There is a lot of good news in here as well. Including what appears to be a final name for the playtested Tau flyer lamprey, and now said to be clarified into the Tau Copperhead. Also in this bunch are more tyranid rumors, as well as the failing of the Thunderbolt to make the grade.
Please remember that these are rumors.
via Faeit 212"A Must remain Anonymous Source"
The so called rumour clampdown consists only of motivational speeches and mails. Apparently it works, but there is nothing special about it - only exception is the Hobbit stuff that is developed in a physically separated area, but some staff were shifted back including a game designer and most of the digital artists.
Flyer waves incoming: there are two full waves pending release: a Tyranid wave (Harpy, Harrier, Tyranid Warriors, Mycetic Spore and reinvented rules for Pyrovore as anti-air unit) and a Dark Eldar wave (Void Raven, Grotesque unit with expanded options, Sliscus, Sathonyx and Vect (on foot)). There was a third wave planned for the guard (Thunderbolt, Hydra, armoured veterans, Storm Troopers) but it was postponed into oblivion because the Thunderbolt didn’t get approved. Four more fliers in the pipeline: renamed Eldar Nightwing (finished), Tau Copperhead (finished), and a medium sized Space Marine and a large Ork flyer. There are upgrade packs for Space Marines and an Ork flakk trakk / buggy and a kopta box in the pipeline, but seem further off than the other flyer themed waves. A daemon flyer (or swooping) wave is even more far off. All waves may come without a codex. I don’t know when or in which order these are released.
Codices/army books won’t get released with a faster pace, but there are more out of order releases that keep us busy in the meantime. Expect still three books per system per year.
Model production and codex production are decoupled after the planning phase now. Warriors of Chaos, Dark Angels, Chaos Space Marine codices are finished, Tau and High Elves nearly finished. Models for all of them plus Eldar are finished (modeled, not necessarily mass produced or boxed). Dark Elves nearly finished. Dwarfs, Wood Elves and Space Marines models are in the works. Release dates are, Chaos Space Marines (October 2012), Warriors of Chaos (November 2012), High Elves (February 2013), Dark Angels (April 2013) and the rest is not fixed.
The next fantasy supplement deals with engines of war. The next 40k supplement deals with campaigns, experience gains for troops and conversions to represent these changes.
There is one extra release next summer (2013): Blood Bowl!
The Hobbit release gets completely rescheduled at the moment, so nothing certain to tell. Release is full plastic, characters only available in unit boxes or themed full character boxes.
Every army rulebook from now on will have a special defining mechanic.
- WoC and CSM have random gift of the gods charts.
- Tau have a system of unit upgrades that get unlocked by another unit or other effects. For example, a Firewarrior cadre with an ethereal next to it, with markerlight support and scouting kroot unit will get a serious buff. Every unit has a small chart for three of these effects.
- High Elves get a renewed court rule: No more always strike first, but units can get it back plus other effects if not accompanied by the wrong character (rolled before the game).
- Dark Angels units choose a circle that is kept secret during the game. Only a fraction of the army’s units can take a circle that has an in game effect. Circles can be revealed midgame and grant a special rule depending on the circle.