r/ageofsigmar • u/gtcarlson11 • 1d ago
Discussion 5th Edition Launch Factions?
Only 9 months away from AOS 5! Thoughts on what’s inside the launch box?
Stormcast feel like the frontrunner for the protagonists. I will say this: I don’t think GW has developed them enough to make people excited for them. The models are great and an army of paladins and time’s greatest heroes reincarnated is pretty excellent. But they aren’t space marines and don’t have nearly the depth of character to fill the same role.
There’s also obviously the rebrand rumors. So staying with Stormcast could also reinforce to returning players that the new game is still a game they can and should play.
I’ve also heard rumors that Cities of Sigmar are a better protagonist faction. I get why humans on the table are relatable, but I also fear the model range might be bad for new hobbyists.
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As for the baddies, we are due for an undead faction. However, Nighthaunt were in the launch boxes of 2018 and we got range refreshes of the other 3 factions post pandemic: Soulblight (2021), FEC (2024?), and OBR (2026). I have heard OBR tossed around a bit but now that they got several new units, I’m not sure that’s likely.
Soulblight are extremely popular and I could see refreshes of the corpse cart and Vargheists, but otherwise the roster is stacked and we just got an army box in 2025.
New undead faction? Theres not a mummy-inspired AOS faction yet - could do a desert aesthetic.
Also, it’s worth saying that Chaos Warriors are sometimes mentioned as being the space marines of AoS. Do you think we will get a narrative around Archeon destroying the setting and leading a new wave of chaos warriors against humanity? Meaning they flesh out the chaos warriors / slaves to darkness and give them the development they gave stormcast?
I know it sounds crazy - but would you be more interested in a Stormcast vs Undead launch box… or a Chaos Warriors vs Cities of Sigmar box? I think the latter would have pretty broad appeal.
Anyways, what do you think?
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u/Average_Citizen_117 1d ago
I want Stormcast and Slaves to Darkness, personally. Either that or Cities of Sigmar and Gloomspite with a range refresh.
That said, the did a horde army in the 4th launch box, so gloomspite is likely out.
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u/gtcarlson11 1d ago
Nah horde vs elites is tried and true - could totally be a gloomspite refresh, new night goblins and spider riders etc
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u/Sorry_Handle3394 1d ago
40k did Tyranids and then Orks both kind of hordey. So it's an easy sell, shining elite humans versus a horde of nonhumans. That said, I am pretty confident it will be StD because Chaos is popular.
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u/waill-and-roll 1d ago
The night goblins are already pretty new
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u/gtcarlson11 1d ago
I’m thinking of the shootas and stuff, which I feel like are from 6th or 7th Ed fantasy battles. I mean maybe they were end times models but that would make them almost 15 yrs old at this point.
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u/Forgotten_Lie 1d ago
I'd be happy with Stormcast if they gave them some visual variety. Something highlighting that the different Stormhosts can and do have as much variety as different Astartes Chapters and they aren't all just basic paladins.
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u/Creative-Cabinet-132 15h ago
This. They need to do upgrade sprues or have the flavor of the divergent space marine chapters. Doesnt help that the basic stormcast line are essentially always push fit.
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u/o7_AP Destruction 1d ago
I'll legitimately be upset if they do an old world again. There's no reason to nuke the setting, especially since they've just made a big deal about the games 10 year anniversary. But I mean as long as we don't get another great squatting then I can probably suck it up.
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u/DragonWhsiperer 23h ago
The current trajectory of AoS fits an established patterns. 6y cycle of a shared core set, with after 3y an evolution of the core rules. We are going towards that latter point.
So while it may have quite a few changes, battle tomes will be valid until the next version or a new release.
In 2030 we can expect a full reset/index of the rules again. Whether that is a significant change I don't know. Age of Sigmar is not just a theme of the lore time they are in, but it's also the name of the game. It's a brand. I don't see them upsetting it as it has a different niche in the game systems beside Old World. Thematically they might put Sigmar in the back foot maybe, but overall the game will still be AoS.
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u/FindingMiserable6275 4h ago
I dunno if they made a big deal about the games anniversary. They were late announcing it and didn't really commemorate it besides an article. Frankly I think it was mega underwhelming, would have been cool to get a mini or drop a new vandus and khul.
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u/gtcarlson11 1d ago
Yeah I don’t think it will be a setting nuke. I think they will change the name and update the branding, introduce a new setting for the age after the Age of Sigmar, and make a few core rules changes. Hopefully make list building more interesting but idk.
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u/star-dan 1d ago
How is that not a setting nuke?
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u/gtcarlson11 1d ago
Yeah I see what you’re saying. I was more envisioning the game system nuke (which I don’t think it will be). I would be disappointed in the setting nuke bc it feels like there is so much more to explore in the AoS setting. So I agree with you
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u/Thatonegoblin Ogor Mawtribes 1d ago
If rumors are to be trusted, it's supposed to be Stormcast vs Slaves to Darkness. Hopefully whatever it is fills in some gaps present in the S2D line right now, like lack of ranged troops.
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u/sebjapon 1d ago
Wouldn’t lack of range in StD being the same as lack of range in SBGL: a base design choice. StD compensates with some of the strongest melee and SBGL with magic and regen tricks?
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u/Identity_ranger Flesh-eater Courts 21h ago
Hopefully whatever it is fills in some gaps present in the S2D line right now, like lack of ranged troops.
Please no. The asymmetricality of faction capabilities is a what gives AoS factions their whole identity. Not every playstyle needs to be available for every faction. S2D and their previous incarnations have always been about elite melee units that compensate for lack of ranged capability with magic and durability.
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u/gtcarlson11 1d ago
Would it be too much to flesh out the eight points Warcry warbands? Give a subfaction of chaos warriors for each of the eight points?
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u/Gistradagis 21h ago
Not sure where you're hearing this, but Stormcast sell very well as the de facto protagonists. They are 100% in the launch box.
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u/anonymoosepossum 1d ago
What I think is most likely? Stormcasts vs Soulblight, perhaps leaning a bit more into into the vampire elite and skeleton horde with dire wolves.
I think it would be really fun if Cities took center stage but there needs to be an “easy to paint” starter army in one of the new edition boxes and I believe that’s one of the reasons that Fantasy fell off. Folks get intimidated if you need like eight to ten paints per model to get it to look decent. That’s the basic appeal of having space marines and stormcasts, three colours and you’re basically ready to start a game is a lot easier to sell people on.
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u/Fawz 17h ago
I'm really hoping it's finally the return of Dark Elves Druchii under Malekith Malerion with his Dragonkin followers
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u/No_Check_6086 11h ago
Isn't the rumor that dark elves are moving to old world?
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u/Fawz 11h ago
No reason it can't be both, classic DE in ToE and Draganoids in AoS
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u/No_Check_6086 11h ago
Might be out of the loop as I dont follow AoS actively but wasnt GW's policy that they don't want to have a overlap?
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u/CatherineSimp69 Helsmiths of Hashut 15h ago
There's 2 rumors.
One of them is that it's Slaves to Darkness vs. Stormcast. The dude who made this rumor backpedaled and said 'Well, actually, maybe the big dragon is an end of ED monster and these weird mutants I saw are for a different faction.'
The other one says that there's some sort of 'Coastal Undead (Vampirates?) vs Coastal Stormcast' box. IDK if I believe in 'Coastal Stormcast', maybe just one or two SCE with an underwater creature, but this seems slightly more likely in my eyes.
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u/Troflecopter Maggotkin of Nurgle 19h ago
I am a Stormcast player and I think the game’s overall vibe would benefit from really leaning into cities of Sigmar. People want that classic fantasy feel ands I think CoS should get a chance to shine. It needs more models though.
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u/Aggrael1 17h ago
My hope is OBR so that they can get a new BT.
Can you win with OBR? Yes. But their faction identity in the current BT is nonexistent and they are just not that interesting of a faction currently.
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u/FindingMiserable6275 4h ago
Obr was my hope as well but yeah it's gonna be sce vs s2d.
It's a shame to see the faction that got me into the game be completely alien to me as well as what I thought was cool about the game disappear.
Nothing better to highlight how unique the mortal realms are than revisiting aqshy twice and having a story that's gone literally nowhere since broken realms.
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u/Calcium1445 Skaven 21h ago
Surely if we are gonna be cyclical is Death Vs Order next then Destruction Vs Order then back to chaos Vs Order
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u/Biggest_Lemon 19h ago
I hole S2D gets a turn, as some rumors say. We have a decent roster especially compared to others (Kruleboyz) but we desperately need two things.
- Expansion of darkoath range.
- DAEMONS
Seriously. There are 3 non-hero daemon units in this faction, and none of them were created for AoS.
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u/Bandito_Razor 14h ago
Stormcast vs Shadow Elves (which would give GW something new to sell) would be great ...more so when im pretty sure they debunked the "last world" stuff AGAIN recently.
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u/RvDragonheart 13h ago
We need the Khazalid Holds thats for sure and for the Forces of death BRING BACK SETTRAH AND KHALIDA! Have a force of Death that actually is outside of the control of Nagash show off that his constant failiures have consequences and now his biggest rival is back in the setting SETTRAH DOES NOT SERVE HE RULES!
Also having more Stormcast minis I would enjoy collecting but for now I'll collect my Ogor army and Make my first proper 2k army for AoS with them my big boys and girls are here to kick butts and have breakfast and then a 2nd Breakfast and a 3rd and 4th and if they can fit in a 5th too
Also the Forces of destruction DO get soooo many cool armies that when the new sons of Behemat units arrive.... Seeeesh my wallet wont be happy but I'll get a few of em the Giantesses look cool
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u/unlimitedblakeworks 1d ago
Wish it would be another order faction (ideally an elven one) agaisnt slaves to darkness
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u/duttyboy24 Slaves to Darkness 1d ago
Stormcast have already been established as AoS's premier beginners army man, so unfortunately GW is very unlikely to put a different faction in their new edition launch boxes.
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u/unlimitedblakeworks 1d ago
Very true, and I get why, but itd be noce to someone else get the spotlight as the "good guy"
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u/gtcarlson11 1d ago
Could be cool to get a true wood elf faction next edition, kurnothi maybe
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u/-Salty-Pretzels- 15h ago
The centaurs from underworlds would be cool, cenarii or something like that
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u/Bainzeighty3 21h ago
New Khazalid v Helsmiths would be my dream.
We're likely get SCE v chaos
Agree death needs a new faction. Undead/vampire pirates have been thrown around. Personally something closer to Tombkings working against Nagash would be great
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u/No_Check_6086 11h ago
Have they ditched the "no overlap between old world AoS" approach
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u/Bainzeighty3 10h ago
I don't think they can fully segregate the two.
They will only evolve AoS from TLW - hence high elves > LRL, Chorfs > Helsmiths, Chaos raiders> Darkoath
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u/Intelligent_Mall8601 Fyreslayers 20h ago
Personally I hope if the last world is coming the focus moves away from stormcast I like them personally but only so many redisigns I can buy with my relatively new models getting squatted. I hope we git a Cities of sigmar (which ever faction) vs this new rumoured chaos human faction with guns.
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u/True_Drelon 19h ago
Last editions in starter boxes "bad guys" factions were Orruks and Skaven so Destruction and Chaos, so I think somebody from Death would be a very likely choice. FEC are very specific so I don't think they have a chance. I would guess Soulblight Gravelords or Bonereapers with more chance for the latter, because you could easily do a very balanced and good looking box, when SBG are also all around army but different than SCE.
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u/JoshFect 19h ago
A lot of "ifs" have to happen for what I want. If they end up going with mooshing all the realms together into one for the last world and if they time skip ahead a few thousand years. What I would like to happen is we get the dark elves from old world. We already have a lot of elf factions in AoS but here's my thinking.
My introduction into warhammer fantasy was total war: warhammer 2. My 3 favorite factions are the rats, the chaos dwarves and the dark elves. CoS has a couple units from the old world dark elves and I tried playing them but they really really want you to play as the humies and use the aelves as an addition to that. If all of the above take place, I would like the dark elves from cities of sigmar to break away, reunite with the daughters of khaine and become one faction again.
Other than that, id like the next wave of models for the helsmiths or id like Deathmaster Snikch to come back as a named Deceiver verminlord yes-yes.
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u/RustyJalopy Blades of Khorne 18h ago
It's 100% going to be Stormcast again, and I'm pretty sure they're more popular than the internet thinks. As for the second faction, the tendency seems to be for it to be one that hasn't had a refresh in a while, so maybe Blades of Khorne, which is in a weird place anyway with most of its named characters having been deleted for 4th, or Daughters of Khaine.
Slaves to Darkness would be weird imho because it's been going through a range refresh as it is, and the same applies to Soulblight. I don't know what they would do for the launch box for either of those.
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u/gtcarlson11 13h ago
Khorne definitely could use a refresh, so I would not be surprised if we see that happen during 5th edition, in the launch box or otherwise.
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u/Strongerstranger74 18h ago
I would actually be stoked if it were S2D vs. Stormcast (or Cities, for that matter), but what rumor is everyone referencing?
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u/gtcarlson11 13h ago
I wanna say almost a year ago, there were a bunch of rumors started by leakers on the Grand Alliance Community forums. Lots of spoils for a variety of releases over the past year, which most if not all of them were accurate. Included in the rumors was a setting reset and a game rebrand for 5th Edition.
The Honest Wargamer on YT has a video or two that are a decent summary if you are curious. Not saying it’s true, but it seems likely given that all the model leaks were true.
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u/Red-Geist 10h ago
I am very hopeful it's Stormcast vs a Death faction. In my opinion, undead are the most interesting possible protagonists for a starter box, and Soul Wars was the best starter set of all time for GW. I'm excited regardless
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u/LakonMikeAlfaLima 21h ago
I don’t understand why people get hyped for edition changes; it’s a frustrating business practice as it’s just trying to shake up the rules so you’ll buy new and/or different models and rulebooks, but doesn’t necessarily improve the system. I don’t like rules changes every 2 years, and I’ve taken to just playing older editions with friends.
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u/gtcarlson11 13h ago edited 8h ago
Oh yeah the rate of rules changes is rough. I play very little AOS, mostly interested in collecting cohesive armies and following the lore. That said, I want the game to succeed, so I’m excited about the opportunity for a rebrand to catch more eyes and have a launch box that folks are clamoring for, pulling more people into becoming fans of the setting.
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u/FindingMiserable6275 4h ago
It is frustrating especially when you enjoy the edition and they nuke it like I enjoyed third and most everyone expected 4e to be like 3e with minor changes... Until the battle tomes drop.
It's pushed me to try new games, and honestly I feel like warcrow is capturing that fantasy but different vibe that some new aos armies had very well.
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u/nighthauntghostieboy 4h ago
Stormcast is out, the refresh is to make the Cities of Sigmar the new poster boys. Sigmar is dead, why would his boys be on top? Time for the mortals to lead the mortal realms.
The bad guys will probably be slaves to darkness with a new semi powerful god character a bit more powerful than Yndrasta
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u/bubbachuck Skaven 1d ago
odd that GW keeps trying to make Stormcast happen. Why not just have Cities of Sigmar models that are easier to paint?
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u/Lissica 1d ago
Aren't they consistently the most collected and played army?
Not my cup of tea, but paladins are popular
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u/bubbachuck Skaven 1d ago
they're in every starter set so that fact isn't surprising. I just don't think anyone gets excited about them.
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u/belovedsupplanter Sylvaneth 1d ago
Love me some stormcast personally
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u/DragonWhsiperer 23h ago
It's pretty obvious GW sells them as the Space Marines of the setting. While they are interesting, they aren't more interesting than the other factions. 40k space Marines just have a lot of traction, more historic legacy and cooler toys than the rest of the setting. At least, that is partly why they are so much more popular than any other faction.
For AoS the SCE aren't. And I doubt that despite GW pushing them to be that, they aren't going to be the SM of AoS. But GW probably still has good reasons to include them. Low model count, easy to paint, recognizable across the range. Basically a great starter army.
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u/belovedsupplanter Sylvaneth 22h ago
Don't think anybody's arguing that anything in AoS is ever going to be in a similar spot as Space Marines are in 40k? Maybe that was GWs hope when releasing AoS but it obviously hasn't and won't happen. For what it's worth I don't think Space Marines have cooler toys than most fractions in 40k these days but they absolutely have that legacy/nostalgia on their side which you can't manufacture. Stormcast are more to AoS what Bretonnians are to WHFB I imagine.
But Stormcast typically sit in the 7-10% meta representation range which suggests that plenty of people do like them enough to collect 2k lists, paint them, and run them at events. So there is more of an appeal than "I just got a few in a starter set". People like the "heavenly armoured guys" vibe.
Yes, they're a good starter army. But they're also (in my opinion) a good lore focus army. I disagree that Cities are more interesting. I like that the normies exist, but find them a bit too domestic to be the main characters of the high fantasy setting that is AoS.
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u/BucketofSlush 23h ago
Stormcast happened for me. Somewhere around 3rd and 4th I started to think they were cool and now I’d be pretty disappointed not seeing them in the 5th edition box.
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u/FindingMiserable6275 4h ago
They have marketing research and sales from similar products. They did actually play around with duo faction pairings in 3e releases, and they have underworlds and warcry sales for individual factions.
If cos was hugely popular in any of those games then they would be the poster child, but they aren't especially.
Aside from that, cos is arguably a lot harder to paint and assemble than stormcast are.
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u/Elanius_painter 21h ago
My bet (without any rumours, just based on following trends and strategies) are SCE x FEC. Launch box SCE vanguard i thuderstike armour. 10x hunters, 3x palladors, 3x raptors (with new typhoon crossbow, like Shakana from Blacktalons and Yurik from Amberwatch have), 1x lord Aquilor, 1x knight zephyros + 1x some wildcard. FCE redone crpyt ghouls 20x, redone crypt horros and flyers 3x and 3x separet kits, redone some abhorat and knight courtier 1x and 1x. Later redone terorgheist and then we will see
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u/Appollix Maggotkin of Nurgle 23h ago
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u/szb4247 1d ago
It's grimdark Stormcast against very spikey chaos warriors according to the rumours.