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Is it just me or do the rumours seem to be becoming increasingly vague regarding forthcoming GW releases?

Last year there was an awful lot of speculation regarding the release schedule for new army books/codices in particular and in many cases accurate info was leaking months in advance. This year, there seems to be nothing past Blood Angels beyond vague hints - even from those traditionally regarded as 'in the know'. Even the Tantalus question has not yet been resolved one way or another.

Pretty much every codex not already given a 5th ed update (or the last couple released pre-5th) have been hinted at as may be getting something this year, but nothing is definitive.

So what gives? Are GW learning to play their cards closer to their chest? Or are they threatening harsh(er) disciplanary action against staff who do leak, thus discouraging the information flow?

It could be that they're just winging it and don't know what's happening next themselves...

Chimera_Calvin wrote:information flow?

It could be that they're just winging it and don't know what's happening next themselves...

Ha ha more than likely

Nothing beyond a few vague hints? Did you not see the leaked codex from like three months ago? Or the Tyranid codex that was available up to six months ago?

GW still can't keep a handle on their playtesters, and that won't change

Or are they threatening harsh(er) disciplanary action against staff who do leak, thus discouraging the information flow?

I know of staff who've been suspended for ludicrously trivial things in this regard....

At least part of it,a side from GW tightening things up a lot ( ... partially because of The Hobbit IMO).. is their release schedule is a bit more fluid than previously. I'm pretty certain that was supposed to be at least 1 more fantasy release prior to the (as yet unconfirmed of course) release of WFB 8th edition this year.

And, to be fair.... they emailed us well in advance of the BA release, they've told us that there are some orcy bits and bobs coming, same for the new WOTR supplement. Battlemissions book has been in the stores for reading and a few test games for quiet some time, the BA book is starting to arrive in stores...

..I wouldn't be too amazed if we got another/similar announcement in the not too distant future.

..info is coming, perhaps not quite as far in advance as previously ( or as liked) but I think in some ways its a happy medium between the two possible extremes.

I was chatting to the local GW manager at lunch about this. He acknowleged things have got a tighter. I remember him showing me a DA preview four months before release. That would never happen now.

As I was reading Battle Missions, I pointed out the presence of DE, suggesting that GW hadn't forgotten about them entirely. After a deliberately expectant look on my part, he shrugged and said he wasn't sure but I shouldn't go expecting an update anytime in the near future.

Blood Angels books should be in stores to preview from Monday/Tuesday though!

Maybe with the ones with tons of info leaked they wanted it leaked. They wanted hype for the models and codex so they leaked stuff. I wouldnt put it past them to even leak false info.

They got a lot better at keeping secrets then usual, but there's also leaks. The main problem is that GW wants such a chokehold on information that it's hard to get hyped for anything.

They do appear to be lowering the leak amount.

I personally don't understand it, previewed greens for other companies seem to go over well. If I'd seen the dreds and kans a while back I'd still be as excited by their release.

And preview greens feedback might have been able to prevent the hideous abortion that is the beastman army.

I think the problem is that they're worried about sales and competition in a round-about way.

If they started telling us about the Tervigons and Tyrannofexes even four or five months out...how fast would places like Chapterhouse have had them out?

Kanluwen wrote:I think the problem is that they're worried about sales and competition in a round-about way.

If they started telling us about the Tervigons and Tyrannofexes even four or five months out...how fast would places like Chapterhouse have had them out?

The actual sales by people like chapterhouse are tiny and aimed at a market that GW has made it clear they don't really want to cater for. It wouldn't dink their armour at all, further, they don't actually make either of those models and stated that they wanted people to make them by kitbashing. If a small indy company want to make an 'alien' that fits the bill, all power to them.

That doesn't hold water for me, I think it's more a case of them thinking things will 'lose their glow' and become old news once the green is seen. I think they want to tie in the 'OMFGlookit!!' with the model actually being available for purchase. I just find it odd, because it leads to horrors like the beastmen models getting produced in their thousands and the reaction of the audience being a big fat 'urrrgh'...

Yeah, but Beastmen have arguably been a HUGE minority and overstated. Remember the Minotaurs, and how they went from "OMFG WTF IS IT?!" with the preview pics--to practically everyone loving them once they saw them in person or a different paintjob?

Kanluwen wrote:Remember the Minotaurs, and how they went from "OMFG WTF IS IT?!" with the preview pics--to practically everyone loving them once they saw them in person or a different paintjob?

When did that happen?
I remember people (including me, since I've loved minotaurs since I were a nipper) saying 'OMFG WTF etc'. Then there was some 'Well, if you paint them black to try and tone down the hideous musculature that's been sculpted onto them then they don't look so bad...

I've not read any people saying they love them.

I've seen these models close up, they are still badly done and fugly in a bad bad way. The razorgor is a terrible model and it doesn't even have the excuse of being a plastic multiparter. The centigor character is blindingly dull.

All this following the absolutely jaw-dropping beauty of the skaven reworks, you have to go a long way to improve on a Jes Goodwin mini and in the cases of the character models, they did! Then beastmen show up and the disaster is all the more highlighted by the recent good works that this turd was wedged in after.

Then I guess the five or six people locally who're actually getting into Warhammer Fantasy just because of the Beasts of Chaos model releases and the book are an abnormality?

But I digress. The whole problem(in my view at least) with the Beastmen releases is that they're actually trying to make these mythical critters like Minotaurs and Centaurs their own creations, rather than making them generic fantasy archetypes. THAT is why the Minotaurs get the WTF treatment.

Kanluwen wrote:Then I guess the five or six people locally who're actually getting into Warhammer Fantasy just because of the Beasts of Chaos model releases and the book are an abnormality?

Yep. Pics or it didn't happen...

Kanluwen wrote:
But I digress. The whole problem(in my view at least) with the Beastmen releases is that they're actually trying to make these mythical critters like Minotaurs and Centaurs their own creations, rather than making them generic fantasy archetypes. THAT is why the Minotaurs get the WTF treatment.

Then a case of them cutting off their nose to spite their face, because the 'stylised' look is terrible. If it really is down to greed and wishing to ensure that the new minotaurs did not look like anyone else's minotaurs (OR their own previous minotaurs) then instead of mixing in other ranges, people with the wherewithal to look around will simply buy from another manufacturer.

To continue the offtopic: I love the new plastic minotaurs. There, now you've read it! My local GW was sold out of them two weeks after their release. I think it only took that long because we got slammed by 4+ feet of snow here in Maryland.

After the initial disappointment, the Razorturds grew on me, now I own 3 for a herd and I'm about to get more since their chariots rock, with or w/o a character. Yes, they're ugly and thats why I like them. To each his own. I guess my love for the Beastmen army blinds me to the ugliness. I just wish there was more options for the razorgor kits, so I wouldn't have to sculpt so much :(

In terms of the other beastmen stuff, you should line up side by side the old gors next to the new ones, its a vast improvement. Same with the ungors. Much more detail and many more options for both those kits. The extra work that was put into improving these kits seems to always be overshadowed by some folks distaste for the mino's or Razorgors.

Back on topic: I wish GW would market stuff more, as far as previews go, to drum up excitement. They have a magazine dedicated to their product and they could use that to exclusively drop previews and hints of future releases. Instead we get random tidbits from folks on the internet who have a habit of being vague. Not that I'm comlaining about those of you who give us little teasers, it just seems counter intuitive,

NELS1031 wrote:
In terms of the other beastmen stuff, you should line up side by side the old gors next to the new ones, its a vast improvement. Same with the ungors. Much more detail and many more options for both those kits. The extra work that was put into improving these kits seems to always be overshadowed by some folks distaste for the mino's or Razorgors.

I thought the Gors and Ungors were the EXACT SAME miniatures, slightly re-cut with maybe a few extra add ons?

GW is a bit gun-shy with previews - and the Beastmen releases show you why. When quality control and miniature approval are non-existent, well...

And then, there's the Blood Angels stuff - which is awesome...

So...

The only consistent thing about GW is, wait for it!, inconsistency!

Still, I love 'em!

I thought the Gors and Ungors were the EXACT SAME miniatures, slightly re-cut with maybe a few extra add ons?

Nah, The gors kept some of the poses and 2 new ones were added, extra work was put into their fur, body details (the flayed face on one dudes belt is my favorite), facial details, weapons were made to fit in a ranked unit, chaos symbols were changed to their own iconography, etc etc. The ungors were given the same treatment, again a vast improvement. The one thing that really stood out in my mind was the lack of cleaning I had to do on these kits, as far as shaving the lines of the mould off. Really a big step up from the old kit. Side by side, a Beastmen player who has assembled/painted both kits could tell the difference between old and new. Its just not as radical a rework as the former plastic skaven kit was to the new one, because not much work was needed on the gor/ungors.

GW is a bit gun-shy with previews - and the Beastmen releases show you why. When quality control and miniature approval are non-existent, well...

Personal tastes vary, obviously. Even though I own a few razorgors, I look at it and still admittedly go "meh", but the minotaurs I enjoy immensely as I can build them as I see fit. Sure, there are other manufacturers that make absolutely stunning minotaurs, but the customization options are few and far between for those models.

Good point about the Gors and UNgors - the older versions were filled with flash!

IF they improved that, awesome!

I will, as usual, assume that there's a logical reason for what has clearly been a clamp-down on information about future model releases, even though the internet community seems to regard leaked information/photos as some kind of entitlement.

Another poster mentioned one reason for the more limited information available- their release schedule is more fluid. I've been told this by someone who speaks to people reasonably high up, and who's consistently been reliable with information on forthcoming releases. It's not secret anyway - they said some time back that their technology had reached the point where the (plastic) models go from finished design to production in a relatively short time, so they can turn models out much faster. As a result, they no longer have a fixed 12 month release schedule; that presumably means they release stuff based on sales figures, and push the stuff that sells - possibly this is why the Orks are continuing to get new models.

The other reason is probably that early images of new models often prompted a lot of negative comment (negative being the default attitude of many internet posters), even though the image is of a prototype, or the photo has been taken from an unusual angle. I remember my first reaction to the new Trukk, when I saw a photos of pre-production prototype, was 'is that the best they can do?' (I think the actual kit is pretty good). I suspect they've decided that the barrage of internet opinion was discouraging sales, and that a relatively short window between unveiling a model and releasing it generates more excitement. Although that approach surely can't have helped with the Minotaurs. They're awful, and I haven't heard any of the local WHFB players say they've come around to liking them. Still, it's an unusual slip in quality when you look at the stuff that's come out in the last couple of months. I just bought the Venerable Dread, Kanz and Deff Dread (plastic addict that I am I've been sorely tempted by the Screaming Bell as well, even though I don't play WHFB), and they're all wonderful kits.

As for codexes, I agree with the comment that GW is consistently inconsistent. Even in the short time since 5th Edition was released, their approach to codexes has changed - the simplified approach has gone, and there are arguably too many units and options, while the special characters have become increasingly over-the-top (just compare the Space Woof heros with the patsies in the Ork codex). I think their codexes would still benefit hugely from a lot more involvement by players during the development stage. The secrecy with which they're cloaked means that we're still getting rules with bits missing, or with features that haven't been fully thought-through.

Or conversely, it could be that people dont care as much.....


Automatically Appended Next Post:

Kanluwen wrote:Yeah, but Beastmen have arguably been a HUGE minority and overstated. Remember the Minotaurs, and how they went from "OMFG WTF IS IT?!" with the preview pics--to practically everyone loving them once they saw them in person or a different paintjob?

Whose this "everyone loves them" nonsese? I think you over state there. The pictured flesh color ones look horrible. When painted black, they look better.....but I dont see universally loved at all even now.