Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

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Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Shadowspite »

In case you haven't seen it yet.

Image

There is speculation that the guy with the dark-eldar-looking helmet in the background between the sigmarine's sword and the barbarian's shoulder is an aelf. Who knows?

Warning - Rant:

Looks like the 'big bad' of the game is just the existing gaunt summoner, not (as some thought) the new female Tzeentch sorcerer from one of the novels. I'm a bit annoyed that the AoS miniatures (i.e. not including 'legacy' minis from WHFB like the witch elves) remain a strict no-girls-allowed zone. TSR were doing D&D-esque dungeon adventure boardgames with female player characters thirty fething years ago. WotC have featured black wizards and (sometimes even sensibly armoured) female warriors for years. Pathfinder has an iconic transgender dwarf character now.

And GW is still stuck firmly in All Straight White Men All The Time mode. Hugely, ridiculously muscled men. Because heroism is synonymous with hyper-masculinity, apparently.

If anything drives me away from GW for good, it'll be this.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Amboadine »

Reminds me of the old WFRP covers, just updated with the Sigmarine.
I knew they would try and get one in, but personally I would have preferred something along the lines of the old WHQ game, more down to earth heroes than a fully armoured superman.

Think you might be right on the small background figure being Aelvish. But as I understand it he/she would have to be darkside as the heroes are confirmed as the Sigmarite, slayer, barbarian and warrior priest I believe.

Nice to see GW starting to bring in more board games again though.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Rork »

Inserting a Sigmarine into WHQ while the rest of the cast remains largely unchanged makes me think this could just be a rip-off of the plot of Toy Story.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Shadowspite »

Pics of the minis here: LINK

I... um... take back some of my rant. :oops:

In particular, that dark eldar looking person in the cover art seems to be a (female!) aelven magic-user hero. There's another hero model there who looks like it might be female (and also probably aelven). And the warrior priest is (as people on Warseer were suggesting from the cover art) a person of colour. Baby steps, GW.

I'm still annoyed at there being no females on the Chaos side (official GW female cultist models would be really useful to me). And that the one (or maybe two?) female hero(es?) don't/doesn't exactly break any stereotypes. A sensibly-armoured female melee combatant might have been nice. Or, heck even a woman who isn't an aelf.

But still better than I expected from the cover art.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Daeron »

Shadowspite wrote: I'm a bit annoyed that the AoS miniatures (i.e. not including 'legacy' minis from WHFB like the witch elves) remain a strict no-girls-allowed zone.


I had a similar reaction at first, but a deeper look and this picture tells a slightly different tale.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

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Daeron wrote:I had a similar reaction at first, but a deeper look and this picture tells a slightly different tale.

Yeah, I hadn't seen that yet. I'm still trying to decide whether bottom-lefty there is male or female. Looks a bit like a DE warlock on foot. Almost 100% certain it's meant to be a shadowkin: one of Malerion's aelves from Ulgu. Moon-topknot is obviously female, and I'd guess she's an Azyrite aelf mage.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by cultofkhaine »

hmm - liking where this is going - looking forward to seeing more!

Does anyone know the release date?
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

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OK, so we have, on the hero side: a stormcast; a duardin fyreslayer; a human (ex?)Chaos marauder/barbarian (strangely, the text refers to him as a 'lord of Chaos'); a (probably male now I have another look) shadowkin aelf (the text opposite refers to a 'Tenebra...', which is presumably the French name for the shadowkin); a (probably female) aelf mage who is presumably from the Eldritch Council going by her mostly-HE look (although she'd also make a great Slaaneshi sorceress thanks to that staff); and a (Black!) warrior-priest of Sigmar with a pet gryph-hound (and slightly stupid armour - a mail skirt but seemingly nothing on his torso?).

I'd have liked at least a second female character, preferably a melee/armoured one (heck a female stormcast would have been awesome, since the fluff keeps assuring us they exist!), but this isn't a bad lineup.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Amboadine »

Cultofkhaine wrote:hmm - liking where this is going - looking forward to seeing more!

Does anyone know the release date?


If it is in this weeks WD I imagine preorder starts next Friday for the release the following week. I think this might be on my shopping list. The models are very nice.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Daeron »

The gaunt summoner is also a new model, and it could be female. The image I saw was very blurry so it wasn't clear. But it's just a slightly different shape than the gaunt summoner they just released.
The rumoured price tag is 125 euros. I would have found 100 euros much more comfortable, but I'll still be tempted.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

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Daeron wrote:The gaunt summoner is also a new model, and it could be female.

The French text accompanying the picture suggests he's male. 'Le Gaunt Summoner', not 'La Gaunt Summoner'. Also, he's referred to as a 'terrible maitre', rather than a 'terrible maitresse'. ;)
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Daeron »

Pity! But still looked like a nice alternative model for it.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

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More pics/info (in French): LINK

The shadowkin hero ('Tenebrael Shard') is definitely male. He can walk through shadows and turn into a cloud of living darkness. He's an unparalleled assassin and nobody knows why he's out adventuring. So, basically he's a D&D shade/shadar-kai ripoff. And not (IMO) a particularly good model. If this is what the new shadowkin are going to look like, I'll stick with my dark elves, thanks.

The barbarian ('Darkoath Chieftain') is indeed a straight-up Chaos worshipper. He's adventuring and killing stuff to get noticed by the Chaos Gods. Why the heck the sigmarine Knight-Questor doesn't kill him on sight is not explained. Perhaps his boring, static pose makes the KQ think he's part of the architecture?

The aelf mage ('Mistweaver Saih') is an illusionist (although she also uses lightning). And she is indeed female. And she's, and I quote, "a mystery wrapped in an enigma". Good God. Even when they're kinda-sorta doing it right in actually giving us a female hero, GW still have to go all-in with the discredited misogynist tropes, don't they? She just had to be the stereotypical mysterious enchantress. Anyway, nobody knows where she's from, though it's hinted she's from the "haunted shadows of Ulgu". Her spells suggest a fusion of Ulgu and Azyr.

The Ogroid Thaumaturge looks cool. As do the Tzaangors, the familiars and the Gaunt Summoner. I'm not sold on the rest of the 'bad guy' models. Those four-legged goblins look terrible, IMO.

At £100, I can't justify buying this for the models alone. I'll still get it if the gameplay turns out to be awesome, but otherwise I'll be giving it a pass. Try again, GW.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by cultofkhaine »

What are these meant to be - looking very different indeed!

It's good to see GW showing some imagination for a change and pushing the norm.

Those cultists look pretty good.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

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Cultofkhaine wrote:What are these meant to be

"Grot Scuttlings are degenerate cousins of tribal grots whose sickly bodies have been remodelled to adapt to their existence in the recesses of the Silver Tower. They dwell in the palatial labyrinth of the Gaunt Summoner to capture the unwary with the aid of poisons and webs, and they retreat into their holes as soon as battle turns against them, never attempting to take on the other inhabitants of the Silver Tower (who are too dangerous). If they have the advantage of numbers, Grot Scuttlings can prove a real peril to adventurers who stumble upon their lair." - my quick/rough translation of the French text

Those cultists look pretty good.

I don't hate them. But nor do they really grab me. They're just what I expect official GW Tzeentch cultist minis to look like: pseudo-Egyptian* dudes with a steroid abuse problem and moon-face masks. Meh.

(* - Not to get all SJW-ranty again, but I see GW are continuing with the "non-European cultures are evil" trope that I had hoped would have died with the old WH world.)
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by cultofkhaine »

They look like mutated Night Goblins lol
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Daeron »

Shadowspite wrote:I don't hate them. But nor do they really grab me. They're just what I expect official GW Tzeentch cultist minis to look like: pseudo-Egyptian* dudes with a steroid abuse problem and moon-face masks. Meh.

(* - Not to get all SJW-ranty again, but I see GW are continuing with the "non-European cultures are evil" trope that I had hoped would have died with the old WH world.)


I think they are improving their diversity, but it's a very, very slow process. Their AoS painted minis are showing a tad wider range of skin tones, and they are acknowledging female stormcast even though they aren't apparent yet. It's not much progress... but it's a little.
I'd appreciate a more iconic woman/warrior among the stormcast :)
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by cultofkhaine »

Raging Heroes are miles in front - their whole range is mostly female models! filling a niche GW don't cater for.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Daeron »

Yup. I didn't like their first model ranges. They impressed me to be burlesque dancers with weapons as a prop. But their latest releases are really impressive... Really, really impressive :)
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by cultofkhaine »

It's interesting to see the 2 Aelf figures, could be similar of the style to come.

I need a closer view before I make up my mind.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Saintofm »

Forget the Aeilf; I think GW has finally gotten a Black Guy in the models for fantasy. Better late then never.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Daeron »

Well, they had a very broad range of skin tones in their bloodbound releases. It's the first one I see on the side of Order though.
Also, I wouldn't be surprised if they kept the Stormcast from showing any skin just to keep them neutral and open to the player's own imagination.
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

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Re. the Warrior Priest, the impressive thing is not that he's painted to look like a person of colour (we've seen that before from GW - Daeron already mentioned the Bloodbound, but even years ago the 'Eavy Metal team were painting Salamander SMs with dark skin) but that the model's actual facial features have been sculpted to look like a real Black man's. That really is a first for GW.

Re. Raging Heroes... I like them. But even some of the more recent minis are over-sexualised IMO. Too many high heels. Too many Playboy poses. Now, I don't have anything against sexy, or even sexualised, models when/where it's appropriate. Slaanesh cultists probably should dress like strippers and arch their backs suggestively while in combat. But female dark elf soldiers should be highly-disciplined professionals, who look like merciless killers (who just happen to also be gorgeous elf-women), not like they're doing an impromptu lap-dance in the middle of the battle.

Re. female Stormcast, I really want to see a SCE mini that is obviously, unambiguously a physically-powerful, statuesque woman, but which still fits in with the rest of the range. I think it's possible for GW to pull this off, but I will be surprised (and very impressed) if they ever manage to do it. I don't just want a male SCE with boobs. She needs to be just a bit more slender and with a more feminine hips-to-shoulders ratio, compared to the rather squat-looking and very obviously male SCE we've seen so far. The armour probably should have breasts (since the males have sculpted pectorals on their armour), but they need to be a bit more subtle than on, for example, Valkia the Bloody. Torso armour that curves out and back in again, perhaps, rather than separate 'cups'.

Like this for example?
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

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Cultofkhaine wrote:Does anyone know the release date?

Image
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Re: Warhammer Quest: Silver Tower cover art

Post by Saintofm »

Shadowspite wrote:Re. the Warrior Priest, the impressive thing is not that he's painted to look like a person of colour (we've seen that before from GW - Daeron already mentioned the Bloodbound, but even years ago the 'Eavy Metal team were painting Salamander SMs with dark skin) but that the model's actual facial features have been sculpted to look like a real Black man's. That really is a first for GW.


I know art wise some of the 40k stuff had, with imperial guard, but I did not see too many that didn't have something none white. Even Pathfinder has minins with a straitup African ancestry in their look.



Re. Raging Heroes... I like them. But even some of the more recent minis are over-sexualised IMO. Too many high heels. Too many Playboy poses. Now, I don't have anything against sexy, or even sexualised, models when/where it's appropriate. Slaanesh cultists probably should dress like strippers and arch their backs suggestively while in combat. But female dark elf soldiers should be highly-disciplined professionals, who look like merciless killers (who just happen to also be gorgeous elf-women), not like they're doing an impromptu lap-dance in the middle of the battle.


Agreed. As much as I want to get a few of them, most of them look like their poses are either uncomfortable or doing the sexy pose for fanservice. I know its a badguy army, but oversexualizing things can get a little too much. Its like sugar. Delicious, but too much in your system you are going to get diabetes.


Re. female Stormcast, I really want to see a SCE mini that is obviously, unambiguously a physically-powerful, statuesque woman, but which still fits in with the rest of the range. I think it's possible for GW to pull this off, but I will be surprised (and very impressed) if they ever manage to do it. I don't just want a male SCE with boobs. She needs to be just a bit more slender and with a more feminine hips-to-shoulders ratio, compared to the rather squat-looking and very obviously male SCE we've seen so far. The armour probably should have breasts (since the males have sculpted pectorals on their armour), but they need to be a bit more subtle than on, for example, Valkia the Bloody. Torso armour that curves out and back in again, perhaps, rather than separate 'cups'.

Like this for example?


Agreed. Actualy female armor would be something more akin to what we've seen on Game of thrones or Dragon Age: Looks like what the males have, but slightly modded to better fit the female frame.

But as 90 % have not a clue of what female armor would look like in a real world setting, sticking to something more akin to the Ebony or Dragon Bone Armor of Skyrim. Yes the boob bumps ruin the armor's main job of deflecting blows but as long as it looks like actual armor and not this next picture,

Image

I think we can be satisfied.
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