Games Workshop opened pre-orders for a new Warhammer 40k Combat Patrol box at 10 AM UK time on a Saturday. The launch allocation included a hard-cap limited edition variant with an alternate-art sprue. By 10:23 AM UK, the limited edition was sold out globally. By Saturday evening, the same box was listed on eBay UK and US at 2.5x retail. Hobbyists in the US who hadn't set an alarm for 5 AM Eastern were out of luck on the limited edition and waiting on the standard variant for the 6-12 week ship window.
This is the Games Workshop release cycle. New 40k and Age of Sigmar models go up for pre-order on a Saturday morning UK schedule, with new releases dropping nearly every week. Some pre-orders are open-ended (any quantity, ships in 1-2 weeks). Others are limited editions, anniversary boxes, or special tie-in releases with hard allocation caps that sell through in tens of minutes. Layered on top is the Made to Order program, which opens windows on legacy out-of-production figures for 1-2 weeks per opening, then closes them again. The Made to Order windows often open without a press calendar entry.
This guide covers how the Games Workshop pre-order, restock, and Made to Order systems work, what to watch for at each, and how to set up monitoring that catches activations within the hour they go live.
Quick Setup
Pick which factions and release type to watch, and preview your pre-order alerts.
Why Monitoring Warhammer Pages Matters
The Games Workshop release model has multiple distinct channels, each with different dynamics.
Saturday Pre-Order Windows Are Calendar-Locked
New 40k, Age of Sigmar, and Horus Heresy releases open for pre-order on a Saturday morning UK schedule (10 AM UK, roughly 5 AM Eastern and 2 AM Pacific depending on daylight saving). For most releases, this is open-ended pre-order with a 1-2 week ship window. The Saturday calendar is announced 1-2 weeks ahead through the Warhammer Community site, but the exact products often aren't fully previewed until the day before.
Limited Edition Box Sets Sell Through in Minutes
Anniversary boxes (Christmas-themed Battleforce boxes, anniversary boxes, hard-cap limited editions tied to specific story events) have hard allocation caps and sell through within 15-60 minutes of pre-order opening. These are the highest-value monitoring targets because the only path to retail pricing is catching the activation in real time.
Made to Order Windows Open Sporadically
The Made to Order program runs out-of-production legacy figures through a 1-2 week order window, after which the window closes and the figure returns to "out of production" status. Made to Order openings are announced through the Warhammer Community site but the exact opening times and the specific included figures aren't always preview content. For collectors completing legacy armies, catching these windows is the only path to acquiring specific older figures at official pricing.
Perennially Sold-Out Kits Restock Sporadically
Some specific kits stay backorder for months at a time and restock without warning. Knowing the moment a kit returns to in-stock status is the difference between buying immediately and waiting weeks for the next restock.
How Games Workshop Pages Behave
The major monitoring targets are the Pre-Orders page, the Made to Order section, and specific product pages.
Pre-Orders page. warhammer.com/en-US/shop/pre-orders lists the current weekend's pre-order releases. The page updates Saturday morning UK with the new products.
Made to Order page. warhammer.com/en-US/shop/madetoorder lists the currently-open Made to Order figures. When a window closes, the figure disappears; when a new window opens, the figure appears.
Product pages. Individual product URLs reflect inventory state. Limited edition box sets show a "Limited" badge or sell-out state.
Warhammer Community. The Community site (warhammer-community.com) publishes the weekly preview of upcoming releases on Sundays and the daily article schedule throughout the week. Monitoring catches the preview articles that telegraph next Saturday's pre-orders.
A typical Games Workshop product URL looks like this:
https://www.warhammer.com/en-US/shop/[product-slug]When pre-orders or stock are active, the Add to Cart button is functional. When inventory is exhausted, the button changes state.
Comparing Monitoring Approaches
| Approach | Cost | Latency | Coverage | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Warhammer email newsletter | Free with account | Hours | Headline releases | Casual hobbyists |
| Warhammer Community RSS | Free | Minutes | Article-level | Readers who want preview coverage |
| Reddit r/Warhammer40k, r/ageofsigmar | Free | Variable | Crowd-sourced | Lurkers willing to scroll |
| Discord faction-specific servers | Free | Minutes | Community-curated | Active hobbyists in specific armies |
| PageCrawl on GW URLs | Free tier to $80/yr | 15-60 minutes | Any URL you choose | Hobbyists, players, and resellers who want first-look access |
The Warhammer Community RSS is the best non-monitoring option but it covers articles, not the actual pre-order page activations. PageCrawl gives you direct page-level monitoring with no community filtering required.
Setting Up Warhammer Monitoring in PageCrawl
Step 1: Add the core Games Workshop pages
Start with these:
https://www.warhammer.com/en-US/shop/pre-orders
https://www.warhammer.com/en-US/shop/madetoorder
https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-us/The pre-orders page catches Saturday activations, Made to Order catches window openings, and Warhammer Community catches preview articles.
Step 2: Add specific product pages for previewed releases
When Warhammer Community previews an upcoming release (typically Sunday for the following Saturday), add the specific product URL once it goes live with a "Coming Soon" or pre-order state. The notification fires the moment pre-orders activate.
Step 3: Add faction-specific category pages
Most hobbyists collect within specific factions. Add the faction category page (warhammer.com/en-US/shop/space-marines, warhammer.com/en-US/shop/orks, etc.) for your armies. New releases for that faction appear on the faction page when pre-orders activate.
Step 4: Pick the right check frequency
Warhammer is hour-scale for most releases, minute-scale for limited editions. A reasonable layering:
- Pre-Orders page: 15-30 minutes Friday evening through Saturday afternoon (US time, when UK Saturday pre-orders activate), daily otherwise.
- Made to Order page: 60 minutes. Window openings are weekly events at most.
- Warhammer Community home: Hourly. Preview articles publish on a known schedule but exact timing shifts.
- Specific previewed limited edition product pages: 5-15 minutes during the expected Saturday morning activation window.
- Faction category pages: Daily, hourly during active pre-order weekends.
Step 5: Configure notifications
For limited edition box drops, use a fast channel (web push, Telegram). For broader pre-order and Made to Order monitoring, email or daily digest works fine. See the email alerts guide for the channel walkthrough.
Step 6: Organize by army or release type
Create folders for your armies (Space Marines, Necrons, Stormcast, etc.) and for "Made to Order" and "Limited Editions." The folder views show recent activity at a glance.
Worked Example: A Collector's Multi-Faction Setup
A hobbyist collecting Space Marines, Necrons, and Stormcast Eternals set up the following:
- GW Pre-Orders page on 15-minute checks Friday-Saturday US time, daily otherwise
- Made to Order page on 60-minute checks
- Warhammer Community home on hourly checks
- Three faction category pages on daily checks
- Five specific previewed limited edition product pages on 5-minute checks during expected Saturday activations
- All alerts routed to a personal Discord channel with AI summaries
Over a 6-month period, the collector caught all 24 Saturday pre-order activations for their factions, 3 Made to Order window openings (sourced 2 legacy figures), and one Christmas Battleforce limited edition. Estimated savings versus secondary market on the limited edition alone: roughly $180. Standard plan cost: $80.
Patterns Worth Watching
Saturday 10 AM UK pre-order activations. Standard weekly releases activate at 10 AM UK time. The first 60 minutes catch all standard pre-orders; the first 15-30 minutes are critical for limited editions.
Sunday Warhammer Community preview articles. The Sunday preview article typically lists what's launching the following Saturday. Catching this informs which product pages to add as monitors.
Holiday-window special releases. October-December sees the heaviest limited edition release calendar, with anniversary boxes, Christmas Battleforce boxes, and tie-in releases. Monitoring frequency should ramp up during this window.
Mid-week Made to Order openings. Made to Order windows often open on Tuesdays or Wednesdays without weekend tie-in. Hourly monitoring of the Made to Order page catches these.
Cycle-end restocks on perennial backorders. Specific kits restock as production cycles complete. Restock timing is unpredictable but tends to concentrate around mid-month and end-of-month.
Advanced Patterns: Beyond GW Direct
A complete Warhammer monitoring workflow extends past Games Workshop itself.
Combine with Forge World listings. Forge World (GW's specialty resin range) operates on a separate page and a different release cadence. Worth monitoring for Horus Heresy collectors.
Combine with Black Library. Black Library novels and limited editions are the literary tie-in to the Warhammer hobby. Monitoring catches limited edition novel drops.
Combine with independent retailer pre-orders. Element Games, Wayland Games, and other UK independents sometimes carry pre-orders with discounted pricing.
Combine with secondary market signals. eBay UK and US sold listings for limited editions inform which upcoming releases to prioritize.
Use Cases
Hobbyists collecting specific armies. Anyone collecting one or more 40k or AoS armies depends on first-look access to new releases for that faction. Missing a Saturday pre-order means waiting weeks for the next restock.
Competitive players. Tournament players preparing for events like the Las Vegas Open or UK GTs need to acquire new releases quickly for army building. Same-day pre-order access keeps competitive prep on schedule.
Resellers focused on limited editions. Christmas Battleforce boxes, anniversary boxes, and tie-in releases have predictable secondary-market premiums (1.5-3x retail). Resellers operating in this space generate meaningful per-release margins.
Legacy army completionists. Hobbyists completing legacy Horus Heresy or out-of-production army lists depend on Made to Order window openings. The monitoring is the only practical path to catching openings.
Local game store owners. Independent LGS owners managing pre-orders for customers benefit from same-day awareness of Saturday activations.
Painters and content creators. Hobby painters and YouTube content creators sourcing new releases for paint tutorials and battle reports benefit from same-day access.
Frequently Asked Questions
How often does Games Workshop release new pre-orders? Almost every Saturday. Some weeks have larger releases (faction-focused launches), others have smaller releases (single character models or accessories).
What happens when a Made to Order window closes? The figure returns to "out of production" status and the only path to acquisition becomes the secondary market. Made to Order windows for popular legacy figures often command secondary-market premiums of 2-4x.
Can I monitor in-store-only Warhammer event releases? Warhammer World and store-exclusive releases are typically not listed on the main store URL. They require in-person attendance or specialty store ordering.
What about Forge World vs main GW? Forge World is a separate site (forgeworld.co.uk) with its own release cadence and a different shipping model. The main warhammer.com site doesn't reflect Forge World inventory.
Do I need a paid plan? For a 3-4 page setup (Pre-Orders, Made to Order, Community, one faction page), the free plan works. For active collectors or resellers monitoring multiple factions and specific product pages, Standard at $80/year is the right tier.
Will I get noise alerts on small page changes? With AI summaries enabled, no. PageCrawl describes which specific products were added to pre-order or which Made to Order figures opened.
Choosing your PageCrawl plan
PageCrawl's Free plan lets you monitor 6 pages with 220 checks per month, which is enough to validate the approach on your most critical pages. Most teams graduate to a paid plan once they see the value.
| Plan | Price | Pages | Checks / month | Frequency |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 6 | 220 | every 60 min |
| Standard | $8/mo or $80/yr | 100 | 15,000 | every 15 min |
| Enterprise | $30/mo or $300/yr | 500 | 100,000 | every 5 min |
| Ultimate | $99/mo or $999/yr | 1,000 | 100,000 | every 2 min |
Annual billing saves two months across every paid tier. Enterprise and Ultimate scale up to 100x if you need thousands of pages or multi-team access.
If monitoring helps you land one sold-out concert ticket pair, one limited sneaker drop, or one in-demand product at retail instead of resale, Standard at $80/year is already paid for. 100 monitored pages covers every major retailer you care about, and the 15-minute check frequency catches most drops the moment they go live.
Getting Started
Add the Games Workshop Pre-Orders, Made to Order, and Warhammer Community pages to PageCrawl. Create a free account, set frequency to 15-30 minutes Friday-Saturday US time and hourly during the rest of the week, and route alerts to web push or Discord.
Once you start catching Saturday activations, expand the setup to include faction-specific category pages for your armies and specific previewed limited edition product pages during expected drop windows. The Standard plan at $80/year covers a complete multi-faction Warhammer watchlist with room for Made to Order and Warhammer Community coverage.