Start your engines Imperial Guard fans, because new IG rules may be on the way! GW may have just revealed that something very Imperial looking may be next.
We’ve been seeing short stories to help hype-up the next Psychic Awakening release, The Greater Good. And in those short stories from Warhammer Community, we’ve seen named factions like Death Guard, Tau, and Genestealer Cults all have a role to play. However, with the latest video from Warhammer TV, there is new hope for imperial support!
First, here are the highlights of previous Psychic Awakening: The Greater Good announcements.
Tau Commander Shadowsun Model for 2020
We had seen the teaser image from before, but we had no idea she’d be looking this dope and being able to lead any Sept.
Best of all, as befits this iconic hero of the empire, she can now lead any Sept, not just those of her homeworld, so she can take command of any T’au Empire collection***. We think she’ll look right at home at the head of a strike force of Stealth Suits and Ghostkeels.
For a single T4 model, she’s coming with a scenic base, multiple head options, and her own Drones. There’s a lot going on in this kit and we are here for it.
Death Guard & GSC Mentioned in Earlier Stories
In an earlier short story, Commander O’Shaserra battling an overwhelming force of Chaos Death Guard on the Imperium side of the Startide Nexus relayed a message. It seems that the lost Fourth Sphere fleet experienced an “Event Horizon” mishap as they transversed the Warp without psychic protection.
‘This is O’Shaserra speaking. I hope this message arrives in time for you to be warned. In time for you to act. We successfully traversed the Startide Nexus and established contact with our lost brothers and sisters of the Fourth Sphere. As suspected, they had suffered a failure of their AL-38 Slipstream modules but… we don’t understand exactly what happened yet.”
Shadowsun was warning the forces on the Tau side of the Startide Nexus that a fleet of Death Guard would be emerging from the portal. And that her forces would not be able to defeat the plague fleet.
“Thus,’ Commander Shadowsun spoke on, ‘I have come to a decision. We cannot stop the Death Guard this side of the Startide Nexus. After dozens of battles, our fleets are too damaged. Our strength has depleted to a point that we cannot halt this incursion any longer, if we still want to secure the expansion of the Nem’yar Atoll. We are now forced to choose, and we choose the latter. We are trusting in you, our comrades beyond the Nexus, to counteract the Death Guard threat.”
Be sure to read the full story for yourself to get a better picture of everything that’s happening. But coming from Warhammer Community, they dropped another short story on some Genestealer Cults overthrowing an Imperial outpost. They killed an investigator and a few Guardsmen in the story and left with a cold look into the GSC’s purpose:
There is a unity to which we can all belong, he read, a higher purpose. A greater good.
While there wasn’t any focus on the Tau or Death Guard in this short story, this could be a precursor to what the GSC went through before all three forces converge.- Something we have yet to see.
However, taking this story and combining it with the new Shadowsun previews using GSC models, it looks like we’ve just got our confirmed third faction.
Latest Video Takes Death Guard Out of the Picture?
The video is very similar to how the Skitarii Dunerider/Disintegrator was first teased. It’s an audio log of three factions that have something to say about their role in the universe.
Imperial Involvement
First up, we have what looks to be SOMETHING Imperial. It looks like it’s a Servitor talking with the little artwork in the bottom right. As for the artwork in the background of the screen, we’re not exactly sure what those are. They could also be Servitors but the figure on the left looks to be holding some kind of light in their hand. We’re not sure if that might be some new Psyker or not. The big takeaway here, however, is that the Imperium is involved with this story. Meaning they could pop up in the book.
As far as Imperial factions go that haven’t gotten Psychic Awakening support, there’s really only Imperial Guard, Deathwatch, and Custodes. And with that, a Guard/Tau book would be a nice mirror-match in terms of firepower.
Tau, Obviously
Obviously, Tau are in the book. We know this after seeing the Shadowsun model revealed and the title of the book pretty much being a dead giveaway.
GSC with a New Potential Model?
And finally, there’s the GSC. As we said, the Cult appeared in a short story (linked above). But they essentially overthrew some Imperial outpost. We all thought that Death Guard was going to push the Tau into this area only to find that it’s been overrun by the Cult. However, with this video not giving any details on Death Guard, we’re left with two possible options.
- Death Guard will be in it but will also come as a fourth faction similar to the new Engine War book (containing four factions).
- Death Guard won’t be in it but could come in a later book release (If GW gave support to factions like Night Lords and World Eaters there’s no way they would skip over DG).
While we all might be a little confused about what’s going on, it’s also important to look at this four-armed dude in the background of the Cult artwork. We’re not exactly sure if this is a new model hidden in plain sight, but it has its face hidden. Its torso is too humanoid and upright to be a Patriarch. It does have four arms, however, no scything talons and is holding a staff, a dagger, and some kind of cog (or is that a symbol of the Aun- the Tau Etherals?).
After looking at all of this, we have to remember, that GW has no reason to tease factions/models if they don’t have any plans to release them in the future.
So where did Death Guard go? Is that a new Cult model? We have to wait and see.
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About the Author: Wesley Floyd
Wesley Floyd
Job Title: Staff Writer
Joined: 2018
Socials: @RealmbrushPainting
About Wesley Floyd: Wes has been in the Warhammer hobby since 2015 and joined the Spikey Bits writing team in 2018. He is known for his satirist takes on trending topics and imaginative yet amazingly affordable hobby solutions to painting Warhammer miniatures.
Imperial fanboy, tabletop fanatic, and the self-proclaimed King of Sprues. He knows for a fact that Mephiston red is the best-tasting paint and is the commission painting equivalent of a Wendy’s 4 for $4. If you like what he writes and want to contact him or have your tabletop minatures painted (to a mostly okayish standard), message him on Instagram.
