10th Edition Warhammer 40K Announced! Free Rules & More!
March 23, 2023 by brennon
It will come as no surprise to a lot of folks that a new edition of Warhammer 40,000 has been announced by Games Workshop at Adepticon. 10th Edition is on the way offering up their streamlined take on grimdark Sci-Fi wargaming. Check out the trailer below...
Warhammer 40,000 Cinematic Trailer
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The new edition of Warhammer 40,000 is going to be focused (at least at the beginning) on the clash between the Imperium and an emerging threat from the western arm of the galaxy. The Ultramarines have been called to defend previously "safe" worlds from the attacks by Hive Fleet Leviathan that is on the warpath. New miniatures are here to help save the day including the new-look Terminators.
New Space Marine Terminators // Warhammer 40,000
New Space Marine Terminators - Details // Warhammer 40,000
New Space Marine Terminators - Scale // Warhammer 40,000
The new Terminators have been designed to work with the new scale of the Primaris Space Marines in the Games Workshop range. Their background, lore and use within the game remain pretty much the same so essentially this is just a nice update to the older plastic kits. They are going to come with that traditional loadout that you know and love with a Storm Bolter and Power Fist alongside elements like the Autocannon.
Going up against the Space Marines, we also had a look at some of the new miniatures coming up for the Tyranids. It looks like they are going to be getting the full range refresh that we expected (much like the Necrons for the last edition) starting with the faithful Termagants.
New Termagants // Warhammer 40,000
New Termagants - Details // Warhammer 40,000
New Tyranids - Scale // Warhammer 40,000
The cinematic trailer also hints at a lot of additional miniatures coming out to support this Tyranid invasion. We're going to be seeing a new version of the classic Screamer Killer getting thrown back into the mix alongside a lot of rather potent killers (both psychic and not!). The trailer also shows off a good look at new miniatures from this upcoming boxed set including a new Librarian in Terminator Armour, updated takes on Reivers and more.
What's also really neat about this is that it doesn't seem like we have long to wait for 10th Edition either. It is going to be landing in Summer 2023.
Warhammer 40,000 - 10th Edition
A new boxed set and new miniatures mean a new edition of Warhammer 40,000. A more streamlined and refreshed game is in the works apparently that does away with the bloat that has set in for the current edition of the game. Oh, and a lot of it will be FREE from day one.
A New Edition Announced // Warhammer 40,000
So yep, going back to that word "free". On day one of the new edition of Warhammer 40,000 you'll be able to access all of the Core Rules for Warhammer 40,000 plus every single Data Sheet for the various armies you play for free digitally. Much like Indexes of past editions, this means that everyone will be (in theory) on a level playing field when the new edition launches.
Free 10th Edition Index Rules // Warhammer 40,000
If you collect Space Marines, Orks, T'au or Tyranids, you will be able to immediately access rules for playing 10th Edition without having to pay a penny. Indexes seem to then be being made available to buy physically if you prefer but in theory, you could just dive in and have fun right away.
I would imagine that Codexes will then follow in the wake of 10th Edition that you'll have to buy into but as a starting point, free is hard to argue with. The team also talked about a new App that was being developed where all of this would be accessible. I would imagine that will be something open to Warhammer Plus subscribers.
Rules Changes // Warhammer 40,000
No big specifics were discussed but it also seems like the rules are being refreshed. All of your army rules and strategems will now fit on two pages rather than across myriad books (we shall see if it stays that way) and the number of things you need to remember is being cut back significantly. It means that you shouldn't have to do so much flicking back and forth between pages to work out what you need to do and when. The same scaled-down elements apply to Datasheets.
New Datasheet // Warhammer 40,000
Weapons (both ranged and melee) have now been focused on and statistics have been worked into their readout. Similarly, abilities that might have once been kept on Strategems have now been worked back into the unit entries in most cases. There is also a new statistic that you might have noticed called Objective Control (OC). This allows units to have more control over what they, well, control on the battlefield.
Additionally, the Morale Phase is now being worked into the Command Phase of the game. Miniatures will also no longer be removed as a response to failing Morale checks either. Oh, and the Psychic Phase is being removed and Psychic Powers will now be baked into the abilities available to units. The way they work will be similar but it means more control over a particular unit's ability to cast Psychic Powers on the tabletop.
Gamemode-wise, it looks like Boarding Actions is still fully compatible with the new edition (so don't stop buying your Arks Of Omen books, right?) but they have also talked about a new mode of play called Combat Patrols.
Combat Patrol // Warhammer 40,000
The way they described Combat Patrols reminds me of CodeOne for Infinity. It will give you a way to (always) play an army out of the box with free rules. Each Combat Patrol has been "balanced" against each other in theory and alongside that, you'll find rules which have been a little stripped down to make it easier to dive in and start playing. The rules won't be totally different to normal Warhammer 40,000 but they will take out some of the complexity in order to make it quick and easy to start playing the game.
A new edition, new miniatures and a streamlined set of rules. Oh, and free Core Rules and Faction Rules from the off in Indexes! Let's hope people just jump in and use ONLY those Indexes forever and never buy a Codex again!
Will you be taking a look at 10th Edition Warhammer 40,000?
"On day one of the new edition of Warhammer 40,000 you'll be able to access all of the Core Rules for Warhammer 40,000 plus every single Data Sheet for the various armies you play for free..."
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I just saw the trailer…loved it, I do think the idea of the story and game is cool… but I never play due to the costs and for me the rules are just “dated” ?. I mean 10th editions later !, bolt action is on 2nd only right now. Just wished they move away from just one ruleset idea and how about a new dice system, something like SW Legion maybe ?.
Let`s see…
“Free rules until we printed the books and then you’ll need to buy those”
I would imagine that will be the case – but then again I do hope people just stick with Indexes and have fun playing that blissful period of 10th haha
Free Beer free!
I like those new terminators, in fact I couldn’t really tell they where new until the scale comparison.
Cant say I have much hope for yet another edition of 40k, though “free” is not a word i expected. It might start off simple but its just going to end up another bloated mess driven by the need to make “better” things to sell new models and rulebooks. I wonder if they will ever move over to alternative activation rather than the old boring IGYG model?
The new Terminators and the new Termagants both look to me as though they have better proportions. The Terminators also look as though they have better details and better detail, the Termagants less so. They’re still a bit too ‘duplo’ for my tastes perhaps, though i’ll reserve judgement on that until i’ve seen the actual miniatures rather than the photos. (I find photos of miniatures always make the miniatures seems bulkier than the actual miniatures are to the eye.) I’m glad the rules are free, and i’ll take a look at least. I’m not too bothered about how many rules… Read more »
What, already? Still seems like 9th is still new. I’ve only recently got the codex for my one and only army late last year, and it was only a month ago we discovered One Page Rules Grim Dark and loved it.
Still, it looks like this is a move in the right direction, I know people have been asking for Datacards for ages. Hopefully the new edition will stay simpler and not get too complex like 9th quickly did. Only time will tell.
Those new Terminators are IMO what they should had done in first place instead of creating Primaris. Just upscaling space marines.
Shame they didn’t bother to fix the Terminator human proportions.
I’m liking the new figures. I wonder how quick they will have appendices to add to the slimmed down rules?
I missed 9th edition… and the previous 8… only ever had a starter set for 9th edition.
If it looks good… I might buy the cheapest starter set they do with the pamphlet rules, but doubt I’ll bother with the big box they release first.
I never played 40k as a kid, so I have no nostalgic ties at all to the terminator models. Which is why even to this day I still think it looks horrible. Lol. The new model is bigger, but thats it. still looks stupid to me.
Same goes for termagaunts. Just boring as all hell.
Underwhelmed
The models look fine. A part of me is happy the Terminators are keeping with the same style but I also dont feel the need to rush out and buy the new kits. I think in my head I could have done with another year of 9th because it was so up and down with world events. You always have this worry when they change the rules but I get the whole idea of trying to streamline the game. Moral often rarely makes sense in any wargame. Watching your troops fail to do anything or watching half your army disappear… Read more »
IMHO this is what they should have done from the beginning. Instead of changing the lore and adding Primaris, they should have just rescaled the range and left all the old units ‘as is’. Rescaled Tactical Units etc.
Nonetheless, I think these Terminators are grand.
The trailer is great and I am liking the new models.
I have said wouldn’t get another edition but I am tempted by this, I will see what more details they reveal in the run up to launch. I really don’t want to by a shelves worth of codex’s again.
Cool video game…
New scale, eh ?
So…what used to be 25 mm to top of head became ‘heroic’ 25 (meaning 28), then 28 to eye level, then ‘heroic’ 28 (meaning 32), now it’s 32 to eye level…I’m guessing those will be ‘heroic’ 32s…meaning 36…
Somehow, I can’t help but wonder when they’re gonna pull a Bland Times on 40K and have the Eye of Terrah or the Warp or a REALLY big Hive Tyrant (Forge World model, does not fit on a gaming table and no, you can’t afford it…) eat the universe and everyone in it.
I like editions 1-3.
The Terminators are great updates and I look forward to having them.
As to the free rules – the basic rules will be free as they are now already. As all stats are being redone the initial indices will be free and then as the edition progress with a new codex for each faction plus more no doubt, it will all be as it is now. Make of that what you will, but there is equally no reason not just to play Index 10th Ed either.
Are the Terminator Arms STILL growing out of their heads ?! I can’t quite tell but…. oh dear.
Looking at the photos of the new Terminators, particularly the photo from the back, it looks to me like the arm parts have been glued to high on the body, though whether they are separate parts or not i don’t actually know.
Wonder how they will address the inherent Alpha-Strike problem 40k has in this “new” Edition since it does not mention a change to “I go you go”…
Freehammer… the best kind of Warhammer. The early days of 8th are the last time I ever played 40k. Can’t see myself getting involved this time around though as its just inevitable GW will stuff it up sooner rather than later. Bah, humbug! 😀