Big Summer Preview Night: Votann, Chaos Dwarfs, Kill Team and Too Much Dwarf Energy
We had one of those very normal hobby evenings that somehow turned into live-commenting the whole Warhammer Summer Preview in chat.
It started strong: Votann opened the preview, so naturally Wilini immediately pinged Andrzej to get in here because this was clearly becoming his kind of show.
And then it just escalated in the most predictable Wiatry Magii way possible.
This preview had suspiciously strong dwarf energy
Very quickly we got to the point where it felt like the entire event had been tailored for one specific audience segment: people who like short, angry, heavily armoured factions.
First Votann. Then new Chaos Dwarfs for Age of Sigmar. Then more dwarf-adjacent excitement for The Old World. At some point Andrzej summed it up perfectly: there was simply too much of it all at once — KO, Votann, Salamanders, TOW dwarfs. A dangerous amount of hobby temptation for one preview.
Wilini called it early: this preview was basically for Ender.
The new Chaos Dwarfs definitely made an impression. The first reactions in chat were extremely subtle and measured, by which we mean: these are cool, and also what is that absolutely unhinged golem thing?
And honestly? Fair. Those reveals had presence.
Some reveals immediately triggered the “why doesn’t my army get this?” response
One of our favourite hobby emotions is seeing a new model and instantly wishing it existed for a different faction in a different aesthetic. Ender had exactly that reaction to one of the previewed pieces — this was the kind of thing he had hoped to see for Kharadron Overlords, just in proper KO style.
That is such a specific Warhammer feeling that we suspect most readers will understand immediately.
Space Marines also showed up to make things worse for our wallets
As if the dwarf overload wasn’t enough, the preview also dropped new Space Marine content, including Salamanders getting some love. Ender’s reaction was immediate and heartfelt: Salamanders CP!
Then, just seconds later, the more realistic follow-up: there was already too much cool stuff in this preview.
There was also mention of a new Salamanders character, which definitely did not help anyone stay calm and responsible.
Kill Team quietly did something really interesting
In the middle of all the faction hype, one reveal got a different kind of reaction: Kill Team against AI, co-op style.
That immediately stood out to us, because it sounds like the kind of thing that could be genuinely great for casual evenings, narrative play, or just getting games in without the usual 1v1 structure. Michał’s reaction was basically: ooooh, they made co-op Kill Team against AI — and yes, that does sound very promising.
There was also a nice-looking box in the mix, which got an approving response too.
We’re really curious whether this ends up being a novelty mode or something with real staying power, because on paper it sounds like exactly the sort of experiment Kill Team should be doing.
Meanwhile, in The Old World corner: rules questions, Tomb Kings, and list talk
Because no preview night is complete without at least one rules detour, the chat also drifted into The Old World. Stas threw in the Warhammer Community article about Tomb Kings and upcoming Old World releases, and from there we naturally landed in a proper beginner-rules-question spiral.
Topics included:
- how attacks work in TOW,
- what Multiple Wounds (D6) actually means in practice,
- what on earth the Black Powder Misfire table is,
- why units have a Champion,
- and, of course, asking for a nicely formatted 1,000 point list.
In other words: exactly the kind of conversation that tells us the system is alive and well in our group brain, even when we start the evening by watching reveals.
There was also appreciation for more Old World content in general, because the summer preview clearly didn’t forget the rank-and-flank crowd.
Final thoughts
This was one of those previews where the main takeaway wasn’t one single massive announcement, but the sheer density of things that made somebody in our chat go:
- “oh no”
- “that’s cool”
- “this is for me specifically”
- or “I did not need to see this because now I want it”
So, a successful preview, basically.
For us, the big themes of the evening were:
- Votann kicking things off strongly
- Chaos Dwarfs looking great in Age of Sigmar
- Salamanders and other Space Marine chapter content adding to the pile
- Kill Team trying something genuinely fresh with co-op vs AI
- The Old World continuing to tempt us into rules discussions and list building
Also, we have to say it again: this really was an absurdly dwarf-coded preview.
And we mean that as a compliment.