Dwarfs getting a new book in 2012?

With the Ogre Kingdoms book on advance order, it's time to think about the next book to be released. Isn't that always the way with wargamers?

There is plenty of speculation and rumour on the next book, but the most reliable guesses seem to be one of three contenders - Bretonnia, Dwarfs or Wood Elves. I have no idea if these are the only contenders, they are the ones most often cropping up in internet forums, but only a handful of GW employees know for sure. It would be nice if all three of these were released in 2012, more than a year into the new version and only two books released with a third around the corner is not the best support to my mind.

I have a small collection of wood elves, currently on hold until I get some idea of how they will develop in the next book. I have a much larger collection of dwarfs, pretty much one of every unit, more than half of them painted too. So it's the dwarfs that get most of my attention at the moment. I have recently painted up a unit of the new Avatars of War berserkers and am currently working on a unit of dwarf rangers. Once these are completed I will have around 2500 points of painted units, with enough bare metal/plastic to add at least another 1000 points. That's a lot of beards.

When the new book is released I do not intend to shelve any of these models. I don't play in tournaments so I don't have to optimise my choices. I usually play in narrative style campaigns/games, where the unfolding story and spectacle of battle is more important than the outcome. Thus I fully expect to continue fielding the same units and characters I have been building up over the past few years.

I have to confess that I have not been overly impressed with some elements of 8th edition. The move to mass casualties, devastating magic, laser guided artillery and the like are the main areas that concern me. The game seems to have changed from a considered tactical challenge to a more hectic, random dice fest. That's not to say I don't enjoy 8th edition, because I do (mostly), it's just different now.  I wonder how dwarfs will fit into this fast paced, blood soaked, magic infused universe without making major changes to the classic dwarf character.  In fact, I am slightly worried about what effect a new book might have on the dwarfs.

A further move toward a steampunk image will not be good for me. I am concerned about rumours of mechanical statues/constructs. These smack too much of chaos or magic devices to my mind. A steam tank might be feasible, but that has already been done by the Empire and is very close to what's happening with the new chaos dwarf range. A zeppelin/flying machine has also been mentioned, but again this would overlap with the gyrocopter and seems to duplicate rather than innovate. A new artillery piece might be an option, but it's difficult to think how it could be much different to the current collection.

Maybe none of these will come to pass and the dwarfs will stubbornly cling on to the old ways, but somehow I doubt it. Whichever way the dwarfs are taken in the next book, I really hope that GW consider their older customers and avoid the wow-awesome-cool-massive-model syndrome of recent releases. Ask any dwarf and they will tell you - bigger is not always better.