How cool are Vikings? How much cooler would Vikings be if they were IN SPACE?? Well that must have been what was on the mind of Games Workshop all those years ago when they took the vague Nordic trappings given to the Space Wolves Space Marine Chapter and just went balls-to-the-wall with it. Pelts, big beards, axes, pelts made of bananas - oh it was a thing! Well with the newer version of 40K out, the venerable grumbly bearded ones have a new Codex, happily to coincide with possibly the most boring boxed set game GW have released all year - Tooth and Claw! Sure it comes with a cool new mini, Haldor Icepelt, a new Primaris Upgrade Sprue, a new Genestealer Cult Abominant and 5 new multi-part Aberrants... but are Genestealer Cults and Space Wolves really a god match - the Space Wolves would wipe these guys clean in an afternoon. Just doesn't ring true for us... Now, speaking of new, the Space Wolves Primaris Upgrade Sprue - not a single axe, only three heads (none of them a wolf) and some thankfully-not-banana pelts? It's pretty poor - compare it to the non-Primaris one - so much cooler! Anyway, for fans of the army, you finally get your Codex - both standard Horned Helm Edition and your deluxe Flaming Longship Edition. There are of course the Space Wolves Data Cards and Space Wolves Dice to go with it as well.
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Now here's the even weirder release for next week; when Death Guard were released for Nurgle there was a set called Plague Bretheren. It was a box of three mono-pose minis for pretty much the price of seven minis. It was supposed to be a deluxe set, that literally NO ONE BOUGHT, so it quickly went to Last Chance To Buy. Go and check, it's probably there now. Well, exciting news, those minis are back in different packaging and called Plague Marine Reinforcements. So if you desperately want to get some more Death Guard but would prefer to pay the same price for three minis as you would for seven, then you can go and buy this set... or wait until they're both in Last Chance To Buy.
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Books - we have a few - yes Age of $igmar's very own Undead bad girl is back with the new book Neferata: Mortarch of Blood. There's a new audio drama, Souldbound, centred around the Raven Guard and finally the Death Guard themed Lords of SIlence in both standard and beautiful Special Edition.

I haven't done many Terminators for the XIIth Legion War Hounds. Having spent so long formulating the markings for the MKII and MKIII armour, having to work out the Cataphractii pattern hasn't had much priority - but when I had a flash of inspiration the other day at work I had to get it out. Using the Praetor body, and Cataphractii Power Claw, and Goliath head and then adding extra armour to the hips via Goliath Shoulders pads, this guy fits the War Hounds look. The new shoulder pads are from MasterCrafted Miniatures, who we have bought quite a bit off - especially their excellent spikey shoulders, perfect for War Hounds!

This is the first time using two spiked shoulders, so I had to move the markings to the chest, which had the detail trimmed off. The Iron Halo on the top of the carapace is from a Stormcast and adds some height and rank to this important part of the army. Obviously the dedication to Volkite continues across the army and the colour scheme is basically an amped up version of the current Termies I have in the force.
This many metallics on one mini is unusual, but I think the balance is basically right.

It's been over a year in the making and after a hiatus of some decades. the Titan Orders can walk the field of battle in their full glory, banners unfurled with majesty and terrifying power. This is not a time for man, but one of machine!
Now with that being said, prepare to cough up because although this is a glorious addition to the Horus Heresy range (where are my plastic MKII Space Marines, GW?), there is a price. First up is the Adeptus Titanicus: Grand Master Edition, which is basically everything so far for $500AUD or just under $300 US. This is a limited edition and actually very good value as a bundle, but everything in it you can get separately - like the Warlord Battle Titan, who in and of itself is almost half the price of the Grand Master Edition. There's also the Adeptus Titanicus Imperial Knights, who come in a set of three for a pretty fair price. There is of course terrain with the Civitas Imperialis Sector and Civitas Imperialis representing the cities abut to be crushed by these engines of war. The Adeptus Titanicus: The Horus Heresy Rules Set can also be bought separately and includes small battlefield minis and, very weirdly,  the transfers for the miniatures...! There is of course the Warlord Battle Titan Weapon Card Pack to supplement the weapons options in the rules, plus webstore exclusive Warlord Battle Titan Command Terminal Packs and Axiom Battleline Maniple Command Terminal Packs. Now if you are one of the first 1000 people to order the Adeptus Titanicus: Grand Master Edition online, you will also receive an Adeptus Titanicus Collector's Coin.
Away from the tiny tiny glory of the Adeptus Titanicus are three dragons of old Made To Order miniatures - the classic Prince Imrik and Malekith the Witch King of Naggaroth models and a really cool one I hadn't seen before, The Sisters of Twilight on Ceithin-Har.
In books we have the paperback of Titanicus by Dan Abnett, the Servants of the Machine God anthology which includes a tonne of short stories centred around the Mechanicus, there's also two Age of $igmar books with the massive The Realmgate Wars: Volume 1 anthology and the Tainted Heart hardcover. There's also a very cool Horus Heresy novel out too; Garro - this is actually the full novelisation of Nathaniel Garro's story arc - both audio dramas and novella - plus new and extended scenes and new chapters. This seems like a must have for Horus Heresy fans!

World of Warcraft is a sub-culture all it's own, and big things are afoot in that far-flung land.
Regular contributor , Host of The Land of Pod and Drukhari Kabal Leader, Emma Marshall tells us more...

In the world of World of Warcraft, one of the characters has done something Very Bad and everyone is upset. But there's no reason they should be surprised.

Lady Sylvanas has turned out to be Evil and everyone is shocked. Shocked. I mean everyone who doesn't know about Lady Sylvanas or how character progression works.

But let's start at the beginning for the nubs.

​There's two factions in WoW, Horde and Alliance.

The Horde are not the “bad guys” in WoW, but the neither are the Alliance. They're both two sides of the same coin. It's just the Alliance side is shinier because they're snobs and also if we're being honest, they likely have very high hygiene standards (But us Horde are undead and cows and orcs, so....y'know, a bath is not high on our To Do List).

The leader of the Horde is given the title of Warchief. Most recently, that title has belonged to Lady Sylvanas. A little while ago, she did a very bad thing and everyone is shocked. But they shouldn't be.

​Here’s what’s causing all the discussion.

If you’re not ready to watch it, spoilers ahoy!
​
(Spoilers ahead)

If the recent cinematic is the first time you've looked into her story, I can almost understand why you'd be shocked, SHOCKED, that a woman whose titles include “Banshee Queen” and “Queen of the Forsaken” turns out to be making decisions that are definitively not Good. I mean, sure, she had her soul ripped out of her body by the enemy and then was enthralled to him for a very long time. Yes, that changes a person, but it's no reason to go torching World Trees just because someone told you to have some hope.

(End Spoilers)

But see, I kind of understand why she did it.

At no point am I saying what Sylvanas did was the good thing to do, or the right thing to do. But it was the thing that Sylvanas would do.

When she became enthralled to the Lich King, Sylvanas stopped being an elf. She became Forsaken. The Forsaken are a shunned community, knit together with the same decaying thread of undeath. They don't get to go back to the way things are.

Sylvanas is proof that you can forge something new from the decay of mind, body and soul. But her life is suffering. She also has no hope of release from that suffering because even when she dies, she knows she will endure eternal torment. For what? She didn't ASK to be made a banshee. She was the one who worked to gain control and freedom for the Forsaken, she helped to defeat the Lich King and she gets forever (which is a very long time) being tortured as a thank you.

Sylvanas has ever been ruthless. That has been her character since vanilla WoW. That's how she managed to get to where she is now. That's why I've loved her for so long. For her to have had any other reaction, any sorrow or regret that was not quickly followed by some Old Testament style fire and brimstone rage, would have been good, but it wouldn't have been Sylvanas. Perhaps in the old days, she would have been less cruel, but she's grown as a character. Character progression doesn't always mean going towards the Light.

Some hoped that when Lady Sylvanas became Warchief, that the weight of responsibility would help her regain the need for honour in battle.

Well, hope fails.

Written by Emma Marshall

To hear more of Emma's take on geekery, sci-fi, fantasy news, views and reviews, check out The Land of Pod podcast - click, subscribe, enjoy the travel through the Land of Pod.. and occasionally Meat Space!

You awaken in a dark room, holding a shield as a strange creature peers at you from the shadows. They beckon to you, it's time to go on an adequately geeky adventure, Player 2.

Necromunda keeps bubbling along, and this week sees the release of not only the disappointingly mono-pose Cawdor gang (looking a fair bit more bedraggled and more like a scavvy gang than they did in the old days) but also the new Gang War 4 book which introduces new Brutes, exotic beasts, and new campaign to replace Turf War called Dominion Campaign and more. There's a lot of work going into Necromunda, and it's a pity we don't see more of it. With the Cawdor gang release, we also get the Gang Cards, Cawdor Dice and a paint bundle. Also Necromunda related are the Dominion Campaign Territory Cards and an awesome resource for the serious player, Gang Leader’s Accessories Pack which comes with a tonne of reference material, tokens and new gang roster sheets.
Although we don't usually touch on the ongoing mess that is Forge World, the new Orlock Weapon Sets are out with some rather nice little additions for your gang.
Away from all things pow-pow and onto Age of $igmar V2 - and more brilliant miniatures are here, with the Liekeron the Executioner (who comes with an alternate hand) and the rather boring but very detailed Lord-Ordinator heading up the field. There's also some awesome new minis - the Nighthaunt get the incredibly dynamic Bladegheist Revenants (so tempted) and the Dreadscythe Harridans (who would make awesome Necron spare parts). The forces of Order don't miss out though, with possibly the best new mount kit for years - the Stormcast Eternals Evocators on Celestial Dracolines. Can't get enough of them.
In book land, it's an audio book this week with The Lords of Terra - three short stories based around Perturabo, Konrad Curze and Malcador the Sigillite.

Now today we noticed the Easy to Build: Chainrasp Hordes and the multi-part. Sequitors in the pre-order section, but it looks like they are available now. Not sure if or how we missed those before, but they're both amazing looking sets. Now the interesting thing about these releases is their price point - they are both incredibly high. The Chainrasps for example are almost the same price as multi-part kits but for Easy To Build models, leading us to believe that there may not be a multi-part version of this kit and the Sequitors, yes a set of 10, are also at the prices of the original Age of $igmar kits.

White Dwarf have a number of nuggets this month for fans of the soon-to-be-released Adeptus Titanicus. First supposed to appear in White Dwarf almost a year ago - even still appearing in the index to that issue - we get a good look, plus some words from the designers.
​Adeptus Titanicus is a battle on a whole new scale - literally. With a standard Warhammer 40k Imperial Knight being around the same size as the epic (no pun intended) Warlord Titan, you can see how this scale will play out.
The first miniatures released will be afore-mentioned Warlord Titan and the mini Imperial Knights. This issue also reveals the upcoming Reaver Titan model which, like the others war machines, are much smaller versions of the Games Workshop or Forge World kits.

The issue is full of colour illustrations and pictures of many of the famous Legio - including the War Griffons who featured so prominently in the early drawings by Jes Goodwin 30 years ago. You can also see in the pics above the amount of detail they have squeezed into the Imperial Knights, especially for their size. Is it too much though? There's also this (and other) great shots of the Reaver. I think this will be the big favourite until the Warhounds come out - those I am ready for!! We also get a look at the decal sheets, which are full of the original Legio Titan designations and some old school pre-heresy aquila as well as other markings. There's also an Imperial Knight one which must be very small indeed! Interestingly, the Warlord Titan has knee, ankle & neck articulation, alternate heads and a selection of armour plates that attach to the skeleton.

​Not only do we get a look at the limited edition Grand Master Edition - with 2 Warlords, 6 Knights, buildings plus the rule book and the accessories you'll need to play. The main game will then only be available as the Rule Set (which is basically the other set minus the minis apart from some macro cannons and missile silos) and then you buy the minis on their own. There's also Command Terminal and Weapon Card packs. The miniatures themselves are available separately. It looks like you can get the Warlord Titan on their own and the Imperial Knights come in a set of three. There's also two sets of Imperial buildings.

Like the original Adeptus Titanicus, there is quite a bit of paper in the Rule Set, plus some area affect templates. The buildings themselves look nice and are fully modular, so instead of the low rise we see here, you can make towers too! This issue also gives us the first look at a breakdown of the Titan Command Terminal which has all the stats and abilities of your titan on it.
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Overall it's a fun little introduction. Some of the paint jobs on the Knights are a bit messy which leads us to think that the minis are so packed with detail it's easy to obscure it with paint due to their size. We shall see.

I know Kill Team is all the rage at the moment so it's natural to lead with those releases, but GW are releasing yet more amazing Age of $igmar kits. The breathtaking Lord-Arcanum on Tauralon/ Aventis Firestrike: Magister of Hammerhal combi-kit is just amazing, and the first non-Easy Fit character we have seen from Age of $igmar V2.0 - and doesn't the price difference highlight that. This is an incredible kit, probably too good for the likes of us to attempt to paint, but you'd really better want it because this is not a cheap kit. Nighthaunt also get a nicely rebooted kit in the form of the Black Coach - again, amazing detail. 
Now - on to Kill Team - and this week's pre-orders see two Starter Sets, the Kill Team: Drop Force Imperator – Astra Militarum and Kill Team: The Writhing Shadow – Tyranids. Both of these sets see you get the troops pretty much for free, so worth the price. There's also a Kill Team Tape Measure (for that price you'd want something cool on the tape - but it's bog standard fair) and a number of Kill Team dice sets for Astra Militarum, Genestealer Cults, Tyranids, Space Wolves, Mechanicum and Orks. 
With the new Adeptus Titanicus on the horizon, Knightsblade - Imperial Knights Book 2 is back in paperback as is an old favourite (think this is the third time it's been back) Lukas the Trickster.  
Speaking of Adeptus Titanicus - it's finally on it's way in August and White Dwarf has all the news plus Designers Notes and more. Be one to check out for sure.

First up today I though I'd apologise for the lack of updates recently. I started a job 3 weeks ago and it's been all consuming - a bit like being fisted by the Incredible Hulk frankly - but slowly getting there.
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This week sees the supposedly highly-anticipated release of Kill Team. We last saw Kill Team in 2017, so obviously it needed to come back urgently... happily though, we get some great new sets to go along with it! The Kill Team set itself is a bit of a monster with terrain, 20 miniatures and more. The minis are made from the coloured plastic, not the traditional multi-part grey plastic and questions have been raised about the detail on them - time will tell. Next week also sees the Killzone: Sector Mechanicus released, which seems like pretty good value too. Kill Zone also introduces some new additions to the Sector Imperialis series of terrain - the Sector Imperialis Basilicanum, Sector Imperialis Administratum, Sector Imperialis Sanctum and Sector Imperialis Ruins. There's also two Faction sets which include some terrain - Kill Team: Fangs of Ulfrich and Kill Team: Krogskull’s Boyz. Now both these sets are also on the coloured plastic, so be aware before you purchase that these are not the standard plastic sets currently available. A really cool little product is the Kill Team Carry Case, which is a soft case with foam padding that carries your minis around in "safety". Reckon we'd need to see this in person, but a great concept. If you're curious about the game but don't need the entire set, then you can just buy the rules in the Core Manual. Interestingly I had seen a hardcover doing the rounds, but it seems to have disappeared! There are also, of course, the Data Cards to go along with Kill Team too.
In terms of book releases this week - its the audio drama Hunger, with the Genestealers facing the speciesist suppression of those well known oppressors, the Flesh Tearers. Forced to wander the universe Genestealers are set adrift amongst the stars desperately looking for a home. When will these lonely travellers be given a chance to settle? May you soon find a home, friends!

The mountain of releases for Age of $igmar 2.0 continue with some really good stuff, and some kind of questionable stuff...
Nighthaunt seem to be absolutely owning Warhammer at the moment with an amazing general in the shape of Kurdoss Valentian, The Craven King - an amazing looking mini taking serious influences from Lord of the Rings which (as GW will soon loose the license) is only a good thing. Nighthaunt don't just get one amazing mini - they have a few this week with the Easy To Build ​Dreadblade Harrows and Reikenor the Grimhailer kits. We may celebrate the prices of these, but if GW are only offering Easy To Build in the future, could we loose the current flexibility of the multi-pose kits. Speaking of multi-pose kits - this is where things get a little pissy; the Evocators have their multi-pose kit released next week and it looks like it's back to the good old Age of $igmar pricing with this set being around $90 AUD for 5 figures. This is why we started using the '$' on Age of $igmar. In recent times they have calmed-the-farm a bit, but maybe not for long. Great looking kit!
One of the premier looking Stormcast kits is also out next week, is the Easy To Build: Astreia Solbright, Lord-Arcanum on that amazing Celestial Dracoline mount. Truly awesome and was the main influence on my trialing Stormcast paint schemes. Also out next week is the Easy to Build: Celestar Ballista. GW are obvisouly trying to empty the cupboard of old stock, with Start Collecting! Stormcast Eternals Thunderstrike Brotherhood and Start Collecting! Khorne Bloodbound Goreblade Warband - which are just the pushfit minis from Age of $Igmar V1. You can also get these start Collecting sets with the Battletome as well - you won't save any money though. For those wanting to test the waters with Age of $igmar 2.0 there is also a smaller starter set for the game called Storm Strike and if you like the idea of a cheap mini with some pretty pictures, then the Getting Started With Warhammer Age of Sigmar magazine may be for you (left). The last version of this was awesome, and this free mini is also great, so worth the price! New paint sets are on the way, and rejoice, the tiny little pots of paint are gone - Warhammer Age of Sigmar Paints & Tools Set, Nighthaunt + Paint Set and Stormcast Eternals + Paint Set.
Made to Order is back next week with a few interesting generals from the past - Greasus Goldtooth, Zacharius the Everliving, Gorbad Ironclaw, Grom the Paunch (that model has to be 25 years old by now) and two from armies that don't even exist any more... Settra the Imperishable and High Queen Khalida who are back to lead the non-existent Tomb Kings. Thing is, we'd have been tempted to get half of these, especially the chariot, but those prices!!
Books next week are two paperbacks - Sons Of The Hydra (which some people were pretty pleased with) and the Grey Knights-themed Castellan.

After weeks of stellar Age of $igmar releases, it's back to some boxed set supplements by adding the much-awaited Dark Elf team to the Blood Bowl crew and some Shadespire bits and pieces.
Dark Elves rock hard in the Old World! In Age of $igmar they're all a bit lost and wishy-washy, but here they are mean, keen and spikey! Thankfully we get some new minis for them in the shape of The Naggaroth Nightmares. Apart from being great from Blood Bowl, If you're a Drukhari, Dark Elf, Deepkin, Daughters of Khaine or similar hobbyist - then you NEED to check out these sprues! The minis come in quite a few pieces, making them not only great for characters, but also great for bits to scatter amongst your forces. These are on my list for sure! There are of course the requisite Dark Elf Dice, Team Card Pack and rather excellently a Dark Elf Pitch & Dugout. The sexy Dark Elves aren't the only ones to get a pitch and dug out though - the excellent Chaos Chosen also get their one too. Speaking of added fun, the Dwarves team now have their own Team Cards as well and next week sees Issue #2 of Spike, the Blood Bowl magazine, on the stands.
Shadespire also gets some attention next week with the Shattered City Board Pack, the Shadespire Card Sleeves, and the new Shadespire – Leaders cards - wonder how far away the Daughters of Khaine Shadespire force is...?
In books next week, it's Mephiston-your-face: Revenant Crusade telling us all about the blonde vampire lead singer of the Blood Angels hair-Metal band and Callis and Toll: The Silver Shard which follows some Witchhunters through the world of Age of $igmar.