It Was A Double Bluff! Warhammer 40K’s Squats Minis Teased!
April 2, 2022 by brennon
Earlier today, Games Workshop dropped a Warhammer 40,000 trailer that was teased late last night. The trailer opens with an utterly ruined spaceship in the depths of the void.
April Fools Or Double Bluff? // Warhammer 40,000
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At the end of the trailer, it's revealed that there is a "Squat" boarding the ruined ship in search of salvage. Now, obviously, this plays on the fact that pretty much everyone has been looking forward to seeing Squats return to Warhammer 40,000 for an age. They've popped up in Necromunda in the past so this faction is still making a name for itself in the grimdark, even if they don't have the same empire they once had.
The trailer did however land on April Fools Day. It's a day where you can't trust anything you read online. But, is there more to this than meets the eye? It seems an awful lot of work to put into a trailer for it just to be a joke. It would be neat to see the Squats/Demiurg making their way back into the grimdark future.
UPDATE - A New Trailer!
We got another teaser trailer today (Saturday) which showed off just a few of the new Squats coming to Warhammer 40,000.
"OTT Ben's New Army" Reveal Trailer // Warhammer 40,000
I also managed to snag some images of the new Squats. What do you think?
New Leagues Of Votann Teaser Images // Warhammer 40,000
They certainly have that deep space prospector vibe going on. There is something of the Kharadron Overlords about their appearance and I can see some folks perhaps even doing kitbashing between this set and the Age Of Sigmar range.
Leagues Of Votann // Warhammer 40,000
Leagues Of Votann Detail // Warhammer 40,000
It will be very interesting to see what else they have lined up. It seems like those rumours from the end of 2021 were true!
Am I just clutching at straws?
"It would be neat to see the Squats/Demiurg making their way back into the grimdark future..."
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Oh man for all the FOMO and being shitty to content creators and the occasional terrible model I love stuff like this. Wind up or no goodonyer GW.
Seriously goodonyer GW. This was the absolute funniest outcome you could wring from this. Sometimes you’re not so bad ♥️♥️♥️
If only but any other day?
Honestly hadn’t given the date any thought. Seems a bit odd for a prank.
Double bluff – unlikely that anyone would sign off on a budget to produce this just as an April Fools.
That would be a hell of a lot of money wasted on a joke if that’s not real. That’s one of the most well made trailers they’ve released with a lot of 3D assets in amongst 2D animation. That would be a thousands of pounds to produce.
So no, I don’t go with this a fake announcement for a new range.
That they’ve posted it on Aprils Fool Day is a wind up though. Cheeky monkeys.
LOL.
Just what 40k needs, yet another army that will start extremely overpowered. Cause you gotta sell those models.
As much as I agree with you given GW’s record for army balancing, I would genuinely love if this was real, the idea of a power armoured “Dwarf” going toe-to-toe with something like a Carnifex tickles me, just for the idea that it swings a power hammer and being so short could hit it square in the “sweet spot” (and yes I know Tyranids are spawned instead of birthed so likely don’t have genitals but just for the cartoon image of it’s eyes bulging out and it collapsing into a heap while the Squat stands proud over it’s prone form)
40k can hardly be even called a game anymore, but there’s plenty of cool GW models.
Just find the right game for you and buy/paint what you feel like.
Far as I’m concerned, GW – now Nomad Investments – lost their mojo right around 2000 or so, after Battlefleet Gothic came out. While I have bought the odd Citadel model since (Riders of Kuornos, SoB Canoness based on the John Blanche cover), they haven’t made anything I have gotten really excited about since.
Give over mate. That’s their job. No one forces you to buy models. It’s a hobby. Could we not enjoy it without the whinging?
Squat v Hrud killteam box confirmed.
It is a little sad to see how many people across the internet don’t understand how April Fools’ Day works. Though I do agree it would make a great fake-out prank, since bringing back Squats has been a recurring joke with them for years now. Still the little Squat model was just holding a plasma gun and power fist, with a detail-less silhouette of power armor. Very low effort for a game series that gives every alien faction (and some non-alien factions) their own weaponry and style. And hardly too much effort for a company with on-staff artists and animators… Read more »
If it’s after midday then the joke’s on the person who tried to pull it and they’re the fool. Surely everyone learns this at school when they’re very young.
In America is does work differently. You get all day to pull legitimate pranks.
I actually hate that it is real.
Squats where way cooler when they were dead. At least they stood for something cool, bitchin deaths. Yawn, now they will just be a big excuse for making lots of cash. Game breaking rules to push an entire new faction. I mean really, what “niche” can they possibly fill that isnt already being filled by another faction??
Squats use to be fun and cool. These new models will never be that cool, just expensive as fuck.
To be fair on GW – we’ve seen one full miniature and some silhouettes. We don’t even know about what they’re doing updating the fluff etc.
Yes – they are effectively a big GW money maker but probably best to reserve judgement until we see the rest of them, right?
true … but @slayerofworlds is kind of correct : which niche will they fill in the list of factions for 40k ? Spacemarines already are the power armored faction … T’au are the tiny humansoids in power armor … A list that (IMHO) is already crowded and where even Orks and Eldar feel like variants of spacemarines and less like their own unique armies. As such the removal of the squats (as painful as it was) was a good idea. IMHO GW should have used the recent cataclysmic event that spawned 8th/9th edition as an excuse to wipe out a… Read more »
The same niche that Sisters of Battle found – the one that’s already there. Players that want Squats back. Of course they are an excuse for GW to make loads of money, they are literally designing a product that thousands of people make thousands of comments asking for. I have never really understood this concept of a “cash grab”. At a push I could maybe understand it when people complain about the way they introduce false scarcity or how they place special models into boxes forcing people to pay hundreds of pounds for a box of Miniatures they don’t want… Read more »
I guess I always look at factions for what they bring to the game in terms of mechancis & tactics.
I hope we get to see something unique that none of the other factions have.
And yes … ‘cash grab’ is a lazy complaint. It’s a business. They need to make money and if they chose to resurrect a faction it must be because they expect it to be good for business. I have no complaints about that, except perhaps expecting them to do it sooner ..
OTOH predicting how many people would actually buy into a new/updated is hard.
How about balancing their existing products, so that they are actually worth the price they charge for them?
Isn’t that good for business?
Clearly not, or GW wouldn’t be the biggest wargaming company in the world.
Games Workshop is not concerned with balance and most likely never will be. However, balancing factions and introducing new ones in no way need to be mutually exclusive
And yet none of the factions are even remotely balanced. Nor is it even possible for them to be balanced at this point. I would imagine. Which wouldn’t be horrible for players if the rules where free, but they aren’t free now are they. They are a separate expensive purchase. A purchase that has literally been voided after being bought, sometimes even voided before it was bought. Name one other company that would acceptable. Name one other war game company that gets away with broken armies and broken products, and yet everyone is happy as long as new products keep… Read more »
GW is not a wargame company. They are a miniatures company who write interesting lore. As such they sell miniatures and the games merely exist to sell those to people who don’t know any better. The moment their targets discover how the game works they either are in too deep to get out or they move on. Back to these new squats … while I have my doubts about their army lists and gameplay I am looking forward to seeing what they do with these guys. Is power armor standard or is it limited to characters and elites ? Are… Read more »
So they create Blood bowl, Dungeon Bowl, Space Hulk, Horus Heresy, Space Crusade, Battlefleet Gothic, Necromunda, Heroquest, Talisman, Adeptus Titanicus, Dreadfleet, Inquisitor, Dungeon Quest, Dark Future, Warhammer, Warhammer 40k, LOTR Strategy Battles, Mordheim… But they are NOT a game company… The fact that they do gorgeous minis doesn’t mean they are not game designers. They have had the best designers, such as Alessio cavatore, Jeff Tidball, Andy Chambers or Rick Priestley. Knight Models or Corvus Belli make great models too, but it doesn’t mean they don’t design games. You can discuss if their games are great, balanced, or not. Perhaps… Read more »
If they are a game company … then why don’t they say so ? “We make the best fantasy miniatures in the world, and a lot of them! Each Citadel miniature represents a unique character from our rich, evocative worlds. ” and “Quality is so important to us that every part of what we do is locally run from our campus in Nottingham, England – where we design, manufacture and ship our models. ” That is straight from their press page … And when you check their careers page : “Build your future at the greatest miniatures company on the… Read more »
From their own history page
What we do
The most important thing we do is design, make and sell fantastical miniature soldiers and associated models. To that end we also design, make and sell books and accessories of extraordinary variety to facilitate the many different hobby activities.
What about a slow, heavy armour faction – the Loyalist ‘Death Guard’?
I feel complaining about them coming back as just a GW cash grab is a pretty rubbish argument – GW is a business after all, so they’ll take an opportunity to make money, and the community has been going on about Squats since they originally removed the army, so to me it seems like a no brainer for them to bring them back. There’ll be some validity to the balance problems, but that’ll probably only last until 10th edition at most, possibly sooner with the big updates they do periodically. As far as the teaser model goes, I think the… Read more »
Completely agree. Get me a Land Train and some really big artillery.
I would say : in 32mm heroic scale ?
That would suck and be unplayable ..
but then I realised that GW also make those giant stompy robot that are completely useless for a game in this scale …
(we really need Epic scale back for vehicles to work like they should … )
Honestly I’ve been thinking about all those lovely old Epic vehicles they had and would love to see how GW updates them. I suspect we won;t see the Overlord Airship as that’s a bit too on the nose for comparison to the Kharadron, but those funky Gyrocopters they had? Sold. Mole Mortars & Thudd Guns? Gimme. And if not the Landtrain odds on they’d try to put the Leviathan or Cyclops in play….
I actually hate that this comment is real. They are a company and a business. They have problems and issues. Their balancing leaves a lot to be desired. The costs of their ranges is ludicrously high. HOWEVER! Let people enjoy what they enjoy. If you liked 3rd edition 40k more than 9th, then play bloody 3rd. No one is stopping you. If you want to play any edition of 40k with 3rd party minis and homebrew rules, then do it and have a blast. No one is stopping you. If you think Squats were cooler when they were dead, then… Read more »
They are not just a company and a business. They are the leading war gaming company in the entire war gaming hobby/community. Also, They are always pushing harder and harder to be “the” only war gaming company. They are going out of their way to make sure that no one thinks of war gaming with out thinking of 40k. So They are often the first experience most new war gamers experience for their first foray into our hobbie and our community. Which is more and more becoming negative experiences pushing people out of the hobby in general. So yeah, everything… Read more »
All of that might be true. But. What has it got to do with whether or not they bring Squats back?
Hyperbole. GW is much the same as D&D 5E, a successful tip of the gaming iceberg.
Forum comments were better in my day
Sorry..couldn’t resist
Forums in general were better prior to Cancel Culture.
Well played GW well played
Ok who else is already looking at this mini and thinking how they can make a Deep Rock Galactic army besides me???
I will shout “Rock And Stone” at everyone before every game anyway haha
Tbh I think GW would be foolish not to try and buy into the DRG vibe in some way, it’s such a popular game
Might be a little hard, as the Genestealer Cults are already the “mining” guys, with their rock grinders and that giant drill thing terrain.
Just taking this mini as an example, it looks like the LoV are skewing more towards “advanced tech built out of mining gear” as opposed to GSC who are more “all we can scavenge is this mining gear that’s not exactly military grade”
I don’t particularly care for 40k or squats, but the way they played people was great.
I’m not the biggest fan of dwarves, or hobbits for the purposes of RPGs… they just don’t appeal to me… too stunty and chubby for my liking… but the 40k dwarf does look good.
If they make a Kill Team I might go for it, but not interested in building a 40k army of dwarves (or any other species). I only bought some Drukhari for an RPG.
I’m a huge Tyranid fiend. Love my bugs. I also loved Squats. I have a friend that had an amazing Squat army and we would always throw down after school, my bugs vs his stunties. This will be my second 40k army. So excited to see them again.
I think that mini is lovely… does look a little like a Mantic Forgefather nicked an Enforcer’s outfit
Is it ironic that I have been using Forge Fathers as Squats for years, now I will be using Squats as Forge Fathers.
lol … I was thinking the same thing.
If they are cool then I may want them for my Deathzone/Firefight army list as alternate Forge Fathers.
Already thinking of using Orks as Marauders and Spacemarines as Enforcer alternatives.
#spring-clean Challenge “Ruined…”
I love them, if I had any inkling at all to play 40k anymore I’d totally build a brand new army. Now.. if they come out with some Kill Team rules..well..then maybe.
YEAHHH BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THEY’RE BACK!!!
Well I might just buy a box of these for use with Xenos Rampant.
Eh, dwarves have always been the “I love they’re there, but would never play them” faction/race to me, but I really prefer the original looks.
This just looks to clean sci-fi. Too little character. Probably more realistic space-miner, but now it’s just short human.
Give me the grungy, stocky, tough as nails biker-gang look from the days of yore, mixed with the arhaic power-armour. The sci-fi/fantasy mix was kinda on the nose, but that’s what they where anyway so who cares?
Solid sculpt. Looks good. Just doesn’t tickkle me.
Get Ronnie to design these!
His suit looks like the ones the gorillas wore in AT43.
While actually having Squads return would be nice I am not so sure how I feel about them possibly looking like short Primaris.
I know at least 2 people who quit playing WHFB when they killed off the Chaos Dwarves. This mini doesn’t look particularly Dwarvish to me, it just looks like an unusually squat Space Marine. A Squat Marine, as it were. Also, who decided that Dwarves were ‘Scottish’ ? Peter Jackson ? In Norse/Germanic mythology, ‘Dwarves’ stand for the baser instincts – greed, mostly – in Celtic mythology, the ‘Little People’ are a faint shadow of the pre-Celtic inhabitants (Neanderthals ?), driven ‘underground’ by the Celtic tribes. In other myth cycles around the world, small humanoids are usually associated with mischief… Read more »