January- The year started off by reminding people that GW still makes Fantasy stuff too. Last year despite releasing a new ruleset they didn't really do anything so they started off with something for the square-basers. This month saw some nice Skaven models. They got their beast and some blisters as well as the first of many combo-kits this year with the catapult/warp lightning cannon. This was the good part. Then they released a "uniforms and heraldry of the Skaven" book. Now they did this for the Empire because they ahve uniforms and heraldry, but Skaven really don't. They have their clans, which were all pretty well covered in the army book and that's it. So they're batting .500 heading into...
February- which again brought a mixed bag. This month was all about Blood Angels and again some fantastic models in the form of the BA dread box. It can make a furioso, a Librarian or a Death Company dread with some nice bits to customize your robo-marine. We also got a BA battleforce, which in the tradition of battleforces had a mediocre selection of models. You get a rhino (not a Razorback) 5 assault marines, 5 death company and 10 Tac marines. OK, so who runs BA tac squads? First, Tac squads suck and second if you want to run tac squads, why play BA? GW givith and W taketh away so they had to balance the awesome dread with teh stormchicken. This may be the ugliest model GW has made since I started playing. It's just horrid, the flying fry basket. so we're at .400 and on to...
March- and more Fantasy. Orcs
April- and Grey Knights. These guys are just brutal and really affected the game in general. They replaced their old metal with some great plastic, but kept up with the Orcs. Space Marines get 10 power armored models for $35...GK get 5. GK have some really nasty tricks and look very overpowered on paper, but I've faced a pretty brutal list twice with my Orks and won so they are more balanced then they look. They're awesome at shooting and CC but their lack of numbers really eevens them out. I'm waiting for some internet asshat to break them (like IG, though let's be honest...that one was pretty easy) but for now they're a solid army without being broken. Speaking of fixing un-fun armies, they did just that in...
May- with the Tomb Kings. Boy did these guys suck. Now with their new book and some very nice new models, they're pretty decent. They got their Monsterhammer and some nice new plastic, but surprisingly the skeletons didn't get a redo. I made the prediction that this book was pushed up and it may cost their initial models and the evidence seems to support my theory. Still with the exception of the surfing skeleton snake riders they have a nice line. GW had 2 good months in a row but then came...
June- and finecrap...the single biggest mistake I've seen GW make. Period. This truck-load of pure resin/plastic/shit melded medium was a failure across the board. The quality was horrible, the material feels cheap and shoddy and whoever priced this garbage was on crack. Here are the exact same molds being made with a far inferior material that we've even admitted is cheaper and we're going to charge you more for them. Oh and Dark Eldar got some new models...again.
July- was another mixed bag in the form of a fantasy expansion. For the newer gamer, I will tell you a brief story. Once upon a time Games Workshop made fun, exciting expansions (cityfight, Apocalypse) that people had a blast playing. That was a long time ago. Now they make things like storm of magic. A book of useless rules that people just don't have any interest in, but tend to accompany them with great models so it could be worse I guess. The big issue people had with 8th edition was the magic so here's a book that turns it up to 11.
August- Here things got interesting. The best release came, not from W but THQ with Space Marine. This game is just all sorts of win and still fun to play. The single player was a bit short but good (except for the very end...play it and you'll see what I mean) and the online experience is great. On the tabletop front the Vampire counts got a stop-gap update leading to their new book coming in a few weeks...maybe (we think they're coming but with GW's shitty advertising policy they may have come out already and just not told anyone) This was accompanied with some new models including the Terrorgheist/Zombie Dragon plastic ball of awesomeness. This was just a great model. Oh and Sisters of Battle got part 1 of their half-assed (quarter-assed?) codex of fail. The second half would come in...
September- but with no new models and a sister...ONE GODDAMN SISTER costs $6, combined with just bad rules I think it's time for the nuns with guns to go the way of the squats. It's a shame but if you're going to support them this badly, why bother. This month wasn't all bad though as the Ogres got a sweet new army book. Monsterhammer continues and these guys are just awesome. Again there isn't anything overdone. Maybe GW finally found out how to keep a game balanced as there are now 3 new army books and none of them are broken. Can't say that about 40k. The only negative I didn't mention is the new trend to only have 8 magic items in an army. I just don't like this. Individual magic items give an army character and when Tomb Kings, an army thaat only exists because of magic gets 8 items, it just doesn't look right. Ogres got some very fluffy stuff on the table and are a better army then they were in the last book, without being broken. Oh and Dark Eldar got some new models...again (Hey, does anyone remember the Tyranids? They're missing a bunch of models...no? OK, moving along...)
October- This was the month of the "mystery box". Last time it was Space Hulk and sold out in like 40 seconds. This time the limited edition run so get it now or it's gone forever was Dreadfleet. Never heard of it before? We didn't either and the reason I bring up Space Hulk is that Dreadfleet is still available...everywhere. The models were nice, but it's a product that no one wants. As opposed to...
November- Which finally brought us one of the armies that 5th ed made unplayable. So i dusted off my Necrons and looked at them and went..."what now?" They have some great models as usual, but I have yet to find out where I want this army to go so I'll probably wait a few months for 6th edition to see what I do with them. Finally we get to...\
December- which surprisingly brings some stuff. Usually GW does very little in December but this year they released some Beastmen models and the Megaforces which are of questionable content depending on who you ask, but provide a substantial savings. Shame they only did Space Marines, Dark Eldar, High Elves and Skaven, but this is as close as GW gets to a sale, so enjoy it when it happens.
And there you have it. Not a bad year, barring finecrap. 2012 is already looking interesting with rumored Empire, Tau, Chaos Marines and 6th edition coming, I haven't had an army updated since 2008 and now here I am with one and possibly 5 in a row. So for now I say Happy New Year, while I take my shot of Stroh 80 (that's 160 proof booze for those not aware...and makes for a VERY Happy New Year)
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