List of abandonned GW projects

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**Kroothawk**

tristessa over at Warseer wrote:Hello

I thought it would be interesting to try and compile a list of lost GW projects. Rather than individual casts or sculpts that never quite make it, there are a few larger projects that forever reason never made it to retail. Now I know of a few, but of course there's a good chance these might be urban myths or distorted by time. I hope that the community may have a bit of light to shed on them or maybe a few phantom projects to add. These are based on projects I've either seen bits of, spoken with people regarding or have been at events and heard about.

From the top of my head I can think of the following -

Harry Potter Quidditch - apparently this was created and a few kits mocked up to pitch for the license. Never made it past that stage though one of the kits was on eBay for about an hour back in 2009... I can only imagine what the forums would have been like.

Codex Squats - 2nd Edition. Yeah, reset the clock. Would love to know how far down the line this progressed. It seemed on target for a launch in 1994 and then nothing!

Man O' War - Expansion 3. There was a lot of concept art produced prior to the Man O' War game launching back in 1993 and some of this was shown in a White Dwarf around then. There was art featured for the undead and apparently these were set for an expansion before the great cull of 1995. I heard that this got pulled due to "trouble" at the studio.

Adeptus Mechanicus 40k Army - rather than the mid-nineties pieces that were produced and then found their way on to Stuff of Legends, as of 2004 there was a plan to release them as a stand-alone army in 2007. I heard that these got pulled due to staff turnover at the design studio, but also the more outlandish story that the designer left owning all the rights.

Codex Alien Hunters - planned for release in 2004, referenced in 4th edition 40k, then slipped for 2005 and then 200X... Still waiting. Given the way that kits are made, these have to have been pretty close to release for a while before vanishing mysteriously near the Eastern-fringe.

40k 4th Edition: Advanced Edition. Andy Chambers planned and designed an advanced version of 40k that would have been an expansion for 4th edition. From what I can recall, it would have had more detailed assault rules, squads throwing grenades.
There are rumours that his delivery of this rules set cost him his job, though I expect that is blown out of proportion a bit. CF. Advancing the 40k timeline - post 2003 it seemed very likely until the overlord left.

Plastic Thunderhawk - as far as I know, it has been pretty much ready to go since 2007 and yet where is it?? I had heard that back in 2008, despite both being ready it would be the stompa or thunderhawk that got the release. The rest is history.

Bloodbowl 2013: - http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?383522-Blood-Bowl-in-November I could have sworn that I've heard of people seeing the kits!

Edit - A list of lost projects discussed/mentioned in the thread below, with links where possible.

Harry Potter Quidditch - concept work. May have made it to eBay.

Codex Squats - stalled after limited enthusiasm to new model releases in 1994

Another Trolls game - presumably oi dats no fun.

Codex Alien Hunters - planned for 2005 but never made it. Referenced in the 4th edition rulebook but never made it past that point.

40k 4th Edition: Advanced Edition - announced by Andy Chambers in early 2004 and then referenced by Graham McNeil at Conflict Edinburgh in March 2004. Never released. Would have had rules for throwing grenades, running out of ammo etc.

Plastic Thunderhawk - oft rumoured but very much quashed in this thread. I believe that some planning regarding this project has taken place but others (with better sources than my own) disagree.

Battlefleet Gothic 2nd ed. - died with specialist games in 2008. Andy Chambers recently spoke about it in interview with Conclave of Har - http://www.conclaveofhar.com/hobby-articles.html

Darkside: 40k Supplement (aka Boarding/Void War 40k Supplement) - rumoured 2005/2006 and again in 2009 around time of Planetstrike as being something they'd like to do. Design document made in 05 then scrapped.

Matrix Models/Game pitch - sighted at Games Day 1998. Game would have taken place inside the Matrix and the Realworld at the same time.

Battlefleet Gothic v0.5 - Richard Halliwelll's space combat game - somehow became Spacefleet and then BFG 1.0.

Plastic Dwarf Command Sprue - Lost, broken, lost and broken. Few exist in circulation. Warseer member Harry has one!

Star Wars/Spawn pitch sculpts - http://www.acl.com.au/joe/images.nsf/eGroup%20-%20Unreleased%20Misc?OpenPage Some info here: http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?171010-Did-GW-ever-pursue-a-license-for-Star-Wars&highlight=quidditch+ebay

Tamurkhan v0.5 - Rick Priestley ends the Warhammer World/his GW career. The original plan as released at Games Day 2010 is summarised: http://www.lounge.belloflostsouls.net/archive/index.php/t-10326.html

Aspect Warriors (Megadrive game) - http://segaretro.org/Aspect_Warriors

54mm 40k Models oft. rumoured precursors to Inq. models.

Confrontation - Early 90s White Dwarf rules and background, Necromunda precursor. Model range was released and can be found of Stuff of Legends: http://www.sodemons.com/rhrare/confrontation/index.htm

Gorkamorka Racing - PC/Dreamcast game. Canned in 2000. Was playable at Games Day 1999. - https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDoQtwIwAQ&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DndLhrTw-wgA&ei=0gNxUru6D8SUhQehqIDQDA&usg=AFQjCNEcq08ZnZjk1gckSW0hIwTtC4sIOg&sig2=2vgjVJGf1vRdgs-ssuQ-JA&bvm=bv.55617003,d.ZG4

Ad. Mech Playtest/GW Studio Fan Armylist 2003/2005 - Graham McNeil confirmed AdMech "being explored" at Conflict Edinburgh 2004 - http://www.thedarkfortress.co.uk/tech_reports/codex_adeptusmechanicus.htm - More details on provenance of lists below.

Man O' War - Expansion 3 / Man O' War 2.0 - Expansion 3 lost in the mix, Man O War 2.0 smashed by GW employee as part of playtesting (see story in thread!).

Amazon/Lustrian Expansion for WHFB 1st Edition - Scrapped

Red Flows the Lynsk - Kislev Campaign Pack for WHFB 5th Ed. Unreleased. Authored by Nigel Stillman.

Titan Legions Add-Ons - few made it to market in 1999. The warmonger crops up on ebay for a lot of money. The imperial psi-titans less so (if ever released at all).

Necromunda Hive Secondus Expansion - announced 2003. Lost in the mix.

Bloodquest the movie - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpEY630UaMg - announced in 2000. Canned.

Marine / Eldar RT books - Announced but never completed. Superceded by 2nd Edition.

Formula Waaargh! board game - Ork racing boardgame, planned for 1999. Story/art direct from the artist here: http://ralphhorsley.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-big-break-formula-waaargh.html

90s Games Day Hive City Film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZBplpT3Iy4

90s Games Day Inquisitor Film http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6l1AlK5JZ0

Colin Grayson's WHFB Buildings - was working on "interchangeable bits that could build a variety of houses" ala cities of death kit. scrapped and repurposed into existing range of defined buildings

WFRPG expansion to Nippon/Cathay - scrapped

Final Liberation Expansion(s) - slots were included in the PC game for extra units/races but obviously it never sold well enough to warrant the release

Valhallan Ice Warriors - Games Day 1999 sighting of a Skidoo. Probably a pitch sculpt/personal project.

Warhammer Online v0.5 - developed and then scrapped. More like an RTS than MMORPG?

Fishmen - oft rumoured joke-race for WHFB. Probably only exists as a placeholder on the studio release schedule, confusing guests and throwing rumourmongers off the scent!

http://www.warseer.com/forums/showthread.php?383619-Lost-GW-projects!

**Grot 6**

They will not be denied!!!

**fishy bob**

We had an employee at the local GW a few years ago that would always joke about Fishmen, saying how it was his favourite army. He no longer works there, because of his un-GW-like manners.

The list was a good read!

**Pacific**

Kroothawk wrote:

40k 4th Edition: Advanced Edition - announced by Andy Chambers in early 2004 and then referenced by Graham McNeil at Conflict Edinburgh in March 2004. Never released. Would have had rules for throwing grenades, running out of ammo etc.

I heard the same thing years ago from someone fairly senior when I worked for GW (probably around that time, if not before). I then heard from someone else that the idea got transmuted into what would eventually become apocalypse, which probably sounds about right.

Interesting list though, and a few I had completely forgotten about! I'm sure there are more. Takes you back to when the 'Games' in 'Games Workshop' could validly be used in the plural, and stuff like this was coming out constantly.

**Platuan4th**

Not gonna lie. I'm intrigued by the Quidditch game and kinda wanna see the stuff that made it to ebay.

**Bookwrack**

Pacific wrote:
Kroothawk wrote:

40k 4th Edition: Advanced Edition - announced by Andy Chambers in early 2004 and then referenced by Graham McNeil at Conflict Edinburgh in March 2004. Never released. Would have had rules for throwing grenades, running out of ammo etc.

I heard the same thing years ago from someone fairly senior when I worked for GW (probably around that time, if not before). I then heard from someone else that the idea got transmuted into what would eventually become apocalypse, which probably sounds about right.

Advanced Edition was one of those things as completely made up as 'Summer of Fliers' and 'Storm of Arrows.' Nothing that ever existed, but boy did people grab onto it at times.

**filbert**

Kroothawk wrote:

Final Liberation Expansion(s) - slots were included in the PC game for extra units/races but obviously it never sold well enough to warrant the release

There is a kernel of truth here. SSC (I think!) the games' producers released the source code to fan sites and they expanded on what was already there. Development is still ongoing but there were place-holders in the code for Tyranids and Chaos, I believe. Whether they ever make the light of day remains to be seen.

**xruslanx**

Bookwrack wrote:

Advanced Edition was one of those things as completely made up as 'Summer of Fliers' and 'Storm of Arrows.' Nothing that ever existed, but boy did people grab onto it at times.

Well it seems like Andy Chambers actually announced it...I'd actually be interested in a game expansion for 40k that's not apocolypse. Something aimed at the vet crowd rather than newcomers, maybe an alternative d10 ruleset.

**Kid_Kyoto**

Let's not forget 3rd edition Codex Apocalypse (not related to the Apoc mega battle rules that came later) mentioned in WD. Would have covered SoB and other Imperial Agents.

And while we're at it there was a rumored 2nd edition Imperial Agents codex.

And as for Codex Squats, they were promised in the 2nd edition IG codex.

I'd have to dig but I seem to recall that both Epic Exodites were promised and Epic Warhammer Fantasy (eventually became Warmaster).

**Kelly502**

I liked Gorkamorka. I still have my Ork trukks I made, roll-bars, big shootas, grapnel hooks. I have the rules still, very playable. I made a trukk with cages on either side with squigs that were fed metal bits and had explosives strapped to them, the trukk crew would drop them as they drove and the thought was for the squig to get hit by or explode close to the enemy vehicle.

**Kid_Kyoto**

Ah, I knew I'd seen the Imperial Agents Codex somewhere.

Also from the 2nd edition IG book.

**Azazelx**

Interesting reading there. Thanks for posting this, Kroot!

**H.B.M.C.**

"Adeptus Mechanicus 40k Army - rather than the mid-nineties pieces that were produced and then found their way on to Stuff of Legends, as of 2004 there was a plan to release them as a stand-alone army in 2007. I heard that these got pulled due to staff turnover at the design studio, but also the more outlandish story that the designer left owning all the rights."

Owning the rights to what exactly?

And the Man'O'War 2.0... smashed? Smashed?

**Ouze**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
Owning the rights to what exactly?

No shizz. At this point they could release a codex that included FW units and they'd need nearly no new models.

**Pacific**

Bookwrack wrote:
Pacific wrote:
Kroothawk wrote:

40k 4th Edition: Advanced Edition - announced by Andy Chambers in early 2004 and then referenced by Graham McNeil at Conflict Edinburgh in March 2004. Never released. Would have had rules for throwing grenades, running out of ammo etc.

I heard the same thing years ago from someone fairly senior when I worked for GW (probably around that time, if not before). I then heard from someone else that the idea got transmuted into what would eventually become apocalypse, which probably sounds about right.

Advanced Edition was one of those things as completely made up as 'Summer of Fliers' and 'Storm of Arrows.' Nothing that ever existed, but boy did people grab onto it at times.

Bearing in mind I this was in the time when GW were fairly liberal with information, before the more recent trend of 1-week of advance warning of releases and tight information control at HQ. And it was from a fairly senior manager, rather than a intuitive-leap made by bloggers who had seen half-glimpsed out of focus photos of stuff. And, I heard the same thing subsequently (from other staff) from different sources. So.. I would say it probably there is a lot more chance that it existed at some point than either of the other names you mentioned!

**Selym**

Ouze wrote:
H.B.M.C. wrote:
Owning the rights to what exactly?

No shizz. At this point they could release a codex that included FW units and they'd need nearly no new models.

They have - with every IA book

**BaconUprising**

GW were so much cooler in the past...

**PredaKhaine**

BaconUprising wrote:
GW were so much cooler in the past...

Nostalgia's not what it used to be though

**zedmeister**

I have another to add to the list. I've seen and heard occasional rumours crop up from time to time:

Codex Titanicus 2

There is mention of "Codex Titanicus II" in the original Epic Space Marine rulebook from 1989. I've discovered some rumour and hearsay about what else was to be included in Codex Titanicus 2:

Atlas Class Warlord Titan - a testbed Titan used by the Diviso Investigatus for testing new technologies
Legatus Class Warlord Command Titan
Vulcan Class Warlord
Nemesis Class Psi-Titan

Looking at the metal Titan weapons released around the end of 1st edition, it wouldn't be too much of a leap to suppose that the command heads, devotional bell and others could create a command titan. The Nemesis Psi-Titan was sculpted and underwent a limited release in the US.

**warspawned**

Really interesting list - tis a pity GW never really finished 2nd Edition before moving to 3rd - setting a precursor for every edition since it seems? While I know they felt the Squats were a bad idea that they put in 2nd Edition from the beginning (as a collective of most RT stuff that was developed and shown in WD over the years prior to 2nd Ed), I just felt their design was off the mark - not the entire concept

Anywho I remember a preview feature for Aspect Warriors - now I've just spent 20 minutes looking gooey eyed at old Sega Magazines - curse you Dakka!
That Preview can be seen in all its glory here:

Spoiler:

Now I have to spend time downloading old sega magazines for my retro file of immensity

**Howard A Treesong**

Somewhere around 2nd and 3rd edition there was a necron 'tank' being worked upon. I recall it being mentioned in white dwarf as a future project. But nothing of the sort appeared and Necrons didn't get a full release for quite a long time, by then they had the monoliths and other things. I remember hearing that the person working on the necron tank had died or had some accident (but I've no reason to believe that). A tank would have been a bit too conventional though and the set back probably have them time to properly work out the style of the line.

**Grimtuff**

Howard A Treesong wrote:
Somewhere around 2nd and 3rd edition there was a necron 'tank' being worked upon. I recall it being mentioned in white dwarf as a future project. But nothing of the sort appeared and Necrons didn't get a full release for quite a long time, by then they had the monoliths and other things. I remember hearing that the person working on the necron tank had died or had some accident (but I've no reason to believe that). A tank would have been a bit too conventional though and the set back probably have them time to properly work out the style of the line.

It was mentioned IIRC when the Necrons had their 3rd ed. WD list, with Rick Priestley mentioning future development for them, but they were too "raw and bleeding" to be shown to the public yet.

I'm just spitballing here, but it's also entirely possible there was a load of Necron stuff slated for the Citadel Journal, which was stopped after the death of Steve Hambrook. But we may be putting 2+2 together and getting 5 there.

**Ouze**

Selym wrote:
Ouze wrote:
H.B.M.C. wrote:
Owning the rights to what exactly?

No shizz. At this point they could release a codex that included FW units and they'd need nearly no new models.

They have - with every IA book

Sorry, I was vague. I mean, they could release Codex: Mechanicum right now, in my opinion, with the Forge World offerings.

**Saldiven**

My recollection about Squats was that they were discontinued because, at that time, there was nobody in the studio that was interested in pursuing their development. That was still relatively early in the existance of GW, so development really proceeded based on whatever developers were interested in doing. Squats existed as a White Dwarf released army list that was actually fairly well detailed and differed from what IG developed into in several ways (slower moving, higher toughness, more heavy weapons in squads, better in assault, etc.). It's unfortunate that they decided not to pursue that army; I think it had a lot of potential.

**cammy**

H.B.M.C. wrote:
"Adeptus Mechanicus 40k Army - rather than the mid-nineties pieces that were produced and then found their way on to Stuff of Legends, as of 2004 there was a plan to release them as a stand-alone army in 2007. I heard that these got pulled due to staff turnover at the design studio, but also the more outlandish story that the designer left owning all the rights."

Owning the rights to what exactly?

And the Man'O'War 2.0... smashed? Smashed?

I agree - its pretty standard and has been that any IP that an individual works on ( or creates) while under the employment of the company belongs to said company unless there is specific documents detailing otherwise.

It more likely that they didn't like the concept of the work from that designer so when then left they let it die as they would have had to go back to square 1.

**OrlandotheTechnicoloured**

it's not impossible that some significant design/work was done by a freelancer with insufficiently tight contract (as was shown to be the case in the chapterhouse lawsuit where GW tried to con some old artists etc into signing over right's to a variety of stuff)

if the freelancer then became full time at the design studio and expanded on this work it would still be based on rights not owned by GW

a bit of a stretch, but possible

**Kroothawk**

See the Malal case.
Also, in German law you can't lose the copyright on the things you created.

**cammy**

Kroothawk wrote:
See the Malal case.
Also, in German law you can't lose the copyright on the things you created.

This may be the case,. but as far as im aware there isnt a similar precedent in the UK for this.

I suppose it is possible that there wasnt a tight enough contract and the worker was a freelancer - if so extremely shoddy by GW.

**Selym**

cammy wrote:
Kroothawk wrote:
See the Malal case.
Also, in German law you can't lose the copyright on the things you created.

This may be the case,. but as far as im aware there isnt a similar precedent in the UK for this.

I suppose it is possible that there wasnt a tight enough contract and the worker was a freelancer - if so extremely shoddy by GW.

"Shoddy" is GW's middle name. They've had faaar to many feth ups over copyright/resale laws recently than any "professional" company that takes itself seriously should be expected to do.

And Failcast, but that's another topic.

**Balance**

When was the Malal thing? It seems like ti's long enough ago that GW was probably a lot more loose about things like NDAs, contracts, etc. than they probably are now.