Warhammer 40k‘s revamped Squats faction of space dwarfs, the Leagues of Votann, are getting a chonky new, multi-role Elites unit called the Einhyr Heartguard, Games Workshop revealed on Monday.
Clad in “inch-thick” mechanised armour exoskeletons, each Leagues of Votann Einhyr Hearthguard gets a “Volkanite Disintegrator” pistol weapon; a “shoulder-mounted grenade launcher”; and a choice of melee weapon – either stock armoured fist, a wrist-mounted “thrumming plasma blade”, or – at least in the case of the pictured squad leader – some kind of power / thunder hammer. We can expect these folks to be tough, too – GW says their hi-tech armour “take[s] the Kins’ natural durability to a whole new level”.
Revealed in a preview post on GW’s Warhammer Community website on Monday, the Einhyr Hearthguard are the fourth distinct unit we’ve seen from the upcoming new 40k army, after the Ironkin, Hearthkyn Warriors, and Hernkyn Pioneer hover-trike. Sadly though, there’s still no whiff of a release date for any of them, nor any mention of a Leagues of Votann launch box or codex.
Still, for the moment there’s much for space dwarf fans to enjoy in these new images – the lore nature and in-game effects of that back-mounted golden horse totem, for example.
While we’re waiting for more detail on the Leagues of Votann, you can brush up on the basics (or recruit your friends into the hobby) using our guide on how to play Warhammer 40k. Alternatively, take a dive through all the Warhammer 40k armies with our full guides to all the Imperium, Chaos, and Xenos factions.
Also – we really think there should be more Warhammer 40k games where you can play as xenos.