We may be about due for another edition of Age of Sigmar in 2021, as we’re seeing the signs of a build-up to an edition change…
Historically, GW has used AoS as a bit of a testing platform for releases in 40k. However, we’re going to be looking at the path that GW paved in 40k through 8th and 9th Edition to make the case for a potentially new edition of Age of Sigmar.
Are We About Due For A New Edition of Age of Sigmar?
Well, are we? To answer this question, we’ll be using the way GW has recently handled 8th Edition, moving into 9th Edition as well as what known releases lie ahead for AOS.
As we moved into the last year of 8th Edition (2019-2020) we pretty much went through supplement hell. During the earlier part of 8th Edition, Primaris got a decent amount of stuff as well as Death Guard but they were mainly focused around new kits. But near the end there, we had Vigilus books, Codex supplements, and the entire Psychic Awakening series of which were all accompanied by splash releases of a single model or two.
Now that we’re in 9th Edition, we’ve already begun to see how GW cherry-picked some rules across books and has either kept them legal or made them illegal in Matched Play. For example, in 8th Edition, you could use the formations that costed CP from Vigilus in your games. But in 9th Edition, you can’t anymore.
It’s also worth noting that we had 8th Edition 40k for about 3 years.
In short, GW got through the major kit-focused releases and then moved into supplements coupled with a new model splash release here and there.
Applying The Pattern To Age of Sigmar
Now let’s look at where we’re at for Age of Sigmar. The last big kit/model release that we know about is the Sons of Behemant which is rumored to be releasing the second or third week of October.
These guys are essentially going to be the “Imperial Knights”of Age of Sigmar and they’re the last “major” release we know about beyond the Lumineth Realm-lords.
Beyond the Sons of Behemat, there are still supplement(s) that look to be releasing though, which is why we made this post in the first place. Warhammer Community just announced that a Morathi supplement book is on the way.
The Realmgate Wars. Malign Portents. The Soul Wars. Wrath of the Everchosen. The vast, ongoing story of the Mortal Realms has encompassed many great events. To break it down, the Stormcast Eternals ushered in the Age of Sigmar, driving back the hordes of Chaos and allowing civilisation to return to the realms in the form of great cities. Nagash raised hordes of the dead to claim the realms for himself, ancient Stormvaults full of long-buried secrets were opened, and most recently, Chaos and Death have been knocking chunks out of one another in the Eightpoints.
Now it’s time for the next chapter, a narrative event that will define the future of the Age of Sigmar. Broken Realms is here.
All of the story arcs named red above ushered in new editions of the game (including the 2016 General’s handbook which I guess you could consider a 1.5 patch to the game too…)
In the same way that we saw new model kits, then supplements, then a new Edition in BOTH 40k and AoS (Malign Portents, then Soul Wars for 2.0), we could be in the “supplement lead up” phase for Age of Sigmar 3.0 shortly.
It’s also worth noting that Age of Sigmar (titled as AoS 2.0) was also released back in 2018. As we have a few months to take us into 2021, but then we will be right around the 3-year mark from 2.0 (and SIX years from 1.o), putting us in a great spot to see a new edition of Age of Sigmar.
A Word on Warhammer Fantasy
It’s also worth noting that when Warhammer Fantasy (End Times) transitioned into the OG Age of Sigmar, we saw five supplement books for the major factions released, the last just months before well, the late unpleasantries of 2015…
So what does it all mean? Well, it seems like we have a pretty solid repeating pattern from Games Workshop that is a semi-predictable release schedule (revenue stream) for both their major games.
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What do you think the likelihood is of a new AoS Edition for 2021 and beyond?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures. Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including the Adepticon Team Tournament and American Team Tournaments, and is on a first-name basis with almost every major company in the space.
He’s all gaming all the time. With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. He advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1908s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
