How might Squats return to the setting?

[phandaal]

If they return, i suspect it would be on the end of some retirements or other rollovers inside the Studio.  Alan Blighe went out of his way to connect the OOP RT era models to the Horus Heresy, when all he was really obliged to reference was the old Power Armor models.  We are likewise seeing some older things like Ambulls back in limited capacity.  But, it is strange to think that these products are being reintroduced after the people who presumably killed them off, or cut them from the scene have departed GW.  So odd to consider that Squats have been gone much, much longer than they were around.

 

Squats definitely had to wait until their haters at GW retired or moved on. A few of them decided years and years ago that Squats were "too fantasy" for 40k and that was that, customers be damned.

 

For the record: if GW releases a full Squat range I will open up my bank account and they can swim around in it like Scrooge McDuck.

Edited October 21, 2021 by phandaal

[Skaorn]

Looks like more good news for the rumor that Squats are coming back

[Dark Shepherd]

Looks like more good news for the rumor that Squats are coming back

Would just be plain cruel of that was the only part that wasnt

[Marshal Reinhard]

I think it's worth going over the rumors that were stated with regards to the squats.

 

If I recall correctly, there was first a large rumor dump posted here on B&C, that was then soon deleted at the posters own request. A lot of the contents of that post was then recycled in a large "tg leaks" post which included additional tidbits, and doomsday mongering of AdTit etc, which wasn't really entirely credible.

 

Were the rumors of the squat return part of the initial rumor dump, which in contrast I believe has proven to be 100% accurate so far, and if so what exactly were the details of the rumor? I recall seeing "men of iron" mentioned in conjunction with Squats. Was this detail from the credible source?

[excelite]

Yes the squats were in the initial b&c dump, but iirc it was only the single word „squats“, without any specific detail at all

[Old-Four-Arms]

IIRC, the initial rumor dump on B&C consisted of two separate posts : a very Black Templar-centric one which has since proven to be 99% correct (an Ancient was mentioned as well at that point) and a second post which mentioned various factions/armies for 2022 and projects in the pipeline without a specific date.

 

Squats were part of this last category in the second post. Worth noting that Bob (over at War-of-Sigmar) mentioned that according to his sources Squats would get "more than a kill team" and that he also heard something about a possible thudd gun..

Edited October 31, 2021 by Old-Four-Arms

[The Neverborn]

This may be controversial, but it's a "when" squats will come, not and "if". I'm also 99% that we'll see female space marines too. (That's a statement not an condemnation or endorsement) 

 

Of all the things GW do well getting the hobbyists to accept... whatever it is they want them to accept is one of the best. Q.E.D. Primarius, resurrection of Guilliman.

 

It will be along the lines of the Great Grand Master and Greatest ever X (who we've not mentioned until now), who toiled for X thousand years, with some magic kafuffle from the Warp... mysterious gods... and powers and billion-to-one circumstance.

 

Then boom!

 

Here's some new mini's, you should buy them

Edited October 31, 2021 by Battle Brother Abderus

[Dark Shepherd]

I think the big push (to centre stage) that sisters got puts the kibosh on female marines for a long time

 

Female squats though....

[phandaal]

This may be controversial, but it's a "when" squats will come, not and "if". I'm also 99% that well see female space marines too. (That's a statement not an condemnation of endorsement)

 

Of all the things GW do well getting the hobbyists to accept... whatever it is they want them to accept is one of the best. Q.E.D. Primarius, resurrection of Guilliman.

 

It will be along the lines of the Great Grand Master and Greatest ever X (who we've not mentioned until now), who toiled for X thousand years, with some magic kafuffle from the Warp... mysterious gods... and powers and billion-to-one circumstance.

 

Then boom!

 

Here's some new mini's, you should buy them

If GW had not abandoned their plan to turn 40k into Age of Sigmar in Space, that probably would have happened.

[TheVoidDragon]

Hopefully squats, if they do return, are just fantasy dwarves in Space. Part of the problem with them before (according to a post that was supposedly from Andy Chambers) was that they'd gone for a direction that turned what was a proud, stoic, beloved fantasy race into something that was effectively a joke. Their depiction in Epic was closer to what they really wanted them to be with well-crafted giant warmachines and such rather than the silly biker dwarves they had gone for.

 

 

This may be controversial, but it's a "when" squats will come, not and "if". I'm also 99% that well see female space marines too. (That's a statement not an condemnation of endorsement)

Of all the things GW do well getting the hobbyists to accept... whatever it is they want them to accept is one of the best. Q.E.D. Primarius, resurrection of Guilliman.

It will be along the lines of the Great Grand Master and Greatest ever X (who we've not mentioned until now), who toiled for X thousand years, with some magic kafuffle from the Warp... mysterious gods... and powers and billion-to-one circumstance.

Then boom!

Here's some new mini's, you should buy them

If GW had not abandoned their plan to turn 40k into Age of Sigmar in Space, that probably would have happened.

 

That was something they were going to do? What suggests that?

[Iron Father Ferrum]

I was told -- I don't believe it, but the narrative at least was -- that the end of 7th was going to have a big time jump to the start of 8th. Primaris were just going to be a reorganization of the Space Marines under G-man as a result of the Cicatrix Maledictum splitting the galaxy in half. Other races would eventually get similar reworks; the Eldar would have all been united as Ynnari, for example.

 

The WFB End Times ---> AoS transition was so poorly received that GW switched gears and gave us the lore we actually received.

 

I've never seen this confirmed by anyone from GW so as far as I'm concerned itsa fan theory and not actual fact.

[phandaal]

I was told -- I don't believe it, but the narrative at least was -- that the end of 7th was going to have a big time jump to the start of 8th. Primaris were just going to be a reorganization of the Space Marines under G-man as a result of the Cicatrix Maledictum splitting the galaxy in half. Other races would eventually get similar reworks; the Eldar would have all been united as Ynnari, for example.

 

The WFB End Times ---> AoS transition was so poorly received that GW switched gears and gave us the lore we actually received.

 

I've never seen this confirmed by anyone from GW so as far as I'm concerned itsa fan theory and not actual fact.

 

 

There was also something about the Emperor becoming a warp entity/god thing like Sigmar did in AoS.

 

And yeah nobody from Games Workshop ever spelled it out. But it fits my GW head-canon, so I take it as the gospel truth.

[Tymell]

I'm a little late to the discussion on this, but if Squats were to return in some significant way, I like the idea of it being connected with AI/Men of Iron in some fashion.

 

What I'd want to see with re-done Squats is something decently distinct from existing factions (not just "slow, hardy Guard" or the like), something lore-wise that isn't just "another Imperial faction/Tau Empire species" and something with a suitably grimdark spin to better fit into the 40k universe than just "Space Dwarfs" (while still having some ties to that archetype, but modified). I feel like the above could allow for all of that.

 

Just as a hypothetical, say the Squat homeworlds were indeed overrun (could be by Tyranids, or Orks, or some mixture) and they were presumed extinct save for small groups scattered across the galaxy. But in truth many of them hid away, perhaps in some sort of "pocket dimension" (some sort of sci-fi play on Dwarfs' tendency to dig down underground). But with their reduced numbers and being cut off, they turned to some darker technological ideas to help their race survive. And perhaps when they do re-emerge, they've become something darker. Not Chaotic, but bitter and resentful, unforgiving of other races they feel contributed to their plight or who didn't do enough to help them when they needed it, and with no qualms about using extreme measures to assure their survival. This could include dangerous AI, to the point where it's not just them employing robots to help them, but perhaps it's questionable just how much one commands the other. Are they, as a race, giving themselves over to robotic slavery in their desperate need to survive and settle their grudges? Maybe they tell themselves they're still in charge, but these AI systems are gaining more and more power and control within their society.

 

Of course, I'm by no means a writer or games designer, it's just my thoughts and ideas on how Squats might be able to return in a potentially interesting fashion.

[TheVoidDragon]

I'm a little late to the discussion on this, but if Squats were to return in some significant way, I like the idea of it being connected with AI/Men of Iron in some fashion.

 

What I'd want to see with re-done Squats is something decently distinct from existing factions (not just "slow, hardy Guard" or the like), something lore-wise that isn't just "another Imperial faction/Tau Empire species" and something with a suitably grimdark spin to better fit into the 40k universe than just "Space Dwarfs" (while still having some ties to that archetype, but modified). I feel like the above could allow for all of that.

 

Just as a hypothetical, say the Squat homeworlds were indeed overrun (could be by Tyranids, or Orks, or some mixture) and they were presumed extinct save for small groups scattered across the galaxy. But in truth many of them hid away, perhaps in some sort of "pocket dimension" (some sort of sci-fi play on Dwarfs' tendency to dig down underground). But with their reduced numbers and being cut off, they turned to some darker technological ideas to help their race survive. And perhaps when they do re-emerge, they've become something darker. Not Chaotic, but bitter and resentful, unforgiving of other races they feel contributed to their plight or who didn't do enough to help them when they needed it, and with no qualms about using extreme measures to assure their survival. This could include dangerous AI, to the point where it's not just them employing robots to help them, but perhaps it's questionable just how much one commands the other. Are they, as a race, giving themselves over to robotic slavery in their desperate need to survive and settle their grudges? Maybe they tell themselves they're still in charge, but these AI systems are gaining more and more power and control within their society.

 

Of course, I'm by no means a writer or games designer, it's just my thoughts and ideas on how Squats might be able to return in a potentially interesting fashion.

 

I really don't like the idea of them being joined by the Men of Iron myself, I feel like that would be yet another thing that takes away some of the mystery and backstory that makes the setting intriguing. It would be moving something from an area of lore where we can theorize about what they were like and what happened, to something where they're just yet another part of the setting that's just "there". I don't mind UR-025 from blackstone fortress too much, as he's just a single Man of Iron and that doesn't answer too much, but I don't want to see something that works best because we don't know all the truth of it all become something effectively mundane. Especially if they'd just be part of another faction as well. They should remain as long-lost history, that's where i think they serve the setting best. Them having their own robots and such would be another matter though, I feel that would be fine.

[Plasmablasts]

Actually, having Squats as a heretek faction, using AI technology as a survival strategy, could be an interesting idea. An explicit link to the Men of Iron might be too much, but some vague hints that there might be a connection could work.

[phandaal]

We do have Chaos Dwarves as a template for Heretek Squats, and they have that awesome Babylonian style.

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

I was told -- I don't believe it, but the narrative at least was -- that the end of 7th was going to have a big time jump to the start of 8th. Primaris were just going to be a reorganization of the Space Marines under G-man as a result of the Cicatrix Maledictum splitting the galaxy in half. Other races would eventually get similar reworks; the Eldar would have all been united as Ynnari, for example.

 

The WFB End Times ---> AoS transition was so poorly received that GW switched gears and gave us the lore we actually received.

 

I've never seen this confirmed by anyone from GW so as far as I'm concerned itsa fan theory and not actual fact.

when I came back to the hobby and this forum one of the first topics I posted was about if 4K was getting the AoS treatment lol

[Triszin]

When Kharadton first dropped, I predicted a wave of conversions of them to Space Marines.

 

I was wrong, and I assumed that I overestimated the favorability of the fanbase towards Squats. *IF* we get anything other than more Necromunda/box game releases I will be surprised.

Agreed. I expect either a munda force or a one off kt

[Noserenda]

You can see a lot of dropped threads from 7th to 8th, all sorts of setups, planetary warzones, whole factions, just dropped like hot potatoes and gathering dust. :( 

[TheVoidDragon]

 

When Kharadton first dropped, I predicted a wave of conversions of them to Space Marines.

 

I was wrong, and I assumed that I overestimated the favorability of the fanbase towards Squats. *IF* we get anything other than more Necromunda/box game releases I will be surprised.

Agreed. I expect either a munda force or a one off kt

 

Why, though? The 2 Squat miniatures for Necromunda show they still have a place within the setting without too much needing to be changed, and if something like Genestealer Cult managed to be re-introduced to 40K again and seems to have done quite well (I'd assume so at least based off all the new miniatures they get) then I see no reason why Squats couldn't too.

[clanfield]

i think a few mining vessels scattered here and there obs affected my the galactic turmoil of the last few years maybe Mandalorian sorta only one guild is public at a time ,hunting down old tech /artifacts of the lost home worlds avenging them selves on there pillages.

 

 

love the idea of "new" old tech from the past but for me they need giant jawa sand crawlers to drive around in :P

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

 

When Kharadton first dropped, I predicted a wave of conversions of them to Space Marines.

 

I was wrong, and I assumed that I overestimated the favorability of the fanbase towards Squats. *IF* we get anything other than more Necromunda/box game releases I will be surprised.

Agreed. I expect either a munda force or a one off kt

What frustrates me is that it wouldn't be too hard to do both. Release a kill team box, along side a necromunda book for them. It'd be a good way to minimize risk.

[StraightSilver]

I'm wondering if, rather than returning to 40K, squats might make an appearance in the new 30K? If GW really want it to be as bib as AoS or 40K,and a lot of Heresy players are older fans, releasing plastic squats for a new system might tempt more people to opt into it?

Also gets around the fact they aren't in 40K.

[Dark Shepherd]

I'm wondering if, rather than returning to 40K, squats might make an appearance in the new 30K? If GW really want it to be as bib as AoS or 40K,and a lot of Heresy players are older fans, releasing plastic squats for a new system might tempt more people to opt into it?

 

Also gets around the fact they aren't in 40K.

Do we know if any Squats sided with Horus?

[Noserenda]

Plenty of Chaos squats back in the day, including OG remnants who sided with Horus.

I really doubt you will see a necromunda/kill team release, purely because of IP creep. It kinda works with 40k/Kill team because they are already deeply tied together  (Similarly AoS and Warcry/Underworlds) but Necromunda has been a discrete IP for a long time and licensed out a few times, even if SG wasnt technically a separate studio i doubt they would cross them over directly.