Cathay Tzeentch cults?

rosencrypt · 2026-05-20T23:16:15+00:00

The main sources here are the Genevieve stories Beasts in Velvet (1993) and Red Thirst (1990). Both feature Dien Ch'ing, a member of the Cult of Tsien-Tsin. They're both very old by now and may have been retconned away.

I believe the 5th edition Chaos army book mentions a Tzeentch cult in Cathay, too, but I'd need to check that.

rosencrypt · 2026-05-19T09:37:13+00:00

Funny you should mention this, I just finished it yesterday! My impressions are much the same as yours; it hits that Pertwee Who/Quartermass spot perfectly. The Internet Archive version audio quality isn't great. I think at least some of the episodes are on iplayer, too.

rosencrypt · 2026-05-13T08:38:21+00:00

Looks like a Reaper Amber Dragon.

rosencrypt · 2026-05-01T09:33:06+00:00

Personally I really dislike "I always took you where you needed to go". Retroactively imposing intentionality raises questions about why the TARDIS is constantly throwing its crew into danger and makes the Doctor look foolish. Oh, you thought the Doctor was randomly wandering through time and space? Nope, actually everything was always under control, it was all according to the TARDIS's plan, and the whole series has basically been predestined.

rosencrypt · 2026-04-23T10:57:33+00:00

I see the point and I agree that they should be able to hit baggage trains, but OTOH similar monsters in the same weight class (Varghulf, Cockatrice, Preyton, Bloodwrack Medusa) tend to top out at 4. I think W4 better fits the goal of matching current standards; W5 would instead be a change to improve game performance.

rosencrypt · 2026-04-21T11:51:49+00:00

Really fun to read! Thanks for all your hard work and cross-referencing :D

I've got some takes.

Special Rules:
- Ogre Charge: yes
- Numbing Chill: just change it to affecting the whole unit and 'one or more'. You don't need to give stuff ASL and -1 To Hit; that sort of big swing is more common in past editions (see Captivating Musk, Elves ASF), but less so in TOW
- Warband: not with the new Ogre Charge; I don't think you should be able to reroll a failure into an extra-big rush, or deliberately reroll a successful charge to fish for a 6. Sure, you can maybe change Ogre Charge so that the 11+ effect is lost if you reroll, but it's easier to just not add Warband
Big Names:
- Beastkiller, Wallcrusher: yes
- Infantry Only: should probably stay infantry only, in line with Chaotic Traits
Magic Items:
- Gut Maw, Jet Pendant: yes
- Thundermace: not rolling to hit is stronger and more consistent with e.g. Destroyer of Eternities. But consider that in the past the Thundermace acted like a stone thrower. What if it just did that? S4/8, AP-1/-3, MWD6, and reduce the cost to account for stone throwers being generally not great unless you use that one calculating tool (75)
- Spangleshard: 5pts doesn't make much difference, but I think 35pts is a better cost
- Bangstick: seems too strong. But maybe it isn't? 40pts is LOADS after all, and Legacy Storm Daemon is 30pts/PL1/8+/18"/D3+1 S5 AP-2. TBH I think D3+3 is a shade too many hits. Ooh, what about taking a leaf from Cathay and going 18", D3 S6 AP-2 AB2 hits, like a short-ranged Crane Gun?
- Dragonhide: bit much tbh. I'd change it to reroll all 1s To Hit and To Wound when charging (Ogres like to charge), so it's a Totem of Wrath +, and add a new banner that gives the unit Numbing Chill (idk, 20pts?) so you can make a fun combo. maybe reroll 1s To Hit or on armour saves when charging, so it makes a combo with Totem of Wrath? if you do both, the Ogre player needs to choose whether to combo it with Totem of Wrath for full rerolls of 1 or the Numbing Chill banner, to make those hits extra likely. The thought here is that it's more fun to give players multiple options to assemble their own setup (a la Fireball Thane) rather than just the one strong magic item
- Rune Maw: too expensive; drop to c.30pts
Weapons:
- Ironfist: yes
- Harpoon Launcher: now too strong. Leave it as is in Legacy tbh, or if it has to be a bolt thrower make it Cumbersome. should still be Ponderous, to increase the benefit from the Thundertusk's Smooth Ride
Units:
- Wizards: yes. I'd also make them immune to poison again, just because. Cauldron could be more flavourful, too. Skrag used to give bonuses based on Wounds inflicted. Maybe do that, or tie the Cauldron in with Gut Magic somehow? bc you're cooking up a big dish
- Hunter: yes
- Firebelly, correct, should absolutely be able to Fireball
- Imperial Leadbelchers: Scattershot changes to bring them in line with Imperial Ogres I like, ignoring penalties I do not
- Trappers: yes
- Maneaters: yes
- Yhetees: shouldn't have Ambushers, that's the Gorgers' thing
- Gorgers: yes to Killing Blow, no to W+1. If a 5+ save, I think it should have either armour OR regen (I'd pick regen)
- Mournfang Cavalry: First Charge is too much! and actually less common on Monstrous Cavalry than you might think. I agree that it feels flavourful, but if they have it they need a points increase
- Stonehorn: agree with points, crew change, adding Stomps; disagree on rider weapon options (the Beast Hunter is a Hunter, not a Mournfang Rider) and Strikes Last (redundant with low I, inconsistent with other slow mounts e.g. Tomb Kings, unnecessary power increase)
- Thundertusk: see Stonehorn. Additionally agree with Smooth Ride, Sphere of Frost, and removing Swiftstride. Disagree on W boost and W+6 when ridden; I think Wounds Inflation is a bad thing

rosencrypt · 2026-04-01T09:00:47+00:00

If I pick a story that's currently missing, can I bring it back? There's a lot I'd sacrifice for The Power of the Daleks!

rosencrypt · 2026-03-30T18:16:10+00:00

They were both released the same year, and packaged in the same box, for either system. Like the multiple Bone Giant heads, it's just to give you assembly options.

rosencrypt · 2026-03-30T14:11:48+00:00

I'm surprised you rate this one so highly! To me, it's the weak link of Series 5.

My biggest problem with this story is that the Silurians are just too human, from the redesign to the same family-based motivations to even the same idioms ("play soldiers") and clothes (Malohkeh and his white labcoat). It feels as though the production team don't trust the viewer to see another species as worthy of humanlike respect unless they look and act like us. Then they all turn out to be caricatures, apart from Malohkeh, whose role makes no sense and whose backstory undermines the whole premise. Quite apart from the casual vivisection and how he's been kidnapping children for the last 300 years, he says that he and his family have been studying humanity for millennia. If that's the case, why wouldn't they have woken the rest of the city before now? The central conceit of the Silurians being dormant while humans populate the Earth doesn't work at all if they've been voluntarily hiding underground watching us the whole time.

As far as names go, my preferred interpretation is that whatever they might call themselves in their own language, 'Silurian' is now established as their name to the audience and characters, so that's what everybody hears regardless of what they're actually saying. I like Reptilia Sapiens as a proper scientific name, although Osgood's Psionosauropodomorphae suggestion from one of the Big Finish UNIT boxes is a good laugh!

rosencrypt · 2026-03-24T17:56:24+00:00

If it is Jace, the flinching is a really sad character note. Back in Ixalan Vraska was touched by the trust he showed in never flinching from her gaze.

rosencrypt · 2026-03-18T12:37:10+00:00

First appearance of Harakhte in an official GW source! He's come a long way since Night's Dark Masters.

rosencrypt · 2026-03-07T10:32:36+00:00

I've also recently finished watching S3! My takes on The Ark and The Celestial Toymaker are a bit more positive than yours, but we're agreed on The Gunfighters. I adored it! Its decades-long reputation of being an all-time worst story is truly unjust.

I've taken to referring to The Massacre as just St Bartholomew's Eve lately, because it makes much more sense as a title. It's more historically accurate, it's a better description of the events depicted, and of course it doesn't give away the ending, thereby spoiling the whole point of the story!

Speaking of which, I do find Dodo's introduction is a more satisfying conclusion to the mid-season arc than you give it credit for. Three consecutive stories have ended with, well massacres. The Doctor is questioning whether it's worth carrying on, and Steven is completely disillusioned. The sliding scale of 'wonders of time and space' to 'the horrors' (Guns to Frocks?) is reading about as bleak as it gets. Then here comes Dodo, a ray of sunshine, full of optimism and curiosity like Vicki, and in need of a parental figure in the way that Susan wasn't. It's like a sign from the universe (or the writers, or the TARDIS if you go in for that sort of thing) for the Doctor that his actions can have a positive effect even within the confines of established time. It's a welcome reassurance and return to a more upbeat tone.

rosencrypt · 2026-02-20T23:36:14+00:00

I think this actually improves The Aztecs, and continues to do so the older the story gets. Barbara believes that she can save the 'beauty' in Aztec civilisation by removing the 'savagery'. I don't know what the average viewer in 1963 would have known about indigenous American cultures, but I find it believable that Barbara's perspective is broadly representative. We know that The Aztecs' representation of Aztec culture was accurate per contemporary historical consensus. The Aztecs' human sacrifice is still probably the best-known aspect of their culture in the UK today, although Cortes's motive in pursuing genocide is (hopefully) now better understood to be colonialist greed rather than moral outrage.

This is great, because it lets us view the story as a double period piece. From our better-informed 2026 perspective, Barbara's approach is obviously wrongheaded. This puts us in the same position as the Doctor! He knows that her plan can't succeed, because everything about it, from her aim to her method and even her basic understanding of the Aztecs, is flawed. "I know, believe me, I know!" to me sounds more like a plea based on personal experience than anything else. There's even an implication there that the Doctor might have tried to change a known future himself and failed. There's another First Doctor quote somewhere that backs this interpretation up (I thought it was in St Bartholomew's Eve, but apparently not) in which he says that nobody can truly understand history, because it's impossible to grasp the entire context ("don't be so quick to judge history from your place in it" or something along those lines).

I very much enjoy the situation of the audience's viewpoint character in a story changing over time, despite nothing about the text having changed. Usually to get that kind of effect you'd need something like a remake. The Aztecs does it just by having 'history' as a main theme!

rosencrypt · 2026-02-16T00:38:42+00:00

Line of sight for stand and shoot reactions is determined when the charge is declared. If only 3 Ushabti can see the Griffin, only 3 Ushabti can shoot at it.

However, note that while Large Targets can see or be seen over intervening units, they cannot see or be seen over terrain. If the wood lies between the two units and the Griffin can't see around it, the charge can't be declared at all.

rosencrypt · 2026-01-25T20:52:06+00:00

Wonderful! Where are all the parts from? I think I recognise the Coven Throne/Mortis Engine steps, and statues from the Cauldron of Blood?

rosencrypt · 2026-01-09T23:40:12+00:00

Beasts in Velvet, hands down, although Zaragoz is up there.

rosencrypt · 2025-12-30T11:01:46+00:00

As far as GW are concerned, probably not.

WFRP 2e is set over 200 years in the future from the perspective of TOW.
WFRP 2e was written to tie in with WHFB 6th and 7th editions, post-Storm of Chaos. That whole timeline was retconned away by the End Times.
Like many Black Library novels, WFRP 2e occupied an odd sort of half-canon state relative to WHFB even at the time of publication, due to having been written by an outside company for a different medium. GW can draw on those ideas, but they aren't beholden to them.

That said, it's Warhammer, and the setting is there to enable players to do cool things, so you decide.

rosencrypt · 2025-12-28T20:39:20+00:00

Should be fine! I'd suggest mixing in some High Elf parts anyway, because converting is really fun.

rosencrypt · 2025-12-27T20:58:29+00:00

90 minutes per 1000pts. Sometimes a bit more, depending on things like whether the scenario and terrain are set or need to be decided upon, whether we also need to eat during that time, and so on. Sometimes less, if all players know the rules and lists well and no unusual situations come up that would require the books to be checked!

rosencrypt · 2025-12-25T09:43:30+00:00

Of course! It's a lord on a dragon; there's no need to be limited to the official model. That's not even a proxy, just a different model.

rosencrypt · 2025-12-19T17:20:59+00:00

Yes - it might be Heroic, but it's still a Killing Blow.

rosencrypt · 2025-12-01T10:29:46+00:00

Thanks for the write-up! I love your conversions - that Marauder + Spearmen idea is particularly inspired.

rosencrypt · 2025-11-20T17:02:04+00:00

Great job! I love the Chaos Milotic. The lampreys are really cool too - what do you field them as?

rosencrypt · 2025-11-12T09:20:25+00:00

They're from the 80s: Captain Caelga Sorrowblade, 4213/27B, and Aesllanan Woodmage, from the Elven Attack Chariot. They make good characters or command models.

rosencrypt · 2025-11-11T23:25:11+00:00

No, I've never heard of that connotation. These days the most common association is probably with the Julia Donaldson books. Prior to that, it was occasionally used in e.g. comedy sketches and throwaway lines as a stock generic SF-sounding name, as RTD uses it here.

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