When Warhammer Age of Sigmar launched in 2015, many old-school fans groused that Warhammer was going soft or mainstream, losing its grim, dark edginess – but if GW can still drop absolute body-horror monstrosities like the new Skaven Brood Terror unveiled this week, I don’t think filth fans have anything to worry about.
Shown off via GW’s Warhammer Community site on Wednesday alongside the angelic new Stormcast Knight-Azyros, the Brood Terror is a truly hideous, two-headed Frankenstein’s monster, stitched together from one giant, mutant rat ogor, one regular Skaven, and lots of nasty-looking weapons made from brass, rust, and magic crystals. There’s a short, but sweet reveal clip, too – watch it below.
Comparing this horrific creation directly with the Stormcast Eternals‘ shiny, new, perfect angel perfectly demonstrates the satisfyingly massive difference in the models, design, theme, and lore of the two Age of Sigmar armies chosen to front the new edition launching next month.
And GW confirms more brand new Skaven and Stormcast models are on the way “in later months”, after its $275 (£160) Skaventide launch box arrives in July. But – naturally – we’ve no indication yet of when the Brood Terror is coming out as a single model, or how much the kit will cost (although we’d make an educated guess at around $60 (£40) based on the apparent size, complexity, and build options).
WarCom’s Wednesday reveal article says the Brood Terrors are “created in the foetid laboratories of the Clans Moulder” – the Age of Sigmar Skaven subfaction associated with gruesome flesh-melding and biowarfare experiments.
Moulder were infamously the creators of the Skaven’s classic Hell Pit Abomination monster mini, a brilliantly disturbing triumph of horror miniature-making – and, for our money, the new Brood Terror is a worthy modern successor (that’s going to be a hell of a lot easier to build).
The Brood Terror isn’t the only remotely scary, horror-themed, or generally unnerving mini Games Workshop has revealed for one of its main miniature wargames in recent years. GW has been making strides in this area of late, perhaps conscious of the cult successes surrounding indie darlings like Trench Crusade.
Our most recent favorite was another Age of Sigmar character, the Flesh-eater Courts’ spectacularly over-the-top Grand Justice Gormayne – essentially a ghoul judge with a gavel made of skulls, and a British style judge wig made of human intestines.
The Brood Terror doesn’t have the same gore factor, but it’s part of the same (encouraging) trend: GW is showing us it can and will still make genuinely gross, scary Warhammer models. At Wargamer, we say: more, please!
For all the latest from GW and the Warhammer Community, follow Wargamer on Google News.
And, for more Warhammery knowledge, check out our guide to all the Warhammer The Old World factions, all the many sci-fi Warhammer 40k factions, or our complete explainer on Space Marines.
Source: Wargamer
