Fantasy Release Schedule

Okay, there’s been far too much 40k over the last week. Time for some Fantasy.

It’s an interesting time in the Warhammer World right now. After the famine of army books post-8th Edition release, we had the launch of Orcs & Goblins and Tomb Kings virtually back to back.

The books were greeted with almost universal acceptance, the prevalent view being that they were balanced, with a lot of variety and would fit into the mid-tier of power levels. I think there were some players who felt that O&G might push themselves into the Top 5 armies but all anecdotal evidence suggests this hasn’t been the case. With Tomb Kings it is probably too early to be too definitive however again the net is awash with “The Warsphinx Took My Baby!” stories just yet anyway.

To me this is fantastically positive for the overall game. It appears that GW has arrested the power creep of mid-7th Edition and is levelling the playing field. Already 8th Edition has greater breadth in competitive armies than did 7th, something that should increase long-term popularity. As the Class of 2008 (VC, Daemons and Dark Elves) get reviewed – probably not until 2013 – the field will flatten further.

So what have we got to look forward to over the rest of the year? Well the only thing confirmed is Storm of Magic – which is billed as an explosion of Monsters and Magic (already I can hear the Dwarfs grumbling). I’m willing to bet that this will be another short run endeavour, much like Lustria (or Planetstrike in 40k). By September it will have faded from our memories.

However that leaves the opportunity for at least one more book this year. Everyone’s favourite is Ogre Kingdoms and it would be great if this was the case. The Ogres probably need more of a boost than anyone else. Personally I’d love to see rhinox brought into the main list and a wider range of options as a whole. As the owner of 4000 points of the Fatties, it would be excellent though apart from converting models to finecast I can’t see a lot of the existing range that need changing.

If they could fit another book in it is likely to be Brets, though Woodies could be a dark horse. I think there is more scope for better models with Woodies as I personally would love to see a plastic kit for Treekin, Treeman and Wild Riders.

In all cases a guide is likely to be what happens with finecast. If a range is not getting a lot of finecast love then it is likely that it is up for a revamp. I know I’ll be checking which models of OKs, Brets and Wes make an early transition to see if I can determine what we are going to get next.