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Starting off with a bang, we get Lion El’Jonson, a Primarch who I was and wasn’t enthusiastic about getting. I mean, I thought that it was really cool that we were going to be getting ANY loyalist primarch back, but Lion El’Jonson has just never done much for me.

That said, this is a GORGEOUS model. I love everything about it and even though I have no interest in building a Dark Angels army, I may very well get a Lion El’Jonson just to paint him–and that’s something I’ve never said about Roboute Guilliman. The armor, in all its ornate gloriousness, matched with the robes is such an iconic Dark Angels look, and even though it’s been criticized (in some circles) I love that he looks old and grizzled.

Suffice it say, I love everything about this model. It is absolutely deserving of its place as a Primarch.

Warhammer 10th Edition

Then came Warhammer 10th Edition, which had a beautiful cinematic trailer which you should absolutely watch. It is, as predicted and leaked, Space Marines vs Tyranids, and, when it comes to models the first glance seems to check all the boxes. While I admit I’m not as up-to-date on my Termagants, I am very up-to-date on my Terminators, and these look perfect.

They gave the Primaris scale-up treatment but still managed to dance around the line of whether or not these Terminators are actually Primaris or First Born–a big sticking point for lore loyalists. Turns out either one could fit into this Terminator armor, and the Terminator armor doesn’t LOOK different, sleek, Primarisfied. It looks like a big beefy old school Terminator. The sculpt is better, the pose is better, but all of the important stuff is exactly the same–and that’s awesome.

Warhammer 10th Edition Rules

To say that I’m excited for the 10th Edition rules is an understatement. First, everything you need to know about a unit is on its dataslate. Second, everything you need to know about an army is on one sheet of paper. 6 stratagems max, they said. And, best and most surprising of all… the rules are free??? Did we hear that right? That’s a big move coming from Games Workshop who make a lot of money off their books. But, it needs to always be remembered that in their mission statement they are in business to sell models. And I predict they will sell many.

Kill Team: Leagues of Votann vs Beastmen

I love all of the Kill Teams that have been released with maybe one or two minor exceptions. (In fact I just completed a major Kill Team painting project.) And it is no secret that I have been a Squat player since Day One, and I love everything about them.

But this Kill Team? It was kind of eh for me. I wanted to love it, and there are things I love about it, like the pictured Votann with a minigun, but on the whole it just looked a LOT like the standard Hearthkyn with very little modification. I’m not saying I don’t like them, or that I wouldn’t add them to my army, but with the exception of the guy with a jet pack they just seem kinda same-old.

But the Beastmen Kill Team is excellent. I love that Games Workshop is taking the opportunity with the Kill Teams to give us forces that we haven’t seen before, like the Corsairs or the Imperial Navy. Adding the Beastmen, which existed in Blackstone fortress and hearken all the way back to Warhammer 1st Edition when Imperial Guard was weird, is an excellent choice.

Now, will I buy this? I doubt it. I already have squats, and if I want these squats I’ll wait for them to come to their own box. And I like the Beastmen, but I don’t want to own them. And, for the love, how many terrain kits do we need that are the inside of a space hulk? I do not want to shell out a ton of money for Gallowdark to get two Kill Teams that I kinda like and a set of terrain that has been sold three times before. Games Workshop: give us something new!

Horus Heresy: The Siege of Cthonia

Speaking of things that I’m not going to buy: the Siege of Cthonia. I’m still in the process of building my Horus Heresy force and there are a lot of units that I still want to buy–in plastic–that aren’t available yet (assault marines). I don’t want a campaign book. This seems to be catering to the established Horus Heresy players while ignoring all the players who want to get into the game for the first time, like me. Anyway, meh.

Underworlds: Wyrdhollow

One day I’m going to get into Underworlds, but that is not this day. I admit that these Tzeentchian sculpts are pretty amazing, and I’ll even admit that almost all Underworlds warbands are pretty amazing, but… I just don’t want to play a board game. This feels like a gateway game to get board game players into wargames, and, already being on the wargame side, I don’t feel the pull to go back to board games. Maybe I’m missing out. Maybe I’ll buy these guys just to paint them. I don’t know.

Oh, there were Stormcast Eternals for Underworlds, too.

Age of Sigmar: Seraphon

Now this is what I wanted to see. This is the part of the livestream where I turned to my wife and told her that I was going to spend all of our money on models.

I had made it a goal this year that I was going to build a complete Age of Sigmar army–I haven’t had one since I sold my Nighthaunt a year ago–and I have toyed with Skaven, but the many releases of the Seraphon are just so enticing that I can’t help myself. I’ve been a longtime Seraphon lover, mainly because I have a son who loves dinosaurs, but I think that this will be a Seraphon army that he and I paint together and get ready for the tabletop. I love everything in the boxed set they announced and it is definitely my plan to get it.

Other Age of Sigmar Stuff

And then there were these two models which are cool, but I really hate it when they release a couple of cool models to sell a book, which is what these are. If you’re going to release models, release a range. Don’t just tease us with a couple of pretty sculpts.

Cities of Sigmar

But do you know what I am super excited about, even though there are only three models? These Cities of Sigmar models. They look absolutely gorgeous and definitely are scratching that Warhammer Fantasy itch (though, yes, they are on round bases.) These were shown only as a tease of more things to come, but they were a good and welcome tease.

So that was what I thought about Adepticon’s 2023 reveals! I’ll be interested in hearing what you loved and didn’t love.