5 on Friday 30/01/26

It’s Friday, and here on No Rerolls that means it’s time for an all-new 5 on Friday. We’re going to start with 5 exciting releases for this week before moving on to our usual digest of some of our favourite articles from the past week. Of course, we’re slow readers, so don’t be surprised if there are some articles that are a little older – these are just some of the great articles we happen to have actually read in the past week.

Releases & Previews

Every week there are many games, books, and miniatures released. This will probably be a mix of previews, preorders, and releases, and with release dates being the way they are in this industry, it’s always pretty approximate. Excuses out of the way, here are 5 of the releases that caught our attention this week:

Games Workshop releases a new Shelob miniature for the Middle Earth Strategy Battle Game – Games Workshop’s new Shelob for MESBG is a full plastic reimagining of Ungoliant’s most infamous offspring; a far larger, more dynamic sculpt that has her clambering through the tunnels of Cirith Ungol, all jagged limbs, predatory posture, and pure nightmare fuel. It’s a long‑awaited replacement for the old metal kit.

The model captures Shelob mid‑hunt, weaving through a rocky passageway in search of prey, whether that’s Orcs, Hobbits, or anything foolish enough to enter her domain. As part of a reveal that also includes a new Gollum, it’s a centrepiece designed to elevate any Mordor or Cirith Ungol force, combining cinematic presence with the crisp detail of modern MESBG plastics.

Affiliate Links:

Element Games
Element Games (old version)
Wayland Games
Wayland Games (old version)

Stonemaier is taking preorders for the Americas expansion for Wingspan – The Wingspan: Americas Expansion spreads the game southward, adding the brilliantly diverse birds of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. This region is home to more than 3,000 species, including the world’s smallest and largest wingspans.

With 111 new bird cards, a whole suite of hummingbird cards introducing a fresh gameplay twist, new goals, tiles, and full Automa support, this fourth expansion folds a huge burst of colour and biodiversity into Wingspan’s engine‑building rhythm. It looks to be a vibrant, breezy addition that feels instantly at home in the series.

Affiliate Links:

Wayland Games

Mythworks releases their new RPG, PiCO – PiCO is Mythworks’ whimsical new RPG from Felix Isaacs. It’s a post‑human, big‑world‑for‑tiny‑bugs adventure where 2–6 players take on the roles of curious insects exploring abandoned houses, overgrown gardens, roaming pets, and the mysteries left behind after humanity suddenly vanished. It’s bright, characterful, and built on the same imaginative DNA that made The Wildsea stand out.

Across its 355 pages, PiCO offers a full ruleset, roaming sheets, character options, and GM (“Weaver”) tools for telling small‑scale stories with huge heart. These range from solving tiny neighbourhood mysteries to riding cats into danger. It’s a cosy, exploratory RPG with a gentle post‑apocalyptic twist, perfect for groups who want something charming, inventive, and beautifully realised.

Affiliate Links:

DriveThruRPG

Modiphius releases The Norway Projekt for Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 – The Norway Projekt is Modiphius’ newest campaign book for Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20. It plunges players into a chilling, resistance‑driven fight against Mythos forces in occupied Norway. It blends sabotage operations, occult conspiracies, and brutal winter survival into a tense, cinematic theatre of war that expands the game’s northern front in a big way.

Across multiple linked missions, you’ll uncover ancient horrors buried beneath the fjords, clash with Black Sun and Nachtwölfe experiments, and navigate a landscape where the environment is as dangerous as the enemy. It’s a full campaign arc designed to push agents to their limits. It’s atmospheric, pulpy, and packed with the kind of weird‑war storytelling Achtung! Cthulhu does so well.

Affiliate Links:

DriveThruRPG

Days of Wonder to release Rocky Roads, an expansion for Heat – Rocky Roads is the next big expansion for Heat: Pedal to the Metal, adding two new racing tracks that push drivers into loose gravel, spinning corners, and high‑risk manoeuvres.

Set for release in early 2026, the expansion keeps the core game’s fast, tactical pacing while introducing fresh terrain challenges and new ways to test your engine management.

Affiliate Links:

Element Games
Wayland Games

Blog Posts & Articles

The meat of 5 on Friday, the articles are listed in no particular order, so let’s get into some recommendations:

Dude, where’s my mana: Lorwyn Eclipsed Pre-release & Commanders @ The Kind GM – A quick, upbeat recap of the Lorwyn Eclipsed prerelease and its Commander decks. It includes some sharp complaints about price hikes and missing extras, and an overall verdict that the set lands strongly even if the decks have a few issues.

Reflection on 2025 / Did I get better at AoS yet? @ Woehammer – A warm, self‑aware reflection on a year of trying to level up at Age of Sigmar between juggling house moves, dwindling in‑person games, coaching breakthroughs, TTS tournaments, shifting armies, and the eternal quest for that consistent 4–1. It’s part progress report, part hobby confession, part pep‑talk, and ultimately a thoughtful look at how improvement in competitive AoS is rarely linear, often messy, and always shaped by life outside the table.

Curseborne: Onyx Path’s next dark world @ Cannibal Halfling Gaming – A clear, grounded look at Curseborne, this review explains why Onyx Path built a new supernatural horror game after the end of Chronicles of Darkness, how Storypath Ultra underpins it, and what sets its Lineages, Families, and Accursed/Outside framing apart from World of Darkness. It’s a practical assessment of how the game works, why it exists, and where it could grow.

2025 Retrospective: A Look Back….And Overview of a Very Good and Busy Year of Wargaming! @ The Players’ Aid – A brisk year‑in‑review from The Players’ Aid, covering fewer game nights but tons of new titles, a boom in solo wargames, steady blog and YouTube growth, a revived Shelf of Shame project, and a packed convention circuit from BasementCON to SPIEL Essen. It’s all capped off with an equally busy slate of events planned for 2026.

January update- pt.2 (“The Rogues’ Gallery”) @ Dreadaxe Games – A good mix of minis in here. I love the Trench Crusade stuff; it’s deliciously brutal. It’s cool to see Rumbleslam stuff. I keep getting tempted by that game and have just never quite jumped in. On the Frostgrave front, I totally see the pigeon lady comparison…

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There have been a few posts here since my last 5 on Friday: