As evil as people pretend GW is, they have given free models before without any reason too.
There was a WD that came with a space marine and a night Goblin (I still have the sprue with them) and they were having a painting exhibition for these models. It was cool of them. There was another WD issue that came with two of those campaign tiles (I have this on the sprue still too) which was pretty cool of them since this was free with a WD issue. They constantly offer free shipping on specified dollar amounts, and that is actually pretty comparable to some discount sites if you are hugging the low end of purchases (if you are buying a lot then of course a 20% site is better). Also free models for subscriptions of WD use to be the norm.
lest we forget the profiles for EFGT and then they gave the profiles for AUJ rulebook too. I think they have a crush on us,
I did download a lot of free stuff from the site over the years.
So offering a free model that they in no way owe to anyone is a very nice gesture, but not uncommon.
As for the Hobbit becoming a specialist game, we can all stop pretending that SBG will last forever as if we out sell WH or 40K, we don't, and in the long run the game will taper off no matter what we fans imagine in our minds. It has a set and finite lifeline on the market, how long it lasts as a fan game is up to us to decide. That is when alternate models and newer vested model companies will become our friends.