Christmas greetings from Beardy Hammer to you and yours. Hope you have the time to spend with them. after what has been a really crappy year. Even if you don't have the time or a group around, here's hoping that you can take some time to rest and enjoy the end of this trash-fire of a year!
Now the Christmas of 2021 has ended with a bit fo a whimper from Games Workshop. In years past we tended to have Battleforce boxes, or lots of little bit of merchandise or tools. Well in 2021 we got all of that earlier, and with the Horus Heresy box stubbornly not appearing, we're left with one of the oddest releases for some time - the forces of Warhammer 40,000 3rd edition. This was the first run of the modern incarnation of plastic Space Marines and the very first plastic appearance of the Dark Eldar. With retro being in, that's kind of cool, but having a look at the Dark Eldar models today really does show us how far was have come in 25 years. Cute idea, and fi they came in the original 3rd Edition box that might be cool, but even talk in the Dark Eldar Community groups across social media is that the troops sucked but the vehicles are what everyone loved. Maybe we might see those sprout up again too, but more likely this is GW testing out a new factory for a large-ish scale production run or something like that. Look, if these tickle your fancy, then Made to Order: Old Enemies is only available this week, so grab them while you can.

Meanwhile the annual Advent Calendar reveal was an interesting one, with new Asuryani and some Chaos Space Marines. This would have been a really cool way to launch Slaaneshi Space Marines, being the natural enemy of all Aeldari, but they went with Black Legion unfortunately. 
The Asuryani minis are interesting, with an Autarch that offers some great weapon and armour options, plus new Rangers and a new Shroud Runner jetbike especially for fast attack Rangers. Building on the Harlequin double-rider look (the one we used to make Dark Eldar versions), these look amazing.
The Chaos Space Marines have a new Warpsmith, who looks great and a nice basis for many conversions, and five Chaos Chosen, who have a lot of interesting detailing! They also get the old Maulerfiend in the set.
Overall a nice set, so we'll see what else it has, but very keen for new Eldar releases.

All the Games Workshop elves are busy helping Santa this weekend, so there's no pre-orders, but we did get a pretty solid preview of the next line-up of Joy Toy action figures. Not only are there new Primaris - this time Space Wolves, but Chaos gets a look-in with Chaos Marines, Chaos Terminators and a Chaos Lord. The Chaos Terminators have helmeted and unhelmeted head options which will give variety to your growing Chaos horde.
As you may have read previously here, we are big fans of Joy Toy, and although there can be production delays (as we are seeing with the Incursor release), their products are high quality and much better than the McFarlane's rubbish that's being thrown out into the fandom. Unlike McFarlane, these figures are 1:18 scale (approximately GI Joe or Star Wars sized) and have great articulation, with double knee and elbow movement, rotating shoulder joits, ankles and more. They can be a little fragile, so these aren't for the kids, but for the rest of us this is a welcome addition to the action figure collection!

It's pretty safe to say that the pricing around Age of $igmar is pretty inconsistent, at least in the southern hemisphere. This week sees the release of two sets from the Dominion boxed set that ushered the release of the new edition of Age of $igmar. The box did not sell well, in fact going on special on the Games Workshop webstore within months of the release. 3rd party retailers were selling it anywhere from 40-60% off just to offload it. It's not a bad set, it just may not be what people wanted. Suffice to say, that boxed set reached saturation point in the market, and this week we see that box being split up into (roughly) command squads. The thing is, the price of one command squad (five miniatures) is almost the same price as when the entire Dominion boxed set was on sale. We paid $203 for the Dominion boxed set, and here come two five-mini sets for $180. There were 30 miniatures in Dominion. GW need to cut their losses with this release and let it fade away, or be realistic and offer these sets for $50, which is actually a fair price considering the lackluster performance of Dominion. This pricing strategy is crazy, and frankly unethical on the Community. If GW want loyalty from customers, treat us with respect. We are all used to paying big money - it's the price of admission for the hobby - but the pricing on these small sets is a slap in the face. And now... on with the show!

This week sees the Imperium in danger. Terra has been infiltrated by the Genestealer Cults, and who better to fix this law and order issue than the Emperor's very elite personal guards, the Custodes. The new Shadow Throne boxed set, which includes a new Custodes Blade Champion and Genestealer Cults Reductus Saboteur (both awesome models), tells this story. Interestingly, if GW were ever going to release Adeptus Arbites, this would have been the set. Potentially a missed opportunity as this would have been a big tick in the fan-favourite request box, but let's see how this goes... Meanwhile in the Age of $igmar, Nurgle is back to ruin everyone's day with the new Battletome, Maggotkin of Nurgle, which comes in Fly Blight Limited Edition and Pestilent Boils Standard Edition. This edition sees a new ​Rotbringer Sorcerer mini, which is a little boring until you see the alternate fly head, which is so cool and could turn me to the Oozing Side of the Force and make Plague Marines with those heads. As usual, we have the Warscroll Cards plus the Maggotkin of Nurgle Dice Set and an army set, the Vanguard: Maggotkin of Nurgle.
As we spoke about at the top, the Dominion boxed set is being split up, with the Thunderstrike Command
and the Kruleboyz Boss-Krew now available. Honestly, these will be available in an army box at some point - don't buy this and encourage them.
In books we have the new Imperial Guard Volpone Glory novel that comes in lovely Special Edition, or standard hardback. There's also the Crimson Fists Omnibus in paperback, which as a Rogue Trader hobbyist, does appeal! Also next week is White Dwarf 471, so if you need something to line the budgie cage with, pick that up!

There was talk it wasn't going to happen this year, but here we are and the internet is wrong - who knew? Yes the seasonal Battleboxes are upon us, and they certainly do vary in their offerings.
Pick of the bunch for us is the Orks: Killdakka Warband with a combination of new and old models, a string HQ and a flexible flyer. These new infantry models are awesome. Probably next would be the Necrons: Worldscour Legion, which doesn't really suit the name, but some great minis, just needs more Warriors. Fan fave but a bit disappointing in the offerings is the 
​Adeptus Mechanicus: Omnissiah's Talon. Just misses the pizzazz factor, but good for bitz if that is your want and desire. Very solid offering, but typical is the Space Marines: Shieldbreaker Strike Force. Lovely minis, but nothing too special. It is however (like the Orks) a true standalone force. Disappointing is the Adepta Sororitas: Purgatos Mission which is heavy in Support elements, but light on minis. Equally so the 
Death Guard: Plaguefester Warband.
Fear not, Age of $igmar doesn't miss out with the very cool Soulblight Gravelords – Revenant Legion taking the flag for us. Some more skeletons would have been nice over two lots of zombies, but tactically it's a good choice. For pure beauty and hitting power the Lumineth Realm-lords – Vanari Shining Host is a top pick too. These are beautiful minis! The Hedonites of Slaanesh – Sybarite Blade-carnival, equally lovely, but maybe needed something more. Lastly the much-unloved Ossiarch Bonereapers – Mortisan Tithe-echelon which really is just the releases we saw for them. This is pretty disappointing, in fact the whole way GW has handled them has been pretty poor. They're nice minis but they have been woefully under loved, rarely seen in interesting colour schemes and seem to be rotting on the vine.
Last but not least, Middle-earth gets the Rohan™ Stronghold set, which really is pretty expensive for what you get, considering you need to get more walls just to surround the houses. Maybe two less houses and two more wall sets would have been smarter.