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Warhammer 40K: 9th Edition Core Rule Book Overview

4 Minute Read
Jul 4 2020
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If you’re wondering about the new Core Rule Book and what’s changed come take a look for yourself!

From Lore Junkies to Rules Lawyers the new 9th Edition Rulebook has something for everyone and as it’s gotten a substantial update from the previous edition:

One Book To Rule Them All…

This is the new Core Rule Book from inside the Indomitus Boxed Set. Games Workshop has gone through and updated the style and formatting for the entire edition. It wasn’t just an update to the logo for Warhammer 40,000 – the have changed a ton of little things to make this edition one of the cleanest and easiest to navigate.

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Read The Core Rules Here

If you haven’t already figured out by now, the Core Rules have changed slightly. We already highlighted some of those little changes as well – but there are a ton more. To be honest, the game needed the expanded rules as well. This edition is essentially taking the basic, streamlined rules from 8th edition and expanding them out for clarity. Furthermore, to keep it simple, they have also added bullet points to highlight the important info.

  • Longer Rules Section Than 8th
  • Still Easy To Follow
  • Provide More Clarity

Wow, that really does work.

On top of that, they added a fantastic new Glossary that really does a great job of providing definitions and the page numbers for whatever you need to reference. It’s in the back of the book and makes finding rules super easy.

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Hopefully, the new rules section will cut down a lot of the arguments that pop-up in the game. Even for the more corner-case situations GW added a section on how a lot of those weird interactions work. It’s a really big improvement to the overall rule set without making it feel too large or convoluted.

…And In The Grimdarkness Bind Them

Aside from the great new Rules Section (including tons of new missions, etc.) we also have a huge lore section. Not only does this section cover a ton of stuff leading up to the current state of the Grimdark it even has a section that sums up the Psychic Awakening story arc. This book drops us directly at the doorstep of the current events and is a fantastic launching point for the new edition.

If you’ve never picked up a Warhammer 40,000 book and have no idea about the Grimdark Universe, then you can start with the Core Book and just read the lore section and you’ll be an expert in no time. Well, maybe not an expert…but you’ll know what the heck is going on and who all the major players are!

Minor Spoilers & Easter Eggs

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The Core Book also has a few minor spoilers and Easter Eggs. We won’t cover them all – that wouldn’t be fun as this book isn’t available to the public yet! Give folks a chance to find them for themselves. However, this one was already let loose by GW so we don’t feel so bad about it. It’s the Hammerfall Drop Turret. It shows up three times in the book. What other secrets are hiding in plain sight? You’ll have to wait to find out…

The new Core Rule Book is a great update to the game and will be a welcome addition to any fan of 40k’s library. This might be one of the clearest and easeist editions of 40k ever produced – at least Core Rules wise. It’s also the first edition in a very long time where it feels like GW is finally stepping out from behind the 40,000 year timeline and pushing beyond that (not-so) arbitrary date. We’re in new Lore Territory and it’s an exciting time to be a fan.

The New Edition’s Launch box is up for Pre-Orders July 11th and will be in stores July 25th!

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Author: Adam Harrison
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