JerekKruger

I don't think the original roadmap, the I've that simply said "Q2: Order and Death Battletome, Q3: Order and Chaos Battletome etc." (the updated one with the Slaves to Darkness battletome at the end was definitely that though). So I don't think it's being the realms of possibility they'll do something similar to the original. Of course this time the mystery is rather less: any entry for Destruction battletome is almost guaranteed to be Gitz for example (I guess it could be a new faction, it a second battletome for Orruk Warclans, but that seems unlikely), but I think the roadmap was well received last time so it wouldn't surprise me if GW do another.

So you're other parts of this (I was focused on the green parts before, since that's where the S2D vs. GSG box was mentioned): Skaven and Seraphon getting a paired battletome release - nope Not getting a battlebox - kinda true, there won't be a Skaven vs. Seraphon battlebox since Skaven were included in a Skaven vs. Sylvaneth one. Both getting lots of new kits - Skaven certainly don't seem to be. Khorne, Lumineth, Sylvaneth and CoS high priorities - this is rather vague. Two of those have gotten books, two haven't. Does that count as them having been prioritised? Silent people - nothing yet. S2D box - yep. See two anons up - suggests the person thinks the S2D box was the GSG Vs S2D box described before i.e. nope. Doesn't seem particularly accurate to me. The only things is rate as spot on are the FS vs. IDK box, and the S2D Christmas box: the rest is either wing or vague enough to be guess work.

Or the new Exalted Champion mini I guess.

But that's effectively meaningless. There are 24 factions in AoS and 11 of them got books. Fyreslayers and Idoneth were already confirmed, which leaves 22 factions to guess from. The odds of someone making an educated guess of which factions would get a battletome in the next year and getting a few right are not particularly long. Had they been right about the timing of those releases, or nailed the pairings of the other versus boxes, if give it more credence, but it looks a lot like someone who took @Whitefang's leak and bulked it out with made up stuff to me. Not that it matters either way. What will get releases will get released, but if be amazed if we get a GSG vs. S2D box.

So the rumours were: OBR End of January - nope; IDK/FS Early April - yep (I will assume the comment about crabs was a joke and not a prediction); Ogors Summer - nope Nighthaunt October - nope On top of that, it completely missed Sylvaneth, Skaven, DoK, SoB, Lumineth and Tzeentch. Apart from IKD/FS I'd say it was pretty unreliable: yes both Ogors and Nighthaunt got a release this year, but 11 factions did so guessing those two (both relatively old books) had decent odds of being right at some point in the year, and it was completely wrong about OBR.

The previewed Lord Invocatus (the new World Eaters' Juggernaut Lord) could also be a dual kit like the Daemon Prince was, though I'm not that hopeful as it seems likely they'd have said so in the preview (like they did with the Daemon Prince). As an aside, I'd love to see Khorngors. Tzaangors were cool, Slaangors were awesome (looking, they kinda suck in game), so hopefully Khorngors (and Pestigors if/when they get a release) will be amazing.

They also said OBR were "set in stone" for last January, so they weren't perfect.

I feel like the S2D army set probably indicates they won't be included in a versus box, though admittedly I have nothing backing that up.

Whilst true, third edition is starting to get old so it's expect that's not as important as it was. That said, if I were GW I would prioritise other factions first as SBG are in a decent place (fairly modern range with a battletome that still does okay) but then I also wouldn't have released DoK when GW did so who knows what's going on in their heads. I've got to say the fact they're (at least) releasing a GSG warband makes me feel positive about the possibility of a GSG battletome in the not too distant future. I guess I did have myself for disappointment, as I was sure GW wouldn't put a troggoth on the new GHB if GSG weren't going to be one of the winter battletome releases and I was proven wrong there 😂

A roadmap for the remaining 10 battletomes would be nice. I'll find it a lot less annoying to wait for Gitz if I know roughly when they are going to be released.

Hopefully it's a Battletome, Underworld's Warband, and some cool AoS release being teased 🙏

Sure, but not all shareholders are patient, and very few GW shareholders know anything about the industry they are investing in (see the various cute anecdotes from GW AGMs over the years). It's a very different prospect when the owner of a non-publicly traded company makes a business decision based on their knowledge of the industry (and, probably, intuition) to the management having to convince shareholders that it's a good idea to release a remake of X-kit that currently sells badly rather than make yet more Space Marines, which consistently sell well. Obviously if GW were to only make Space Marines it would, long term, damage them, but a fair number of shareholders probably don't care as they are only intending to hold onto their shares for a few years. They want the value to rise as quickly as possible so they can sell and get as big a return on their investment and, after that, they don't care what happens to the company. To be clear, this is at the extreme end of the spectrum of this sort of thing. Some shareholders are longer term investors, some might have knowledge of the industry, or be convinced by GW execs saying that despite not having concrete prior evidence that making, say, a new Saurus Warrior kit will result in a good return they believe it will, but it's a lot harder than when GW was owned by the management. Also, before anyone says anything, I realise precise kit releases aren't discussed at things like AGMs, it'll be more broad sweep than that, but the point stands that execs have to justify their general strategy, and upper management have to consider what is most likely to keep their execs happy, and that the ultimate incentive is not always long term health of the company.

Except they have shareholders who want the company's share price to rise and/or to get dividends paid out, or a very good explanation as to why they shouldn't sell their shares and find something else to invest in, which puts a lot of pressure on the higher ups at GW to focus on anything that will do this. Sure, they could risk it and it might pay off, or they could make more Space Marine stuff (and other big sellers) to give themselves the highest chance of giving the shareholders what they want. And the depressing thing is that every year you manage to please the shareholders results in an even bigger target the next year.

I completely agree. I quite like the idea of Seraphon, and I think the newer models they've released are great, but I don't want to start an army which has kits dating back to when I last properly played WFB when there are armies like IDK out there. If they did a significant range refresh similar in quality to the current StD one I think I'd jump on board, but if they leave Skinks and Saurus Warriors with their old kits I can't see myself picking them up. I wonder just how many people there are like me, and how many "unpopular" armies would sell better if they got new minis.

Hence my two people comment: the mini was not popular from what I can tell. Thing is, much if the cost of miniatures is in designing and cutting the original moulds, do now GW have sunk a fair bit into it they probably don't want to give up on it (despite the sunk costs fallacy) so I don't they'll cut their losses. It's also why I'm not optimistic about them replacing some older plastic kits. If the design team suggest to their overall manager that they could replace a plastic kit that doesn't sell well with a new version, their manager might not be keen to take the risk of a new kit that might not sell all that well either. Better to keep the old kit, and make a new foot hero instead ☹️ Hopefully I am wrong though.

Yeah, I'd rather see incarnates quietly disappear. That said, now one exists and GW have sold it to at least two people I'm not sure they will be willing to turn round to those two people and say "thanks for the money, 'fraid its not matched play legal anymore". Next best thing would be to nerf it enough that no one uses it I guess.

I mean, that's pretty good too!

I can't give an exact date, but it was newish back when I last played WFB, so I'd guess somewhere between the very late 90s and 2003 as its release date.

I'm torn on Archaon. On the one hand, he is an iconic sculpt from my last time playing WFB seriously (2002-2005) and I never got a chance to own him. On the other I have a feeling that when I actually get him in hand, I'll be disappointed by the quality of the detail in comparison with modern plastic kits. I also don't miss putting together metal models at all. I think I'll give him a miss, though I do wish the new Archaon looked more like the old one than a giant weird dragon thing with a tiny dude riding it (I know he's not tiny, but in comparison to Dorghar he is).

Ideally a troggoth with a similar number of options to the current rockgut troggoths!

Plus some better rules for them too!

Yeah, I think this is probably right. For Hedonites I think that's fine: they have a great and mostly modern range and just need a Battletome that doesn't suck. It's mostly fine for Soulblight too, though a refresh of the Graveguard would be really nice.

There are a few that always struck in my mind (Gitz, Beasts and Hedonites) but otherwise I tend to forget too. Looking at GW's website these still need Battletomes: Order: Cities of Sigmar, KO, Seraphon. Chaos: Beasts of Chaos, Blades of Khorne, Hedonites of Slaanesh. Death: Flesh Eater Courts, Ossiarch Bonereapers, Soulblight Gravelords. Destruction: Gloomspite Gitz.

the rest of the Slaves line, along with their Battletome, will be the first specific AoS release. Beyond that I haven't got a clue, but I hope Gitz get a book soon (I'd also love Hedonites to get a better Battletome, but given their last one was relatively late in AoS 2 they might have to wait).

Yea this is pretty much where I stand in it. I wouldn't want Iron Jawz to move (slowly) towards where Stormcast are, with loads of redundant units many of which are just worse versions of others. I live @Neverchosen's idea of a Gore Grunta chariot, I think a mounted hero would work (though if the chariot happened that would probably fit that niche) and a non-hero monster sounds good too. Oh, let a warchanter ride the chariot too (also giving us an alternative warchanter sculpt whilst we're at it). Beyond that I don't think the faction has space for anything more from a gameplay perspective. Personally I'd then far prefer GW makes me sculpts for Ard Boyz, and more variety for Brutes and Gore Gruntas. I think the first of those two will happen eventually (Ard Boyz don't quite fit alongside other Iron Jawz) but I am not holding my breath on the second as I think it's probably financially a bad idea (people will still want roughly the same number of models of each unit, so you're splitting your sales across two kits: worse, if one kit is less popular you'll have spent time and money on a kit that doesn't sell well). I suppose they could go the way they are with Chaos Knights, and make an upgrade sprue which is included with future boxes, whilst also raising the price. Of course, as @KingBrodd says, GW are probably a miniatures company, not a game company, so I expect we'll slowly but surely get new units added to all factions to drive sales, regardless of whether they improve the gameplay or not (see the new Ogor Hunter).