New Warhammer goes on pre-order almost every Saturday: 21 of the 22 Saturdays from 16 May to 10 October 2026. Some Black Library special editions open at 3pm on the Wednesday instead.
Games Workshop pre-orders go live on a Saturday, almost every week. From 16 May to 10 October 2026, Warhammer Community ran a Saturday Pre-orders article on 21 of the 22 Saturdays. The week's releases are shown first in the Sunday Preview on Warhammer Community, and they go on pre-order the following Saturday on warhammer.com and at independent shops the same day. Games Workshop does not print a UK opening time in its FAQ. For big launches it posts a graphic with the time in each region, and the French independent My Hobby Place says pre-orders go online at 11am Paris time, which is 10am in the UK. The exception to plan for is the Black Library special edition: four of them since late August opened at 3pm UK time on the Wednesday after. Special editions often sell out before the week is over.
Saturday. The warhammer.com FAQ, read again on 11 October 2026, says: "New products are available to pre-order on our webstore almost every Saturday. Pre-orders will usually dispatch after the official launch day." The same FAQ warns that "certain new products will have a different pre-order period", so the Saturday rule is a habit rather than a promise.
The week runs in a fixed order. On Sunday, Warhammer Community publishes a Sunday Preview of what goes up next. The preview on 31 May 2026, for example, said the Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon boxed set "goes on pre-order next Saturday". On Saturday a Saturday Pre-orders article goes up listing every product, and the webstore opens them.
How often is "almost every"? Warhammer Community's news feed, read on 11 October 2026, lists 22 Saturdays from 16 May to 10 October and a Saturday Pre-orders article on 21 of them. The one without was 30 May, when the site ran a piece called Get Ready for Armageddon, a week before the new edition's boxed set went up on 6 June. A Sunday Preview went out on all 21 Sundays from 17 May to 4 October.
Games Workshop does not give a UK time in its FAQ. For its biggest launches it posts one: the Armageddon preview told readers "here's what time you'll be able to pre-order the boxed set in your area" and showed the times in a graphic rather than in the text. Independent shops publish their own. My Hobby Place, a French shop, says pre-orders "go online on Saturday morning at 11am (Paris time)", which is 10am UK time, since Paris is always an hour ahead.
Watch for the exceptions in the Saturday article itself. The one that keeps coming up is the Black Library special edition. The Saturday Pre-orders article of 29 August 2026 listed the week's releases as usual, but its special edition book, Raldoron: Revenant, was "available to pre-order at 3pm BST on Wednesday 2nd September". The same note appeared three more times in the next five weeks: Blackheart: Claws of the Maelstrom on Wednesday 9 September, Helbrecht: Sin of Hope on Wednesday 23 September and Cold Covenant "from 3pm UK time on Wednesday 7 October 2026". None of the four was there to buy on the Saturday. It is not every special edition, though. Deathwatch (Special Edition) was listed on 22 August with no separate time.
These are the eight Saturday Pre-orders articles from 22 August to 10 October 2026, each read on Warhammer Community on 11 October. The third column is what Games Workshop itself marked "only available while stocks last", and those are the products to be quick on. The fourth is anything that did not follow the Saturday rule.
| Saturday | What led the week | Marked while stocks last | Different day or deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 August | New Orks and Codex: Orks | Codex: Orks Collector's Edition, the Command Pack, the Orks dice, Deathwatch (Special Edition) and the illustrated Ghazghkull Thraka: Prophet of the Waaagh! | Made to Order Skaven and Middle-earth models, open until 8am UK time on 1 September |
| 29 August | Custodes Battle Group and Old World Battle March Armies | Raldoron: Revenant (Special Edition) | Raldoron: Revenant (Special Edition) at 3pm BST on Wednesday 2 September |
| 5 September | Goliath and Escher gangs for Necromunda | The Goliath and Escher card packs and dice, and Blackheart: Claws of the Maelstrom (Special Edition) | Blackheart: Claws of the Maelstrom (Special Edition) at 3pm UK time on Wednesday 9 September |
| 12 September | Sons of Behemat for Age of Sigmar | The Stomper Tribe box, the Brawlers of Behemat box, and the Gamer's Edition battletome, Warscroll Cards and dice | None listed |
| 19 September | New Space Marines and Codex: Space Marines | Codex: Space Marines Collector's Edition and Limited Edition, the Command Pack, the dice and Helbrecht: Sin of Hope (Special Edition) | Helbrecht: Sin of Hope (Special Edition) at 3pm UK time on Wednesday 23 September |
| 26 September | Made to Order Orks and Christmas gifts | Nothing marked | The Made to Order Orks were open until 8am UK time on 5 October |
| 3 October | Adeptus Custodes and Codex: Adeptus Custodes | Codex: Adeptus Custodes Collector's Edition and Limited Edition, the Command Pack, the dice and Cold Covenant (Special Edition) | Cold Covenant (Special Edition) from 3pm UK time on Wednesday 7 October |
| 10 October | Warhammer Tone Pro paints | Nothing marked | None listed |
When a codex comes out, the same extras carry the while stocks last mark each time: the Collector's Edition, the Command Pack and the dice, plus a Limited Edition for the Space Marines and the Custodes. That happened on 22 August, 19 September and 3 October. Some weeks have nothing limited in them. The Tone Pro launch on 10 October was 150 paints, two mediums and four drybrushes, and none of it was marked.
Two reasons: special editions are made in small numbers, and independent shops only get a share. On the first, the warhammer.com FAQ is blunt. Limited and special editions "are usually available in very small quantities and are often exclusive to warhammer.com - in most cases they sell out during the pre-order week!" A product marked "only available while stocks last" in the Saturday article is the one to be quick on. The 22 August 2026 pre-orders put that label on the Codex: Orks Collector's Edition, the Command Pack and the Orks dice.
On the second, an independent can only sell what Games Workshop gives it. Wargame Portal's help page says Games Workshop provides "product allocations", meaning how many units a shop may put up for pre-order, and that for high-demand releases "allocations can be cut down to single-digit quantities from Games Workshop itself". Once that is gone, the shop shows sold out, even while warhammer.com still has stock. My Hobby Place describes the same thing from the other side: Games Workshop confirms a "pre-stock" for each product, which is guaranteed but only arrives on the release day. If you collect Pokemon cards as well, our guide to Pokemon pre-orders in the UK covers when those shops open theirs.
UK shops label this in their own words. Wayland Games' FAQ, read on 19 September 2026, uses "Pre-Order Now" and "Pre-Order Allocation Sold", which it defines as sold out "of our allocated pre-order stock". It also says "some stock arrives in waves", and that restocks from suppliers typically take "between one and four weeks" to reach its warehouse. So a sold-out pre-order at one shop is not the end. Another shop may have allocation left, and the first may restock after release.
The labels on the webstore decide whether it is worth waiting. These are Games Workshop's own definitions from the warhammer.com FAQ, read again on 11 October 2026.
| Label | What Games Workshop says it means | Can it come back? |
|---|---|---|
| Selling Fast | Expected to sell out quickly and "may not come back into stock for some time or at all" | Maybe, not soon |
| Available While Stocks Last | Limited availability, "where we expect demand to exceed available stocks" | Not promised |
| Temporarily Out of Stock | Not available to order now, but "may become available to order again if and when stock becomes available" | Yes, possibly |
| Email me (in place of Add to Cart) | Out of stock, and the button sends "an email alert when the item is back in stock" | Yes, possibly |
| Sold Out Online | "The product won't be coming back into the Warhammer webstore". It may still be in a Warhammer store | Not online |
| Last Chance to Buy | Leaving the current range and "will be gone soon" | Not planned |
| Made to Order | Available to order for a limited period and made for you, produced over a timeframe shown on the product page | Only while the window is open |
Games Workshop also reserves the right to bring a Sold Out Online or Last Chance to Buy product back, "either to general stock or on a made to order basis", so gone is not always gone for good. Made to Order windows are short and dated. The 22 August 2026 Made to Order models were "available until 8am UK time on 1 September 2026" and ship "within 180 days of ordering". The classic Orks that went up on 26 September were open "until 08:00am UK time on 5 October 2026", nine days later. If LEGO's version of this is more familiar, our guide to LEGO Retiring Soon covers how that badge behaves.
Read Sunday's preview
The Sunday Preview on Warhammer Community tells you what goes on pre-order the following Saturday, and big launches get a timing graphic.
Check Saturday's article for exceptions
Look for a different day or time next to a product, and for while stocks last on the limited ones.
Pick your shop before it opens
warhammer.com holds the special editions. An independent only has its allocation, so have a second shop in mind.
Order before Sunday 10pm for in-store collection
Games Workshop's FAQ says pre-orders placed before 10pm BST on the Sunday of the pre-order weekend can usually be collected from a Warhammer store on release day.
If it sells out, watch the product page
Allocation sold and Temporarily Out of Stock can both turn back into stock, and some shops get stock in waves.
Yes. warhammer.com's Email me button does it for its own store. For independents, where stock arriving in waves means a sold-out product can reappear after release, a restock monitor on the product page is the quicker route. On StockWatch, paste the product page into a universal monitor and you get a restock alert when the label changes back to in stock. Our guide to restock alerts in the UK covers the setup, and why a restock alert can arrive after the stock has gone explains how often to check.
Saturday, almost every week. Games Workshop's FAQ says new products are on pre-order almost every Saturday, and Warhammer Community ran a Saturday Pre-orders article on 21 of the 22 Saturdays from 16 May to 10 October 2026. The Sunday Preview shows them the Sunday before. Some products have a different pre-order period, which the Saturday article notes.
Games Workshop's FAQ does not give one, but it posts a regional timing graphic for big launches. The French shop My Hobby Place says pre-orders go online at 11am Paris time, which is 10am UK time.
Often not. Four of them between 29 August and 3 October 2026 were listed in the Saturday article but opened at 3pm UK time on the following Wednesday: Raldoron: Revenant, Blackheart: Claws of the Maelstrom, Helbrecht: Sin of Hope and Cold Covenant. Check the line under the book in that Saturday's article.
The product cannot be ordered right now, but Games Workshop says it may become available to order again if and when stock becomes available. Sold Out Online is different: it means the product will not come back to the webstore.
Independent shops get an allocation from Games Workshop, and for popular releases it can be very small. Once that allocation is sold the shop shows sold out, whatever warhammer.com has.
Games Workshop says pre-orders usually dispatch after the official launch day. Order before 10pm BST on the Sunday of the pre-order weekend and you can usually collect from a Warhammer store on release day.
Watch a sold-out pre-order Five monitors free, checked every 60 seconds. Alerts to email or Discord.