Warhammer 40k fans in several Reddit communities have reported that Games Workshop is recalling the Maelstrom Battalion: Drukhari box set due to a "quality issue". Though GW hasn't publicly acknowledged what the problem is, it seems that it's missing a squad of five hover-board riding Hellions - and there's an unboxing video to prove it.
The Maelstrom Battalion: Drukhari box is a themed bundle of kits that ties into the latest narrative expansion for Warhammer 40k, and - like most GW army box sets - it offers a good discount compared to buying the contents separately, particularly for those hoping to start collecting a new Warhammer 40k faction. The scheduled release date for the kit was advertised as Saturday February 28, but it has now disappeared from the Warhammer webstore.
Reports that the box set had been recalled began to circulate on Monday, with fans reporting cancelled orders, whether they were placed with Games Workshop directly or an independent game store. Redditor bigsquig9448 shared a screenshot of an email apparently sent by GW's trade account team, which states "There is a quality issue with the product 99120112061 45-27 The Maelstrom Battalion; Drukhari. Unfortunately, this means we are withdrawing it from sale".
It recommends they should "Dispose of it at your earliest convenience", and promises that GW "Will process a full refund for this item as soon as possible". Wargamer has reached out to GW to confirm that this is accurate, and to comment on what has occurred. We'll update this article as soon as we get a response.
Various members of r/Drukhari and other subreddits report that local game stores which already received the box have opened them up to work out what the problem is - and discovered that a squad of five hellions advertised on the packaging isn't in the set. YouTuber MiniaturesRundown has a short unboxing video that seems to confirm the problem.
If your hopes for starting a Drukhari army have been dashed by this unfortunate mishap, come and commiserate with the friendly folks in the Wargamer Discord community. For a roundup of our best stories every week, make sure you sign up to the regular Wargamer newsletter!