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January 2018 started off with Malign Portents - the big splash for Age of $igmar which brought some great models, a massive expansion to the Stormcast and Death and of course the start of the new influx of Nurgle - because if a month goes by without something Nurgle being released, the world may fall apart! Thousand Sons got their Codex in January and the Custodes really hit their strides with multiple multi-part kits coming out. Both Thousand Sons and Custodes led to many changes in the gaming meta and are both armies that Power Gamers love. By the end of 2018 though, considerable changes in competitive play had meant that the Custodes armies were on the decline. January also saw the Daughters of Khaine and the Armiger Warglaives teased.
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February saw Malign Portents kind of fizz out - we got four new characters, and soon we would get a lot more forces to accompany these heroes, but in February it looked a tad sad. Necromunda had the Orlocks released, a great kit that seems to have disappeared like all Necromunda kits. Shadespire really kicked on with the Spiteclaw’s Swarm and the The Chosen Axes being released. Shadespire gave us some really nice characterful models for all factions of Age of $igmar throughout the year. February also saw the Daughters of Khaine swoop in and more Elves - this time the Idoneth Deepkin were teased and boy ere they about to cause a stir.
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March 2018 was Elves month - with the Melusai Blood Sisters/ Melusai Blood Stalkers combi kit and the Khinerai Lifetakers/ Khinerai Heartrenders combi kit hitting the shelves. Both lovely kits, they soon disappeared under the weight of other things in 2018 which is a bit of a shame. GW also didn't seem to be that involved in keeping the evolving story going... The much-maligned Tau got their Codex finally, Kill Team and the Van Saars were teased and the boxed game Forgebane was released. Forge World also released the first of the upgrade sets for Necromunda- this time for Escher. Adepticon brought us so many teasers it hurt, the Necrons were reforged with an excellent Codex but no new minis. This was a very popular release and did very well, even if the Start Collecting set wasn't as good. Speaking of which, the Dark Elder/ Drukhari got their Codex and their Start Collecting was probably worse...
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April 2018 saw new Shadespire, The Farstriders and Magore’s Fiends - more great minis in dynamic poses but the really big thing for April was the Idoneth Deepkin - what Drukhari are to the Aeldari in 40K, the Deepkin are to the High Elves in Age of $igmar. Even their units are very similar and they were an amazing breathe of fresh air into a universe that had been OBSESSED with Stormcast for months! Disappointingly lacking in poseability, the Deepkin are none the less very dynamic and detailed-strewn miniatures. Among week after week of spectacular Idoneth Deepkin releases, the House Van Saar and some Forge World characters appeared for Necromunda and The Doom Lords Chaos Chosen team for Blood Bowl. April 2018 saw Games Workshop barely set a foot wrong - the Deepkin release was perfect!
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May 2018 saw more Deepkin incluyding the spectacular Akhelian Leviadon,the Akhelian Allopex and Akhelian Ishlaen Guard / Akhelian Morrsarr Guard . This rounded off the Deepkin and further cemented their Drukhari influences. May saw the first big deletion of Horus Heresy upgrade kits from Forge World. This was just the beginning of worse. The Deathwatch and Harlequins got their Codex in May.
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June 2018 was Knights - big Knights - with the Knight Castellan and Knight Valiant coming out and the
Armiger Halverins also making their appearance to go with their Codex. A new version of Renegade joined us and the cavalcade of terrain was upon us with the Sacristan Forgeshrine turning up. June also saw Age of $igmar V2.0 rock up in the guise of the Soul Wars boxed set with a whole new slant on the Stormcast and a huge new Death army - the Nighthaunt. The Deepkin miniatures were amazing, and the Nighthaunt miniatures may have even eclipsed those.
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July 2018 was where we started to see more Blood Bowl - which this year so far only had one team and seemed to be languishing, but the Naggaroth Nightmares helped bring some light (or dark) to the equation. Spike! the Blood Bowl magazine was still dribbling out, but in reality it's not hitting where it should, which is a shame. The Nighthaunt had some spectacular figures including Dreadblade Harrows and Reikenor the Grimhailer but also saw GW head towards Easy To Build minis - which seems like a dumbing down of the hobby and not at even a huge discounted price. The Stormcast also got some amazing models, with the breathtaking Lord-Arcanum on Tauralon/ Aventis Firestrike: Magister of Hammerhal. Interestingly, despite being amazing, these models came and went and I have not seen them in any store or on any gaming table since- they were very expensive though! Kill Team launched with a large set and a big increase to the Sector Imperialis series of terrain.
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August 2018 gave us a glimpse at something we had been promised since April 2017 - Adeptus Titanicus!! GW made a huge tactical error here making this an Online Exclusive only, with store managers crying out for copies as people came into stores to learn more. I have a theory that we will see these in stores in 2019. Necromunda received another gang - this time Cawdor, plus Forge World gave us the new Orlock Weapon Sets. Nighthaunt and Stormcast sets continued to drop in both multi-part and Easy to Build forms, but taking the piss not even slightly were the Easy to Build: Chainrasp Hordes which were being sold for the same price as multi-part kits. That's just not cool GW, and people wonder why we call it Age of $igmar! The boxed game Tooth and Claw introduced the Space Wolves Upgrade Sprue for Primaris, new minis for the Genestealer Cults and coincided with the Space Wolves Codex. August also saw the release of the new boxed game Battle of Pelennor Fields relaunched the Middle-Earth range for Games Workshop.
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September 2018 got very busy with the release of the Reaver Battle Titan for Adeptus Titanicus, the Nurgle's Rotters team for Blood Bowl, and sadly one of the most derided games for some time, Kill Team: Rogue Trader. Thankfully the concept was revisited later this year, but the set was full of confusing miniatures, some wildly out of scale with one another and really no further support than throwing it out there. Age of $igmar finally decided to give some love to the Beastmen with a great Start Collecting Beasts of Chaos set and lush Battletome. Although there was really only a few new miniatures in the form of the new Herdstone and Endless Spells: Beasts of Chaos this was a really nice, single week release. The Battletome is also very good, weaving together past iterations of the Beastmen into one narrative. Lost in this month was the Knight Preceptor Canis Rex Imperial Knight set. Bet you'd forgotten it even existed. Shadespire took a new direction in August with Warhammer Underworlds: Nightvault. Cleverly GW also released the Thorns of the Briar Queen and Stormsire's Cursebreakers separately from the game in the same week. Yet another boxed game in September, Wake The Dead set in the still-unfolding War Zone Vigilus. Kill Team continued with the coolest kill team name so far - Advance Team Starpulse for the Tau.
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October 2018 added to Adeptus Titanicus with the totally awesome Warhound Titan. Warhammer Underworlds also gave us a glimpse of things to come with Zarbag’s Gitz - a precursor (though more influenced by Brian Froud's armoured Goblins) to the community-puzzling Gloomspite Gitz. Kill Team continued with the Commanders Expansion Boxed Set and a tonne of repackaged characters. Again, there doesn't seem to be many games of Kill Team in stores, so not sure how this is going for GW. There was more green--goodness with Speed Freeks being released to satiate your love of Mad Max and Orks all in one game. The last of the Xenos Codex also got released which was for the Orks, who also got a tonne of new and old pre-orders... and then summarily disappeared!
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November 2018 started off with a tonne of scenery sets and yet more paint sets... it was looking dire, until Blackstone Fortress kicked in the door. There was also more Adpetus Titanicus with the Cerastus Knights, a mighty new version of the Warlord Titan, this one with Plasma Annihilator and Power Claw. Not to be forgotten Armies of The Hobbit was released which saw a huge week or so of Middle Earth pre-orders. The GW Vigilus Open Day surprised many with news of new minis for the Vigilus campaign, cavalry units for the Genestealer Cults, more details on Wrath and Rapture and a look at the massive Forge World Warbringer Nemesis Titan.
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December 2018 saw Necromunda reveal their final current gang with Delaque gang and a finalised Necromunda Rulebook. There were also a number of cool Battle Boxes for Xmas, and the Vigilus Campaign kicked off with some great minis including the Marneus Calgar, Ultramarines Chapter Master. Despite some cool demons, Wrath and Rapture kind of hit with a whimper but the re-imagined Noise Marine based on Jes Goodwin's design made some very cool wave. Maybe sound waves?? And finally for 2018, White Dwarf is getting a 2019 facelift. It hasn't been a popular decision, but we won't be joining in.
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Clearly Games Workshop had some amazing victories this year, with the Nighthaunt, Blood Bowl teams and Idoneth Deepkin, amongst others, some delayed victories with Adpetus Titanicus and the Necromunda gangs who really needed to be brought out sooner, but finally hit their strides and some mixed things like the pricing which seemed inconsistent at times and then exciting releases like the Daughters of Khaine and Orks coming and going so quickly.
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So from all of us here, to you - have a very happy and healthy 2019 - here's hoping we are served well by the hobby and we in turn serve the community well.