So here we are, the Aeldari in their 2025 guise, so lets start with the new Codex: Aeldari, which comes in Not A Glass Hammer Anymore Standard Edition or Pretty But Deadly Sparkle Horse Collector's Edition which comes with a different cover, and some very fancy teal foil detailing and lettering, and metallic teal page edges. I mean if you're an Aeldari fan you have to get this version, right? Interestingly this Codex also includes rules for Ynnari units and Harlequins, while Drukhari will apparently be getting their own Codex much later.
So on the miniatures front we start with the reimagining of a personal favourite - ​Asurmen Phoenix Lord of the Dire Avengers Aspect Warriors. His striking blue and red panoply with his stark white mask is just brilliant, and add his traditional high hlem and back banner and you have the epitome of Aeldari grace and power! I have multiples of this guy in metal and now need this plastic version! Poo-pooed as fake by the toxic Community and keyboard know-it-alls when he was first leaked, we get the impressive Fuegan Phoenix Lord of the Fire Dragons. He is fire incarnate, and is joined by the brand new Fire Dragons, who along with their high helms, also come with bare head options for the Ynnari. Give me fuel, give me fire, give me a dude with big wings and a sword - ladies and gentlemen - Baharroth Phoenix Lord of the ​Swooping Hawks, appearing here in darker livery, but none the less a spectacular miniature who leads a group of other spectacular miniatures, the ​Swooping Hawks. Like the Fire Dragons, these guys and gals also have bare head options for converting them to Ynnari. A brand new character for the Aeldari, and one of the most dynmaic minis in some time, Lhykhis Phoenix Lord of the Warp Spiders Aspect Warriors makes her debut. Her appearance also sees the creepy-cool Warp Spiders also enter the fray, who not only come with the bare head Ynnari option, but sport the coolest rebreather masks you've ever seen. A classic re-release are the War Walkers, once synonymous with Eldar, it's great to see them still around for the Aledari. As you'd expect, there are of course Datasheet Cards and a firey orange Dice Set if you want to augment your game!
This week also sees the delayed release of the recent Middle-Earth line for Australia and New Zealand, which excitedly brings new plastic minis from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. We have heroes - Haleth & Háma, Princes of Rohan (mounted and dismounted and optional head choices) and we have villains - Wulf, High Lord of the Hill Tribes & General Targg (also both mounted and dismounted configuration but sadly no optional heads). Meanwhile - because she is an individual and no one can tell her what to do -  ​Héra™, The Bride of Death - comes in resin... confusion reigns supreme. Being re-released and added to the The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim range is the plastic Rohan House, Rohan Watchtower & Palisades, and the Rohan Stronghold which is a large collection of those two previous kits. An interetsing addition to the range is the old metal Rohan Commanders. Why?
There's also some classic releases for Lord of the Rings, with the ​Morannon Orc Commanders, Mordor Orc Commanders, Gorbag and Shagrat, a Cave Troll, the Gundabad Orc Warband, Uruk-Hai Demolition Team, Isengard Assault Ballista, and Mordor War Catapult. Also in the Lord of the Rings re-release are metals of Haldir, Galadhrim Captain, Galadriel and Celeborn, the plastic Gondor Battlecry Trebuchet, plus metal Command Sets for Lórien, Minas Tirith. There's also two "creatures" with the comedic Watcher in the Water, and Birchseed the Ent both in resin.
The Hobbit also gets the re-released Bard, Hero of Lake-town, Thranduil King of Mirkwood, and the Iron Hills Dwarf Ballista. The bad guys get a big boss with the Goblin King and his Retinue, and the trio of Trolls.
Also in delayed release this week is White Dwarf 508 and the Primarchs Collection: Visions of Glory and Despair, a collection of art prints, one for each Primarch, plus The Emperor and Horus On A Bad Day!

Available to the rest of the world on pre-order this week - except Australia and New Zealand - is the re-released Aeldari Wave Serpent / Falcon Grav Tank combi-kit. In a way it would have been nice to see this rertooled and maybe some more variant options added to the kit, but there you go!

And while we're here admiring the Aeldari and the 2025 take on them, lets take a moment and just appreciate the genius of Jes Goowin. 

It's a very big week of pre-orders, not only for the stuff on offer, but laso some delayed products finally made available to Australia and New Zealand.
Let's start off with the Horus Heresy, which adds some serious firepower to that already sizeable armoured fist. The newest incarnation of the Deredeo Dreadnought, the Boreas Configuration, sporting the Boreas air defence missiles, and either a pair of Volkite Falconets or Arachnus Heavy Lascannons. To go with this release,. there are two weapons sets for the Deredeo too - 
Deredeo Dreadnought Weapons Set 1 which includes the Aiolos missile launchers and Anvilus autocannon batteries or Hellfire plasma cannonades, and Deredeo Dreadnought Weapons Set 2 including air defence missiles, and a pair of Volkite Falconets and Arachnus Heavy Lascannons. It's not just Space Marines that get cool toys, the Guard also have the Arvus Lighter transport (Lords know why this was pushed up the production schedule), the brilliant Malcador Infernus in all its vile glory and the Valdor Tank Hunter (both of these tanks have been delayed in Japan).
The big release this week is The Empire of Man, who have trod upon the hallowed earth of Warhammer: The Old World and just stuffed it up for everyone. There's some great new kits and a host of excellent classic ones too, but first let's look at the resin characters on pre-order this weekend. Leading any self-respecting Empire army is General Hans von Löwenhacke, a veteran of many a campaign, we're sure by now he's worked out how to walk in all that armour. There's a new leader for some of the elite cavalry in the form of ​the incredibly dynamic Harald Gemunsen, Grand Master of the Knights Panther. It's interesting to see Games Workshop starting to take cues from older depictions of knights - like the old Britains toys - to make them come alive. Some absolutely brilliant new wizards are also coming, with the Battle Wizard and Familiar, Elementalist and Familiar, and a Necromancer Wizard and Familiar so beautifully rendered and painted in these examples. Shout out to whomever sculpted the Elementalist - this look and feel is so character-filled that this miniature surfely has to go down as one of the best in the modern range. Another hero on foot, Sir Cecil Gastonne, the Wyrm Slayer surely has to take some cues from Monty Python and the Holy Grail - even if that's subconsciously. Unfortunately the key plastic troop releases have not made it to Australia and New Zealand (see below) but we do have the classic Captain of the Empire, Engineer with Hochland Longrifle and the much-loved Steam Tank front and centre. These are all older kits, but are a joy to paint! Alrighty, if we're talking "classic" then metal is the OG, with Knightly Order Masters for the Knights Panther, Knights of the Blazing Sun, and Knights of the White Wolf on pre-order - and happily not Made To Order! The excellent Warrior Priest of Sigmar and Warrior Priests of Sigmar are also here and work brilliantly also used in a Warhammer 40K army. There's also the Warrior Priests of Ulric on Foot & Mounted set, the very thematic Empire of Man Witch Hunter and the very classic, very old Classic Galrauch the Great Drake - a bit of a surprise considering his age. In terms of other Warhammer: The Old World releases there's also two new resin characters - the stout Burlok Damminson for your Dwarven Hold army, and Chaos armies rejoice, for Frydaal the Chainmaker takes the field for you!
Speaking of Made To Order, there's some Blood Bowl classics Made to Order this week with the ​Classic Human Throwers & Catchers, Classic Human Linemen & Blockers, Classic Halflings, and Classic Chaos Dwarfs availble to order for a limited time with a fullfillment date of TBC.
In books this week it's the Special Edition of Carcharadons: Red Tithe, which also includes the short story The Reaping Time, Age of $igmar fans rejoice for Grombrindal: Ancestor’s Burden in hardcover, and The Dark Coil: Damnation Omnibus makes it into in paperback.
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Delayed release time, with the Ironhead Squats Necromunda release making it's way Down Under. The Necromunda: Halls of the Ancients Necromunda expansion is accompanied by the Ironhead Squat Prospectors Exo-kyn, Ironhead Squat Svenotar Scout Trikes, Ironhead Squat Prospectors Weapons & Upgrades, Halls of the Ancients Dice Set and Halls of the Ancients Gang Tactics Cards.
Also delayed but now on pre-order is the ​Blood Bowl: Spike! Presents – 2024 Almanac!

Unfortunately not availble to Australia, New Zealand or Japan are the Empire of Man State Troops, Greatswords, Flagellants, State Missile Troops or Archers sets. This is a huge shame as they are the sets people are waiting for. Also missing is the Helstorm Rocket Battery/ Helblaster Volley Gun combi kit.

Guard players will be excited this week as the Death Korps of Krieg – Astra Militarum Army Set goes on pre-order. It's not your typical Army Set as the contents of the Lord Marshal on steed, ten Death Riders cavalry, an Artillery Team and five Krieg Combat Engineers with a remote mine are effectively more a set of specialists rather then line infantry - which is what we usually get in an Army Box. With the Krieg infantry already exisiting in Kill Team, maybe the focus shifted, but it's interesting there's no transport or tank. Is this a clue to their playing style? Well also in the Army Box is the new Codex: Astra Militarum, so you'll be finding out how they play pretty quickly. The set also includes 68 Datacards, Combat Patrol datasheets, 64 datasheets and some Krieg decals. These are a great addition to the Guard (especially that awesome looking artillery), and already a lot of people are using the Kill Team set for some great conversions, so lets see what the Community comes up with. 
Following on from the excellent Citadel Skulls set, ​there's a new way to decorate your bases - the Battlefield Trophies set, which adds new heads from various 40K factions to your collection. Perfect for the Bitz Box, this set is a must-have and even includes some Vespid heads!
 This week the rest of the world has a tonne of Middle-Earth miniatures from the distant past, plus some awesome new plastic ones from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. These have been delayed in Australia and News Zealand (see below), but we do have one classic set - the Galadriel and Celeborn Around A Table with a Bowl. Yes, I know that's not what it's called, roll with me here!
In books this week we have the delayed release of The Emperor's Gift (Special Edition), the new Guard-themed Soldiers of the Imperium Omnibus which includes the novels Death World, Kasrkin, and Witchbringer, plus four short stories. The other book releases are Renegades: Lord of Excess (Paperback), there's the hardback version of Leontus: Lord Solar, and the venerable and ever re-published The Imperial Infantryman's Handbook.

Now, for the rest of the world it's a mixed blessing... excitedly we have the new plastic minis from The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim, Haleth & Háma, Princes of Rohan which give you both heroes mounted and dismounted and options head choices. ​Also in plastic we have Wulf, High Lord of the Hill Tribes & General Targg in both mounted and dismounted configuration but no optional heads. This isn't stated but it also seems to be in plastic, and thats the Shank & Wrot, Orc Scavengers. Bear with me - that big guy would look great in a Necromunda market! Adding to the confusion is ​Héra™, The Bride of Death who comes in resin... confusion reigns supreme.
Now we said there was classic Middle-Earth this week, so strap yourselves in... in no particular order and straight from the GW blurb as we can't see the minis down here - there's the re-release of Bard the Bowman, Haldir, Thranduil, the Gondor Battlecry Trebuchet, Iron Hills Ballista plus three Command Sets, one each for Lórien, Minas Tirith, and Rohan. As usual, Rohan wins! Prefer the bad guys? Well, GW are offering Gorbag and Shagrat, a Cave Troll, the Goblin King and his Retinue, and the trio of Trolls from The Hobbit plus the comedic Watcher in the Water, the Gundabad Orc Warband, Uruk-Hai Demolition Team, Isengard Assault Ballista, and Mordor War Catapult, plus the Morannon Orc and Mordor Orc Commanders.
There's also the much-in demand Rohan terrain with the Rohan House and Watchtower & Palisades sets back for a limited time, and if you really feel the need you can get six sets of houses and two watchtower sets in the Rohan Stronghold.​

Well once again the Beardy Hammer site is blocking log ins, so this update is a tad late - even if it's backdated!
Extra annoying is that it's a staggered week again, with Australia, New Zealand, Japan and China all receiving parts or all of Blood Bowl this week, plus last month's (507) White Dwarf but not all of the other delights the rest of the world gets from Santa. Was it the joke about your mum?
Let's start at the top with the Blood Bowl releases, which include some new heroes taking to the field to help the rest of your team. In the lead is a massive call-back Hobgoblin straight from the 80s, Rashnak Backstabber who keeps the look and feel of the Hobgoblins of old - how they should be! Up against them is Anqi Panqi (oh puh-lease), Rowana Forestfoot, Jeremiah Kool, and Guffle Pusmaw. Guffle should actually look familiar to some, as he was once the McDonalds character Grimace, who after leaving the business fell in with a bad crowd and moved to Blood Bowl.
The other release - and a bit of an out-of-let-field - is the old Forge World Seraptek Heavy Construct with Synaptic Obliterators. It's a beast of a machine, but sort of out of place with nothing else Necron or 40K this week. Anyway, if you want a good laugh - have a look at the price.
Before we move on to the pre-orders for the rest of the world, (this will make you laugh) while Oceania is still catching up with White Dwarf 507, everyone else can get their hands on 508 this coming Friday. Way to feel loved, Games Workshop!

Well, you lucky ducks, 2025 has already shone upon you as a dark cloud hovers over Australia, China, Japan and New Zealand. Here are your EXTRA pre-orders for this week...
Despite everyone getting the new Blood Bowl this week, it seems the Spike! Presents: 2024 Almanac (which includes previous Spike! issues 16, 17, and 18 and you'd think the characters from this week too) is not coming to us all. Alas, it'll turn up eventually.  
The big pre-order this week is for the Orruks Warclans in the new edition of Age of $igmar. With a new Battletome: Orruk Warclans - available in Glorious Green Gamer Edition or Stompin Down To Pain Town Standard Edition - this will give you all you need to field the now-diverse forces of the Orks. This also means there is a new Spearhead box, with some of the nicest Ork models we've seen for ages. In terms of characters we have Killaboss with Stab-grot and Swampcalla Shaman with Pot-grot (both from the Dominion box) and Hobgrot Slittaboss, possibly the worst miniature released for some time. I fail to see any redeeming quality to this sculpt at all. It's overly busy, the stance is all wrong for a character, and he has zero presence. How can this miniature exist in the same faction as the obviously superior design of Rashnak Backstabber. In terrain there is the Bossrokk Tower/ Skaregob Totem combi-kit, and the Orruk Warclans Manifestations spell-thingies. There's also the Warscroll Cards, but no dice this week.
Speaking of Age of $igmar, the first expansion for this edition, Path to Glory: Ravaged Coast, is also on pre-order this weekend. Will this have an impact on the world as we know it, or again be soemthing that disappears into the ether.
Legions Imperialis deliver the units found in the Mechanicum boxed set as battlegroups forces (of sorts) in the form of the Mechanicum Battle-Automata, Mechanicum Infantry (with the glorious Thallax) and the Mechanicum Triaros Squadron. Personally I think these look better than the Marine releases. What do you think?
In "books" this week, it's a portfolio. The Primarchs Collection: Visions of Glory and Despair is a collection of the artwork of the 18 known Primarchs (and the Emperor). Don't get too excited, there's only 20 A3 art prints, so it';s hardly the definitive collection. It's really just a big poster book! 
And if these releases are on their way to you, then White Dwarf 508 is also with you this Friday!!

The very last pre-orders for 2024, and although the rest of the world will have these in their hands in a matter of weeks, Australia and New Zealand will have to wait - no special things for the Antipodeans! Unfortunately that means no direct links this wek either - BLAME GW!
However, the rest of the world do get to bathe resplendently in the glow of The Empire of Man as those venerable forces march to war in Warhammer: The Old World. All the miniatures in this release are older, with one small exception, so let's have a look at who and what you can field. Spearheading this release is the new Arcane Journal: Empire of Man, the 48-page supplement containing new rules, background lore, and scenarios. A must have to field this force, these books tend to be bigger on rules than minis, but the lore sections are handy. The slightly new kits this week is the Luminark of Hysh, which despite being an older kit has had some updates to fit better into the look and feel of Warhammer Age of Sigmar - I guess that means this can be fielded in both games systems - while still retaining the Celestial Hurricanum as the alternative build. An excellent mini, the General of the Empire on Imperial Griffon has been around for some time, and being a procrastinator, i'll now be paying new pricing not old. Dammit! Still, this is a centrepiece model and can also build the Wizard Lord on Imperial Griffon as the alternative build. The old Forge World Empire of Man Command Set is now part of the main Games Workshop Warhammer: The Old World range, remaining in resin. Do you like a customisable plastic kit? Well you'll be a fan of the Commanders of the Empire set. The set contains two base minis - one on a horse and one on foot - and then a selection of optional parts to make them into any sort of Hero, or even a standard bearer! Troops, we all need those, especially in a game of ranked massed infantry, so the Empire do not disappoint, with 
Empire Knights, the amazing Empire Demigryph Knights, Free Company Militia, and Empire Pistoliers back in the range. These are all great kits to paint and customise - highly recommended. The Empire love their big guns, so the return of the Empire Cannons & Mortars is brilliant. If you take the time to swap some bits around you can make some brilliant looking artillery crews too. There's some metal amongst all this returning plastic, with the Teutogen Guard Command and Teutogen Guard Warriors returning. As elites, this heavy infantry unit gives you much-needed smashing power on the field. If you're a fan of some very old minis, these fit the bill - the Imperial Ogres are so classic they are still in metal and despite their ages they are still a powerful unit. Available in either the hand weapons or great weapons configuration, these will give your Empire forces some serious cred - as will the specialist unit who just happens to be armed with an entire cannon all to himself.
Like all Warhammer: The Old World releases there is a battallion, and this one - the Empire Of Man Battalion - has 30 State Troops, 30 State Missile Troops (either guns or crossbows) and have a Steam Tank for support. These are great, simple to paint and rank up troops. Pick a scheme and get painting. We had a blast with ours! Finally in Empire releases is the venerable War Altar of Sigmar, another mad machine that only the Empire could drag to war! Of course there are also the Empire of Man Reference Card Pack, Dice Set, and Transfer Sheet too.
Now, Necromunda! Oh faithful friend, you finally get some love again, with the new expansion Necromunda: Halls of the Ancients on pre-order. Paying particular attention to the settlement of the Leagues of Votann on the planet, this book also introduces the Ironhead Squat Prospectors Exo-kyn, and Ironhead Squat Svenotar Scout Trikes to the roster. There's also a new Ironhead Squat Prospectors Weapons & Upgrades kit with a whole lot of weapons and tools. As you'd expect, the Halls of the Ancients Gang Tactics Cards and Halls of the Ancients Gang Dice are also in residence.
In books this week it's the Grey Knights-themed The Emperor's Gift in Special Edition.

Bit of a change to the pre-orders this week with no Saturday pre-orders, but instead we get them on Christmas Day... the world really has gone topsy turvy!
So on offer are some brilliant sizeable terrain pieces, which I guess begs the question "why?" as some of these haven't been around for a while. Are we about to see a change to skirmish rules or maybe Kill Team? We've heard rumours around Kill Team, so who knows ifd they are true...
These terrain sets are very very Grimdark, really hitting at the very roots of the look for Warhammer 40K so having them back even for a limited time is pretty great! As usual with Made To Order, these will be dispatched anywhere up until 180 days from now, so don't hold your breath waiting. It's a bit of a shame really, because these being in the range full time would be a real asset to the game.
So what do we get, well the range is using the old moniker "Sector Imperialis" and brings back the Basilicanum, Imperial Sector, Manufactorum, Objectives and the very versatile and a personal favourite, the Sanctum. These vary in price and some aren't bad value at all, so they're worth looking at.
You can order these now until Monday the 6th of January 2025, and again there is no delivery date as per Made To Order.

The rest of the world are also able to order this new mini diorama - Galen & Doralia: Outnumbered. However, for Australia and New Zealand, it will first be in Warhammer stores from the 25th > 31st of January, and finally available online between the 1st > 10th of February 2025.

As we get close to Christmas, and the elves at Games Workshop are busy helping Santa, they need to slow down on the pre-orders for us - the civilians. Therefore, this week we have two Made to Order sets and one Commemorative Series miniature all loosely based around the new Prime animated series Secret Level, which like the game Space Marine II, is bringing in fans from the greater populace to later haunt us in the online communities with their hot takes & "deep knowledge" of Warhammer 40K. We really are our own worst enemies...
Space Marine Heroes was a great series of Space Marine blindboxed minis initially for the Japanese market, where blind boxed is a huge thing culturally. This week the Space Marines: Heroes of the First Company is from one of those very series, giving a more dynamic set of poses than the former Terminators. This set has options for head or helmets on each mini, and added decorations on their armour to the standard Terminators of their time. Keep in mind that these Terminators are slightly smaller than the current Terminators released in 2023.
The other set on pre-order this week is the Space Marines: Company Command, utilising the old Space Marine Command Squad, the last of the pre-Primaris Librarians, and the ugliest Chaplain known to man or beast. It's absolutely fascinating seeing this put up on Made to Order as these are not Primaris Space Marines - they are the venerable so-called Alphas in the Heroic Scale rather than their larger, more recent brothers. A nice kit, and an excellent Librarian mini, this is well over twice the amount it used to retail for.
The Commemorative Series miniature is the protagonist of Space Marine II and part of the cast of Secret Level, Lieutenant Demetrian Titus. We like to think of this mini as Tripping Over Tight-arse, as the pose is so awkwardly posed that he really does look like he's about to slip, or maybe he's drunkenly attacking a windmill. 

Unfortunately, the servers for our site went down, so this update is late, but fear not intrepid friend, for the sake of history, find this week's pre-orders listed below.
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This is the final pre-order to be released before Christmas, so our prediction of a new game coming before Christmas is incorrect. We'll take that on the chin, but you need to make your choices for Santa - there's nothing else new before jolly old St Nick visits and ravishes your mum under the Christmas tree.
Everyone's favourite Universe-expanding game, Kill Team has a new Edition! We had some releases a few weeks back, but this week Games Workshop have flooded us with a new set and pretty much all of the-best-of-the-rest, with minis to satisfy even the most hardened of Beardy!
The new Kill Team: Brutal and Cunning set gives you Ork Wrecka Krew Kill Team and the Ratlings Kill Team as they square off in the new defensive fortification terrain, Compound Siege. Why the Ratlings don't have body armour is beyond me, but there you go. As for the new inddividual Kill Team boxes - where to start? How about the newest of the Kill Teams, the Tempestus Aquilons and the Vespid Stingwings, who have broken free of the launch box for this edition of Kill Team to spread their plastic majesty to us. This is the first expansion to the previous Tempestus Scions kit, this time giving us the first Imperial Guard troops with jetpacks since Forge World, and much more dynamic poses. The Vespid Stingwings on the other hand are the first plastic incarnation of the classic Tau allies, and you'd have to say a very solid update - especially in terms of dynamism. Curiously the Vespid haven't been very present on the Tau FB Community Groups, so maybe they haven't hit the right spot, or do Tau players prefer mechs and gun lines? The rest of the sets are older, and weirdly not all the same price, in fact the excellent Blades of Khaine get the prize for the most expensive followed, weirdly, by the Heirotek Circle. The rest are mostly the same price-point, with the Exaction Squad, Farstalker Kinband, Imperial Navy Breachers, Death Korps of Kreig, Fellgor Ravagers, Novitiates and Hearthkyn Salvagers all rolling in, while Hand of the Archon get a lower price. Considering the Hand of the Archon has Drukhari Kabalites base kit that is cheaper than the others anyway, the maths on this is crazy! Of course these forces need their Data Cards, so there's cards for the Tempestus Aquilons, Vespid Stingwings, Blades of Khaine, Heirotek Circle, Exaction Squad, Farstalker Kinband, Imperial Navy Breachers, Death Korps of Kreig, Fellgor Ravagers, Novitiates, Hearthkyn Salvagers, and our friends the Hand of the Archon, as well as the Angels of Death and Plague Marines. There's also a terrain set, with Killzone: Volkus - a very nice multi-level urban battlefield - available for pre-order this week too.
Legions Imperialis have some releases on pre-order this week too, with the Legions Imperialis: Stalker Constructs,  Legions Imperialis: Serperos 'Overlord' Heavy Stalkers,  and the Legions Imperialis: Thanatar Siege-Automata Cohort all on pre-order. There's also terrain for them too, with the new Legions Imperialis: Civitas Imperialis Elevated Plaza set to add height to your buildings, rolling out too.
In books we have the The Infinite and The Divine Special Edition and it's a White Dwarf week with Issue 506 here to turn up in your Xmas stocking and you'll probably never read.

Well, it's a Middle-Earth weekend and there's no Made To Order! Shocking, we'd like to say we miss it, but that would be a lie...
This weekend sees the pre-orders open for the brand new Middle-Earth/ Lord of the Rings/ ™ game The War of the Rohirrim – Battle of Edoras. This is the tie in to the new animated film screening at a cinema near you. The boxed game itself is chock-full or new goodness with 56 new minis, including Haleth, Prince of Rohan and Háma, Prince of Rohan on foot and on mount, 24 new Warriors of Rohan, Wulf, High Lord of the Hill Tribes and General Targg on foot and mount, 24 new Hill Tribesman, 2 sets of modular Rohan Houses and the hardback Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game Rules Manual. To supplement the boxed set there's a selection of really beautifully sculpted (and painted) resin models, Helm Hammerhand, Wraith of the Hornburg, Lord Thorne of the Wold, Freca, Lord of the West-march, ​Buhrdûr, Hill Troll Chieftain, and his minions the Hill Trolls of Angmar. The plastic Warriors of Rohan and Hill Tribesmen from the new boxed set are also available seperately, so that's happy for hobbyists that already have armies, or maybe people who want to start, plus new plastic Great Eagles of the Misty Mountains. If you want to keep your sanity, don't look at the prices! While we're talking miniatures, the venerable Osgiliath, Ruined City of Gondor has been repackaged too. It has to be said that the paint jobs on these minis are truly beautiful - smooth and clean, and expertly glazed to give smooth transitions.
The new Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game Rules Manual is also availble seperately as well as two new army books, the ​Armies of The Hobbit and Armies of The Lord of The Rings.
It's also a White Dwarf week, with issue 506 availble this Friday.

It has to be said that the Chaos, be that a Chaos Warrior or a Chaos Space Marine, really are the face of the Warhammer Universe. For all the Ultramarines in the universe, the spikes, the spikes, the big shoulders and tiny heads are the epitome of the Warhammer Meta - and long may that reign! This week Warhammer: Age of $igmar (and it feels like that may be on it's last legs after the more recent edition sales tanking) release the brand new Chaos Battletome with all the rules and new units to field these emplars of pure rage. Chaos Battletome: Slaves to Darkness comes in I Don't Want Your Money Honey, I Want Your Love Standard Edition and Wow Masters of the Universe Got Really Dark Gamer's Edition. We also get some nice new-ish minis to go along with the release - the amazing Abraxia, Spear of the Everchosen (available sperately for the first time) and the new Chaos Sorcerer Lord, who mixes the furry aesthetic with the option to have a very Tzeentch staff topper. It's an unusual look. The new boxed set for Chaos is the Spearhead: Slaves to Darkness – Darkoath Raiders, replacing the antiquated (but cool) Chaos Marauders. These new minis are really nice and dive deeply into the Conan look at feel. Chaos Power agnostic, you can easily mix these with some bitz from some Warcry warbands and come up with some amazing conversions. I'm talking myself into buying this... STOP NOW! Now of course, to truly harness the full potential of your Slaves to Darkness, you'll need the new Warscroll Cards and potentially the new Slaves to Darkness Dice, which come in Always-Cool-Black!
Speaking of Warcry, here is it's poorer cousin, Warhammer Underworlds with two new Warband offerings - the Seraphon ​Jaws of Itzl and Nurgle's Grandfather's Gardeners. The Jaws of Itzl is a little disappointing, but the Grandfather's Gardeners absolutley knocks it out of the park. There's two new Card Decks too, Wrack & Ruin Rivals and Reckless Fury Rivals Decks plus - if you're a classic Warbands kind of players - then the Warbands of Embergard gives you Fighter Cards for multiple Warbands. Games Workshop have decided to theme some Warband boxes and grouped them by Faction, so we have Death Warbands: Revenants of the Realms (including The Headsmen's Curse, The Crimson Court, Kainan's Reapers, and The Grymwatchand), Order Warbands: Heroes and Hunters (including Hexbane's Hunters, Ylthari's Guardians, Thundrik's Profiteers, and Myari's Purifiers), Chaos Warbands: Despoilers and Daemons (including Khagra's Ravagers, Ephilim's Pandaemonium, The Dread Pageant, and the Gorechosen of Dromm) and the Destruction Warbands: Brutes and Bandits (including Blackpowder's Buccaneers, Morgok's Krushas, Grinkrak's Looncourt, and Da Kunnin' Krew). Not entirely sure if these will hit the spot with gamers or hobbyists, but time will tell!
The Warhammer Commemorative Series Provisionally Prepared featuring two Astra Militarum Ratlings doing their best impressions of Hobbits and not fierce warriors worthy of our respect is finally up this week and sure to be popular. Maybe its the colour scheme, but this doesn't it home for us!
In books this week we have the Mega Limited Edition Interceptor City (which let's face it is probably already sold out), the Eisenhorn: Malleus – Illustrated and Annotated Edition in Hardback, a very rare Tau novel Elemental Council in Hardback, Lazarus: Enmity's Edge in Paperback, and Da Big Dakka also in Paperback.
Australia and New Zealand have finally been given permission to have the Horus Heresy Melee Weapons Upgrade Set available to pre-order this weekend. Although this is highly prized, wanted and needed, it's strange how this box is divided, with some weapons divided into multiples of four and some into multiples of five - the latter being easier to use in 10-20 man squads. Anyway, it's a very cool, very needed box, so it's sure to be popular!

As we move towards the end of the year, this week's pre-orders will be the final delivered to stores in November, which of course means we'e getting into Xmas stuff - more specifically the Christmas Battleforce boxes!
It's an interesting array this year, with someof the usual suspects missing and some very strange choices for inclusion. 
Probably the pick of the bunch for us would be the Maggotkin of Nurgle Battleforce: Shudderblight Cyst - yes it's Nurgle and eeeeew, but this is actually a very clever set which someone actually thought about, especially adding the Rotmire Creed from Warcry as a cultist support element. Very cool and a further sign that Games Workshop (sadly) loves Nurgle! Other sets include the Flesh-eater Courts Battleforce: Charnelgrand Jury (including the new Cryptguard minis), the Ironjawz Battleforce: Wrekkamob (a faction we see very little from but have a great selection of minis, including the rarely seen Maw-grunta), and the Cities of Sigmar Battleforce: Founding Foray (which gives you a pretty good cross section of the shooty and impactful elements of the Cities of Sigmar range).
The Warhammer 40k boxes this year are a little less exciting, but the Dark Angels Battleforce: Inner Circle Task Force does come with a Primarch and the Inner Circle Champions (which is almost always out of stock). The other sets include the 400th incarnation of the T'au Empire Battleforce: Retaliation Cadre (again showing GW really don't know what to do with the Tau), the Adepta Sororitas Battleforce: Penitent Crusade Host is quite smart as it gives you transports for your troops but isn't too exciting, the Necrons Battleforce: Hypercrypt Legion includes a bloody C'tan Shard of the Void Dragon (and like the Tau, shows GW really have little if any love for the Necrons in what is a pretty boring box), and finally for 40K the Imperial Knights Battleforce: Valourstrike Lance which is a nice way to get some Armigers, but with only one transfer sheet, there probably won't be too much uniformity in how they look.
For a box-by-box breakdown on the pricing, check out Auspex Tactics YouTube.
In books this week, the new incarnation of Eisenhorn: Malleus – Illustrated and Annotated Edition in Hardback in all it's glory is on pre-order, as is the paperback versions of The Ghosts of Barak-Minoz and Skaventide (and wasn't that boxed set yet another disasterous release for Age of $igmar).

Announced in the update last week, but not listed this weekend, is the Provisionally Prepared mini-diorama.

It must be getting close to Xmas, or maybe Games Workshop have decided to pay as much attention to their pre-orders as they have their Community page the last week or so. In other words, it's underwheleming! Now we do have a theory, and the theory is that there's going to be a big game release soon - maybe even a surprise out of left field sort of thing - and that's why it's all gone quiet. That brings a little bubble of exceitment, doesn't it? Yes, feel that expectation build...
But this week we only have one pre-order, and that's the Leontus: Lord Solar (Special Edition) novel. If you're saying "who dis?", then it's this guy - Old Pudding Head. Great mini, terrible head. Suffice to say, this novel looks pretty and if you're a Guard player you may be fizzing in your pants as we speak.

Warhammer Underworlds really was the progenitor of the modern small skirmish games like Warcry in the Games Workshop catalogue. Over time it's lost it's lustre as the loos narrative has switched locations and seemingly sort of waned in popularity. But now it's back as Games Workshop relaunch "Underworlds" with Warhammer Underworlds: Embergard. It's the Stormcast Eternals Emberwatch vs. the Skaven of Zikkit’s Tunnelpack. Much smaller teams than we are used to in Warcry, and it's to be seen if this will be popular, considering Warcry is seemingly slowing down after getting bogged down in a creepy mutated forest or some-such thing.
Alrighty, Xmas is offically here with the seasonal miniature of Da Red Gobbo doing something mad-cap and crazy! 2024 gives us Da Red Gobbo's A-bomb-inable Snowman, a cute little vignette with the world's deadliest snowman.
Horus Heresy gets some releases this week, unfortunately delayed for those in Australia and New Zealand, with only the Apocalyptic Blast Marker on pre-order this weekend. Read on for the goodies the rest of the world get to play with...
I books this week we have the Leagues of Votann-based The High Kâhl's Oath, available in spiffy-looking Special Edition or Hardback, Da Red Gobbo Collection in Hardback which includes three novellas (Da Gobbo's Revenge, Da Gobbo's Demise, Da Gobbo Rides Again) and two short stories (Da Wrong Type of Green and The Instigator). For big fans of Da Red Gobbo, there's also the new Long Live Da Red Gobbo in Hardback. Assumethe paperback will be closer to Xmas as a nice stocking stuffer.

Well, for many months, the close combat weapons for the Horus Heresy have been hotly anticipated, and now they're here... except where we live, BOOOOO! Yes, the Legiones Astartes: Melee Weapons Upgrade Set is here. An awesome addition to any Space Marine amoury, this set is great! Mind you, as it's meant to be for both ​MKVI and MKIII, some extra gauntlet armour plates would have been nice... 
Also out there in the world this week are The Horus Heresy Blast Markers and Templates with the Hellstorm Marker is for large-scale flame weapons, and the Apocalyptic Blast Marker and Apocalyptic Barrage Marker are for the big big guns of super-heavy tanks and Titans. 

This weekend sees Games Workshop try something they have never (in our memory) tried before - MDF terrain! The original Games Workshop terrain was cardboard, and that thankfully gave way to plastic. Now, in an effort to keep the price down, the brand new Kill Team: Starter Set (Yes a new edition! What would life be without a new edition?), replaces the expensive terrain with flat-packed MDF. Many of us have used MDF before -  but having it as an official release - time will tell if that's popular or not! The Kill Team: Starter Set itself is interesting as it includes two Space Marine Heroes sets, the Nurgle one being especially sort after and having some brilliant minis. Following on from the re-packaged Kill Teams from a few weeks ago, we have a few more, this time it's the rarely seen Kasrkin, Chaos Legionaries, Inquisitorial Agents, Phobos Strike Team and the Tau Pathfinders. Phobos armour really isn't aging well, and we're wondering if it might get a bit of a spit and polish in the not-too-distant future. There's also a collection of Datacards for these Kill Teams with the Kasrkin, Chaos Legionaries, Inquisitorial Agents, Phobos Strike Team, Tau Pathfinders and Chaos Cult Datacards all on pre-order this weekend. Be aware these are only available for a limited time!
One of the best Warhammer 40K miniatures in some time in on offer for the first time this weekend - the Chaos Space Marines Chaos Lord. Packed with optional weapons and a few heads, this mini is not only dynamic, but incredibly versatile. His pose is iconic, and I already have multiples in my collection which I MUST paint... one day! His lesser cousin, the ​Chaos Lord with Jump Pack is also on pre-order this weekend, similarly packed with accessories, but just in a weird pose! Gosh, from the glorious to the passable to the absolutely horrid - possibly the most maligned mini of the year is the update to Inquisitor Coteaz. A horrible rendering of what was an awesome mini, this pancake-faced, blob of nothing is on pre-order this weekend and if it's not the worst selling single mini GW releases this year, all of us will be very surprised! 
In books this week, the Black Templars get a run with the new Broken Crusade book, which comes in Special Edition and Hardback. Bound to be popular, line up for this one!
It's also a ​White Dwarf week, with issue 505 available from next Friday.

The Host of Mars march to war with the new expansion book for Warhammer: The Horus Heresy - Legions Imperialis, The Rise of the Dark Mechanicum! The book gives us rules for Mechanicum Taghmata units and also, Dark Mechanicum forces, with some units we have never seen before. Games Workshop say that it will be a long time until we see these in the larger Horus Heresy scale ,but who knows! Interestingly, this book also gives youy rules for fielding armies of Titans and Questoris Knights - which I guess sees us move from Adeptus Titanicus to Legions Imperialis as the sole "epic scale' miniature game. Games Workshop have actually just restarted using "epic" as a word to describe this scale, but it's small "e" not capital "E". To go with this book we get the entire Mechanicum range all in one box! Yep, the Legions Imperialis: Mechanicum Battle Group includes 146 minis, incorporating – Archmagos Prime on Abeyant, Vultarax, Arlatax, Myrmidon Secutors, Domitars, Tech-Priest Auxilia, Vorax, Ursarax, Triaros, Castellax, Myrmidon Destructors, Thallax, Thanatar, and Adsecularis Tech-Thralls. Great decision to bring it all out at once. We can but hope for plastic Myrmidons to make it to Horus Heresy scale very soon. There's also two battlegroups to go along with the new expansion, the Knight House Battle Group and the Titan Battle Group. There's of course the obligatory Legions Imperialis: Mechanicum Army Cards, plus a new repackaging of the Legions Imperialis: Manufactorum Imperialis Sector, this time giving you even more buildings. Absolutely vital for the game, an they seem like great fun to paint.
Away from these tiny tine troops, we have the remaining Blood Angels releases from last week including the Stormcast Eternals... I mean the Sanguinary Guard and the Combat Patrol: Blood Angels. Not exactly an inspired Combat Patrol, but it does include the new Captain (apparently the Blood Angels Captain from last fortnight but not pictured in the group shot) and the new Sanguinary Guard.
Now this cameout of nowhere, and hes's a great mini too - it's Tzatziki, Bane of Law. Not only a powerful Chaos Sorcerer, but a lovely accompaniment to any summer picnic. Brilliant looking mini!

Skaventide is being broken! Don't panic, it just means you can now get the minis seperately, as they form the spearhead of the new Order Battletome: Stormcast Eternals. The Battletome itself comes in Grimdark Golden Boys Gamer's Edition (so it comes with the Warscroll Cards) or the Shiny Spikey Smackdown Standard Edition.
Leading the Forces of Sigmar, is the Lord-Imperatant, a mighty hero with a cute little Gryph-hound. New to the range is the stunning ​Iridan the Witness/ Lord-Vigilant on Morrgryph combi-kit, which you'd have to thing is the core centrepiece for this edition of Age of $igmar. Also availabel for pre-order this week are the Lord-Relictor (awesome mini - must have!!), ​Lord-Terminos, Tornus the Redeemed (who used to be a Chaos dude), the wizard-y Knight-Arcanum, the coven of wizard-ry, the Stormcoven and the Axe-wielding cool kids - the Reclusians. Away from the characters, we have the new Lord-Celestant, who seems to be like the recent 40K infantry leaders, sporting multiple build options - which is a great move. They lead the new Liberators, ​Prosecutors and Stormstrike Palladors. In terrain we have the new Stormreach Portal which is just ACHING for soemone to convert into a Tardis. Just get two kits, block out the portal sides with the extra wall sides, paint it blue - BOOM - a Tardis. This release of course also has the new Stormcast Eternals Warscroll Cards and Stormcast Eternals Dice Set as well. The thing to take away from this release is the sheer amount of these that are Online Only, meaning that the Stormcast will have a much smaller footprint in stores! It's also so weird for the Liberators and ​Prosecutors as they are frontline infantry!
Also this week, the Ratling Warpblaster from Skaventide makes an appearance at a silly price, and the Ravening Gnarloak from Warcry makes a belated appearance having been pruiked for last week.​
In books this wek we have the Special Edition of First Founding, the book that covers the first Chapters of Space Marines. This edition also comes with 9 x art prints, and a zinc alloy coin for each of the nine loyal First Founding Chapters. Also in books we have two Age fo $igmar-themed novels, Anvils of the Heldenhammer: The Ancients in hardback and On the Shoulders of Giants and Other Stories also in hardback.
As the world is drowned in plastic, Games Workshop are doing their bit to add to the pile with the stupidly expensive Stormvault Combat Case (perfectly designed to break your minis in transport) and the Servo-Skull Palette, which is a ridiculous gimmick.
Delayed release in Australia and New Zealand are the missing Darkoath releases, with the Darkoath Chieftain on Warsteed, Darkoath Fellriders, Darkoath Marauders and amazing Darkoath Wilderfiend (online only) now available for everyone! Not sure why the Wilderfiend is more expensive than a whole unit of Marauders, but okay! I'm actually really tempted by this release. The Chaos Marauders have always been cool, and this update is a really nice one.

When the Space Marines first hit the world, Dark Angels, Crimson Fists, Ultramarines and Blood Angels were amongst the very first, and now the loyal ​followers of the Blood Angels have some new pre-orders to bulster their forces for Warhammer 40k 10th Edition. Starting off with the new Codex Supplement: Blood Angels, which comes in By The Angel Collector's Edition or the Totally Not Vampiric Ancient Blood Rights Standard Edition, this supplement will give you everything you need to field the diverse forces of the Blood Angels Space Marine Chapter. With the move to Primaris-ification, we start off with the reimagined characters of The Sanguinor, Astorath the Grim and Lemartes. Certainly faithful to their original incarnations, these guys have been scaled-up, with the Lemartes mini being one of the nicest Space Marines we have seen in some time. Also for the Blood Angels is the multi-part/multi-pose Blood Angels Captain, which comes with a slew of extra parts to customise your leader. An interesting addition for the Blood Angels is the Sanguinary Priest, giving you a Chapter-specific version of the handy battlefield medic. Of particular excitement is the brand now Blood Angels Upgrades and Transfers set, giving you a bevvy of parts to update and kit-out your standard Space Marines be they character or trooper. This release wave also comes with the compulsory Blood Angels Dice Set and Datasheet Cards: Blood Angels.
There's two new character models for 40K on pre-order this week too, the Canoness with Jump Pack, giving you many options to create your own leader for the Adeptus Sororitas, and the Genestealer Cults Benefictus, whose ego has clearly gone to his head... a lot. This powerful psyker is yet another heavy hitter for the GSC - how he gets his clothes on, one can only wonder.
In books this week it's everyone's least favourite Emperor's Children ​Eidolon: The Auric Hammer which comes in glorious Special Edition and hardback.

Available to the rest of the world, but sadly not Australia and New Zealand, are the Sanguinary Guard for the Blood Angels. Sadly panned on social media when first previewed, it will be interesting to see what the Community do with them.

Isn't it a lovely day when the world's collide - not physically obviously - but when there's a crossing of paths, a confluence of events to briung a smile to the face of the cynical hobbyist. Today, merry warriors, is such a day where The Powers That Be at Games Workshop have brought forth miniatures in one game, that could be used in another, and it's a cult faction too - the Chaos Dwarves!
Long left out of the main factions, the Chaos Dwarves have been shunned in the worlds at large, but still they manage to pull themselves up by the boot straps and still get a team together to play Blood Bowl. Today sees the pre-orders for the new plastic Chaos Dwarf Blood Bowl Team: The Zharr-Naggrund Ziggurats, and what a fearsome team they are, especially supported by their minions the Hobgoblins. These are all great looking minis, and supported by two Star Players - Zzharg Madeye and H'thark the Unstoppable plus some heavy hitters in the guise of the Chaos Dwarf Bull Centaurs (all in resin) they are sure to be popular. There is also the Chaos Dwarf Team – Double-sided Pitch and Dugouts Set, Chaos Dwarf Blood Bowl Team Dice Set and Card Pack plus they are the main focus of Blood Bowl Spike! Journal Issue 18.
Now the confluence of events spoken of just seconds ago, is that in the Warmhammer: The Old World rules, the Chaos forces can take allied Chaos Dwarves. So now, with just a few accessories, you could turn these elite athletes into battleground friends or foes! Guaranteed these will be a hit! 
Speaking of Chaos, since it's somewhat of an easy transition - Warhammer: The Old World is bringing back some classic and much-loved plastic Chaos minis. The mounted ​Chaos Knights, excellent Chaos Chariots (even if the crew are very dated so replace those), the Marauder Horsemen (amazing for Space Wolf heads) and the very dated and a bit janky Chaos Marauders. All multi-part, multi-pose solid miniatures you must take to your home and love. There's also the somewhat comedic Chaos Warhounds, who honestly just want to curl up by your fire and be loved... while chewing on your forearm.
The recent release of Necromunda: Hive Secundus, we now have some resin warriors to supplement the ongoing disaster that is "the other Hive Spire". Led by the amazing-looking Lady Haera in Sthenian-pattern Hunting Rig, we also have the foul denizens of the Many Armed Emperor, Hermiatus, the Second Son, a Malstrain Alpha, and the frankly hideous Malstrain Coalescence. They all look pretty great, and it's a pity we don't get these in plastic really.
The more recent Warcry box, Briar and Bone, has had it's warbands released individually, with the Teratic Cohort (adding some great new units to the Bonereapers) and the Twistweald (for the Sylvaneth) now ready to join your Age of $igmar forces on the field of battle. Hopefully this is a sign of some new minsi for the Bonereapers especially as the Kavalos Centari, Teratic Prowlers, and Aviarch Harpies add so much to their look and feel. 
In books this week we have the new Above and Beyond in Hardback telling the story of daring do in the skies and (takes deep breath) The End and the Death: Volume III The Horus Heresy: Siege of Terra Book 8: Part 3 in paperback. In many ways the Horus Heresy series is a true triumph, but frankly this is the end, and not before time.

This week sees the next edition of Kill Team released - which is noteable for a few things: new packaging, a price increase on exisiting Kill Teams, and the return of terrain in the mission boxes. Games Workshop made a big deal of the last few mission boxes not having terrain in the last edition, so could this be a change to that decision or is this just the case for the launch box? All will be revealed in the fullness of time!
We launch this new edition of Kill Team with ​Kill Team: Hivestorm a new mission set and miniatures, featuring the new Killzone: Volkus terrain. As with all Kill Team sets, Hivestorm boasts two new Kill Teams - the Imperial Tempestus Aquilons and Tau allies, the Vespid Stingwings. Both of these teams can either be built as Operatives for Kill Team or as standard infantry for their faction. Both of these Kill Teams are noteable in their own way - the Vespid as it's the first time we've had Vespid in plastic and they're sporting a more wasp-like design, and the Tempestus Aquilons as it's the first time we have had Imperial Guard with jump packs since the launch of Warhammer 40K Rogue Trader in 1987 - more specifically the Compendium in 1988 - (excluding the Elysian Jump Troops from Forge World). If you order this box from the Warhammer online store, you will also get the new Wound Counter Bases, which we can assume is GW testing the waters on a mechanic that was being used years ago in Dust Tactics and other games. To go with the launch box, there's also the new Kill Team: Core Book available for those who want to start the new edition without a Hivestorm purchase. This includes all the rules you need to play, and rules around the only currently offical environments supported in this editon of Kill Team; Volkus, Bheta-Decima, and Gallowdark. There's also the Kill Team: Approved Operations Card Pack 2024 and the Kill Team: Equipment Pack. These last three items are all in Kill Team: Hivestorm, so it's great to be able to get them separately without having to mortgage the cat to buy Hivestorm. 
Also availble this week are a selction of Kill Teams, repackaged with a sheet of tokens for enhanced gameplay. The Kill Teams include the Corsair Voidscarred, Drukhari Mandrakes, Nemesis Claw, Ork Kommandos, Space Marine Scout Squad, Hernkyn Yaegirs, Blooded, and the Brood Brothers. As stated previously, there is a price hike on these, so if you're just after the minis, hunt around your local independent stores for older stock. Of course we need each of these Kill Teams to have Data Cards, so we have those for the Corsair Voidscarred, Drukhari Mandrakes, Nemesis Claw, Ork Kommandos, Space Marine Scout Squad, Hernkyn Yaegirs, Blooded, and the Brood Brothers as well.
With the Core Rulebook currently only supporting three environments, we have a re-release of those too, with Killzone: Bheta-Decima and Killzone: Gallowdark, but it's just the terrain and playmat in each box.
Keep in mind that Kill Team is a two week pre-order window
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​Now we know a weekend can't go by without the Community crying out "Where's the merchandise that will clutter my shelves and gather dust?" - well fear not, friend - we have the next wave of Tomy Plushes. From next weekend you can choose from a Watcher in the Dark, Servo Skull, Nurgling, Ripper, and a Purple Sun of Xereus. Joy abounds!

Here's a question - how old is too old? In the context of this week's pre-orders we're talking about suitability of old Citadel Miniatures being released as Made To Order (MTO). This only really comes up as the Chaos range is one of the biggest and oldest, therefore we have models being offered that are over 35 years old - which for a collector or hobbyist doesn't really matter, but does that interest the gaming community? There's also a question about quality as a lot has changed in the past 40 years - sculpting, scale and even the material. These thoughts come up as this week we have four Classic Chaos miniatures up for pre-order - and they vary quite widely in era and... let's say quality when it comes to contemporary expectations. First off is the Sorcerer Lord on Chaos Steed, which is a great model, have a close look at the horse for example, as it has an ethereal element to it's look. Personally this could easily be transferred to any Chaos army. Then we have two contenders that have to be from the late 80s (late 90s actually. Beefweaver to the rescue!) - the Daemon Prince with Axe and Daemon Prince with Sword. These both have the exagerated features of the day, those strange folded wings (which when using metal as your material make sense), and the very static pose. It's curious to consider, when seeing these, how far back can you go and the minis still be considered "good". The last of the four this week is the Chaos Spawn, from a later era, and really beautifully sculpted (I'm tempted to think this might be Juan Diaz - which it's not, it's Aly Morrison, thank you again, Beefweaver!). You can see this mini being directly transferrable to today's aesthetics, and therefore well worth brining out of retirement. What is curious is the hope that Games Workshop might bring some back some of the many many Chaos Lords and Chaos Warriors from the mid-late 80s who had so much character. That would be quite cool!
In books this week we have the new Twice Dead King Collection, which features the novels Twice Dead King: Ruin, Twice Dead King: Reign, and the short stories Severed, One Million Years, The Life of Jethras the Martyr, and Patience. These are all presented in Limited Edition hardback packaging, with coloured page edges etc etc. Maybe not the most attractive of the Nercon offerings, but for Necron fans i'm sure it'll be a drawcard. Having read only some of these, Twice Dead King was a bit disappointing, but Severed is great!  
It's also a White Dwarf week, with #504 taking some pages to explore the Kroot.