With the release of Age of Sigmar, Games Workshop effectively shattered the Old World of Warhammer Fantasy players, collectors and painters. One of the best starter boxes ever released by the English company, ‘The Island of Blood’ was phased out, as well as all the Warhammer armies of old, together with my beloved High Elves.
In the past few weeks, Age of Sigmar has been slowly bringing back aspects from the old Warhammer Fantasy game. More and more miniatures from the old range started to make their comeback. The points system was recuperated for competitive players in the spirit of balancing the game. The good old monthly White Dwarf was brought back to store shelves. And now, in a very smart marketing move, Games Workshop is reboxing the great starter set of ‘Island of Blood’, probably the best they ever made for Warhammer Fantasy, setting it in the new world of Warhammer Age of Sigmar.
Spire of Dawn, the new name for the old ‘Island of Blood’ box, brings back great miniatures, lots of them. Great designs for Skaven and High Elves, available again at an unbeatable pricetag. For me this marks the real return of the High Elves, hopefully to pave the way for a great comeback in the next few months? Who knows!
I will probably not be purchasing this box again, as I made sure I got my load of Island of Blood High Elves once the set got phased out with Age of Sigmar. However, this release announcement has surely put a smile on my face, and it has encouraged me do my own bringing back too. This Christmas, I will be moving to volomir.com all the material I have on the Island of Blood High Elves that still lurks on the old Volomir’s blog. It’s my own way of celebrating the great policy that Games Workshop is following lately. I’m sure it will also be a great way to encourage new players and painters to get their brushes into the miniatures from the new (ok, maybe not so new) Spire of Dawn boxed set.
Stay tuned!