Having spend some time comparing the newest edition to the previous, there are many changes to both the army and the lore behind it. In this first look, I shall review the lore and artwork, with the rules in part 2 or the review.
As with the changes to the newest edition, the new books are of a hard cover. Though they claim it's better for it, most recon it's just to stop people scanning the books and uploading them to the net and as such, I can hardly say it was worth it as it hasn't stopped them from doing it. With the average price jump for the switch being around the $15(AU) amount, does this book really add more to the army?
From an Artwork view, yes. Though some of the artwork in the previous was used as box art for the models, this one does contain some very colourful pieces, showing off what the new models would look like in the warhammer world. Overall, I liked many of the newer pieces as it gave that magical feel to the army. The painted model pictures were well done and it's great to see them in something better then just a sand landscape.
The lore however, is one thing I can't seem to get my head around. As it appears in many more newer editions, the lore seems to shift and change with the writers taking some pieces they liked and discarding the rest for something new. While this may seem fine in some areas, other parts ether contradict or re-write parts of their history. Not only having read the previous edition, but also the first two books of the Nagash trilogy (the third due to release in august), one cannot help but think that someone took a few bullet points from their history and re-worded the rest. Indeed, the three previous named heroes from the last book barely get a mention (King Phar got some mention, yet his stance against Settra didn't get a mention I believe). Instead we got a few new characters with background written in (why did we get Ramhotep the Visionary when we already had Sehenesmet?). Settra is the same and Khalida has had a bit more mention, but the introduction of Arkhan the Black into the Tomb Kings side of things was very interesting (having looked up much of his past, he's so-called piece with the kings proves amusing). The lore for the animated statues is given more detail and the meaning for the death look as opposed to what the deities should have looked like is understandable (somewhat).
My only real gripe is the lack of effort in explaining the Nehekharan pantheon of gods and goddesses. With the worship of such deities being of major importance, the little that they did give (which you found by reading mostly on certain units) felt disappointing, as did any real history on the many cities of Nehekharan. Overall it wasn't too bad, yet I can't help think it could have been better.
Now Part 2.
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