Yesterday Games Workshop announced that this years Warhammer Day would be on the 14th October. You are completely forgiven to respond “what’s a Warhammer Day?”, in this post I explain what it is and what I think it might contain.
So first off, to clear up what in the world is a Warhammer Day? After all, isn’t every day a Warhammer day 😉 As a company, Games Workshop has been around a long time – it was created in 1975 to be exact. Over the past 48 years, they’ve released loads of game systems, so generally most years contain an anniversary of some kind. Last year with the 35th anniversary of Warhammer 40,000 they decided to allocate one day a year to celebrating one of the many anniversaries they have.
That means on the 14th October 2023, Games workshop is celebrating the 40th year of Warhammer (technically Warhammer Fantasy Battle, but it’s celebrating the legacy rather than game system). As with most Games Workshop events there’s an exclusive miniature, this time is in the form of a female Leagues of Votann (squat) miniature titled “Ancestors’ Wrath” (last year was “Baydens Revenge”). Although we know the model will be available on the 14th, we’ve yet to know if it’ll be available for a longer period like last years was. I don’t think it’s quite as dynamic or versatile as last year, but it’s a really nice and interesting miniature and I’m looking forward to seeing some great paint jobs.
Games Workshop have also announced that there will be a preview on that day too – which did surprise me considering how many reveals were shown off in the Nova Open preview, and we’ve not seen all of them released yet (although they’re doing a pretty good job of trying!). That said previews do tend to come along a couple of weeks before the next season and October is the precursor to the Winter season.
Prediction wise there’s a few items that are higher on the likelihood than others. We know from the Age of Sigmar Roadmap that we have the third Dawnbringers campaign book coming this Autumn, with a forth this Winter and a new Order Battletome. I reckon we could see something Duardin based (i.e. dwarfy) because out of the three classic races, they’re the ones that have seen less love recently other than a new Fyreslayer Warcry warband.
Likewise the Warhammer 40k roadmap has new Adeptus Mechanicus and Necron Codexes in the Winter slot. I’m not entirely convinced how much more 40k we’re getting as 10th edition took up a huge chunk of the year and it’s unusual to have one game system dominate the releases in every season – however 40k is the biggest game system, so who knows.
There is a very strong rumour that Legions Imperialis (aka Epic) has a release date of October to November, having been delayed from a rumoured mid-year release. We’re used to seeing something sizable come out of the Specialist Design Studios in November, so this does feel like a reasonable punt. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Warhammer Day preview include the actual pre-order date and the next round of releases – which I suspect will include detachment boxes for Astartes and Solar Aux. I can’t see the reveal of the next army coming out until the game has been about for a while as it would detract from the appeal of the boxed game.
One off the wall prediction is that I think we may see the next Necromunda expansion/campaign. Necromunda releases have been particularly sparse over the past couple of previews which generally suggests there’s something larger coming along. I suspect that the intended Specialist Design Studio release for November may have been Necromunda, but because it hadn’t been revealed was easy to kick along the road a bit. That would also allow Games Workshop to get on top of the supply issues they had with the updated rulebook released in July (which sold out instantly and only come back in stock this week). I think we could see the Eye of Selene expansion that comes packaged with at least one new gang and a load of the Boarding Actions terrain. I also think we might see those 1ft square tiles that match the boarding action terrain that we believe we saw in some of the original photos as that would tie in with how we play the Zone Mortalis style Necromunda games too.
Something for Warhammer Underworlds is almost a given certainty considering how quickly they seem to create new seasons and warbands. Equally another Blood Bowl team isn’t off the cards because they’re a small release that keeps the game ticking over.
Lastly, I suspect we may find some more information out about Warhammer Fest – certainly it was October last year when this years Fest was announced, so there is a small precedence. I have a suspicion that it may be the same format & venue as last year.
So that’s my predictions for Warhammer Day 2023. Do you agree with them or do you have some of your own? Let me know in the comments below what you think.
