This just in: Dark Vengeance is rumored to be shipping out from Games Workshop, with an official release set for this weekend.
Which is of course, a full one week delay past their previous scheduled release of September 8th.
Current on Games Workshop’s site Dark Vengeance is still set at “Advanced Order”, but if patterns hold true, they should go live this Friday around 12 midnight GMT.
Accordingly I’m sure copies of Dark Vengeance will start trickling though to retailers and e-tailers alike for distribution to consumers shortly as well.
So what happened? Why the delay?
Word on the street is they made too many of the Limited Editions and had to “force them out”. Some stores have reported receiving two shipments of “allocated” Limited Edition box sets without even being billed for one of those shipments.
Plus I know more than one occasion of stores just straight up dumping those “extra” Limited Edition starters for wholesale prices to customers just so they could afford to pay the unexpected duplicate bill!
I know, I know we all just want our minis, why does any of this matter MBG?
Well, just bear with me a second and lets take a look at the big picture for a second, and how it may have affected all of us.
September is the slowest month of year in the game store cycle, with everyone going back to school (or already being back in regards to college students), which also affects the parents that game.
Another gaming company, Wizards of the Coast, tries to combat this sudden lack of interest with a global event called “Magic Celebration” which offers free booster packs to games store participants basically to either introduce them to Magic The Gathering, or to keep veteran players’ interest.
Guess when that event was… September 8th…. the original release date for Dark Vengeance being released.
I can tell you right now that if you FLGS is similar to the the one I run, then there was a ton of Magic players in store all day last Saturday, which would have made things a bit difficult logistics wise to run two premier events on the same day.
Think of it as if two Hollywood blockbusters opened on the same weekend, which would obviously be bad for both their sales, as the theaters showing the movies would be hard pressed to accommodate the volume of viewers for both.
I think all of these things (rumored “force-outs” and event overlap) led to a perfect storm of both confusion and anticipation for this product. I hope the majority of you out there could see how the apparently lack of perception and planning may have led to a lot of disappointed people, both retailers and customers alike.
Here is the skinny straight from GW about the delay here.
Well, have no fear! Delays or not, we are still taking pre-orders on the Starter Box, as well as, the contents inside like the Rulebook, Hellbrute, cultists and more.
Now is the time to get into the que for your copy of these ground breaking miniatures! -MBG
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 also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), 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 1980s, 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.
