct, Thunderstrike, Vanguard, etc would help to diminish this burden, and still allow for crossover between the forces.  This isn’t an issue in 40k, with Space Marines, so it could surely work here.

Lore-wise, we’re seeing in 4th that some Stormcast are becoming disillusioned with Sigmar’s lies, despite serving him for the greater good, and a division between his forces would make sense as part of this shift in overall loyalty.

Finally, there are sizing differences between the chambers, as well as cloaks/furs/etc, not to mention the fact that different mounts are used for each wave.  There would be no aesthetic issue in breaking up these options, aesthetically.

There’s no reason for Stormcast to be so hefty in terms of their book size, and this split would go a long way in assisting each chamber in feeling more unique, and not leaving more than half their range unplayable or forgotten (as it is now).

There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to 4th Edition, and I’m hesitantly excited!  Do you want to see the factions broken up a bit to widen the army choices?  How would you split existing factions?  Let me know any thoughts you have in the comments below!