As per the title, I'm sure that will be a familiar statement amongst many collectors once the newly revealed Imperial Guard minis are released.

Its been a long time since the Imperial Guard, or Astra Militarum if you're that way inclined, got new infantry sculpts for their main range. Granted we got a Death Korps of Krieg box recently, but the plastic Cadian range, which I'd say is their 'main' Guard range, has been showing its age for a long time now, and is way overdue for a refresh. I know they did an upgrade kit for the Cadians recently which had some nice bits in it, but it didn't solve the poor proportions of the original kit and did nothing to really bring the Guard up to today's standards. Don't even get me going on the plastic Catachans...

Anyway, that all changed on Saturday the 8th October when during their online preview show, Games Workshop revealed brand new Cadian Shock Troops, along with a new Command Squad, a Commissar, Field Ordnance batteries, Heavy Weapon teams and a lightweight Scout variant of the already shown Armoured Sentinel. Not only that, there's going to be a new army box on the way ahead of the main release, much like they did with the Black Templars and Leagues of Votann, and this kind of ties in with my previous blog entry. The new Cadians/Guard look amazing, and once again I felt the familiar 'I must have these' urge. 

The new box will be called Cadia Stands, and will contain 20 Cadian Shock troops, a Field Ordnance Battery, a Command Squad and a Sentinel which can be built as the either the Armoured or the Scout Variant. There'll also be a limited edition Codex and presumably some transfers. They didn't show the Codex as apparently the cover shows a new character riding a mechanical horse, which immediately made me think of the old BraveStarr cartoon - if they don't call the horse Thirty/Thirty then they've missed a trick!

I've never had a Guard army, but I've always wanted one. I've bought bits here and there - I had the old metal Valhallans, some Tallarn troopers with special weapons, and I've got a Valkyrie in a box somewhere along with a half built Wyvern. I've even bought and sold a Taurox, some Orgryns and Scions when I got a bit giddy once, but I never quite fully committed. Now, I have to admit I'm tempted, and I hadn't just bought the Leagues of Votann stuff I'd be declaring myself all in right here right now.

I'm tempted because not only does it all look amazing, there was a key piece of information in the reveal that made my ears prick up like a cat hearing a food pouch open from 6 miles away.

We can mix regiments again. Imperial Guard armies can once again have different squads from different regiments, just like the old days, and for me this is fantastic.

Not only does it mean we'll see armies with tons of variety, its also gives us hope that other regiments might get the Cadian treatment, and if they make new plastic Catachan Jungle fighters, plastic Valhallan Ice Warriors and plastic Tallarn Desert Raiders, then we are right back at the start of this blog entry:

My wallet will break before the Guard does.