Rainbow Stormcast, Death Temptations, and a Very Warcry New Year
We closed out the year in a very on-brand way: by getting distracted by cool paint schemes, briefly considering entirely new armies, and then immediately falling into Warcry math.
Rainbow boys and Stormcast subfactions
It started with Michał sharing some very striking Stormcast paint jobs — the kind that instantly make you stop scrolling and go ok, that rules.
The scheme was apparently Sons of Mallus, which Michał recognized from 2d6, and that kicked off a small but important realization: Stormcast really do have their own equivalent of Space Marine-style subfactions, complete with distinct heraldry and color schemes. And yes, as Stas immediately pointed out, apparently there are even the fantasy equivalent of Ultramarines in there.
Honestly, this is one of those little army-building hooks that can get us every time. Sometimes a faction becomes much more interesting the moment we realize it is not just “gold armor guys,” but a whole set of different identities, vibes, and painting directions.
Not joining the adventure… but still absolutely hanging around
The bigger hobby update came from Dubry, who said that the start of the year is already packed with a few major projects, so for now he is not jumping fully into the Warhammer adventure.
But in the most relatable hobby twist possible, that doesn’t mean disappearing. Quite the opposite: he still wants to stay on the channel, come by for games, and check out Warcry, Spearhead, or full battles whenever possible — because, as he put it, the game looks fantastic in basically every format, and even just watching can be fun.
That feels very true to how these things often work. Not every hobby phase has to begin with buying an army and diving in headfirst. Sometimes the best way in is just to show up, watch a game, borrow some models, roll some dice, and see what sticks.
And since the lovingly named “pedałki” are already assembled, there is a decent chance for exactly that kind of soft entry.
The classic problem: second Warcry warband already?
Meanwhile, Michał started wondering whether he should build himself a second Warcry force.
This is, of course, an extremely healthy and reasonable thought to have when one has not yet fully settled the first one.
The initial idea was to go into Order, especially since there are some ready options close at hand. But then the conversation shifted, as it often does, toward Death.
And honestly? We get it.
Dubry made the very strong case that Death has some of the best miniatures around, which is especially persuasive coming from someone who historically was not exactly an undead enthusiast. That kind of endorsement carries weight.
Michał also immediately hit the classic list-building wall of “shame these cool ghosts can’t ally with my other weird favorites.” In this case: regret that Nighthaunt cannot just casually team up with rats. A very understandable complaint, even if the Grand Alliances are not always in the mood to support our best aesthetic ideas.
At the same time, the sensible plan remains in place: paint what is already owned first, and only then go deeper into new hobby projects.
A dangerous amount of wisdom for the last day of the year.
Also: terrain brain has activated
As if army-building decisions were not enough, Michał also mentioned wanting to start figuring out terrain in the meantime.
That feels like the natural next step once Warcry gets its claws in. At some point, the brain stops asking only “what warband do we want?” and starts asking “what kind of board do we want to fight on?”
And that is how the hobby expands.
Kharadron rules tech and the joy of ability math
Then we moved from aesthetics and future plans into the noble discipline of overthinking Warcry probabilities.
Ender had already dug into Kharadron Overlords and found what sounds like a very central gameplay lesson: if possible, they should be using Fight for Profit — a triple that gives fighters within 3” of the leader +1 Attack. In other words: a key part of how the warband actually hits hard.
That naturally led into the question of how often various ability dice combinations really show up.
Stas ran a simulation and shared the results:
- 10,000 total rolls
- 12,037 doubles
- 3,270 triples
- 534 quads
Which immediately produced the correct response from Michał: so what, 120% of rolls are doubles?
And yes, obviously the answer is that a single roll can contain more than one double. Still, it is exactly the sort of number that looks delightfully cursed when seen out of context.
The really fun part came after that: Stas pointed out that once you include the wild dice as the seventh die, then by the pigeonhole principle there is a 100% chance of getting at least one double. That is the kind of sentence that makes Warcry feel even more elegantly designed than it first appears.
It is always satisfying when a game mechanic turns out to have this kind of mathematical backbone under the hood.
Underworlds box temptation, because of course
And because no hobby discussion is complete without at least one dangerous shopping idea, Michał also spotted an Underworlds pack for 269 PLN and proposed a split deal with Stas, taking most of the box and offering him a quarter.
This is another very familiar stage of army-building and skirmish gaming: not necessarily committing to a full new project, but definitely eyeing a box that could become a warband, an ally pool, painting fodder, or all three at once.
End-of-year status: still deciding, still hyped
So where did we land?
- Stormcast paint schemes can absolutely trigger new faction interest.
- Dubry is not starting an army yet, but is still very much in orbit.
- Michał is hovering between sensible restraint and a second Warcry project.
- Death remains dangerously attractive.
- Kharadron players should probably be thinking about triples.
- Wild dice guarantee at least one double, which still feels slightly magical.
- Terrain and box-splitting schemes are already creeping into the plan.
In other words: a completely normal and healthy end to the year in the Warhammer hobby.
And honestly, that is one of the things we like most about this stage. Before armies are fully locked in, before collections get too settled, everything still feels possible. A paint scheme, one clever rule interaction, or one suspiciously good box can still send the whole plan in a new direction.
That is half the fun.
