I’m going to try something a little different with this blog—maybe even kickstart a new direction for the site. I’ll be offering my opinion on some topical news articles and releases, starting with the miniature reveal at the 2025 Las Vegas Open.
You can check out the full release lineup on the Warhammer Community page.
The first thing that really caught my attention—no doubt because of how heavily they were emphasised—was the new Emperor’s Children models.
We saw the new Fulgrim model a few weeks back, so even if you weren’t paying attention, I think everyone knew this was coming. And about bloody time too!
Games Workshop has long struggled with how to handle the Prince of Excess, which probably explains why the Emperor’s Children have been neglected while other god-specific factions have received much more attention. Even the Thousand Sons got their due (more on that later).
It seems like, based on the Chaos Gods, we can make a decent guess at what’s palatable to investors—and by extension, what your average middle-aged mum will buy for little Timmy. Magic and mutation via Tzeentch? Pretty tame in comparison to the alternatives. Nurgle’s dysentery and disease? No problem. Khorne’s bloodlust and innocent slaughter? Timmy will take two, please.
But excess, debauchery, and sex...
Slaanesh and the Emperor’s Children have largely been relegated to focusing on music (with that cool but somewhat jarring guitar-wielding special-release miniature) or, more broadly, pain. With the latter, they’re not much different from the Dark Eldar.
Without straying too far off topic, I remember seeing the shift in direction years ago, when the old Daemonette models were retired in favour of the new plastic kits. You tell me: which is more alluring?
The sole focus on pain misses the mark for Slaanesh, in my opinion—which, if you’re still reading, is why you’re here. I remember playing Dragon Age: Origins years ago. You encounter a Templar who’s completely enthralled by their equivalent of a Daemonette. In his mind, he’s living out his wildest dreams with her; he doesn’t see a Daemonette, he sees his wife, his fantasy, etc. The Daemon, of course, is feeding on those emotions.
Now compare that to 40K’s Daemonettes. Here, he’s skinned alive, end of story.
I don’t see Games Workshop deviating from the pain-dealer narrative any time soon, so it is what it is at this point.
That said, the new models are all very cool. While I’m not a collector of the Emperor’s Children, I think they’re spot-on. I especially like the Noise Marines. My teenage self would have been all over these, handing over my hard-earned cash. But as an adult, there’s a limit to the number of armies I can store in the garage before I start getting (more) looks from my missus.
I’ll segue this into something else I’ve seen this week—the 40K release schedule. It’s the middle of this infographic that really caught my attention.
A possible new line-up of Thousand Sons models is both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, I’m genuinely excited. But on the other, I still haven’t finished painting what’s in my Thousand Sons pile of shame... I’d better kick it up a gear in preparation!
What I’m hoping will happen for the Thousand Sons is what’s already happened to the other god-specific Chaos Legions. Back in the day, all of these legions had just one troop choice: World Eaters with their Khorne Berzerkers, Death Guard with the Plague Marines, Emperor’s Children with the Noise Marines, and lastly, the Thousand Sons with the Rubric Marines.
Since then, the World Eaters and Death Guard have been massively expanded upon, gaining new legion-specific models and beasties. Now the Emperor’s Children also have custom units and, more importantly for me, troop choices beyond Noise Marines. Although, to be fair, the Emperor’s Children could always pick from standard Chaos Marines, Havocs, etc.
The Thousand Sons, however, have always been a little different. Since all their non-psykers were turned into souls trapped in their armour, the Thousand Sons roster was for too long just Rubric Marines. A little later, we were given Scarab Occult Terminators and at least some new wargear options for the Rubric Marines. But even with these additions, there hasn’t been much deviation in the types of Thousand Sons you can field.
What happened to the Thousand Sons assault marines, their bikers, their heavy weapon teams? I’ll tell you what happened: the lore was backfilled, and the legion’s identity was based on one metal Rubric Marine model from the late ’80s or early ’90s, armed only with a bolter.
The Thousand Sons books of recent years should really be renamed Magnus the Red and Friends, because most of the army list is built from generic Chaos stuff painted blue.
My hope rests on the Thousand Sons getting more specific units—like those three-man units the Emperor’s Children now have, or similar to a unit of World Eaters.
Time will tell, but I’ll be disappointed if this release turns out to be a repeat of the last few Thousand Sons codexes.
New Emperor's Children Flawless Blades and the existing World Eater Eightbound.
Other highlights for me from the Las Vegas Open include this Commissar model for the Imperial Guard. I understand this unit is from a novel, but having not read it, I can’t comment beyond the fact that I really like the Commissar.
Although, with Cadia now destroyed, it’s a shame they still get the core focus while there are so many other, cooler Imperial Guard uniforms out there. Darktide has the same issue—where’s the love for the Mordian Iron Guard or the Vostroyans?
I am also sorely tempted to start a High Elf army with the re-release of Warhammer Fantasy. It was one of the few armies I never collected before the disastrous decision to can the Old World in favour of Age of Sigmar (no, I’m still not over that).
I’d always planned on painting them in the colour palette of the Blood Elves from World of Warcraft (Bal’a dash, malanore).
The Old World feels like home to me, as it was this Warhammer universe that I started with as a boy, before also collecting 40K. So I’m very keen to see this come back in full force. I’m just waiting on Games Workshop to write it into the lore that Emperor Karl Franz woke up in a sweat, telling his orderly that he’d had the worst dream about End Times and magical realms with limited definition. ;)
Remember, this is an opinion piece, and I’m 37... I’m more jaded than the Shang dynasty.
They also released their Old World roadmap, but without Lizardmen on the horizon, it was only worth a courtesy glance.
Other notable releases include some Necromunda models and terrain, as well as Adeptus Mechanicus and Death Guard models.
Overall, a pretty cool release—and now that I think about it, I’ll probably end up buying High Elf models.
What do you think about the reveals from the Las Vegas Open? Are there any standout models or factions that caught your eye? I’d love to hear your thoughts—whether you agree, disagree, or just have your own take on what’s coming for Warhammer. Also, let me know if you’d like to see more opinion pieces like this on the website moving forward. Your feedback is always appreciated and helps shape the content we create. Let’s keep the discussion going in the comments below!
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