There are some great stories in there, with a nice balance across the different settings including – thankfully – a couple of Age of Sigmar stories. Taken as a whole it would be a great way for someone new to BL to get a feel for the kind of stories available across the ranges, with links out to loads of interesting ongoing series. Chances are most hardcore BL fans (apart from the digitally-phobic) will have read most or all of these, but then there’s no harm in having a physical copy as well! Overall it’s a great little anthology and continues the positive trend in this respect started with last year’s celebration.

Blowing the dust off of these models, these were the first females we ever saw in power armor and thusly dubbed Space Marines. Note that they’re not actually called “Space Marines” officially. These made their debut over thirty years ago in a White Dwarf magazine! It’s hard to believe how far the hobby/miniature world has come in thirty year’s time. Female Catachan Grenade Launcher We all knew that Severina Raine was on the way this month, but perhaps no one could have guess that she would be available in a limited quantity from stores world wide as well! Danie: It’s certainly come a very long way from when I started in the 80s – and not only for women, but for the profile of geek culture in its entirety. I remember the days when role-players and gamers were firmly in the closest, keeping our hobbies and passions very quiet! As well as the typical Commissar abilities, Raine has a bespoke ability, Leading from the front, which reflects her gung-ho nature, and makes nearby Astra Militarum forces immune to Morale tests when Raine is within 1″ of enemy models. This makes her perfect for leading a force of elite troopers like Veterans and Tempestus Scions to get up-close with the enemy – just the way she fights in Rachel’s stories. Cain – and his ever-present, ever-pungent aide Jurgen – stars in a whole series by Sandy Mitchell, starting with For The Emperor . Ibram Gaunt

Severina Raine was an Imperial Commissar serving with the 11th Antari Rifles regiment of the Astra Militarum. Though perhaps a little on the large side, this miniature has a ton of detail and is definitely a display quality mini from GW. As well as the typical Commissar abilities, Raine has a bespoke ability, Leading from the front, which reflects her gung-ho nature, and makes nearby Astra Militarum forces immune to Morale tests when Raine is within 1″ of enemy models. This makes her perfect for leading a force of elite troopers like Veterans and Tempestus Scions to get up-close with the enemy – just the way she fights in Rachel’s stories.

But. One thing I couldn't get away from is that shadow cast by Gaunt and his Ghosts. While Raine is nothing like Gaunt her regiment is not entirely different from the Tanith, the Sighted not so different from the Archenemies troops and the warzone is similar to the Sabbat Crusade. Which is not to say this book didn't have new and interesting things to say, far from it. Nor that i'm saying Harrison is cribbing off of Abbnett either. His work covers so much of the 40K universe that it's hard not to be influenced by him one way or the other.I’ll start off by saying that you need to pay attention as there is a lot going on in this book. On the face of it you’d think ‘dark science-fiction because it’s Warhammer 40,000’. What you get is dark science-fiction with and undercurrent of military mystery/thriller style plot. Being scaled up, re-posed, and made in plastic, GW is giving us exactly what we’ve been asking for over the past years!

Larissa Shadowstalker is a Knight-Questor armed with a stormstrike glaive. She’s on foot and doesn’t have a shield so, in terms of in-game rules, she’s not the most high-speed low-drag option. However, she’s definitely got an awesome pose and looks like she’s been around the mortal realms a time or two! She was also store exclusive! Serek eventually recognizes that he is suspected by Raine and sends her and the entire Eleventh Antari Rifles regiment on a suicide mission. The regiment succesfully completes the mission, but with heavy losses and Raine is listed as KIA. During the celebratory ceremony for the regiment's success, Raine appears and publicly accuses and exposes Serek's of treachery in front of the Bale Stars Sector High Command and all of the soldiers in attendance. A brawl ensues between Serek loyalists and opposition. Once the loyalists were eliminated, lasguns were concentrated on Serek and Raine executes him with her bolt pistol, Penance. The 11th Antari Rifles regiment had been deployed with other Astra Militarum forces to the world of Drast as part of a campaign by the Imperium to retake the worlds of the Bane Stars from an invasion by the Chaos Cult known as "The Sighted." She was assigned to the 11th Antari Rifles company commanded by Captain Tevar Lun who was extremely popular with his troops and known for caring about their well-being. Now according to multiple retail sources from around the globe she will be limited to three per store, and available at most game stores including Games Workshop ones, worldwide next Saturday.Redeemer doesn’t directly link to anything but feels like a nice companion to The Devastation of Baal Danie: Years ago, we used to have a huge war/gaming table in the (infamous in its heyday) garage, and I had an orc and goblin fantasy army that got into all sorts of scrapes, including participating in one seven-way uber-battle that turned into a bit of a legend. (As a random aside, my orcs’ marching song turns up in my story ‘Da Big Mouf’). I still play orks, though (sadly) have much less opportunity these days – my son and I do have a (much smaller) war/gaming table, and I usually face his Mechanicus. As for painting, well I , but I have the fine motor control of a three-toed sloth in mittens, so it’s not something I tend to shout about, or share on the socials! Aaron: Thats a good point that it’s really on all of us to be doing this – what could we be doing, as gamers, to be better and do more? Now that Ogors just got their Battletome, we feel like it might be a good time to show off this classic Years ago, GW dropped this Maneater model for the Ogors and it’s still got us asking why we don’t see more models like these come to all factions across Age of Sigmar. Why haven’t we seen a female Grot? A female Chaos Sorcerer, etc? Blood Bowl Cheerleader Minis Don’t know if this is a leaked picture of what was supposed to be released or if this is now being released. Female Stormcast Models We’ve Seen

If you’re a fan of female Stormcasts, Forge World even has these resin head upgrades available. You can just pop these heads onto your minis and have an all-female warrior group! Female Maneater Model Executing a much-loved commander will put you on a shaky start with any combat unit you’ve then got to lead – but Severina Raine pulled it off. With some heartfelt lectures to the disgruntled troopers of the Antari Rifles, this uncompromising officer was able to inspire loyalty in her charges – well, most of them – and lead them on to victory in Rachel Harrison’s Honourbound . Ciaphas Cain So it looks like she will be similar to the Sly Marbo release the we saw on Boxing day a few years ago, but be available to most game stores around the globe! From Space Marines to pom poms, these are the female Warhammer models over the years that have inspired and ignited hobbyists in equal measure. Uncompromising and fierce, Commissar Severina Raine drives the Eleventh Antari Rifles to reclaim the worlds of the Bale Stars that have fallen under the shadow of Chaos. Utterly dedicated to the pursuit of victory in the Emperor’s name, Raine always fights at the heart of battle with her power sabre and bolt pistol in hand. She will not flinch from her duty, be that the persecution of the enemy or enforcing the Emperor’s will. No matter the threat or the foe, Commissar Severina Raine will stand unbroken.We already know she got her own set of rules for Kill Team that were spotted recently on Imgur, and now have her Warhammer 40k rules as well! Severina Raine Kill Team Rulesheet In the Blood Bowl realm, there are a ton of all-female cheerleading models for your themed teams as well. Essentially, what we’re saying is that there are plenty of Female Commissar models out there and have been for a while now. From a fancy corset to a practical leather coat, there’s a model out there for just about everyone’s preference.