It's All About Resin

So this week's big announcement is that most of the previously metal models for Warhammer Fnatasy Battles and Warhamemr 40K are being changed over to resin. Can't claim not to be excited about it. As usual, it's all happening very quickly - the models are available to buy from next week. We're told that they look stunning in the flesh (or rather resin) and bring a new level of detail never seen before.

If you want any, come see me :)

Counting Down to Tomb Kings

Now there was an army that I always wished was more widely played. Looks like I'm about to get my wish with the launch of a new Tomb Kings army book and a whole pile of shiny new figures too. Next Saturday (7th May) sees all the new kit hitting the shelves and as well as the book, Tomb Kings fans get three different boxes full of plastic goodness.

We're particularly loving the Khemrian Warsphinx models, the Necropolis Knights are great too. A new Tomb Guard rounds things off nicely. If you're tempted, you can find a great pre-order discount on the new Tomb Kings stuff on our Facebook page (so long as you're a fan). Enjoy!

Thursday Night - BSTS Warhammer Night

It was great to see the place packed last night, with both some new faces and old around. Hopefully it's a sign of things to come - a vibrant Thursday night makes everyone's gaming more interesting. Anyway, here's some of the highlights from last night:

At the top of the store, a horrifically combined army from two Tyranid players, truly frightening to behold still weren't quite enough to deal with a thirsty Blood Angels force. Next down Necrons found themselves confronted by rampaging Orks on a narrow board - never the best way to meet a Green Tide and found themselves phasing out before their Monolith could do much damage.

Only one Fantasy game played last night - it's been the other way round mostly of late - saw the Empire demolish an Orcs and Goblins army. Some gorgeous looking knights that you could still smell the paint from were on hand to complete the rout. There was also a great four player match up, featuring two Guard players joining forces to confront a Tau and 'Nid army. Whilst their big guns did damage while they lasted, the combination of some big 'Nids getting up clsoe and personal and the Tau firepower from the back was too much for them.

Lots and lots of fun. Hopefully we'll keep seeing these sort of numbers show up :)

Dusting Down My Ultramarines

It's not often I get the chance to have a game in store, but last night I made an exception. A new player was around with a pile of Orks, and it gave me the chance to dust down my case and field some Ultramarines against him.

The game was a small tussle at around the 600 point mark - opponent was fielding the Orks from Assault on Black Reach - 20 Boyz (upgraded to 'Ard Boyz), 5 Nobs, Warboss and 3 Deffkoptas, plus an added in squad of Stormboyz. Against him, I decided to keep things simple by fielding essentially Black Reach myself, with just a few extra points for an extra heavy weapon thrown in.

Turn one begain with the Boyz heading down my right flank - I knew I had some time there - there was terrain in the way. More pressing concerns were the Stormboyz and Deffkoptaz heading my way in the centre. On the left, the Nobs and Warboss were also making steady progress. My Termies lept straight into action, stepping forward and throwing up a hail of Stormbolter shots at the Stormboyz. I lucked out - the Stormboyz were wiped clean out. I didn't have so much luck shooting at the Deffkoptas though and the Ard Boyz saves started to be made with alarming frequency - something that would continue for a while.

But still, the Deffkoptas weren't having much luck against my Dreadnought, and by turn three it had smashed them up. The decisive phase of the match revolved around two close combats. On the left flank, the Termies took on the Nobz and Warboss. For once Terminator armour didn't stand up to the task, but enough of the Green Skins were down to render them obsolete. Meanwhile the Boyz charge on my Captain didn't manage to take him down and in the ensuing mess, the Dreadnought and a some marines joined the melee.

When the Boyz had enough and ran, it was left for the Dreadnought to cut them down. And that was pretty much game. The Nobz and Warboss put up a brave fight, but by the time they were surrounded, it was all over. As always, good fun had by all.

It's Raining Orcs and Goblins

It doesn't seem like five minutes since we last had a new Orcs and Goblins Army Book out, but here we go again. The new additions to the Orcs and Goblins range though, are pretty special.

First up, is a big change to the army book, which has moved to hard back. Now of course that makes it a little pricier, and the army of cynics out there will groan, but we've all seen more than our fair share of tattered, torn, falling to bits, stuck back together army books and codexes in our time, so I'm voting for it being a good move. It looks stunning too - the first time an army book or codex has been in full colour.

There's also a swathe of new plastic on show, chief amongst them being the Arachnarok Spider. A terrifying beast if ever there was one and an almighty huge and gorgeous kit it is too (the biggest ever for Fantasy).

We've got display copies of all the new stuff in store - if you're one of our locals drop in for a look. They'll be available to buy from Saturday 5th March, both in the shop and on the Orcs and Goblins page of our website.

New Blood Angels Out This Weekend

Just a quick post this week on the WH blog, to make sure everyone know about another pair of sensational products hitting the shelves this weekend. Both are additions to the Blood Angels army, and we're lovin' em.

First up is the Furioso Dreadnought - a fearsome addition to the Blood Angels forces, that can also be assembled as a Death Company Dreadnought or a Librarian Dreadnought. Then there's the new Stormraven Gunship. Whilst it says Blood Angels on the box, the fact that the rules are in this month's White Dwarf mean it's playable by any Space Marine player. Both excellent, both on the shelves on Saturday.

Ultramarines vs Guard

Thursday 22nd January - BSTS Hammered

What could their company have done to offend? To send down a force of Space Marines upon them - whatever it was it must have been serious. No time to think though. Defend the positions and fight for their lives - it was all they could do.

Their right was defended by a mighty Sentinel and Heavy Weapons Teams, but facing them was what looked to be a massive Land Raider Crusader. In the centre, the trusty Leman Russ and Chimera were ready to give as good as they got, but a squad of Ultramarines was lining up some particularly nasty looking big guns against them. The left flank was where the rank and file were positioned, but with the Tactical Squads heading their way, they'd need some support, or they would be crushed into the ground.

As the bullets started to fly though, perhaps ... just maybe ... it looked like the Emperor was smiling upon them. A lucky shot from an Autocannon rendered the fire power of the Crusader useless. Then the Leman Russ demolished the Devestator Squad before they'd even had a chance to line their targets up.

The Ultramarines quickly realised that their only way to victory would be to get forward and engage the enemy in hand-to-hand combat. With much of their fire power gone, and their Sniper Rifle'd scouts proving ineffective, the order was given to charge head-long forward and hope to reach the enemy before they all gave up their lives. Through the woods though, they could glimpse long rows of Lasguns pointed their way.

Meanwhile back in the guard ranks, the sight of the Chapter Master himself heading towards them, made them quiver. Could they take him before he came amongst them, wreaking death all around? On the right, the Sentinel had failed to stop the progress of the Crusader, and still with boltguns aplenty it had torn the Heavy Weapons Teams apart. Nothing for it but to stand and shoot. One by one, the Ultramarines fell to volleys of Lasgun shots, before they could reach the Guard lines. In desperation, the Crusader was trying to ram the Chimera and make its way towards the Russ, but nothing was working for them. When the Chapter Master himself fell wounded to his knees, the day was won.

This would be a famous day for this lowly guard platoon - one that would be sung about for ages to come.

Pre-Orders for Space Hulk

We've now put the pre-order page for Space Hulk up on the website. If you haven't come across the name Space Hulk, let us explain. Way back in the depths of time, Games Workshop released a board game called Space Crusade, which was followed up by Space Hulk - a fast-paced simplified 40K boardgame about a battle on board abandoned Space Ships (a Space Hulk). Anyway, it was an absolute classic and many older players cherish their original copies.

Fast forward to 2009, and the game is back, for a one-off production run. Early signs are that if you don't pre-order it, you wont get it. You have been warned! It's due for release on the 5th of September. You can pre-order Space Hulk from us, by going here.

Where's Planetstrike?

That's the question a couple of our regulars have been asking after a browse around our website. They even had the audacity to accuse us of not stocking it. Hmmm. Planetstrike is a cool launch and we think it might just be massive, so of course we have it in. The challenge has been no spare spaces on the menus on our website. We've tucked the Planetstrike stuff away in the 40K Getting Started section, because we didn't have any better ideas. At least you know where to find it now.

Even More GW Choice

Up until now, we've always had a superb ordering service for the larger GW items, which has meant that our in store customers could get hold of any GW item at pretty short notice. However, it had always been the case that our online legion of fans missed out. We're doing oru best to rectify that at present, by bringing in some of the larger items as standard stock, allowing us to offer them on our website. This week, you can check out amongst other things, Hammerheads, Chaos Vindicators, Carnifexes, Razorbacks, Leman Russes and much more. All of these are now standard stock items for us, so you should find them any time you need them. Check them all out on the Games Workshop section of our website.

More Lord of The Rings Plastic

War of The Ring is taking over at the moment, and as usual, we aim to give you what you want. We'd been letting our stocks of LOTR stuff drop over recent times, however now that it's back with a vengeance. Loads of plastic, plus the usual smattering in metal too. Bus Stop's own army is in the pipeline, now our 40K army is finally in good shape - watch this space - we can't wait. Check out our huge range (and our 40K and fantasy too) by heading here.

War of The Rings Rulebook Available to Order

Further to our earlier post, the War of The Ring rulebook launches tomorrow (Saturday 4th April) - it is now available to order on our website. The War of The Ring is the biggest launch of the year for Games Workshop and takes Lord of The Rings miniatures to a whole new level of gaming. An esssential purchase for any Games Workshop fan, grab your copy of War of The Ring now, by going here.

On Countdown to War of The Rings

The most exciting launch from Games Workshop in years is fast approaching. War of The Rings takes the original Lord of The Rings game and significantly ups the scale, allowing players to recreate the key battles for middle-earth. We can't wait!

A reminder to all our regulars to get your Rulebooks pre-ordered. They're due early April!

New Additions To The Range

Just as an aside, we're still working on upping the range we hold in stock. Our goal is to have every army's core units in stock all the time. Last week, it was the turn of Lizardmen, which nicely coincided with the launch of the new army book, stegadon, etc.

This week, we've beefed up our offerings for Tomb Kings - one of our favourite armies. Check out the new Tomb Kings stock here.

Updated League Tables

Early Fantasy

		P	W	D	L	Pts
High Elves	DO	3	2	1	0	5
Dwarves	DB	2	0	1	1	1
Dwarves	RJ	2	0	0	2	0
Orcs and Goblins	CoJ	2	1	0	1	2
Chaos	CaJ	1	1	0	0	2
Wood Elves	EL	2	1	0	1	2

Early 40K

		P	W	D	L	Pts
Tau	DO	2	1	0	1	2
Chaos	CJ	3	0	1	2	1
Eldar	MO	2	1	1	0	3
Space Marines	EL	1	1	0	0	2

Late Fantasy

		P	W	D	L	Pts
Empire	TC	2	1	0	1	2
Bretonians	SM	2	1	0	1	2
Wood Elves	MH	0	0	0	0	0
Orcs and Goblins	AB	2	2	0	0	4
Ogre Kingdoms	EE	2	0	0	2	0

Late 40K

		P	W	D	L	Pts
Space Marines	TC	3	1	0	2	2
Space Marines	AB	4	1	0	3	2
Orks	ScM	5	5	0	0	10
Tau	SeM	4	2	0	2	6
Black Templars	MH	3	1	1	1	3
Orks	AE	2	1	0	1	2
Tau	RB	2	1	1	1	2
Tyranids	EE	3	0	2	2	1