For those paying attention to Games Workshop‘s Warhammer Fantasy, something was up. GW has announced the Age of Sigmar, a brand new system that launches July 11. GW has informed stores that they are now good to go as far as promoting the game.

What is the Age of Sigmar? Well the details are slim, but what we know directly from GW:

• The game launches July 11th.
• Pre-order begins July 4th
• The Age of Sigmar is a brand new system that continues the End Times story
• This system is a great way for new customers to start collecting and playing with fantasy miniatures
• Existing customers will be able to use their current miniature collections and add to them with the Age of Sigmar

From their website:

These were the End Times. The world is no more, torn apart by treachery and Chaos. And yet… endings beget beginnings.

Listen carefully. Can you hear it? The cruel laughter of dark gods? It dances on the winds between worlds, striving to be heard, for the ruinous powers bore easily, and they seek tirelessly for new realities to conquer. Where there is life, Chaos will find it, and misery and bloodshed will soon follow.

The world is gone, but all may not be lost.

The descendants of the Old Ones left before the Chaos moon destroyed their homelands, that much is certain. But where did they go?

And if they escaped, did anyone else?

Can what is dead ever truly die?

Who remains lost in the void?

To what does he cling?

And when a world dies…

…what happens next?

It also worth noting that retailers were asked to count their inventory to see how many they had of:

• Island of Blood Box Set
• Main Warhammer Fantasy Rulebooks
• A count of their army books