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WFB 9th: Hints in Plain Sight?

3 Minute Read
Jan 8 2015

Everyone and their brother is freaking out about the rumors for 9th Edition. It’s time to start looking for clues…


When presented with world shattering news of this magnitude, the usual reactions ensue.  Some folks scream to the heavens, others simply disbelieve.  Still others step forward to embrace the change.  It’s the same cycle as always with big changes.
With these types of rumors we always say:
Ignore the details, focus on the trends!
That means don’t get mired in the minutia of whether a specific race is going to get “Squatted” in 9th Edition, and don’t sweat whether the bases will be square or round.  Details like that are almost certainly wrong in rumors 6 months out.
But what you should pay attention to is the EXTREMELY UNUSUAL celestial convergence of multiple rumormongers, both accurate and not all pointing in the same direction.
– There have been whispers for over a year now of GW totally shaking up WFB in fundamental ways.  

– There have been whispers of the army books being condensed down to a much smaller number.  

– There have been whispers of large numbers of rules and books being invalidated with the new edition.
But as it was always in the distant future, everyone ignored it.  But the distant future is now the near-term future and folks can’t put off the changes for that much longer.  The End Times should have been a wake up call that GW meant business.  Nagash was revived after decades and tons of big characters got killed in just the first book of the series.
For us the players, the time is ripe for sleuthing.  So take out all your End Times books, read every word of upcoming White Dwarfs with a fine toothed comb and start to look for those scraps of information that may confirm or contradict the rumors the community has before it.
Some Questions…
Could Games Workshop really find a way to make WFB 9th work with round bases? How would that even work?  LotR players may remember these:
Are there really going to be funky “bubbles” of reality in the Old World that survive the End Times, only connected loosely in a sea of Chaos?
What exactly was that sanctuary that Lileath sent Araloth into; “A World Beyond, where you can nurture a new realm” at the end of End Times Khaine?  There is also that extra-dimensional underworld in Khemri where Dieter Helsnicht lies waiting Nagash’s commands.  I kind of get the feeling the END TIMES may be seeded with lots of hints hidden in plain sight.
Image via L’Astropate

What of the Lizardmen and their final Exodus?  Are they really going to flee the game entirely, or just move to a better house in the new world?  And is that a spaceship in the upper right of this END TIMES: Thanquol painting?  Whatever it is, it sure looks like the Skaven and Lizardmen are mixing it up pretty well.
Hold on tight, and remember the old saw: The only thing constant in the universe – is change… What clues have you found?

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Author: Larry Vela
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