Age of Sigmar's 4.0 Model Massacre: What Now?

It seems oddly prophetic that my last Age of Sigmar article covered a few ranges within the game that, just this past Thursday, were announced to be discontinued.  I felt I made some excellent points towards spinning off a few large, aesthetically separated lines into their own factions as was done in Age of Sigmar 1.0.  I knew that there was a chance some of these lines would have models removed, as we already knew Stormcast were getting reworked kits and Cursed City already had much of its line off store shelves…but I was not prepared for the massacre that occurred, directed squarely at everything I tried to champion.

I won’t sugarcoat it — I’ve been put off of AoS by these choices, after having had Warhammer as my main hobby since 2010. 

Via Warhammer Community

In particular, my beloved Beasts of Chaos were announced to be moving to The Old World; I own around 6,000pts of Beasts, essentially a few of every unit that has ever seen the competitive light of day, so not only is this a massive financial concern, it’s especially a loss of hundreds of hours spent discussing, converting, and competing.  I’ve dedicated a lot of my life towards these plastic goats, and it’s genuinely soul-crushing to have them ripped from me, and placed in a game I have no intention of ever touching.  As someone who actually played Warhammer Fantasy Battles, The Old World learned nothing from its failings, and it represents a true death for the Beasts I hold dear.

While it’s unthinkable to wholly remove a faction like this, at a baseline I understand the business thought process — Beasts are an old line, and not an especially popular one at that; aside from their 2.0 facelift (including their Endless Spells and Herdstone), they’d only received an Underworlds Warband, and the Beastlord.  These were a pittance, and showed that Games Workshop didn’t give much of a second thought towards the army, which was also felt in its 3.0 Battletome.  I cannot express how deeply I am wounded by this choice, but (aside from the Beastlord, which was released in 2022) I fundamentally understand the urge to shift these older models out of Age of Sigmar.

The thing that’s truly unconscionable is the removal of the Warcry Cultists, one of the very first aspects of Age of Sigmar which sold its world as something unique.  Each cultist warband represented Chaos-worship in a different Realm, and their aesthetic and gameplay differences went a long way to display how unique each high fantasy world might be.  Moreover, while this build never truly got traction in Slaves to Darkness beyond Idolaters, spammed Splintered Fang, and the odd Corvus Cabal point scorers, they still beamed with flavor that was unmatched.  Their sculpts were gorgeous, new plastic, and there was even a period where a double-pack of Cultists were $60.00, meaning you could viably pick them as a path towards adding chaff to ones’ army.

Not all of the Warcry releases are leaving, mind you: The Sphiranx, Ogroid, etc are remaining, as it’s just the culturally diverse cults getting the boot.  We don’t yet know if this is a total discontinual of their models (causing severe scalping and panic-buying) or a move to just Warcry, but regardless, this is a massive blow to something I’ve stated over and over: These guys should always have been their own faction.

If I’d ever work on a fan Battletome, Warcry cultists would absolutely be that pick.  Their potential, and how GW has squandered it, is the greatest tragedy in AoS history; I say that as a Beasts of Chaos player, even.

Via Warhammer Community

That’s not all, however, as Games Workshop also stealthily moved Radukar’s Court to Last Chance to Buy, implying the many unique undead of Ulfenkarn are being put to rest.  While an entire sprue was never sold separately from Cursed City, containing Bat Swarms, Rats, and Tombstone Deadwalkers, the one that was had a plethora of Vyrkos-specific units that never really got a foothold in AoS.  That’s not to say they couldn’t have, but rather (like Warcry) Games Workshop didn’t have the creativity or drive to actually do something meaningful with this product.  The first Warhammer Quest, Silver Tower, laid the groundwork for Tzeentch’s modern range, from the first look at Tzaangors and Kairics to modernized Blue & Brimstone horrors, this was a set that immediately followed up on an army’s expansion.  Cursed City never got that treatment, and instead of separate kits to expand the 2-5 model mini units into a full faction, they were batched, then split up, and now…forgotten.

Via VSGMunden

I even touched on Stormcast in my urging of Games Workshop to divide factions, and like Beasts of Chaos & Slaves to Darkness, SCE underwent a massive sunsetting of its entire Sacrosanct chamber (the 2.0 release) and much of its original line.  This deeply affects a large number of players, as Stormcast are the ‘starter’ faction, and moreover, the Sacrosanct were the ‘starter’ models of an entire edition.  It’s…a rug pull, there’s not really any reason to mince words.  

All told, every single line being removed, with the exception of Beasts of Chaos, were ones I touched on in the previous article, and that level of prophetic opportunity is Cassandrian in its tragedy.  My entire being in AoS, how I approached it, wrote about it, saw thorough destruction by way of Games Workshop.  Whether that means I have poor taste or poor luck, there is a degree of disappointment with the wasted potential of these lines that cannot be understated.

Via Warhammer Community

Each of these were highly specialized aesthetics: Multicultural Chaos-cults and their Varanspire creatures, isolationist were-vampires and their Kievan Rus undead hordes, and a copious amount of specialized Stormcast battlemages.  40k is able to get away with having a similar weight of model choice in many of its armies as something like Stormcast because each model is really a facet of multiple factions, spreading out the cost and widening the amount of players who might purchase such a kit.  For Stormcast, they needed to split up, to help broaden their appeal, but instead we’re seeing internal collapse.

For the Cursed City and Warcry Models, these are all new plastic, from 2018 or later, and to see it truly discontinued is a waste of time and potential unlike anything we’ve ever seen.  I grew up using models that were sculpted before I was born, and even something like a competitive Aeldari list right now uses things like Warp Spiders, far older than even the very concept of AoS.  To see Games Workshop so willing to discontinue these new sculpts is unprecedented, and worrisome, as it likely points towards signs to come.

Via Games Workshop

This announcement has brought to light a number of issues with the structures of Games Workshop.  First, the competition and strife between Specialist Games (Horus Heresy, Necromunda, The Old World) and Core (AoS, 40k) came to a head by way of Beasts of Chaos being moved from one category to another; the best insight we have right now points towards an aging set of molds for these kits that the Core team didn’t want to pay to fix, but that might be budgeted-for by Specialist.  We’re also seeing internal communicae that industry consultants are working to bring Wizards of the Coast’s model to GW, and prime audiences to repurchase an army every 3-5 years through product churn, and regular rotation of miniature ranges.  These are ill omens, and if entirely true, point towards systemic problems from the company producing this game we love, and love to hate.

Following the removal of Beasts, at least in final terms coming Summer 2025, I will likely take a full-stop break from AoS.  I intend to try and get myself to engage more with 40k, and finish up my 2000pts of Adeptus Mechanicus, but that has been a slow process indeed.

This is the first time since the start of 40k’s 8th edition where I’ve felt aimless when it comes to this hobby I hold dear.  There’s a level of rage and resentment from my army’s squatting, and the smug, tone-deaf PR surrounding it, and it’s difficult to approach from an objective lens.  No one wants to see their hand-painted, fully converted force go down the drain.  This cannot happen again.

My heart couldn’t take it.