How to Claim Your Free Flesh-eater Courts Cryptguard This April

A free Age of Sigmar ghoul is waiting at your local Warhammer store right now, and most people will never pick it up simply because they don't know exactly how the process works. April's Miniature of the Month is a Flesh-eater Courts Cryptguard, available starting April 4, 2026, while stocks last. Visit your local Warhammer store from April 4, 2026 to pick up a Cryptguard from the Flesh-eater Courts. Whether you're deep into Age of Sigmar, a committed 40k player who has never touched a ghoul in your life, or someone who hasn't been to a store in months, this is one of the lowest-friction excuses to walk through that door.

What You're Actually Getting

The Cryptguard are no throwaway miniature. The full retail kit builds 10 Cryptguard, devoted ghoul retainers for the nobility of the Flesh-eater Courts, who carry a variety of cursed weapons into battle; you can outfit each ghoul with a chipped and battered sword, or a long-handled and well-worn halberd. The kit also provides components to build a drummer musician, a standard bearer waving a flag of flayed skin, and a Crypt Captain champion with uniquely grisly headgear. The promo version won't hand you the full unit box. Expect a single model pulled from a sprue, which may look slightly different from the one in the official promotional image. There's a good chance that the miniature you take home will look different than the one pictured. That's standard practice for these promos and nothing to worry about; the sculpt is still a fully detailed plastic Cryptguard.

The lore makes this one particularly interesting for hobbyists who enjoy narrative painting. These ghouls have distinguished themselves through zealous devotion, and their lords have named them as bodyguards. Such a position comes with perks: better lairs, scraps thrown from the tables of the nobility, and even a certain level of respect from other serfs. That backstory gives you a lot to work with on a paint bench.

How to Actually Claim It

This is where most people get tripped up. The promotion is not automatic, and the exact redemption process varies by location. Miniature of the Month is a promotional event held by Warhammer stores worldwide, where customers can pick up a free miniature by speaking to a staff member at their local store from the designated date. The operative phrase is "speaking to a staff member." You need to ask. Don't assume the model will be sitting on a counter with a sign. Walk in, find a member of staff, and say you're there for the Miniature of the Month.

There's one important regional rule to flag before you go: in Australia, Europe, New Zealand, and the UK, you will need to assemble the free mini in-store, with staff there to help you. If you're in one of those regions, budget an extra fifteen to twenty minutes for assembly. For everyone else, you can take the sprue home unbuilt.

The Adeptus Custodes Coin: The $100 Side Quest

Running alongside the free mini is April's collectible coin promotion, and this one has a purchase threshold. The April 2026 free mini is a Flesh-eater Courts Cryptguard: grab it at a GW Warhammer store while supplies last. A $100 spend gets the coin: if it's in stock, the Adeptus Custodes coin should be yours with a $100+ purchase.

The coin program has been running since November 2020, and it's become a genuine collector's side hobby in its own right. Once you have collected six of the Warhammer collectible coins from your local GW store, you are eligible to receive a complimentary coin booklet, a great way to display and showcase your growing coin collection. If you're already planning a purchase this month (the new Legio Custodes Battle Group dropped April 4 at $255, which conveniently clears the threshold with room to spare), the Adeptus Custodes coin pairs thematically well with any Custodes investment.

Bonus Incentives Worth Knowing About

April's store visit has more layers than just the Cryptguard. More freebies and side quests are available: bring a friend and they get a free Stormcast or Infernus Marine, plus the Million Miniatures Challenge is still running. The bring-a-friend incentive is genuinely useful as a low-pressure hook for dragging a curious friend into the store for the first time. They leave with a free model; you leave with a Cryptguard. That's a better pitch than any sales brochure.

The Million Miniatures community challenge gives every completed model you assemble this month extra meaning. If you pledge the Cryptguard to the challenge, you're contributing to the global community count, which turns a single free ghoul into a small act of hobby solidarity.

Your 30-Minute Paint Recipe

Once you're home with the model, don't let it sit grey in a box. Cryptguard are fast to paint with high visual payoff. Here's a recipe that works even on a weeknight:

That's a display-quality single model in under thirty minutes, and it's an ideal technique-testing run before you commit to a full ghoul horde.

Proxy Ideas, Kitbash Options, and Practical Tabletop Uses

Even if you never intend to collect Flesh-eater Courts, a single Cryptguard has serious utility. The model's hunched, ghoulish silhouette works well as:

• A cultist champion or corrupted civilian in Warhammer 40k narrative play or Kill Team
• A zombie stand-in for any undead-adjacent roster if you're running Cursed City or similar board games
• A basing centrepiece on a larger diorama base alongside Tomb Kings or undead scenery
• A kitbash donor for conversion projects; the ragged clothing and skeletal hands translate well into Nurgle or Chaos Undivided aesthetics

If you're already painting Flesh-eater Courts, the single model makes an ideal test piece for your army's colour scheme. Nail the recipe on the freebie before you crack open the full unit box.

Your Store Visit Checklist

Don't show up and come home empty-handed. Before you go:

• Confirm your local Warhammer store (or participating independent retailer) is taking part. Not every indie stockist runs the promo.
• Go from April 4 onwards; the offer is not retroactive to April 1.
• Ask specifically: "Can I get the Miniature of the Month?" Staff won't always volunteer it.
• If you're in Australia, Europe, New Zealand, or the UK: set aside assembly time in-store.
• If you want the Adeptus Custodes coin, budget at least $100 in purchases.
• Ask about the bring-a-friend bonus if you're visiting with someone new to the hobby.
• Stock is genuinely limited and is not replenished once it runs out, so early April is the right time to go, not late April.

GW's cross-promotion here is worth noting as a bigger-picture move. A Flesh-eater Courts mini showing up in a Warhammer 40k store context is a deliberate invitation to explore Age of Sigmar, and for returning or new players, a single free model with a compelling paint job is exactly the kind of low-stakes experiment that turns a casual visit into a new army project. The Cryptguard is a good sculpt, an easy paint, and a legitimate entry point — and this month it costs you nothing but the trip.