RUMORS: Men of Iron Part of New Squats Release

By Travis Pasch | April 22nd, 2022 | Categories: Squats: Leagues of Votann, Tabletop Gaming News, Warhammer 40k

Check out these rumors about Age of Strife tech like Men of Iron releasing alongside the Leagues of Votann squats for Warhammer 40k!

We had been hearing rumors for some time now about Squats actually making a triumphant return to Warhammer 40k (basically since they went away). and now we know it’s happening! The best part is probably faster than the big build-up to the Sisters of Battle, as they already have miniatures painted even!

We’ll take a look at all the Warhammer Community teasers for the Squats aka Leagues of Votann first, (and highlight how often they talk about the Age of Strife tech and other hints), then jump into the new rumors from B&C by way of Valrak!

GW Confirms New 40k Squats aka the Leagues of Votann

April Fool’s joke? The Leagues of Votann don’t do jokes! Or probably April for that matter…

Yes, they’re really real. In an April Fools double-bluff that had Tzeentch himself scratching his feathered head, Humanity’s long-lost cousins actually are making their return to the 41st Millennium as a full Warhammer 40,000 faction.

The model itself is really sweet and honestly, the name change is probably a good thing as it just sounds cool. But we won’t mind if you call them by their OG name!

These warriors have a long and proud martial history, and to those who aren’t on their bad side, they’re known as the Leagues of Votann – though they refer to themselves as Kin.

Although their civilisation shares common roots with Humanity, the Leagues of Votann have an uneasy relationship with the Imperium of Man. Unlike their superstitious Human cousins, the Leagues emerged from the Age of Strife with far more of their ancient technology intact, including some infamous advances the Imperium would consider extremely heretical.

This is a cool idea in terms of weaponry as well. It looks like you just won’t have shorter Guardsmen with Lasguns or something like that. Let’s just hope they have some really cool weapons!

Their knack for science and a headstrong nature make for skilled warriors backed up by reliable weaponry, as you can see from even this basic trooper. And while there’s no love lost between the Leagues of Votann and Humankind, the resurgence of Chaos and ascendent xenos hordes mean there are usually more pressing concerns than fighting each other.

Even More New 40k Squats Revealed By Games Workshop

Like we said Warhammer Community teased even more new 40k Squats miniatures for the Leagues of Votann in their reveal video, but let’s take a look at the rumored new units coming for them first then compare them to these:

The units inside will be an Ancient (HQ), ten troopers (supposedly with padded armor and sunglasses), 5 Exo-suits, and 1 Thudd gun (Heavy Support).

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So obviously the padded armor bit was false, perhaps the OP of these rumors had not gotten a look at the models yet. To us, they look more like the Terran suits worn in Starcraft.

Here are the outlines of four more Squats models from the reveal video that seem to share some similarities with the first model we have already seen.

This new model looks to have some sort of climbing gear that may or may not have been a rumor engine pic as well. It also looks to be in the same pattern of armor.

This model looks to have a drum-fed weapon, also with a similar armor pattern to the first, and an extra piece of wargear on his pack.

This miniature appears to have a pistol-type weapon, similar armor with no helmet, and some sort of wargear or icon attached to his pack.

Lastly, this image appears to show a new pattern that may be helmeted with some sort of power weapon and hand weapon similar in style to Terminators. Perhaps this is a shot of the famous “exo-armor” that we have seen in years past?

So for now at least we have “seen” five new models for the upcoming Leagues of Votann Squats army! While Games Workshop says it will be a few months before we see them, we’re sure there will be teasers and lore articles galore in the meantime!

RUMORS: Men of Iron Part of New Squats Release

These new rumors from last summer from B&C by way of Valrak are all about the Men of Iron AND Squats believe it or not. At the time, hearing about Squats was enough to blow our minds, but, there are actually a lot of little clues pointing towards this.

Mainly, GW mentions the Age of Strife many times, and the paint scheme between the two models is very “similar”. Furthermore, they mention more than once that the Squats have a very shaky alliance with mankind.

Unlike their superstitious Human cousins, the Leagues emerged from the Age of Strife with far more of their ancient technology intact, including some infamous advances the Imperium would consider extremely heretical.

And while there’s no love lost between the Leagues of Votann and Humankind, the resurgence of Chaos and ascendent xenos hordes mean there are usually more pressing concerns than fighting each other.

So first off, this rumor from a while back, and considering the Squats came true, it’s more than possible for this to be true as well! That being said we don’t expect them to have their own faction, more something like the Kroot for Tau- basically along those lines. Maybe just a few units in the book you can take to buff up your army.

Considering these robots (whether sentient or not) come from around the Age of Strife, and they had huge wars with many types of humans, there’s a chance the Squats made an alliance with them or harnessed them somehow. Plus, with the Squats having Age of Strife tech, it makes even more sense.

Lastly, with GW making a mini for them in Blackstone Fortress, there’s a basis for the models in general. Oh and have we mentioned the paint jobs yet?

Man of Iron (Imperial Robot) From Blackstone Fortress: 2018

While the paint scheme isn’t identical, it’s close enough for us to compare. They are pretty stingy on how they choose their schemes for new models, With this, it’s definitely something we could see, not that the rumors are anywhere near 100% but it would make sense for them to bring both old school ideas in one go!

40k Squats Leagues of Votann Lore Revealed!

A secretive people in a galaxy full of mortal threats, the Kin do not discuss the nature of the Votann with outsiders – by sacred custom and sensible caution. The word is used freely enough, but no-one beyond the Leagues has any clue what it refers to.

There’s good reason for this reticence – if the secrets of the Votann were ever revealed to the galaxy at large, the uneasy peace between the Leagues and the Imperium of Man would quickly crumble.

Why? The Votann are Ancestor Cores – super-cogitators, gestalt repositories of inherited wisdom and knowledge. Each League has its own Votann, central to its way of life, and no Kin would hesitate to lay down their lives to protect it – these venerable cogitators are as sacred to the Kin as gods are to the more spiritual races. That’s the sort of thing the Adeptus Mechanicus has strong opinions on.

This really allows GW to lean into new/old weapons that will set them apart from the rest of the armies in 40k. Plus, all this talk of ancient tech also really gives them the opportunity to bring about some really old stuff back into the game.

Also, the Votanns themselves are a really cool idea, supercomputers that just give all the answers. We’re sure they get 42 a lot of the time, but hey, what can you expect?

Within these self-organising datastacks and quantum infocores is held all the information a people might need to survive among the stars – weapon specifications, military theory, genealogical data, science, philosophy, and even Standard Template Constructs. There is an unimaginable wealth of lore buried in each Votann, which cannot be allowed to fall into the more superstitious hands of outsiders.

Of course, the 41st Millennium being what it is, not all is well among the Votann – it turns out that even machines of near-limitless power can eventually run out of memory. Whoever first created these marvels did not design them for tens of thousands of years of constant operation, and the sheer weight of data they are forced to compute has begun to slow them down.

Well, it wouldn’t be 40k without tech failing! This would also lead to some really cool scenarios you could play out with them hunting for tech to fix up the machines. They also mention that it can now take decades or centuries for the info to pop out!

Again though, they are really changing them into a proper faction with a backstory all focused around sticking to the old ways, but a need to venture out. Now with all this revealed, we’d not at all be surprised to see them with some super old robots to help them out!

Here’s all the latest on the upcoming rules updates and points changes for Warhammer 40k.

Click Gallery below for full-size images.

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Here’s the most up-to-date list of new Games Workshop bits from preview models that we should keep an eye out for. Click on the gallery above to see dozens of Rumor Engines with new models still left to be revealed!

All the Newest GW Model & Rules Previews For 2022

Are you excited about the return of Squats er the Leagues of Votann and potentially the Men of Iron as well?

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