Fall Space Marine Release Schedule?

[Alcyon]

My gaming group is running an escalation crusade campaign and I'm using it as an opportunity to build my Space Marine force, but it's getting hard to anticipate what I should buy for future upgrade tiers without even a guess at when models might be released.

 

I'm guessing the earliest models officially previewed will be out first, but does anyone have recall how long the turnaround is for previewed models to drop? Do you think we can expect to see the Outrider Chaplain by November?

 

One thing I can't seem to find in any 40k news site is a list of releases by preview date, so I've tried to put that together here. I'm sure I've missed stuff so if I have please let me know!

 

Previewed July 4

• Outrider Chaplain
• Primaris Techmarine
• Hammerfall Drop Turret
• Invader ATV
• Firestrike Servo-Turret

 

Previewed July 25

• Primaris Gladiator

 

?

• Bladeguard multi-part kit

 

Previewed Sept. 12

• Storm Speeder Hammerstrike & variants
• Gravis Captain w/ MC Heavy Bolt Rifle
• Heavy Intercessors
• Eradicator multi-part kit

[Halandaar]

Unfortunately the timeframe between reveal and release varies wildly, and there's no reason to expect that the stuff which was previewed first will be the first to be released. It might be themed alongside supplements, it might not.

 

As for overall timescale, based on previous release waves (specifically SM2019 and Sisters of Battle) we can expect the model kits to take anything from 2-3 months to all get released, and as the earliest they could even start pre-orders is 26th September, we could be looking at January by the time everything is out.

Edited September 15, 2020 by Halandaar

[Sword Brother Adelard]

It was ages after the last codex came out that the Incursor/infiltrator box was released.

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

Latest officially-unconfirmed rumor is that we are four weeks out from the release of the codex and first wave of kits.

 

Pre-sale Oct 10th, release date Oct 17th:

 

Codex

Heavy Intercessors

Bladeguard Vets

Assault Intercessors

Storm Speeder

 

That makes sense, as it's about a third of the kits we know are coming. If accurate, I'd expect two more release waves, each accompanied by two of the supplements as was the case last year.

 

BUT given how the Servo-Turret and ATV were listed both in Chapter Approved and the starter kits as seemingly close on the heels of the Indomitus box, those might squeak out even earlier (on the other hand, their appearance in those books would have been a pre-Covid thing and may no longer be any kind of reliable indicator as to when they'll appear).

[Sword Brother Adelard]

I think the release order is definitely messed up post-Covid. I was reading the latest White Dwarf battle report and it was referring to the codex contents, in a way that suggested the codex was already available. There's apparently a Crusade Agenda for Space Marines that gives them an XP point for passing a morale test.

[Umbros]

Latest officially-unconfirmed rumor is that we are four weeks out from the release of the codex and first wave of kits.

 

Pre-sale Oct 10th, release date Oct 17th:

 

Codex

Heavy Intercessors

Bladeguard Vets

Assault Intercessors

Storm Speeder

 

That makes sense, as it's about a third of the kits we know are coming. If accurate, I'd expect two more release waves, each accompanied by two of the supplements as was the case last year.

 

BUT given how the Servo-Turret and ATV were listed both in Chapter Approved and the starter kits as seemingly close on the heels of the Indomitus box, those might squeak out even earlier (on the other hand, their appearance in those books would have been a pre-Covid thing and may no longer be any kind of reliable indicator as to when they'll appear).

 

I'd be very surprised about that date. 10th seems reserved for Sons of Behemat preorders (the audiobook is confirmed for that date).

[WrathOfTheLion]

They can't do two rounds of two supplement releases, as we know 3 are to be released this year and 1 next year.

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

They can't do two rounds of two supplement releases, as we know 3 are to be released this year and 1 next year.

 

Yeah, that would be a snag. I forgot that one of those four books announced in the codex preview was the Death Guard Codex. It's possible they'd combine that with one of the supplements, but probably not likely. So maybe they'll do a trickle of one supplement and a couple of marine kits every couple weeks following the Codex and work the Death Guard into one of those slots.

 

But the whole Sons of Behemat thing is something I wasn't up on - I really don't pay any attention to stuff that isn't 40K-related and barely even pay attention to the Horus Heresy and boardgame stuff. So maybe the suggestion about Necrons being early October and Marines starting to get their stuff on the 24th is on the right track.

[Redrandy93]

I saw that most of the items announced on July fourth we can start pre ordering this weekend here in USA.    

[Alcyon]

Yeah, two months from preview to pre-order is a long time. If it's consistent, we probably won't see the Gladiator or multi-part Bladeguard until end of October/beginning of Nov, and the Storm Speeder, Heavy Intercessors and Eradicator multi-part won't be until mid-November or even December. No real reason to expect that consistency but at least it gives us a guess.

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

The multi-part Assault Intercessors were previewed on September 12th as well. That should be everything, as the Outriders haven't had an MPK release previewed yet and the Veteran Intercessors are sadly looking like just a rules upgrade (moving them from a stratagem to a datasheet).

 

EDIT: Oh yeah, not that it really matters, but the ATV and Servo-Turret were previewed way back on June 13th. So it'll be almost four months between their preview and pre-order dates. It was only the Techmarine and Chaplain on bike that were shown on July 4th, although the Hammerfall Bunker was close enough (July 2nd, but that was likely bumped up thanks to the image from the rulebook leaking).

Edited September 30, 2020 by Lord Nord

[Alcyon]

I think the further we go back into this year the more likely previews were disrupted by COVID-19 delays. The fact that the ATV and Turret were in the Indomitus materials originally I think adds credence to that idea - so hopefully we will see a shorter window now that things are coming back online.