Our Top 5 Favorite GW Products of 2016
With everyone feeling reflective on this past year we thought we’d share our favorite Games Workshop Releases from 2016.
Everyone has been looking back on this past year – it happens every December. And after watching the GW 2016 year-in-review video the Crew here at BoLS put our collective heads together and decided we’d list off our favorite models and products from Games Workshop. It was a process!
I’m sure there are some models or products we left off this list you might feel strongly about. That’s okay – let us know which ones you would have picked in the comments below. Now, without futher ado, here they are in no particular order:
Warhammer Age of Sigmar: General’s Handbook
In our opinion (the staff writes at BoLS) this book was the saving grace for Age of Sigmar! When this book dropped retailer every where rejoiced along side players (both new and vets) as they could all agree on game sizes to play via the points system. When this book hit the shelves there was a noticeable shift in Warhammer Community at large. It was a literal game changer for Age of Sigmar and we (the staff writers) don’t think the game would be in the state it’s in without it.
Aside from all of that, the price is fantastic – for a full color 168 page book from Games Workshop, you can’t really beat that. If you know an Age of Sigmar fan and they DON’T own this book – give them the gift that keeps on giving this holiday season: buy this book.
Deathwatch Overkill
If you had told me at the beginning of the year that Games Workshop was going to launch a new boxed game featuring The Deathwatch AND would herald the return of the Genestealer Cult, I would have probably laughed. Not only did Games Workshop do it, they also made a really fun board game to boot!
Deathwatch Overkill is on our list because it’s a fantastic stand alone product as well as the perfect product to add to an existing collection. If you play any flavor of Space Marines, you can totally use the Deathwatch Kill Team in the box. If you are looking at starting a new faction the Genestealer Cult isn’t just fluffy – it’s also an effective army on the table top! And even if you don’t need or want to use these fantastic models on the table top, the board game itself is still a blast to play.
Codex Supplement: Traitor Legions
Chaos Space Marine Players, it’s been a LONG time coming. Traitor Legions is finally here and it’s just want you asked for. Each of the Original Traitor Legions is represented in this book and each one of them has their own Special Rules, Warlord Table, Artifacts, and a bunch of other toys to play with. This book is one of our picks because it’s that unfiltered Chaos Flavor that players wanted. It might not break the game as much as some folks wanted – but everyone else is enjoying it for what it is: A Great Chaos-filled release!
Magnus the Red
This phrase sums up why Magnus is on the list:
“Daemon Primarch in Plastic.”
Magnus represents the First Daemon Primarch in Plastic and that is a BIG deal. That opens up the possibilities for all the other Daemon Primarchs to return in Plastic as well as the Loyalist Primarchs, too! Yes, we already have a chunk of them in Resin from Forge World but’s not the same as a freaking Daemon Primarch in PLASTIC!
On top of that, Magnus’ Return also opened up the doors for some pretty ground breaking lore changes. We’re still feeling the effects of those and we’re going to have to wait to see how it pans out next year. But that’s just one more reason Magnus the Red is one of our Favorite Products from 2016.
Alarielle the Everqueen
Who rides atop a giant war beetle, carries the Spear of Kurnoth and never skips leg day? Alarielle the Everqueen that’s who! There were lots of really cool Age of Sigmar models to choose from this year but we decided to go with The Everqueen. Why? Because that Beetle is just too cool to pass-up. That and Duncan made it look so easy to paint with all those thinned-down paints.
But seriously, we had a hard time picking which one to choose and finally went with Alarielle because it’s just so different looking. The Beetle is cool and Alarielle is very commanding – we just liked this model!
Bonus: Custodes
While they are currently only available in the Burning of Prospero boxed set, you KNOW they are coming as a stand alone release in 2017. I can’t wait to see these guys on the shelves personally.
The Custodes are another army/model that we here at BoLS didn’t think Games Workshop would ever make – especially not in plastic! We were so thrilled to see them in a boxed set this year and can’t wait to see what else Games Workshop has in store.
Honorable Mentions:
- Blood Bowl
- Kurnoth Hunters
- Magmadroth
- Warhammer Quest: Sliver Tower
- Burning of Prospero
- Codex: Deathwatch
- All the Genestealer Cult Stuff – ALL OF IT
- All of the Start Collecting Boxes – fantastic deals
- All of the Battleforce Boxes – again, great deals
We could keep going but you get the idea. What do you think? What Games Workshop releases were your favorites of 2016?
