As we bask in the afterglow of possibly one of the best GW previews in years, let’s find out what everyone thought.
New Imperial Guard Codex and Death Korps of Krieg
Imperial Guard get a new codex, a new combat patrol and six new Death Korps kits, along with a Krieg army set with limited edition cover codex.
Thundercloud: With the Kill Team release this is now 7 Krieg kits, and the range looks stunning. Engineers are a welcome addition, with trench clearing weapons and a little remote control mine buddy
I think the star unit is the artillery piece on 130mm base that’s functionally a medium sized diorama. I would dread facing a couple of them on a table because of the sheer problems they’d cause taking up space or even being placed on a table with reasonable density of terrain. They look great though, and I can imagine some people going to town painting them and playing up the diorama aspect.
Greg: I don’t like the horses. It’s not an issue with the sculpts, I just hate horses as an animal. A horse is just a big weird dog, and I’m sick of dogs. I do like the artillery though. It’s extremely funny to me that Guard have a heavy weapons team, a heavier weapons team, and now a heaviest weapons team.
Bair: Counter to Greg’s comment I like that the “horses” are really not horses but are freak creatures that resemble horses with claw-foot-things and seemingly no hair except for their manes. Freaks (positive connotation).
SRM: Wait is that not what horses look like.
TheChirurgeon: There are no horses on Krieg. Those are apparently just fucked up guardsmen. This is real lore. No need to verify that.
MB: Look I’m just the dude that writes the Lorcana column here, but I am also returning to 40k for the (checking notes) fifth time since (checking more notes) 1987 and I am exceedingly stoked about this release. I’m a longtime Astra Militarum collector and player and I’ve long hoped for plastic Kriegers as have many others. I think the models look great and capture the right vibe. I am also in the pro-freak creature horses camp especially since they have their own gas masks, which was actually a thing in WWI. However I am not looking forward to painting white horse monsters because I can barely paint black or brown regular horses as it is. Very excited to field some of those incredible artillery pieces in particular. When I showed my son the heavy flamer he uttered a profanity and then wept for his up and coming Farsight Enclaves army.
The Old World – Empire of Man
The Empire of Man gets their Arcane Journal, the entire 7/8th edition plastic range (including Free Company, a lot of metal characters, a remastered Resin War Wagon, a new set of Forgeworld heroes, and even units like the Teutogen Guard and Imperial Ogres that were long out of production.
Bair: HELL YES WAR WAGON. Thank GOD it’s not in metal, either, but that new re-done Forgeworld resin. Incredibly cool that they’re bringing this back and can’t wait to see how it works on the tabletop.
Stephanie Bee: As a Kings of War player, this, and any given AoS update, is effectively an extra release for my game of choice. That said, some updates are much more welcome than others. Empire of Man is an archetypal faction, and supports a staggering array of conversion options. I’m really looking forward to seeing more classic armies of models I recognise from childhood, and could be tempted to put some Kingdoms of Men together with a whole mess of very lost Talabeclanders.
SRM: I’m stoked to see a version of the War Wagon that doesn’t collapse under its own weight, and the bevvy of metal weirdos (Teutogen Guard! The Ogre with a cannon!) are sure to make for an expensive month down the line. As a longtime Empire player, it’s good to be able to get my hands on these classic kits again, as all-timers like the Free Company Militia were at organ harvester prices on eBay. I’m most curious about what they’re adding to the army down the line though – the Empire has always been a faction that paradoxically felt complete and infinitely expandable given its breadth in The Old World.
VH Eric: I fully endorse the Thirty Years War historicals gateway drug that is well supported Empire model ranges.
The Horus Heresy – Heavy Support Lands
More kits land on the battlefields of the 31st Millenium, with the Arvus Lighter, Valdor Tank Hunter, Malcador Infernus and Deredeo Weapons Sprue B (giving Boreas Anti-Air Missiles, Volkite Falconets and Arachnus Heavy Lascannon).
Thundercloud: I’m sure everyone will react really well to getting some more heavy vehicles and not any of the missing Space Marine infantry units they wanted. I’ll just take a swig of my drink and check the heresy chat…..
Well it’s at least some more kits. Heresy has had a lot of releases in the last year (when you think about it) with the Solar Auxilia and Mechanicum kits, but there’s been very little for Space Marines (though we now finally have the melee weapons sprue for an economical way to do despoiler squads) and I think there’ll be a lot of salt about that.
The Valdor and Malcador Infernus are great kits and add some heavy vehicle firepower to Solar Auxilia lists, as well as looking like great models for tank enthusiasts to build and paint. I don’t think it’ll escape the notice of people getting excited about Krieg that all the Malcador tank hulls they liked so much from Siege of Vraks are now going to be available in plastic, and I anticipate some Malcadors appearing on Christmas lists so painting of Krieg armies can start early. Hopefully GW just add the three tanks to the 11th edition Guard codex.
The resin Arvus Lighter was re-released based on the sculpt for this kit in September 2023 and looks to be replaced in Q1 2025 with a kit that’s easier to build, convert, has more accessories on the sprue and will be substantially cheaper. I’m sure no one will get salty about that at all.
Bair: Malcador Infernus is the single coolest tank that Games Workshop has ever made because it’s just about the least practical thing to exist. It’s great. Just sums up what Warhammer is in tank-form.
SRM: The Arvus Lighter is my favorite Warhammer-themed minivan and I’m glad it’s coming out in plastic. It’s primo set dressing/scenario fodder for Necromunda, and I expect it to have a lot of crossover appeal there.
TheChirurgeon: As a narrative sicko, I’m all for 40k vehicles that are just regular vehicles. The Ridgerunner and the Goliath. The Ridgehauler. And now the Arvus. I may buy 2-3 of these just to make a more convincing spaceport/airport table.
VH Eric: Playing in a couple The Narrative Guys events years back convinced me that the Arvus Lighter is the single most important narrative model that exists. Need an objective? Arvus Lighter. A status marker for an event in the mission? Arvus Lighter. Bit of LOS blocking terrain? Arvus. Lighter.
Like TheChirurgeon I dream of a spaceport table full of them. I also dream of sending my T3 dudes into the firestorm of legion warfare in an unarmored flyer, as the Emperor intended.
…also Malcadors are neat.
Age of Sigmar – Orruk Warclans
The Orruk Warclans get a new Battletome, Spearhead and three kits (the Hobgrot Slittaboss, Bossgob Towers/Scaregob Totems and Manifestations).
SRM: Finally, the Orruk Foot Guys get their due. For real though, I’ve wanted a cool Orc tower like the Bossrokk Tower/Skaregob Totem since playing Warcraft II.
TheChirurgeon: The hobgrots look dumb. Everything else is fine.
Age of Sigmar – Rise of the Gitmobs
The Gloomspite Gitz get five new Gitmob kits, a new battletome and a splash box with limited edition battletome cover.
Thundercloud: The five Gitmob kits have clearly drawn a lot of inspiration from the classic Fantasy Wolf Riders (the 1987 C21 Orc and Goblin Cavalry range, the Marauder Miniatures MM33 Goblin Chariot and MM34 Wolf Riders, and the 4th edition Games Workshop Goblin range sculpted by Kev Adams), and it looks like you can now do an entirely mounted goblin army when you combine it with the Snarlfang kit released in the last edition.
This means you can do a Goblin Wolfrider army in AoS (Dan Tunbridge did a very nice Fantasy one in WD276). Wolf Riders were a big deal in the early years of Warhammer Fantasy, and they appeared in the background in stories like William King’s Wolf Riders, in the anthology book of the same name, and were an absolute staple of Orc and Goblin armies throughout the various Warhammer editions.
I’m very much looking forward to seeing even more Goblins hitting the table, and hordes of wolf riders and chariots sweeping across the battlefield.
Bair: Been playing Gitz for about a year now and very happy to see all of this. Having artillery in the book is gonna be big for the army (unless it’s just terrible, but even then at least it’s still cool). Since fourth came out the wolf unit felt out of place since only Skragrott and Kragnos could take them in their regiments (being Warmasters and being able to take everything) so this makes a bit more sense now. Can’t wait.
Stephanie Bee: Once again, Kings of War is the stealth winner of this preview (though I’ll admit it’s a close-run thing, given the awesome 40k releases). The recent move to bring back old-school Goblins with 2020s sculpting technology is an absolute gift for those trying to make characterful armies, and these models make incredible use of the advancements we’ve seen GW make. I’m very seriously considering a whole project of wolf-riding hordes. Also, the lore of the big character guy is hilarious, and neatly solves the immersion-breaker of ‘…but my named guy died!’. 10/10, GW, no notes.
SRM: It’s like they made a Gitz expansion based on the Grom the Paunch DLC from Total Warhammer, replete with multiple Groms of various Paunchiness. The Doom Diver is a bit overdone for my tastes, but I like the reimagining of old school Goblin Wolf Chariots on display here. There’s something about the faces on all these Grots that doesn’t quite work for me either, like they’re stretched backwards in a weird way. Still, happy to see more goblins.
The Black Library Opens
Lenoon: It’s a little hard to get incredibly excited about Black Library releases at the moment, with the lack of a big tentpole release in the form of hyper-scalped Heresy Hardbacks clearly hurting the bottom line. There’s still a lot to like here – the reissued Space Sharks novels are a good read, an easily accessible AoS Gotrek collection makes catching up with everyone’s favourite Dwarf easier, and more Minka Lensk is good news.
The big news here is that the Dawn of Fire series is coming to an end. It’s been a mixed bag and I don’t think anyone will particularly miss it, but I’m still looking forward to catching up on the Silent King, mainly because necrons are always a fun antagonist. I don’t know if the Dawn of Fire was supposed to be a bigger deal, but it’s now lagging two editions behind, so hopefully it coming to a final end lets the big black library series catch up with the game.
40K – It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Elfmas
Four Phoenix Lords and three Eldar aspects get kits, meaning you can now collect an entirely plastic Eldar army as it replaces the last three Finecast aspect warrior kits. Get in!
Cronch – this is bad (excellent) news for me. Over 2020-21 lockdown madness I painted an entire Iyanden army, mostly out of various Wraith models. I ended up selling the army to help fund a house move, but I’ve always been tempted to stealth start it again, beginning with the Aspect Warriors before seeing if the energy grabs me for a full list.
I think it’s my time – this release means that we’re now at a full complement of decent plastic Aspects and their associated Phoenix Lord (except Karandras), including an *absolutely sick* new entry in the form of Lhykis. She’s the Phoenix Lord for the Warp Spiders, and her model rules – she’s warping in on top of your classic piece of Aeldari rubble, thoroughly exploding it in the process. Rad.
TheChirurgeon: Karandras is bullshit anyways. We’ve already got Drazhar, the true originator of the Striking Scorpions.
SRM: Mommy Long Legs accounted for at least ⅓ of the out-loud cusses I made at my monitor during this stream. Instant classic, absolute banger. Glad they’re updating some other models that are older than the average Goonhammer reader while they’re at it.
TheChirurgeon: God these look so good and I am already upset about how much bullshit they’re going to be on the table. I can hear Kelling’s smug shit-eating-grin from here. Warp Spiders and Swooping Hawks in the same update? That’s bullshit.
VH Eric: Listening to various Aeldari audio books on a very long drive, and then arriving to those preview pics have the makings of a very expensive day. I’ve walked away from my Eldar army for a bit, and these are badly tempting.
Final Thoughts – Where Are Your Emotions Right Now?
With two 40k and two AoS codexes/battletomes/range updates revealed, the Empire coming back to fantasy and 30k at least getting something, how are you feeling about it?
Greg: This is all fine; it’s full of nice models that I’m not going to buy, but I am absolutely excited about the announcement of 30 new detachments coming in December. That is an insane thing to do, and I cannot wait to see what they are. It might be the biggest mid-edition rules drop the game has ever seen, and if even half of them are worth running it could cause a massive shakeup in the meta.
Thundercloud: The model of range refreshes and adding small sub armies (as has been done with Kroot for Tau, and now Gitmobs and Krieg) is a solid approach by GW that gives people new things to paint and collect. In comparison for my marine force I’m waiting for Assault Terminators to come out at some point, and it seems like I’ve got almost everything else already. Eldar now have one Phoenix Lord left, and I’m guessing we’ll see him in 11th edition, and then they can either look at adding something else (Exodites, other wraith constructs like Ghost Warriors, etc etc) or refreshing some of the oldest kits like Vyper jetbikes. I do particularly like AoS reaching back to early to mid fantasy battle (so pre 1995) for inspiration for AoS, and hope we get some more gritty and grimy figures for various factions.
TheChirurgeon: This is all cool stuff. I’m not wild about the people a Krieg update is going to attract to the game, however.
SRM: The one-two-three punch of Krieg, Empire, and Goblins had me all but Vince McMahoning out of my chair. The Eldar absolutely getting their due also made me happy, as it represented something beautiful that needed updating but also won’t be threatening my wallet or backlog. I think 2025 is gonna be my year of Just Regular Guys, and that Krieg release should be what solidifies that.
VH Eric: This was a really great preview – it’s nice to see Heresy continue to get plastic support. Plastic Arvus Lighter: 10/10, no notes. Though I might model mine with the door shut, for the proper “We’re completely unarmed and this is fine” look. The Eldar models are both beautiful and badly needed. I genuinely like that Krieg looks to be getting “You could do a whole army of these guys” support, rather than mixing a squad into your otherwise Cadian army. I think in contrast to TheChirurgeon, I sort of support steering into the fascist nightmare aesthetic over “I can pretend we’re not the baddies”, but I understand the trepidation.
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