Some years ago it was speculated that Games Workshop were desperate to get their games edition numbers higher than Dungeons & Dragons - well guys and dolls, we are here with Warhammer 40k 9th Edition. Go nuts!
9th Edition launches with the Indomitus boxed set - 61 new miniatures pitting Space Marines against Necrons, an exclusive version of the Warhammer 40,000 Core Book and datasheets for all 18 new units included in the box. It's a bit of a beast! But fear not, you can get the new Core Rule Book without the box in both Crush The Xenos Limited Edition and Clankety-Clank Standard Edition. If rules are your thing, then there's also the Chapter Approved: Grand Tournament 2020 Mission Pack and Munitorum Field Manual with new content for matched and competitive play plus missions for Incursion and Strike Force battles and updated matched play points values.  Do you like missions? Well have we got missions for you - the Open War Mission Card Pack is here, which when teamed with the Battlezone: Manufactorum Battlefield can get you started very quickly. In the old days a table cloth and some tupperware would do the trick, but alas no more. In fact speaking of scenery there is a limited edition ​Battlezone Objective Set, so grab that before it's gone! But how will you complete your missions without knowing how far you have to go? Well the new Warhammer 40,000 Combat Gauge is here to save you, and when combined with the new Warhammer 40,000 World's-Most-Expensive-Pencil-Case you can carry your troops to war as well, plus write down all your victories and plan your Crusade forces in this plush Warhammer 40,000 Crusade Journal. It's all here! 
The new Necron range is looking pretty spiffy, and there's new paint to celebrate with Runelord Brass, Canoptek Alloy, Cryptek Armourshade Gloss and new Technical paint Tesseract Glow also here.
Now if you do decide to order the Indomitus box through the Games Workshop webstore, you can also get the Indomitus Objective Markers, Coin and Dice Bag.
Remember this is a two week pre-order window, so they won't be out until the 25th July.
How about some reading? Do you like the written word to ad out the fluff? Well Gav Thrope has you covered with the imaginatively titled Indomitus, which also comes in a Necron Special Edition and a Space Marine Special Edition. Want to broaden your Astartes love? Well the Warriors and Warlords anthology may be for you, or maybe it's fantasy with Neferata: The Dominion of Bones or the Beastgrave paperback.
It's a big week - go press F5 on your favourite stockist now!!
++And if like me your stockist sold out in 60 seconds - good luck ++

Age of $igmar needs some love, and when the Generals' Handbook was released last year it met with critical acclaim from competitive and hobbyists alike. Well the Generals Handbook is back, this time with the 2020 edition bringing new rules  to Age of $igmar. The book comes in a wizz-bang Warlord Edition or your run of the mill General's Handbook 2020 version.
It's a week for Blood Bowl too, with two coalition teams, the Underworld Creepers – Underworld Denizens Blood Bowl Team and the The Middenheim Maulers – Old World Alliance Blood Bowl Team made up of past releases. These are nice sets, giving you a nice opportunity to kitbash or just paint them as they are! Like most Blood Bowl releases, there is a Spike! Journal, plus the new Old World Alliance & Underworld Denizens Pitch and Dugout Set, and an Blood Bowl Old World Alliance Team Card Pack.
There's fair few books this week, with the hardback version of Horus Heresy Saturnine and the paperback version of 
The Lost and the Damned. There's also a new Necromunda novel with possibly the loudest cover ever - ​Soulless Fury - plus the hardcover Lady of Sorrows and paperback Mark of Faith.
Black library are also re-releasing some old Inferno magazines from 1997 with #26, #27, #28, #29, #30, #31, #32 (with an illustration you usually only see in black and white and looks weird in colour) #33, #34, and #35.

... and like that, Psychic Awakening - the story to reshape the 40K universe - is over with barely a ripple felt through the Community. Rumours swirled around the Lion returning, or maybe Slaanesh, no it seems all of this was to rise the Necrons. Don't get us wrong, the Necrons are awesome and the minis are a must-buy, but it seems this could have been so much more. 
Bring on the Indomitus Crusade I suppose...
Anyway, the final part of Psychic Awakening is out - Pariah - which comes in either From The Void Collector's Edition or Is That All? Standard Edition. This release does give us some nice minis though - with Necron Illuminor Szeras in an awesome new form with equally large price tag, Ordo Xenos Lord Inquisitor Kyria Draxus armed with a very cool Shuriken Catapult ushering back to the days of Rogue Trader, and the oddly-faced Ephrael Stern & Kyganil set. Interesting to see a Harlequin in such a team. The miniatures to come out of Psychic Awakening are all pretty amazing and dynamic, so it will be interesting to see where character models go from there. They certainly have raised the bar! 
There's also a very deluxe Ephrael Stern: The Heretic Saint Limited Edition book set with added goodies and the classic Daemonifuge: 20th Anniversary Edition graphic novel getting a re-release.
If audio dramas are more your bag, then Broken Saints may be your thing.

Age of $igmar must be feeling a bit lonely lately. There's been things around Ao$, like Warcry and others, but now we get some solid $igmar godless, and this time it's one of the much-teased new Elf factions. The Lumineth Realm-lords are sparkly Elves in the fashion of the old High Elves, but this time more floaty, more spiritual, more Airbender-esque in design. This week we see the new Lumineth Realm-lords Army Set which gives you an infantry unit, a cavalry unit an a hero plus the rules and a Battletome. Compared to the Sisters of Battle army box it's actually pretty pricey for what you get, but the miniature are undeniably beautiful. Be interesting to see the rest of the army, which we have seen previewed previously. Now if you do pre-order this army box, you also get some nifty art cards.
The rest of the pre-orders this week are books - paperback versions of the Horus Heresy novel Titandeath, the most recent Mephoston novel City of Light, and speakign of Elves - here's the fishy ones in The Court of the Blind King with an epic cover!
Next week is also a White Dwarf week, so if you get that then woot! There are a few cool sounding articles in there actually; A short Space Marine story by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, new rules for Aeldari Harlequins and Sisters of Silence, a hive world army painting guide, the introduction of the Tome Keepers Space Marine Chapter, plus rules for using the Lumineth Realm-lords in Warcry. Actually sounds decent!

Warhammer 40K 9th Edition is packing a punch with a very large - and one would expect - expensive launch set boasting a metric tonne of new models. Revealed late last night Australian/NZ time and at a vaguely reasonable time elsewhere, there's a lot to see! Lets have a look at a few of the videos...

With thanks to Steven, we have these great sprue shots form the Twitch stream too. This looks like some fine sculpting, even if they are just push fit models for the most part!

What would a boxed set be without Ultramarines? Probably more interesting, but these minis are great and absolutely packed with character! Be very interested to see how they will come up as other Chapters.

The Necrons rise! It's about bloody time - talk about fashionably late. The new started box is full of brand new minis, including TWO units of Warriors and some big beasties too.

It's not just the launch box that has new minis, there's some other things on the way too. Not sure about these Space Marines ones, but the Necron ones are insane!!

The universe of Warhammer 40K is full of bag guys, the misguided, the weak and the stupid - but it's a rare person who tops the list of the most vile, and that's Fabius Bile! If his coat of flesh doesn't give it away, this former Emperor's Children Apothecary come-Clonefather is pain and torment wrapped up into one. Originally a Jes Goodwin miniature back in the day, this very cool new version in plastic offers not only a whole lot more pieces, but a Surgeon Acolyte miniature as well. 
Fabius Bile appears courtesy of a the next chapter in the Psychic Awakening series, War of the Spider, which comes in Nip and Tuck Collector's Edition or What A Lovely Specimen Standard Edition. The new book also gives you new rules for Custodes and Death Guard amongst others! Fabius Bile could mean all sorts of things - Chaos Primaris Marines/ the return of Fulgrim/ the Return of Slaanesh/ new beasties for Chaos... it's really never ending, but lets hope we see them soon!
Another blast from the past is contained in the next expansion of Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress – Deadly Alliance. There have been many Xenos through the annals of decades of 40K, but the Zoat has always held a special place in a lot of Beardy's lives. With GW now making him Unaligned, you can add a Zoat to your Tau, Chaos, Tyranids or even Imperial. The hobby potential is almost unlimited!
With Fabius Bile back, he needs a novel to catch us up on his ways, so if you have the stomach for it, then Fabius Bile: Manflayer could very well be for you!
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Well, I don't know about you, but I need a Zoat!

"Look! Up in the sky - it's a bird, it's a plane...!" Yes, it absolutely is a plane, in fact it's the new Aeronautica Imperialis: Skies of Fire expansion, giving us new fighters for the Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy plus the powerful Tau all in one box! Thankfully you can also get the sets separately on the week of release, so let's start with the best side - the Tau. The Tau Air Caste fliers come in various flavours, the Barracuda Fighters, Tiger Shark Fighter-Bombers and the ​Tiger Shark AX 1-0 Fighter-Bombers - all very cool! There's also T'au Air Caste Cards and ​​T'au Air Caste Dice Set to round off your new fleet. The Imperials also get some reinforcements with the Imperial Navy Lightning Fighters and Valkyrie Assault Carriers. They also get Astra Militarum and Imperial Navy Cards and camouflaged Imperial Navy Taros Dice. All of these aerial shenanigans are taking place on the world of Taros. Never heard of it? Well luckily there is a whole Taros Air War Campaign Book AND a Taros Area of Engagement Board to bring this battlefield to life! Having a close look at these new miniatures, the Tau ships seem to be out of scale with the Imperial ones, who seem to be much larger, especially the  Valkyries!
Far away from the blood-soaked skies of the 41st millennium, we have the world of Middle Earth who, this week, get some new profile card for the Free Peoples, Isengard and Moria and the Elves and Dwarves. 
Once all the rage, Kill Team seems to be making a bit of a resurgence with 9th Edition 40K on the horizon, so there's a new Kill Team Card and Dice Set, but you'll need the rules... which may change with 9th Edition.
In books we have the Horus Heresy Heralds of the Siege paperback anthology and the paperback version of Ghoulslayer.

Welcome back to your weekly pre-order update! It's been some time, and we're happy to be back to show all the new goodness - this week it's Mechanicus!
Psychic Awakening is still bubbling along, basically ushering in the next chapter of Warhammer 40K. With Psychic Awakening: Engine War, available in both Creepy Tendrils Collectors Edition or We Worship Your Toaster Standard Edition, we'll not only get up to date with the Adeptus Mechanicus but also get the rules for the brand new units we see released this week  
The Adeptus Mechanicus range are probably some of the most popular kits in the current incarnation of 40k. Designed between the master mind of Jes Goodwin and the amazing hobbyist and designer Darren Latham, they are multi-faceted gems. This week we get some more units, the airborne assualt Pteraxii Sterylizors/ Skystalkers combi-kit which brings fast attack options to the tabletop and Serberys Raiders/ Sulphurhounds, which similarly gives you fast shock troops... mounted on giant dogs! Who would have thought? It's not just infantry, because there a new combi-kit flyer as well in the form of the Archaeopter Fusilave/ Transvector/ Stratoraptor. It's a strange one and, surprisingly expensive for that it is. There's also a new Start Collecting! Adeptus Mechanicus box that replaces the Dune Crawler with the Skorpius Dunerider/Disintegrator and replaces the fabulous Tech-Priest Dominus with the Tech-Priest Enginseer... at the new higher price. This week we also get, for the first time, everyone's least favourite Tech-Priest, Manipulus.
In books we get more Horus Heresy in the dust jacket format - Fear to Tread, Shadows of Treachery, Angel Exterminatus, Betrayer. Mark of Calth and the latest Siege of Terra book in paperback, Sons of the Selenar.
There's also the new Warhammer Adventures, War of the Orks and Flight of the Kharadron.

After days of blurry photo leaks of what is almost an entirely new revamped Necron army, Games Workshop relented and released that clearer version - all be it with some humorous captions!
This revamp is a huge leap forward for an aging Necron range, with the Doom Scythe and Triarch Stalker staying alongside the elite bodyguard units, but everything else getting a buff. New Destroyers, new Warriors, new much-improved big floaty pyramid plus brand new units including the Skorpekh Lord which seems to be the poster boy for this release. The massive Silent King model is certainly going to steal the show and attract every piece of heavy artillery towards it in-game! There's some really unusual new shapes and styles of Necron, but they all fit in with the current look at feel, keeping the psuedo-Tomb Kings in space motif going on.
We've got some closeups below of some of the new things, including a mini not a lot of people seem to have spotted lurking in the shadows, plus what looks like some scenery.
This is an exciting new release, assumed to be released alongside the new 9th Edition 40K, so we will see if that's late this year or early next year - either way, we really need to work out a colour scheme for Necrons.

It's been a month and a bit since the Games Workshop webstore and physical stores shut their doors during the COVID-19 pandemic. In that time we've had previews and a multitude of web articles, but for many places this week sees those avenues of hobby reopen. All the Nuln Oil can be replenished, the spray undercoat and glue and paint restocked. If we avoid Wave 2 of the pandemic, then this could be the new normal - but lets play safe and smart. Stay well, and if you're not, bloody stay at home!
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To usher in the reopening of stores, the next White Dwarf is out, so why not head into a store and get a good solid fix.

The plan was big - build that army that's been in mothballs, and at the end of lockdown there will be a shiny new army to look back on. It didn't work out that way. Probably like a lot of hobbyists who were working from home, the whole lockdown has been exhausting. It was hard to be motivated, but like JP said in our chat on Hobby In Lockdown, don't expect too much. Don't let it become a burden.
The projects may not have been huge, but they have been varied - finally making headway on the War Hounds Assault Squad, working on the Victoria Miniatures Heavy Mortar (Super-Size), another Slaaneshi Chaos Warrior added to the ranks, a kitbashed Dark Eldar Grotesque that started as an experiment and became something super fluffy and theme-y, and a Fireforge Games Northmen.
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Hopefully in the next little while I can show you more of these projects as they were fun to try - which is what the hobby is all about, having fun and trying new things!

Above is the new hobby area/ studio set up. You may think it looks neat - but it took SIX HOURS to get to this point and it's only about 1/3 or the paints.
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New episodes will be HERE as soon as we can get them up

As you know, each week we post the latest pre-orders from Games Workshop. In a busy working life, posting those updates and painting War Hounds Legion minis is pretty much all we have time for these days. In Australia we're in a pseudo-lockdown, so working from home - which if you're doing it too you'll know has it's own stresses and strains.
What we will be doing here, later today, is announce a new venture here at Beardy Hammer which we really hope you like. We think it's going to be fun to do, and hopefully fun to join in with.
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So what about the Games Workshop pre-orders? Well, there won't be any from GW as they have announced that there will be no there will be no new physical pre-orders until at least the 2nd of May due to the closure of Warhammer HQ and the factory and distribution centres in the UK, USA and Australia.
There are however a number of things they are doing to keep your hobby going.

You can go check out the Warhammer TV Twitch, which has hours of material to inspire you to get through your mountain of minis at home. This content has always been behind a paywall, but now GW have opened it up, and if you can navigate the awful layout of Twitch, then why not stream this to your TV and have it on while you hobby. I can highly recommend the episode on the amazing Mechanicus builds by GW's video editor Laura. Also, go follow her Twitter!! 

Now if audio drama is more your thing, Black Library seem to be running a series of promotions on their Black Library Audio App. There's some mixed reviews on this app, but if you're more into hearing stories from right across the Warhammer universes, then this app is really the best place to get them all.
Currently I Am Slaughter is on special, so we'll see what happens next. It's a free app, so if you like stories of the Horus Heresy, Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer and Age of Sigmar, Necromunda and more, then this app is the gateway. There are in-store purchases, but just see what happens with specials, bundles and previews.  

Also coming this weekend is the first in a series of previews. Whisper is it includes the new Fabius Bile - in if there's a new Fabius Bile, then there's probably Chaos Primaris Marines, new Slaaneshi Chaos Space Marines and... maybe even the Demon Prince himself.

Warhammer Storyforge have also just opened their Instagram account which will keep us all up to date on the new film projects, including previews and other nice visual tidbits. Add it to your Instagram feed and see what comes up! Who knows... while others are working from home we may see these come out sooner than we thought!

This post has concentrated on Games Workshop, because that's what we update you on every week here, but there are many other miniature companies - especially the small ones - who are continuing to print and sculpt from home and ship straight to your door. Don't forget them! Maybe find a new universe to enjoy, or some great conversion bitz! Many small miniature companies work from their home anyway, and with technology easier to get a hold of, there's some amazing things coming out. 
If you have a 3D printer, don't forget the places like CG Trader and Thingyverse where creators post their sculpts up. There's also manufacturers who provide STLs too like Reptilian Overlords, and Imperial Terrain amongst others. For small manufacturers, that may be there livelihood right now so why not support them.
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That's it from us. Bit of a different update I know. Stay tuned later today when hopefully we'll have an update on something very cool from us here at Beardy Hammer.
Stay safe, keep in touch with your friends and community, and don't forget the importance of face to face. Get on a Facebook Messenger/ Google Hangouts/ Zoom video call and chat with your fellow hobbyists!

The Space Wolves – what an awesome mix of martial prowess; Viking crossed with gene-enhanced super warrior in armour. I mean where can this go wrong? Well probably in the era where they were powder blue, but like the time Dark Angels had feathers on their armour, we try to forget it. Well this week, one of the greatest heroes of the Space Wolves lore, Ragnar Blackmane returns, this time all Primaris-ed up in the new Prophecy of the Wolf boxed game. He’s not on his own though – a brand new hulking Ghazghkull model is also here too and what a bloody beast he is. Oh and there’s a Gobbo called Makari too. If you do order this set you also get the Psychic Awakening: Saga of the Beast Datasheet Cards for these three dudes.
 This all happily coincides with the new ​Psychic Awakening book, Saga of the Beast which comes in Faux Pelt Only Please Collector's Edition and How Can You Bathe In That Armour Standard Edition. So, I hear you ask, what other Space Wolves goodness will I be able to buy? Some dice, or a commemorative coin, or even a big burly bearded man to come clean your pool. Well... strap yourself in, Wayfarer because… they’re re-packaging the Fenrisian Wolves. Woof woof!!
The rest of this week is books with the brand new Road to Redemption (the spine colour clashing with the front colour hurts my eyes!), the Space Wolves omnibus Sagas of the Space Wolves which includes Includes 4 novels, 2 novellas, 10 short stories and a partridge in a pear tree. If you’re into audio dramas then the Saga of the Beast gives you 4 hours of Ragnar Blackmane action in a sturdy audio repository.
Do you love Print On Demand? Do you love Horus Heresy in hardcover? What if we could combine the two? Well, faithful friend, they have and this week they are here - Betrayer (with all the juicey War Hounds Legion tid-bits), Fear to Tread (the story of Space Marines and their continuing issue with Lego bricks on the floor in the middle of the night), Shadows of Treachery, ​Angel Exterminatus and Mark of Calth, brother of John of Calth – nice guys! You can of course buy them all together in this collected set too…
Speaking of Horus Heresy, there’s also the Siege of Terra Collection – Books 1-3 in hardback if that is your want and desire!
Have at it you powder-blue pretties…

We don't usually start these updates with a book, but Saturnine, Book 4 in the Siege of Terra Limited Edition series is on pre-order this weekend - and as this seems to be the hottest ticket in town - HAVE AT IT!!
The other hot ticket is the delayed second wave of Adepta Sororitas/ Sisters of Battle, which this week gives us some melee Troops in the form of the combi-kit Seraphim Squad/ Zephyrim Squad and the Repentia Squad, which is an amazing source oh Heavy Chainswords for the Horus Heresy player out there! We also get some characters in the form of the Imagifier, the Dialogus and the multi-optioned Canoness. There's also the long awaited transports - the Adepta Sororitas Rhino and the Immolator. Both amazing looking kits, but at a premium price, especially the Rhino which is the basic kit plus an upgrade sprue (thanks for the heads-up BeefWeaver). The preview images of the Adepta Sororitas Rhino did originally show a Deimos Pattern Rhino, but this image has since disappeared and replaced with the more familiar Rhino we know today. The Immolator does look amazing though and we are sorely tempted! The Adepta Sororitas also get some scenery with the Battle Sanctum, which is very nice indeed! In related news, we also get a Bases Pack for the new 28.5mm base, which I suppose gets the 3rd part suppliers out of the market but just really annoys the hobbyists! The Adepta Sororitas range is pretty niche, but having a look at the details on them, they really are very well done, if somewhat limited in their poseability.
Next week is also a ​White Dwarf week with issue 452 incoming.

Lizardmen are awesome - a staple of Fantasy since at least the Dragonlance era of the 1980s, they take the idea of combat and dinosaurs to the next level by mixing the two. Lizardmen have been a part of Games Workshop's pantheon for a long time too, and the now-titled Seraphon have been the same pretty much since then. This week sees the brand new Seraphon Battletome, in both Beam Me Down Scotty Limited Edition and Jungle Fever Standard Edition. It's an incredible shame GW didn't decide to bring out new miniatures with this release because the old ones are desperately in need of an update, in fact the closest we've had in recent time is the frankly embarrassing Gwaka'moli Crater Gators Blood Bowl Team. There is a new miniature of sorts - a new piece of terrain - the Realmshaper Engine, which can either be build as covered in vines, or as sparkly and new.  Both are a tad ordinary, sadly. The Seraphon also get new Warscroll Cards, but no dice - I'd have loved some dice - and a new Skink Start Collecting box. There's two other Start Collecting boxes this week too - Gloomspite Gitz and Daughters of Khaine.
Books this week has a few interesting ones; two Warhammer Horror books - Anathemas and Sepulturum, the fourth Last Chancers book Armageddon Saint, the paperback version of Rites of Passage which is all about the Navigator Houses and the paperback of Belisarius Cawl: The Great Work.
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Now if like us you have a hankering for Lizardmen check these out: Reaper have some nice ones, so do Lost Kingdoms and finally, the very very cool Mierce Miniatures.

​Who doesn't love a good half-man, half-serpent? Well the good folks at HeroForge have very nicely made all our dreams come true with this absolute beauty.
Of course, like all things HeroForge is it entirely customisable for Fantasy of Scifi, with a tonne of posing, weapon and even body shape options.
HeroForge also offer a printer version of an STL for those of us with 3D printers.
Have a look at the base figure below and you'll get an idea of how easy it would be to swap torsos, or arms, weapons and accessories.
We're working on an idea for some elite infantry for Tomb Kings, or maybe some guards for Cobra Commander. Go have a look at all the other minis you can make too - you'll spend ages customising! 

Who doesn't like a Space Elf? Well the Necrons, but they don't count - and joy abounds this weekend as the pre-orders go up for the previously boxed-set exclusives of the very weird looking Drazhar and the awesome finally-in-plastic Incubi. So tempting, so pretty, so spiky. Also from the same boxed set, we have Jain Zar and the 2020 incarnation of the Howling Banshees, also in plastic for the very fist time. These models look a little chunky (not body shaming) compared to their past metal incarnations, but they're still pretty cool.
It's Black Library Celebration 2020 this weekend, so they've rolled out a few interesting releases. For power players and fans of gold alike, there's two new miniatures in the Talons of the Emperor faction, the Valerian and Aleya set, some Black Library Celebration Custodes Dice and the Watchers of the Throne: The Regent's Shadow featuring the previously mentioned Valerian and Aleya.
Black Library Celebrations are generally full of trinkets and bibs'n'bobs, so they haven't let us down with the Legion Pin Badge Set, the Sabbat Worlds Crusade Map and some books; 13th Legion (20th Anniversary Edition), The Loathsome Ratmen and All Their Vile Kin, Helsreach, Iron Company, and last but absolutely not least, the stunning Lion El'Jonson: Lord of the First (Limited Edition). Was he always blonde?
There's more books this week too - the non-limited edition The First Wall, Oaths and Conquests, and a new Kal Jerico: Sinner's Bounty (in a poorly executed Cyberpunk 2077 inspired cover).
Any purchase of a physical product this weekend will also get a free ​Black Library Celebration Anthology 2020 book with stories from Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer Age of Sigmar, The Horus Heresy, Necromunda and Warhammer Horror.