The glorious skied excess of Chaos returns to Warhammer: The Old World this week with new miniatures, and new Arcane Journal, and some new Battle March boxed sets!
Let's start with the dragon in the room though, and that is the inclusion of the Lord on Chaos Dragon in the Sunday Preview from last week, and it not being in the pre-orders this weekend. Is this not available in Australia and New Zealand or did something go terribly awry in the Warp? Either way, it's a cool HUGE miniature and if you're lucky it's turned up on your local pre-orders this weekend.  
So why more Chaos? Well, solo traveller, the brand new Arcane Journal: The March of Chaos expansion for Warhammer: The Old World is here and being that it's named after them, we finally get to see the new Warriors of Chaos miniatures closer up. But first, this new book allows your Wizards to become so powerful that they (you) can create your own Champions of the Ruinous Powers, plus there's new rules for Chaos Marauders, Chaos Warriors, and Chaos Knights. Yummy!! Excitingly there's also a new Army of Infamy which allows you to field Warriors of Chaos and Beastmen in one army. That seems like a no-brainer to us.
Happily the new Warriors of Chaos: Battle March Army box is also here for you to truly absorb yourself in the bloody goodness that is Chaos. It includes 8 x new Chaos Warriors, 4 x new Chaos Knights, a very overused Sorcerer of Chaos, 5 x new-ish Marauder Horsemen and 20 x new-ish Chaos Marauders. This is a great box - and with the designs of the Warriors of Chaos harking so heavily back to the old Chaos Warriors Regiment from 1998, this is a brilliant step back in time. But who will lead your mighty army? I'm glad you asked - for it is none other than the Champions of Chaos. This set gives you 2 x Champions of Chaos  - one mounted and one unmounted. The set is pretty flexible too, with 4 x different heads, 2 x different axes or a mace for the right hands, and a battle standard, holding a severed head, or a hand clenched into a fist for the left hand. You like the Warriors of Chaos: Battle March Army set but want to start smaller - then you're in luck because the Chaos Warriors (16 burly spiky Love Gods) and the Chaos Knights (8 horsemen with an astounding 24 heads alternative heads) are here for you!  
In the blue corner for this battle royale, meanwhile is the Armies of Grand Cathay: Battle March Army Set. This comes with a Shugengan Lord on Great Spirit Longma, 20 x Jade Warriors, 5 x Jade Lancers, 6 x Iron Hail Gunners and 4 x Crane Gunners. All great miniatures worth of your paintbrush and your love!
Magic plays a bit part in Warhammer: The Old World, so strap in for the Arcane Magic Ploys Card Pack, which will apparently "allow you to easily generate a set of Arcane Magic Ploys before each battle, granting you new tricks and powers to tip the scales in your favour". [Insert expressive magic hands!!]
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Blood Bowl is back, this time with a new version of the game - it's called Sevens and is touted to be the new, smaller but just-as-brutal version of Blood Bowl - and it's launched right here in Blood Bowl Spike! Journal Issue 22. This issue contains all the info on Blood Bowl Sevens, the new rules, Pro Playbook which gives expert tips and tricks about the new format, plus all the usual mad-cappery of Spike! 
With a new format comes new rules and of course ​the Sevens Pitch: Double-sided Pitch and Dugouts which contains a double-sided fold-out Blood Bowl Sevens pitch. 
​The new game attracts big players and few are as big as Morg 'n' Thorg which, in his new plastic form, includes options for Imperial heraldry, a Badlands aesthetic, or a Chaos-themed look, with alternative heads, belt plates, kneepads, shoulder armour, hand weapons, and left hand options. He's not the only one to play for various teams, with the new plastic Minotaur ready to play for your Chaos Chosen, Chaos Renegades, or Chaos Dwarfs teams. He also comes with all sorts of bits to make him match which ever Chaos team you want him to play for.
Also this week, the new Skaven player, the Rat Ogre is here - he's less flashy, but nowhere less deadly.
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In books this week we have the Limited Edition of Bjorn: The Fell-handed in hardback (don't bother it's already sold out).

Games Workshop have none-too-subtly launched the second edition of Warhammer: The Old World, by not technically saying "new edition" but having everything that constitutes a new edition. First clue it's a new edition is a new Core Set, and this time it's the Warhammer: The Old World – Fantasy Battles In the World of Legend Core Set (quite a mouthful!). Happily this set brings together one of (if not THE) classic factions, and the newest, all in one box to create what is a great looking set! In one corner we have the fabled, famed, glorious Warriors of Chaos which includes an Aspiring Champion on a Daemonic Mount, Aspiring Champion with Battle Standard, 16 x Chaos Warriors and 4 x Chaos Knights. Personally we're really hoping these don't replace the current Age of $igmar Chaos Warriors, because these newer Old World ones aren't really hitting home. The horses are excellent and based on a much older Chaos Mount from decades ago, in fact looking closer at these new plastic Chaos Warriors I can't help but notice there are some real similarities to the Chaos Warriors Regiment from 1998, especially in the helmets and shoulders, even some of the weapon poses. Maybe the designers took influence from a previous multi-part multi-pose Warhammer kit that was also able to be ranked - either way, these guys are a little hit and miss, apart from the Champions and Standard Bearer which are absolutely spectacular! The opposing side are the Armies of Grand Cathay - a truly spectacular force with some amazing models. In this set you get a Gate Keeper on a Cathayan Warhorse, Gate Keeper with Battle Standard, 20 x Jade Warriors, 5 x Jade Lancers and a Cathayan Grand Cannon with Ogre Loader and 3 Crew. All of these are excellent and really should be loved by everyone. The details, the different cultural references from China, Korea and Japan, even Mongolian have been so lovingly added mixed together. Can not wait to see the Tiger Warriors coming for this faction soon. The rest of the box is a full hardcover 352-page Warhammer: The Old World Rulebook, with rules updates etc (also available separately this week), army lists for the Warriors of Chaos and the Armies of Grand Cathay, a double-sided folding playmat, double-sided rules reference sheets, 3 x plastic templates, a foldable 12" range ruler and white dice with black pips, including 18 six-sided dice, 1 artillery dice, and 1 scatter dice. This is a great set to split with a friend or family member so you both get started with a faction. Also this week in Warhammer: The Old World, we have the new Warhammer: The Old World Rulebook which is touted as a "revised edition" and includes rule clarifications from the online errata and FAQs, plus it has the the Core Rules for Battle March. And speaking of, let's have a look at the Warhammer: The Old World – Battle March: General's Companion. This is an expansion book built around the narrative campaign fought within the Axe Bite Pass and allows you to play smaller-scale Battle March games including leading leading raiding parties, vanguards, and outriders. What's really interesting is that this book is Armies of Grand Cathay vs Orcs, which makes us wonder if the new Orcs aren't ready and were meant to be the opposing army in the new edition launch box. With this "revised edition" comes the new Lores of Magic Reference Card Pack which gives you cards to help you keep track of your spells, and the Common Magic Items Reference Card Pack which allows you to keep an inventory of your common magic items. Man, I love Warhammer: The Old World so much! I wish I had the time and energy to build a force!!! 
Moving into another Fantasy realm, we have some new additions to the world of Tolkien with the Middle-earth Strategy Battle Game: The Burning of the Westfold. This new expansion provides a linked campaign of 11 Narrative Scenarios, set in the world of The Lord of the Rings: Motion Picture Trilogy. The book also gives you some hobby advice on how to create settlements using the Rohan House kit, a painting guide for horses, and a terrain hobby tutorial for creating the Plains of Rohan and the Fords of Isen. With this release we get some new plastic Middle-earth minis as well, including the spectacular Warriors of Rohan Commanders and Riders of Rohan, plus their sworn adversaries, the Hill Tribesmen Commanders. Premium pricing on these guys, so be aware!
There's some classic metal Made to Order this week with one of the best minis GW has ever produced, the Classic Mercenary Ogre Captain, the very old school Classic Mercenary Ogres with Hand Weapons and another absolute classic, the Classic Mercenary Ogres with Great Weapons, the more-recent and very nice ​Orc Raiders, plus old school cuteness, the Baby Dragons. Also in this small Made to Order wave is the multipart metal and plastic Baggage Train Carts kit - massive kudos to whomever painted one of these horses to look like Donkey from Shrek. Honestly, high five for the sense of humour!
In books this week we have Flames of Betrayal omnibus in paperback, which includes the novella Garro: Knight of Grey, and the short stories Angels of Another Age, Fulgurite, Fragments (All We Have Left), Ex Libris, System Purge, After the Dawn, the Darkness, Homebound, and The Carrion Lord of the Imperium.
It's also a White Dwarf week, with issue 526 also including a Blood Ravens Transfer Sheet.

Well it’s yet another adventure in the world of Games Workshop with the pre-orders apparently not being region-blocked despite the fact we told they were this week. Surprise!! Yet more geographically staggered releases
So, what is happening this week for everyone – it’s Grand Cathy in Warhammer – The Old World. That’s right, that excellent looking army everyone loves the look of but no one seems to paint, has some excellent reinforcements that bring us up to date with the more recent Warhammer Previews we have seen online – and all in one box. Grand Cathay are an elite force so the brand new Defenders of the Great Bastion Army Reinforcement Set gives you some cheap infantry plus some ranged power! First up with have the Astromancer on foot and the Astromancer mounted on Cathayan Warhorse with their requisite Familiar pet (which tells you how long ago this was in development). The ranged power includes 8 x Crane Gun Teams, 12 x Iron Hail Gunners and 30 x Peasant Soldiers, who can either have warbows or long spears. The Peasant Soldier kit also has two heads per soldier, giving you lots of personalisation options (or build them with two heads – you do you!). Grand Cathay is also the theme for the new Arcane Journal: The Breaching of the Great Bastion, giving you new lore, rules for  these new minis, an updated army list and of course the ongoing narrative of Warhammer – The Old World.
Now, new Horus Heresy releases this week look like they’re not coming to Australia and New Zealand on pre-order yet, so for the rest of you rejoice in your Mechanicum goodness. In plastic for the very first time we have the Myrmidon Destructor Host, chunky constructs with big guns to either obliterate your infantry or melt holes in your tanks and armour. These are a nice update to the old resin versions from Forge World and this time have optional heads, so you can be all mysterious and cowled or go for that techno-horror look with old mecha-baldy heads. The Skitarii need a leader, and today we see the Skitarii Battle-Pilgrym Marshal, who follows the same rag-tag design of his minions that has resonated so poorly across the Horus Heresy Community – do they even test these in some sort of focus group? This guy comes with multiple weapon and head options to provide a bevy of leaders across your force. Speaking of Skitarii you can now get the Skitarii Battle-Pilgrym Corpus outside their big box, which may or may not be of interest to people because these just don’t seem to be resonating. It’s probably the bad colour scheme, because surely they can look better! Also outside the big box for the first time is the Vultarax Stratos-Automata, a great weapons platform that is just asking for some interesting colour schemes to jazz it up.
We had a whole lot of pirates the other week, and at that time we mentioned that Freebooterz were missing – well here’s one for you, Kaptin Badrukk, who with his Ammo Runts give you a really nice start to an Ork pirate force. Space Orks go right back to the very start of Warhammer 40K, so if you like the idea of some old school Orksies, then jump on this duo now!
No books this week, so enjoy the quiet!!

Grand Alliance Cathay have had a bit of a stange release - the normal army box, then some staggered other minis and now these guys. It almost seems like a diservice to some great miniatures and a really interesting culture we haven't seen before. Anyway, this week we have a varied pre-order week starting off with the afore-mentioned Grand Cathy! The new Arcane Journal: Dawn of the Storm Dragon gives us rules for allying with Empire of Man, an expanded history of Grand Cathay and much more as we get to know more. We're finally getting not only one of the brilliant new dragon models in the form of ​Miao Ying, the Storm Dragon, but also the core of the Grand Cathay army, the Jade Warriors and Jade Lancers. These are brilliantly detailed miniatures and deserve a much greater fanfare - one does wonder if it's because these aren't being put out by the main studio... The other miniature release is the Grand Cannon & Fire Rain Rocket Battery which captured the imagination of hobbyists with the highly detailed crews. Surely this will be the inspiration for many dioramas. Lastly, the new The Northern Provinces of Grand Cathay Transfer Sheet is also on pre-order and it's great! In the tradition of the Horus Heresy transfer sheets this beauty will not only add a tonne of flavour to your troops, but will surely go like hotcakes.
If you like your battles "grand" but not Warhammer: The Old World, then Legions Imperialis is for you, and this week we have the pre-orders for the new Legions Imperialis: Liber Strategia, which has the army lists for Legiones Astartes, Solar Auxilia, Mechanicum Taghmata, Dark Mechanicum, Collegia Titanica, and Knight Households plus rules for bonded automata in allied units. Adding to the new book we have the new plastic Whirlwind and Scorpius Missile Tank Squadrons, Vindicator Siege Tank Squadron, Cerberus Heavy Tank Destroyer Squadron, Typhon Heavy Siege Tank Squadron and Mastodon Super-heavy Assault Transports. In terms of rules there's the Datasheet Cards for Legiones Astartes, Solar Auxilia and Mechanicum, plus some new plastic Legions Imperialis: Order Tokens and Objective Markers.
From the world of Middle-Earth the new resin Gundabad Catapult Troll makes his debut. He's a large lad and so is his price tag, but damn is he cool!! Also this week are two great looking minis War Drakes of Rhûn.

Today is the day we have the very first new army for Warhammer: The Old World - and this one has been a long time coming! First appearing in the Total War game, Grand Cathay are finally here, and adding a very Asian fusion to the look and feel of Warhammer. Fantastically detailed, Grand Cathay takes elements of Chinese, Korean and Japanese culture and brings them together to make this truly "original" new faction. To launch them we have the debut of the Grand Cathay Battalion, giving us a fully capable force to fight in a Warhammer battle. Includes are 2 x Cathayan Grand Cannons/ Fire Rain Rocket Batteries, 10 x mounted Jade Lancers and 30 x Jade Warriors, all beautifully detailed and incredibly tempting to add to a collection. The battalion doesn't come with rules, so to play them you will need the Arcane Journal: Armies of Grand Cathay, also on pre-order this week. Outside the battalion box there are other units on pre-order as well, with the Shugengan Lord on Great Spirit Longma (who comes with head and arm options), the Gate Masters of the Celestial Cities (which gives you options to have a mounted and unmounted hero), the absolutely spectacular Sky Lantern (which gives you weapon and command options), and the Cathayan Sentinel (which gives you two options as well). The Sky Lantern has to be one of the most spectacular kits Games Workshop have done in some time - it's dominant, completely novel, and very eye-catching. To go with your troops there is also the Grand Cathay Reference Card Pack and stunning Dice Set also on pre-order.
They're not the only Warhammer: The Old World items on pre-order this week, we also have the new Warhammer: The Old World – Matched Play Guide for players who take their gaming very seriously! Probably not before time either considering the amount of people who still play the original Warhammer competitively.
Can a week go by without some Middle-earth miniatures not crawling out of the cupboard? It seems GW have a pest problem and it's time to spray! This week we have metal miniatures from the days of yore, with Faramir, Captain of Ithilien on his horse, Warriors of Minas Tirith Command Set 1, Warriors of Minas Tirith Command Set 2 (I bought this when it first came out and I still haven't painted them),  Swan Knights of Dol Amroth (Mounted), Swan Knights of Dol Amroth (On Foot) and the Swan Knights of Dol Amroth Commanders.