Thursday, July 14, 2011

GW's 2012 Collection

The rumoured release schedule for Games Workshop over the next 12 months looks pretty uninspiring.


It was recently reported on Bell of Lost Souls as:

August – 40k Sisters of Battle (White Dwarf)

October – WHFB Ogre Kingdoms

November – 40k Necrons

February – WHFB Bretonnians or Wood Elves

March – 40k Tau Empire

May – WHFB Dwarfs



There are also rumours of a Mystery Box similar to Space Hulk (wonder how many are still playing that) with current favourites being Man O’War or Bloodbowl. Hopefully with either of this there will be more after support than we saw for SH (no expansions).

Now given the new secrecy emanating from Lenton Towers, the only thing we know with certainty is Sisters (back page of White Dwarf). So I’m not exactly sure where this information is coming – remember that Shop Managers, Store Boys etc know no more than the guy sitting next to you on the bus. If GW has continued with external playtesting then any leaks will soon be identified and I’d expect closed down.

We are now officially moved from the “Age of Disclosure” to the “Age of Surprise”.

Short of getting News of the World to hack the phones of GW Executives, we are meant to be waiting, shivering with anticipation, each month for White Dwarf to hit the shelves/mailbox.


All that withstanding the next 12 months doesn’t look the sort of schedule I’d be basing my profit results on. Other than Dwarfs, all the other listed releases are fringe armies at best. In particular the Fantasy ones all had substantial plastic re-models at the last release while the Necrons and Tau aren’t exactly on their last legs. It surprises me that there is no traditional power armoured army there e.g. Black Templar,

Guess what I’m saying is that if this does translate to GW’s next 12 months’ fashion line up, then it’s all a bit blah.

9 comments:

  1. Don't forget the new VC monster in August. Hopefully it's really awesome after the SoM monsters

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  2. Looking forward to seeing the Necron Codex as I am very tempting in starting an army of robots.

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  3. Well some of us might get a bit excited with Dwarves coming out in May......

    Mind you, I think Brettonians and Wood Elves both deserve to be updated first. Dwarves could wait until the end of next year if needed.

    I'm tipping that they'll have some sort of Zepplin or Rune Golem/Steam Giant or both. Many Dwarf players have all they need, so this is the only way to get us to buy more stuff. Oh, and the Flame Cannon will become the new awesome, as it's been mediocre for years (7th Edition) or utter crap (8th Edition). Finecast Flame Cannon, costing NZ$100 or so.

    Finally, I am surprised that there aren't any Space Marine chapters in that lineup. Surely they have lots of chapters to spin out to boost revenue?

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  4. Yeah it would break the pattern if they did two Xenos codices in a row. The main problem is that they are running out of Imperial lists to do actually, Sisters are getting the White Dwarf codex so Templars are probably the next in line and I haven't seen any rumours about them at all except for some very far fetched ones regarding 40k starter sets for 6th. Dark Angels could use an update, but the FAQ means they are ok for now. The Nilla Marine book will almost certainly be one of the first books released for 6th so that's a bit further off.

    Although it might be unpopular I expect Dwarfs will get something which gives them something to do in the magic phase like every other army, not magic in the traditional sense but at least give them something to do in the magic phase. That plus some options for a bit more mobility (mechanical cavalry maybe) and they end up with a much more complete army.

    For 40k Necrons and Tau should still be solid releases money wise, I would expect them both to outsell Ogres or Wood Elves. Necrons are very popular for new players because they look cool (killer robot/Terminator theme) and are really easy to paint. Tau appeals to anime/battlesuit fans, which means they have a big potential customer base in Asian countries where GW is doing some notable expansion. Any new stuff will likely only improve on this by drawing from the Forgeworld stylings (which make the standard suits look terrible imo).

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  5. On the bright side Warhammer Forge are making some stuff that interests me, so a lack of GW product to tempt me is probably just as well (at least for my wallet).

    Oh, and i'm playing Space Hulk this Sunday :)

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  6. The only one of this schedule that is going to be a big seller is Dwarfs. To be fair the rest are all fringe armies, yes they will sell but generally muted.

    It's a bit like wanting "The Wiggles" but getting "Korn" or "Muse" or whatever music it is you young people listen to these days.

    Black Templars might sell but again not as much as BA, SW or DA.

    We all know what their salvation is. It's a neat little package containing nine discrete armies all with established history backed by IA articles which delivers exactly what the punters want....diversity.

    Do It Now Molly! Do It Now!

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  7. they could finish the IG codex options first. and id love to see some other regiments ala krieg or steel legion

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  8. the dwarf magic system will be pretty cool, im assuming it will be the same as storm of magic, roll on winds choose a number of dice to throw at a rune and each 4+ is added to the total any 6 is irresistable, to dispel you have to equal or beat the number of 4+s thrown

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