Nehekhara’s dead are on the march, Athel Loren is stirring, and Da Red Gobbo has somehow acquired a Squigmobile. This Saturday’s Warhammer pre-orders have quite the line-up: new plastic legions for the Tomb Kings, a clash beneath the ancient trees, festive mayhem and a Black Library stack full of desperate battles. From royal chariots to a bomb-shaped sidecar, there is plenty to get excited about.
Bomran’s planned pre-order opening is 10am UK time on Saturday 24 October 2026.
Host of Nehekhara: the legions rise again
The Tomb Kings of Khemri lead the procession with the Host of Nehekhara Army Reinforcement Set, bringing updated plastic troops to the ranks of their deathless armies. And what ranks they are:
- 36 Skeleton Warriors
- 36 Skeleton Archers
- 6 Skeleton Chariots
Seventy-two skeletal infantry and six chariots make a suitably imposing procession. The Warriors have interchangeable shields and a choice of spears or khopesh-style swords, while the Archers bring different heads, quivers and decorative details. The Chariots complete the spectacle with command options and embellishments for both vehicles and crew. These may be rank-and-file troops, but Nehekhara has never lacked a sense of grandeur.
There is something wonderfully Tomb Kings about that combination of ordered skeletal ranks and ornate chariots: an ancient empire insisting on its splendour long after death. Our Tomb Kings army guide explores the faction in more depth.
Games Workshop describes the boxed set as available while stocks last. Explore The Old World range for more from the setting.
The River of Bones: the campaign reaches Athel Loren
Those new legions have a suitably ominous backdrop in Arcane Journal: The River of Bones. High Priest Ashurtak is advancing towards Bretonnia, but his depleted army needs the magic of Athel Loren. There is, of course, the small matter of its defenders. The clash reaches the banks of the Crystal Mere, bringing Nehekhara’s ambitions into the heart of a realm that is anything but welcoming.
The studio’s latest background interview adds a particularly delicious twist: Nehekhara’s reach extended far beyond its familiar deserts. Forgotten outposts and burial sites offer Ashurtak fresh legions to awaken. A landscape that seems a world away from the Tomb Kings can still have their dead beneath it — a splendidly unsettling thought.
The earlier reveal confirms the Barrow Kingdoms Army of Infamy for Tomb Kings of Khemri, options for Gargantuan Treemen in Wood Elf Realms armies, and rules for enchanted terrain. That gives both sides of this woodland confrontation something to pore over, from ancient undead hosts to some truly enormous defenders.
For more on the realm standing in Ashurtak’s path, our Wood Elf Realms army guide explores the faction beyond this latest confrontation.
Tomb Kings dice and reference cards
The royal treatment extends to the accessories: 20 bone-white dice bearing the Tomb Kings symbol on the six, alongside 54 reference cards covering material such as spells, incantations, magic items and army abilities. Both are announced as available while stocks last.
Da Red Gobbo’s Squigmobile: festive trouble on wheels
From the grandeur of Nehekhara to a vehicle with a bomb-shaped sidecar: Da Red Gobbo knows how to make an entrance. This year’s festive miniature puts him aboard a Squigmobile, with an unfortunate assistant along for the ride. It is a gloriously daft scene, and that sidecar alone raises serious questions about the passenger’s career choices.
The announced Festive Activities Guide, due through Warhammer stores in November, includes Legends rules for Warhammer 40,000, Nemesis Operatives rules for Kill Team and rules for Blood Bowl. His festive mischief clearly has no intention of staying in one game.
Da Red Gobbo’s Reckoning
The trouble continues on the page in Callum Davis’s new hardback novella. Ratling fixer Ector Flynn and his snipers have already endured the attentions of their Catachan commanders; now they are sent into a snowy wasteland to hunt Da Red Gobbo. As assignments go, it hardly sounds like a festive reward. It is a wonderfully mischievous premise for the troublemaker’s latest outing.
Black Library: desperate stands and dangerous loyalties
Elsewhere on the bookshelves, the mood turns considerably grimmer. Isolated Space Marines face the Tyranid onslaught, battered tank crews rally around a manufactorum, and an Alpha Legion commander has enemies on rather too many fronts. This week’s Black Library releases have no shortage of pressure to put their protagonists under.
Raptors: War and Shadow, William Crowe
Lieutenant Chandrel Voise and a Raptors demi-company face a tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan in William Crowe’s new hardback. Isolated, running short of supplies and without reinforcements, they must contend with survival as well as duty. Elite warriors, an implacable enemy and precious little room for error: that is a compelling starting point.
Crucible of Fire, Tom R Pike
For Valhallan Lieutenant Kallisto Rytsar, a shattered company is only the beginning. Gathering the surviving tank crews, he makes a stand around a manufactorum as an Ork warband approaches. Workers and wounded soldiers are drawn into an improvised defence — a grimly fitting stage for the Astra Militarum’s stubborn endurance.
Pike’s first full-length Black Library novel arrives in hardback, taking the action from armoured warfare to a desperate defence assembled from whoever and whatever remains.
Four more fronts in paperback
- Armageddon: Season of Fire, by Jude Reid, follows the struggle for Hive Tartarus across generations through a Steel Legion officer, a Sister Superior and a Blood Angel.
- Death Rider, by Rhuairidh James, puts Commissar Valian Hesh in the uncomfortable position of trying to save his Krieg regiment from its own determination to attack.
- Ghost Legion, by Mike Brooks, returns to Solomon Akurra as he tries to hold together rival Alpha Legion warbands under pressure from the Imperium and enemies within. It follows Renegades: Harrowmaster.
- Treachery Unbound is an anthology spanning numerous factions of the 41st Millennium. The collection brings together stories from across the setting.
Explore our Black Library category for the current range.
Ready for Saturday?
Ancient kings reclaiming their grandeur, Wood Elves facing an unwelcome incursion, and one Gobbo turning festive transport into a questionable life choice: Saturday has range. Add the new Black Library releases and there is plenty to talk about before the pre-orders open. Which announcement has caught your eye?
Keep our Warhammer pre-orders hub handy for future weekly previews.
