It's all about Chaos this weekend, with The Hotness and The Rage getting an update and some powerful figureheads.  The almighty Slaanesh, She Who Thirsts, the Prince of Darkness and almost the only reason why GW have the colour pink in their paint range have their new Battletome, Hedonites of Slaanesh. which comes in Shimmery Satin Limited Edition and These PVC Pants Are Hot In Summer Standard Edition. Probably one of, if not THE best Slaaneshi miniature makes an appearance this week with the Lord of Hubris bringing a sense of style, panache and a very cool tactical rock to the battlefield. This is a really great mini, and manages to encapsulate so much about Slaanesh, from the sculpted body, to the exotic weapons, to the almost alien style headwear. This is a must and an amazing basis for kitbashing! WIth the Battletome we of course get the Hedonites of Slaanesh Warscroll Cards and Dice Set, plus the new Vanguard: Hedonites of Slaanesh which includes both the Blissbarb kits that are "No Longer Available" on the GW webstore.
​Away from the excess and glory that is Slaanesh and over to a whole different sort of excess - this time an excess of violence and rage! Everyone's favourite skull-collecting red-boys and red-girls from Khorne are also getting their Battletome, with Blades of Khorne coming in Sticky Red Goodness Limited Edition and Spikes for Spike's Sake Standard Edition. Like Slaanesh, Khorne also have a new champion, with the Realmgore Ritualist rocking up. Personally not a fan of this mini at all. It seems thick and chunky, lacking the finer details found on the more recent Khorne miniatures. Too much and too little all at the same time! There are of course the Blades of Khorne Warscroll Cards and Dice Set, plus the new Vanguard: Blades of Khorne. It's interesting to look at this boxed set and see the change in GW's philosophy when it comes to proportions, with these minis seeming cartoonish - which even on release was a criticism we had.
In books this week it's just the one - Warboss for you Ork (and Goblin) fans!

Forge World have the first of their resin torso upgrade kits for the plastic Contemptor Dreadnought up this week. All reworkings or redesigns, these torsos are probably just the beginning of the relaunched accessories. In a way it's a pity these aren't plastic, but that's probably not practical.
This week we can get the excellent White Scars, Imperial Fists, Iron Warriors, Dark Angels, Sons of Horus and the Emperor's Children. The White Scars and the Dark Angels were probably the most recent ones made in the previous releases, so it's interesting to see them in the first wave this time.  

The next chapter of the Arks of Omen is here, and the big-bad, Vashtorr has taken form to wreak havoc in the name of pure machine-Chaos. He's not going to win any beauty awards, but he's the centrepiece for the new boxed set to accompany this new expansion. Wrath of the Soul Forge King includes not only Vashtorr, but host of machine abominations and human cultists (which makes no sense to us, but okay) against the Emperor's Finest, The First First, the Dark Angels, who are led by the now Primaris-ified Supreme Grand Master Azrael and his force of Deathwing Terminators and Dark Angel legionaries. Seems like an okay set, but not going to blow anyone away, especially with Vashtorr not being able to be fielded in the Boarding Actions combat. Small hole in the plan there! As for the fluff around Vashtorr and his parts in the current Arks of Omen story, the Arks of Omen: Vashtorr book is available in Where's The Boss? Collectors' Edition and OOOOH It's Cramped In Here Standard Edition. To accompany the new book and the new boxed set, there's a very nice set of Arks of Omen: Vashtorr Dice too. 
​Now Vashtorr might not fight in the corridors of the space hulks, but there are plenty who do, as these four new Boarding Patrols prove - one each for the Genestealer Cults, Death Guard, Adeptus Mechanicus, and Chaos Daemons. Not bad little sets for either their intended purpose, or as force multipliers for your existing armies. 
Something else that is too big to fight in the corridors of the space hulks, are Imperial Knights, who this week get new dice sets - one for Imperial Knights and one for the Chaos Knights!
Horus Heresy fans delight in having a crappy difficult and awkwardly heavy resin kit replaced with a lovely new near-identical plastic kit of the Typhon Heavy Siege Tank. What a beauty she is too! It is interesting that this kit only comes with the Dreadhammer and not the turbo-laser destroyer variant like the Vindicator does. That would make a pretty great multi-kit.
It's been a while since we have had some new plastic Lord of the Rings, and this week we have two sets - the flexible Gothmog, Lieutenant of Sauron, who has multiple weapon and accessory options and the Faramir, Madril and Damrod, Rangers of Ithilien set that provides you with dynamic poses in almost mini diorama type poses, which is a lovely touch.
In books this week we have the beautifully presented Cypher: Lord of the Fallen in Limited Edition, Knight of Talassar: The Cato Sicarius Omnibus, and Ahriman: Eternal in paperback.
It's also a White Dwarf week with Issue 486 out on Friday.

Unfortunately Forge World haven't put the links up for these on their site yet, but we have some Horus Heresy goodness this week, with Alpha Legion's very own Exodus – The One Who Is Many and the generic Traitor Esoterist Consul on pre-order. 
Not to be outdone, there are Mk VI shoulder and head upgrades for Raven Guard and Alpha Legion, plus two different generic Character Heads Upgrade Sets. These seem like great sets with some of the best heads we've seen in some time from Forge World, who can sometimes botch them horribly. However these should be on everyone's shopping list! Be great to have these in plastic!

Between Kill Team and Warcry, we can certainly see where the interest in Games Workshop games lie, with  this week's pre-orders being stuffed with new and old minis from these expansions.
The next expansion in the growing range is Kill Team: Soulshackle, which sees the return of a fan favourite, the indomitable Imperial Adeptus Arbites (pronounced Ar-BEE-tees believe it or not... ) in an Exaction Squad matched up against the only real evil in the 40K universe, Drukhari of the Hand of The Archon. The Drukhari kit is not a new set of minis, it's an upgrade sprue with the venerable (and well priced) Kabalite Warriors kit. This is an excellent kit, so Soulshackle is coming in as one of the better of these expansions. There's also Exaction Squad and Hand of Archon Dice Sets plus a very cool new base set, Boarding Actions: Void War Bases, to go with the new Space Hulk feel. These seem like really nice bases, adding a new look and feel to the older Necromunda bases which many people use for Zone Mortalis.
If you didn't go all in on the Warhammer 40,000 Boarding Actions Terrain Set, then you can now get the smaller Kill Team: Killzone Gallowdark which comes with some extra scatter terrain but less wall sections. From that original expansion we also finally get access to the two Kill Teams, the Kasrkin and the Necron Hierotek Circle. Like the Drukari set this week, the Necron set is mainly an upgrade sprue with the existing Immortals sprue and some characters. If you want to team these guys up against each other, the Kill Team: Shadowvaults Book is also available separately, as is the Kill Team – Killzone Upgrade: Shadowvaults scatter terrain. But wait, there's more! That's right, the Imperial Navy Breachers Kill Team and the Kroot Farstalker Kinband are also now available to add to existing 40K forces or to throw into your Kill Team skirmishes too. The Farstalker Kinband is one of the really excellent additions to the universe, harking back to the original concept of Kroot outside the Tau alliance, so it's great to have these available. The Imperial Navy have always been around, first appearing in this form as part of the concept art by Jes Goodwin for Battlefleet Gothic. Like Shadowvaults, the Kill Team: Into the Dark Book and Dice Sets for the Imperial Navy Breachers and the Farstalker Kinband are also available.
There's also a very cool new addition for Horus Heresy this week, with the Legion Sky-hunter Squadron giving us Heresy-era Javelin jetbikes in plastic for the very first time.. Instead of one miniature, we get three. This is also the first time we have seen the Horus Heresy Space Marine 'rider sprue' for want of a better term, so that's worth a look as this may also appear in a later release of bikes or other fast transport.
It's not just Warhammer 40K that does skirmish, oh no, for Age of $igmar has Warcry, and this week gives us the opportunity to pre-order Warcry: Bloodhunt, a very cool new set with two excellent new warbands - the samurai vampires of the ​Askurgan Trueblades and the feral Khorne-worshiping Claws of Karanak. Both of these are excellent, and although the scenery is a bit Ewok village, it fits with the current deep-dark-jungle vibe. Speaking of deep-dark-jungle, the newest Seraphon warband, the Hunters of Huanchi had stepped out of the more recent expansion along with their foe, the Jade Obelisk warband. Again (broken record) these are also both awesome and oh-so-tempting. Honestly, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that each and every one of these warbands is great in their own right, it's just how far the wallet will stretch...
Oh look, it's some classic metal Made to Order Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Middle-Earth once again with some of the (mostly) later releases from that range - Heroes of Helm's Deep, Théoden (Warg Attack), the very nice and only eclipsed by the plastic kit Gandalf the White (The Two Towers), Gimli Getting Stoned on Dead Uruk-hai, Frodo, Sam and Gollum in Ithilien, Gamling (Warg Attack), the Rangers of Ithilien, Ringwraith on Fell Beast, another nice set the Warg Riders and the Uruk-hai Battering Ram.
Next week is also a White Dwarf week with issue 485 on sale on Friday.
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If you missed our article on the new pricing for Games Workshop and how they A) don't need to do it and B) possibly shouldn't do it - then check that out here.

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.

All that later, lets' go with the new stuff first as the new Blood Bowl set is out, Dungeon Bowl: Death Match. Feels like this has slipped under the radar a bit, but if you're thinking "Hmmmmm, that'd be fun on Xmas Day with the family/ kids/ collection of fellow geeks" then you might want to look at the Jim and Bob's Dungeon Bowl Yearbook Collection which gives you the base set plus a softcover Spike! yearbook. While you're at it, the Blood Bowl Spike! Presents: 2022 Almanac is also here, bringing you rules from the year's Spike! issues and White Dwarf articles.
We say it all the time - but Warcry is awesome. Sure recently it seems like maybe they are scraping the bottom of the imagination bin, but how cool to see Seraphon back as the Hunters of Huanchi in the new Warcry: Sundered Fate expansion. It's Seraphon vs the Tzeentch-flavoured Jade Obelisk warband with terrain that expands the existing Gnarlwood look at feel. This is where we see the first of the regional differences in pre-orders this week, with the Hunters of Huanchi Dice Set and Jade Obelisk Dice Set being delayed to the US and Japanese customers. More on what you're missing below. 
That's not the only Warcry this week though, with the Warcry: Warband Tome – Rot and Ruin expansion book, the Ravaged Lands: Gnarlwood Watchcamp, and the two warbands from the previous release, the Horns of Hashut and Rotmire Creed all on pre-order this week too. It's not just these releases either - on pre-order this week is ALL the previous warbands - some of the very best miniatures Games Workshop has ever produced and now webstore exclusives. Let's start with the beasts, the Ogroid Myrmidon Champion, Fomoroid Crusher and Mindstealer Sphiranx are all amazing models - I have them all (sure they all got converted) and they are highly recommended. In fact you would have seen the recent Slaves to Darkness Army Box set has three somewhat more static Myrmidon in there too. You like your warbands - check these out: the gruesome Unmade, personal favourite, the dynamic Corvus Cabal, three of the warbands from the original boxed game the Iron Golems, the Untamed Beasts and the Chaotic Beasts, another favourite that became Slaaneshi warriors on our hobby desk - the Cypher Lords, the Chaos Undivided warbands the Spire Tyrants and the Darkoath Savagers, the newer Scions of the Flame and Tarantulos Brood, and two of the best for last, the Khainite Shadowstalkers who make amazing characters in Dark Elf forces and the amazing Splintered Fang. If you're into Warhammer, Age of $igmar or even Dungeons and Dragons, these add so much character and dynamism to your forces.
Christmas is a time for giving, but it's pretty rare we get the hobby stuff we need/ want/ desire - so why not get yourself a Christmas present and grab one of these Battleforce boxes to reinforce your army, add allies, or start something brand-spankingly new?! You could get these from Games Workshop, or you could support a local business and buy it from your hobby store and save around 20% on the RRP. Let's dig in...
First up we have the Bloody Side of the Force with the Daughters of Khaine – Khainite Slaughter-coven box, which comes with a good cross section of their forces. The Gloomspite Gitz are here with the Stampeding Squigalanche, which may not give you the masses of infantry you want, so if it's pure numbers you're after , then it's the Skaven's Verminous Host answers that in spades. Meanwhile, on the Sylvaneth arrive with their Revenant Wargrove.
Want to add some Tzeentch to your hobby table? Well the Curseling, Eye of Tzeentch is now available for the first time separately too.
In books this week, a beautiful Special Edition for the nice guy of the Primarchs, Sanguinius: The Great Angel, which is also available in hardcover the same week which is nice! For Age of $igmar readers, there's the paperback of Hallowed Ground, and The Soul Drinkers Omnibus II in paperback for the WH40K fans.

As above, Australian, New Zealand and Japan won't be getting some of the pre-orders this week, so ideally our chance to get our hands on the Nighthaunt - Legion of Grief, Orruk Warclans – Kruleboyz Swamp-lurkers and Stormcast Eternals – Thunderstrike Spearhead Battleforces will have to come later. I'm not saying this was a contributing factor, but Dominion did not sell well in Australia and NZ, so if I was GW and had to choose to work out what to put in a container, these would be ones I would drop for room. It's logical, but also a pity because all three may in fact be the pick of the bunch.
Add three of the Warcry Dice Sets - The Hunters of Huanchi and Jade Obelisk dice which are delayed in Japan and North America, and the Horns of Hashut and Rotmire Creed dice are delayed in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand and it's a bit of a bummer. Japan also has delays with Blood Bowl and Warcry, so a small week for you I'm afraid!
Lastly in the delayed section for today, the Scinari Enlightener from the Lumineth range, available for the first time separately except in Australia, NZ and Japan this week 

In the Wonderful World of Forge World, Horus Heresy is king, and this week we get the Mark VI upgrades for the Night Lords and the Iron Hands.
Night Lords get MK VI Helmets and Shoulder Pads, while their Loyalist Brothers in the Iron Hands also get their new MK VI Helmets and Shoulder Pads.

Age of $igmar hasn't had much love recently, so this week there's definitely some of that being sent your way! The brand new Slaves to Darkness Army Set, with 14 brand new multipart minis, a limited edition Battletome, and exclusive warscroll cards is here. This is the first chance you will get to get your hands on the new Daemon Prince (the other build options are better than the one pictured), ten Chaos Chosen and excitingly, three Ogroid Theridons (yes the one with the horn does look a bit weird, but he's plastic so an easy fix!) This is a pretty awesome set and a great addition to the already excellent Slaves to Darkness range. 
You think the Ogroids are big and mean, wait until you get a load of the new Battletome for the Ogor Mawtribes. The Battletome comes in Is That a Foot Between Your Teeth Limited Edition and Showering is Optional Standard Edition. To kick this Battletome off, the Ogor Mawtribes get a new miniature (as frankly all factions should when a new Battletome comes out) with the Bloodpelt Hunter. There's also a new set of heroes with the Maneaters, including The Executioner, who has to be a great model to convert for a Nurgle army. Build your new army, or add to an existing one, with the new Vanguard: Ogor Mawtribes boxed set, theme your rolls with the Ogor Mawtribes Dice Set, and add to your strategy with the Warscroll Cards. Speaking of ​Warscroll Cards, the Sons of Behemat ones have rocked up this week. Away from the obviously evil to the ambiguous power of the Sylvaneth who get their Vanguard boxed set on pre-order this week too.
The Horus Heresy rolls on with the Liber Imperium – The Forces of The Emperor Army Book here to add rules for the Imperial forces that aren't Space Marines. The book includes rules and unit profiles for the Legio Custodes, Sisters of Silence, Divisio Assassinorum, and Solar Auxilia, plus Warlord Traits, a new Reaction for Assassins, and rules for the Tercio and Cohort Doctrines of the Solar Auxilia. There's also rules for the seven Divisio Assassinorum Clade Operatives and everyone's favourite non-Stormcast Golden Boy, Constantin Valdor, the Shield of the Emperor. It's a real shame we haven't seen plastic Imperial Army or Solar Auxilia. These would be amazing additions to the battlefield and are very much wished for from the Community. The Solar Auxilia range is excellent, and in plastic would be a sure winner.
Necromunda is a game, a universe, and seemingly a cult if you go online. A hugely popular game, there's now some more scenery to add to the expanding range with the Promethium Tanks Refuelling Station and the mobile Promethium Tanks on Cargo-8 Ridgehauler Trailer. These will be popular!
In books this week we have a new novel for the Tau Empire with Shadowsun: The Patient Hunter in Limited Edition. There's also three new anthologies - Conquest Unbound: Stories from the Mortal Realms in paperback - 21 short stories from the Mortal Realms, Only War: Stories from the 41st Millennium in paperback - 24 short stories from the 41st Millennium and Inferno! Presents: The Emperor’s Finest in paperback - 12 stories featuring the Space Marines doing what Space Marines do.
Also on pre-order this week, the paperback version of Kragnos: Avatar of Destruction, and the graphic novel of Marvel – Warhammer 40,000: Sisters of Battle.

Meanwhile, Forge World continue their Horus Heresy range with characters including new Assassins! First up is the excellent (I need four) Clade Vanus Infocyte Assassin, the Clade Venenum Assassin, and an assassin who will look familiar to you, the Clade Adamus Assassin, who we have seen in many incarnations over the past 20 or so years.
Away from Assassins it's all about two new Praetors, the Death Guard – Legion Praetor and the rather crushed-looking Death Guard – Legion Cataphractii Praetor.
Away from Horus Heresy, Necromunda has a new upgrade set with the Goliath Ash Wastes Upgrades. Interesting these aren't in plastic as that would go well with the weapons upgrade sets.

No, we didn't forget, there are indeed a bevy of Made To Order for Horus Heresy bits on pre-order this week - let's dive in with the ​Iron Hands first. This week Forge World are offering shoulder pads in Mark II, Mark IV, and Cataphractii, and Mark III torsos for your Iron Hands.
Away from the mechanically-enhanced and on to the purely evil Night Lords, with Mark II and Mark III shoulder pads, and Mark IV torsos.
To add to the pre-order of the new Liber Imperium book this weekend, the Solar Auxilia have some re-released minis too, with the Solar Auxilia Tank Crew, the Solar Auxilia Surgeon-Primus Aevos Jovan and Medicae Orderlies and the Solar Auxilia Rapier Batteries.
​By the Gods - please give us plastic infantry!

Warhammer Day 2022 is here and so far this year it's all 40K, with the Bayard's Revenge mini-diorama up for order this week. It's the 35th Anniversary of Warhammer 40K, so that makes sense, but it's interesting the mini isn't a generic Space Marine and instead a Black Templar... one wonders why.
Speaking of 40K, this week sees the launch of the new Horus Heresy/ 40K Land Raider Proteus, which throws back to the original Warhammer 40K V1 (Rogue Trader) in design. It's a great looking vehicle and can be built with either an assault ramp or the traditional old school dozer blade in Explorator configuration. 
Some "big" (pun intended) releases for Warhammer Age of $igmar this week, with the Sons of Behemat launching their new Battletome - which comes in Fe-Fi-Fo-Fum Limited Edition or Toe Jam Standard Edition. Launching with the Battletome is the huge new King Brodd kit, which not only sees the Sons of Behemat King take to the field, but it's a combi-kit, so you can also choose to make the Beast-smasher Mega-Gargant, Kraken-eater Mega-Gargant, Warstomper Mega-Gargant or Gatebreaker Mega-Gargant from the same box. It's not cheap though, but would all those spare bitz be worth it? The original Mancrusher Gargant is also back, and there's a pretty good deal on the Mancrusher Mob which sees you getting one-ish free if you buy three. Sons of Behemat also get a themed Dice Set.
On the totally other side of the coin, the Battletome for the Lumineth Realm-lords is also on pre-order. These are really beautiful miniatures - trust me, I have been bitten by the bug recently and delved into this force. The Battletome comes in Bling-Bling Limited Edition or Pointy Battleline Standard Edition. There's also a  new Vanguard box for the Lumineth Realm-lords which gives you all you will need for one form of combat, it's only missing the cavalry for the other form. Of course there's also Warscroll Cards and the Lumineth Realm-lords-themed Dice Set.
In books this week, it's more Black Templar goodness with Helbrecht: Knight of The Throne in Hardback.
As with last week, there's some stocking-stuffers for Xmas with the adult sized Roy Lowe: Warhammer 40,000 – Red Imperial Aquila Socks and Blue Imperial Aquila Socks. 

​Well here we are, the star of the Games Workshop Nova Open Previews, the brand new Middle Earth edition, The Lord of The Rings Battle of Osgiliath. It's a pretty hefty box, with a new campaign, new rules and some new minis (alongside some old ones). As with much of the Lord of the Rings product, this is pretty pricey, and a different scale to the other GW minis, but form all reports it's a fantastic game to play, so go forth! 
Speaking of new minis, there's a lovely new plastic Elrond, Master of Rivendell, who (as with previous characters) comes in both mounted and on-foot versions, plus a handy standard bearer. But what to play in this new edition? Well by chance there is a multitude of mew army boxes - and frankly they're all pretty great with the  Isengard Battlehost, Minas Tirith Battlehost, Mordor Battlehost, and the Rohan Battlehost all on pre-order this weekend, plus the Ruins of Middle-earth terrain set and the Final Fate of the Witch-king diorama thing. You've got the new minis - what could be better?? What about Rivendell and Garrison of Dale Dice Sets? How fabulous!
Heresy is the gift that keeps on giving - if there's supply - and the new Deimos Pattern Predator Battle Tank is now where! It's a really nice looking kit with some cool details, especially the hatches under the turret gun. There's also two Heavy Weapons Upgrade Sets for Heavy Flamers, Multi-meltas, and Plasma Cannons
and one for Volkite Culverins, Lascannons, and Autocannons. A interesting addition this week are the Age of Darkness Reference Cards, which you think would have come out with the game!
Warhammer Underworlds: Nethermaze have an awesome new gang, the Gorechosen of Dromm. and the Deadly Depths Rivals Deck. 
Add to your Chaos Daemons army from the other week with the Datacards.
In books this week the beautiful Special Edition of Awakenings is here, plus the standard hardback, there's also some Heresy offerings with The Horus Heresy Print on Demand Collection 11 (which includes 
The Buried Dagger, Garro, Titandeath, Heralds Of The Siege – a Horus Heresy Anthology and Slaves To Darkness) and Mortarion: The Pale King in hardback.
It's also a White Dwarf week with issue 480 on offer.
If you're in the mood for some miniature collections with a limited edition art print, then it's the week for you: Tyranid Tendrils of the Hive Fleets Collection, Fighting for Ur-Gold Collection, Deepkin From the Ocean Depths Collection, and the Skaven Fight-fight, Kill-kill Collection.

If you're a fan of the Horus Heresy, then this week is a BIG one - but in true GW style, they've made it confusing with options and... oh you'll see!
So the second of the Leviathans is up for pre-order this weekend, the Leviathan Siege Dreadnought with Ranged Weapons. And he's a beast! Now there's also a second version of the second version, this one is the Leviathan Dreadnought – Locked and Loaded
which is the same kit but with two of the ranged weapons sprues. Now if weapons sprues are your thing - then you can also get the Leviathan Siege Dreadnought Ranged Weapons Frame on it's own, which I guess makes sense if you got the close combat guy last week, and now want some pew-pew for added dakka. Now, for the little brother, the Contemptor Dreadnought which comes in standard, but also in Contemptor Dreadnought – Ultimate Loadout 
which is the standard guy with an extra Contemptor Dreadnought Weapons Frame 1
and Contemptor Dreadnought Weapons Frame 2. Clear as mud!
One of the most loved Horus Heresy vehicles is the potent and fast Sicaran Battle Tank which has been available from Forge World for a fair few years now. Well here's the new plastic version and it's pretty much a direct transition, in fact there's some swapability of parts according to the internet. If you like tanks and you've been patient not buying the big box, then your reward is here - the Spartan Assault Tank. This is a really lovely kit, easy to build and a pleasure to paint. Highly recommended., though personally we think it's a bit small in terms of scale.​
More good stuff from the boxed set, the Legion Praetor with Power Axe and the Legion Praetor with Power Sword are here, plus the ten-man Legion Cataphractii Terminator Squad and Legion Tartaros Terminator Squad.
Probably a really good opportunity to say this here, and the Community has been pretty quiet on this front, but the box art for the Horus Heresy range is excellent! Probably some of the best we've ever seen.
The Horus Heresy wasn't all just Space Marines you know - no - the Mechanicum were well in up to their augmented elbows, which is why the release of the Liber Mechanicum – Forces of the Omnissiah Army Book is so exciting. Who knows what plastic goodness we will see comes from this - our bet is on plastic Thallax and Castellax. In honour of the Mechanicum entering the fray, there's a reboxed and updated collection of Knights with Horus Heresy era transfers - the Knight Questoris and the Age of Darkness Armiger Helverins/ Age of Darkness Armiger Warglaives combi kit. See below for the Heresy transfers.
Away from space battles, there's a new set for Warhammer Underworlds: Nethermaze, Hexbane's Hunters. As per the current trend, there are animals, this time a nice set of war dogs!
Blood Bowl is back, not with new minis, but this time the Elven Union Pitch – Double-sided Pitch and Dugouts Set, Dice and Blood Bowl Elven Union Team Card Pack.
Fair few books this week, with the very cool Warboss (Mega Limited Edition)
, the Aeornautica-themed Outgunned in Hardback, the final part of Dark Imperium, Godblight in Paperback, the Paperback version of Urdesh: The Magister and The Martyr, The Wraithbone Phoenix in Paperback, and finally, Fabius Bile: The Omnibus.
It's also a White Dwarf week, with the new-look White Dwarf 479 out on Friday.

Well for those of us in Australia, New Zealand or Japan today is the day the first of the two Big Boy dreads makes it to our shores. That's right, the Leviathan Siege Dreadnought with Claw & Drill Weapons has arrived. We are of course all waiting for the ranged version with the pew pew, but this is a good start. Now if you have a Forge World version then you can also get the plastic 
Leviathan Siege Dreadnought Close Combat Weapons Frame to add to your existing mini, so really everyone wins - apart from Ferrus Manus (who died before the Heresy even got going).
Now the rest of this week's pre-orders are all from Forge World. Happily the Dark Angels get some love with ​Marduk Sedras – Lord of the Twenty-third Order. Pretty stock standard stuff for the 1st Legion, no surprises. This week also sees the new Dark Angels MKVI Shoulder Pads and Dark Angels MKVI Heads, which have met with much more happiness than the Space Wolf ones.
The 1st Legion may be the progenitors of the Space Marine Legions, but the 3rd Legion are the Emperor's favourites (at least temporarily) and this week we get some classic Made to Order goodness with the Emperor's Children MKII Shoulder Pads, Emperor’s Children MKIII Shoulder Pads and Emperor's Children MKIV Torsos. We've got these and they're very nice! 
Meanwhile, in more Made To Order news, the White Scars MKII Torsos and White Scars MKIV Shoulder Pads are also back.
It will be interesting to see if we get these releases week-by-week in Legion order, so next week maybe we will see the new MKVI Emperor's Children, and so on. Be great to have a new character for each Legion too.

Warhammer 40K continues to offer more Chaos goodies, this week not only expanding the Cultist range, but also adding some heavy-hitters for Space Marines.
Now if you have already dedicated your soul to The Warp, then this week's releases can all be snapped up in the Renegades and Heretics Collection, which also comes with a signed and framed print. However, if you are made of more mortal stuff, then you can pick and choose from some very cool models his week. 
First up is the Warpsmith, straight from the mind of Jes Goodwin many moons ago, it's now available in miniature format, and he's awesome - plus with options heads, shoulder pads and melee weapon, having one is not enough. The Warpsmith brings with him some Chaos Space Marine Warpy Boys, the Chosen. Two sprues of slice and dice action to add some elites to your current forces. Now Chaos isn't all power armour, in fact many have pledged themselves to the Dark Gods, and those anointed to lead are the Dark Commune. Part Dark Eldar, part robed loons, this single sprue is pretty cool, but for the not-too-enticing-price do not expect customising options, which for these minis is a huge shame! And here come the sheep, the weak minded, the greedy, the power hungry and the ones who want to make a serious fashion statement - the Chaos Cultists. This is more a multi-part kit than a multi-pose kit, nd if you look at the minis, each pose has a mirrored version, so there's quite a bit of copy-paste here. These will fit in perfectly with the excellent existing Cultists of the Abyss set. Maybe a bit of a missed opportunity here to have lots of options, but for fodder this is the way of the world. Now when we talk about big boys, these guys come to mind - the Warpforged: Venomcrawler and Obliterators set. Many have waited for Obliterators to be their own kit, but for now this looks like it. They're big, they're mean, they're might unclean, and probably a real bugger to paint!
++ But wait, wasn't there some progenitor Chaos content this week? Read on, Supplicant ++ 
Away from minis and into merch, this week there are three new McFarlane Toys action figures - the Chaos Space Marine Action Figure (with a very cheap colour paint app), the Chaos Space Marine (Artist Proof) which is awesome and the Emperor's very own, a Dark Angels Intercessor (Artist Proof).
Books is yet another beautiful Special Edition, this time, The Devastation of Baal.

If you're not aware, in many senses Australia has been the Keepers of the Flame when it comes to Horus Heresy. Many of the biggest and first Heresy-themed podcasts come out of Australia, and while Heresy sat in a pseudo-limbo, we kept on. This devotion and loyalty has unfortunately not been reciprocated by Games Workshop as Australia and New Zealand will miss out on the release of the Leviathan Siege Dreadnought with Drill & Claw Weapons and the Leviathan Siege Dreadnought Close Combat Weapons Frame. So when will Australasia see this beast, this leviathan? One can only speculate!  

Hot on the heels of the Horus Heresy over the last few weeks, the children of the Heresy, the Chaos Space Marines return to the world of Warhammer 40K with their brand new Codex, which comes in Coming of the Dark Collectors' Edition and Horus is My Daddy Standard Edition. There's also the new Combat Patrol: Chaos Space Marines with the awesome CSM minis, Datacards and 
Chaos Space Marines Dice.
The Horus Heresy Boxed Set is now being broken up so the elements can be bought separately. If you are looking at this, do the sums first, because the box is actually much better value overall. So this week you can get the Wish I'd Known About This Earlier Age of Darkness Rulebook Special Edition and the Magnus Did Nothing Wrong Age of Darkness Rulebook Standard Hardback. There's also the Legion MKVI Tactical Squad, available in a box of 20, or if you want something specific there's the Legion MKVI Heavy Support Squads and Legion MKVI Tactical Support Squads.
There's also some older favourites from the first Horus Heresy Boxed Sets; Geigor Fell-hand and the Legion Cataphractii Praetor & Chaplain Consul. Like some added extras? Then there's two new Legion Dice sets for Imperial Fists and Sons of Horus.
Some of the best minis in some years are the Genestealer Cults, and this week there's their new Combat Patrol, which is a great set.
The next in the Primarch book series is here too, with Mortarion: The Pale King (Limited Edition) plus the hardback version of Ahriman: Eternal.

We can be pretty harsh to Games Workshop - the pricing, the shitty release weeks and the quality-sporadic designs - but to be fair to them, this Horus Heresy relaunch has been pretty perfect. Sure the wait time sucks, but the weekly teasers, the surprises and the amazing range of new plastic products is truly impressive. If you look at the breadth, this is well up there with any 40K or Age of $igmar release, and probably better executed. The thing that has stuck out to us has been the respect with which they have spoken to fans, old and new about the lore and the miniatures. There's not too much assumed knowledge to annoy the beardies and enough to excite new people. It's a very fine line to draw in this part of the hobby because, despite being pulled into the world of the Horus Heresy by Titanicus and Space Marine back in the late 80s and having stayed in touch with it all this time, even an old soldier gets attacked in the openly toxic Heresy Community. Even the stalwarts admit to the toxicity, and it sucks - especially having been around to see the lore change more than a few times. So many experts with such little time actually understanding the nuances. Anyway, again, well done to Games Workshop and Forge World for getting this all up and running. Forge World's deletion of products over the years has done a HUGE amount to make recasting mainstream, but Games Workshop seem to be bringing it back with these amazing new releases and some nice social media support.     

The Horus Heresy is here, so grab your wallet and dive in, because if you've picked your side, then there's bundles to save you time and scrolling for both Committed Loyalist or Fervent Traitor. Now the core The Horus Heresy – The Age of Darkness itself is a beast; 2 x Legion Praetors, 10 x Cataphractii Terminators (the older plastics), 40 x MK VI non-multi-pose Space Marines, a Contemptor Dreadnought, and a mighty Spartan Assault Tank. It also comes with the rulebook and some play aids. Fan of the background, lore and want to field units just for your Legion? Well the Loyalist Liber Astartes and Traitor The Liber Hereticus books not only have shared profiles for many units common to every Legion, but also unique rules for every Legion, including Unit Profiles, Warlord Traits, Rites of War, Wargear, Faction Abilities, and Unique Reactions (a new mechanic for Horus Heresy). On the miniatures front, there's two awesome weapon upgrade sets - the Legiones Astartes Special Weapons Upgrade Set for Legion Tactical Support Squads and the Legiones Astartes Heavy Weapons Upgrade Set (Missile Launchers and Heavy Bolters) for your Legion Heavy Support Squads. The nice things about both sets is they give you enough to actually arm full strength squads! Infantry need transport, and by the Gods Old and New, we finally have the Deimos Pattern Rhino in plastic. It's interesting it doesn't include the Cyclone Missile Launcher, so popular at the time, but this is a great looking kit! Transport aside, what else do massed Legions need? Big guns - and the new Kratos Heavy Assault Tank gives that in spades. Look at that Volkite bristling on the hull and turret... it's an expensive kit, but it's a beauty. The progenitors of the MKVI armour we see in the new Age of Darkness box are of course the venerable Mk III and MK IV armour types. Both seeing extensive service in the Horus Heresy and the Great Crusade, these sets now come in boxes of 20 miniatures to fit the maximum squad sizes for the Legions. Having build well over 50 of the MK III Tactical Squad and 20 of the Mk IV Tactical Squad, we can tell you these are excellent, multi-pose kits, and at the price, you get the extra 10 minis in each set for around 50% off.
If the Thousand Sons are your bag, then Ahzek Ahriman is back available separately, and a nice mini too. 
You would have seen the new Forge World Sons of Horus and Imperial Fists Mk VI Heads and Shoulder Pads upgrade sets. These weren't listed in the GW pre-orders this morning, but were on the Forge World site, which wasn't what we were told a few weeks back. Go check out the Imperial Fists Mk VI Heads and Shoulder Pads upgrade sets over there, or of course you can check out the Sons of Horus Mk VI Heads and Shoulder Pads upgrade sets and know you picked the right side ;) 
Away from minis for a minute, there is much excitement about the return of the Forge World Legion transfers, and they come in each Legion flavour; Dark Angels, Emperor's Children, Iron Warriors, White Scars, Space Wolves, Imperial Fists, Night Lords, Blood Angels, Iron Hands, World Eaters, Ultramarines, Death Guard, Thousand Sons, Sons of Horus, Word Bearers, Salamanders, Raven Guard, and Alpha Legion. Now of course nothing says Legion loyalty like themed dice, and of course the old Forge World dice have reappeared in glorious technicolour. Blessed be your role for the Dark Angels, Emperor's Children, Iron Warriors, White Scars, Space Wolves, Imperial Fists, Night Lords, Blood Angels, Iron Hands, World Eaters, Ultramarines, Death Guard, Thousand Sons, Sons of Horus, Word Bearers, Salamanders, Raven Guard, and Alpha Legion.
Want to know who was fighting where? Where to send your troops next? Well check out the Carta Galactica: The Imperium of Mankind map.
There's of course some Heresy-themed books, Cthonia's Reckoning which comes in Special Edition and Hardcover and the anthology, Lupercal’s War which contains 21 short stories. Want to know where you're up to in one of these books? Well have a look at this totally over-the-top Horus Heresy Bookmark.
There's generally a sweetener to the big launches, and if you order from the GW webstore, there's these tokens... an exclusive mini would have been cooler!
In other mini releases this week, we have the very nice new Forge World Grimbeorn and the Beornings
 from Middle Earth. 

Well here we are, the very much anticipated and pained-for announcement on the Horus Heresy...

An absolutely spectacular trailer by Games Workshop, truly some of the best work they have done in recent years in terms of supporting a games system. The trailer is full of little hints at vehicles to come - the Sicaran with single cannon is but one - epic warfare that we have all wanted to se, and in mind-blowing scale. Not only that, but having The Warmaster himself be the conduit for us to enter this world is so clever and doesn't define the good or evil at this point - everyone is a hero!

And then of course there is this glorious update to the venerable MkVI Space Marine armour. For those of us who started back in the late 80s, this is everything we saw when we constructed that early plastic boxed set. Don't get me wrong, we are very happy to criticize GW when they do something wrong, but with this miniature everything is RIGHT! Will there be some scale-creep? Probably. Will it matter? Maybe, but this miniature is actually perfect. Let me explain:
- Thematic pose
- Correct gun discipline with the finger placement
- Rebirth of the classic bayonet
- The segmented toe area harking back to the old metal miniatures
- Return of bonding studs that are actually round
- A small update to the classic backpack.
We're all for respectful feedback to GW about things they may have missed, done in a silly way or even completely balls-ed up. this trailer, this miniature is not the place. But unfortunately, social media is a place where everyone's opinion is equal, even those ill-informed with no real understanding that this universe existed before they started playing the game. Their is a history, their is ample evidence that MKVI armour was in fact used in the Horus Heresy. Was it as wide spread as MKII, or MK IV? Maybe, maybe not. But the fact is, for over 30 years, MKVI armour has been depicted in GW art as being in the Horus Heresy. It is unequivocally there! I used the term "unfortunately" earlier in terms of equal weighting in social media, and I'm sure that may have caused some to stir, but this fantastic preview has brought out a part of this community that others point to all the time; the toxicity. 
Within minutes, hours, there were posts about how this is retconning, how this wasn't factual - vitriolic posts proclaiming special knowledge and opinion as fact. Arguments even. 
We live in a post-Trump world of true facts and false facts - well facts are facts and the evidence is there, so how about we all calm down, enjoy this awesome video, get excited to see what's coming very soon and just be pleased we have PLASTIC Horus Heresy. 
I am so excited to make the new kits, put paint to plastic and create, let my imagination run wild and get completely absorbed in these new minis. A plastic Spartan? A plastic Phobos Land Raider? A plastic Deimos pattern Rhion? Yes, this is what we have been asking for for over a decade, so how about giving GW credit and stop spewing venom around and proving the rest of the hobby right about the toxicity of our small pocket of this much much larger hobby.