Well here we are at the end of a bit of a weird year in terms of releases, and ending on the usual quiet note.
Blood Bowl fans get the new Blood Bowl Matched Play Guide, which is really only a 32-page guide to running a Blood Bowl event, which could be a great way to expand upon the newer edition released this year.
What would Christmas, New Year, a quiet week, a week ending on a Sunday, without some classic Lord of the Rings, and this time it's a kit that would be amazing in an updated plastic form - the Khandish Horsemen Warband. Very thematic with dynamic posing, both these and the Frodo Baggins, Samwise Gamgee and Gollum in Emyn Muil sets are old-school metal!
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That's it for releases this year in the ongoing complication of GW releases for posterity. The Eldar saw their long-awaited update, plastic Horus Heresy, the Guard in 2023 - bring it on, we say!

The other two releases this week are from Forge World, Outland Beastmaster with Ripperjacks and the Brute Handler and Chem Dealer. The write up for the latter is interesting: "Take on a helpful Brute Handler to ensure your biggest bruisers are receiving adequate training, and hire a Chem Dealer to ensure a steady supply of performance-enhancing black market chems for your gang". Having a look you'd think that it was the local pusher with his bodyguard, but maybe that's too real for Forge World!
​While we're here, those Ripperjacks are horrific - an amazing paint job and brilliant modelling. They are nightmare-inducing!

Well it's Christmas, and in place of our Red Gobbo or White Dwarf this year, we have this guy, the Abhorrant Ghoul King with Crown of Delusion. And deluded it may be, as this model certainly carries none of the regal nature of his faction, nor does he really look like he's been detailed very well. Flat and lacking the pose a leader needs, this model - available in store on Boxing Day - really doesn't hit home at all.
Now you may think that's pretty harsh, but let's compare him to some miniatures that are meant to have some gravitas, some leadership, and those are the Made to Order releases for this week - Space Marines, but not just any Space Marines. Yes the Alpha Pattern Space Marines are back with the classic bitz-heavy plastic Space Marine Commander and his more modern Space Marine Captain available again. These are great basis' for conversions of bitz. In a similar vein, here's one of our favourite Space Marine miniatures of all time, the Lord Executioner in resin. One of the later Space Marine characters pre-Primaris, this guy oozes power, leadership and a regal nature. Speaking of which, from an earlier time, the Masters of the Chapter give a variety of leadership personas. With flexible icongraphy to go with any Chapter (or in fact Legion with some of them) this is a good set for 40K and 30K alive. Back to plastic with a very much more recent model the Librarian in Terminator Armour - an imposing figure he makes too. A miniature that I painted back in metal in the day is the Chaplain with Jump Pack - an excellent miniature and totally recommended if you're looking for a Chaplain. This is a bit of a fun one, the old Armour Through the Ages which shows the original intention of the Mk I to MK V power armour - the MK III with the fixed helmet, the MK IV with the pipes and blunt nose on their helmet. Nice little set for nostalgia's sake. Speaking of nostaliga, the last of the pre-plastic Techmarines is Made to Order this weekend too, and boy hasn't this design improved recently. The real improvement started with the Space Wolf Techmarine, and then everyone got a less chunky version... thank God! And of course, as much as Alpha Pattern is great, the Primaris want to join in, so the very expensive Heroes of the Chapter have reappeared too!
In books this week, it's the start of the ​12 Tales of Christmas eShorts Subscription from Black Library. I think last year they were earlier, but here they are to get your through the Christmas period.
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For the second week in a row the Australian and New Zealand webstores have not been updated at the time of publishing, so there are no links. We will update when they go live later in the day... one hopes!!

Well, here we are, it's the week before Christmas, and all the Warhammer boys and girls are getting all excited to see what Santa-Warhammer will be brining them. They've been buying hobby presents for friends and been oh-so good not open them, and now it's time for their Games Workshop Christmas Preview. So with blurry sleep-filled eyes, they wake up, momentarily blinded by the light from phones and tablets across the world, joy filling their expectant hearts - and there, in their stocking, is coal!
The coal, metaphorical as it is, are the two expansions to Warhammer Quest: Cursed City, Nightwars and Nemesis, which are available as Made to Order for the next two weeks. The thing about these expansions is that this is a games system GW have admitted they will no longer support, despite people loving the minis, and it being such a close setting to Mordheim (another unsupported but increasingly popular games system) that they could relaunch it and cash in. Not only that, these expansions have no minis. They're just cardboard! And expensive cardboard. Surely, GW could have listed the Cursed City minis along with this cardboard monstrosity and given us something to look at, because the minis are really excellent and deserve love! Now the funniest thing about this week's "exciting" release is that it's so huge, so important, that in Australia and New Zealand, it's not even been listed on the webstore. It's literally been forgotten!
Ah Games Workshop, you really are the gift that keeps on giving. So hit and miss.

Meanwhile, our friends at Forge World at least have something for us, yes it's made to order, but it's useful and people will enjoy them.
The slackers of the Horus Heresy, (look forward to the backlash on that hahaha) the Ultramarines have their classic MKIII Shoulder Pads, MKIV Torsos, Veteran Helmets and MKIII Veteran Torsos all available in Made to Order. These are all classic pieces and very nice in any Ultramarines force.
The not-Traitors, the Thousand Sons also get their MKIII Shoulder Pads, which have always been awesome!
In an actual lovely re-release, The Ringbearers, the clear resin set of Lord of the Rings adventurers is back. This is a really nice thematic set that's a fan favourite and a smart release.

Ever wanted to find something on the site that we've categorised badly? Maybe its the much-copied Combi-Volkite tutorial, or how to articulate your Kastelan Robot, or the War Hounds painting guide (that needs updating), or maybe it was a product released by Games Workshop since 2014** - well now you can find it with this handy Search box.
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​LOOK - IT'S OVER THERE!


** Yes we have catalogued every pre-order every week from Games Workshop since 2014, slowly becoming a bit of an archive. Not all links are active, but the pics are there!

Barely a week goes by without Games Workshop dragging some old white metal Lord of the Rings models out to pad out a slow release week, but fear not valiant followers of all things Tolkien, for new things come to tempt you back to The Precious! This week sees the new The Lord of The Rings Battle of Osgiliath boxed set, that includes new terrain, new rules and some new miniatures for Faramir, Madril, Damrod, and Gothmog. This is an actual Starter Set, so if you're wanting to begin in the realms of Tolkien, this is the time and this is the place. Speaking of the new rules, the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game - Rules Manual is also available separately, so if you're running a force, then you can catch up on the changes and then beat the living snot out of the new players and if you're anything like the Horus Heresy Community, you can gatekeep and make people feel uncomfortable. Well... with that of our chests... there's also some lovely dices sets, one each for Mordor, Minas Tirith, Isengard, and Rohan.
Speaking of Horus Heresy, it's time for some serious long range hitting power - need to get some people in a building? Scorpius Missile Tank! Need to shoot down a plane? Scorpius Missile Tank! Need to destroy an Archmagos sitting in the backfield? Scorpius Missile Tank! Yes the Scorpius Missile Tank, once very overpowered and may have now been fixed, is here and it's a really great piece of kit on the field. If you're a gamer of Heresy, then this is an almost must-have!
Warhammer Underworlds continues to grow (no pun intended) as we continue into the Gnarlwood, this time with some Gloomspite Gitz, it's Grinkrak's Looncourt. Lots of character in this lot, but as a Goblin fan, it does feel like some of these are moving away from the idea of war and more towards the idea of circus! Also in Warhammer Underworlds: Gnarlwood, the Fearsome Fortress Rivals Deck is here. It can be used with any warband, giving you the power to build walls and traps. There's also cross-compatibility with Rivals, Nemesis, and Relic games
More rules supplements this week with Kill Team getting their Critical Ops - Tac Ops & Mission Card Pack giving you new scenarios and maps, plus an update to the existing Tac Ops mechanic. 
Next week is also a White Dwarf week with ​White Dwarf 483.

It's getting pretty loud out in those Ash Wastes, with almost all factions now having some sort of vehicle to do combat with in the hell-scape that is Necromunda. This week it's Escher who now have something to help distribute their illicit contraband with in the form of the Escher Cutters - jet bikes that would also make excellent engines on an Ork flyer. The flyers also have special Dice, Escher Vehicle Gang Tactics Cards, plus the second edition of the Escher Gang Tactics Cards.
Last week we saw the Age of $igmar Battleforces, well this week it's time for the Warhammer 40,000 versions. Interestingly, two of the Battleforces come with a Primarch, with the Thousand Sons – Court of The Crimson King and the Death Guard – Council of The Death Lord boxes boasting their powerful leader. Meanwhile, the Legion whose Father doesn't love them - the Imperial Fists - have to battle on alone with the Imperial Fists – Bastion Strike Force. The Raven Guard also get their own set with the Raven Guard – Ravenstrike Battle Force, but at least the Raven Guard's Chapter Master, Kayvaan Shrike turned up! Two elite forces of the Imperium get some love, the Adepta Sororitas – Sanctorum Guard and the Adeptus Custodes – Watchers of The Gate with both being forces all unto themselves.
Still in the world of WH40K, your old Machine Cult friends, the Adeptus Mechanicus have a new-ish model out, the Technoarcheologist, who is a nice mini it itself, but also a great base for any conversion.
Warhammer Quest: Cursed City – Nemesis, the second and final expansion for Cursed City is here, and sadly, no new minis! This seems like an awful lot for just some paper... 
In books this week, another beautifully presented set, The Gotrek Gurnisson Collection collecting three novels and three short stories written by Darius Hinks, including Ghoulslayer, The Neverspike, Gitslayer, Death on the Road to Svardheim, Soulslayer, and a new short story – The Crown of Karak-Khazhar. Age of $igmar's favourite Golden Bois have a new hardback, Hammers of Sigmar: First Forged and the Emperor's Murder Lords appear in 26 stories across the Heirs of The Emperor anthology in hardback.