When was the last time Citadel/GW just released new models not tied to bigger wave of releases?

[JPjr]

So excluding Underworlds war bands, or one-off special limited edition models, when was the last time that GW/Citadel regularly released new units/models for armies that weren't tied to big waves of releases (or like with BoC a sop to go with a new Battletome)?

Since I started paying serious attention again it seems like there's been the Idoneth releases, then we had the Nighthaunt and Sacrosanct, seems like Grots will probably be next. But do they ever just go, 'oh btw next week we're releasing a new model and rules for a Dispossessed hammerpult', totally out of the blue with no tie in to anything else?

From a marketing & design sense these big waves of releases make sense, and I get they're trying to establish a new aesthetic and game so maybe we're in an atypical time period, but are the days of randomly finding out a new, standalone and unexpected toy for your army will be available in a week or two gone?

 

[PJetski]

I think it was Gavriel Sureheart

[SirPug]

29 minutes ago, PJetski said:

I think it was Gavriel Sureheart

You mean Gavriel "someone hit my face with frying pan when I was baby" Sureheart

He is the bulldog of Stormcasts.  Or there might have been one too many hammer strikes during his forging.

[kenshin620]

I think the main reason they no longer make a random figure or two released is their "we need rules with the model" and normal GW doesn't seem to like making rules on the fly outside of an occasional Anniversary model (which usually doesn't have that many unique rules anyways due to the very nature of a limited edition model) or the big VS boxes.

 

COULD they package a new model with some free online rules just like Forge World? Yea they are capable, but  I think currently thats not GW's style.

(plus theres the entire "All Plastic" thing so one off minis better sell a lot to justify their cost. If they still made new metal/resin figures, I'm sure there would be a lot more Hero model variants or something)

[amysrevenge]

Slambo?

[CaptainSoup]

Like what @kenshin620 said, there would be a lot of overhead rules wise to just create a new model for a random army without a lot of fanfare. Sure it would help keep lesser known armies afloat but you gotta remember where we are at right now. GW is a lot different than what it used to be, new management, new games, all in a constant flux. What AoS needs right now is a laser focus on getting tomes released for all armies. What they seem to be doing right now is creating a new tome and stuff it with some new models then advertise the hell out of it. This will create an interest in the community at large so when it does get release the sales could go up. 

Like you said @JPjr, we are in interesting times. It could be years before things slow down if at all, because why bother slowing down when you can keep the crazy new large releases coming? If it ain't broke don't fix it. If they do make some new model releases though, I would imagine they would release multiple models in a single batch. It would match how they release things now and it might be easier to control the rules of all the models if they are all balanced relatively at the same time. 

[JPjr]

yeah figured as much. as I said makes sense in many ways, and obviously still a long way to go to get the new setting established. Still it's just quite nice to have that random factor thrown in that you never know what might suddenly appear (especially I imagine if you're playing an army that's unlikely to get a big wave of releases for some time (or ever).

out of interest is there any kind of Discogs equivalent for miniatures out there? where you can see most of what been released along with when it was released and any name changes etc etc. I've found a couple of things...

http://www.solegends.com/citadel/catindex.htm

http://www.collecting-citadel-miniatures.com/wiki/index.php/Category:Fantasy

but they're not that helpful and much more focused on really old stuff. Would involve a shitload of work so I can understand why no one's bothered but it'd be a great resource.

 

[novakai]

do the models from Silver tower  count, like the Exelsior Warpriest, Mistweaver, Tenebral Shard, and the Grot Scuttlings?

[Chikout]

I think it was about 15 or 20 years ago. Originally, there weren't really army books or codexes so every release was just random minis. After army books and codexes started becoming popular releases became tied to them.

If memory serves,  the falcon grav tank and land raider were considered big enough releases to stand on their own.

The last fantasy random release that wasn't a single character was the zombie dragon, which oddly came out a few months before the vampire counts army book, but that was very unusual even then. 

GW's selection process for new projects is still a complete mystery. We all know that the miniatures come first, but how do they decide what to design next? Does Jes Goodwin just wake up in the morning and decide he feels like sketching some Aelves today? 

There are about 20 or so kits that GW could do which would be surefire sales hits (mostly for 40k admittedly) but GW just ignores them. 

The quality of the minis GW have been putting out lately is astounding, do seeing the relatively lacklustre minis actively puts me off collecting them. 

I an very excited to see new moonclan but I would be just as happy if we got some plastic kroxigors, centigors or minotaurs (Mark Harrison's skills have come a long way in the last ten years). 

[RuneBrush]

I think pretty much all miniatures get wrapped up into a release of some kind.  The Flesh Hounds have been rumoured for ages, but are being included as part of Wrath and Rapture.  Eisenhorn got released when the book Magos was released.  We're getting more and more "one offs" now though - the 500th store models.

One thing to remember is that it's very expensive to update an existing model range, when there's nothing fundamentally "wrong" with them.

6 hours ago, Chikout said:

GW's selection process for new projects is still a complete mystery. We all know that the miniatures come first, but how do they decide what to design next? Does Jes Goodwin just wake up in the morning and decide he feels like sketching some Aelves today? 

It varies depending upon lots of factors.  The 40k Taurox is a great example of where one sculptor was creating this as a personal project during their lunch breaks.  One of the managers saw it and was blown away, so it ended up become part of the new Scion range.

[AaronWilson]

There recent methodology has been a book, with 3-4 new releases. 

[ManlyMuppet88]

19 hours ago, amysrevenge said:

Slambo?

Yeah, or Sly Marbo maybe.

[SuperHappyTime]

I take it we aren’t counting Forge World? Because when I think of stand alone models, I usually think FW

[JPjr]

4 minutes ago, SuperHappyTime said:

I take it we aren’t counting Forge World? Because when I think of stand alone models, I usually think FW

yeah, personally, I wasn't counting FW

[Kyriakin]

This is where I feel ForgeWorld could shine.

They could liaise with GW to check that a certain model/release isn't in the pipeline, and could then be suddenly like "Hey, we just made a new Anvil of Doom for Dispossessed!"

In fact, if I was in charge of FW I would make a list of all the craptastic sculpts still in production (i.e. Fell Bats, Salamanders, Centigors, Frost Sabres, Furies, etc.), call GW to find out which, if any, is incoming and then work on those that remain.

In addition, they could really get in on FEC. Tattered heraldry add-ons for the existing GW ghouls, horrors, flayers (etc.) and distinct sculpts for the currently MIA courtiers.