Rumour Engine

One of the "newer" items on the release schedule from Games Workshop in recent times has been the Rumour Engine. Delivered via the Warhammer Community webpage, the Rumour Engine regularly depicts part (or a sub-part) of some model from the upcoming release range. This weeks Engine appears to be some kind of candle. Who knows whether this one is in relation to Warhammer 40,000, or the Age of Sigmar? Could be either really.

As a marketing tool it is a good one. There has been a long tradition in the Warhammer 40,000 blogosphere of posting rumours from people who are on the inside of the trade. Whether this be shipment people, or workers very close to Games Workshop, keeping secrets within a world-wide trading organisation that has to ship things on a regular basis is tough. Once upon a time, these kinds of rumour mongers were about all we had in the community. From my perspective, it is really good to see Games Workshop embrace a new philosophy, and, in doing so, stay a step ahead of the older rumour traders.

This in turn has fuelled a lot of speculation about the direction(s) that Games Workshop will take in their next batch of releases. Will it be Dwarves, or perhaps something a bit more Nurgle-esque, for example? A number of sites now regularly document the rumour engine and what has already been solved and what remains to be. In doing so, they're contributing positively to the release schedule that Games Workshop has and informing the rest of the community about the possibilities that might lie in the future.

I personally like to read through some of the comments on Facebook on the subject matter when the engine makes a release. Some of them are hilarious, others a lot more considered and pointing out things that escape even my keen eyes. The rumours that most stuck in the back of my mind were the snips we had of the Grand Cultivator. It was obvious that we were getting something Nurgle-esque, but was it going to be a new Beast of Nurgle, or something else entirely. I was a bit torn to say the least. The other ones that stick out to me are what Forge World used to do over the Christmas build up period with their jigsaw puzzle pieces. The approach is similar, but we get many pieces slotting together over a few weeks to yield the final picture. I like this particular approach a whole lot as well since it not only gives hints, but the full picture will ultimately reveal itself at a pre-known date -- unlike the rumour engine that could last for who knows how long before we know the solution. Or even see the solution with the benefit of hindsight.

Regardless, I've no idea what the candles are about this week. Sorry! I have no insight to share there.  Yet, I'm still thinking about what this one could be, and what some of the older ones are! Good work GW, you've hooked me...