Warhammer: Age of Sigmar to Remove Beasts of Chaos From Game

Warhammer: Age of Sigmar will no longer support the Beasts of Chaos faction, starting in 2025. Today, Games Workshop announced plans to retire or remove a number of units from its Warhammer: Age of Sigmar game. The most affected factions include the Stormcast Eternals, the Skaven, and the Beasts of Chaos. Most notably, the Beasts of Chaos are being removed entirely from the game with the entire army line repackaged for Warhammer: The Old World, a game set in the ancient past of the Warhammer Fantasy setting. All impacted units and factions will receive free battletomes and warscrolls that can be used in competitive play until 2025. 

The Stormcast Eternals is losing 23 miniatures from its line, most of which date back to the earliest days of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. While this is a lot of miniatures, Games Workshop noted that the Stormcast Eternals had the most miniatures of any Age of Sigmar line and that many of the miniatures impacted had similar playstyles to units remaining in the game. Most notably, the Sacrosanct Chamber is being pulled from the game, with an in-game explanation that the magic-attuned warriors are returning to Azyr to look for a cure for the curse of Reforging. 

The Beasts of Chaos, meanwhile will be cycled out of the game, with 18 miniatures pulled from the Age of Sigmar range. Some beastmen will remain active (most notably the Tzaangors and Slaangors, who follow a specific Age of Sigmar Chaos god), but the bulk of the line is getting pulled from Age of Sigmar to prepare them for reintroduction into Warhammer: The Old World. While the Beasts of Chaos will remain active in at least one Games Workshop game, many fans have expressed disappointment that their chosen army is being cycled out of Games Workshop's second largest game. 

The Skaven are also losing numerous miniatures, with 16 miniatures pulled from the game. Many of these miniatures actually pre-date Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and it's expected that many of them will receive a refresh as part of the new Skaven figures being released as part of 4th Edition. 

While the Orruk Warclans will remain in Age of Sigmar, the Bonesplitterz faction will be removed from the game entirely. Additionally, 11 miniatures are being retired from the Slaves to Darkness faction, with the recently revealed Darkoath replacing many of them. A handful of other miniatures are also being retired from the Age of Sigmar line entirely. 

Games Workshop's business model revolves around periodically updating older models with new lines and introducing new units to an army, but actually retiring a full army is rare. While the Tomb Kings and Bretonnians were removed from actively play when Warhammer: Age of Sigmar was launched, they were revitalized earlier this year with the launch of Warhammer: The Old World. Additionally, the Squats from Warhammer: 40K were effectively retired but came back in some fashion with the launch of the Leagues of Votann back in 2022.