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Warhammer Fest gave a glimpse at the future of Age of Sigmar in new campaign series Dawnbringers

A new dawn?

Image credit: Games Workshop

Warhammer: Age of Sigmar’s showing at Warhammer Fest was relatively subdued compared to Warhammer 40k’s Leviathan unveiling, but Games Workshop still had some great reveals. The next AoS campaign series has been revealed to be Dawnbringers and will be dropping sometime in the summer, with all the rules and minis support you’d expect.

Age of Sigmar loremasters will be aware that the name refers to the Dawnbringer Crusades that set forth from Sigmarite strongholds to reclaim land from the forces of Chaos, Death and Destruction. The Dawnbringers campaign focuses on the Twin-Tailed Crusade, a massive crusade setting forth from the plane-straddling city of Hammerhal to reconquer territory in Aqshy and Ghyran. Book one of Dawnbringers, subtitled Harbingers (sub-sub-sub-subtitled, really, “Warhammer: Age of Sigmar - Dawnbringers: Book 1 - Harbingers” is a bit of a mouthful) takes it name from four heralds, one for each Grand Alliance, and is stuffed full of new rules and background for your games.

The trailer for Age of Sigmar's Dawnbringers campaignWatch on YouTube

The four heralds in question were shown off at the Manchester event. Their minis look great. Nurgle-worshipping Phlugoth the Miser is particularly impressive, being a call back to a classic Citadel Chaos Champion miniature. Fjori of the Fyreslayers has been less well received by the community, as the faction already has loads of powerful characters and lacks in the troops department. The sentiments of Fyreslayer players are, in the words of the great Tina Turner, “we don’t need another hero”.

Moving on from the heralds, Orruk Warclans will soon be reinforced by the massive Maw-Grunta, a big pig that is not only armoured up to the chops, but can also carry three hulking Ironjawz Orruk warriors into battle.

AEW wrestler Kip Sabian discusses his love of Warhammer at Warhammer Fest 2023Watch on YouTube

The long awaited Cities of Sigmar refresh had a new unit revealed in the form of Freeguild Cavaliers. These heavily armed and armoured knights will be leading the charge in Dawnbringer Crusades everywhere. While the original Cities of Sigmar faction was a ragtag bunch of old Warhammer Fantasy Battle units that didn’t quite fit in with any of the new Age of Sigmar armies, the new battletome will bring brand new units with a uniquely AoS flavour. You can see this in the angular, dark fantasy stylings of the Freeguild Cavaliers, who also reflect GW’s drive to improve the diversity of its miniatures, with a fat lady knight being a particularly welcome inclusion.

Speaking of Warhammer Fantasy Battle, its forthcoming new incarnation, Warhammer: The Old World, had a slight showing at Warhammer Fest that was disappointing to many who were hoping for a larger reveal. What was shown was the first new miniatures for the game, heroes for the Bretonnian and Tomb Kings factions. These fantastic-looking Forge World resin miniatures are the first in what GW describes as a “flood of new models” for The Old World, so hopefully we’ll see more soon.

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