Stunties!!!!!

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

I like the big lizards and it's cool it makes six different unit types! So what is left now?

[Haighus]

Runeson looks good. Runefather would be good if not for that ridiculous weapon. That weapon is just so insanely stupid. Too long and unwieldy, he has to swing it at a low arc and can't swing it overhead because it's so long. But swinging from the side might not get good leverage with its length, either. Someone thought "this would look cool" and once against made something obnoxiously stupid. It kind of works on the mounted guy, because he's high up, and it gives him reach to hit a guy on the ground, but the guy on foot... meh.

Not sure what's going on with the Runesmiter. At first I was like, "Yeah, he looks cool." Then I wondered what the deal was with the horn-like things that look out of place. And something feels wrong with his legs and body. That beard, too... is that supposed to be a beard? Looks more like he attached some stuff to his metal pseudo-stache-and-beard, and painted that stuff orange. Okay, and yeah, what is up with that metal facial hair thing? Is that a guard for his facial hair?

Why do the axes have designs cut out of them, making them less effective?

Big lizard creatures look cool. That said, they're showing off some of the limitations of the current computer design process. The inside of the mouths look "off." The decision to attach their teeth to the outside of their mouth is also... it's just stupid. I'm sorry, overall I like the way these guys look (but again, do remember that I like a lot of Mantic's stuff, so I can overlook flaws), but that with the teeth is just another stupid attempt to look "cool." Teeth are bones, they attach to jaw bones. The design suggests these guys don't have an exoskeleton but rather an internal skeleton, and those are scales rather than bones on the face. Which makes sense. So why are the teeth on the outside? I can't find a lizard or dinosaur that looks like that.

Now I feel bad... I wanted to like these, initially did, but then looked for more than a second and realized how many stupid decisions they're making to try to make the models more stylized at the expense of being remotely believable. Make the weapons a more correct length, don't chop up the axes, put the teeth inside the mouth, and they look good. Look awesome! But those things just bug me too much. I could forgive the design issues because of their limitations, I could forgive them putting way too much stuff on a model to claim it's "more detailed," but these things that make no sense and don't really look "cool"... *Sigh.* Damn you, GW, for finding a way to throw water on my excitement.

- - - Updated - - -

All that said, I certainly won't tell people they're "wrong" if they like them. Some folks might not be as picky as me. It's all opinion, no "right" or "wrong."

Out of all of that, perhaps surprisingly, moustache armour is a thing. Granted in a more ceremonial capacity, but it does exist.

Admittedly, there is no beard armour, but clearly the Anglo Saxons at the time did not have such impressive beards to protect, but wanted to maintain their fine moustaches.
The teeth to me looks like they've basically removed the lips, so the skin is continuous with the gums. I feel like I have seen something like that before. Agreed on the weapons though.

[Mr Mystery]

Grimwrath Berzerkers are the sole remaining unit.

Seems odd that given the multiple releases this week and last to just have the one. Guess we're getting a few things non-Stunty?

[Erik Setzer]

The helmet you're showing has an actual full face guard with a mustache just slapped on top. The Runesmiter has a small strip that comes down off the top of the helmet and had a metal 'stache and beard attached to it, nothing to protect his cheeks or around his eyes. It just looks really weird, like they were trying to stylize it and made something silly instead.

If I get one, I'll use some green stuff to fix the hole in his axe, and try to create a full helmet for him (with a closed helmet, the metal facial hair might actually look pretty cool).

Still not sure what's going on with what I assume is meant to be his actual beard?

[Mr Mystery]

Beard Protector (established in the background amongst Smiths) or replacement (Leatherbeard from Gotrek and Felix)

[Path Walker]

If you had a thick, bushy beard and as a Priest of your religion, your duties had you stoking fires and working a forge all day with all the sparks and embers that entails, you'd want a beard protector too.

[Erik Setzer]

Beard Protector (established in the background amongst Smiths) or replacement (Leatherbeard from Gotrek and Felix)

I mean the orange stuff going everywhere behind the beard armor. I think that's supposed to be his beard, but it looks unnatural. I think the sculptor was trying to do a little too much there. Depending on how the model is put together, that could be fixable. Just carefully carve that stuff off, and green stuff a proper beard on there.

It's possible it's also meant to be something representing flames built into the beard protector, but if so, they didn't inform the painter, who painted it as a beard. I get a "flames" vibe from it, which makes sense given that they're Fyreslayers and all, but it didn't translate to the final product.

[Mr Mystery]

I think it's a stylistic representation of the heat of the forge behind the metal. It's radiating out in a manner reminiscent of medieval depictions of the sun's rays.

To each their own, but l kind of like it.

Overall, I'm particularly excited for the two books. Fyreslayers are the first 'new but old but new' we've seen so far.

I'm not personally counting the Bloodbound here, because Chaos will remain Chaos. But these stunted little stout hearts are our first properly new AoS army that's a reinterpretation type thing of a classic Warhammer army - arguably of just a single unit as a faction in their own right.

Design wise people's existing Slayers will sit happily enough alongside the new sculpts without standing out like a sore thumb. This to me is one of the biggest hurdle AoS faces. Can GW make it new without making the old obsolete or even just outdated.

If the answer is 'yes, yes they can' for the majority of existing players, it's going to have a much easier time growing and expanding. It's more important to the range's success than if the new models could be fielded in 8th/Fan 9th - after all, there's already 'other company equivalents' designed for ranking up, so the GW kits need to be something added specifically to play AoS. (Not sure I've explained that very well)

My opinion here is of limited worth, as whilst I like what I'm seeing I've never been a Dwarf player.

[Path Walker]

While I really like the design of the Fyreslayer army and look forward to seeing them in the flesh and seeing such a departure from the existing Slayer stuff, a part of me wonders what will happen to the "classic" plastic clamshell Slayer, which is one of my favourite GW plastic models in recent years, hope they keep that sculpt alive because its brilliant

[Mr Mystery]

Probs get repackaged and re-named. Maybe next week's release? Would certainly help to bulk out that week as currently it's just the Grimwrath Bersekers to go (whatever they are!)