Unified Warhammer Fantasy thread

First up, meet Galen ven Denst◊, an uncompromising new Hero who’s joining the ranks of the Cities of Sigmar in the near future.

This veteran witch hunter has seen hundreds of witches, heretics, and living dead burned at the stake during his illustrious career. Armed with a holy pistol and his trusty rune-etched broadsword, Galen ven Denst can slay the vilest creatures and even banish endless spells with a determined strike from his blessed weapons. He may be long in the tooth but, make no mistake, nothing gets between this grim huntsman and his quarry.

In recent years, Galen ven Denst rarely works alone – he’s often accompanied by his fellow witch hunter, who also happens to be his daughter, Doralia ven Denst◊.

Unlike her father, who prefers to look his prey in the eye as he slays them, Doralia hunts primarily with her enormous crossbow. Its consecrated bolts hit with murderous power, and Doralia is rightly feared for her unerring accuracy with her weapon of choice.

However, more than one of her would-be killers made the error of thinking she can’t also handle a blade and found themselves disembowelled or bereft of a head.

So far, Morathi and Teclis have each had their own book in the Broken Realms series, with Be’lakor and Kragnos on the way too. Every instalment in the saga introduces a momentous new chapter in the history of the Mortal Realms, so you don’t want to miss any of them.

Quite when and where the ven Densts will make an appearance remains a mystery for now, but know that they’re coming soon. For now, grab yourself Battletome: Cities of Sigmar and a few units like some hardy Freeguild Greatswords to accompany the ven Densts, and keep an eye out next week for another Broken Realms model reveal.

Last week we showed you a pair of witch hunters who’ll be making an appearance in the Broken Realms saga. We’ve also seen some classic models getting a modern makeover, like Be’lakor. We’ve got some more news on a fan favourite for you – it’s Lord Kroak’s turn for an update.

If you’re not familiar, Lord Kroak is a legendary Starmaster who floats into battle on a mystical palanquin. His body is ancient and mummified, but his mind and spirit make him the most potent of all slann.

This magnificent model◊ reflects Lord Kroak’s standing as one of the strongest Wizards in all the Mortal Realms.

The events of the Broken Realms are so cataclysmic that they threaten the Great Plan of the slann, and Lord Kroak is roused from his contemplation to intervene directly.

Even after all this time, Kroak only seems to have grown in power. This is represented in your games with a new warscroll – but you’ll have to wait a little longer before we can tell you more than that.

There are lots of familiar design cues for fans of the classic model, like the ivory horns and trailing vines on his palanquin – and there are plenty of new details to take in as well. The broken rings surrounding the entire model allow it to appear to hover without a clear stand and to recall the crowning detail of the Realmshaper Engine at the same time.

This kit also gives us the option to leave his ornate metal head-dress off. You gotta admit, he’s looking pretty good for his age.

For a creature that’s been around pretty much forever, Be’lakor hasn’t exactly developed a reputation for good cheer and camaraderie. With Broken Realms: Be’lakor up for pre-order this weekend, it’s a great time to discover all the different folks he doesn’t get along with.

While the honest number of Be’lakor’s enemies is “just about all of the beings that exist in any dimension, reality, or realm”, that’s rather too vague for us. So we picked seven individuals and groups that he EXTRA hates, and vice versa, to find out why the Dark Master has zero friends.

1. People Who Tell Him What to Do

As the first Daemon Prince in the world-that-was, Be’lakor was originally a hot commodity – the gods of Chaos outdid each other trying to get him to lead their armies. At first, they were nice about it, but then they acted like they owned him. After he convinced each one to support him, Be’lakor got irritated when they couldn’t take a joke. The “joke” was that he’d betrayed them.

2. Anyone Who Usurps His Rightful Position

This is pretty obviously referencing Archaon the Everchosen. To be fair, Be’lakor hated all the other champions who bore the title Everchosen, too. Not only did the Dark Gods – who were still salty over him being such a jerk to them – forbid the First Prince from ever bearing the title of Everchosen himself, they also made him crown these mortal champions and serve at their beck and call. Rude.

3. People Who Don’t Share

Be’lakor is supposed to be the Shadow Master. The Master. Of Shadows. He’s even got a sword that’s made of shadows. You know which place has a lot of shadows? The Realm of Ulgu. So why does Malerion get to rule Ulgu? Come on…

4. Goody Two-shoes

The forces of Order are always picking on Be’lakor on account of him trying to tear down everything they’ve worked to build. The Seraphon are constantly attempting to unravel his schemes, the gleaming golden armies of Sigmar are forever chasing him with those ridiculous hammers, and the aelves just think that they’re right about everything.

5. Gloomy Types

Nagash and his ilk fall into this category. To start, they have no imagination and are generally too morose to manipulate without getting his hands dirty. Even though he has no respect for these beings, Be’lakor isn’t above trying to use them for his own purposes.

6.Belligerent Hot-heads

Let’s be honest – all of Be’lakor’s subtlety is lost on the armies of Destruction. They’re too simple to serve his purposes. Orruks are a contemptible nuisance and all too often end up bulldozing over his well-laid plans that would totally have worked out, otherwise.

7. Duplicitous Manipulators

While being his sort of folks, Be’lakor really doesn’t care for the other major players in Grand Alliance: Chaos. While he does lead a sizable army of daemons, half of them have been tricked or coerced into fighting for him and the other half would be more than happy to take his place. Basically, they’re too much like him.

Broken Realms: Be’lakor will go deep into what the Dark Master has been up to, including all his schemes and plans. Make sure you pre-order Be’lakor’s immense new model and book this Saturday.

Just when you thought the Mortal Realms had reached the pinnacle of strangeness, along comes a floating tree spirit with a magical war flute.

In the upheaval caused by the events of the Broken Realms saga, Alarielle has been hard at work scouring Ghyran, the Realm of Life, from the taint of Chaos. When the Everqueen sings a song of cleansing at the Oak of Ages Past, something entirely new springs from the roots◊.

Floating on thermals of sheer magic, Warsong Revenants play a Spirit Song which has the power to cause the land itself to come alive. Their music is a balm to the Sylvaneth and the promise of vengeance to their enemies. The Warsong Revenants can even summon a malicious swarm of spites to attack nearby enemies.

This elegant model is covered in details that will delight painters of every skill level, including a variety of textures like wood, leaves, skin, and finely-wrought metal to experiment with.

We can’t tell you everything about the Warsong Revenant just yet, but it’s a fair bet that you’ll want some Sylvaneth to be within earshot of their magical melody. If you’re not yet growing an army of them, the Start Collecting! Sylvaneth box is a great place to begin.

The Broken Realms saga continues to shake up the power dynamics in the Mortal Realms. Grab a copy of Broken Realms: Morathi, Broken Realms: Teclis, and Broken Realms: Be’lakor to catch up with the story so far. Keep your eyes peeled for more news about the Sylvaneth and Alarielle’s role in the ongoing events, and sign up for our newsletter so you’re always up to date.