Warhammer 40K: Could The Hrud Be Next?
Even Games Workshop seems to think the Hrud could be on the way. But it could be a while before they show up as a full army.
Warhammer Community put out an article highlighting the Kroot. Not only did they tease that the Kroot could and do have LOTS of different variety among their race, they also showed off a few examples.
Are we about to see some flying Kroot units? That would be pretty cool! The article goes on to discuss their origins and how their art first appeared way back in the 3rd Edition Core Rule Book. You know the picture we’re talking about:
In the article they even call out the fact that we’ve gotten the the following creatures from this page:
The Ambull
The Clawed Fiend
Necrons
You could even make the case that the first “unknown” creature from the top left of the image is one of the Dustback Helamites:
We also know the Jellyfish-looking thing is probably an Enslaver. That’s one army with a really weird and strange history. Now, if we’re using that image as a guide that really leaves 2 creatures unaccounted for: The Tarellian Dog-soldier and the Nocturnal Warrior of Hrud.
Of the two, it really seems like the Hrud would be the more interesting option. For starters, GW has teased an “updated” look for them when they released this artwork years ago:
This is a far cry from the hunched over rat-like creature we see in the original image. Personally, I kinda like the idea of the Space Rat-men more. It’s also a “classic” race that GW never ported over to 40k from Warhammer Fantasy. While other races got the Sci-fi treatment, GW never did a 1:1 recreation of the Skaven in 40k. Neither did the Lizardmen for that matter.
Now you could argue that the Tyranids were some sort of hybrid of the two. At least conceptually. Regardless, with the return/rebirth of the Squats as the Leagues of Votann, I know I’m not the only person wondering what new army could GW pull out for 40k now.
Games Workshop has three perfectly good candidates from this “Other Dangerous Aliens” art. It would be one heck of a callback to do any of those aliens as a new army/faction in 40k. But, if I had to place a bet, I’d go with Hrud. They’ve had the most fan interest over the years and GW already has a lot of experience make a Rat-men army already. Then again the Tarellian Dog-soldier could be a clean slate for them to work from. And there’s always the Enslavers that could take over other units for a really crazy and interesting army.
That’s not the only crazy art GW could pull from either.
We DO wonder who could be next…