Goatboy’s Warhammer 40K: Where’s Be’lakor and Who’s Next?
Goatboy here and I want to know what happened to Be’lakor? Then what?
It really seems that both games are really utilizing the “big bad” to break their story narratives and bring things into a new direction. It’s been an interesting time seeing AoS go thru their version of Psychic Awakening event (Broken Realms) as while it did release a lot of new stuff it felt a lot more important to the rest of the game. I think that has more to do with how the game has all basic unit rules given out for free and mixed with how the new edition is coming into the game right when the US and other countries are starting to see the light at the end of the no-event tunnel. Still, this isn’t an article about AoS this is a 40k article so let’s talk about what next big bad could shift the game a bit.
What Happened to Be’lakor?
If we look at what is hopefully coming out we have a few big things coming. On the bad guy front the only true high level monster left to show up but not show up with rules is Bel’Akor. This is an odd one as while I am still waiting on my model to come in he was released without any events, rules, or model backing tie-ins for 40k. This is an odd one and again points to how GW is a bit behind on their normal release schedule. It is annoying for us Chaos players as we still wait for 2 wounds, cooler rules, and not a weird 2.5 update.
With that – what will Bel’Akor do? He isn’t exactly known as someone to go and crush civilizations with giant armies that are set up with rules to cause you to buy more plastic crack. He seems more like a schemer but until we see his rules we just know he is big, hard to purchase, and doesn’t work as is right now. What will he herald?
Probably more warp storms, more daemons, and then some kind of just in the nick of time defeat to make you wonder why he got all the Chaos Gods to give them each a thumbs/talons/tentacle up. I know from a GW standpoint the wars of the Grimdark are never ending so while people get beaten up no one can truly win. We would call that the everyone-gets-two-bowls-of-gruel-40k where the only real issue is what endless factory you work in? The one that might make you a part of an unholy machine or the other that might make you part of a holy machine?
He also doesn’t fit in that well with a ton of stuff. He is a Daemon prince but not for one god so he is a weird undivided but fully sponsored type of thing? I am guessing the new Daemon book will be heavily set up to go mono god and I am sure he will be able to just go into any army and not break it. Or at least I hope so but who knows with how some things come out (-1 damage Sisters suits without a min 1 clause). Part of me wishes we got each Daemon as a separate book with completely unique rules but we know that ain’t coming with pushes to mono army builds (Which is healthier overall).
Who’s Standing Behind Be’lakor?
What else is coming after Bel’Akor? What new model might show up to become the next big narrative bad guy/anchor choice? I know we are missing a Daemon Primarch as well as a few goody-two-shoes Marine Primarch’s so either one could work. I think we probably need another good guy but all the Marine books are out so unless we get another weird campaign book that is named something like “Revenge of the Wolfman” or “The Lion Wants his Wardrobe Back” I don’t think will see a good guy anytime soon. Plus – good guys are just not nearly as interesting as players want them to be.
I really wish we had Vect come back as he is obviously a bad guy but isn’t in the normal bad guy vein we have with 40k. He isn’t a herald of a crazy Warp God nor is he interested in taking over a dumb few planets. He is just a bad dude ready to cause as much problems and keep from getting swallowed by Slaanesh.
A lot of the time I try to look at what model holes we currently have but it feels just a bit weird right now as so many books are obviously stuck in queue and the game feels pretty imbalanced with armies that play differently than 9th rules and missions intend, a ton of FAQ updates (Thank you GW for being on top of trying to keep the game synced up and working), and people scrambling to get ahold of hard to locate models.
What big bad do you want? Do you want to see Farsight succumb to the blade and become some kind of “evil” Tau? How about a big Eldar update only a few people will buy unless it is a completely amazing book? Is there actually a Black Templar book with models coming out? Did Leman Russ leave the stove on back home?
Inquiring minds want to know!
