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Warhammer 40K: 10th Edition Announced

5 Minute Read
Mar 23 2023
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A new edition of Warhammer 40,000 is coming this summer. There is only WAR!

Well, I’m sure no one saw that coming. Warhammer 40,000 10th edition is coming this summer from Games Workshop. It kick things off, check out the video:

So if that cinematic didn’t scream “Grimdark” then I don’t know what you’re expecting. That was one of the more brutal cinematics for 40k and really showed the Space Marines dishing out the damage but still struggling against the tide. In a word — Awesome. The cinematics team is killing it. But, let’s get to the details!

Warhammer 40,000: 10th Edition Announced

There’s a lot of big changes coming. First up, the game has been streamlined (yet again). It’s still going to be a complex and tactical game but the focus has been moved back on the units and the gameplay instead of the record keeping and pages and pages of rules to remember. Units are going to have datasheets and their army rules are going to be reduced down to roughly one page of stuff.

We don’t have ALL the info, but we’re liking the formatting and changes they talked about so far. Also, BS and WS are still there — they have just been moved. Also, the lethality of the game is shifting once again. This time to the benefit of defensive things like toughness. There’s going to be less over all AP and things are going to be tougher in general — but strength values have stayed relatively flat. Basically bringing all the strength 8 weapons won’t be the best option any more.

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There’s a bunch of changes to the phases too. Things have been consolidated down. Psykers will basically have their damaging powers treated more like shooting/melee attacks and their “buff/debuff” abilities will be actual abilities. Battleshock is changing, too. Leadership might actually matter for a change! Also, you probably noticed the new stat “OC” — that stands for Objective Control value. The number is how many each model in the unit generates. You can extrapolate that out from there.

Stratagems are still around but they have been moved to 6 per army with a pool of generic ones. We’ll have to wait and see what this means but it should be the “trash” stratagems have been removed and it should cleaner overall.

All the rules have been re-indexed and will be available for free along with the core rules — DAY ONE. Plus, there’s an app and “it works!” according to GW. Along with an functioning Army Builder built in. There will be physical books you can get along with datacards for units. But it all sounds like these rules will also be available digitally.

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Army building seems to have been reworked too. You’ll need a warlord and then for most units you can take up to 3 of them. And for the Troop-type units you’ll be able to take up to 6. This seems like they were really pushing the army building to be fast and simple again.

All of the current Boarding Action and Boarding Patrol rules will carry over and still work with 10th. So if you’re a fan of those you can keep using them.

GW is also introducing a new “Combat Patrol” mode where you can literally take any Combat Patrol box and build the contents and then play against any other Combat Patrol and have a balanced game. I’ll believe this one when I see it — but I am looking forward to seeing it in action.

New Models Announced

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There are indeed new Terminator models. And they are bigger and beefier than before. Also, because the Terminators are basically relic suits of armor, any Space Marine can earn the right to wear them — including Primaris Marines. That means there are both Primaris and Firstborn marines in terminator armor now.

You probably also noticed all the new Tyranids. Well, GW showed off the Termagants and that’s just one of the new kits on the way. As a Tyranid player I’m both excited and dreading more Termagants to build and paint. I thought 100+ would be enough…but no. There’s always room for more.

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That’s all for now from the preview. There’s a LOT more on the way. Get ready for Warhammer 40,000: 10th Edition this summer from Games Workshop!

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Author: Adam Harrison
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