2012 Release Schedule rumours

[eldargal]

First off I'm going to say I think these are dubious, no offense intended to the person who posted them. Bear that in mind, I'll explain why at the end:

I got a rare opportunity to ply a wealth of information for some knowledge and insight about what's coming up next/soon.

Here's the rundown...

Dark Angels (May/June)
6th Edition (July/August)
-Starter Box featuring Dark Angels vs. Eldar
Eldar (Oct/Nov Xenos slot)

And somewhere in that mix is going to be a splash release of fliers that *should* include the Harpy, Voidraven Bomber, Doom/Night Scythe, and possibly more. When I mentioned 'Autumn of Fliers' I got a derisive snort, so we may see it sooner, we may see it later.

This confirms two things:
1. It's not going to be Dark Angels and Chaos for the Starter Box. GW is NOT going to put two power armor armies in the same box. Power armor is their bread and butter, and to put two power armor armies in one starter box doesn't follow any trends, going back to the Rogue Trader days. It *may* be Dark Angels vs. Tau, but my source suggested Eldar strongly for several reasons.
-A. Eldar is a girl-getter. It's the one army that attracts more girls to the game than any other.
-B. Eldar is currently the worst selling army.
-C. Eldar has a massive loyal fanbase.
Eldar are the logical step, and now they're the rumored next step in this coming Xenos season.

2. Chaos is not going to be coming out this year, but may be slotted for early 2013. This is good and bad... bad because we don't get Chaos sooner. Good because it means Chaos will be a true 6th edition army, and not a 'made for' 6th edition army. This will put more time between the release of the rules and the finessing of the Codices, which means a better 6th edition Codex for Chaos. We could, of course, get a surprise, where they slam in a new Codex into the year, but that doesn't trend either. My source suggested, however, that we may see a lot of 'splash' releases packed in, with the aforementioned fliers being one.

As for my source, of course I can't reveal him. It'd be a plain disservice to his trust. What I can say is that he is a wealth of knowledge about all things GW, Forgeworld, and Black Library, and has many contacts therein (and I don't mean GW store managers. I mean Codex and BL authors, and GW and Forgeworld sculptors).

I would be very surprised if I was proved wrong by the passage of time and the developments therein, but such is the nature of the future. Take it or leave it, but I'm confident that you shouldn't have to take too much salt with this.

First off, DA vs Eldar matches some earlier rumours but contradicts a lot more recent rumours from reliable sources.
Second Chaos not being until next year also contradicts a lot of solid rumours from reliable sources.
Third Eldar being this year contradicts what I've been told and reliable rumourmongers have posted on Warseer.

Having said that, DA vs Chaos always seemed a bit odd as power armour vs power armour doesn't make for a very varied starter set. But rumours also mention it being more cultisty/daemony than CSMariney so who knows.

Finally, the reasoning behind including Eldar seems off. I've heard from several reliable sources, including current and former GW high-ups (not store managers) that Eldar have been ranked 2nd-4th in sales for twenty years depending on the codex, behind SM in general and sometimes IG or another particularly strong army. For them to suddenly be 'last' behind SoB, Tau or Tyranids just strikes me as a ridiculous statement. Not to mention if they have a massive, loyal fanbase why are sales so slow? How do GW know they have a massive, loyal fanbase if they aren't selling well?
Also, the claim that Eldar are a girls army strikes me as another speculative statement based on opinion rather than any kind of evidence. Yes I know I'm a girl who collects Eldar, but I know thirty or so girl gamers in person and online and tyranids are the most popular army amongst us, with SM, IG, Eldar, Dark Eldar and SoB all roughly equal behind them. Orks too.

So to me it seems slike some odl rumours being regurgitated with some speculation and assumptions thrown in based on the sources own opinions and prejudices.

So I post them on the off chance they are accurate, but as always take with lots of salt, moreso than usual.

[Houghten]

Okay, perhaps this is just a silly question, but: if you think they're highly dubious, why repost them?

[eldargal]

Because they are still rumours, and if they turn out to be true the person who posted them and the source should get credit. Not to mention it could be the rumours are accurate but the sources reasoning is wrong and my suspicions are founded on inaccurate comments.

Plus chances are someone will repost them here eventually without my comments and people may think they are more solid than they are.

[DrBored]

I appreciate the post! I'd just like to point out that the reasons for Eldar getting an update are my sources' views, not mine! Last thing I want is for people to misconstrue this as me having some prejudice against women or female wargamers ^^;;;

Anyway, time will tell. This year should definitely be interesting. Eldar and Chaos Marines are two very popular armies with a lot of great fluff. Throw in a new edition and you have for a very exciting couple of years in terms of Warhammer development, methinks!

[eldargal]

Don't worry DrBored. Rumours are rumours and these are far less silly than some which pop up. Even the best rumourmongers get things wrong. I'm not a rumourmonger exactly but, for example, I've been told things by people within GW and only half of them were right. I was told about demi-gryphs, which seemed a bit ridiculous, and a new war wagon kit for Empire. Turned out the more obvious thing, bringing back the war wagon didn't happen (yet maybe).

[DrLove42]

I'd love Eldar in the starter box. It'd give me a reaosn to buy one beyond the mini rule book

But i don't see it.

I'm resigned to getting Eldar and Tau next year...

[Emerald Rose Widow]

I know My brother would be happy as hell to see eldar come out this year, and them coming in the starter box would be really neat, I would have to say. Though that whole comment on eldar being a "girl's army" yeah...not so much.

I also have noticed that most girl gamers I have met that play 40k play either orks, tyranids, or daemons, with tyranids being the more common of the three. I also count within that more common, as I am also a girl tyranid player, so yeah.

Still hope the rumours are true as I would prefer to see eldar over more power armour, but I am bias, hehe.

[MarneusCalgar]

Mmmm it would sound good... but it is breaking all the rumours we have until now.

Different sources point to a Dark Angels vs Chaos SM starter set... also their army codex are on the printers...

So I find it surprisingly that Eldar could surpass them and be on the box, even when all we heard about them from GW and FW was a 2013 window release with the Tau Empire, Chaos Daemons, and Vanilla Codex

But who really knows...

At this time we only have two sure things: Mountains of rumours and large amounts of Salt

[woodenronin]

I could see Eldar over CSM in a new starter box. But my mouth is still watering for the CSM.

[eldargal]

Well, last I saw it was rumoured to be more cultists/daemons/some marines rather CSM heavy.