https://hachettepartworks.com/en-en/warhammer-age-of-sigmar-spearhead/

Unsurprisingly seems like they're going for a Spearhead equivalent of the Combat Patrol collection for AoS.

Not sure myself if this will be worth it in terms of price though.

Taking stuff like paints and scenery out of the equation, it might not be much better than buying the Spearhead boxes from an FLGS with a discount.

Less premium kits as well though they are more expensive models.

There's a lot of Spearheads for 90 issues.

Something will have to give - either there's going to be less paint, or some issues are going to be incredible deals.

Not familiar enough with the AoS range to say if there’s an exclusive model?

The Relictor's not an exclusive. Issue 5 isn't shown, so doesn't look like they've revealed the exclusive yet.

As an aside, finally a cheap way to get Prosecutors. My comedy Hawkman list can finally become a reality.

Also collection pic

Usually I'd be excited about this but the Stormcasts I got in the last part-magazine were sent straight to legends.

I think that is more an issue with how quickly GW turns editions and less on Hatchette. I thought the collection was a great deal. I'm overwhelmed by how many models I got from it.

Of course, but I'm not buying any more Stormcasts for AOS alone. Thankfully they'll see use in other games, but my love-affair with AOS has wound down since.

Cool collection for someone with the cash to splash and new enough in the hobby to not have more than Skaventide or a couple Spearheads.

I enjoyed getting Imperium.
The models formed the core of my Necron Army.
The Marines have split out into various SM chapter projects.

The paint guides are very useful, particularly the adaptability of the terrain guides for other pieces.

12 spearhead sets is pretty great.

Factoring in paints and terrain issues, a lot of this is going to pan out at around £50 per spearhead just looking at the unit distribution and sprue layouts, in practice even better than that since you can pick and choose the issues.

Chaos, Undead, Goblins, Skaven and Lizardmen all brilliant for TOW, too, there might be another chance to get the "20 night goblins" issue!

Definitely a great starting point for anyone wanting to get into Old World in addition to AOS. Skaven and Chaos are definitely piquing my interest.

wonder if whatever WH Smiths turned into will carry it, my local one seems to have fewer magazines since the switch

and it's been near impossible to actually get hattchet stuff from forbidden planet as i think the last 3 times i've ordered they've cancelled and refunded as they didn't get enough stock

I figure we've seen increased demand possibly coupled with slightly less production. Probably as GW has pushed Hatchett toward getting new customers signed on subscription instead of being a cheap source of models for gamers. Which those earlier runs 1000% were all for.

The whole point of this magazine for GW is to get new people and fresh blood into their hobby so there's likely a push to get more subs than store copies because store copies and Forbidden Planet orders are just GW giving discount models to people who are already in their ecosystem and who are already going to buy their stuff anyway.







All that said I'm honestly half tempted to sub for this one. Only a few armies in there are on my "would never want" list and the models would be easy to trade away.

This is going to come at just the right time to seriously tempt me (presumably it will start in early 2026).

Having discovered just how quickly I can rattle through a duff paint job with contrast paints, I rather like the idea of an aggressively pushy schedule.

The absence of Fangs of the Blood God is a darned shame, though.

 The Phazer wrote:
There's a lot of Spearheads for 90 issues.

Something will have to give - either there's going to be less paint, or some issues are going to be incredible deals.

12 spearheads across 90 issues means each is broken down into six or seven issues, to leave room for the terrain and paints. I'm guessing it'll be pretty much one sprue per issue, but there are definitely single sprue units that will be amazing deals.

The other interesting aspect, which was also true of combat patrol, is that you are locked into the older spearheads. Even at launch, Cities, deepkin, and FCE(?) are the older ones, not the current ones. If you like those boxes, it's a better buy obviously.

Is this likely to just be the trial run at the moment? Think the 40k one still has a while to go doesn't it? So I assume this will be properly released after that?

Tavis75 wrote:
Is this likely to just be the trial run at the moment? Think the 40k one still has a while to go doesn't it? So I assume this will be properly released after that?

The AoS and 40K ones have always overlapped in the past.

Tavis75 wrote:
Is this likely to just be the trial run at the moment? Think the 40k one still has a while to go doesn't it? So I assume this will be properly released after that?

This is just for the trial run at the moment. Probably early next year when it gets the actual release.

Typical.
I'd been looking forward to them doing a Spearhead magazine thingy, and, of course, when it happens I can't afford it.

This will be an issue here and there but not worth a sub. £6.99 for 3 Rat Ogors (probabaly around €10 to €12 depending on the conversion and mark up) I'd get a few of those.

Ooh, three Drukhari Grotesques in issue 2!

Issue 1 is always worth a couple of copies so the kids can throw paint at some models.

3 rat ogres for £6.99 on issue two. I'll have a couple of those.

If local stores carry it I'll pick up some selective issues, but the collection is way too all over the place. The magazines were much better when they were two armies.

The whole idea is they're Spearhead armies and built around that game.

Anyone know what happened to the Fauxhammer site? Used to be useful for previewing upcoming issues of the Hachette magazines, but it hasn’t been updated all year.

I heard the webmaster got buried under an Advalanche.

Fauxhammer ceased to be relevant after the entire contents of Combat Patrol were leaked a while back

Or was it the previous Hatchette run? Either way, it was an awful site

Never understood why fauxhammer was the go to place for hatchette to give info. Even with ad block the site is barely usable.

Auspex tactics did some good videos on the Combat Patrol magazines back when they were announced but he obviously only covers 40k.

Pity he doesn't have an AoS counterpart.

Originally he had a leak-source and whilst the site was messy with ads it was a reliable one-spot check for what was coming in the magazine and what was in each issue in advance. Which let people stalk FP Websites to mass order issues.


At some point GW reached out directly to him to give him info up front but also got more open with the forward content of the magazine; which slowed how quickly he was allowed to release info. So basically the hole was plugged and the pressure came off.
At the same time I think the prices and value shifted around a bit. Some of the early hype was knowing you could get £35 Flayed ones for £8 and people were hungry for the info.


As for the site in general no idea, I think he might have pivoted toward youtube or something as another platform to focus on

I like the idea of this for Spearhead, it's cool. If it turns out to be 6 or 7 issues per Spearhead I calculated it up and it's a saving yeah but... If you aren't subscribing and just want to select the Spearhead issues of your choice don't forget postage costs. If your supplier doesn't hold issues for you the postage adds up over those 6 or 7 issues!

The value has always been a big draw. Past collections gave you a full army’s worth of minis at a steep discount compared to retail, and Spearhead is continuing that trend with 12 fully playable armies across 90 issues. That’s a serious chunk of plastic crack.

But it’s not just about the models. Each issue includes:
- Lore deep-dives into the Mortal Realms, factions, and characters
- Step-by-step painting guides tailored to beginners using Citadel’s system
- Introductory missions and rules to ease players into gameplay, gradually building up complexity

It’s designed to be a full hobby experience—collect, build, paint, and play—all paced out.

Yeah, and I don't think we should underestimate the fact that Spearhead is the best ruleset that these magazines will be teaching. Combat Patrol was a step forward in that regard, but Spearhead seems much more appreciated. From a "project" perspective this is a really neat collection: 12 armies, all with a very different aesthetic (so an interesting painting project) and a really solid ruleset for playing them with.

Not sure about this group, but I did the math on the last 40K Combat Patrol magazine and it shook out to a 13% discount if you just got the Combat Patrols and 23% discount if you went Premium, so not hugely different from getting them discounted at most FLGS.

Stormbringer if you believe the FauxHammer website (https://www.fauxhammer.com/partworks-magazines/warhammer-stormbringer-magazine-full-collection-savings-breakdown/) saved a considerable amount vs buying the sets individually. Percentage saved ranged from 32% (GBP) to 42% (EUR).

 Scottywan82 wrote:
Not sure about this group, but I did the math on the last 40K Combat Patrol magazine and it shook out to a 13% discount if you just got the Combat Patrols and 23% discount if you went Premium, so not hugely different from getting them discounted at most FLGS.

Did you just include the combat patrols, or the bonus unit for every army? I recently added it up and it was a steep savings, but you just end up with so much stuff you either don't want or can't use.

In the US at least, combat patrol is 17.50 per issue including S&H, which puts the full collection at $1575. Nine combat patrols at $170 is $1530, and lets say an average of $60 per bonus unit is another $540. you're already around 25% off, and that's before factoring in the brushes and paints and whatnot. A twist to consider is that nearly all of the patrols in the part works are older ones that have been replaced, and so cannot be bought and are realistically more valuable. It's the 8th edition GSC, Orks, Guard, Eldar, and world eater patrols and they all now sell for more than $170.

The same is happening with Spearhead, with the subscription including multiple OOP boxes.

Still, unless you are both interested in a wide selection of armies AND don't already have enough stuff to make some of it redundant, the utility might not be there. For example, if you already bought Leviathan (or Skaventide), the first two forces are going to be repeats. Now, some stuff is great in bulk, but the characters really dwindle in value.

I think for the average hobbyist, taking your $1500 and buying exactly what you want is probably the better use case. OTOH, it might be easier to sneak this subscription into your budget. or, if you live in an area with a robust second hand market you can cash in the stuff you don't need.

Every time one of these launches, I seriously think about it then chicken out.

I love combat patrol, and I've been wanting to get into spearhead. I've trying to weigh up the value though.

Call it 48 units, over 90 issues. My local stockist sells Spearheads for £74.35 - so thats £892.32 for all 12 (so... about the same), plus however many paints for free, maybe a few extras along the way (maybe for spearheads not covered by the premium already).

Thing is... I already have the Stormcast set, I sort of have the Chaos. I could always sell the ones I didn't want - the maggotkin, the bonerippers.. but theres already quite a lot of these out there...

Hmm.

Having typed all this... I suspect much like combat patrol, I'll end up not signing up, and then hitting a set of releases that I really want (like the next batch of issues being Votann - man am I not looking forward to getting up and out the house early every Wednesday to get those)

A lot of it depends exactly on how the sprues are set up on the magazines. i.e. the eel riders. If it's the full set of three on one mag, that's an instant buy. If it's split to two, not quite so instant.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
A lot of it depends exactly on how the sprues are set up on the magazines. i.e. the eel riders. If it's the full set of three on one mag, that's an instant buy. If it's split to two, not quite so instant.

This has very much been the case with combat patrol. Chaos terminators were the full squad on one issue. Marine terminators were the easy to build version split over two issues. The main struggle is finding somewhere that you can just buy the individual issues without having to subscribe.

I went in on the Stormbringer and Combat Patrol but might sit this one out. I just bought the Indoneth Spearhead so I already have that one and the Premium miniatures don't really appeal to me so that's two marks against it. I do like painting Stormcasts though and all the other Spearheads are interesting. I guess I will just have to see what else they offer.

 Gomezaddams wrote:

Having typed all this... I suspect much like combat patrol, I'll end up not signing up, and then hitting a set of releases that I really want (like the next batch of issues being Votann - man am I not looking forward to getting up and out the house early every Wednesday to get those)

You can subscribe from later issues on the Hachette website, and then unsubscribe once past the run you want. I know I'm going to do that once the series gets to Genestealers.

Good point, I skipped the Space Marine and Tyranid issues - had the models from the Leviathan box - and subscribed for the Eldar and Chaos run.

Then, of course, I got hooked on a regular Combat Patrol fix and still haven’t managed to unsubscribe…

Spearhead looks very tempting, although having two subscriptions running at the same time will make the wallet hurt a bit. Plus, the issues tend to pile up into a backlog if I’m not careful.

I put together some images to help visualise the entire collection a bit better.

More plastic crack for the pile of shame


Cities of Sigmar


Stormcast Eternals


Skaven


Slaves to Darkness


Idoneth Deepkin


Lumineth Realm Lords


Soulblight Gravelords


Maggotkin of Nurgle


Sylvaneth


Seraphon


Gloomspite Gitz


Ossiarch Bonereapers


Skaventide box set terrain


Crypt of Blood starter set terrain


Premium subscription

Ionus Cryptborn, Warden of Lost Souls


Katakros, Mortarch of the Necropolis


Beast-smasher Mega-Gargant


Rotigus the Great Unclean One


I've never gotten into AoS, but I see a lot I could use for Old World or Frostgrave/Mordhiem and trade or sell the stuff I don't use.

Edit: Thanks Aeneades for finding the last piece of terrain.

I believe it’s the terrain from the Warcry Crypts of blood starter set.

https://www.warhammer.com/en-BE/shop/warcry-crypt-of-blood-2023-eng?srsltid=AfmBOop6NXUTMnyuzq1-InNB0wuk2fkid52kkZS3GZa2lxHLuP1oMy_6

Hi folks,
According to the Hatchette website, the first issue should be available in UK stores today. However, I've not spotted it in the usual location I pick it up (Morissons). Any other UK based people managed to find it? If so, where?

It'll be a trial so likely only available in a certain part of the country. The area tends to vary from trial to trial.

Ah ok, so it's definitely at the trial stage then? I thought this was the official release!

We weren't certain but the fact it's not everywhere today confirms it. Even places that don't stock the full run tend to have the first few issues - I believe they're done sale or return so newsagents can order as many as they like and return any unsold.
For context the Smiths in Birmingham literally had buckets of the previously releases when it was the actual launch (plus there's a lot more marketing going on)

Total price of the spearheads and the skaventide terrain 1005GBP. Plus the extras of 394GBP for a total of 1399. That doesn't include the Crypt of Blood terrain, because I don't see a price for it standalone anywhere.

The 90 issues would be 882.11 without the extras or 1107.09 with them.

That shakes out to an almost 13% discount without the extras and almost 21% discount with the extras. And doesn't include the cost of the mug or the knight relictor or the paints and such.

So a wash at best, given 20% is the normal online discount in Yurp?

But you can just choose the issues with big value and skip the blanks, right? I remember last time there was stuff like 10 Chainrasps for 4 gbp.

Not really, as a lot of the stuff on those mags are direct only these days. So you can't get discounts at all.

deano2099 wrote:
We weren't certain but the fact it's not everywhere today confirms it. Even places that don't stock the full run tend to have the first few issues - I believe they're done sale or return so newsagents can order as many as they like and return any unsold.
For context the Smiths in Birmingham literally had buckets of the previously releases when it was the actual launch (plus there's a lot more marketing going on)

That they haven't started showing up at places like the Forbidden Planet website also suggests it's just a limited trial run, too.

The biggest sign that it's not on general release is the total lack of TV /YouTube ads for it right now!

Am trying hard to resist the urge to sign up for the full run on this one. Must stay strong!

Really enjoyed Conquest (subbed for the whole set), grabbed the good stuff from Mortal Realms and Stormbringer at Forbidden Planet, picked up some good bargains from Combat Patrol, and now this.

Very tempting. Enjoyable monthly hobby fix, decent discount, and a stack of different armies to paint and then run in a quick, fun game mode. Plus, I am one of those who file the magazines in the binders and enjoy flicking through them. What’s not to like?

Should pop this in here, the number 5 exclusive. A remake of the lord Celestant.

It's definitely in the WH Smiths in Halifax town centre, there are about five left behind the counter.

Picked up two. Seemed rude not to. One has already been passed on to an eager nine year old.

khimbar wrote:
It's definitely in the WH Smiths in Halifax town centre, there are about five left behind the counter.

Picked up two. Seemed rude not to. One has already been passed on to an eager nine year old.

You still have a Smiths? It hasn't become a Jones yet???

Just an FYI. Spoke to Hachette about something else earlier and asked if this head a general release date yet. Confirmed for March next year.

First few issues of this are now available to pre-order at Forbidden Planet, release date of March

Nice, got to get an issue 1 and a couple of 5. The rat ogors are going to go in a heartbeat.

Any further development on what's coming when?

Probably not until it launches in March. Hopefully the Ossiarch one comes reasonably early, i want those Deathriders.

At the very earliest, not until Combat Patrol is concluded (another three months or so on that).

It's literally next month. The first six issues are already up on Forbidden Planet.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
It's literally next month. The first six issues are already up on Forbidden Planet.

Oh wow. Have they had two running alongside previously?

Yes. I was getting Conquest and Mortal Realms deliveries at the same time for a few months. I assume it would have been the same for Imperium and Stormbringer, but I didn't sub to stormbringer, so I don't know for sure.

Imperium and Stormbringer did in fact run concurrently.

Huh. I guess never seeing them on shelves at the same time convinced me, all Mandela-like, that they alternated!

For anyone interested, they've added a Spearhead section to their website and opened up subscriptions:-

https://hachettepartworks.com/en-en/warhammer-age-of-sigmar-spearhead/

Never done one of these before, looking forward to being buried under plastic goodness!

Oh wow, Ionus, Katakros and a Mega as the premiums. That's extremely tempting.

Yeah this'll be worth going premium on for sure.

Worth bearing in mind that the premium is an extra £2.50 this time (instead of £2) and that it's four over 90 issues instead of 80, so you're paying £56.25 for each premium set, effectively.

That's still vastly cheaper than paying retail for any of them, even from discounters.

Ah, issue 3 has three Rat Ogors Grotesques!

You'll be lucky, that issue's already sold out on Forbidden Planet.

Looks like no changes from the original selection.

Wont be going for the whole collection but will definitely have my eye on a few specific issues.

Mainly the OBR ones, but might be tempted into grabbing the CoS issues as well.

Had an advert for this on YouTube yesterday, so the push is starting!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
It's literally next month. The first six issues are already up on Forbidden Planet.

And they've limited Issue 'miniature you can't get anywhere else' Five to 5 copies per customer.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
You'll be lucky, that issue's already sold out on Forbidden Planet.

The first four or so issues are widely available in newsagents - I believe as they're on a sale or return basis so shops tend to have buckets of them and they're printed in much higher quantities that the rest of the run.

 Shakalooloo wrote:
Had an advert for this on YouTube yesterday, so the push is starting!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
It's literally next month. The first six issues are already up on Forbidden Planet.

And they've limited Issue 'miniature you can't get anywhere else' Five to 5 copies per customer.

Yeah i saw that. Fortunately i only wanted the two.

Issue one is in my local shops this morning.

Managed to pick up a copy at lunchtime in TG Jones (AKA WH Smiths) they had plenty of copies.

Any good issues coming? Like a squig issue of fun goblin one?


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Looking at the group shot all I can see is maybe some trolls for blood bowl :(

Have to give them props for the quality of the playmat. It's surprisingly strong and heavy paper stock. Was expecting like slightly above tissue thickness.

Good to hear - guess that's a halfway house between a paper map and the board style you get in the actual gaming packs.

I'll also be curious to see how they handle the cards (and if we get both sets).

Well damn, i was about to say that issue one and two were sold out at Forbidden Planet, but one was up at Hachette. But issue one has gone from Hachette now already.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
Well damn, i was about to say that issue one and two were sold out at Forbidden Planet, but one was up at Hachette. But issue one has gone from Hachette now already.

I saw that last night. I thiought they might have taken away the option to purchase direct - I don't remember ever seeing a Combat Patrol issue up there the day after release, but there are still issues of Stormbringer available.

It says out of stock, so i assume they've just sold out already. The option to buy it direct was there yesterday. But Stormbringer is mostly just paints and a couple of scenery bits left, just dregs.

 Inquisitor Gideon wrote:
It says out of stock, so i assume they've just sold out already. The option to buy it direct was there yesterday. But Stormbringer is mostly just paints and a couple of scenery bits left, just dregs.

But for Combat Patrol, even the paint issues supposedly 'sold out' immediately. It's bizarre.

they'll always have to hold back some stock to cover issues lost/damaged in the post so even sold out issues probably have a few cases stashed in the back of the warehouse until know they won't need them any more...

if a customer cant an issue of a partworks magazine there is a real risk of them cancelling their subscription (although i'd imagine less so than if it was a model of the batmobile and they missed a wheel)


once the magazine rolls to a close they can blow out the 'just in case' stuff as single issues, and jusr refund buyers if any of them go missing

Yeah esp as this is the launch period I'd expect them to either have stock on hold or a rapid print/production setup so that they could cover a shortfall.

They 100% want as many people to sign up long term so getting the secured with these first issues is a must.

Honestly if you wanted the majority its good enough to just sign up and at least get 1 of every issue and content even if you can't grab multiples of a few

Forbidden Planet now has the front covers for issues up to #10 now.

As expected it's Skaven or Stormcast (or paint), looks like the skaven warriors are split over two issues

Heads up WHsmith in Chelmsford has several issue1 available.

 Undead_Love-Machine wrote:
Forbidden Planet now has the front covers for issues up to #10 now.

As expected it's Skaven or Stormcast (or paint), looks like the skaven warriors are split over two issues

The skaven warriors are two different sprues (one with command one without), correct? Do you need anything carried over from one to build the other? Thinking of picking one of issues 7&8 for a few rat men and grimdark kitbashing.

Yeah, one with command, one without. £1 per clanrat is pretty good, but they are around that price on the 2nd hand market too, so no great savings.

I'm looking forward to the Chaos/Vamps/Lumineth issues personally, I don't play AoS but some of the minis are great for other systems.

Speaking of Chaos, the Blight Kings are the older version in the big contents picture provided by Hachette, presumably they will be replaced by the current versions by the time the issue is released?

 Undead_Love-Machine wrote:
Yeah, one with command, one without. £1 per clanrat is pretty good, but they are around that price on the 2nd hand market too, so no great savings.

I'm looking forward to the Chaos/Vamps/Lumineth issues personally, I don't play AoS but some of the minis are great for other systems.

Speaking of Chaos, the Blight Kings are the older version in the big contents picture provided by Hachette, presumably they will be replaced by the current versions by the time the issue is released?

I'm guessing so. Grab that issue quickly when it comes!

 rosafari wrote:

The skaven warriors are two different sprues (one with command one without), correct? Do you need anything carried over from one to build the other? Thinking of picking one of issues 7&8 for a few rat men and grimdark kitbashing.

Several clan rats are spread over each sprue. I built several sets a few weeks ago (~100 clanrats) and I believe it was something like 5 complete on the command side (one extra head on the other side, but 3 heads on the same side), 6 mixed (half on each sprue side) and 9 on the non-command side.

I was personally hoping they would be a single issue myself.

Well issue two with the rat ogors was up on Hachette's site, but has already sold out.

I don't think I've ever seen it available to pre-order on Forbidden Planet. And it isn't showing as available to order today, either.

It was there for a while, but sold out once people realised it was actually available.