The AoS Dragons and 40k

[Valkyrion]

Is there room in 40k for a massive monster army? That is to say, an army of massive monsters, not a massive army of monsters.

 

An organic version of Imperial/Chaos Knights - all Lords of War choices.

 

Is there any fluff out there, even in 30k, to support such a faction? 

 

 

[BloodyB]

Is there room in 40k for a massive monster army? That is to say, an army of massive monsters, not a massive army of monsters.

 

An organic version of Imperial/Chaos Knights - all Lords of War choices.

 

Is there any fluff out there, even in 30k, to support such a faction?

 

Plenty of beasties are mentioned, especially Great Crusade era monsters, like the creepy spider monsters the Blood Angels fought at some point. Honestly, I can't see them adding anything like that outside of Tyranids, either bringing in some Titanic Nids, or maybe an organic Imperial Knight, maybe for GSC. And lastly, Daemons might get some big kits.

 

Outside of those, it seems unlikely for now.

[AenarIT]

Maybe not another low model count army after IK and CK, but I can see them releasing more and more big models for existing factions.

If they ever refresh the Tau auxiliaries for example, I’d say that a plastic Greater Knarloc is a given. Same thing if they ever release Exodites: who doesn’t love big dinos?

Edited December 31, 2021 by AenarIT

[Scribe]

"Am I a joke to you?" - Nids

[Doghouse]

The Knights in the original lore fought giant dinosaurs so yeah it is perfectly reasonable to fight dragons. 

[Redcomet]

Is there room in 40k for a massive monster army? That is to say, an army of massive monsters, not a massive army of monsters.

 

An organic version of Imperial/Chaos Knights - all Lords of War choices.

 

Is there any fluff out there, even in 30k, to support such a faction? 

Tyranids is the best bet atm

[Valkyrion]

Tyranids aren't what I'm describing - I'm talking something to fill the dragon trope in fantasy.

Tyranids are insects in space - if all there was of them were gigantic monsters they'd be much more easily defeated, but they are a swarm, a plague etc etc

 

Daemons, again, not what I'm describing - a nurgling is hardly akin to a dragon. 

 

I'm meaning space whales, or space mammoths, or space dinosaurs - a full race of proper giants and on the tabletop there'd only be 4 of them in an army. That kind of race. 

[Red_Shift]

Maybe with an exodite release. Their whole thing is elves on dinosaurs.

[Valkyrion]

Maybe with an exodite release. Their whole thing is elves on dinosaurs.

 

Like dino riders, remember this tv show?

 

Space Elves riding Space T Rexes as though they were Imperial Knights, with Space Velociraptors as armiger support? Don't tell me you wouldn't buy that!

[phandaal]

One of the best cartoons ever!

[MARK0SIAN]

I remember reading an old short story of 40K where a Titan legion is deployed to a feral world because the local populace is resisting the imperium (I think they may have been touched by chaos but my memory is hazy on that). The Titan legion is deployed because the local populace has found a way to control these dinosaur equivalent local creatures that are a match for a Titan. The Titan legion is destroyed and it ends with the captured imperials hoping for exterminatus to be declared on the planet.

 

I bring it up because it shows (along with Pythos and the beasts of Nocturne) that the lore has actually explored it to some extent already so would be eminently feasible from a storytelling point of view.

 

From a game design point of view I’m less convinced there’s room. Knights already occupy the large model army niche and, whilst I take your point about Nids being more akin to insects, I think there’s still sufficient crossover with something like dragons to muddy the water too much. Especially when you consider things like the Hariden. You could possibly lean more into the ‘magical’ aspect by turning it into psychic powers but I’m still struggling to see exactly what niche they could carve out as an army.

[Red_Shift]

 

Maybe with an exodite release. Their whole thing is elves on dinosaurs.

 

Like dino riders, remember this tv show?

 

Space Elves riding Space T Rexes as though they were Imperial Knights, with Space Velociraptors as armiger support? Don't tell me you wouldn't buy that!

 

That is exactly how awesome an exodite release could be!

[N1SB]

 

Maybe with an exodite release. Their whole thing is elves on dinosaurs.

 

Like dino riders, remember this tv show?

 

Space Elves riding Space T Rexes as though they were Imperial Knights, with Space Velociraptors as armiger support? Don't tell me you wouldn't buy that!

 

 

It's a good thing you posted this, it just reminded me in The Infinite and the Divine (it's about the travels of Trayzn and Orikan, the 2 Necron HQs going around the universe) they literally show this.  They go to a planet settled by Exodites and they're all riding dinosaurs, the Farseer is on like a Carnosaur a.k.a. T-Rex from the AoS range.

 

This is a minor point, but they had both big ones and smaller ones, I think, it wasn't pure T-Rexes.  Like the regular Troops did ride on Raptors.  Robert Rath wrote this and he's an active player, he used to go to my Warhammer Store.

 

Edit - y'know what, it looks like we're getting a new Eldar Codex.  You can do that Fast Attack detachment, HQ is Farseer T-Rex count-as new Avatar rules, the airquote "Troops" are Raptor Riders count-as Jetbikes.  Or Heavy Support detachment of all T-Rexes, Avatar and War Walkers.

Edited December 31, 2021 by N1SB

[Toxichobbit]

I remember reading an old short story of 40K where a Titan legion is deployed to a feral world because the local populace is resisting the imperium (I think they may have been touched by chaos but my memory is hazy on that). The Titan legion is deployed because the local populace has found a way to control these dinosaur equivalent local creatures that are a match for a Titan. The Titan legion is destroyed and it ends with the captured imperials hoping for exterminatus to be declared on the planet.

 

I bring it up because it shows (along with Pythos and the beasts of Nocturne) that the lore has actually explored it to some extent already so would be eminently feasible from a storytelling point of view.

 

From a game design point of view I’m less convinced there’s room. Knights already occupy the large model army niche and, whilst I take your point about Nids being more akin to insects, I think there’s still sufficient crossover with something like dragons to muddy the water too much. Especially when you consider things like the Hariden. You could possibly lean more into the ‘magical’ aspect by turning it into psychic powers but I’m still struggling to see exactly what niche they could carve out as an army.

 

Battle of the Archaeosaurs by Barrington J. Bayley. It's in Inferno! issue 18. It wasn't my cup of tea, too different from established canon, even back then. He also did Hive Fleet Horror, in which a Tyranid Hive Fleet get all the biomass off a planet by, well collecting it into a giant web and rolling it up like a fajita, then doing autopsies like they're Greys in The X-Files. And Eye of Terror, in which a Dark Angel and Daemonette team up buddy-cop style to take on some Khornate daemons (among other weirdness like one of the characters plasma gun changing into a meltagun on the next page).

 

These were all firmly in 3rd edition, so way past the era of weirdness when stuff like Ian Watson's Inquisitor trilogy was written, though they very much felt like old RT era stories where the lore was more ... malleable.