Age of Sigmar: Last Weekend of ‘The Battle For Hel Crown’
It’s the last weekend for the Battle For Hel Crown but it really hasn’t been close the whole time. So let’s talk about why that is.
The Battle For Hel Crown has been a pretty one-sided affair — at least between the Stormcast Eternals and the Skaven. On the outsides, Order vs Chaos has been closer until the past week were Chaos just blew-up and has clobbered the field. And, as much as GW is trying to spin this one as an epic back-and-forth, I am unsure that’s how it’s going to be remembered.
The only way this one turns around is if there’s a MASSIVE amount of Stormcast Players just sitting on their codes. Are they planning on dumping them all this weekend? That seems rather unlikely. Frankly, I think the Stormcast Eternals were the underdog from the start. And the trend line seems to back me up on that.
So why was this Chaos, and particularly Skaven, domination so skewed? And why am I’m I willing to call it already for Chaos when there’s still an entire weekend to play out? Frankly, I just don’t think Stormcast Eternals are that popular vs Skaven.
Skaventide Rising
Skaven have had a long, long history in Warhammer. They are from the Old World for starters. They have always been an army that’s had a presence and (more importantly) a dedicated player base. As downright silly as this army can be it’s still been able to compete. It’s a horde of ratmen with (sometimes) random but effective rules!
Skaven are also uniquely Warhammer. While you could argue the tropes of the army are based on historical fears of the disease spreading rats, forklore, or just rat-infestations in general, the term Skaven and their faction is uniquely tied to Warhammer. Other games might have ratmen armies, but no one has a Skaven army.
Maybe it’s their weird steam-punk mixed with rat aesthetic. Maybe it’s the wacky miniatures. Maybe it’s the different playstyles. Whatever it is, the Skaven have been a fan favorite. They have a lot of things going for them in this battle. Not to mention all those dedicated fans that have been clamoring for new miniatures for…how long now?
New Miniature Excitement
Let’s not forget that right before the battle started GW announced major cuts to the range of AoS. The Stormcast and Skaven were both hit in particular. But look at the reactions to those cuts, too. For the Stormcast Players, they basically just lost out a bunch of miniatures in their range with no real replacements on the horizon. And while they do have a Battletome for those miniatures, it’s still a “Feels Bad, Man” moment.
On the other hand, the Skaven cuts did sting. But we all sort of figured that those “cuts” were to make way for the new miniatures coming to replace them.
“Oh no! They are cutting my old clan rat miniatures… to replace them them new plastic kits!”
And we also know based on the “prize” at the end of this battle that more Stormcast Eternals and Skaven miniatures are waiting in the wings. It’s just a matter of who’s getting revealed first. And I think (based on the reception thus far) the majority of people reporting want to see more Skaven miniatures.
The Stormcast Are The Posterboys …Right?
While that might be true that the Stormcast Eternals are literally on the posters I still don’t know if they are that popular. Now, I don’t have any data to back this up, but I have a lot of anecdotes about the army. My experience with them has been that players don’t really get excited about them. Sure, there’s specific builds that have worked. And they do get a LOT of miniature support. But how much of that is GW pushing the new stuff vs people actually wanting new Stormcast Eternals?
Win rate data from March 2024 — not 2023.
Win rates might not be indicative of popularity, but the Stormcasts were at the bottom at the end of the last edition. Maybe that’s just a coincidence. Maybe it’s a factor of the Stormcast also getting their new Battletome early in every edition. Or perhaps they are the “fetch” of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. I’m sorry I had to make that comparison, but if you get it, you’ll understand what I mean.
Deep cuts didn’t help morale one bit
Barrier To Entry
Let’s also not discount the price of admission to participate in this event either. You had to actually buy and Skaventide box and then use the code inside to submit the results. So I would ask you this: Who’s buying this box?
Was it the folks that were excited to get new miniatures that they’ve been waiting to get for years. Or was it the players that just found out a ton of their collection wouldn’t be valid in a year? I don’t have the sales data to back that up…but I could make an educated guess.
So, let’s just assume the Skaven Players are the ones really into this box and they are excited to get going. It it any wonder that they’ve been blowing the Stormcast out for the last three weeks?
Personally, I’m looking forward to the Skaven reveals. I’m sure they are going to have some really cool miniatures on the way. And unless something very drastic happens it’s Skaven all the way.
Should GW stop trying to make Stormcast Eternals happen? Who else could be the “main character” for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar?
