One interesting line of enquirer I indulge in is wondering how GW will shape the story of their stories in the coming years. The Warhammer universe is currently wrapping up it’s epic 60+ book series examining the Horus Heresy, and it got me wondering, could they do something similar for Age of Sigmar?
In many ways the transition from the Old World serves a similar narrative function to the Horus Heresy stories. These have already been adapted into a set of novels, but even these couldn’t handle the absolute narrative trainwreck. Thus, if there will be an epic series for Age of Sigmar it should probably be a new series.
Now, Age of Sigmar may just go its own way, and avoid the comparisons with 40k, but they may try something similar with a unique twist fitting for the setting. One possible example I think could work would be a portion of the Death faction turning to chaos:
Why it could work:
There are some surprising links between the Undead and Chaos factions in the old lore. There are several examples of the forces of chaos and necromancers working together in the past. There have been numerous examples of dissension in the ranks of the Undead, including the Summerking and the wars between the Mortarchs. Nagash is routinely depicted as a harsh monarch that has battled with the Chaos Gods in the past and has earned their ire. Furthermore, this would open the option for some pretty cool model options.
Chaos is the most logical choice, as the other factions they could defect to make less sense. When it comes to order, there is already a lot of parallels with the Stormcast Eternals. It wouldn’t make much sense to defect to Destruction, although that would be an interesting avenue. That leaves the forces of chaos as being the best fit.
Why it Won’t Work:
Let;s get the big objection out of the way first. The lore writers of AoS shouldn’t feel compelled to follow the lead of 40k, and even if they did there is no guarantee it would work. Secondly, the issue with the dead is that they don’t have as much to offer the forces of chaos beyond one or two strong characters. Having a delineation between the two factions may prove difficult, they may work for a small faction but may also be difficult to balance in the game (and we all know the last thing AoS needs is another undersized faction).
What do you all think? DO you think AoS would benefit from a surprise betrayal narrative? IF so where should that betrayal come from? Let me know in the comments!
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