Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon (40-01)

A new edition means LOTS of new miniatures, and the first of these arrive in the incredible launch boxed set, featuring Space Marines and Orks. You might have noticed that the Intercessor we showed off yesterday is painted as a Blood Angel, but the miniatures have no Chapter-specific markings, so you can paint them blue, green, grey, black, yellow, white, whatever colour you choose. Orks are pretty much always green, but they can be Goffs, Blood Axes, Bad Moons, Evil Sunz, Deathskulls, Snakebites, or any clan you prefer.

Want to try and fathom out what other miniatures might be in the box? Take another look at that action-packed trailer for some clues.

Unified Experience

One of the guiding principles of the new edition was to create a unified experience for anyone playing Warhammer 40,000. So, rather than separating matched, narrative, and open as ways to play, the aim was to make EVERY game feel like it has a compelling narrative, while also feeling balanced and exciting.

Your Army

You’ll still be able to use your current codex in the new edition. For the most part, datasheets will work as they do today. Your army, though, will feel fresh and new as existing Detachments are updated and new ones are added – there will be over 70(!) at launch. In larger games, your army can be built out of several smaller, specialised Detachments, or one large one that covers everything, so your army works just as you imagine it should.

The army-tailoring goes beyond just the Detachments – the missions you play and your objectives in each game are determined by the selection of your army. Forces designed to take and hold ground will be rewarded for doing so, while armies that prefer to kill loads and loads of enemies will earn victories through carnage.

There are also changes to your Characters – they no longer lose their best abilities when their bodyguard unit dies. Your heroes can now keep swinging at full power, right until the bitter end (after all, only in death does duty end).

Objective Markers

The era of circular objective markers is over! Instead, your forces will battle over critical pieces of terrain, such as bunkers, ruins, and relics, instantly making for a more narrative and immersive game. Every battlefield looks immediately better.

Speaking of terrain, it’s now easier to hide units there before they join the battle. Many units can’t be targeted until they themselves have shot, or until the enemy has ventured very close, making them less vulnerable to a first turn alpha strike.

Stratagems

Single units can no longer have multiple stratagems stacked on them in a phase. Already powerful units will now have to cause havoc on their own without the crutch of stratagems making them punch harder than they should, or making them more survivable than they have any right to be. 

Close Combat

There have been a number of small tweaks to the way melee works, including the order of pile-in and consolidation moves, and a faster system for assigning wounds. The order of activation has also been changed to help balance the dominance of Fights First units.

Combat-focused armies will get a couple of bonuses that open up options for aggressive plays. Firstly, you select your target for a charge AFTER you’ve made your charge roll, meaning your unit is less likely to be left twiddling its thumbs. Secondly, in some circumstances, units can disembark from transports directly into combat – huge news for fans of choppas, chainaxes, and other brutal close combat weapons.