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.

It's been a while since a hobby update, but I've been slowly working away on a few things. A new job and life get in the way, but I've added a new character to the War Hounds Legion and started work on an idea for a Stormcast Chamber - not entirely sure why...

I'm not entirely sure if this new War Hound is going to be part of the Command Squad or maybe a Captain to go with the Assault units, but this combination came to me early one morning. The torso you may recognise as being Space Wolf, but a few different colours and look - they're hounds!! There's actually been a fair bit of conversion work in this guy. His face needs a bit more work, but overall he's pretty close.
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The Stormcast is from a Chamber I'm calling the Ebony Dawn right now. Really it was s test mini for an idea and also a chance to try pint chipping on painted armour. It['s not perfect but the effect does work. The face, again needs some love. Notice the Chaos Knight pauldrons to replace those ugly Stormcast ones!

There is a tangible air of excitement in the world of Age of $igmar with the launch of Soul Wars, and now it's time to add some characters and troops to the Starter Set.
Stormcast have an awesome new Lord-Exorcist, who unfortunately is mono-pose with no alternate options, while Nighthaunt have the seriously creepy Lady Olynder, Mortarch of Grief - a spectacular model that looks a little too fragile! Nighthaunt also get my favourite unit for them so far, the ​Grimghast Reapers and the Crawlocke the Jailor with retinue.
Spells have taken physical form now and with Endless Spells: Nighthaunt and Endless Spells: Stormcast Eternals you can finally add these spells to the table top. Of course with these two armies there are Battletomes - a Limited Edition and Standard for Nighthaunt and a Limited Edition and Standard for Stormcast, plus Nighthaunt Warscrolls and Stormcast Warscrolls. What would a new release be without dice - there's Stormcast and Nighthaunt versions of those too. Last week I think we forgot the Age of $igmar Journal, so this available in store right now.
Meanwhile in books there is the paperback version of Black Legion - the sequel to The Talon of Horus, with a seriously inspiring picture of a Khorne Bezerker and a Rubric Marine in Black Legion colours.... this may need to be done! What a great modelling idea - it's like Deathwatch for Chaos Marines!
It's also a White Dwarf week, which will sure to be packed full of gold armour and ghostly forms.

++ Have you been feeling the effects of the Warp recently? Does this post seem like you may have read it before and remember feeling a tinge of excitement?
If so, please see your local Ordo Maleus official to report this abomination. Praise be upon The Emperor ++
​With the new version of Age of $igmar upon us, Soul Wars is where it all begins. Soul War is meant to point to the Forces of Nagash and their spectral forms, but personally we are hoping it points to the Slaanesh - Devourer of Souls! That being said, there isn't a spikey breastplate in sight yet, so the new Soul Wars boxed set will have to do. Packed with all brand new snap-fit miniatures, this puts a new spin on the look of the Stormcast Eternals and introduces some ghostly forces for Nagash. To supplement the boxed set there are also four additional Easy To Build kits; Castigators with Gryph-hound, Sequitors, Myrmourn Banshees and the Glaivewraith Stalkers - all dynamically posed with scenic bases. Soul Wars also sees the magic ability taken from your imagination and writ large on the battlefield with the Malign Sorcery miniature set. I saw this today and the pieces are huge! Games Workshop have been doing a lot with scenic bases, terrain and the like for a while now and this new edition of Age of $igmar is no exception with the Shattered Dominion Objectives set. Having a look at the sprue pictures, these certainly seem like a step up from the first sets for Age of $igmar.
​Soul Wars also sees a slew of books - the new Age of $igmar Core Book (which is a nicely produced hefty tome), the Generals Handbook 2018, plus the Soul Wars novel which comes in standard and also a super deluxe version that I could be highly tempted to buy! "But where are the accessories?" I hear you cry...
There is a new Combat Gauge, Scenery Effects Dice, Command & Status Dice and Wound Counter Dice just to make life complicated. Speaking of which, something to make your life less complicated when painting your ghostly hordes are two new technical paints - Nighthaunt Gloom and Hexwraith Flame - both formulated to just wash over your primer or white base coat. There's also some paint sets - one for Nighthaunt and one for the new Stormcast Chamber, the Sacrosanct. Incidentally, if you do order the Soul Wars boxed set online, you will receive a set of Soul Wars - Warscroll Cards.
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Not into Age of $igmar? Well... there are some books to tide you over - Horus Heresy - Master of Mankind is out in paperback, the Yarrick Omnibus, War of Secrets - a Tau vs Primaris Marines story, plus Matyrs of Elysia a new audio drama that chronicles the fateful destruction of the Elysians by the evil forces of Forge World!

Age of $igmar V2 is here with the Soul Wars boxed set, which sees a new generation of Stormcast take on Nighthaunt - but is that the whole story?
For a long time Slaanesh has been missing in action in a real way. Tzeentch, Khorne and Nurgle have had massive releases, but Slaanesh has been existing on old minis. Yesterday when Soul Wars was placed on pre-order we were questioning if maybe "Soul Wars" could be a larger reference to Slaanesh - Devourer of Souls. Well now Phil Kelly - Senior Background Writer for Games Workshop - has released a video to the Mortal realms... and have a look what's over his shoulder (left). 
~ Bring on Slaanesh ~

++ EDIT++
Okay, so it turns out that most of these pre-orders are actually a two week pre-order window, so lets redact last week's update on preorders and - Imperium-style - pretend it always looked like this... 
​Age of $igmar V2.0 is on it's way and isn't just about new minis - it's also about starting a new army - AGAIN!
At this rate, soon Games Workshop will just be starter boxes... There's Starter Collections for Seraphon (there's a change to the background of the Seraphon too BTW - hold onto your hats), Fyreslayers, Malignants, Blades of Khorne and Demons of Khorne, Legions of Nagash, Demons of Nurgle, Ironjawz, Sylvaneth, Flesheater Courts, Kharadron, Skaven, Beastclaw and Tzeentch (which unfortunately doesn't include Tzaangor).
++ Now in the intervening week, these sets seem to have disappeared from the Games Workshop site, so in true Inquisition-style, consider this post scourged ++

It's a small pre-order week this week, an if you were lucky enough to get your White Dwarf - which despite being a subscriber we did not - then that will keep you busy for a little bit!
In terms of releases we have the Armiger Warglaives, previously only available in the Forgebane set, they can now be yours!
While we're on the Imperial Knights, can someone please tell GW that they are MECHS not ROBOTS. GW have been calling them robots, which being that these have a pilot is not the correct term. You would think 30 years of Gundam, Battletech, Macross and Voltron would have taught them something.
In non-miniature related releases, Shadespire gets it's very first audio drama with The Darkness in the Glass. Nice cover!

If you're making an early Horus Heresy or Great Crusade army, then Combi-Volkite is a very fluffy weapon, especially for Veterans or Characters. Forge World have only made one so far and it's on the limited edition Praetor from Warhammer Fest in 2016. It's a pretty ugly model and kind of a big outlay when you'll be needing a few if you want to arm your entire squad. That being said, we think we have a solution! The Combi-Volkite (left) can be kitbashed, almost exactly, with a few of the current range pieces and about 30 minutes of your time. 
The Combi-Volkite is very fluffy for the XIIth Legion War Hounds as they are a Great Crusade Legion. For them their Veterans would more likely than not to have these in their arsenal.
Now on with the simple (and a bit blurry) build...

I grabbed a few cheap things off eBay to test if this would work - a Forge World Volkite Charger, a normal current range Bolter and the Combi-Bolter piece from the Space Marine Devastator kit.

For all intents and purposes, this is identical to the Forge World Limited Edition version. The fit of the pieces is trial and error but they will go together, so be careful not to lose any bitz and keep the glue off the surfaces.
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​I've been asked if removing/ replacing the magazine/ strap from the Combi-Bolter is necessary, and for the bitz to fit together, yes it is, BUT you can just as easily just cut the strap off and use that same magazine.

... and there you have it - fluffy Combi-Volkites for your Veterans!
What do you think? It's pretty straight forward and adds a lot of 'choom' to your army for just a few $

The time is upon us, yes, the Imperial Knights not only get their 8th Edition Codex, but they also get some new models - so mortgage the cat and lets get into it... It's time for the big boys to enter the arena, and GW does that in spades the Knight Castellan and Knight Valiant - interestingly not a combi-kit, but two seperate kits, both at the hefty $280 AUD each, making them close to the most expensive GW kits. Its not just time for brute force, there is also the Arm​iger Halverins twin pack giving smaller faster long range fire support. There is of course also the Codex which comes in Collectors and Standard edition, the Data Cards and also Data Sheet Cards, plus the ubiquitous themed Dice and a pretty cool Battle Gauge! There's also a very nice piece of terrain called the Sacristan Forgeshrine. Now if you'd like some Knights with your terrain, there is the new version of Renegade which includes two Knights including the Knight Warden.
Meanwhile, in books there is yet another Warhammer Omnibus, this time with Mathias Thulmann: Witch Hunter which collects C.L Werner's Witch Hunter, Witch Finder and Witch Killer. Fabius Bile also returns in Clonelord, where he finally gets revenge on George Lucas for those damn awful Star Wars Prequels!​
White Dwarf is next week also, with a pretty rad cover and what looks like a nice Imperial Knights double-sided poster.