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The Infographic in question. (Edit: I did not create this, simply sharing it.)
Embedded Image

The average age of Eldar models is 15.88 Years. Truly the darkest of times for the pointy eared Doomers.

1: Nice graphic. Someone sure put in the effort.

2: So the last few years have been rough for the Xenos. On top of that, unless I'm mistaken about half of all xenos releases have been this recent Cron release. The other Xenos have been left out in the cold.

 Insectum7 wrote:
1: Nice graphic. Someone sure put in the effort.

2: So the last few years have been rough for the Xenos. On top of that, unless I'm mistaken about half of all xenos releases have been this recent Cron release. The other Xenos have been left out in the cold.

GSC will be a portion of that also a few years back

In fairness its not just a rate of releases you have to look at. Tyranids, for example haven't had anything in a good while and yet their army is pretty much in a fantastic place right now. There's a few annoyances like gaunts having split heads; and there's a few finecast that are odd they've not been replaced; but by and large the vast majority is diverse and well made modern models. Even some of the older like the carnifex stand up well.


It's like Tau; they might be listed second oldest next to Eldar, but many of their models are still very good. Indeed I'd argue its more Kroot that appear to have aged poorly; whilst your fire warriors still look good today.

Also interesting to note, and I did not know this at all, but slightly unsurprising considering the amount of regiments being supported, until 1999 it looks like Imperial guard had as many, if not more releases than space marines.

EDIT: Ignoring the percentage periods as that data is skewed for comparison, if anything it should be a table of number of releases per faction, not percentage as the amount of release for 40k on a whole is low between 1990 and 93 for example.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Overread wrote:
In fairness its not just a rate of releases you have to look at. Tyranids, for example haven't had anything in a good while and yet their army is pretty much in a fantastic place right now. There's a few annoyances like gaunts having split heads; and there's a few finecast that are odd they've not been replaced; but by and large the vast majority is diverse and well made modern models. Even some of the older like the carnifex stand up well.


It's like Tau; they might be listed second oldest next to Eldar, but many of their models are still very good. Indeed I'd argue its more Kroot that appear to have aged poorly; whilst your fire warriors still look good today.

3rd, and not by a lot, Nids are only a little behind. Good old imperial guard are second.

I forgot it has been six years since I bought my Harlequins army. Holy smokes time goes by quickly.

The biggest surprise for me is how old dark eldar stuff is comparatively. I would have guessed orks would be way freaking older.

Otherwise, no real surprises here. The primaris relaunch has been roughly 4x the size of the sisters or necron launches, and since 2017 the proportion of marines vs everyone else has skyrocketed.

Pretty neat graphic. Really puts the recent lack of love Xenos have gotten as a whole into context.

I will say though, that despite the average age of some factions, their models hold up really well in comparison to others. The early 10s springs to mind as a time when the minis released still look good today AND are multipart kits offering a huge level of customizability like Dark Eldar or Orks.

lol, so it looks like people should be mad at Chaos ( and Sisters ) for chewing up Xenos slots instead of marines.

 Daedalus81 wrote:
lol, so it looks like people should be mad at Chaos for chewing up Xenos slots instead of marines.

Why? they got more stuff at the start of 8th but about the same amount as marines. Then marines continued on to be the Subfaction with the most realeases for all of 8th and now 9th too.

Hmmm. How come only two blocks for the Ork Buggies?


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 VladimirHerzog wrote:

 Daedalus81 wrote:
lol, so it looks like people should be mad at Chaos for chewing up Xenos slots instead of marines.

Why? they got more stuff at the start of 8th but about the same amount as marines. Then marines continued on to be the Subfaction with the most realeases for all of 8th and now 9th too.

The trend for marines over the past 16 years has been seemingly consistent. There's an uptick for Imperium ( Sisters ) and Chaos.

 Daedalus81 wrote:
Hmmm. How come only two blocks for the Ork Buggies?

I was assuming the ork buggies were the five blocks in 2018 and ghaz and makari (which iirc are actually the same box?) Were the 2 in 2020.

But by all means go off on how we should be mad at sisters for their model range relaunch with 1/4 as many kits as the primaris 4-year extravaganza

the_scotsman wrote:

 Daedalus81 wrote:
Hmmm. How come only two blocks for the Ork Buggies?

I was assuming the ork buggies were the five blocks in 2018 and ghaz and makari (which iirc are actually the same box?) Were the 2 in 2020.

But by all means go off on how we should be mad at sisters for their model range relaunch with 1/4 as many kits as the primaris 4-year extravaganza

Christ was it 2018? Man time flies. An extravaganza that appears to be no more extreme than the past 16 years?

Number of releases also means very little these days: orks had 6 releases in 2018 but basically just 2, the Wartrike and buggies with 5 different loadouts.

I started the hobby in the late 90s when orks got a ton of new releases and each one of those green squares in the graphic actually meant a different unit.

 Blackie wrote:
Number of releases also means very little these days: orks had 6 releases in 2018 but basically just 2, the Wartrike and buggies with 5 different loadouts.

They're very different models. How should we view Intercessors, Incursors, Infiltrators, and Assault Intercessors? They're all the same model with different guns.

 Daedalus81 wrote:


The trend for marines over the past 16 years has been seemingly consistent. There's an uptick for Imperium ( Sisters ) and Chaos.

Spoiler:

1/4 of all releases still feels like too much for a subfaction, and that combines with their absurd powerlevel at the end of 8th is probably what causes that much complaints.
Marines get about the same amount of releases than whole superfactions (Chaos,Xenos), even more sometimes.

Another aspect regarding number of releases is that it doesn't tell you whether it's for a new unit or just a remake/re-release of an already existing model.

e.g. Dark Eldar have had a number of "releases", but not a single new unit in over a decade now.

Someone needs to do another analysis where they gauge wether multiple unit buildl box sets are treated as 1 release, or multiple, and whether this has been consistently applied across the years now....

Were the dark angel terminators classed as 1x release or 3x for example?

 vipoid wrote:
Another aspect regarding number of releases is that it doesn't tell you whether it's for a new unit or just a remake/re-release of an already existing model.

e.g. Dark Eldar have had a number of "releases", but not a single new unit in over a decade now.

That said it can be complex. The Hive Tyrant got a rework and added plastic wings, which for the majority is like a new model in terms of what it offered to people. Similarly some infantry get new sculpts along with new weapon and upgrade options. So whilst it is a "replacement" it offers new ways to play and use them.
Plus I think eventually most armies end up at a size where there just isn't room to add much else without repeating what the army already offers or only offering new unique solos/heroes etc....

 Overread wrote:

 vipoid wrote:
Another aspect regarding number of releases is that it doesn't tell you whether it's for a new unit or just a remake/re-release of an already existing model.

e.g. Dark Eldar have had a number of "releases", but not a single new unit in over a decade now.

That said it can be complex. The Hive Tyrant got a rework and added plastic wings, which for the majority is like a new model in terms of what it offered to people. Similarly some infantry get new sculpts along with new weapon and upgrade options. So whilst it is a "replacement" it offers new ways to play and use them.
Plus I think eventually most armies end up at a size where there just isn't room to add much else without repeating what the army already offers or only offering new unique solos/heroes etc....

Doesn't seem to have stopped Space Marines from expanding ....

Far as 'Nids go - They are in a decent place, but they've lost a few cool units due to "no model" or because FW doesn't want to support them. I would love to see a Shrike kit, a "Doom" kit, some of the current kits built out to actually have all the proper weapons options on the sprues, and then there's a small host of kits that just really need new sculpts. I also think they could use something in between the Warrior and the Carnifex, as well as a few other odds and ends to completely round them out.

That said, they're a lot better off than pretty much all the Eldar as well as other things like Guard infantry ...

 VladimirHerzog wrote:


1/4 of all releases still feels like too much for a subfaction, and that combines with their absurd powerlevel at the end of 8th is probably what causes that much complaints.
Marines get about the same amount of releases than whole superfactions (Chaos,Xenos), even more sometimes.

Why, they are the most played one. That is like saying that football in europe gets too much attention in TV, adds and scholarships for players.
And lets better not get in to another power level argument here, when the top lists are full of harlis, demons, custodes, orks etc and marines don't even make it to 50% win rate.

 endlesswaltz123 wrote:
Someone needs to do another analysis where they gauge wether multiple unit buildl box sets are treated as 1 release, or multiple, and whether this has been consistently applied across the years now....

Were the dark angel terminators classed as 1x release or 3x for example?

Since AdMech has 7 for 2020 it looks like multis are probably counted separately ( unless I forgot some models ).

 Daedalus81 wrote:

 endlesswaltz123 wrote:
Someone needs to do another analysis where they gauge wether multiple unit buildl box sets are treated as 1 release, or multiple, and whether this has been consistently applied across the years now....

Were the dark angel terminators classed as 1x release or 3x for example?

Since AdMech has 7 for 2020 it looks like multis are probably counted separately ( unless I forgot some models ).

Which, if that is the case, the analysis is not consistent if the comment about the ork buggies is in fact correct.

 endlesswaltz123 wrote:
Which, if that is the case, the analysis is not consistent if the comment about the ork buggies is in fact correct.

Not sure what you mean? Buggies are not multi-kit.

 Daedalus81 wrote:

 endlesswaltz123 wrote:
Which, if that is the case, the analysis is not consistent if the comment about the ork buggies is in fact correct.

Not sure what you mean? Buggies are not multi-kit.

They may not be called buggies, I meant the dragstas etc, and I thought they were 1x kit... Looks like I was wrong.

 endlesswaltz123 wrote:

 Daedalus81 wrote:

 endlesswaltz123 wrote:
Which, if that is the case, the analysis is not consistent if the comment about the ork buggies is in fact correct.

Not sure what you mean? Buggies are not multi-kit.

They may not be called buggies, I meant the dragstas etc, and I thought they were 1x kit... Looks like I was wrong.

Yea, the treatment of multi-kits and such could be argued. People could debate for pages on what the right view of the data should be. This is at least the most open data set, at least.

The data won't really change people's minds anyway. More just a fun thing to look at.

SoB average age of kit being 5 years old - LOL.
Proof that you can make statistics tell any lue you want....

ccs wrote:
SoB average age of kit being 5 years old - LOL.
Proof that you can make statistics tell any lue you want....

I don't know how many old models are left in the new book, but given that their other releases were '97 and '04 the metric seems plausible. Again I'm sure people could debate all day what the right weight of models should be.

ccs wrote:
SoB average age of kit being 5 years old - LOL.
Proof that you can make statistics tell any lue you want....

Well, yes. There are various ministorium kits from 2nd Ed and the 2003 Witch Hunter book that are still used by them and under the SOB tab on the GW site, thus pulling the average down. Those missionary and preacher models are from their first codex release in 1997.

Interesting infographic.

"other Imperium" is a disappointing category though, I assume it covers things like assassins, inquisitors etc. and more recently Custodes and SOS.

I wonder if GK are covered by "Other Imperium" or by "Space Marine chapters", I expect by SM chapters, but other Imperium seems more appropriate. Especially in the days of it being Daemonhunters rather than GKs as a faction.