GW 2015-2016 40k Timeline

[DrBored]

These come from 'WhispererofTruth' over on Dakkadakka on this page:

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/60/640806.page


Hehe rumour time. Eldar are coming, but that release list? Err no. 40k release list for the next year and abit ahoy!

Eldar
Week1: Plastic Jetbikes/Shining Spears
Week 2: Clampack Autarch and Codex

Dark Angels
Week 1: Tac Squad and Codex
Week 2: Summer Campaign Book Volume 1: Eldar Admech and DA vs Khorne

Tzeentch
Week 1: New Daemon Unit
Week 2: Lord of Change
Week 3: Rubric Marines + Campaign Book Volume 2 (DA, Admech, Eldar, Harlequins + Khorne and Tzeentch)(Including a Tzeentch Daemonkin type supplement + rules for the new units.)
Week 4: Campaign Box: Clampack Sorceror and Chaplain

Assassin Boxed Game
Plastic Assassins.

Tau
Week1: Campaign Box: Tau vs RG (Plastic Commander and Captain)
Week2: Clampack Ethereal and Codex

Deathwatch
Week 1: Plastic Marines
Week 2: Plastic Termies
Week 3: Plastic Vehicle, Codex
Week 4: Clampack Watch Captain

Genestealer Cult
Week1: Hybrids
Week2: Limo, Codex
Week3: Clampack Patriarch, Magus and Broodlord re-release
Genestealers included in dex.

Horus Heresy
Week 1: Boxed game.

Apocalypse
Week 1: Plastic Nid Dominatrix
Week 2: Plastic Dias of Destruction. (Including Vect and plastic Court.)
Week 3: Apocalypse Book.

Tyranids
Week1: Codex. Dominatrix added, Genestealers removed.

And every thing is abit vague after that for me. But after that will be more Admech, Horus Heresy, Space Marines inc; Assault Squad, Sisters, Nurgle and Slaanesh stuff.

Wow.

Just... wow.

It covers just about everything we've heard so far, including Genestealer Cult and Deathwatch, as well as the Tzeentch stuff and Campaign. No wonder the Tzeentch stuff was getting paired with so many things.. there are apparently six factions involved in that campaign, holy moly!

Some rumormongers have suggested Tau is going to be the last Codex of 2015, so this could easily go well into 2016. If even remotely true, we'll have a lot to look forward to.

[Erik Setzer]

....

If this is true, then I give up.

Tyranids redone already? And removing Genestealers so players have to buy a second codex and run allies in order to use their Genestealers? Really? (And that would likely invalidate all those digital dataslates.)

An Apoc redo already? It's a freaking $75 book. They just did one less than two years ago. Bad enough they released the $85 combo of Escalation and Stronghold Assault and promptly overrode pretty much all of the rules in them with the new 40K rulebook less than half a year later (outdoing the Vehicle Manual fiasco by quite a bit), though the books are still available with a lot of space taken up by wrong rules in order to provide dataslates that could easily be in cheaper, smaller books that don't include pointless incorrect rules. Apoc is fine as it is, there's no need to redo it. Kind of like Tyranids.

And how could they fit all of this into one year? And if they did... How are they even remotely supposed to playtest or proofread all of this? They have a tiny testing team (and it shows with some of the stuff that slips through), and even the End Times books were showing some painful lack of proofreading in places, but rushing the pace further isn't going to help that situation. And given the price they want to charge for stuff, and rumored tricks like making Tyranid players buy two books just to use units that have been part of their army since the game was first created, there's no way their existing customers can keep up with all the stuff they want, and new potential customers are already starting to get turned off by the game following WFB's footsteps in requiring large armies of expensive models without any decent way in the rulebook to play smaller games (especially as you could field a legal 500 point army that's just an Imperial Knight - a super-heavy in 500 points! - and five Legion of the Damned who are Marines with a 3+ inv. save, no Unbound needed). Space this stuff out more, you don't burn out the customers and you have time to actually make sure the quality stays high.

But hey, these are all rumors anyway, since GW is uber-secret and doesn't want people to know what's coming down the pipeline even a week from now, because they're run by people who shouldn't be allowed to run a business of any kind.

I want to be excited, but stupid crap like that Tyranids rumor (and the continued pricing scheme) reminds me that GW doesn't give two figs about its customers, even if those customers are starting to leave them for saner companies.

[DrBored]

Most likely, all of this goes well into 2016, so look at this like a two-year forecast. Note there's no Fantasy stuff, even though obviously there will be Fantasy taking up their own section of weeks across the year as well.

[daboarder]

pfft you guys are just being too negative nad whining, I mean people are constantly complaining about poor rules support, now they get to pay for such an important premium service if they want.

/stupid


yeah welcome to the GW model, I dont buy these rumours, not because I cant see GW doing these things, but because they clash with LoW

I smell the stench of VotCG again

[Bigred]

There is a LOT of assembling existing rumors mixed with wishlisting in there.

I doubt even GW has their weekly schedule planned out that far in advance.

We're avoiding reporting on this one for now, as it contradicts what other reliable rumormongers have been saying, and the author is very new with few posts under his belt.

[DrBored]

There is a LOT of assembling existing rumors mixed with wishlisting in there.

I doubt even GW has their weekly schedule planned out that far in advance.

We're avoiding reporting on this one for now, as it contradicts what other reliable rumormongers have been saying, and the author is very new with few posts under his belt.

I don't blame you on that one. Someone found a new salt mine and is shipping it in by the truckload, but it's fun to share this stuff anyway! :D

[Cutter]

I doubt even GW has their weekly schedule planned out that far in advance.

Really? As much I enjoy envisaging GW as a bunch of guys with a bunch of d66 tables I don't think it's unreasonable to imagine they know what they are releasing for the next 6 months to a year. No idea if this is it, but I can't believe it isn't at least planned somewhere.

[eldargal]

Having a plan for releases doesn't mean every weekly release is fixed months/a year in advance.

[Cutter]

Having a plan for releases doesn't mean every weekly release is fixed months/a year in advance.

But on the other hand, wouldn't just be simpler for all involved if they did?

[eldargal]

Nope. Flexibility = good.

[Cutter]

Nope. Flexibility = good.

In what sense?

[eldargal]

Unexpected problems can pop up throughout the process of getting things from the design stage to retail, they would want to allow as much flexibility to swap things around if they need too. Not to say that it is entirely fluid or anything, WD gets printed 3-6 months in advance so at that point things will be pretty much set in concrete but prior to that point things could get moved around if they need to.

[Cutter]

Unexpected problems can pop up throughout the process of getting things from the design stage to retail, they would want to allow as much flexibility to swap things around if they need too. Not to say that it is entirely fluid or anything, WD gets printed 3-6 months in advance so at that point things will be pretty much set in concrete but prior to that point things could get moved around if they need to.

Ok cool. Thanks for expanding.

I've squirreled away a copy of this new timeline, it'll be interesting to see how reality matches up as the months pass.

[Erik Setzer]

gets printed 3-6 months in advance so at that point things will be pretty much set in concrete but prior to that point things could get moved around if they need to.

Oh really? Do you not recall that GW was able to throw in a new dataslate for Orks to fix the lack of Looted Wagon in the codex when that rumor popped up just a week or two before the codex's release? The magazine isn't locked that far in advance. Nor does it have to be.

Seriously, what century do you guys think we're in? You can throw together a magazine as small as WD is and get it printed in under a week easily, and modify it at any time. It's a small publication, very cheap to produce (and throw away when it doesn't sell). It's similar to the flyers we can put together, print, and ship out to our sales staff in short order. If they were having to lock in things months in advance (which, again, we've already seen isn't remotely the case), then I'd suggest they get a new printer.

[Cutter]

Oh really? Do you not recall that GW was able to throw in a new dataslate for Orks to fix the lack of Looted Wagon in the codex when that rumor popped up just a week or two before the codex's release? The magazine isn't locked that far in advance. Nor does it have to be.

Seriously, what century do you guys think we're in? You can throw together a magazine as small as WD is and get it printed in under a week easily, and modify it at any time. It's a small publication, very cheap to produce (and throw away when it doesn't sell). It's similar to the flyers we can put together, print, and ship out to our sales staff in short order. If they were having to lock in things months in advance (which, again, we've already seen isn't remotely the case), then I'd suggest they get a new printer.

I guess it depends what you believe. I don't think they cobbled together a quick dataslate as a fix for a missing vehicle, I think they thought 'Hey here's a neat idea to screw another £2.40 out of the Ork players when they're picking up their Codex.' But then I'm a cynic.

I have no issue with the concept of rapid turnaround on printed media, especially on something as frankly uninspiring as the contemporary White Dwarf, but I still don't think there is any requirement for it it to be so fleet of foot, to use an old and oft missed phrase.

[Mr Mystery]

Yep.

Looted Vehicles aren't sold over the counter, so less need for them in the Codex. But bung a planned dataslate into the then newly weekly WD, and you boost sales, and get people used to the new format to boot.

WD isn't printed in the UK. It's either Eastern Europe, or China (not sure which since it went Weekly, I never bother checking), so that adds shipping time, quite easily in excess of the two weeks Erik seems to be implying.

[Wildeybeast]

Tau and Raven Guard in one box!? Someone read my wishlist!

[eldargal]

Thank you Erik for providing an example of what I was talking about re:flexibility. The exact time line of when WD can no longer be changes is irrelevant, the point is GWs schedule is not set in stone 12-18 months in advance.

[Defenestratus]

Eldar jetbikes?

http://img0.joyreactor.cc/pics/post/full/i-want-to-believe-%D0%BF%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%BD%D0%B8%D1%86%D 0%B0-art-215464.jpeg

[Mr Mystery]

Has anyone tried mounting a standard Warlock on the back of a Harlequin Jetbike?

Seems like a really easy, if slightly rubbish looking due to most Warlock's static poses, way to get Warlock Jetbikes in your army?

[Erik Setzer]

I guess it depends what you believe. I don't think they cobbled together a quick dataslate as a fix for a missing vehicle, I think they thought 'Hey here's a neat idea to screw another £2.40 out of the Ork players when they're picking up their Codex.' But then I'm a cynic.

I'm a "cynic" but I don't think that's the situation. I think it was that they didn't think about having rules for a model that's a kitbash and thus not something they sell a dedicated model for (since the financial people are setting the direction of the rules now to make sure people have to buy GW models), and are so out of touch with the people who actually play the games that they somehow missed that Ork players love to kitbash stuff and weren't happy they left out rules for our kitbashed creations, so they had to rush out a quick patch to fix it (which ended up having the word "Morkanaut" still left in the dataslate).

It wasn't trying to squeeze more money out of Ork players (see Waaagh! Ghazghkull for that), it was just an unbelievable amount of stupidity on GW's part showing how out of touch they are with their customers.

- - - Updated - - -


WD isn't printed in the UK. It's either Eastern Europe, or China (not sure which since it went Weekly, I never bother checking), so that adds shipping time, quite easily in excess of the two weeks Erik seems to be implying.

Source? If you haven't checked lately, how can you say definitively? Especially as the Looted Wagon situation shows it's quicker than two weeks.

Yes, they print books like the codices in China, but those are hardback publications. A pamphlet-sized weekly publication can easily be printed much closer to where it's being sold, without price becoming that much of an issue. And given that White Dwarf wasn't delayed at all by the West Coast shipping issue here in the US, but the Harlequin codex, cards, and dice were, I don't think WD actually is printed in China. Otherwise, the US WD's would have been held up on the west coast. Either the magazine we're getting is printed in the US, or printed in Europe. Or, more likely, printed in both locations, which is easy to do given that they just create the magazine as a digital file and send that off to the printers.

Seriously, guys, you're acting like we're still in the Dark Ages of printing. Modern printing is freaking amazing. You'd want to print books ahead of time, yes, but magazines (again, especially at just 32 pages) can be printed and changed quite quickly to react to changing circumstances.

[deinol]

It's possible to have a tentative schedule that goes a year out and have flexibility to shift things along the way. Printing WD in china does mean things get locked in about a month ahead of release. But the weekly release schedule does allow them to shift the schedule a lot easier than the old
Monthly schedule.

Anyway, as with all rumors, wait and see. If the early part comes true we can start to trust the later parts. If this is reliable, new Eldar Jetbikes would be locked in already. Let's see what hits after the ad mech finishes up.

[Erik Setzer]

I think having "release blocks" set up works without setting the specific time or order for things to come out. But the information presented does seem *very* specific and feels like it's more than they'd have hammered out at this point.

[Cutter]

Source? If you haven't checked lately, how can you say definitively? Especially as the Looted Wagon situation shows it's quicker than two weeks.

Sorry Erik, I just don't believe the Looted Wagon was a 'bugfix', and thus take the timing of its appearance as proof of nothing.

[Erik Setzer]

Sorry Erik, I just don't believe the Looted Wagon was a 'bugfix', and thus take the timing of its appearance as proof of nothing.

It was released right around the same time as the codex, at the same time people were complaining about its exclusion from the book. It wasn't just an attempt to squeeze more money from Ork players, especially as they already had a supplement for that. It was a move to cover their butts. (Which I appreciate them doing, to be fair.)

[Mr Mystery]

Nah. Bit too cynical. Added to WD as a way to cross promote.

Anyways, if there is any truth to these rumours, I'm wondering if the design studio have been let loose to do pet projects they've been wanting to do for yonks. With all the core armies out in hardback, it's certainly the time.

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

I don't believe at all those armies will be getting a new codex unless the codex is a new army like Khorne Daemonkin or the like.

[40kGamer]

I don't believe at all those armies will be getting a new codex unless the codex is a new army like Khorne Daemonkin or the like.

That's my take. As long as they're willing to do supplements and not rewrite the main books I'm all in. I hope we have 100 different army books floating around when the dust settles.

- - - Updated - - -

And as for GW's planning... I give them a lot of credit here. I think they have 12-18 months of 'product' planned, designed and ready to drop (if not more). I also think with technology advances they don't set the release schedule that far in advance but keep some flexibility as to what they choose to drop at any given time. I think that's why we see rumours floating around that something is coming soon but it doesn't drop for 1-2 years out. They had it ready to go but for whatever reason they chose to hold release.

[DrBored]

That's my take. As long as they're willing to do supplements and not rewrite the main books I'm all in. I hope we have 100 different army books floating around when the dust settles.

- - - Updated - - -

And as for GW's planning... I give them a lot of credit here. I think they have 12-18 months of 'product' planned, designed and ready to drop (if not more). I also think with technology advances they don't set the release schedule that far in advance but keep some flexibility as to what they choose to drop at any given time. I think that's why we see rumours floating around that something is coming soon but it doesn't drop for 1-2 years out. They had it ready to go but for whatever reason they chose to hold release.

It'd be interesting. I mean, the bottom line is that when you come to the game table, it'd be a hassle to carry around all those books, but one trend we've seen through 7th edition is the increasing of options and variety. It's no longer one or two netlists that are going head-to-head. Competitive players are on the back foot trying to keep up with all of the changes in meta and new rules that are flowing.

With these smaller dexes coming in with new, wild rules and ways to play, it can stir up plenty of dust in armies that people haven't looked at for a long time, but have suddenly found a new combo.

My main hope is that all of this attention doesn't just stay with the Imperium. With Admech, Assassins, Horus Heresy, and Deathwatch, that leaves little room for the xenos and chaos races to grow very much :I

Anyway, as much as I'd like some of this to be true, I doubt that the original poster did anything more than sit down for a couple hours and type up a bunch of guesses in a nice, neat format using current rumors.

[Kirsten]

Source? If you haven't checked lately, how can you say definitively? Especially as the Looted Wagon situation shows it's quicker than two weeks.

it doesn't show anything of the sort. All it means is that GW didn't want it in the codex and released it digitally instead. there is absolutely no basis for assuming it was in response to players, or any sort of mistake being patched.

White Dwarf will still be printed in advance, not a week or two before publication.

[Charon]

I don't believe at all those armies will be getting a new codex unless the codex is a new army like Khorne Daemonkin or the like.

Disbelieve.
Daemonkin shows the same rules and the same point costs for all units in the codex as they are in the daemon and marines codex.
It would create a mess if they go and change the 2 base books.
Thats why the daemonkin are rubbing me the wrong way. I was expectim them more like harlequins with new options, rules and points instead of just the same with formations and a few minor changes.
They took the Harlequins out of the Eldar codex and changed them completely (with new models) while Daemonkin is "more of the same" without any major change.

[Mr Mystery]

Not sure it's all that bad.

Introducing new units would lead to complaints standard CSM can't have them. Leaving them out, and complaints there's nothing new.

Instead, it's an 'all in one' book for fielding a purely Khornate force, with some unit restrictions, and an army wide special rule to reflect how Khorne likes his warriors to fight, in the form of the blood tithe.

I think when it first came to our attention, the general fear was that whilst it sounded cool, it would prove no more than a bridge between two other Codecies, necesitating the purchase of all three.

I for one really hope this is the first of four. New units can be held back for Legion Supplements - in my mind, Deathguard, World Eaters, Thousand Sons and Emperor's Children should all be pokier than their 'mere' cult equivalents, to reflect they are the original heretics. Better equipment, better stats, additional rules - no great plan in my head for what each needs like, but the option is there.

[40kGamer]

It'd be interesting. I mean, the bottom line is that when you come to the game table, it'd be a hassle to carry around all those books, but one trend we've seen through 7th edition is the increasing of options and variety. It's no longer one or two netlists that are going head-to-head. Competitive players are on the back foot trying to keep up with all of the changes in meta and new rules that are flowing.

No doubt! Plus TO's would explode trying to keep up with who is allowed to do what in the rules. :) I seriously believe we have reach a state where the lack of balance is proving to be a balancing factor all of it's own. There is no single end all be all list.



My main hope is that all of this attention doesn't just stay with the Imperium. With Admech, Assassins, Horus Heresy, and Deathwatch, that leaves little room for the xenos and chaos races to grow very much :I

Totally on board with this idea. More alien races would be awesome!

[Asymmetrical Xeno]

I just hope if they do do more aliens they wont be boring things with arms and legs -snore- not enough nightmarish horrifying things. I think the Slaugth would be my first choice.

[DrBored]

No doubt! Plus TO's would explode trying to keep up with who is allowed to do what in the rules. :) I seriously believe we have reach a state where the lack of balance is proving to be a balancing factor all of it's own. There is no single end all be all list.

I'd like to think that this was the plan all along. Give collectors and miniature enthusiasts what they need to make any sort of army from any sort of fluff or whatever in the 40k verse, and let people just have fun with it. The competitive scene will be more up to tabletop skill and out-predicting meta changes rather than who can bring the most cheese and spam.