​Given all the recent hoopla around Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition, a lot of the spotlight has been heading Games Workshop's way. Well they don't have the monopoly on great miniatures, and as you may know, we're big fans of DreamForge and what they produce. Their line of miniatures are super cool, but with no real fluff currently developed, finding a cool colour scheme or developing character is up to the hobbyist - not necessarily a bad thing! This week, in a burst creativity, we mixed two of the existing Dream Forge kits - mostly an Eisenkern Valkir Heavy Trooper with the smaller shoulder pads and super cool backpack from an Eisenkern Stormtrooper to make something a little different. Part of an urban pacification force, the base colour is actually the new Death Guard Green spray from GW with other GW paints used for the camo. The drybrush may have been a little heavy, but overall this was quite successful and potentially the start to a scheme for a larger force, and certainly a thought for the look of the Kellerkopf APC that DreamForge produce. This is the first time we've tried camo on power armour, so not a terrible first go., but lessons were learnt. Now to decide on markings!

Blood Bowl was a real fan favourite, and the re-launch was pretty successful by all accounts - but since then new miniature releases for the game and in-store space has been pretty limited. What Games Workshop have done, however, is provide re-releases of the old teams in their Made To Order range.
Next week sees a number of teams reintroduced, some of which have been on the wish list for new plastic releases. Does this put those plastic releases in doubt? One would wonder!
The Wood Elves, Vampire Counts, Halflings and Orges get a look in, as does the venerable Treeman. When you compare this Treeman to the current Age of $igmar Treeman/ Treelord/ Thing That Nightmares Are Made From, isn't it amazing how far we've come.
If you want to add the Treeman to a Wood Elf or Halfling team , then there's a pre-built team for you in the shape of the Athelorn Avengers or the Greenfield Grasshuggers.
​Now just a word of warning before you get too excited - these teams are not cheap!
In non-miniature related pre-orders, Primarchs Book 4 Perturabo: The Hammer of Olympia is released in hardback for your ocular pleasure.  

The launch of any new edition of Warhammer, whether it's 40K, Age of $igmar or even Horus Heresy is a big deal. With millions of fans around the world, any change to the universe is met with... well quite often a tonne of whinging, but also anticipation. No one was really ready for the changes made to the Warhammer universe with Age of $igmar - some may argue those changes weren't for the better - but evolution is evolution so may as well go along for the ride, especially if you don't have a choice..
Games Workshop are trying a new strategy with 8th Editon - they have split the Rules over one book, then the datasheets and faction specific rules over a collection of Indexes. They say they will release Codex for the factions later, which you certainly hope they will because the background and fluff for anything but the Imperium in the rule book is so scant it almost seems like an after thought.
So - lets dive inside and break down what you get...

​Well 8th Edition is here... and it kinds of feels temporary with this week's pre-orders - which for the main part are Age of $igmar.
This is a thing that Games Workshop sometimes do - they do a big release, then the next week alternate it with... well nothing really. In our minds it really doesn't work. Think of the big releases that really worked - Tzeentch, an amazing release that was balls to the wall consuming and had such momentum, some with the Dark Elves a while back, even Stormcast if you're into those. Now this week we get some Age of $igmar reboxes?
This week sees two excellent characeters from the Age of Sigmar starter box get a release; Vandus Hammerhand on his dragon-pony and Khorgos Khul and his Bloodsecrator bannerman. Two great sets at a not too horrible price. Speaking of prices, the Thunder & Blood starter set is excellent value if you're thinking of getting into Age of $igmar with a tonne of minis! In related products, Scions of Elysia audio drama sees the Elysian Drop Troops return and Hallowed Knights: Plague Garden is a Stormcast novel. Can you tell how excited we are by the Stormcast novel? It's palpable!!

This month's White Dwarf is late - in fact two weeks late - "and why" I hear you ask? Well fellow travellers on this roller coaster they call "life", it was so the release of Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition wouldn't be spoiled, so we would all gather together around the fireplace as one, like a Tyranid Hive Mind, and enjoy the great unveiling. Now in the days before the internet this would work marvelously - but Games Workshop have managed to saturate the internet so fully with their 8th Edition gushing that there is absolutely nothing new in this issue. We have literally seen it all, read it all, even tasted it all because I know you secretly want to put one of those new Primaris Space Marines in your mouth!
Oh sure there is some new-ish stuff outside of 40k, but if you're getting this issue for 40k, well wait until tomorrow and just pick up the new game! SO... why did Games Workshop hold this off? We're pretty sure it was the game play walk through, that or because they're mean!
++ More After The Jump ++

​Last week we gave you (to use a peculiar Australian-ism) "the good oil" on the pre-orders for this week. With a two week pre-order window, this week was never going to be huge.... unless of course they brought out the tank or maybe the individual boxes of Death Guard and Primaris Marines... which would be smart to keep the buzz alive, but alas they did not! Instead they give us a Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition special issue of White Dwarf.
The last "special issue" of White Dwarf was for Gathering Storm and was boring as bat-shit, so lets see what this issue delivers for readers and especially subscribers, who lets be honest have now waited an extra two weeks to get a White Dwarf they have already paid for!
And this leads us to this thought; do Games Workshop care about their subscribers?
Subscribers pre-pay for an issue hoping it will be good, blindly paying for the issue despite quality-sporadic production - especially in the last few issues.
The new White Dwarf started strongly and was very very good, but recently it has been less so, naff on occasion!
So what does the subscriber get as a reward? The answer - nothing special! Sure you might get the issue a few days early, but if it's crappy then you just get the kick in the goolies a few days early and you can't put it back on the shelf and save the money for some minis or something in real life.
With the advent of WH40K 8th Edition this would seem like the perfect opportunity to reward subscribers. How about giving subscribers a Primaris Marine taped to the front of their issue? They're being given away in some stores, so it's not like it's a crazy idea PLUS it would encourage future sales.
Being a subscriber, and therefore loyal, to Games Workshop seems to gain us as subscribers absolutely nothing. So why do it? The answer is, we won't be again.
Having bought White Dwarf since 1989, been a subscriber on and off in that time, it again comes down to not being treated well by Games Workshop. Why show loyalty when that is not returned?

In the recent video released with Jervis (ALL PRAISE THE MASTER) and Robin, they start mentioning "Keywords" that will be found on teh new Datasheets. These are words like "Imperium" or "Ork" - they basically tie your unit and it's allies together. Interestingly there are also other Keywords that will identify your Chapter (if you use Space Marines), which will allow you to make sure the right characters are leading the right troops. Now this got us thinking...
This doesn't seem like it would be that important if you were using pen and paper and designing your forces to play your friends - but what if you were using an App. Now when you added a character to your force, or even a Wish List, you could make sure the right character was leading the right army. or maybe you were trying to add Librarians to a Chapter that doesn't have Librarians (World Eaters for example). Having these Keywords work like metadata or Tags would allow you, as the App User to easily make sure the unit you were building was (a) legal and (b) fluff-worthy.
This seems like a logical idea and frankly how soemthing like an App using metatdata would be ableo to easily identify units and groupings - they certainly couldn't purely by the name! What do you think?
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Now lets take a flight of fancy and expand this a bit more and imagine this was then somehow integrated with the online store. The App User could build their force in the App, then click on the miniature they wanted to add and they would be directed to the store to buy it. Games Workshop could then see what people are buying, wanting to field and the cater to that.
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If we were GW, this is something we might be looking at!

Holy bananas!! When GW drop a new edition, they really drop a new edition. There are so many new products, this may take a week to go through!​
​Okay, so we have the Dark Imperium boxed game that has the community buzzing. You would have to say it's an impressive box, with the full hardback rules included. The miniatures are, however, not super poseable - so be aware.
Then there's the rulebook itself - Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition and it's SUPER expensive Deluxe Edition partner in crime. Surely this is the most expensive edition we have seen in a while - I mean there's a lot in there! But the rulebook is just part of it/ To supplement the rules, there are also five different Index - reasonably priced collections of datacards and some limited background. Hopefully this won't mean the end to larger books of fluff for the races - but if so, this follows the boring as bat-shit Dark Angels Codex template which is pretty disappointing. There are of course the usual Tactical Objective Cards, new dice including the Command Dice and Wound Trackers (which come in a variety of colours to choose from) and also a Combat Gauge in case you don't know how to use a tape measure. The Combat Gauge is also double sided - one Imperial and one Chaos. In terms of miniatures, the Sector Imperialis Tactical Objectives are super cool and sees the first time that Games Workshop have used the Japanese technology that Bandai use of putting two different plastic types on the one sprue. Something to add to your paint collection (also in spray can) is the new Death Guard Green - which you'd think would be in the colour of Death Guard shoulder pads...
To coincide with this release, there are also a collection of Starter Collection sets which come with the Index you need for that force. This is actually pretty smart, especially if you're thinking of trying a new army.
As with any game release there is a novel release too, Dark Imperium tells the story of two star-crossed lovers trying to reunite while also looking for their lost goat.... no - that's another book, this one is far less interesting but has more pow pow and zap zap! 
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As you may know, a lot of today's pre-orders are actually set for a June 17th release, so it's a two week pre-order window BUT, the things released next week will be: 
Audio Drama-wise there is Champions of the Eternal War which is an anthology of different short dramas. Sadly Lemartes gets his own novel which is released on this week - bad luck for the Chaplain. The Crimson King, the next in the Horus Heresy novels is also out and tells the story of two star-crossed lovers trying to reunite while also looking for their lost magical goat.... it's Magnus, go on tell me that's not in this book!!

Today is the first day of the International Tokyo Toy Show, and one of the new products on display (apart from a tonnes of Gundam models I'm sure) will be the new Space Marine Heroes from Games Workshop.
We don't know a lot about these at the moment, but they seem to be starting in Japan as potentially Gashapon figures. If so there will be questions over the quality of the plastic as these are generally cheap products sold through blind boxes or in vending machines.
Anyway, apart from that, we got our first good look at them today - and with paint on them they look pretty damn cool with dynamic poses and what looks like some very nice moulding.
It has also been confirmed from previous leaks that, yes, these will have scenic bases!
Although real information is very limited, there is an offical website www.spacemarineheroes.com

++ EDIT ++
Thanks to Gobbla, I have had a bit more of a look around and found this shot (below) on Wargame News and Terrain which shows some (if not all) of these guys have alternate heads! Also on closer inspection, notice the Marine pointing the Bolt Pistol has an Umbra pattern Bolter. Added drool-factor!