Despite the Old World still not having made it's way to Australia and New Zealand (a few weeks to go), Games Workshop have begun to augment their plastic re-releases and new sets with some classic Made to Order goodness. It's a bit of a mixed bag and you can see the different eras at play in the proportions of the minis and their sculpting quality - no disrespect to the Green Stuff Masters of the past!
Let's have a look at the Tomb Kings, which not only displays different eras, but also three very different styles. In the modern era we have the excellent Tomb King With Great Weapon and the Tomb King With Sword and Shield. These look very much out of the latter era of Warhammer. They're tall and lean with ornate armour - and for the price, everyone should grab one! Then we move to an era that was further back in time, where the minis were more squat, had the less realistic heads and more "The Mummy" style. The Liche Priest On Foot and Mounted personify this, but at the same time also look like they're cosplaying as Tomb Kings - those cute little ears on the top of the mounted priest... KAWAII!!! The Tomb Kings Battle Standard Bearer on Foot And Mounted are also older, dating back to the plastic releases, BUT they came from a different school of Tomb Kings. Notice the heavy armour, the large banners and the kopesh. This is when GW really went for it, and it's a shame that the Tomb Guard are the only other Tomb Kings troop type to have similar heavy armour. Despite the goofy heads - and the fact these guys proportions are a bit ape-like - the unit on foot is an especially good model!
​The Bretonnians also get some Made To Order this week, with the venerable Bretonnian Lord With Sword and Shield On Pegasus, leading the charge. A nicely proportioned miniature, he's certainly less squat than the older Bretonnian Paladins With Sword And Shield, who to our modern eyes look a little funny. I'm a bit rusty on my sculptors these days, but I have a feeling the Bretonnian Paladin With Sword and Shield and Bretonnian Paladin With Hammer and Shield may have been done by the Perry Twins. It looks like their work, with the more natural proportions and historically accurate armour. Away from reality, the Damsels Of The Lady make an appearance, and it's interesting to note how similar this set is to the newer one we've seen in recent weeks. Shows how good quality lasts! Finally we have three excellent mounted minis, the Bretonnian Battle Standard Bearer on Warhorse, Bretonnian Lord With Lance on Warhorse, and an all-time favourite, the Bretonnian Lord With Great Weapon on Warhorse. These three would make excellent additions to any force, leading armies, rallying armies and being the point of the charge. If you're collecting Bretonnians, these three HAVE to be winners, despite the odd pricing.

++ Glory Be To The First, Unrivalled Progenitors of the Adeptus Astartes, The Emperor's Own, The Fist That Breaks The Foe, The Original Angels of Death, The Dark Angels ++ 
All of that was lead up to an absolutely glorious new Army Box - Deathwing Assault - a box with a number of firsts, fitting for the First Legion. Clad in bone white, the Deathwing are the Dark Angel's veteran Terminators, and in this new Army Box they are led by the brand new Belial, Grand Master of the Deathwing. A true heavy hitter, he is flanked by five brand new Deathwing Knights, a Watcher in the Dark, and a Teleport Beacon. This is the first time you can get your hands on these minis, but they're not the only prize in this set, there's also ten Terminators plus two of the brand new Dark Angels Upgrade Frames. These frames replace a personal favourite kitbash must-have, but they are in the larger scale that Warhammer 40K are going for, plus they include one Watchers in the Dark per frame. The set is also your first chance to get your hands on the 1oth Edition Codex Supplement: Dark Angels (standard 96 pages),  two of the new Dark Angels Transfer Sheets and the new Datasheet Cards: Dark Angels. It's an epic set, and an absolute wet dream for Dark Angels hobbyists and gamers alike.
It's lucky the Dark Angels are here, because the second Warhammer 40,000 Supplement, Crusade: Pariah Nexus, is about to kick off.  Available in both Collectors Edition and Standard Edition, you'll find yourself in the Nephilim Anomaly hunting Necrons (or Necrons slaying Imperium). Filled with background and rules for use in your Crusade games, this book also includes a one-use code to unlock Crusade: Pariah Nexus content in the WH40K App.
The Australia/ New Zealand delayed release of the Tyranid psychic beast, the Psychophage is also this week. It's been a bit of a wait, but here they are!
If your tastes go more towards massed warfare, then Adeptus Titanicus is one way to go, and this week we see the return of the well-loved and prematurely discontinued Titan Legios Transfer Sheets to help customise your God Machines! The transfer sheets are for Legios Solaria, Metalica, Vulpa, Atarus, and Astorum. Speaking of Adeptus Titanicus the Loyalist and Traitor Titan Legions Dice Sets are also back!
In books this week it's the Yarrick: The Omnibus, which collects David Annadale’s run of stories - Imperial Creed, The Pyres of Armageddon, and Chains of Golgotha, plus six short stories - in one impressive paperback.

While we patiently wait for the next installment of The Dawnbringers Crusade (Book IV - The Mad King Rises), we have some of the main players in the current meta (God, I feel so cool using that word. So Twitter!!), and they're all pretty spectacular.
First up is Trugg the Troggoth King, a mountain of a leader, and previously only available in the Gloomspite Gitz - Trugg's Great Troggherd set. Now you can get him all on his own, cute little hangers-on and all! Trugg is a bit of a departure from his Troggoth minions, and a "next step" in the overall evolution for the look of the Gloomspite Gitz. He's basically a large mushroom in need of a bath. Not the most spectacular of the Dawnbrigers, but Ionus Cryptborn has to be up there. Possibly one of the best Age of $igmar releases in a while, he may be one of the best looking Stormcast, and his dragon is certainly one of the best dragons Games Workshop have produced in some time. Just a fantastic looking mini, watch dozens of this guy entered into the next Golden Demon competition. And out of the ether an old power rises! Yes an old fan favourite is back, with a brand new 2024 look - it's Belthanos, First Thorn of Kurnoth. Belthanos is the progenitor of so much in the Warhammer/ Age of $igmar lore, and he's back, on a bug and as a treeman... which is sure to get some complaints, but we think he's very very cool!
Blood Bowl is getting some love this weekend, with the Skaven team gettng some reinforceents in the guise of this tricky fellow, Skitter Stab-Stab. The more GW show us new Skaven sculpts, the more the current (ancient) Skaven sculpts look so dated. Surely 2024 is the year for the update of this awesome faction. Speaking of updates, recently the Beastmen got some attention from GW - which did not include some awesome new minotaurs - but Blood Bowl has this absolute beauty, Grashnak Blackhoof. He's big, he's mean, and he's all Khorne-d out! I need this mini!! First previewed in May 2023, it's been a minute over here and we're very pleased he's finally upon us.
Besides these minis, the huge news this week is the final, complete and total end of the ​Siege of Terra book series. Hate to sound relieved, but By The Gods Old and New, this has dragged on, had so much filler for something that needs zero filler, but it's done, with The End and the Death: Volume III here for pre-order! Siege of Terra: The End and the Death: Volume III comes in Limited Edition (the scalpers will be out and so many people will feel disappointed in missing out. It sucks but it's true!) and standard hardback.
This momentous event is heralded by yet another The Horus Heresy: Siege of Terra Bookmark, cunningly designed to rip the top of the pages in your precious tome.

Probably the hottest ticket this week will be the Warhammer: The Old World Rulebook, a 352 page tome full of lore about the World of Legend, the rules for the game, plus a system for making your battles and skirmishes into epic campaigns of conquer and defence.
Unlike most Games Workshop launches which have a Team A vs Team B boxed set, this time we get two themed Army boxes with enough minis to actually start the game... and potentially sit in your pile of shame for decades!
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First off, lets look at the much-anticipated return of the Bretonnians with their Warhammer: The Old World Core Set – Kingdom of Bretonnia Edition. This box includes 75 classic plastic Citadel miniatures, led by the brand new plastic Lord of Bretonnia on Royal Pegasus. The Core Set also includes joined by the core rulebook, a reference sheet, dice, templates, measuring sticks, and a transfer sheet. The Core Sets for both sides are supplemented by more minis to flesh out your new army, with the new Battle Standard Bearer on Royal Pegasus heading the charge. He's supported by the classic Pegasus Knights set of three Knights (on noticeably smaller Pegasus, one must note). There's also some very classic minis, with the Grail Knights and Grail Knights Command Mounted, Mounted Yeomen and Mounted Yeomen Command sets back - these are so classic that they are metal troops on and plastic horses! There's a classic metal set too, with the Battle Pilgrims and Grail Reliquae making a return from the ether. Forge World get some love, with three character sets - the Handmaiden of the Lady, the excellent Battle Standard Bearer on Foot and Mounted, and the fantastic Questing Knight Paladin with Great Weapon. All great choices - not a crappy mini in the lot. Mind you, Foundry miniatures, who have some of the older Bretonnian minis in their collection now, must be very excited to have customers after miniatures from this era.
Each side in this conflict are also getting two supplements - with the "good guys" getting the Forces of Fantasy, which contains army lists for the Dwarfen Mountain Holds, the Empire of Man, the Kingdom of Bretonnia, the Wood Elf Realms, and the High Elf Realms. You'll find rules for every unit in the army, plus faction rules, unique spells, and magic items (welcome back to the wizards of Warhammer!).
The second supplement is Arcane Journal: Kingdom of Bretonnia, which delves specifically into the background of Bretonnia, new rules, characters and two "Armies of Infamy".
What would this release be without the Kingdom of Bretonnia Reference Cards and Dice Set too.

Alrighty, it's onto the flipside to the "good", with the quintessential "bad" - the much-loved Tomb Kings. We start with the Warhammer: The Old World Core Set – Tomb Kings of Khemri Edition, containing more bones than you can shake a leg at. Effectively a balanced force of melee and ranged, backed by cavalry, the Tomb Kings of Khemri boxed set, contains the same game aids (but no transfers which would have been awesome to have), 91 classic plastic Citadel miniatures, and two new minis – the Tomb Prince, and a Liche Priest riding a huge Necrolith Bone Dragon. This is a great set, but be aware there isn't a one of variety here, plus these are the old skeletons, so they have those big bobble heads. Simply swap them out with skulls from the Skulls set (which is what we did) and you're laughing!
Like their human enemies, the "bad guys" have their own supplements, starting with Ravening Hordes which covers the Orc and Goblin Tribes, Warriors of Chaos, Beastmen Brayherds, and the Tomb Kings of Khemri.
The second supplement is Arcane Journal: Tomb Kings of Khemri, which features rules for magic items, rules for three heroes of the dead, rules for two Armies of Infamy – the Nehekharan Royal Hosts and the Mortuary Cult, plus full profiles for all the Bone Boys (and Bone Girls). Of course there is also get the history of the Tomb Kings and their homeland, the subtly named Land of the Dead.
In miniatures, the Tomb Kings are well supplied, with the classic Settra the Imperishable in metal and plastic, a brand new excellent-looking Tomb King and Battle Standard Bearer in resin, the classic (and once very rare and expensive) Tomb Guard, the classic Sepulchral Stalkers/ Necropolis Knights combi-kit, another hugely anticipated set, the Necrosphinx/ Khemrian Warsphinx combi-kit, a classic metal Liche Priest, a metal kit in much need of an update, the Ushabti, and a new Tomb Swarms kit which is interestingly using the old style skeleton heads rather than the current style.
Of course there are the Tomb Kings of Khemri Reference Cards and themed Dice Set too.

Now away from the two sides and onto the more general Warhammer the Old World products, we have a generic Warhammer: The Old World Dice Set, a Lore of Magic Reference Cards set, a Common Magic Items Reference Cards set, and some rather handy Card Sleeves.
Warhammer: The Old World sees the return of square and rectangular bases - much to the chagrin of those who rebased their armies on round bases when Age of $igmar came out. There has been a change though, with many of the bases being larger than those used for past versions of the game. Therefore, fellow traveler, you may need to pick up one of the new Base Sets. There are 11 sets, with bases from 25mm squares, up to large rectangles for the biggest monsters in the game. With Warhammer The Old World being a game of ranked units rather than skirmishing, the Modular Movement Trays are all-important. This set allows you to add individual minis to a unit and move them all at once. In the old days, people used to do some amazing mini dioramas for units, so go nuts and give it a go, we certainly will be. The two trays in each set are 200x200mm and include various side edging, ready to be assembled. Honestly, this game is much simpler with movement trays, so if you're gaming - these are an absolute must! For us, as we chatted amongst ourselves getting all hyped, the mini diorama for units is one of the most exciting aspects. Hopefully we'll see some amazing people in the Community create absolute magic!
Now if you're like me and have zero sense of direction, then maybe you need this pretty Warhammer: The Old World – Map of the Old World. Rolled up in your pack, on your wall or as a cool playing surface for a game, this map is really very tempting!

Can I sense that there might be some sad Warhammer 40K players? Well fear not, you get some love this weekend too, with the Warhammer 40,000 Made to Order Experience (okay we added "experience" to jazz it up). During January a range of classic Warhammer 40,000 models will be available to order. Check these out - the Necron Overlord with staff of light, the Necron Overlord with a resurrection orb, a classic Necron Cryptek, the upgrade kit for the plastic Destroyer to turn them into a Destroyer Lord. For Space Marines there's Huron Blackheart Master of the Red Corsairs, and a metal Iron Warriors Warsmith. There's also some Forge World Made to Order, with Lugft Huron, Chapter Master of the Astral Claws, Sevrin Loth of the Red Scorpions and Honour Guard, plus Red Scorpions Regents of the Ordon Rift. Heavier firepower is there too with the Land Speeder Tempest and the Necron Sentry Pylon, plus the weapon option for the Seraptek Heavy Construct.

In books this week we have the Lords of the Lance in Special Edition and Hardback, The End Times: Fall of Empires ​collects the first two novels in the epic End Times saga – The Return of Nagash and The Fall of Altdorf, plus the prequel novella Sigmar’s Blood and a trio of short stories that showcase the beginning of the end - available in paperback. There's a new Gotrek Gurnisson novel, Blightslayer and it's a White Dwarf week with White Dwarf 496 on it's way!