Age of Sigmar: No, Frankenstein was the Necromancer! New Underworlds Speculation
The secret to life is galvanism, and soon Warhammer Underworlds are going to learn just how dangerous that can be.
Call up your favorite mad scientists and deranged hunchbacks, because we’ve got a Promethean coming to the Mortal Realms! Thanks to the latest preview from Games Workshop, we got a peak into the latest Underworlds Warband, the Exiled Dead. Coyl, the only revealed fighter so far, is an undead powered by “the force dynamic”, which sounds a lot like electrical animus.
He’s also apparently super strong, which checks all the boxes for Frankenstein’s creature. So my question is this; what else is going to be in the Warband? Here’s 3 classic horror tropes that I hope show up in the new warband.
Werewolves
I know we kind of got this with the Vyrkos dynasty, but all of the animalistic vampires are still just that; vampires. What I want is an honest-to-Sigmar lycanthrope, similar to the old Skin Wolves of Warhammer Fantasy. With the return of Cursed City, a monster of the Vyrkos dynasty that went insane and gave in fully to their totem spirit isn’t outside the realm of possibility. The Underworlds model could even be a lycan that hasn’t completed its transformation all the way, so it’s closer to a Vargheist but still distinctly wolf-shaped.
Mummies
Since we don’t know much about what the Exiled Dead mean, we can only assume they are wandering creatures who rebelled against Nagash somehow. Well, one of the most famous resistance factions on the undead side was the Tomb Kings. It would therefore make sense for an errant Nehekharan to join a team of undead with no love for the Necromancer. Whether or not this leads to a full Tomb Kings reskin notwithstanding, I’d love to see a throwback to one of my favorite OG factions.
Alchemists
While not technically undead, an alchemist would make an interesting addition to the warband, especially as the leader. Since Nagash is lord of death, and therefore all undead magic spawns from him, it would be awesome to see a mortal figure out a way to animate corpses without his help a la Victor Frankenstein. That would certainly earn them a place on Nagash’s hitlist, but it would also explain why Coyl is arcing with energy, since he is animated with lightning rather than magic. Heck, it could even be a resident of one of the Cities of Sigmar trying to use the holy lightning of Azyr to bring back a loved one. Undeath to battle undeath in an endless circle, with the warband just being the beginning.
What fighters do you hope to see in the new Underworlds warband?