Games Workshop Release 2012 Schedule Part 3

Let them eat paint….

It is confirmed now that the reboot of the Citadel paint line will headline April’s new releases with 145+ new products!

Best of all they are the same price as the old paint, so not too bad there.

It’s also breaking right now, that Empire will be the next release with White Dwarf pictures leaking all over the Internets.

Looks like my last article (that was written middle of the month) was spot on, before any confirmations about any new releases! Although I did guess that Empire would be first, followed by the paints- but hey we’ll take all the new stuff at once!

I even wrote that article based on concrete facts, and the evidence of years of sales data, whilst ignoring the popular rumors of the day.

But I digress, more on the new stuff later,  let’s keep going with the new stuff.

Word on the Street

Yes…. what about the Tau/ Eldar?  Most of those rumors have been debunked since February, but lets stop and think for a second.

What has the last several fall releases been for 40k?

Yup that’s right Xenos, with Tyranids in Dec/Jan of 2009/10, Dark Eldar in November 2010, and Necrons in November of 2011. Heck Orks were the main, and splash release for the two years preceding that. So Fall / Winter truly belongs to the Xenos as far as releases go, at least according to the last five years of sales history.

So what does that mean for this years big fall release? Well, if I was a betting man, I would say it will be Xenos based!

But which one you ask?

That’s where conventional wisdom goes out the door. There are more Tau rumors out here than anything, but forgive me for saying it, they really don’t need a new book (unless they get hosed by 6th).

Eldar however, do.  Sales wise Eldar blow. We barely sell any Eldar at all (which probably translates the same to GW sales figures as well).

Why? Well form a play standpoint, they are terrible. They don’t stand up well to any current book, and it really seems to take a veteran player to even tread water with them at the competitive level. They are definitely not a starter army, but they do have a HUGE following.

So from a purely sales standpoint Eldar need to be next, less they fall into the abyss that swallowed the Dark Eldar for so many years.

Tau will be great to come out, don’t get me wrong, but they will sell regardless of a new book or not. This is an article about a business, and sales drive businesses so we gotta keep it in that perspective.

Will it be Tau or Eldar? Only time will tell. But as a businessman, I’m sure you can see what side I am on. Plus I play both too, so it’s win/win!

Fool me Twice….

Flyers you say? Well yeah we have heard that before, but let’s discuss shall we? Will Games Workshop release a new big Flyer expansion right after a main rules release?

The answer, at least from me is a resounding “NO!”

Why? Well first off it’s unprecedented, they have never done a full rules set, and then an expansion in the same year…. But that does not mean they won’t?

Heck just a few years ago they released two new books at once Daemons / Daemons anyone?

My guess is that if they do release a splash of flyers it will be because you will need them in 6th edition. It wont be an expansion of sorts, just a quick catch every army up type thing.

Looking back over the last several years the only real releases besides usually one 40k and one Fantasy release in the fall, were splash releases. Last year was sporadic Finecast re-sculpts, and the year before that was splash daemons.

So who knows. I am not opposed to yummy flyers and maybe a Hyrda Flak tank, no sir. But Santa please bring me Eldar for Christmas!