From daemonkin to Cathay, five questions for the future of Warhammer following the LVO reveals...
Rejoice, devotees of Slaanesh! The scions of Fulgrim have been revealed in all their hedonistic glory, as has (ironically maybe) the return of the elves of Ulthuan in the Old World and some beautiful new models for the Soulblight's undead legions.
However, there's also some intriguing little teasers hidden throughout the LVO preview, that have my cranial cogitators whirring... Here's five questions for the future following the LVO reveals.
1: Daemonkin all the way down
2025 sure is looking like the year of Chaos.
Hot on the heels of the new Emperor's Children are all three of the other mono-faction demonic legions: World Eaters, Death Guard and Thousand Sons.
Given that we know Slaaneshi demons will be a part of the Emperor's Children codex (a good thing, too, given that their initial range is really small), is it safe to assume that each of the mono-god books will have daemons folded in? Don't get me wrong, I'd love some daemonic support for my World Eaters, but if it means getting a smaller release rather than a real "wave 2" that would be a shame - and also a little disappointing for Thousand Sons who could also use a little love.
Either way, perhaps between Grotmas and their index, Chaos Daemons won't be seeing a book this edition...
2: What happened to the Knights?
Do you remember the hilariously vague roadmaps we got back towards the end of 2024?
Well we can chalk off another glimpse of the future they depicted as warp-fueled deceit: the Imperial Knights, meant to be following Aeldari in the codex timeline, seems to have vanished from the latest roadmap from LVO. Is this a graphical error? Perhaps. More likely is some form manufacturing delay might have seen the Knights book pushed back until later in the year. Not that GW would admit such a thing.
Until then, claims that the Knights' book was announced are clearly heresy and a matter for the Inquisition. That's right inquisitor. This man right here.
3: Codex Salamanders?!
So following on from our Chaos wave comes Grey Knights, Black Templars and Chaos Knights (which is just unfair given the previous question*) comes... Salamanders?!
Just what exactly does that mean? A full new marine subfaction in the vein of Blood or Dark Angels? Some form of "Angels of Death" book for the smaller codex compliant chapters? Or maybe it's been decided that marine players need at least another four detachments to play with.
This part of the reveal has me stumped: let's see what comes in the summer. Vulkan lives..?
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4: What are the mysterious extra teasers hidden in the videos?
Right at the end of the roadmaps in the LVO video for both 40k and AOS were two extra little teasers hidden at the end.
This for 40k:
And this for AOS:
For 40k, there's speculation the marine depicted could tie into Space Wolves, helped by the apparent similarities between the silhouette and this piece of art from the Horus Heresy - though that may be a stretch.
For AOS, those eyes are certainly ambiguous. Could it be a long-rumoured Chaos Dwarfs release? Or possibly - finally - a tease of the return of Malerion and his shadow elves? Please, please give me the shaodw elves... But only time will tell.
Step 5: Cathay on the way?
The last little tidbit picked up on very quickly by Reddit is a potentially huge reveal, hidden at the end of the Old World reveals. A mysteriously faded preview image at the end of the roadmap isn't, has been deduced by Reddit sleuths to be a piece of art featuring Cathay from Warhammer Total War 3.
Props to another_social_freak for the excellent breakdown over on Reddit. This is a really exciting prospect: an actual, brand new faction for the Old World that we've never seen before on the tabletop? The very first real new faction to come for the Old World since its launch/return is a testament to the success of the game in the last year. I look forward to seeing what the legions look like in plastic.
What was your favourite part of the reveals? Did you stay up til 5am to watch?! As always, let me know in the comments below.
Until next time,
Alex
*Pour one out for the big stompy loyalist boys...
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