White Dwarf and Imperial Knights (and my 50th post)

Was it really only issue 4 of White Dwarf out today?  Have all the monthlies been forgotten?

Anyway this issue has been my favourite of the weeklies so far.  I may have been playing about with my Fantasy army this week, but I still consider myself primarily a 40K player.  This issue is 90% Imperial Knights, including background, tips on both assembly and painting, rules and even some advice on strategy.

The weekly mags are now closely tied in with the release schedule, which has shifted.  The familiar pattern had been everything kept under wraps until WD came out just before pay-day at the end of the month (well mine at least..), with pre-orders then up for the following week, and possibly another wave of the same release a couple of weeks later.  Now releases are being drip-fed over the whole month, presumably to get us all into our GWs regularly.  They are now live on the GW site by 7pm (UK time) on the Friday evening and I know of at least one GW store (Reading) staying open until 8pm to help people pre-order and cash in.  Imperial Knights have heen timed for 1st March, so will be in shops just when lots of people have the most disposable income.

Even so, I shall not be rushing out to get one of the mini titans. Yet.  Imperial Knights now appear as an army in their own right on the GW website and WD tells us they can form a primary or an allied detachment.  However they seem to ignore the FOC in their formations. Fair enough - you could field 4 at 1.5k - but I am not sure if they can claim objectives, but give away 2VPs each if destroyed.  I assume one would have to be your warlord too, if they were your main force.  I expect this will all be clarified when the codex is released.  Until then the welcome rules in WD will get everyone started.

Before I splash out, I will look at the models and see how they perform.  A titan has always been on the wish-list and this is a lot more reasonable than the Forge World alternatives.  My head tells me I should at least finish my Stormwing formation (which cost the same money), but my wife will tell you I tend to let my heart rule my purchases, especially with Warhammer.

I am sure GW's current business strategy is relying on our hearts too.  How else would they expect anyone to buy 5 Imperial Knights in one click?