Necromunda has started to evolve - from gangs and terrain, to a great focus on characters, and if you look at those characters they really are starting to resemble some of the aesthetic of the old Inquisitor game that Games Workshop brought out 30+ years ago. Could this be a return to that character based platform, or maybe these miniatures could double in an RPG style game. It feels like soemthing is going on, and if you remember Inquisitor, then maybe you're seeing it too. Lets have a look at minis on pre-order this weekend that we think most point to this idea. First up we have Whisper Merchant and Psychoteric Thrall (dammit, someone buy that guy another boot!) that very much fall into the look and feel, and then we have Silberlant Sevos, the Infotek which matches the aesthetic so much that initiially I wondered if this was 54mm. Lastly we have a twist on an Inquisitor character - a Space Marine, but this time it's a fallen veteran of the Blood Angels (or at least the proto-Ninth Legion) Vandoth the Fallen. It's very interesting to consider this potential, particularly since the ideas for gangs seems to have run dry at GW headquarters. The other Necromunda pre-orders this week are The Prophet of the Redemption, a crazy almost Monty Pyhton-esque miniature, and the Abyssal Ferryman Hagthor Jarlun and Aster Felsturn who some would say almost seem like pirates. A pirate gang in Necromunda? Why not!!
​We saw some of the High Elves re-released for Warhammer: The Old World the other week, and now here's the rest - and although there's very few misses in the High Elf range (considering their age) - this week has some spectacular miniatures. Elves love magic, and the High Elf Mages kit gives you bits and pieces to make two, one mounted and one not... though he is flying! One of the most stunning kits in all of Games Workshop is back and would be an insta-buy if it wasn't for all the damn feathers - the spectacular Lothern Skycutter. Available in multiple build options, there's also multiple crew faction choices with options for Sea Guard, High Elves or a High Elf Lord and retinue. Equally spectacular (and probably a pain to paint) are the Dragon Princes of Caledor, and glorious visage of power and prestige - everything the High Elves opitimise. Maybe not as spectacular but a favoruite is the Tiranoc Chariots, giving you options to build two Lion Chariots of Chrace, two Tiranoc Chariots, or one of each. Very tempting, and probably on my shoipping list this weekend. We also have some older rank and file minis, with the Elven Spearmen and Elven Archers giving you some simple foundational units. Another great week of Elves!
Legions Imperialis has been bubbling along, and it would be interesting to know how popular the system is, but this week we get some more Mechanicum pre-orders with the Questoris Knights Magaera and Styrix, Cerastus Knights Atrapos and the Acastus Knights Asterius sets on offer. The prices on these are very high (considering their size) but to give GW a bit of a break, there are a lot of pieces in these sets. Tiny tiny pieces! Also in Legions Imperialis: Mechanicum we have the tiny Krios Squadron and the less tiny Karacnos Assault Tank Squadron. 
It's been a while, but this week we also get some Horus Heresy miniatures! Both characters, we have Aster Crohne, the Shroudmaker (is that much filagree really necessary?) and Kaedes Nex, the Blood Crow. Not being into either army They aren't too exciting, but would be interesting to know if they float your boat. 
In books this week there is the paperback version of Ahriman: Undying.

The Horus Heresy has given hobbyists the opportunity to really expand their universes - going 10,000 years into the past to see the machines and armour of the greatest conflict in human "history". The expansion of the plastic range for the Mechanicum (the former guise of the Adeptus Mechanicus) has been a huge leap from the cumbersome resin kits that have come before. Easier to make, handle, paint and convert, the completely different look and feel of the designs also addds new options and challenges for the hobbyist. Well this week we have some more Mechanicum goodness with some new vehicles and a new infantry unit. Lets start with the Krios Battle Tank/Krios Venator combi-kit, a mid-sized armoured conveyor giving you pultple weapons options for different roles. You can decide between the lightning cannon or irradiation blaster of the Krios Battle Tank, or the Venator with it's pulsar-fusil. All variants are heinous energy weapon-endowed monsters and they will ruin your day. Add the Volkite secondary weapons on the sponsons, and we have a devastating armoured fist! Speaking of armour, the Karacnos Assault Tank (based on the Triaros Armoured Conveyor chassis) is the very definition of Iron Rain, bringing a deluge of morar rounds to your target of choice. Meanwhile, another adaption of an existing chassis, the Thanatar Calix Siege-automata is an absolute beast, sporting a big laser (instead of the Hellex pattern plasma mortar found on the Thanatar Cavas Siege-automata) and a Graviton Ram, this behemoth will be coming through your enemy's walls and tanks with very little resistance.​  On the other side of devastating, your flesh bags won't be lasting long once they make contact with the Ursarax Cohort, the close combat version of the Thallax. Sentient close combat killers, the Ursarax add jumppacks to their armoury, meaning no one is safe. A great addition to the Mechanicum, it's a pity the heads are so clunky looking! There should be enough extras in your Thallax kit to fix that issue! 
In books this week it's the new Farsight book, Blade of Truth in hardback. Find out what the Tau apostate is up to these days - it probasbly won't be great for anyone in his forces' way!

Well it's been a long time since we've had a proper Horus Heresy Weekender, and it looks like this weekend it's back in a somewhat subdued but exciting form, partnering with the Black Library Celebration 2025. This not only sees some new books, therefore, but miniatures to go with them plus a very nice selection of Horus Heresy models to put at the head of your chosen Astartes force. Let's start with the main meal first though, and dive into Black Library!
In a smart move, this year Games Workshop and Black Library have done soemthing they're not especially good at doing, and that's co-ordinating releases, so we have a miniature release to coincide with a book, or vice versa. The first is the new plastic Maleneth Witchblade miniature, an assassin from the ​Daughters of Khaine (a faction that really needs some more fleshing out with minis to go with the extensive lore) and she is of course also the steadfast companion of Gotrek Gurnisson. He partnering book is Shade of Khaine, which comes in Special Edition or Hardback. There's also a new collection of stories Gotrek and Maleneth: The Omnibus in paperback which includes: The Bone Desert novella, The Neverspike short story, the Ghoulslayer novel, the Gitslayer novel, Death on the Road to Svardheim short story, Soulslayer novel, The Crown of Karak-Khazhar short story and the Dead Hours short story. I'm keen on this, so ideally this will be coming out of my wallet in a matter of hours.
The other miniature set is Hell's Last, a multipart plastic of Imperial Guard Captain Minka Lesk and her retinue - Confessor Talbeas, veteran Trooper Jaromir, a brilliant dynamic model of Commissar Shand (miniature of the year?), and Veteran Sergeant Grawnya. These are released at the same time as the Hell's Last novel, which comes in hardback and Special Edition.
​There's a few other books, with the Astra Militarum-themed Fifteen Hours being republished for it's 20th Anniversary Edition, and the the two Black Library Reader’s Choice Winners to be available for a limited time in paperback are Dan Abnett's Titanicus, and Grey Seer (originally released as Thanquol & Boneripper Book 1). One final book for Black Library Celebration, and that's a new Warhammer 40k omnibus - Blood of the Imperium in paperback which collects Painboyz, The Long and Hungry Road, The Reskard Purgation, The Price of Morkai, Starstruck, Blood Harvest, Memories of Broken Glass, The Dust that Remains, The Whispering Blade, The Buried Beast, and the complete Tome Keepers: Legacy of Defiance (Volumes I-IV).
The last release is an "art book", with Black Library artwork, called The Art of Warhammer 40,000. Games Workshop seems to be pumping these out, but they're really not that special unless you're a completist.
So... Black Library Celebration is covered - now it's onto Horus Heresy, with a brand new plastic boxed set! The ​Mechanicum Heavy Support Force includes two new minis, and one recently released. The Thanatar Calix Siege-automata is an absolute beast and now the second variant on this chassis, and some may say the best. The other new miniature is the Krios Strike Tank/ Krios Venator combi-kit, giving your mechanicus soemthing nimble and deadly on the conventional battlefield. The last miniature is the Karacnos Assault Tank, which can also be built as the Triaros Armoured Conveyor.
The rest of the releases are all in resin, with the new Iron Hands Legion Praetor, and his opposite number, the Iron Warriors Warsmith (in Cataphractii armour) heading the releases. In fact the interesting thing about these new releases is that for the most part they are two sides of the same coin. We have the 
Loyalist Herald Consul (unfortunately in the new MkIII armour) and the Traitor Herald Consul, and then the Traitor Overseer Consul and the Loyalist Overseer Consul. The Overseer Consuls are especially noteworthy as they are the military police of the Astartes units. In older lore these units were deployed from Terra to legions to keep order, the World Eaters units for example were numerous and instilled discipline with deadly force. The last Astartes miniature is interesting as it's a Space Wolves Caster of Runes Consul - a psyker by any other name - and banned by the Council of Nicaea. There's two new minis for the Mechcanicum too - the Arcuitor Magisterium and her assistant, and a new field commander, the Secutarii Axiarch - which just has a real presence about them and would make a great leader for a hopeful Secutarii plastic release (maybe a little redesign too, please...). This dude might need to come home to my house...

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!

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. 

Only a few weeks after their release in an Army Box, the latest Horus Heresy faction, the Mechanicum, have arrived in their individual sets. The faction is released alongside the Campaigns of The Age of Darkness: The Martian Civil War book bringing rules for both Mechanicum and Dark Mechanicum for the first time. Structured more like a feudal army than a typical Heresy Era force, the Mechanicum is led by a human-machine hybrid, the Archmagos Prime - a brilliant new dynamic miniature in plastic. The epitome of machine domination, the Thanatar Cavas Siege-automata (available for the first time in plastic) is a massive beast of a machine. Then there's the Castellax Battle-automata Maniple - two spindly machines specialising in close combat but also packing some medium and long range hitting power (including a xenos-sourced darkfire cannon). The real winner in all this is the Thallax Cohort, the Mechanicum version of Space Marines. These are great minis - fiddly to build but they look brilliant. The only vaguely human force in the Mechanicum arsenal are the Tech-thralls Covenant, twenty pseudo-zombies who bulk out the land forces and flood the enemy with bodies. The main transport is the Triaros Armoured Conveyor, a chunky machine that can transport both the Tech-thralls and the Thallax, while plowing through the enemy with it's prow. All these minis have been available in Forge World resin before, but this plastic release makes them much easier to build (yes Castellax i'm looking at you) and a lot easier to convert. The Mechanicum release also has a really lovely set of Mechanicum Dice.
Alrighty, Warhammer: The Old World is again bringing character and old school grimdark back to Warhammer, and this week it's the turn of Chaos. What looks like a great resource is the new Arcane Journal: Warriors of Chaos, which is apparently packed full of lore and goodness. In terms of miniatures, the first thing to say about this release wave is that it's huge, the second would be that some of these minis have only just left the Age of $igmar range, and the third would be that some of these are absolutley ANCIENT!! A mix of old Forge World resin, metal and plastic kits, this really is a walk down memory lane, and you'd have to question if some of thee minis really needed to be released, while others are a very welcome return! Let's start with the brilliant Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount (metal), a deceivingly simple but excellent mini - the Champion of Chaos (plastic), Chaos Lord on Manticore (plastic), Champion of Chaos with Additional Hand Weapon (metal), Sorcerer of Chaos (plastic), and the truly ancient and pretty horrible Sorcerer of Chaos on Chaos Steed (metal). Next up are the troops, with the formidable Warriors of Chaos Battalion being the head of the spear, sporting 32 x Chaos Warriors, 10 x Chaos Knights and 2 x Chaos Chariots. This box hits hard and the enemy stays down! Outside the battalion box, there's the Chosen Chaos Warriors Command (metal), the Chosen Chaos Warriors (metal), a big box of 32 x Chaos Warriors (plastic), the Chaos Warriors Great Weapons Upgrade Set and Chaos Warriors Halberds Upgrade Set (both in metal). There's also some beasties, with the Dragon Ogre Shaggoth (resin), Dragon Ogres (plastic), two ancient - and some would say awful - kits Chaos Ogre Command and Chaos Ogres (both in metal), the old Chaos Dwarf Hellcannon (resin), and a few kits many people may never have seen - the Chaos Trolls (resin), Skin Wolves (resin), probably one of the best dragons Forge World ever did in the Warpfire Dragon (resin), the plastic Chimera, and the infamous Gigantic Spawn of Chaos (resin). That's a huge collection of minis, some unseen for a very long time. Also in this release there's the Warriors of Chaos Dice Set and Warriors of Chaos Reference Card Pack.
We saw the Dwarves rolled out in Warhammer : The Old World a little while ago, and now here's some more - all older and metal, there's some absolutely brilliant miniatures in here. Led by the previously rare Dwarf Queen, we also have the ​Dwarf Thane, Battle Standard Bearer, and Lord, the Dwarf Lords (including my favourite miniature of all time), the Dwarf Runesmiths and the Dwarf Slayers of Legend. These are all Made to Order, so don't get too excited about them arriving any time soon.
In books this week we have The End and the Death Volume 1 (Paperback) The Horus Heresy: Siege of Terra Book 8 and another in the series of maps for Horus Heresy, The Imperial Palace Undone Map.

++ Note to our Japanese reader, that this week's pre-orders have been delayed in their entirety to Japan ++ 
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For those playing along at home, the Mechanicum (predecessor to the Adeptus Mechanicus of Warhammer 40K) are a walking horror show! Very few things typify this than the Thallax, cyborg murder machines with the brain and central nervous system of a human implanted into it, then pumped full of drugs to keep its battle rage hard for heresy. The plastic Thallax make their debut in this week's pre-orders as part of the ​Mechanicum Battle Group. With the Mechanicum being an entirely resin force under Forge World, and one of the first factions in the Horus Heresy, this new boxed set sees the Thallax, Castellax Battle-automata, Tech-thralls and Triaros Conveyor released in plastic for the first time. This is a huge deal for the Horus Heresy and a brilliant addition to the range. Plastic Castellax is an answered prayer to hobbyists as the resin versions are a horror to make! As a big fan of Thallax, this is actually exciting as they are an incredibly faithful reproduction. This new set comes with three new transfer sheets - the a Mechanicum Macro-Constructs sheet and two Mechanicum Construct sheets. Also in the world of the Mechanicum, we have the new Knight Battle Group: Castigator and Acheron, giving you two variants of the Cerastus chassis. Valued contributor Steven tells us that this set actually saves you money by buying in bulk - around $200 AUD - compared to if you bought two seperately.
In the world of mini Horus Heresy (Legions Imperialis) it's time for a legendary battle. A battle purported to be the largest armoured conflict of all time - Tallarn! The new Legions Imperialis – The Devastation of Tallarn book takes you to the poisoned planet and introduces new Battle Honours, Veteran Detachments, Formations of Legends, and new Formations and Detachments for the Legiones Astartes and the Solar Auxilia. Want a quick reference instead of lugging around a book? Well the Legions Imperialis: The Devastation of Tallarn Cards are for you! In any armoured battle you need armour, and praise be to the Gods the Shadowswords/ Stormblades/ Stormswords combi-kit is here. Heavy hitters sharing a common hull, this set lets you choose between these types to build up two models, plus it includes the Solar Auxilia vehicle transfer sheet. It's not just big chassis this week, it's also big guns with the Leman Russ Executioner/ Demolisher Squadron combi-kit, with eight tanks you can construct in either type. This kit also comes with the Solar Auxilia vehicle transfer sheet. Adeptus Astartes get some armoured love too with the Sicaran Arcus/ Punisher Squadron combi-kit allowing you to build four of either type.
​We have some Made to Order this week, and it's Prince Ulther’s Dragon Company - two very old sets. You can get the Command or Warrior sets - or both, You do you!
This Friday sees White Dwarf 503 hit the news stands, and apparently this adds layers to the lore of the Leagues of Votann, probably the least loved 40K faction by Games Workshop (except potentially Dark Eldar). Bungled at release, nerfed very quickly, these great little minis have been exceptionally hard done by.

Some much-needed love for the Horus Heresy Community in this week's pre-orders with some plastic and some Forge World resin love!
A joyous plastic release is the much-anticipated Legion Command Upgrade Set, which includes all new pieces to convert your Space Marine Command Squad. Interesting choice to have power swords/ Charnable Sabres instead of gladius', but the two banners and plumed helmets are pretty great, and the shields - so cool! There's also a new transfer sheet in here as well, with some new designs. Now if you would like to get yourself a Command Squad in one foul swoop, then you can also get the Legiones Astartes Command Squads - in both MkIII and MKVI flavours - which adds 5 models to the Legion Command Upgrade Set. Curious that this came before the expected re-release of the MKIV Space Marines, scaled-up to match their Brothers.
Now Horus Heresy loves a character, and this week we have four in resin on pre-order - the White Scar's Hibou Khan, Seeker of Atonement, Sons of Horus' ‘Little’ Horus Aximand, Captain of the 5th Company and Tybalt Marr, Captain of the 18th Company and former Iron Hand Shadrak Meduson, now Master of the Shattered Legions and owner of the most preppy haircut this side of Pluto!
Along with these releases are two re-released transfer sheets, Legiones Astartes Infantry Markings and Vehicle Markings Transfer Sheet - both vital to your Horus Heresy forces.
New kids on the block when it comes to Horus Heresy, but if you like your armies BIG and your troops tiny, then Legions Imperialis is for you! This week sees the pre-order of two Battle Groups, one for the Legiones Astartes and the other for the ​Solar Auxilia. These are joined by new Support Elements, the Legiones Astartes Predator Squadron and the Solar Auxilia Leman Russ Strike Squadron. If you've been holding off, now you can get an army in a box, so go forth and magnify!
The previous smaller-scale games Adpeptus Titanicus and Aeronautica Imperialis now have their minis wrapped up into Legions Imperialis, with a whole lot of repacking going on. So what's on offer? Well you can take to the air with the Fire Raptor Squadron, Storm Eagle Squadron, Xiphon Interceptor Squadron, Avenger Strike Fighters or the Thunderbolt Fighter Squadron. Or you can pound the earth in mighty mechs with the Warmaster Iconoclast Heavy Battle Titan, the Cerastus Knights Acheron And Castigator, the Acastus Knights Porphyrion, Warhound Scout Titans With Turbo-Laser Destructors And Vulcan Mega-Bolters, Warhound Titans With Ursus Claws And Melta Lances or Dire Wolf Heavy Scout Titans. It's a great shame that GW didn't just add the new Ursus Claws And Melta Lances sprue to the existing Warhound Titan kit to create one all-encompassing kit - this would have been the perfect opportunity - but alas they again forget service as something they offer their customers. In fact just have a look at the price rise on all these repackaged kits and you will see we are much more loyal to GW than GW is loyal to us. Happily for many, there are also two terrain kits too, the Civitas Imperialis Spires and Civitas Imperialis - these kits always sell out very quickly! 
In books this week we have The Horus Heresy: Siege Of Terra Book 7: Echoes Of Eternity in paperback, and the next in the series of maps, this time it's the ​Sanctum Imperialis Palatine Map.

We're going to slit the pre-orders this week due to delays in place for some products, so lets tart with what's universal.
This week is the tail-end of the Solar Auxilia range, with the Solar Auxilia Basilisk/ Medusa combi-kit heading up the list. A mighty artillery piece, this new vehicle also sports an interior and crew, which is a brilliant hobby challenge for any hobbyist. The second Solar Auxilia release is the very cool Hermes Light Sentinel/ Hermes Veletaris Sentinel comi-kit. A huge improvement on the previous heavy walker seen in the army box, these are sleek and fun, full of modelling potential!
There's some classic Ork kits this week too, with the Made To Order Orks release now out and about. Furnished in metal, the classic Ork Dreadnought, Blood Axe Kommandos and Nobz are heavy hitters in the world of 40K. It would be great to see some plastic versions of the Blood Axe Commandos, but that's old lore, so may never happen.
In books this week we have an interesting new omnibus, War for the Mortal Realms. This book is touted as a new omnibus collecting companion novels from each edition of the game with new interstitial sections bridging the gaps between major events in the Age of $igmar. Bit of an odd one, but it could be a great primer for new players or people wanting to get caught up on the narrative elects to the game. There's also another Age of $igmar book, this one is the previously published Yndrasta: The Celestial Spear, but now it's available in paperback, much like the final Horus Heresy novel, The End and The Death: Volume II, also on pre-order this weekend.
We're also informed that the new Warhammer Heroes Series 4, featuring models from across the Primaris realm ,is about to become available in selected stores in the US. What that means for the rest of us, no one ifs quite sure yet! 

Now if you're anywhere in the world except Australia and New Zealand, then you are in for a treat this week, with the new Tau Codex and Tau Kroot Auxiliaries up for pre-order.
  Everything Tau and Kroot is here, in the Codex: Tau Empire, available in Reds Under The Beds Collectors Edition and Giant Mecha Standard Edition. Accompanying this Codex is a much-needed update to the Kroot, the Tau's skirmishing allied forces. A force in their own right, the Kroot are loyal to the Tau, and add a solid melee and selection of fast units to back up the Tau gunline! The Kroot are led by Shapers, and there's three new ones this week, the War Shaper, the Trail Shaper and the Flesh Shaper - all cool models, owing more than a bit to the movie Predator. The troops of the Kroot are the Kroot Carnivores, swift brutal melee fighters, who can fight alongside the Kroot Hounds to make a mess of your enemy. There's also some beasty-lads, with the excellent Krootox Rampagers, Krootox Rider and Kroot Lone-spear all partnering with mounts to bring either heavy weapons, crushing melee power or  precise sniper accuracy to the battlefield. The Tau Empire also gets a new Combat Patrol: T’au Empire, tweaking the last version. This is a nice booster to your existing minis or a nice starting set for new players. It wouldn't be a release without Tau Empire Datacards and a set of awesome Tau Dice.

In our neck of the woods there was a huge amount of rain overnight, and who knew it, but look what washed up - yes it's those delayed Horus Heresy releases. It's a big update for Horus Heresy, with the brand new Campaigns in the Age of Darkness: The Battle for Beta Garmon expansion launching. Not only is this a lovely new book to thumb through and enjoy the pictures while swearing that one day you will read it, but it also ushers in the the first expansion away from Space Marines in the current incarnation of Horus Heresy - the Solar Auxilia. We of course saw some of these units in the Solar Auxilia Army Box, with the Solar Auxilia Tactical Command Section, Solar Auxilia Lasrifle Section and Solar Auxilia Veletaris Storm Section now available separately. There's also the new elite unit, the Veletaris Storm Section, which was previously two kits from Forge World but is now a single combi-kit in plastic.There is also a bevvy of new vehicles, the Malcador Heavy Tank (which Space Marines also used in the Horus Heresy according to lore and the Legends rules), Leman Russ Assault Tank, Leman Russ Strike/ Command Tank and the Dracosan Armoured Transport rounding out an impressive armoured fist. There's also the Aethon Heavy Sentinel, which is so obnoxiously ugly it's sad. There's also two transfer sheets too - the Solar Auxilia Vehicle Markings, and the reissued Legiones Astartes Blackshields. Interesting the Solar Auxilia Transfer Sheet isn't also getting a reissue, but with transfers in the boxes maybe GW don't think they're needed.
Another exciting release this week, and for a fandom badly in need of some love, is ​Kill Team: Nightmare - bringing plastic Drukhari Mandrakes for the very first time vs. new Night Lords. Sure to be a popular kit, this will see many a happy hobbyist. There's also a small piece of terrain, the Generatorum Hub, which will surely enter every Necromunda hobbyists bag of tricks very very soon!
Speaking of match ups, the new Warcry: Pyre and Flood expansion also hits shelves very soon. This time it's the Nighthaunt Pyregheists vs. the Lumineth Ydrilan Riverblades and includes a spectacular piece of terrain that is oh-so-tempting. As a fan of the Lumineth, these new lightly armoured Ydrilan Riverblades don't necessarily impress us, but maybe they'll fit nicely into your army. Also in Warcry, two of the most recent forces are now available separately - the very popular conversion-fodder, the Wildercorps Hunters and the oddly interesting Gorger Mawpack. Before you get too excited, check the prices on these... Warcry needs terrain, and there's now two more Ravaged Lands sets, the Ruined Realmshaper set, and the Ruined Spawning Pool, which is basically the Starfire Pylon and Idol of Motzlpota from last week in one box.
When things start to get weird, you can bet it's generally going to be Blood Bowl, that strange little game that just keeps on giving. Strap yourself in, because we have Gnomes! Yes the Glimdwarrow Groundhogs are here, and if you like "cute" and you like furry companions, boy have we got something for you. These are the proto-typical Gnomes, not even the GW version of Gnomes, actual storybook garden Gnomes. Not only are they a big departure from the normal GW look, they are even painted differently, in fact very European in look. Beautifully done though. We promised furry companions and these guys have a badger, a goose and two Woodland Foxes. It's cuteness overload and YouTube will be blowing up as we speak! Of course we get the next Spike! Journal (Issue 17), Gnome Team Dice, Gnome Team Cards, and the Gnome Pitch Set. There's also two Forge World Gnomes too, with the very cool Gnome Treeman and Rodney Roachbait, the fishing rod-endowed sneaky ball-stealer.
In books this week there's two Imperial Guard novels, Deathworlder in paperback, and Shadow of the Eighth, the latest Minka Lesk novel, now in paperback.
It's also a White Dwarf week, so #499 hits the shelves on Friday!
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Just to let you know, this seems to be the first week that everyone worldwide gets a chance at all the pre-orders. That's a very nice change, and even if delivery is delayed, at least we can all get excited together.

A little bit of catch-up this week for Australia and New Zealand, but also some new stuff we can share with the rest of the world.
This week we get to pre-order the next in the Age of $igmar series of expansions, Dawnbringers: Book V: Shadow of the Crone. As usual it comes in two flavours, Crusty Wings Limited Edition and Colonisation is Not Cool These Days Standard Edition, seeing the two enlightened forces of wonder and light forge their way across the darkened lands, establishing settlements where they weren't before and pissing off the residents who are having their land stolen! AAAAH Games Workshop, you picked a bad time for this narrative. You have to laugh!
There's two new boxes to go along with this, including the cover girl Krethusa Croneseer available for the first time in the Krethusa’s Cronehost. The minis included with her have been released in innumerable boxes before, but she is a great miniature, and probably an early contender for Golden Demon painters. Current post-wunderkind, Callis & Toll and their band of friends and fiends are in the Saviours of Cinderfall set. The old lady in this set is a must-have. She would be an amazing Rogue Trader/ Necromunda Lord/ Imperial Governor/ Space Marine toothbrush, even! Also in Age of $igmar, we get new terrain, with the Elder Gnarloak, Idol of Motzlpota, and Starfire Pylon (need/want) all available separately, plus the much-loved Ogor Mawpit. 
Now, as we catch up with the rest of the world, this week sees some new minis for Legions Imperialis, with the venerable and much-loved Land Raider Proteus Explorator Squadron getting to take to the field. Land Raiders are THE BEST!! Answering the question "Is Warhammer 40K in the same universe as Star Trek?" and getting a firm "YES", the ​Solar Auxilia Arvus Lighter is a great little vehicle for any Away Team of hapless Red Shirts. There's also the delayed release of the Legions Imperialis: Manufactorum Imperialis scenery to make your games a little less flat!
Speaking of Horus Heresy, there's a new character model, and this time it's ​Endryd Haar, The Riven Hound. One of the first XIIth Legion inductees, and therefore a War Hound (thus his name) this is a very dynamic miniature in some MKV armour that really needs a spit and polish. The audiobooks with Endryd Haar are worth a listen if you'd like a grumpy angrier view of the Horus Heresy!  
The next "core set" in Warhammer Underworlds is here, with Wintermaw on pre-order this week. Wintermaw sees the Brotherhood of the Bolt go head to head with the Skinnerkyn. Both of these warbands are things of nightmares, so I'm not sure who you'd barrack for!
Necromunda gets a little pat on the head this week (make sure you wash your hands afterwards), with the new Ash Waste Nomads Chieftain with Venom Caster. Brilliant looking model with an absolute tonne of detail! There's also the Outland Beastmaster with Giant Rat (notice one of those rats has a very Skaven looking head... we are very open to Skaven in Necromunda!) and if you need more, there's always the Wasteland Giant Rats. All gross, all the time!

There's also a few releases we were all slated to get, but it seems at least Australia and New Zealand miss out, so you'd better check if you're getting them too.
The bulk of the Legions Imperialis are AWOL, so if you're lucky, then this week you can pre-order the Medusa and Basilisk Batteries, Legiones Astartes – Drop Pods and the updated ​Warhound Titans kits that now comes with a new sprue of plastic weapons. There's enough in this set to have two sets of ursus claws, natrix shock lances, volkite eradicators, missile pods and Incisor-pattern melta lances. This is a great addition to the already excellent Warhound kit. The bastard cousin of the glorious Warhound is the Dire Wolf Heavy Scout Titan, and they get a new plastic kit this week which, like the Warhound, gives you two per box.
In normal Horus Heresy scale, there's also the new ​Legiones Astartes Infantry and Legiones Astartes Vehicle Transfer Sheets, which we were all excited for and now we can't pre-order. BOOOO!! Hope you have better luck than we do.

It was meant to be Auxilia week, but alas we heard from independent stockists that theses releases would be delayed in Australia and New Zealand - proving yet again that the Next Week post on Warhammer Community is rarely correct. There's been a positive buzz about the Auxilia, but will that continue when the products don't appear? 
Speaking of delayed, this week Australia and New Zealand (potentially Japan too) can pre-order the Dark Angels range. The new Codex Dark Angels, which comes in Cowled Greatness Collectors Edition and Man This Green Is Hard To Paint Well, Lets Go Back To Black Standard Edition leads the releases. Having the 8th and 9th Edition versions, Dark Angels Codex have been very light on lore and good uniform colour plates, so here's hoping the copy and paste from previous editions also gets some new content. Having read the book about the return of The Lion we're a bit baffled why the Dark Angels are still "hunting The Fallen" but here we go, as Asmodai, Master of Repentance comes forth with a brand new Primaris-scale mini. Heavily based on Mark Gibbons artwork, this is a chunky mini, very on-point for Dark Angels, plus comes with a choice of head options. Next up is Belial, Grand Master of the Deathwing, billowing cape and all, plus he also has head options. Speaking of the Deathwing - here are the Deathwing Knights - with this awesome update on what were already brilliant models. The amount of detail on these minis is incredible, really dipping into the lore and iconography of the Dark Angels. Prefer your Dark Angels in robes? Well the Inner Circle Companions are for you. With weapon, head and backpack options, this is a really thematic kit which will be loved by Dark Angels and Black Templar fans alike. There's also a new Dark Angels Upgrades and Transfers kit, which as with so many of the new kits comes with a Watcher in the Dark. Previously mysterious, maybe we should call them Watcher Emerging From The Dark from now on. This set comes with some great bits, including some for the Ravenwing, and yet more cowled heads. The Dark Angels also get a new Combat Patrol, giving you a Captain in Gravis Armour, three Bladeguard Veterans, five Hellblasters, and 10 Intercessors. Be aware that the transfer sheet in this set is the older one, not the one in the new Dark Angels Upgrades and Transfers kit. To top it all off, the Dark Angels also get the Datasheet Cards to make sure you can run them on the battlefield to their maximum potential.
​Plus don't forget the lovely white marble and green Dark Angels Dice Set.
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Alrighty, let's see what we're all getting this week... (except Japan who miss out on all the Orcs and Goblins and North America who miss out on selected Orcs and Goblins. The bits Australia and New Zealand miss out are further down the page.)
Amongst the Warhammer: The Old World reissues, there are some nice new models too which can not only go with The Old World, but could very easily transition into your Age of $igmar army as well. Check out this big boy, the ​Black Orc Bigboss in resin. He's a beast and exactly how an Orc should be portrayed. It's interesting that he's not more like the current Black Orcs and more like the 7th Edition ones, but no matter as he's a beast! The other beauty is this Orc Command Set in resin. The character in both these models is extraordinary and they'd look amazing in any Orc force.
Let's go retro and have a look at the reissue stuff, starting off with a favourite, the Orc Shaman with Bone Staff in metal. An oldie but a goodie, this guy was drawn straight from some of the Mark Gibbons and Paul Bonner illustrations. Both of those artists were absolute masters with Orcs and this mini is a MUST for Orc fans. Let's go all the way back and see what Orcs looked like when I first started the hobby - the ​Orc Big ‘Uns and Orc Big ‘Uns Command in metal. This is how Orcs looked in my day, and they're still awesome. Even older is the Orc Warboss on Wyvern, which has been lovingly remastered in resin, making it much easier to deal with those heavy wings. Lets delve into those pesky little Goblins, with the classic metal, joined Night Goblin Bosses, Night Goblin Shamans, more Goblin Bosses, another Goblin Shamans, and some Goblin Nasty Skulkers, on parade. From the days of metal and plastic kits combined, we have the Goblin Wolf Rider Bosses, and the Goblin Wolf Chariot. Have a look at the riders in the chariot - they're a very different, much sharper realization of the Goblins. What's fascinating about the Goblin range is how they have evolved from the bulbous noses to the sharper features - and how much the sculptors loved doing them, loved exploring the character of them and that love really comes through. Goblins love their war machines, and the rerelease of the Goblin Rock Lobber with crew, the Goblin Bolt Throwa with crew, the Goblin Doom Diver Catapult with crew, and a Snotling Pump Wagon all in metal will please many a fan! Speaking of Snotlings, there's also four stands of them too! An absolutely fascinating release is the Troll Hag, newly remastered in resin. For years Games Workshop have veered away from any sort of nudity - thus the sad decline of Slaanesh - but the Troll Hag has very obvious breasts, which I think is a great move to include in a Fantasy setting. Even better, so far it's received zero comment. Also remastered in resin is the old school Giant and a miniature (if that's the word) that was lost in many people's mind but has made a return to the zeitgeist - the very large Bonegrinder Giant. That is a huge blast from the past and a formerly very rare kit! Rounding out Warhammer: The Old World this week are the beautifully sculpted Common Trolls in metal and the Badlands Ogre Bulls, also in metal.
This week in books is the new Emperor's Children themed Renegades: Lord of Excess in hardback

Alrighty, lets have a look at what Australia and New Zealand definitely won't be getting to pre-order this week, Japan won't get some of, and the US and Canada will also not get some of... clear as mud!
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Warhammer: The Old World have been releasing these background books for each faction they're releasing, this this next one is the Arcane Journal: Orc & Goblin Tribes. This goes along with the Orc & Goblin Tribes Battalion which reissues classic (and some not long discontinued) Orc models, a set of two plastic Orc Bosses (including a Black Orc standard bearer) and the ​Orc Boyz Mob, which also comes in the Orc & Goblin Tribes Battalion. This hasn't been long out of production, so it would be surprising to see this run off the shelves! There's also a nice set of Orc & Goblin Tribes Dice and Cards too.
Horus Heresy had a very big update this week, obviously not available to all, with the brand new Campaigns in the Age of Darkness: The Battle for Beta Garmon expansion launching. This is actually quite a big deal, as it also launches the first expansion away from Space Marines in the current incarnation of Horus Heresy - the Solar Auxilia. This has been quite the topic of chatter, with the Solar Auxilia Tactical Command Section, Solar Auxilia Lasrifle Section and Solar Auxilia Veletaris Storm Section all up for pre-order so soon after the Army Box was launched. The Veletaris Storm Section is much anticipated in this house, so the delay is incredibly annoying. There is also a bevvy of new vehicles, the Malcador Heavy Tank, Leman Russ Assault Tank, Leman Russ Strike Tank (why this isn't a combi- kit is beyond us) and the Dracosan Armoured Transport rounding out an impressive armoured fist. There's also the Aethon Heavy Sentinel, which may be the ugliest thing GW have released in some time. There's also two transfer sheets too - the Solar Auxilia Vehicle Markings, and the reissued Legiones Astartes Blackshields. Interesting the Solar Auxilia Transfer Sheet isn't also getting a reissue.

Well it's a huge week - 40 individual items on pre-order this weekend -which would make it one of the largest pre-order weeks apart from the big pre-Xmas Bundles days of old! So where do we start? Let's dive into the new stuff first, then we'll get into the Warhammer: The Old World content!
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Now this is interesting... usually all Horus Heresy releases have "The Horus Heresy: [insert name of release here]" as their release name, but the Solar Auxillia releases this weekend do not. Oversight? We'll see when the others get released, but it is interesting! First up is the Army Box set, the Solar Auxillia Battle Group, which includes 20 Solar Auxilia Rifle Section and 5 Solar Auxilia Tactical Command Section minis, the ugly-as-sin Aethon Heavy Sentinel, a Dracosan Armoured Transport and a Leman Russ Battle Tank in the Auxilia style rather than the familiar Warhammer 40K version we are used to. There's also transfer sheets included to round off the first look we'll have of this new Horus Heresy faction. This was slated as being delayed in Australia and New Zealand, but has the street date of 16/03/24, though independent retailers say 30/03/24. To accompany this set there is also the Solar Auxillia Dice Set, which isn't too exciting! Also in Horus Heresy this week we have three two new Consuls - the brooding ​Dark Emissary Consul and the White Scars Stormseer Consul. There's also a dual-pack Apothecarion Detachment, with one in MkV and the other in MkVI armour. These are both great miniatures and a great addition to your forces. 
On the smaller side of the Horus Heresy, the next expansion for Warhammer: The Horus Heresy Legions Imperialis – The Great Slaughter - is also here. Titans, tanks and infantry all together in a bloody melee. This release is also supported by the Legions Imperialis: The Great Slaughter Army Cards. The miniature range is also expanding, with the new Legions Imperialis: Malcador Infernus And Valdor Tank Destroyers, Spartan Assault Tanks, Solar Auxilia Support and Legiones Astartes Support being released for the new clash! Transports and support are all-important in this game, and with Titans in the mix, well you need to keep away from those giant stompy feet!
​Warhammer: The Old World had a big launch some weeks ago, and now the Tomb Kings of Khemri box is being split into individual forces, with Tomb King/Liche Priest On Necrolith Bone Dragon, Skeleton Chariots, Tomb Kings Skeleton Horsemen/Horse Archers and Tomb Kings Skeleton Warriors/Archers now available as large sets. These sets see the largest number of troops per box of any of the individual GW units. Also in the Tomb Kings range is the brand new dynamic Nekaph, Emissary Of Settra in resin, and the classic Tomb King On Chariot (metal and plastic), Prince Apophas (metal), Necrotect (metal), plus the newly remastered in resin Screaming Skull Catapult, Carrion and Tomb Scorpion sets on pre-order this week.
The Bretonnians may not have had their boxed set split yet, but they still get some reinforcements this week with the brand new plastic Knights of the Realm on-foot - that was previewed this week as a Pre-order, but has seemingly gone straight to New Releases, so it may even be in store today! Bretonnia also gets the classic but previously unreleased Lord With Great Weapon (metal), The Green Knight (metal), Prophetesses Of The Lady (metal), the much-loved Bretonnian Questing Knights Command and Bretonnian Questing Knights (both a mix of plastic horses and metal minis), Knights Of The Realm/Knights Errant (excellent classic kit in plastic), the Squires Command and Squires (both in metal) and the newly remastered Field Trebuchet in resin.
What's going to be interesting is what a whole new generation will think of metal minis. We've had 20 years since minis were metal, having moved to FailCast, then resin and plastic. How will this new audience take to them, or will they?
In books this week we have the Special Edition of The Hollow King, and the Black Library Celebration 2024 Fan Favourite, Lord Of The Night in paperback. It's also a White Dwarf week, with #498 available on Friday.

While we patiently wait for the next installment of The Dawnbringers Crusade (Book IV - The Mad King Rises), we have some of the main players in the current meta (God, I feel so cool using that word. So Twitter!!), and they're all pretty spectacular.
First up is Trugg the Troggoth King, a mountain of a leader, and previously only available in the Gloomspite Gitz - Trugg's Great Troggherd set. Now you can get him all on his own, cute little hangers-on and all! Trugg is a bit of a departure from his Troggoth minions, and a "next step" in the overall evolution for the look of the Gloomspite Gitz. He's basically a large mushroom in need of a bath. Not the most spectacular of the Dawnbrigers, but Ionus Cryptborn has to be up there. Possibly one of the best Age of $igmar releases in a while, he may be one of the best looking Stormcast, and his dragon is certainly one of the best dragons Games Workshop have produced in some time. Just a fantastic looking mini, watch dozens of this guy entered into the next Golden Demon competition. And out of the ether an old power rises! Yes an old fan favourite is back, with a brand new 2024 look - it's Belthanos, First Thorn of Kurnoth. Belthanos is the progenitor of so much in the Warhammer/ Age of $igmar lore, and he's back, on a bug and as a treeman... which is sure to get some complaints, but we think he's very very cool!
Blood Bowl is getting some love this weekend, with the Skaven team gettng some reinforceents in the guise of this tricky fellow, Skitter Stab-Stab. The more GW show us new Skaven sculpts, the more the current (ancient) Skaven sculpts look so dated. Surely 2024 is the year for the update of this awesome faction. Speaking of updates, recently the Beastmen got some attention from GW - which did not include some awesome new minotaurs - but Blood Bowl has this absolute beauty, Grashnak Blackhoof. He's big, he's mean, and he's all Khorne-d out! I need this mini!! First previewed in May 2023, it's been a minute over here and we're very pleased he's finally upon us.
Besides these minis, the huge news this week is the final, complete and total end of the ​Siege of Terra book series. Hate to sound relieved, but By The Gods Old and New, this has dragged on, had so much filler for something that needs zero filler, but it's done, with The End and the Death: Volume III here for pre-order! Siege of Terra: The End and the Death: Volume III comes in Limited Edition (the scalpers will be out and so many people will feel disappointed in missing out. It sucks but it's true!) and standard hardback.
This momentous event is heralded by yet another The Horus Heresy: Siege of Terra Bookmark, cunningly designed to rip the top of the pages in your precious tome.

Games Workshop have done a pretty good job this year keeping the pre-orders and previews coming right up until Santa visits your mum. Sure the releases are post-New Year, but at least there's something to see and not an endless parade of Squig mugs and Hammers of $igmar toothpicks (honestly GW, you're missing out not making that one!). In fact this week we see a few things previewed a while back, including the brand new Kill Team.
Kill Team: Salvation is interesting for a few reasons - this is the first Kill Team set to not come with a tonne of terrain in the box, plus it resurrects two of the older Warhammer 40K models, from the two oldest factions. That's right, it's the long-awaited update to the Space Marine Scouts and yet another iteration of the Striking Scorpions, but this time in plastic! In fact these Striking scorpions aren't just those glass-cannon Craftworld kids, there are also options to make them into those sexed-up wunderkinds, the Ynnari - going all bare headed and studly. But fear not, Kill Team fans, the terrain not in this box is now available in it's own cardboard prison, with the  treacherous gantries and walkways of Killzone: Bheta-Decima coming to life. The set includes a two-sided game board, nine walkways and nine objective markers. This set is sure to be a hit with Necromunda players too, so this is probably a smart tactical move by Games Workshop.
Age of $igmar's version of Kill Team plus cards (well not really), Warhammer Underworlds goes Orky with a set of Swamp Orcs. Daggok’s Stab-Ladz would also make a nice addition to your Age of $igmar forces, with this particular brand of Orc facing a distinct lack of personality. There's also the Malevolent Masks Rivals Deck for Warhammer Underworlds too, so if that's your poison, drink deep!
Warhammer 40,000 is still slicing up the old Leviathan boxed set, this time with some Tyranids – the awesome Von Ryan’s Leapers, the Winged Tyranid Prime, Psychophage (delayed in the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand - welcome to the club North America!), Neurogaunts and a Horrors of the Hive set (which pairs a Screamer-Killer and Neurotyrant in one box) are on their way! The Tyranids have been a bit quiet since release, which really doesn't help propel the momentum of the current 40K storyarc.
Horus Heresy has been a collection of tiny tiny men recently, but not we return to some form of reality with this stunning model, the Alpha Legion Saboteur Consul. Faceless and nameless, he is a stealthy master of subterfuge, and a really lovely model.
Who guessed Blood Bowl? You did!! That's right, there's a selection of Made To Order Blood Bowl models available for pre-order this week, including four sets of cheerleaders - the Orc Waaaghs!, the Human Reaverettes, the Dark Elf Night Terrors, and Chaos' Damned Damsels. Also this week, the real heroes of Blood Bowl, a pair of Halfling and Goblin Referees, and a conventionally unattractive, misunderstood but with a heart of gold, the Mutated Minotaur. 
In books this week, it's the paperback of The Lion: Son of the Forest, and Pilgrims of Fire also in paperback.

It's a Christmas miracle!!
After a month, Australia and New Zealand have (almost) caught up with the rest of the world, with the King of the Dead and Heralds (Clear Plastic), Warriors of the Dead (Clear Plastic), and the Horus Heresy MKVI Assault Squad now on pre-order for release on the 13th of January 2024!

It's a great day when Games Workshop bring back something from the past and are faithful to it's original form. Think about Adeptus Titanicus and how they did an amazing job updating those old minis and brining them back in plastic. Well they're at it again and this time it's a classic mini from 2010, and a fan favourite - the Elysian Venator. The Venator was released in 2010, and purged from Forge World three years ago. It was a sad day - but today we have the return of the Venator in the form of the Palatine Enforcer Tauros Venator. Only slightly tweaked and in plastic, this is a very welcome addition to the universe. One can oly hope that we'll see one for Warhammer 40K or maybe a conversion kit to give us the lascannon turret. Also this week we see the new Necromunda: Apocrypha (Hardback). It's interesting to see the "hardback" added as it may denote we see a softcover in the future. This Apocrypha is different in format to the other Apocrypha, which mainly concentrated on fluff and art, where this one has some older rules and campaign material we could use in our games. In a way it would be great to have a proper Apocrypha with some of the material from Confrontation - the precursor to Necromunda - as well, being that Confrontation had a wider scope that was more fleshed out in terms of gangs and fluff.
Speaking of magical things that appear from the past, may we present to you the delayed release of the Thousand Sons Librarian Consul. As per usual with Thousand Sons models, he's a great looking mini, lacking the bare head option of other releases - which may be appropriate as his could have, by this era, turned to dust!
He's not the only red wonder this week, with the delayed release of the Brimstein Firegrass Tufts. A radical colour choice, so one wanders what these are being envisioned for...

The year is winding down, Santa is stocking his sack (wait... that doesn't sound right) and GW have slowed down the 2023 pre-orders so their staff can have holidays. In fact, in the spirit of the season, (Christmas for those who hadn't been paying attention) let's start with some GW Christmas goodness that's AVAILABLE TODAY!! Yes, instead of going on pre-order last week, these products are just turning up this week - like Santa just popping up sliding down the chimney and giving your mum a slap and a tickle. It happens... I saw it once. It was your mum!
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In stores today are these little beauties from Starforged, the Thunder Hammer Keychain, the Chainsword Keychain and three different Purity Seals, in either Space Wolves, Grey Knights, or Imperial Fists. Grey Knights is an interesting choice considering we get neither a Blood Angel or a Dark Angel option. And that's it for the pre-orders for this week, and they are actually in stores this week, so not exactly pre-orders.

Honourable mention to a few products still missing in action for Australia and New Zealand - seems like the King of the Dead and Heralds (Clear Plastic), Warriors of the Dead (Clear Plastic), the Brimstein Firegrass tufts, and the Horus Heresy MKVI Assault Squad, won't be making an appearance this Christmas. Did we make Santa's Naughty List?

​"If I could turn back time, if I could find a way..." Cher had it right with the smash hit from her 1989 album Heart of Stone. Not only did she ask the question, she confused all of us about the use for big guns on battleships. What has that got to do with the pre-orders this week? Well the wheels have fallen off the Logic Wagon, but we're puddling along. It seems the releases not available to the US and UK are also not on the Australian site, but the ones not available to Australia and New Zealand are also not on the Australian site. BUT, fair friend, we have the things from last week available this week, and the things for this week we'll get in 2024. Read on while we cover it all, fear not!.
Hey, I know it's the 60th Anniversary of Dr Who, but this is getting weird!!
As we predicted a little while back, the Flesh-eater Courts are getting a refresh, and the Flesh-eater Courts Army Set is the harbinger of said influx. The entire range minus the amazing new King model are in this set plus the Collectors Edition Battletome.
Robots in Disguise was the catchphrase from 1984, but the Necrons have a whole new spin - they're ancient malevolent warriors disguised as robots... in plain sight! Well here they are in all their glory, with their new 10th Edition Codex and associated goodness. Their new Codex, comes in Spit and Polish Collector’s Edition (sporting green foil pages edges) or Malign Force of Evil Standard Edition. The Necrons also get some lovely new miniatures, with brand new versions of well-known characters Imotekh the Stormlord, ​Orikan the Diviner,  as well as a nifty new Overlord with Translocation Shroud. After some delay, there's two of the best Necron minis to be released since Day Zero, with the Overlord with Tachyon Arrow and Royal Warden, available in the 9th Edition Starter Set but now here to buy separately. Speaking of which, the bulk of the Necron forces from that set are also now available in the Combat Patrol: Necrons. To help you reign supreme over these nefarious shiny evil doers, the Datasheet Cards for the Necrons (with pretty green foil edges) and a themed Necrons Dice Set are also available this week.
Your friend and mine, the toaster-worshipping techno-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus (beep-boop) are also rolling out their 10th Edition Codex, which is available in either Robes Are So This Year Collectors Edition (with red foil page edges) or Mechanoid Radioactive Army Standard Edition. Showing that the Adeptus Mechanicus, once the baby of legendary designer Jes Goodwin, have fallen so far from favoured status, the Adeptus Mechanicus get an absolute stinker of a mini. Fresh from the We Have No More Ideas Factory, is the Sydonian Skratos - comically absurd and ridiculous - this stilt-walker is less sniper and more carnival freak show. However, if you have love for the Priests of Mars, then the new Combat Patrol: Adeptus Mechanicus at least gives you some of the nice Goodwin minis, plus some of the questionable Latham ones. As with the Necrons, the new Adeptus Mechanicus Datasheet Cards are very nice, and come with red foil edges to the cards, plus there's a set of Adeptus Mechanicus Dice.
Da Red Gobbo has competition, and it's the Grotmas Gitz. Arguably a nicer miniature, let's hope these two fight it out to mutually assured destruction and next year we can get back to a White-bearded Dwarf! 
In books this week it's the Vaults of Terra trilogy, available in the very pretty Collectors Edition. Plus White Dwarf is here again - Xmas Edition - with Issue 495.

This week, there are supposed to be a few products that are available in Australia and New Zealand, but not the US and Canada, and vice versa, but that seems to have got a bit confused too, plus the big release for the week is totally missing - 
This week was supposed to see the King of the Dead and Heralds (Clear Plastic) and Warriors of the Dead (Clear Plastic), two great looking new sets made of clear blue plastic giving them the ghostly look they have always needed and wanted. Though technically in Lord of the Rings they were green! Despite GW promises, these have also not turned up on the AUS/NZ site, and won't be available in the US/CAN for a little bit.
The big Horus Heresy release this week is the MKVI Assault Squad, not available in AUS/NZ, but ideally next week. This is a really nice kit - notice the jump packs modelled on the 40K Raptor kit to bring design elements together. Also this week everywhere apart from AUS/NZ are the Brimstein Firegrass tufts. They're kind of cool, but probably limited in usages.

Well just to make things a little more convoluted with the new two week order window, one of this week's releases is actually a one week pre-order window. Yes, the convoluted twisted and sneaky Primarch himself, Fulgrim of the Emperor's Children Legion in his demonic Fulgrim Transfigured form is actually available on the week of the 10/11, a full week before the other minis in today's pre-orders.
Fulgrim Transfigured is a huge model, the wings adding an extra 100% on top of his already larger overall frame. How he'll be transported one only knows, but on the field of battle he'll be a monster. Amazing model, but he's also the most expensive of the Primarchs so far, coming in at $400+ AUD/ NZD. It's an investment, but the detail on him makes him a model that you could take your time with and really make it a true centrepiece. Yes, I am currently talking myself out of buying this - and those bloody wings seem like an absolute pain! 
Alongside Fulgrim Transfigured  is another Forge World resin kit, the Legiones Astartes: Traitor Champion Consul - and what an awesome model he is. Tweaking the new MkIII armour, we now have an artificer plate version. More the pity he's not in plastic, but this is a great looking mini and a great base for a conversion. In retrospect, it would have been great to see this mini in Emperor's Children livery, considering the Primarch is on pre-order. Not to be confused, this mini is available on the week-of 18/11.
Also in Forge World resin (and available from the 18/11)  are two Necromunda Votann minis - Urson Grimjarl, Jardlan Nomad Hunter and Orrin Grimjarl, Last Charter Lord Of Jardlan. The latter is interestingly most noteable for his weapon - a Beamer - which we don't often see these days and harks back to Rogue Trader where it was mounted on both vehicles and as a heavy weapon option for many factions. The heavy Volkites have generally taken that role currently, but who know, maybe we will see a new Beamer option for some factions coming soon. We'd be very keen!

This weekend we re-enter the world of Necromunda, where much has been happening - from insurrection to assassination it's all going on. Get up to date and play out the factions in the new expansion, Necromunda: The Aranthian Succession – Ruins of Jardlan available to order today but delivering on the 041123. One of the main protagonists are the Van Saar gang, who receive a pretty sizeable reinforcement this week with the new Ash Wastes Arachni-rig. You get two in the set, which gives you two chassis to share the loadouts over. All things Van Saar means some new and old toys - in the old camp we get the Van Saar Gang Tactics Cards (Second Edition), and hot off the presses we have the Van Saar Vehicle Gang Tactics Cards. Also in Necromunda, there's a new Underhive Graffiti Transfer Sheet, giving you much needed warning labels, some of the nerdiest graffiti you've ever seen in your life, plus more. I wonder why GW don't just hire a good local talent to design some great graffiti - it would pay off and look amazing.
This week also sees some of the more classic Space Marine models return in their Made To Order form. Most of these are resin, unless specified, and worth a look at - Brother-Captain Stern, the very classic Space Wolves Rune Priest in Terminator Armour, Loki's clone Lukas the Trickster, a personal favourite the Space Wolves Grey Hunter with Wolf Standard, the reasonably new Watch Captain Artemis who is based on the old Inquisitor model (and comes in plastic), the venerable Servitors with Multi-melta and Servitors with Plasma Cannon, plus and all-time favourite Top Ten GW mini, the gender neutral mini of many names, the Warrior Acolyte (who comes in metal, because sadly they never made it to resin),
In books this week we have the longest book title in history, and the book most likely to sell out in 5 seconds, The End and the Death Volume II The Horus Heresy: Siege of Terra Book 8: Part 2, which comes in both glorious Limited Edition and much easier to get and cheaper hardback. This week there's also the Word Bearers: The Omnibus in paperback, which includes the short story ​Torment, plus classics Dark Apostle, Dark Disciple and Dark Creed.

Not up in time for last week's update is the very cool ​Armoury of The Sons of Horus from Forge World. This is a really nice set, and if you look closely you will see one of the arms is MKIII, we get the Umbra and newer Phobos Pattern Bolters, plus some other types AND some axes. SO very Warhammer!!