Upcoming Warhammer Fantasy Releases- Including Nagash & new VC stuff.

[Sanai]

Drachenfels is such an old part of the fluff that I always considered him to be non-canonical due to just how weird his fluff is. (him being a human born before the Slann arrived, and considering himself superior to the chaos gods, not to mention the Empire somehow trusting him just because he said that he renounced evil all sounding pretty silly.)

But, he definitely fits better than any other character into the role of the nameless. Maybe they intend to rewrite him to be a bit more up to date and just... better written.

 

[Banat]

I'm expecting a massive retcon. The original fluff is too absurd and makes him more powerful than Nagash.

Truth is, from a writing point of view, the more powerful a character is, the less humanised they are, and the best characters have definitely human traits. Nagash, for all his power, still suffers from epic levels of hubris. I think Drachenfels would work so much better, and be a much more compelling character if they reduced him down to a reasonable age.... I mean, Vlad's rule over Sylvania was ~500 years ago, I'd say make him a couple of hundred years older than Vlad, maybe a thousand but not much more. His name Drachenfels indicates a germanic origin, so still coming from within the Empire, unless Drachenfels is just an assumed name, one of many he's picked up along the way...

 

[John Rainbow]

Nagash did resurrect him though so maybe he has control over him somehow?

 

[Sanguinus]

Nagash only resurrected Vlad, not the Nameless. The Nameless was a disembodied spirit lurking in the Grey Mountains who agreed to serve Nagash in return for recovering his memory.

 

[John Rainbow]

But Nagash has some influence over him in this way.

 

[lord marcus]

I'm a huge fan of Nagash and I'm loving the model. But one thing is confusing me with some of the post here. Why in the world are you paying 69$ for grave guard the GW store sells em for 25 dollars less and you can find the even cheaper online. all your prices and 30-50 dollar more then they are actually sold for.

Because the Australian, new zealand, etc prices are super high, even from GW

 

[Sanai]

Because the Australian, new zealand, etc prices are super high, even from GW

^ This. Games Workshop (and a great many other companies, such as Video Game vendors) put a pretty heavy markup on stuff sold in Australia/New Zealand.

Its not a shipping thing, so much as a "Because they can" thing. Australians have a higher average wage than Europeans, and we are pretty isolated out here on this big ol' island so its kinda hard to argue against the prices.

 

[Sanguinus]

It's not a "because they can thing", but due to a host of contributing factors, including shipping. The isolated nature of Australasian countries means further (and arguably riskier) travel and a need to stock up on goods. Add to that the fact that Australia has a sparse population spread across one of the world's largest landmasses, with one of the highest average wage and subsequently highest tax rates (read: it has one of the highest standards of living in the world) which all leads to inflated costs for luxury items when compared to other countries.

That's somewhat of a simplification, but the point is the costs are due to Australian government and business practices (and their interaction with foreign economics), not companies trying to gouge Australia "because they can".

 

[Sanai]

Business practices and shipping are insufficient to explain how ridiculously higher prices are here in Australia. We have an isolated market which reduces peoples options and enables price gouging, not to mention a higher average wage. Shipping and regulations are a factor but not enough on their own.

 

[Sanguinus]

I never said they were the sole reason, but contributing factors.
Shipping will not only be costs of exporting to Australia, but also travel across the mainland - the more centrally located cities are practically isolated from the more numerous coastal cities.
The higher average wage is part of business practices - that comes at a cost to the employer, so goods need to be more expensive to offset it (which, obviously, keeps the economy going).
As I mentioned, other contributing factors are the sparse population spread across a large area: Australia has a smaller market compared to the more densely populated countries, firstly, by virtue of numbers alone (less people buying); and secondly, due to fewer stockists per area (less selling), resulting in prices needing to be higher to offset loss of profits. The more densely populated a country is, the lower the cost of goods because there are more people to buy them, leading to deflation. Australia's lack of population leads to inflation, which seems to be a factor many underestimate.

 

[Blutsauger]

It's not a "because they can thing", but due to a host of contributing factors, including shipping. The isolated nature of Australasian countries means further (and arguably riskier) travel and a need to stock up on goods. Add to that the fact that Australia has a sparse population spread across one of the world's largest landmasses, with one of the highest average wage and subsequently highest tax rates (read: it has one of the highest standards of living in the world) which all leads to inflated costs for luxury items when compared to other countries.

That's somewhat of a simplification, but the point is the costs are due to Australian government and business practices (and their interaction with foreign economics), not companies trying to gouge Australia "because they can".

We're getting off topic, but Australia actually has an average tax rate, and our population is largely condensed into half a dozen cities on the east coast. The centre of our very large landmass is desert, and nearly completely unpopulated.

Yes, it does cost more to ship items to Australia, but this extra cost comes no where close to explaining the gigantic margin between the prices we pay, and prices overseas. I'm not sure if it's still the case, but for a while it was cheaper for me to fly to America, buy Photoshop, download it there, and then fly back to Australia.

Download. No shipping required.

This is true for many digital products, and in many cases I can buy items from America, have them shipped to me in Australia, and still save >20%.

 

[Sanai]

Then there are the companies (for a hobbying example, look at forgeworld) that don't change their prices at all depending on geographical location, and the shipping price is pretty similar for any non-UK location. If some companies can straight up ignore the difference in costs and still make a profit from selling to Australia, then the cost can't be that much.

Also, as Abyssal said, we even get charged the same ridiculous prices for digital products, no shipping involved.

 

[Sanai]

Sorry for the double post- but here are some more rumours from warseer for the next End Times Book.
-New Profile for Archaeon
-Cult of Slaanesh for Dark Elves
-New Units and Daemons
-Mono-Nurgle army list combing WoC & Daemons
-New Nurgle champion
-Possibly new (different looking) Great Unclean One
-Some old chaos characters return (Including Horstman, Aekold Helbrass and Arbaal the Undefeated)

 

[John Rainbow]

Maybe the Nurgle stuff is related to this 'Glotkin' thing we've been hearing about?

 

[Melle]

Hoot hoot
Cult of slaanesh!!!!!!!!


Edit:
Oh, and finally a post OT

 

[Atrophus]

+1 on the cult of slaanesh Melle

With all these new releases I'm gonna be sooooooo poor soon. And I'm buying my first house soon too.
Would it be wrong to not eat and buy more plastic crack?

 

[Skittelz1981]

I never said they were the sole reason, but contributing factors.
Shipping will not only be costs of exporting to Australia, but also travel across the mainland - the more centrally located cities are practically isolated from the more numerous coastal cities.
The higher average wage is part of business practices - that comes at a cost to the employer, so goods need to be more expensive to offset it (which, obviously, keeps the economy going).
As I mentioned, other contributing factors are the sparse population spread across a large area: Australia has a smaller market compared to the more densely populated countries, firstly, by virtue of numbers alone (less people buying); and secondly, due to fewer stockists per area (less selling), resulting in prices needing to be higher to offset loss of profits. The more densely populated a country is, the lower the cost of goods because there are more people to buy them, leading to deflation. Australia's lack of population leads to inflation, which seems to be a factor many underestimate.

I live in THE most densely populated country in the world in terms of people/km2, yet prices are not lower

 

[Bullhax]

Sorry for the double post- but here are some more rumours from warseer for the next End Times Book.
-New Profile for Archaeon
-Cult of Slaanesh for Dark Elves
-New Units and Daemons
-Mono-Nurgle army list combing WoC & Daemons
-New Nurgle champion
-Possibly new (different looking) Great Unclean One
-Some old chaos characters return (Including Horstman, Aekold Helbrass and Arbaal the Undefeated)

Sounds very nice! Mono nurgle sounds grim especially with a 50/50 lord/hero allowance..!

 

[LordTobiothan]

I read the entire thread from start to finish before posting this, so while I don't have the best lore experience (i started in 7th) the discussion of Drachenfels interested me and I'm going to post about it dammit.

It seems to me his lore wouldn't need to be retconned, only clarified. From what I've read in the thread and from reading the links posted, Drachenfels wasn't evil, and likely never had a talent for being that way. He just happened to gain his power so early in the worlds history and having been shunned by his kind it developed in a lonely and likely angry environment devoid of others like him. This explains why he chooses to mess with people over seeking conquest or simply being out for blood.

The character appears to have continued to develop into a deity of sorts, having had use of his power for so unbelievably long and with that comes a natural loss of morality. Mortals and immortals alike seem barely worth the air they breath to a man like him. So they become nothing but play things, he is like an all powerful genie released from his lamp who stands to gain nothing by ruling or slaughtering, but stands to stave off his never ending boredom by playing along with their mortal concerns, toying with their minds/bodies, or simply beating them in mundane ways.

Yes I am fully aware I am reading way too much into him, and GW is nowhere near high quality enough (especially back then) to intend or even attempt a character like this, but I think what little story he has gave him the framework for it and if he returns I would hope that it would be as a bumbling idiot who is always "screwing things up" but to everyone's surprise always comes out of it not only alive but having pissed off damn near everybody in the process. And forgive me for this reference, but basically Tobi before he is revealed to be Madara (Naruto examples ftw)

 

[Alastor]

I disagree, I think he needs serious rest conning to fit in with the established background. An ancient, body-jumping, proto human spirit with exceptionally strong magical powers is cool and fine by me. They need to update the details, not the idea.

 

[Sanai]

The problem is just how laughably badly written the Drachenfels fluff is. It sounds like some 12 year olds homebrew character. "The Poison Feast"? Really?

 

[GDD]

I had my Drachenfels rant at page 35-36 so I can only say I agree.. As he is I feel he has no place in the fluff.

 

[Alastor]

Oh definitely, but lots of older fluff is the same. Hell, most of GW 40k fluff is the same now. My point is that Drachenfels is a really good idea as a character, just need to erase some parts of the history (the poison feast is a prime example) and rewrite certain facts, such as a pre slaan human, bring him up to date with the current setting.

 

[John Rainbow]

I'm also looking forward to the Cult of Slaanesh. Bring back the Anointed!

 

[Banat]

Oh definitely, but lots of older fluff is the same. Hell, most of GW 40k fluff is the same now. My point is that Drachenfels is a really good idea as a character, just need to erase some parts of the history (the poison feast is a prime example) and rewrite certain facts, such as a pre slaan human, bring him up to date with the current setting.

The poison feast sounds wonderfully shakespearean as does his reappearance at the play supposed to be about defeating him. make him a loki esque shakespearean trickster. definitely get rid of the pre slan history thought. get should be 500 to 700 years old atm i think.