Updated Empire Rumours

[Harry]

I have been asked by Darnok to start a new thread as the old one was getting long and more importantly didn't have enough space for pictures. (So I have snagged the next couple of posts for picture updates)

So .... I have narrowed things down a bit from all the rumours we had at the start of the last thread
That thread was a compilation of everything I had seen posted before the end of last year.
This thread is the stuff that seems to have a bit more corroboration from different sources.
This is just my interpretation of the rumours ... I could have got stuff wrong and others may have got things right that have now been left out of this round up.

I will try and keep it updated as we hear more.

... and remember ... these is STILL just rumorz!

Rumours about the Timescale:

Opinions vary but I think....
Empire is being released in April 2012
A date of the 7th of April has been suggested.

Rumours about the Book:

Nothing solid ... not even who has written the book ... but Jervis has been suggested.
The book is expected with the first wave of models in April.

Rumours about the army:

Nothing solid on army wide changes

Rumours about models:

Empire will get 4 plastic kits and 2 plastic 'single pose' characters. (6 Plastic in total)
Also at least one new sculpt in finecast as well as some old models being redone in finecast.
This will see The Empire become the first fantasy army that can be all plastic.

Rumours of Characters/Lords/Heroes

I heard something about a mounted Wizard..... as a mount option for the Griffon. (Amber wizard)
Also something about a Jade wizard ... this guy will be in finecast.
I heard something about an engineer. I heard it was plastic and a very nice sculpt.
I heard something about a plastic Captain ... also very nice.
Marius Leitdorf will be re-released in Finecast.

Rumours of Karl Franz OR Lord/Hero on Griffon.

There are rumours of a plastic Lord/Hero on a Griffon that could 'pass' as Karl Franz. (Harry)
There is a rumour that it IS Karl Franz. (which is an interesting development as this is the first time we have seen a special, named character as a plastic kit). (Harry and Hastings)
“The new plastic Empire hero on griffon is also supposed to be very nice” (hastings)
Griffin, which to be honest is a bit of a let down. It's big, Manticore sized, and looks almost like an update of the Deathclaw mini only a bit more static, oddly it was painted a deep ruddy brown. (Darnock via birdy)

As you see opinions vary ... I heard it was BIG and the paint job and the camera angle have not done it any favours. So I shall wait until I have it in my hands before passing judgement.

More importantly I heard it has the option of KF a generic lord/hero or an Amber wizard.


Rumours of a plastic War Altar (and something new?)

There are rumours of a dual plastic kit which makes a War Altar and something else. (Harry, hastings, malladin.ben)
It is rumoured that the War Altar can be customised to make Sigmar, Ulric or Morr. (ghost21)
There is a rumour that it makes a War Altar and a “College of Magic wizardlordmobile”. (NatTreehouse, Harry)
A war altar combo kit with a wizardy casting platform thing which had lots of globes almost like a celestial model. (Darnock via birdy)

Have heard a conflicting rumour that whilst working from the same chassis these may be two seperate kits.
Nice little rumour from Kyte that the War Alter may be pushed into combat by Flagellants rather than pulled by horses.
I have heard the iconic statue of the griffon remains. (This pours water on the customise for different religions rumour. I feel like I would have heard 'you can have a Griffon like the last one or a big wolf' ... Didn't hear that. )
Have heard it is a two headed Griffon. So not exactly like the old one.

Rumours of new Warrior priests:

There were lots of rumours of new warrior priests early on.
I think that any new priests will be done for the plastic War Altar.
(Rather than an additional kit or individual sculpts)
But I get the impression there is more than one priest with the kit .... extras left over for a Preist on foot.

Rumours of Demi-Griffon knights.

There are rumours of Demi-Griffon knights. (Eldargal and others )
Don't expect the same as the Forge World one ... expect something a bit different.

Rumours of knights:

So many conflicting rumours about Knights I don't know what to make of it.
I have heard nearly nothing about new Knights .... so I assume that is what is happening. (Nearly nothing. )

My guess is sprues have been seen/heard about for demi-griff knights...and conclusions have been leapt to.

But see what you can pick out of this lot.

Rumours of Inner Circle knights:

There is a rumour of a new box of inner circle knights with lots of options for different orders.(ghost21)
This is the reason for no new knights. (ghost21)
There is a rumour that the Inner Circle Knights and Demi-griffon knights are the same dual kit.

Rumours of new Knights:

No new knights. (hastings)
Rumour of the sprue re-cut for the knights. (ghost21)
Rumour of individual Knightly Orders rather than redone generic set. (eldargal)
Rumour of new Knights of Morr. (Mirbeau)
Rumour of more packs like the blazing sun bits pack to customize the existing knights. (ghost21)

Rumours of a Nuln Siege Cannon:

There were rumours of a BIG cannon ....

I have heard nothing about this .... so I assume this isn't happening.

There are rumours of some things back from 4th edition:

Rumours of Halflings:

There are rumours that halflings are back in the book BUT as I have not heard about new halfling plastics and I have heard the whole army can be done in plastic I am not convinced.
On the other hand it follows that IF they are in the book then there MUST be a halfling kit in the works.

Rumours of the War Wagon:

There is a rumour the War Wagon is back in the book with a combat, shooty or mixed option.(ghost21)

BRING IT ON!

[Harry]

Snagged for updates

[Harry]

Snagged for updates again.

[mweaver]

Thanks for the update/resorting.

With this one...

"There is a rumour that the Inner Circle Knights and Demi-griffon knights are the same dual kit."

...it seems unlikely, since it would require different sets of mounts. I would not mind, since whichever mounts you didn't use would be spare. But that seems way too handy to be likely. Still, I will be happy with whatever they choose to release, as long as they are nice sculpts. The plastic core state troops (most recent version) were a bit disappointing to me, but subsequent plastic releases (Great Swords, archers) were excellent.

[vinush]

Thanks for the update Harry.

[Morkash]

This Amber Wizard rumour sounds nice! Thanks for doing the work to update the info, Harry!

[Spiney Norman]

This Amber Wizard rumour sounds nice! Thanks for doing the work to update the info, Harry!

Its an interesting change for them to allow some colleges to use certain mount options, I hope they're not going to use mount options to make the weaker lores more attractive, if the wizard mobile is only available to the celestial college I might cry.

[ihavetoomuchminis]

Its an interesting change for them to allow some colleges to use certain mount options, I hope they're not going to use mount options to make the weaker lores more attractive, if the wizard mobile is only available to the celestial college I might cry.

And if the griffon comes at 200 points as now.......it will be useless, despite being a great "for fun" option. It'll be great to have some bonuses for Amber magic, as it is one of the most used lores in my army :P. And don't forget that Amber lore contains a spell that can't be casted if the wizard is mounted.

[Spiney Norman]

And if the griffon comes at 200 points as now.......it will be useless, despite being a great "for fun" option. It'll be great to have some bonuses for Amber magic, as it is one of the most used lores in my army :P. And don't forget that Amber lore contains a spell that can't be casted if the wizard is mounted.

I'm assuming it will be nearer the cost of the griffon in the SoM book, somewhere in the region of 150, that would be in line with the O&G wyvern which is really the only comparable monster from an 8E book

In any case I don't see much point in buying a combat monster as a mount for a character you desperately want to keep out of combat (of course if the VHS is still in the magic item list things will be different), I've seen the high elf dragon Mage fielded a few times and it has the me problem, no one really seems to know what to do with it

[decker_cky]

In any case I don't see much point in buying a combat monster as a mount for a character you desperately want to keep out of combat (of course if the VHS is still in the magic item list things will be different), I've seen the high elf dragon Mage fielded a few times and it has the me problem, no one really seems to know what to do with it

Assuming the Griffon is 150 pts, and the elector count gets cheaper (look how much cheaper a basic orc warboss got), then I can definitely see an elector count on griffon being a useful option at 225ish points + equipment.

[Petey]

I'm assuming it will be nearer the cost of the griffon in the SoM book, somewhere in the region of 150, that would be in line with the O&G wyvern which is really the only comparable monster from an 8E book

In any case I don't see much point in buying a combat monster as a mount for a character you desperately want to keep out of combat (of course if the VHS is still in the magic item list things will be different), I've seen the high elf dragon Mage fielded a few times and it has the me problem, no one really seems to know what to do with it

It might be an option for wizard lords instead of wizards from a particular school of magic, amber might just be the one they find appropriate (God knows why). Also, the wizard on griffon might be good for double duty, kill a unit of archers here, cast a spell there, who knows.

[asiri]

Dunno if someone noticed that today Empire Battallion is again avail on GW site... it's not in pre-order, so who get it in these days will still get the old material i mean the cavalry with old spures.

[ihavetoomuchminis]

I've heard that one of the new boxes are some kind of bowmen. I was surprised, as the bowmen box is quite new, but who knows....maybe new free company box?

[Harry]

I am really not convinced the knights are changing.
Firstly ... and most importantly ... Hastings has said 'no new knights'... and he is almost always right.

There has been some talk of recut sprues ... but a recut sprue i presume would not be adding detail to the existing models but putting the existing models on to a sprue with 5 knights (and maybe taking the opportunity to add some more heads or shields to the sprue?) But then you are talking about a whole new mould ... so why wouldn't they just do whole new knights.

I don't know ... I just don't see it myself.

Niether do I see the duel kit with the demi-griffs and horses. I just cant see shiney new knights with what they are doing with plastics now on those old horses.

I think the most likely outcome is untouched old knights and nice new demi-griff knights

[RanaldLoec]

I am really not convinced the knights are changing.
Firstly ... and most importantly ... Hastings has said 'no new knights'... and he is almost always right.

There has been some talk of recut sprues ... but a recut sprue i presume would not be adding detail to the existing models but putting the existing models on to a sprue with 5 knights (and maybe taking the opportunity to add some more heads or shields to the sprue?) But then you are talking about a whole new mould ... so why wouldn't they just do whole new knights.

I don't know ... I just don't see it myself.

Niether do I see the duel kit with the demi-griffs and horses. I just cant see shiney new knights with what they are doing with plastics now on those old horses.

I think the most likely outcome is untouched old knights and nice new demi-griff knights

I think the only reason people started assuming a new knights box was likely was because Defunct noticed under the knights entry on the GW website there was a small notice stating

Availability:
This Product launches on the 7th April

Defunct noticed this on the 17/02/2012 around 11:30

Vinush also then noticed it said the same thing under the archers on the same day.

There was a bit of further text stating that the current box would be unavailable from late march. The message was there all of a day or two before it was removed from the website. This started a whole lot of guessing and wild speculation as to what it meant including an assumption that it was a potential release date or a re cut of the knight’s sprue.

It doesn’t mean that where getting anything new but it does indicate a potential change coming to these two kits.

All we really have to go on is GW telling is a product launches on the 7th of April for all we know it could just be a shiny new box with a pretty picture of the unit on the front cover and the same old models inside.

Or it could mean nothing at all.

Oh big THANK YOU to Harry for the new shiny thread.

[Stimpson J Cat]

I think the only reason people started assuming a new knights box was likely was because Defunct noticed under the knights entry on the GW website there was a small notice stating

Availability:
This Product launches on the 7th April

Defunct noticed this on the 17/02/2012 around 11:30

Vinush also then noticed it said the same thing under the archers on the same day.

There was a bit of further text stating that the current box would be unavailable from late march. The message was there all of a day or two before it was removed from the website. This started a whole lot of guessing and wild speculation as to what it meant including an assumption that it was a potential release date or a re cut of the knight’s sprue.

It doesn’t mean that where getting anything new but it does indicate a potential change coming to these two kits.

All we really have to go on is GW telling is a product launches on the 7th of April for all we know it could just be a shiny new box with a pretty picture of the unit on the front cover and the same old models inside.

Or it could mean nothing at all.

Oh big THANK YOU to Harry for the new shiny thread.

Yes, I definitely saw april 7 as a release dates for those knights. I checked when prompted here on warseer

[Darnok]

GW has a strategy of "if it's not broken, don't fix it" - and a pretty... conservative view on what is and what is not broken. If you take a look at what was not redone, or at most slightly recut, I would say the knights are to stay as they are. Apart from being old there is nothing wrong with them, so from a GW point of view: why redo them?

Thanks to Harry for doing the update.

[Harry]

No probs.

I've heard that one of the new boxes are some kind of bowmen. I was surprised, as the bowmen box is quite new, but who knows....maybe new free company box?

It has occured that they will need to repackage the existing free company into boxes of 10 .... so that would, whilst not a new kit ... be 'one of the new boxes' with some kind of bowmen.

But that would just be a new box ... not a new free company.

[gilljoy]

No probs.



It has occured that they will need to repackage the existing free company into boxes of 10 .... so that would, whilst not a new kit ... be 'one of the new boxes' with some kind of bowmen.

But that would just be a new box ... not a new free company.

So, time to go and get some free company models now then?

[jullevi]

It has occured that they will need to repackage the existing free company into boxes of 10 .... so that would, whilst not a new kit ... be 'one of the new boxes' with some kind of bowmen.

But that would just be a new box ... not a new free company.

Free Company are currently at 4 models per sprue, so repackage into boxes of 10 is not possible without a redesign. As with Knightly Orders, re-cut without complete redesign does not seem likely.