The end is nigh! The end of 2023, at least. As the year comes to a close, we can’t help but reflect on how great it’s been for Warhammer. A feast of fantastic miniatures, a buckling shelf’s worth of brilliant Black Library tales, a whole new edition of Warhammer 40,000, and the epic Legions Imperialis. Before we embark on an even bigger 2024, let’s take a breath and revisit some of our favourite things from this year.
January
The year got off to an auspicious start with the first Arks of Omen book, which brought a new game mode in the form of Boarding Actions, and set wheels in motion for 12 months of stunning Warhammer 40,000 releases. In the Mortal Realms, spikes and blackened steel came back into fashion as the full Slaves to Darkness range surged forth with Eternus, Blade of the First Prince at the fore.
February
Angron needs no introduction. The Red Angel returned, the third Daemon Primarch to receive a magnificent centrepiece model in the 41st Millennium. In Kill Team, the Adeptus Arbites loaded their shotguns, grabbed their shields, and started enthusiastically enforcing the Lex Imperialis for the first time in more than two decades. The End and the Death Volume I brought fans the beginning of the end of the Siege of Terra series, and the Horus Heresy series as a whole – a huge moment for the most epic Warhammer story ever told.
March
The inciting moment of Arks of Omen storyline was the deal made between Vashtorr the Arkifane and Abaddon the Despoiler. The power-hungry daemon finally deigned to spread his razor-sharp metal wings, descending into the fray to battle Supreme Grand Master Azrael and his Dark Angels on the Rock. Commander Farsight, who had just upgraded to a XV-86 Supernova Battlesuit, entered into a brutal battle against Orks and Chaos – sowing enough carnage to let Boss Snikrot sneak into the fray.
April
Lion El’Jonson strode out of shadowy rents in reality, Fealty in one hand, the Emperor’s Shield in the other, proving that few things are as momentous in Warhammer 40,000 as the return of a Primarch. The powers of Death tightened their clammy grip on Warhammer Age of Sigmar with a duo of battletomes, and two new heroes – the monster hunter Ivya Volga and the skilled Mortisan Ossifector.
May
An embarrassment of riches arrived in May. Warhammer Underworlds: Wyrdhollow took the game deeper into the depths of the Gnarlwood with Domitan’s Stormcoven and Ephilim’s Pandemonium, while Nightmare Quest pitted the Questor Soulsworn against the Royal Beastflayers. In Kill Team, Ashes of Faith provided a launchpad for the Inquisitorial Agents, a set of models full of that grim-dark Warhammer 40,000 flavour.
June
The main event of 2023 was undoubtedly the release of the latest edition of Warhammer 40,000, Ushered in by the huge Warhammer 40,000 Leviathan box which featured 72 Space Marines and Tyranids, including hulking new Terminators, and a reinvention of the mighty Screamer-Killer. Not content with an entire new edition of Warhammer 40,000, the Slann Starmaster commanded almost an entire new Seraphon range to crawl out of their spawning pools in early June – a truly packed month.
July
In July, the Dawnbringers series kicked off with the release of Book I - Harbingers and four new characters – including the Harbinger of Decay, and the Marrowscroll Herald. As their name suggests, these characters foreshadowed the next chapters in the overarching story of the Age of Sigmar…
August
The Cerastus Knight Lancer was the crowning release of August, a highly poseable plastic reinvention of a beloved Knight – it wasn’t long until the Acheron and Castigator followed suit with their own kits. On the opposite end of the size-and-nobility spectrum, Skabbik’s Plague Pack turned up to corrupt the Wyrdhollow and find the reagents required to create one of the 13 Great Plagues. The inclusion of Skritter might mean August contained both the biggest and smallest miniatures of the year!
September
After taking a bite out of the galaxy in Leviathan, the Tyranids returned with a host of reinforcements, including Deathleaper, and the Norn Emissary and Assimilator, apex beasts of the swarm. They weren’t the only all-consuming horde carving up September – the Ironjawz bolstered their pugnacious forces with Maw-gruntas, new Orruk Ardboyz, and lumbering behind them all was Trugg, the Troggoth King, star of Dawnbringers Book II: Reign of the Brute.
October
More warbands, more often was the rallying cry in October – the Gorger Mawpack and Wildercorps Hunter played a deadly game of cat and mouse in Warcry: Hunter and Hunted, while Warhammer Underworlds: Deathgorge shifted the setting to an icy abyss in Bjarl, where Cyreni’s Razors and the Thricefold Discord battle over a haul of frozen souls. Big news for Warhammer: The Horus Heresy too, as MKIII Tactical Squads and the Deredeo Dreadnought got a plastic overhaul, providing more options for Age of Darkness armies.
November
Buckle up because November is a big one. The End and the Death Volume II, the whole Cities of Sigmar range release, including Tahlia Vedra, Lioness of the Parch, the Freeguild Fusiliers, and the Freeguild Command Corps, plus the release of Warhammer: The Horus Heresy: Legions Imperialis, with its dozens of small-scale tanks and infantry. Talk about ending the year with a bang! Wait, hang on. There are TWELVE months in a year!?
December
Yeah, we’re not done yet. After that megaton drop in November, the ball keeps rolling with the Sydonian Skatros, a trio of Necron characters including Imotekh the Stormlord, and a vanguard of delusional ghouls for the Flesh-eater Courts – including the Abhorrent Gorewarden, loping Morbheg Knights and Varghulf Courtier.
Importantly, that’s just the biggest releases – we’ve not forgotten about Ionus Cryptborn, or the Cadian reinforcements, or the Drakfang Thirsters, or all of the weird and wonderful characters and vehicles that slipped out of the shadows in Necromunda. We simply can’t cover it all!
Let us know over on X/Twitter which your favourite releases of the year are, and here’s to a happy New Year – we guarantee it’s going to be packed with new releases.
