Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Spearhead is Hachette Partworks' weekly Age of Sigmar magazine, and it is on sale now. Each issue comes with miniatures or paints, and over a planned 90 issues it builds a run of complete Spearhead armies. This guide lists every issue we have a record of and sets what's inside against the retail kits. It also shows where a run of issues rebuilds one of Games Workshop's own Spearhead boxes, so you can decide between subscribing, buying single issues and just buying the box.
We haven't subscribed to Spearhead. Our first-hand experience is with its 40k sister, the Combat Patrol magazine, and everything below comes from the published issue record and our own catalogue. The sources are listed at the end, with how far each one can be trusted.
The short answer
Is the Spearhead magazine worth it? For the models, yes. We can price 28 of the 49 miniature releases against the RRP of the same kit today. Those 46 issues cost £456.54 at cover price, against £1,065.00 of RRP for the same plastic. That's £608.46 saved, or 57.1%, and none of those 28 releases costs more than the models inside it.
Where does it lose money? In the paint and terrain issues, the same place every Hachette partwork does. There are 18 of them across the 90.
Should you subscribe or buy the box? Where a run of issues matches a Spearhead box model for model, the UK issues cost between 57% and 80% of the box's UK RRP. That's the best case for the magazine, and it's covered below.
What is it?
Spearhead is the partwork version of Age of Sigmar's Spearhead format, the small-army game played with one boxed Spearhead force a side. Hachette launched it in the UK. FauxHammer's list records editions in Ireland (on the UK schedule), Germany, the US, Spain and Austria, all with the same issue numbering, so the issue list below applies wherever you buy it.
- UK launch: issue 1 on 4 March 2026, issue 2 on 18 March, then weekly.
- Length: 90 issues planned, in Hachette's own words ("There are currently 90 issues planned").
- Price: £2.99 for issue 1, £6.99 for issue 2, then £9.99. Double issues, where one kit is split across two parts, cost £19.98 for the pair.
- Where it stands: Hachette lists issues 1 to 29 for sale as of 27 September 2026. Issue 30 is due on 30 September.
- Premium tier: £2.50 an issue on top, for four bigger kits (see premium kits).
The run opens with the Stormcast Eternals and Skaven from the Skaventide starter set. After that it's one army at a time: Seraphon, Slaves to Darkness, Ossiarch Bonereapers, Maggotkin of Nurgle, Soulblight Gravelords, Cities of Sigmar, Sylvaneth, Gloomspite Gitz, Idoneth Deepkin and Lumineth Realm-lords. That's ten more armies after the opening pair.
Every issue and what's inside
Kit names link to their pages on this site, which show every shop we track that sells them in your market. Paint names link to each pot's page. A range like 15-16 is a double issue: one kit split across two parts, and you need both.
The record is only as good as its sources, and those change at issue 45. Issues 1-29 are on sale now. For 30-45, Hachette has supplied UK covers and two fan lists agree on the contents. From issue 46 on, the contents come from Spanish-edition retailer listings, with the UK order assumed to match. Treat those issues as announced, not confirmed.
On sale now: issues 1-29
| Issue | Contents |
|---|---|
| 1 | Lord-Veritant with Gryph-crow + Grey Seer + Warlock Engineer |
| 2 | 3 Rat Ogors |
| 3 | 5 Liberators |
| 4 | Retributor Armour, Abaddon Black, Starter Brush |
| 5 | Karnus the Seeker (Lord-Celestant), with a Large Base Brush |
| 6 | Kantor Blue, Rhinox Hide |
| 7-8 | 20 Clanrats |
| 9 | Leadbelcher, Mephiston Red |
| 10 | 3 Prosecutors |
| 11 | Lord-Vigilant on Gryph-stalker |
| 12 | Agrax Earthshade, Corax White, Wraithbone, Medium Shade Brush |
| 13 | Clawlord on Gnaw-beast |
| 14 | Drakenhof Nightshade, Calgar Blue |
| 15-16 | 10 Saurus Warriors, with a Small Drybrush in issue 15 |
| 17 | Fire and Jade terrain |
| 18-19 | 3 Kroxigor |
| 20-21 | Saurus Oldblood on Carnosaur |
| 22 | Catachan Flesh, Runelord Brass |
| 23 | Chaos Lord |
| 24 | Incubi Darkness, Screamer Pink |
| 25-26 | 10 Chaos Warriors |
| 27-28 | 5 Chaos Knights |
| 29 | Mechanicus Standard Grey, Jokaero Orange |
Issues 1 and 11 are the Skaventide starter set's push-fit characters, which Games Workshop has never sold on their own, and Karnus in issue 5 is exclusive to the partwork. None of the three has a retail price to compare against. The Clanrats in 7-8 go unpriced for a different reason: the kit we list is the superseded one, and pricing the new models off it would be wrong.
Announced, with UK covers: issues 30-45
| Issue | Contents |
|---|---|
| 30-31 | Chaos Chariot |
| 32 | Nuln Oil, Pallid Wych Flesh |
| 33 | Mortisan Soulreaper |
| 34 | 10 Mortek Guard |
| 35 | Averland Sunset, Reikland Fleshshade |
| 36 | Gothizzar Harvester |
| 37-38 | 5 Kavalos Deathriders |
| 39 | 10 Mortek Guard |
| 40 | Orruk Flesh, Biel-Tan Green |
| 41 | Sand and Bone terrain |
| 42 | Skulls basing accessories |
| 43 | Spoilpox Scrivener |
| 44-45 | 10 Plaguebearers |
Expected: issues 46-90
These are reported contents, not confirmed ones. Check each issue on Hachette's site once it goes on sale.
| Issue | Contents |
|---|---|
| 46-47 | 5 Putrid Blightkings |
| 48-49 | 2 Pusgoyle Blightlords |
| 50 | Vampire Lord |
| 51 | Knight-Questor Flesh, Stirland Mud |
| 52 | 10 Deathrattle Skeletons |
| 53 | 10 Deathrattle Skeletons |
| 54-55 | 3 Vargheists |
| 56-57 | 5 Blood Knights |
| 58 | Stormhost Silver, Sybarite Green |
| 59-60 | 10 Freeguild Steelhelms |
| 61 | Freeguild Cavalier-Marshal |
| 62 | Wild Rider Red, Pink Horror |
| 63-64 | 5 Freeguild Cavaliers |
| 65-66 | Ironweld Great Cannon |
| 67 | Administratum Grey, Yriel Yellow |
| 68 | Branchwych |
| 69 | 5 Tree-Revenants |
| 70-71 | Treelord |
| 72-73 | 3 Kurnoth Hunters |
| 74 | Loonboss |
| 75 | 20 Moonclan Stabbas |
| 76-77 | 10 Squig Hoppers |
| 78-79 | 3 Rockgut Troggoths |
| 80 | Isharann Soulscryer |
| 81 | 10 Namarti Thralls |
| 82 | 3 Akhelian Morrsarr Guard |
| 83-84 | Akhelian Allopex |
| 85 | Scinari Cathallar |
| 86-87 | 10 Vanari Auralan Sentinels |
| 88-89 | 10 Vanari Auralan Wardens |
| 90 | 5 Vanari Bladelords |
The real savings, in numbers
This is the same arithmetic as our Combat Patrol record: what the issues cost against the retail price of what's inside. There's one difference. Combat Patrol's record kept each kit's retail price from the time of the run. For Spearhead, which is still running, we use each kit's RRP in our catalogue today. Where an issue has only part of a kit (10 of a 20-model Mortek Guard box, say), it counts as that share of the kit.
| Cover price | Kit RRP today | Saved | |
|---|---|---|---|
| On sale now (1-29), 13 issues | £126.87 | £323.50 | £196.63 |
| Announced (30-45), 6 issues | £59.94 | £112.00 | £52.06 |
| Expected (46-90), 27 issues | £269.73 | £629.50 | £359.77 |
| All 28 priced miniature releases, 46 issues | £456.54 | £1,065.00 | £608.46 (57.1%) |
| The 18 paint, brush and terrain issues | £179.82 | n/a | see below |
So the table covers 46 of the 72 miniature issues. The other 21 releases, 26 issues in all, don't have a price we trust, and here's why:
- The launch models (issues 1 and 11) aren't sold as retail kits, and Karnus (5) is exclusive to the partwork.
- The Clanrats (7-8) are the new kit, and we only list the old one.
- For some kits we list, like the Liberators, Prosecutors, Mortisan Soulreaper, Branchwych and Loonboss, we don't have a current RRP.
- For others, like Tree-Revenants, Kurnoth Hunters, Pusgoyle Blightlords and Namarti Thralls, we can't be sure how many models the retail box has. Without that, we can't work out what share of it an issue gives you.
- The model count we list for the Chaos Chariot doesn't clearly match the one chariot in the issue, so we left it out too.
- The Deathrattle Skeletons and Vargheists (52-55) aren't matched to a kit we list yet.
Leaving an issue out makes the headline figure smaller, never bigger.
Some single issues stand out. Issue 2 is three Rat Ogors, £39.50 at RRP, for £6.99. Issue 13 is a Clawlord on Gnaw-beast, a £40 kit, for £9.99. The expected issue 90 has five Vanari Bladelords, £41 at RRP, for £9.99.
Subscribe, or just buy the box?
This is where Spearhead differs from the other partworks. It builds each army as an exact copy of a Games Workshop Spearhead box. The issue record lines each run of issues up against a box we list, and nine of the ten single-army runs match a box model for model. The tenth is Soulblight Gravelords, whose original Spearhead box we don't list. The launch issues match the Stormcast and Skaven in the Skaventide Spearhead starter set, with Karnus as an extra.
| Army | Issues with the models | Every issue in that stretch | UK issues as a share of the box's UK RRP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seraphon | 6 (15-21) | 7 | 63%, or 74% counting every issue |
| Slaves to Darkness | 7 (23-31) | 9 | no RRP on the listings we track |
| Ossiarch Bonereapers | 6 (33-39) | 7 | 66%, or 77% |
| Maggotkin of Nurgle | 7 (43-49) | 7 | 77% |
| Cities of Sigmar | 7 (59-66) | 8 | 80%, or 91% |
| Sylvaneth | 6 (68-73) | 6 | no RRP on the listings we track |
| Gloomspite Gitz | 6 (74-79) | 6 | 69% |
| Idoneth Deepkin | 5 (80-84) | 5 | 57% |
| Lumineth Realm-lords | 6 (85-90) | 6 | 66% |
The "every issue" column is what a subscriber actually pays for, because the paint and terrain issues come in between the model issues. Buy single issues and you can skip those. The box RRPs are the retail prices on the UK listings we track.
In pounds: one army's model issues cost £49.95 (Idoneth, five issues) to £69.93 (seven issues), against box RRPs of £87.50 to £95. The dearest stretch counting every issue is Slaves to Darkness at £89.91, for a box we have no RRP for.
How to read it:
- If you're subscribing anyway, every UK army with a box RRP costs less in issues than that RRP, even counting the paint issues along the way.
- If you want one army, buying the box can still win. Shops rarely charge full RRP, and a box arrives all at once instead of over five to nine weeks. The cards below show what the shops we track charge today.
- If the box is sold out, the issues may be the only way. Games Workshop's store no longer lists the product codes we track for several of these boxes. From issue 46 on, a single issue could be the easiest way to get a Spearhead you can't find boxed.
Skip to buying back issues for the single-issue route.
The whole Spearhead range, priced box by box, is on the Spearhead boxes page.
Where it loses money
The 18 paint, brush and terrain issues are the weak part of the run. Most carry two pots of Citadel paint, and the Starter Brush in issue 4 and the Medium Shade Brush in 12 are the occasional exceptions. Our Combat Patrol record, which does include retail prices for its paint issues, valued the same two-pot issues at 55% to 75% of the cover price. We haven't priced Spearhead's paint issues ourselves, but they're built the same way and sold at the same UK price.
In pounds, that's £5.50 to £7.50 of paint for £9.99. Spearhead's 18 paint, brush and terrain issues cost £179.82 across the run.
So the advice is the same as for every partwork. A subscription brings the paint issues whether you want them or not. If you're buying single issues, skip them and buy the paints you need, where you can compare prices. The paint names in the tables above link to their pages, which show every shop we track that stocks each one in your market.
The premium kits
Premium subscribers pay extra for four large kits, delivered alongside issues 15, 38, 61 and 84 (Hachette's UK FAQ):
- Ionus Cryptborn
- Great Unclean One
- Katakros, Mortarch of the Necropolis
- Beast-Smasher Mega-Gargant, a kit we don't list yet
Hachette's page shows the four kits as images without names, so the names come from FauxHammer's reading of them.
The UK surcharge is £2.50 an issue. If it runs for all 90 issues, the premium tier costs £225. We can price three of the four kits: Ionus Cryptborn at £92, the Great Unclean One at £109 and Katakros at £74, which comes to £275 at RRP. The Mega-Gargant is on top of that.
Launch subscribers in the UK also got a Knight-Relictor as a gift, for subscribing from issues 1-4 by 31 May 2026. That offer has closed, and the gift was never sold as a back issue.
Buying back issues
You don't have to subscribe to use the magazine. Single issues work the same way they did for Combat Patrol. Find the issue with the kit you want in the tables above, and buy that issue.
Hachette itself lists issues 1-29 for sale, and UK specialist retailers stock individual issues, including pre-orders for the ones still to come.
Back issues, one by one
| Issue | What's in it | Cover price | Retail value | Saving | Buy the back issue |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Issue 1 | 1x Lord-Veritant with Gryph-crow, 1x Grey Seer, 1x Warlock Engineer | £2.99 | not priced | — |
|
 Issue 2 | £6.99 | £39.50 | £32.51 (82.3%) |
| |
 Issue 3 | £9.99 | not priced | — |
| |
 Issue 4 | Paint & accessory issue Retributor Armour, Abaddon Black, Starter Brush | £9.99 | not priced | — |
|
 Issue 5 | 1x Karnus the Seeker (Lord-Celestant) | £9.99 | not priced | — |
|
 Issue 6 | Paint & accessory issue Kantor Blue, Rhinox Hide | £9.99 | not priced | — |
|
 Issue 7–8 | 20x Clanrats | £19.98 | not priced | — |
|
 Issue 9 | Paint & accessory issue Leadbelcher, Mephiston Red | £9.99 | not priced | — |
|
 Issue 10 | £9.99 | not priced | — |
| |
 Issue 11 | 1x Lord-Vigilant on Gryph-stalker | £9.99 | not priced | — |
|
Search by issue number for the kit you want. Check the listing shows the miniatures are still sealed.
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Two things to check before you buy:
- Double issues are two halves of one kit. Issues 15 and 16 each give you half the Saurus Warriors, so you need both.
- Expected issues can change. Issues 46-90 are reported from the Spanish edition, so wait for Hachette's issue page before you rely on one.
Signing up
The subscription runs through Hachette directly. We haven't signed up for this one, but we did subscribe to Combat Patrol through Hachette's UK company. Our notes on that sign-up cover what to expect. The website was clunky, but the phone support was reassuring.
Painting the Spearhead armies
The magazine's paint issues are Citadel, but you don't have to stay with one brand. Each army below has a simple starting recipe, with the most widely owned brands first: Vallejo, Citadel, then The Army Painter. The paint matcher finds the nearest pot in any other brand, and the scheme generator will build a different scheme if you'd rather not follow the magazine's.
Stormcast Eternals
Gold armour, a brown wash for depth and blue cloth, the classic Hammers of Sigmar look. The Stormcast painting guide goes further.
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Skaven
Dark brown fur, grimy metal and a brown wash over everything. See the Skaven guide.
Vallejo
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Army Painter
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Seraphon
Turquoise scales with gold details. The Seraphon guide covers the skin and the Carnosaur.
Vallejo
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Army Painter
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Slaves to Darkness
Black armour with metal trim and a red accent. See the Slaves to Darkness guide.
Vallejo
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Army Painter
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Ossiarch Bonereapers
Bone over a light undercoat, shaded, with dark cloth. See the Ossiarch Bonereapers guide.
Vallejo
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Army Painter
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Maggotkin of Nurgle
Sickly green armour and pale, diseased flesh. See the Nurgle guide.
Vallejo
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Army Painter
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Soulblight Gravelords
Deep red, dark metal and a black wash. See the Soulblight guide.
Vallejo
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Army Painter
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Cities of Sigmar
Freeguild colours vary by city. Blue with yellow and steel is an easy place to start. See the Cities of Sigmar guide.
Vallejo
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Army Painter
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Sylvaneth
Pale bark with green leaves, and a brown wash to bring out the wood grain. See the Sylvaneth guide.
Vallejo
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Army Painter
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Gloomspite Gitz
Black robes, green skin and orange squigs. See the Gloomspite Gitz guide.
Vallejo
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Army Painter
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Idoneth Deepkin
Sea-turquoise and bone, with a deep blue shade. See the Idoneth Deepkin guide.
Vallejo
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Army Painter
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Lumineth Realm-lords
Clean white with gold and a cool blue shade in the recesses. See the Lumineth guide.
Vallejo
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
Army Painter
Citadel (Warhammer Paints)
The tools the issues don't include
The contents lists include brushes and paint but never clippers, a mould-line scraper or glue. You'll need all three before issue 2.
Precision side cutter for close sprue trimming
Army Painter
Citadel mould line remover
Citadel
Liquid polystyrene cement, capillary applicator, 40ml
Tamiya
The catches worth knowing
- Most of the run is still to come. Even in the UK, only issues 1-29 are on sale, and anything after 45 is reported, not confirmed.
- The launch models aren't the retail kits. The Skaventide characters are push-fit starter-set versions, and Karnus is an exclusive.
- A double issue is half a kit each week. Nothing is complete until the second part arrives.
- The paint issues are poor value. Buy the paints where you can compare prices instead.
- Box prices move and issue prices don't. If a shop discounts a Spearhead box heavily, it can beat the issues. Check the box cards above.
Verdict
For the miniatures, the UK edition of Spearhead works out at 57.1% under UK RRP across the 28 releases we can price. Where a run of issues matches a Spearhead box, the UK issues come in below that box's RRP, even counting the paint issues in between. That's the same result Combat Patrol produced for 40k, and with the boxes as a benchmark it's easier to check. If you want several armies and don't mind waiting for them, subscribing is cheap plastic. If you want one army, compare that army's issue cost with the box price above and buy whichever is lower. Either way, source your paints separately.
Spearhead magazine FAQ
What is the Spearhead magazine?
A weekly partwork from Hachette, made with Games Workshop. Each issue comes with miniatures or paints, and over 90 planned issues it builds complete Age of Sigmar Spearhead armies.
How many issues are there, and what's in each?
90 are planned. The full list is above. In the UK, issues 1-29 are on sale, 30-45 have UK covers, and 46-90 are reported from the Spanish edition.
When does it come out?
In the UK, issue 1 came out on 4 March 2026 and issue 2 on 18 March. Since then the UK schedule has put out a new issue each week, with a double issue taking up two weeks.
Where can I buy Spearhead magazine?
From Hachette Partworks, as a subscription or single issues (1-29 as of 27 September 2026). UK specialist retailers stock back issues and pre-orders, and sold-out issues turn up on eBay.
Is it cheaper than buying the Spearhead boxes?
At UK cover prices and UK RRP, yes, for every army we can compare. Against a discounted box, it depends. The comparison table has the numbers.
Where do these figures come from?
The contents come from Hachette's own UK issue pages (1-29) and collection page, FauxHammer's contents list and Sprues & Brews' list. Our record keeps a confidence level for every issue. The prices are Hachette's UK cover prices. The RRPs are the ones in our catalogue today, and the savings are our own arithmetic, done the same way as for Combat Patrol. We never convert pounds into another currency and call it a local price.
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