Warhammer 40,000 8th edition

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Welcome to the one battlefield we never thought we'd see. Welcome to a place once believed to be impossible. Welcome to the 42nd millennium.

Warhammer 40,000 8th Edition (also known as Warhammer 41,000: Age of the Emperor to the rumourmongers) is the newest edition of everybody's favorite wargame, which picks things up where the Gathering Storm campaigns (AKA 40k End Times, meaning we're living literally after year 40,999 now) left off, and was released June 17th, 2017. The new edition will advance the storyline from 5 minutes to midnight to 4 minutes to midnight, and considering the campaigns leading up to it have had the Imperium lighting an entire region of space ON FIRE, Magnus trolling the Furries half to death, Cadia falling (and not getting up), a new Eldar god being born, Roboute Guilliman getting off his stasis-frozen ass and joining forces with Cypher to go on a journey to see daddy, shit's about to get real.

It's succeeded by Warhammer 40,000 9th edition, which is fully compatible with all the existing 8e stuff according to devs.

Major Updates[edit]

  • The man in charge is Pete Foley, who is leading the design team for 8th Edition.
  • The two rules writers are Jervis Johnson and Robin Cruddace (Emprah help us), two of the writers behind 7th Edition.
  • The core rules have been completely redesigned, with active involvement and input from the community (eg, extensive playtesting by the guys over at Frontline Gaming, and others), input that GW actually seems to have *gasp* listened to, and as a result this broken mess of a game might actually become more balanced and fun.
  • All current codices and supplements are completely incompatible with the new rules, everyone is getting a new codex. In hindsight, this also likely explains why Forge World hasn't restocked or updated any Imperial Armour volumes recently. Hopefully this means that armies that had lived in Imperial Armour will get proper codices this time around.
    • Horus Heresy will continue to use the 7th Edition rules set until Forgeworld updates their books, although considering that The Horus Heresy Book Seven - Inferno came out just last month, that's looking highly unlikely.
    • Horus Heresy still basically lives between 4th and 5th edition anyway, so it's not too great a change.
    • As of Warhammer Fest Horus Heresy is now getting its own core rulebook based on 7th (with a few new special rules) which is compatible with all their existing books instead of switching to 8th.
    • It's also been confirmed as of LVO 2020 that Forge World's 40k lineup is going to be subsumed by GeeDubs proper. The Imperial Armor indexes are going to cease production, at which point the main company will eventually release a brand new set of rulebooks that will finally make them 100% approved for play. Now your annoying neckbeard friends can't complain about you bringing your fancy FW units anymore.
  • 3 ways to play (Open, Narrative, and Matched) is being imported from Age of Sigmar's General's Handbook, with Narrative play having a different points system from Matched play. This is less of a big deal than it was for AoS since there it basically single-handedly made AoS playable (for many yet not all players), while 40k already had an at least nominally-balanced points system. The separate points system for Narrative play should be interesting, at least.
    • Open Play has three missions: Annihilation, Hold at All Costs and Death or Glory.
    • Narrative has six missions: Meat Grinder, Ambush, Patrol, Blitz, Sabotage and Rescue
    • Matched keeps the six Eternal War and six Maelstrom of War missions (but with a redesigned objective deck) and now has six deployment maps over the original three.
    • A single "universal" mission, Only War, is also present and designed to be compatible with all three play modes.
  • The core rules are free. Additionally, all armies & models received barebones rules updates in the form of 5 Indices (2 for the Imperium armies, 1 for Chaos, and 2 for the Xenos armies) on Day 1 to keep things functional until the new codices come out, which will probably be mostly fluff and more faction-specific tricks and rules like Sigmar's Battletomes and Grand Alliances books. The full hardback book also includes advanced rules (including such esoterics as terrain rules and rules for battles with more than two players), missions and stratagems (see below), and a buttload of fluff.
  • There will be new factions coming, though it's unclear if those will just be variants of what we already have or something entirely new. As much as GW's been shaking things up lately it could be both.
  • There's a "new generation" of Space Marines dubbed the Primaris Marines, a new addition (as in "not replacement") to the Adeptus Astartes. These "nuMarines" are "true-scale," as in 8 scale feet tall. Good news if you're one of those converters who have been making truscale marines for years. For what it's worth, some bits like Pauldrons and helmets are the same scale as, and interchangeable with, the old models.
  • Chapter Approved is being brought back as a yearly publication, the first issue of which is scheduled for Christmas of 2017.
  • A bunch of factions are getting name updates to be more trademark friendly (much like the Astra Militarum): Questor Imperialis, Aeldari, Drukhari, and T'au. It's the aelves all over again.

Rumors[edit]

  • One of the new factions was suspected to be the Fallen, likely branching into their own codex not unlike how the Deathwatch and Genestealer Cults did after Deathwatch: Overkill. If so, they would simultaneously provide an excellent way to represent other renegade Marine forces that aren't loyal to the Imperium or Chaos. This has not come to pass as of this writing; Fallen are just Chaos Space Marines that can be allied with Imperium armies as of the Chaos Space Marines codex.
  • Considering the release of the Death Guard Codex and the upcoming Daemon Mortarion miniature, Nurgle Daemonkin could also be on the table. The Death Guard codex is here and effectively is Nurgle Daemonkin.
  • Another rumor has it that the Men of Iron will be among the new factions. The appearance of UR-025 in Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress has unexpectedly lent a degree of credence to this one.
  • Rumors of a new "8.5 edition" with updating of the main rulebook following Psychic Awakening and "Codex 2.0" releases.
    • There's already been some shades of an 8.5 going on with the re-release of the Space Marines codex, introducing the Vanguard units from Vigilus Ablaze alongside some new units and supplements for the First Founding chapters. Though not quite as extensive, there's also a re-release of the Chaos Marines codex introducing their Vigilus units. It's fair to say that the Psychic Awakening arc may be paving the way for a re-release of the Craftworlds and Dark Eldar codices in the window, with others being similarly revised as time goes on.

Fluff Updates[edit]

Daww, the Eye of Terror and the Maelstrom had a baby!
This is basically what's happening to the entire Imperium. (Featuring an appearance by Cthulhu!)

Imperium[edit]

General[edit]

  • The upper half of the Imperium, separated from Terra & Sol, has been labeled "Imperium Nihilus" (also known as the "Dark Imperium"), and as bad as things are on the Terran side of the Great Rift, things are really going to shit on the far side (especially since the rift blocks the Astronomicon). At this rate, the Big G may well have to deal with Imperium Secundus-style not-quite secession, with him now on the other side of the mess...assuming there's even enough of the Imperium left to secede.
  • Armageddon was lucky enough to not get cut off from Terra when the Cicatrix Maledictum tore open, but is unlucky enough to be slap dab in the path of the Blood Crusade, a huge army of Khornate daemons that are pouring out of the rift, setting the Armageddon system up for a massive three-way between the Imperium, Orks, and Chaos, and quite possibly the biggest conflict it's ever seen. Ghazghkull and Yarrick are almost guaranteed to be right in the thick of that. Hell, maybe even Angron will be there for his own personal round 2. Oh yeah, and Armageddon being Ullanor has something to do with why the Orks are all there. Make of that what you will.
  • To stem the tide of traitors, Xenos, and Chaos, Roboute Guilliman has declared the Indomitus Crusade against the enemies of the Imperium. Additionally, with the help of Belisarius Cawl he has refined the Emperor's original plans for the creation of the Space Marines in order to create a new generation of supersoldiers known as Primaris Marines (compare to Space Marines Mk II), harder, better, faster, stronger than ever before (which one hopes will work out better than it did the last time someone tried it), along with some swanky new armour and guns. Just how Guilliman plans to get these new Marines out fast enough to be useful when the whole galaxy is going to hell right now is an open question though. Properly making a regular Astartes takes over a decade, and accelerated development is still risky as hell even discounting the last time someone tried it due to sabotage. However, according to GW Archmagos Cawl was secretly creating them by Guilliman's commission before he got poisoned by Fulgrim, that's been 10,000 years folks!
    • Despite Big G offering the new Primaris Marines to everybody (even founding whole new Chapters out of them), not all chapters are happy to see them. Some are calling out Guilliman just for meddling with the Emperor's work, others are worried about the effects the new Astartes formula might have when combined with some of the more esoteric gene-seed strains. The Primaris Marines were OK'd by the Adeptus Custodes however, and even the Chapters which have never particularly liked Guilliman or the Ultramarines aren't dumb enough to turn down free reinforcements. Especially when the Custodes make it clear what they'll do to you if you refuse "a gift from the Emperor".
    • The Indomitus Crusade lasted about 100 years or so before Guilliman was forced to return to Ultramar to protect it against the Death Guard invasion. The good news is that by jumping the plot forward about a hundred years, we've avoided a repeat of "oh this game-changing ultra crusade will begin any minute now...". The bad news is that this means we're skipping over all of the interesting stuff too, like watching giant 9-feet FNGs getting thrown into the deepest shit ever, or watching decimated chapters like the Blood Angels get just barely saved and are shunted right back into campaign strength status quo. A possible approach could be something akin to The War of the Beast, with a novel series covering the events of the Indomitus Crusade, this may actually allow Black Library writers to do some character development as well as explore the evolution from the last years of the 41st millennium to the 42nd millennium, indeed, there was a cameo of Uriel Ventris in the novel Dark Imperium, and it may be a great oportunity to see other recurring characters from Black Library such as Ciaphas Cain, Eisenhorn, Ravenor, Alaric from the Grey Knights, Honsou, Marduk from the Word Bearers, Shira Calpurnia, Navradaran of the Adeptus Custodes, Magos Omnid Torquora, the Speranza crew and many others and how they fared during the Noctis Aeterna and the Indomitus Crusade.
  • The forces which were supposed to be arriving to defend Cadia have been redeployed to other nearby planets to prepare for a possible next wave of Chaos attacks. When that doesn't immediately come, some Guard commanders begin considering the possibility of counter-attacking and reclaiming Cadia (or what's left of it, anyway), though at this point it would be little more than a symbolic gesture since the pylons are completely busted.
    • However, considering Cadia's relative proximity to the Nachmund Gauntlet this counter-attack could secure the Imperium vital access to the Imperium Nihilus. Too bad that doesn't solve the problem of the Traitor Knight House that currently occupies the Gauntlet itself.
  • It is mentioned that during the Dark Age of Technology, the greatest driver of human expansion was the employment of advanced genetic manipulation techniques. When the Age of Strife hit, massive gene-wars broke out between what had effectively become entirely different species of humans.
  • It is officially confirmed that the Emperor has at least some ability to influence events outside of the Astronomican, as he is said to be able to communicate with the Custodes to a limited extent and protects them from harm (rules-wise it's +1 to Custodes invulnerable saves in battle-forged armies). There is no information why he can't do this to every lowly guardsman out there, either because regular humans are not tuned to work with Emps psychic potential or because he is a dick. Between this and Rise of the Primarch (where Emps communes with Guilliman, no ifs or buts, and speaks quite clearly), there is now absolutely no doubt that the Emperor is still alive and aware of the galaxy around him. It is currently unclear if everything since his ascension to the Golden Throne happened in spite of his wishes (as was the case in previous canon) or if it was all part of a plan so convoluted that even Tzeentch would be getting plan envy from it. Given his recent depiction in the Horus Heresy novels suggesting that he had foreseen the events of 40k all the way to Guilliman's revival, the latter is a real possibility.
  • A seventh Blackstone Fortress has emerged in the western part of the galaxy. Nobody's sure how it managed to go undiscovered for so long, but now basically everyone in the galaxy is tripping all over themselves to try and claim it. This may be easier said than done, as unlike the previous six this Blackstone Fortress is fully active and does not like visitors.
  • At least one sentient Man of Iron still exists, having disguised itself as a robot of the Legio Cybernetica for millennia. Its motivations and agenda are currently to find other beings like itself, but it's anyone's guess as to what it plans to do if it does find one.
  • The Emperor's psychic power continues to grow even as his physical body remains in a state of unlife. The Chaos Gods suspect that he seeks to form an "Unliving Army" that could strike at them within the Warp itself. Even Roboute Guilliman is privately wondering if Lorgar and the Ecclesiarchy were right about the Emperor's divinity all along. If the Emperor wasn't divine to start with, he certainly is a god now.
    • By the time of the Psychic Awakening, this has culminated in the increasingly common appearance of what could only be called "Imperial Daemons", which can fuck up Chaos by their presence alone.

Space Marines[edit]

  • To accomodate for the incorporation of Primaris Space Marines and compensate for issues with Codex tactics that have occurred over the millennia, Roboute Guilliman has made several major changes to how Chapters and Companies are set up. Rather than using the old Tactical/Devastator/Assault division that has been seen in the past, squads are now set up being either Battleline (Tactical Squads and Intercessors), Fire Support (Devastator Squads, Devastator Centurions, Hellblasters, and Aggressors), or Close Support (Bikers, Assault Squads, Assault Centurions, Inceptors, and Reivers). Additionally, the Battle Companies (2nd through 5th Company) in a Codex-adherent chapter can have up to a total of 20 squads each: 6-12 Battleline squads, 2-4 Fire Support squads, and 2-4 Close Support squads. While each of these companies is still nominally fixed at 100 men, in practice their numbers can be much higher since they can also draw additional squads from reserve companies if needed. This allows the Battle Companies to field a far more flexible arrangement of squads than they could in the past while enabling the existence of all-Primaris Chapters that would not be able to use the squad types that other Astartes typically employ.
    • In keeping with the new classification of squad types, the 6th and 7th companies are now entirely Battleline squads, the 8th Company consists of Close Support Squads, and the 9th Company is formed of Fire Support squads.
    • Vanguard Space Marines of all types are integrated into the 10th Company as a Scout-equivalent, and any other Primaris Marine can serve as a Vanguard Marine if needed.
    • Guilliman ultimately plans to replace the Codex Astartes completely with the Codex Imperialis when the latter is completed.
Ultramarines[edit]
  • The Ultramarines' 2nd Company is now led by Captain Acheran, as Cato Sicarius is now the head of Guilliman's Victrix Guard. Sicarius was lost in the Warp at the start of the Indomitus Crusade; while the Codex claims his fate is unknown, the Dark Imperium novel (which canonically takes place as the Crusade is ending) has since been proven that he is alive and well. All the other companies are still being led by the same Captains as before. Acheran is later slain during the War of Beasts, so it's likely Sicarius resumed his old position.
  • It is said that Cato Sicarius no longer seems to be as much of a glory hog as he once was. Many suspect that his time stuck in the Warp did much to teach him the difference between being a champion and a leader.
  • Tigurius was nearly slain by the psychic backlash of the Great Rift's opening, but he was able to come out of his coma in time to rally the Ultramarines in the Plague Wars. He was also able to divine the location of the Hand of Darkness, and give this information to Eldrad (later leading to its recovery by Yvraine and the Ynnari).
  • During the Plague Wars, Telion ended up leading his entire Scout Company in defense of their training academy when it was attacked by the Death Guard.
  • Following the Plague Wars, Guilliman oversaw the rebuilding of Ultramar before being required to depart to other Imperial warzones. Afterwards, the Ultramarines are able to reclaim 3 of the 7 worlds occupied by the forces of Chaos in the vicinity of Ultramar, all while dealing with an Ork WAAAGH!
  • Following intense debate about the implications of adding the Primaris to the Space Marine Chapters and discussions with Archmagos Cawl about the viability of converting existing Marines into Primaris Marines, Marneus Calgar volunteered to be the first to undrergo the "Rubicon Primaris" procedure. Despite dying briefly during the operation, he is successfully converted into a Primaris Space Marine. Varro Tigurus later undergoes the procedure.
  • The Tyrannic War Veterans were officially given Guilliman's blessing in recognition for their show of adaptability in the face of a dangerous foe. Since then, many Ultramarines successors have created similar Tyranid hunter forces.
  • Before being reunited with Guilliman, the XIII Legion had been known as the War Born, as the first members had been drawn from those regions in Terra that had been the last to submit to the Emperor in the Unification Wars.
  • Calgar became seriously injured in War of Beasts and is recovering.
Dark Angels[edit]
  • Ezekiel and other Librarians on the Rock are struck by a psychic vision where Luther had built an entire Legion on Caliban, and had survived the planet's destruction, leading them to believe there are far more Fallen than they ever knew about (somewhat reconciling old and new fluff, where originally the Fallen numbered hundreds, now there are thousands).
  • The Rock gets invaded by a daemonic army led by the Daemon Prince Marbas, a former Fallen Angel. The conflict envelops the asteroid base but seemingly serves no purpose other than to cause carnage. Azrael later finds that Luther has disappeared from his cell, realising that the attack was only a diversion. Because no one else in the chapter or the entire Unforgiven knows about Luther's survival, he keeps it to himself.
  • Considering how bad things are looking for the Dark Angels now that their darkest secret of all is missing and having recently suffered massive losses after they and several Unforgiven Chapters were ambushed on the world of Darkmor, Azrael orders an emergency summit of ALL of the Unforgiven Grand Masters (a lot of dudes, whole chapters get lost in the warp just trying reach it), but Roboute Guilliman crashes the party. His fears of an imminent judgement against the Unforgiven are put aside when he finds out that Guilliman has arrived to deliver Primaris reinforcements, as opposed to censure about their actions. So the majority of the Unforgiven get their Primaris Marines at exactly the same time.
    • Guilliman also grants permission to the Unforgiven to continue using the Deathwing and Ravenwing in their structure in recognition of their service to the Emperor.
  • Generally being hostile to the newcomers, the Inner Circle haven't seen fit to share the secret of the Fallen with their Primaris reinforcements yet (with the exception of their Librarians who are already rare enough and undergo the most stringent of testing anyway, plus they can, you know, read minds), mostly because they haven't gone through the same indoctrinations or heard the same apocryphal tales that the rest of the chapter have. While it is likely one of them will be found worthy of joining the Deathwing eventually, the newcomers only know the sanitized version of their history for now.
    • Of course, it's entirely possible to give your Primaris Master <Deathwing> keyword and Inner Circle ability via Inner Circle stratagem, so you can write your own fluff
    • While many of the new Primaris marines have served the chapter long enough to reach Veteran status, (see the new Lieutenant complete with bathrobe), the Chapter has not yet initiated any of them into the Deathwing or the Inner Circle. As mentioned, the exception seems to be the Primaris Librarians, who have the DEATHWING keyword in the crunch. No mentions in fluff to explain why; maybe there's not much use in trying to keep mind readers out of your secrets.
    • In the novel "War of Secret", it turned out that whenever a Primaris witnesses something related to the hunt for the Fallen Angels, he has his memory wiped out by the Apothecary. However, the protagonists of the novel managed to go through the proceess by injuring themselves, thus triggering the Belisarian Furnace to burn away all the injected mind-wiping chemicals. So, an Interrogator Chaplain inducted them into what was called the "Primaris Circle", whose role was to on the watch for both the Fallen Angels and the Mechanicus (for signs of heresy).The Primaris Circle was not (yet) a part of the Inner Circle yet, as only Azrael could decide whether Primaris Marines would be inducted.
    • No longer the case as of the most recent White Dwarf update. An Aggressor had finally been deemed worthy to be inducted into the Deathwing (though its noted that he had been EXTRA-diligent in trying to figure out the Chapter's mysteries prior to this), while one of its Brother-Captains had to undergo the Rubicon Primaris to save his life. Being a Primaris marine now isn't a hindrance to the induction into the Deathwing, just a willingness to play along with the Dark Angels need for secrecy. However this won't stop players from saying GW is too lazy to make Primaris Terminator armor or Bikes. As it's just two so far.
  • Before the Fall of Cadia and all that ensued, all Company Masters had been members of the Inner Circle. Nowadays, both with NuMarines arriving and casualties stacking up, this is no longer the case.
  • The Rock is now situated in the galactic north in the Imperium Nihilus, where the Inner Circle can more easily coordinate due to the lack of reliable communications.
  • Ezekiel has another vision, this time of himself, Asmodai, Azrael, and some other Dark Angels joining forces with Kaldor Draigo to enter the Eye of Terror and rescue Epimetheus from the Black Legion. Pandorax 2: Eye of Terror Boogaloo?
    • Following up on the above, Asmodai cuts a deal with the Relictors: in exchange for their help capturing a member of the Black Legion who can give them Epimetheus' location, he gives them a relic in a locked box that he claims is "rightfully" his to give and "rightfully" theirs to receive. Intriguingly, he mentions that the box is unlocked by specific genetic markers but will open for them as easily as it would open for him. In light of this, it may be possible that the Relictors may be Dark Angels successors in spite of their significant deviation from the Unforgiven doctrines (to say nothing of their own dubious loyalties).
  • Rumor has it that somewhere in the Imperium Nihilus the Fallen are gathering in large enough numbers to be classified as their own Legion. Azrael suspects that Luther may be responsible for this and is making plans to move against them.
  • Captain Balthasar of Dark Vengeance fame is killed, and his successor Lazarus somehow manages to become the first Company Master to cross the Rubicon Primaris despite being too wounded for even a dreadnought sarcophagus. (Should be noted that he was the inducted into the Inner Circle, becoming the first Primaris Marine welcomed into the Circle.)
Blood Angels[edit]
  • The Blood Angels and their successors (except those poor bastards) get fucked up pretty badly by the Tyranids, (those poor bastards were still dealing with their own bugs) with the gribblies eating large parts of Baal's moons. However, a combination of the Cicatrix Maledictum messing with the Hive Fleet's bio-ships and Guilliman's fleet taking out the remaining Tyranids on Baal after the Warp settles down leads to the Blood Angels successfully repelling the Tyranid invasion. Meanwhile on Baal Prime, Ka'bandha manifests with a horde of Daemons of Khorne- the idea of anything destroying the Blood Angels other than itself is intolerable to the Bloodthirster.
    • The Knights of Blood, unable to control the Flaw due to the influence of Ka'Bandha, sacrifice themselves to buy time for the rest of Baal Prime's defenders to evacuate.
  • An exhausted and drained Dante has managed to just barely defeat the Swarmlord in a duel. Guilliman tells Dante that he's one of the few people who can call him an equal, and makes him the commander of the Imperium Nihilus. So now the space vampires are basically in command of half the galaxy, albeit the fucked-up half. Despite the enormous amount of pressure this would entail, it's said Dante has never been more hopeful and has sworn to purge the Imperium Nihilus of Chaos.
  • None of the Primaris Blood Angels have shown signs of succumbing to the Black Rage, but eventually it turns out they're not actually immune to it- they just hadn't been active long enough for it to kick in. They are susceptible to the Red Thirst, though they have better control over it than their shorter cousins.
  • Lieutenants of the Blood Angels fill one of two offices: the Sword of Sanguinius acts as a frontline commander to lead the charge, while the Warden of the Blood is the designated second in command and will become acting Captain if the current one succumbs to the Flaw.
  • Seth is pretty skeptical on the whole Primaris thing, partly because he views them as blasphemy against the Emperor's work and agents of Guilliman, loyal to him before the Chapter and their gene-father, and partly because he sees them as being less true to Sanguinius' heritage due to their apparent resistance to the Flaw.
    • Somebody in the Inquisition is pissed off enough at Seth to send an Eversor to kill him. In an amazing display of restraint, Seth only beats the assassin within an inch of its life before sending it back to the Inquisition as a warning, along with the Captain they roped into helping with the assassination attempt.
  • Corbulo, on the other hand, is all hot about them, seeing the whole Primaris thing as a cure for the Black Rage. However, an attack on an Alpha Legion base in which the Primaris Marines unleashed a degree of violence extreme even for the Blood Angels seems to have left him reconsidering the possibility that they may be a cure for the Flaw.
  • Our favourite Lamenters got their very own NuMarines and are slowly rebuilding after "the battle with overwhelming horror of Tyranids", which suggests they somehow managed to survive running into Kraken. Anyway, things are finally looking good for them, by which we mean they aren't allowed to go extinct because it would be a relief.
  • When a Chapter Master of the Blood Angels dies, the Sanguinary High Priest and High Chaplain take temporary joint rule until a suitable candidate for the role can be found. This was established as a precaution after one Captain succumbed to the Black Rage almost immediately after he ascended to the rank of Chapter Master.
  • Due to the severe losses taken in the defense of Baal, the Blood Angels now maintain an extra-large (as in almost 500 strong) Scout Company, formed in part from the tribesmen that fought the Tyranids alongside the Blood Angels and survived.
  • The final stages of the Red Thirst appear to cause physical mutations in addition to mental changes; when the Tower of Amareo's inhabitants were released to fight the Tyranids, they had devolved into fanged, clawed monsters with blood-red skin that walked on their knuckles like apes.
  • Baal Primus is now completely bereft of life while Baal Secundus has been terraformed back into its paradisal state before the long night on the order of Guilliman.
  • Mephiston has crossed the Rubicon Primaris, proving himself Lord of Death once again.
Imperial Fists[edit]
  • As revenge for the Iron Warriors' attack on The Phalanx, the Imperial Fists fight alongside several Knight Houses to capture the Iron Warriors' recently fortified world of Ironhold.
  • The Phalanx was badly damaged between the events of the fall of Cadia and the Iron Warriors' attack, but it was able to survive. It is now currently orbiting Terra for repairs and purification of the tainted parts of the ship. The Custodes took this opportunity to plant agents aboard the Phalanx just in case the Fists ever turn to Chaos and try to turn it's guns on Terra.
  • Vorn Hagen's dead, only two editions after he was introduced. While it's said he fell defending Terra (presumably from the Khornate reaming that followed the Rift). the fact that it came with as much fanfare and note as former Chapter Master Vladimir Pugh's passing only notes how impactful he really was.
White Scars[edit]
  • The White Scars are badly depleted by Chaos attacks led by the Red Corsairs; only the arrival of Kor'sarro Khan's forces from the Damocles Gulf prevent them from being wiped out entirely. Shortly afterwards, the Indomitus Crusade's reinforcements are able to save the chapter. With their numbers restored, they embark on a major campaign against the Red Corsairs that culminates in the invasion of a space station seized by Huron Blackheart. Jubal Khan and his honor guard reach the heart of the space station; though they are able to detonate its reactor, collapsing corridors prevent them from evacuating the station. Their fate is unknown, but it's looking increasingly likely that Kor'sarro Khan is going to be promoted just like Shrike was.
  • It turns out that Jubal had survived, but was horrifically tortured by the Red Corsairs when he was recovered; despite the best efforts of the Apothecaries he is not expected to be able to fight again. He is now interred within the strategic center in the chapter's Fortress-Monastery, acting as a strategist for the Chapter.
  • After the repelling the Red Corsairs' invasion of Chogoris, Kor'sarro Khan undergoes the Rubicon Primaris. Upon finding out about this, Jubal Khan has a private conversation with Kor'sarro, and gifts him the Cyber-Berkut Anzuq. Some within the chapter suspect that this is Jubal's way of keeping a tighter leash on Kor'sarro for his recklessness since Anzuq records all it sees.
  • Chogoris has been badly affected by the presence of the Maelstrom as well as the aftermath of Huron's invasion. The mountain beasts have begun to mutate, multicolored fires burn across the plains, and even the ritual scars on the faces of the tribes' best warriors seem to reflect the shape of the Great Rift. The White Scars have consequently taken extensive precautions to ensure that their initiates are uncorrupted.
    • Worse, much of the Yasan Sector that Chogoris is a part of remains under the control of Chaos forces, giving them a staging area to assist the mutant hordes and cultists remaining on Chogoris.
  • Rumor has it that Jaghatai Khan entered the Webway Portal from which he never returned from not because he wished to pursue the Dark Eldar, but because he saw it as an opportunity for freedom without limit upon an endless plain to make war in. This view is bitterly opposed by most of the White Scars, but only the Khagan himself can be said to know the truth.
  • After suffering defeat at the hands of Hive Fleet Hydra on Haadekh, the White Scars get revenge on the volcanic world of Horatian Utukh. Equipped with enough flamer weaponry to burn the Tyranids before they could regenerate, the White Scars lured the Tyranids onto unstable fields of rock and lava until it collapsed under the weight of all the extra bioforms formed by the death throes of leader organisms.
  • Captain Jurga of the 1st company is interred within a dreadnought after being wounded by a Lord Discordant of the Red Corsairs during the War for Chogoris.
Black Templars[edit]
  • The Black Templars take it on themselves to defend Imperial Shrine Worlds from Word Bearers-led Chaos forces, with several crusades being launched to drive the traitors back. Despite heavy losses, they are able to HOLD THE FUCKING LINE!.
  • Helbrecht has taken a break from pursuing Ghazghkull; the Primarch managed to convince the High Marshal that his oath to slay the Ork warlord had blinded him to the more immediate threat of the Ruinous Powers, and he soon declared his crusades to protect the worlds of the Ecclesiarchy from Chaos.
  • A crusade into the Maelstrom finds new allies. The Star Phantoms, Libators, and new Black Templar Primaris marines join the crusade to purge ork pirates and chaos renegades. The crusade also recovers a lost knight STC from the Forces of Chaos.
  • Black Templars are retconned from being incorruptible while simultaneously having their character who had a model in 3rd edition declared Excommunicate Traitoris. Rip Castellan Draco.
Salamanders[edit]
  • A lesser known gene-seed quirk of the Salamanders grants them a limited ability to see infrared emissions. This "fire-sight" can be used alongside specialized materials to produce decorations and tactical markings that only the Salamanders can see.
  • The Salamanders deploy at full Chapter strength to fight against the invasion of the Largos System by the Bloodthirster Khaz'khul. Their new Aggressor squads (equipped with flamers, of course) prove to be the key to victory. The Salamanders soon become well-known for their effective use of Aggressors.
  • The Salamanders fight and defeat the forces of the Death Guard and the Deamon Prince the Eater of Lives in the Ybrannis System, preventing millions of infected foodstuffs from being distributed across the Imperium.
  • On the hive world of Parshamesh, the Salamanders prove vital in rallying the Parshamesh PDF to drive out invading Dark Eldar raiding parties.
  • After the Genestealer Cult of the Innerwyrm infects the agri-world of Slathergraft, Captain Agatone leads a strike force from the 3rd company to the planet, only to find it deserted. Descending underground, the strike force finds the world's populace enslaved by parasitism, and cull of the entire underground of every living thing and Genestealer. Though successful, only Agatone and a quarter of the strike force survive to return to the surface.
  • The Salamanders team up with Sisters from the Order of Our Martyred Lady to defeat a mixed warband of Iron Warriors and Death Guard marines on the word of Shen'tzi Vo. Luring the warband into a killzone, the Salamanders and Sisters launch nuclear munitions and promethium, burning heretic and loyalist alike. Though many loyalists survive, the warband is not so fortunate and are eventually driven off world.
  • While fighting a rebellion alongside the Death Korps of Krieg and Voltern Cuirassiers on Hespher II, captain Shoen'lo clashes with the Death Korps over how to deal with the rebels. Shoen'lo desired repatriation and punishment for the rebels that repented, while the Death Korps wanted to kill 'em all and let the Emperor sort them out. Things came to a head when the Death Korps shelled a hab-complex while the Salamanders were undergoing a search and capture operation. Though the Salamanders were unscathed, Shoen'lo marched up to the Death Korps' command Leviathan to confront their leadership. After leaving, onlookers bore sight to something they never would have imagined to see: genuine terror among the Krieg officers. The Death Korps would go on to fight exactly as the Salamanders wanted, and the two forces parted on frosty terms.
  • A group of Salamanders are stranded on the world of Warsylask thanks to the Great Rift. Suddenly, a cult of Nurgle arises and spreads a contagion that leaves only the planet's holy sites free of taint. The Salamanders leave the safety of the holy sites to take the fight to the cultists. By the time the Great Rift and plagues recede and the Imperial Guard and Arbites are able to mobilize, the cultists are a spent and broken force. unfortunately, none of the Salamanders survived the plagues, and the Planetary Governor raises the Cathedrum of the Nine Heroes on the sight of the Salamanders final victory to honor their sacrifice.
  • While it is stated that the Salamanders have never been confirmed to have any successor chapters, it is also suggested that some chapters such as the Black Dragons and the Storm Giants may have been descended from them.
  • A couple of tweaks have been made to the circumstances behind Vulkan's disappearance in order to reconcile the old fluff with the revelations made in the Horus Heresy and War of the Beast novels; the new story is that according to the Salamanders Vulkan led them for about a millennium after the Horus Heresy (i.e. right around the time the War of the Beast happened), at the end of which he bequeathed them the Tome of Fire and left for a special mission of some kind.
  • The Chapter's persistently low numbers have been retconned; they now keep 7 companies as a homage to the 7 warrior-houses of their old Legion; while each one is larger than a Codex-compliant Company, their Scout company is said to be less than half the size it would be in other chapters due to Nocturne's small population and an especially meticulous selection process.
  • During the Age of Apostasy, Goge Vandire's right-hand man Arch-Cardinal Perigno declared the Promethean Cult heretical. Following his decree, three orders of the Sisters of Battle attack five of the Chapter's companies on the world of New Folly alongside numerous fanatics. The Salamanders fought only in self-defense, and when news of Perigno's execution by the Inquisition arrived the Ecclesiarchal forces disbanded.
  • In spite of fears that Vulkan's relics have been rendered impossible to recover by the Great Rift, Vulkan He'Stan has not lost hope. In fact, he has learned that a clue to the location of the Unbound Flame may be hidden on an obscure planet called Zero.
Raven Guard[edit]
  • A Chapter-strength strike force spearheaded by a mix of Inceptors, Grav-chute equipped Reivers, and Thunderhawk-deployed Assault Marines led by Kayvaan Shrike is able to liberate the mining world of Safinyius mere weeks after it is captured by the Night Lords.
  • The Raven Guard, to no one's surprise, make heavy use of the Vanguard Primaris Marines.
  • It appears that Kayvaan Shrike has also crossed the Rubicon Primaris, becoming the first known example of emo Beakie Primaris Marine.
  • For the first time in centuries, Kayvaan Shrike calls a conclave of the entire chapter leadership, only to give each of them secret orders and ordering them to scatter across the Imperium. Only Shrike knows the true goals of the missions he handed out to the chapter's Shadow Captains.
  • On the world of Xalladin II, Kayvaan shrike learns of growing tensions between the Iron Hands and Imperial Fists while the threat of Waaagh! Boneskar remains. Shrike discovers that the Iron Hands are after a lost relic being used to power Xalladin II's planetary shield, which removing would leave the populace vulnerable. Shrike secretly destroys the relic and reveals himself and the Raven Guard in order to force the two chapters to repel the Waaagh! In the aftermath of the conflict, neither the Iron Hands nor the Imperial Fists are able to pin the relic's destruction on Shrike, but suspicions are abound.
Iron Hands[edit]
  • Medusa falls under attack by Chaos soon after the Great Rift's formation. The ensuing defense quickly becomes the largest armor battle since the Battle of Tallarn, but the overwhelming firepower of the Iron Hands' mobile fortresses ensures their victory.
  • Afterwards, the Iron Hands launch a scorched-earth campaign that leaves many of the nearby worlds ruined but free of Chaos taint. They manage to discover a possible pathway through the Great Rift and defeat the Chaos forces defending it, but the fleeing renegades destroy the portals used to sustain the pathway before the Iron Hands can secure it.
  • A relic known as the Brimstone Heart is stolen from the Gorgon's Forge by the Kabal of the Bladed Lotus. Clan Haarmek goes in hot pursuit of the relic, only to lose it again at the hands of Trazyn the Infinite. Iron Captain Tyrrod is stripped of his rank for his failure and must embark on the Silver Pilgrimage.
  • The Brimstone Heart is tracked to the world of Xalladin II, and Clan Raukaan is ordered to recover it at all costs. The Brimstone Heart is being used to power Xalladin II's planetary shield while the Imperial Fists fight to save the planet's remaining populace from an Ork Waaagh! The two chapters nearly come to blows over the relic until it suddenly explodes and removes the planet's shields. Though both chapters are able to repel the Orks with help from the Raven Guard, relations between them are now strained.
  • The Iron Hands and several of their successor chapters embark on the Iron Crusade to protect the Stygius Sector. Currently, they are protecting the surviving worlds in the Mordian System and securing the refineries and shipyards of the neighboring Khravos System.
Crimson Fists[edit]
  • The Crimson Fists were able to receive much-needed Primaris reinforcements during the Indomitus Crusade after Guilliman drove off the forces of the Daemon Prince Rhaxos from Rynn's World, marvelling when they learned that many of them had lived while their Primarch still led them. As a show of gratitude for Guilliman's role in restoring their Chapter to its full strength, the Crimson Fists have since named the day in which they were united with their Primaris counterparts as the "Day of Renewal". Guilliman personally praised Pedro Kantor for his services to the Imperium, remarking that Rogal Dorn would have been proud of him.
Space Wolves[edit]
  • When the Codex Astartes was first introduced, Leman Russ somehow managed to convince Roboute Guilliman to let them retain their traditional structure.
  • Vorek Gnarlfist has been appointed the new Wolf Lord of Egil Iron Wolf's Great Company after the death of his predecessor, Orven Highfell, on Cadia.
  • Despite the return of the 13th Company, their name-stone remains blank as a symbol of all the Great Companies that have been lost throughout the history of the Space Wolves.
  • Unsurprisingly, there was some grumbling among some of the Space Wolves upon whether or not their Primaris cousins should be allowed to be a part of the Great Companies; since they were not born on Fenris and did not know of the Space Wolves' customs, some Wolf Lords believed them to be part of a ploy to undermine their traditions. Grimnar ultimately decides that they will follow the will of Guilliman and accept them, though rivalries between the Primaris Space Wolves and their shorter cousins are still common.
    • Subsequently, many Primaris Space Wolves agree to take the Test of Morkai to prove themselves worthy of being called sons of Russ. Not all of those who take the test survive it.
  • Ulrik the Slayer proposes that the cure to the Curse of the Wulfen might be found within the Primaris Space Wolves, but when several Inceptor packs give into bestial fury while fighting Dark Eldar it becomes clear that this is not the case.
  • The Rune Priests' visions hint more and more frequently that the Wolftime is drawing nearer than ever before. Njall Stormcaller is granted an audience with Bjorn; rumor has it that he sought to know every detail of the days leading up to Russ's departure.
  • Wulfen Dreadnoughts are exactly what you'd think- they're Wulfen in Dreadnoughts.
  • Lukas the Trickster once made a bet with Krom Dragongaze that he couldn't outstare the sun. Several hours of staring into the sun later, Krom declared the bet to be a draw when the sun went down that evening. He is blind in one eye to this day.
  • Following a duel with Ghazghkull, Ragnar Blackmane crossed the Rubicon Primaris to save him from what would otherwise be fatal injuries.
Other Codex Chapters[edit]
  • The Blood Ravens get their own entry in the "Unknown Foundings" section of the Codex, coincidentally confirming that they've been "gifted" a handful of Primaris Marines. It is suggested that the Ordo Malleus may know who their Primogenitor chapter is, but the records that they have are sealed. Newer fluff confirms that the Custodes were able to traverse into the Dark Imperium and provide the Blood Ravens a portion of their geneseed tithes, along with staff and equipment to create Primaris Marines, with the missive to regroup and replenish their numbers as quickly as possible (good thing too, since Sub-sector Aurelia is now stuck in the Imperium Nihilus and there's no telling how long Ulkair's prison will hold him).
    • Examination of the newcomers' gene-seed provides the Blood Ravens' Apothecaries with startling revelations about the Chapter's origins, leading to the decision to ensure that nobody outside the highest ranking members of the Blood Ravens can learn of it.
  • At one point in the past, two Space Marine Chapters ended up being formed with identical names and heraldries (the Celestial Swords). In true Administratum fashion, the mistake wasn't discovered until both of the Chapters were wiped out by the 9th Black Crusade 200 years later.
  • Though it is again noted that the Indomitus Crusade was unable to liberate or even reach many of the planets that had fallen in the Noctis Aeterna, the equally important point is made that it gave the Imperium as a whole hope that it could survive its darkest era since the Horus Heresy.
  • The Black Consuls, formerly presumed to be all but destroyed, have been rebuilt by an influx of Primaris Marines, as have the Scythes of the Emperor.
  • The Black Dragons were about to be investigated by the Inquisition again, but it was called off when the Great Rift formed.
  • The Minotaurs are forced to make for Terra after a Death Guard attack ruins their gene-seed stocks.
  • The Angels Revenant survived destruction at the hands of the Maynarkh Dynasty in Imperial Armour 12 after the Necrons cracked open their home planet and seemimgly drowned them in lava. When the Indomitus Crusade arrived, they were ready to declare them extinct until it was discovered that a few battle brothers survived to fight the Necrons under the planet's surface. The Angels Revenant have since been rebuilt with Primaris Marines.

Grey Knights[edit]

  • Some Chapters (most notably the Exorcists and Silver Skulls) have been known to notify the Grey Knights about potential candidates for recruitment within their own pools of Aspirants. The Grey Knights responsible for finding recruits are called the Gatherers, and they consist of Grey Knights who are too old or injured to take part in battle. Which makes no sense given current fluff states Astartes are functionally immortal and so aren't actually capable of being too old to fight. (There are exceptions such as the man Sigismund himself!) There would only be a few reasons for this, one is that this is proof that Space Marines are indeed affected by age (albeit slowly, so these Knights would have to be active since the Great Crusade) or while they are still powerful in their own right; the Gatherers' advanced age and/or crippling injuries have impacted their combat prowess to such a degree that they can no longer measure up to the Grey Knights' specifications but aren't maimed enough to justify being put into Dreadnoughts either. In either case, they're a lot like the Custodians' Eyes of the Emperor.
  • With the Great Rift open and Daemons everywhere, the Grey Knights have their work cut out for them. They are especially active during the Plague Wars in Ultramar.
  • Kaldor Draigo notices that his appearances in realspace are occurring more frequently and lasting for longer periods of time; the Prognosticars believe that this may be a byproduct of the Great Rift weakening the veil between the Materium and the Warp, or perhaps it is a side-effect of Mortarion's return to the Materium. In either case, Draigo is prepared for a second round with the Daemon Primarch and we can only wonder what kind of new scar tattoo he's going to give Mortarion again.
  • Due to the increasingly desperate state of the Imperium, Draigo has asked the other Grand Masters to consider executing the Terminus Decree (a.k.a. the thing in the Secret Box)- the first time this has ever happened.
  • 6000 years ago, the Grey Knights were successful in banishing Shalaxi Helbane, leading him to be thrown into Slaanesh's Palace of Punishments for his failure.
  • Grey Knight Chaplains serve to ensure the purity of the Chapter, and are drawn from the very purest of the Paladins.

Deathwatch[edit]

  • The War of The Beast is re-confirmed as the origin of the Deathwatch.
  • Basic overview of a Watch Fortress's chain of command, along with heraldry and brief descriptions of famous Watch Fortresses.
  • Kill-Teams are classified based on their specialties:
    • Aquila Kill-Teams are generalists, able to adapt to any situation within a moment's notice.
    • Venator Kill-Teams balance speed and firepower to counter swift xenos units.
    • Malleus Kill-Teams focus on killing monsters and destroying vehicles, often with the aid of Terminator armor and heavy weapons.
    • Furor Kill-Teams are swarm-slayers which kill off hordes of xenos from afar.
    • Purgatus Kill-Teams are tasked with assassinating enemy commanders and are frequently assisted by Librarians.
    • Dominatus Kill-Teams study the elite forces of their enemies, then outfit themselves accordingly to counter them.
    • Fortis Kill-Teams are a recent addition that focuses on combining the different specialties of Primaris Marines into a cohesive whole.
  • Deathwatch Librarians are most likely to originate from the Blood Angels, the Blood Ravens, and the Solar Hawks.
  • After learning of the Deathwatch's losses following the Great Rift's appearance, Roboute Guilliman passes the Ultimaris Decree, which grants them the use of several Chapters' worth of Primaris Space Marines.
  • Chaplain Cassius' involvement in the events of Deathwatch: Overkill gets brought up.

Adeptus Mechanicus[edit]

  • A couple of more exotic Tech Priest titles are given away, though it's anyone's guess what the hell half of them even do. But with charming names like "Data-Predator", "Grand Parasite", and "Mechasapient", perhaps it's best that we don't know.
  • Agripinaa has adapted to the fall of Cadia by "recruiting" any nearby refugee ships to the Skitarii- turning them into servitors if they don't join willingly.
  • A handful of Tech-Priests escaped the destruction of Gryphonne IV when it became Tyranid chow, and have vowed to rebuild their Forge World elsewhere.
  • Metalica is badly besieged by the Death Guard and its allies; only the intervention of House Raven and a war-fleet from Deimos is able to push back the traitors.
  • The AdMech have increasingly come into conflict with the Necrons since Cawl began work on reverse-engineering the Cadian Pylons. Their study into the strange material they have named Blackstone (hey, haven't we heard that name before?) has been promising so far, but the Necrons are the only ones with a large supply of the stuff and they don't want to share it. Worse, approximately half of all known Forge Worlds have turned out to be inactive Tomb Worlds that are now in the process of reawakening.
  • The Thanatar, Castellax, and Vorax Battle-Automata were mothballed after the Heresy, with more orthodox members of the AdMech believing that their machine spirits were too close to Silica Animus to be used safely.
  • Belisarius Cawl originally learned much of what he knows about gene-crafting from the Emperor Himself, back when he was still helping Emps design the Black Carapace. (Well technically it wasn't him but he absorbed the memories of the scientist who actually did it, it's complicated.) It was that expertise that helped him design the Primaris Marines, even though he has long since forgotten how he learned it in the first place.
  • At least 7 Forge Worlds are lost during the Noctis Aeterna, with several others not having been heard from in some time.
    • Tigrus is now a Forge World again, despite having been totally controlled by Orks for thousands of years prior. Orestes is now a Knight World. These are probably a case of GW having Alzheimer's.
  • Triplex Phall, the Forge of the Eastern Frontier, managed to defeat both a Splinter Fleet of Hive Fleet Kraken and an invasion by Typhus himself. Partly because of the large amounts of archaeotech they've been hoarding that even Mars doesn't have access to.
  • Remember the Moirae Schism? Turns out that among the prophecies the renegade techpriests of Moirae made were predictions about the impending appearance of the Great Rift and the return of Guilliman, which suggests that the rest of their beliefs weren't heretical after all. Oops.

Astra Militarum[edit]

  • A Militarum Regimentum is the Administratum term for all Regiments derived from a single planet.
  • Brief overviews of a bunch of minor Regiments. The Tanith First (And Only) get a mention as well. New Regiments include:
    • The Ventrillian Nobles, who "donate"part of their wealth to Munitorum officials and Rogue Traders to ensure they can be deployed to only the most glorious and adventure-filled warzones. They carry swords as well as lasguns and have a bunch of super-heavy tanks that they get from the AdMech in exchange for the rare gemstones only found on Ventrillia.
    • The Miasman Redcowls, flamer specialists native to the orbital station above the gas giant Miasma XVI. They're most often deployed on the front lines, partly to burn a path forward for their allies and partly because said allies find that the smell of their world's gases is intolerable.
    • The Indigan Praefects, expert beast hunters who learned how to fight big nasty monsters after their planetary governor's prized collection of dangerous predators from across the Segmentum escaped to breed in the wild. Since then, they've become some of the Guard's best Tyranid fighters.
Cadian Shock Troopers[edit]
  • After the fall of their homeworld, those who survived the battle then reinforced the other worlds within the Cadian Gate and manage to hold back the tide of Daemons and Traitor Marines when the great rift appeared.
  • The Cadians' new motto after the fall is "Cadia stands!", in honor of the heroic sacrifice of their Lord Castellan and the Cadian regiments that gave their lives to hold off Abaddon's forces over the history of the Imperium. When you think about it, it's a pretty good war cry because Abaddon spent a good while brooding over his epic failure to conclusively beat and humiliate the Imperium on Cadia in a straight battle and each Cadian war cry is no doubt an irritating taunt. Creed's true fate remains unknown to the Imperium, though he is currently presumed dead.
  • The Cadians who survived the fall of Cadia, were unable to reach the defense of their homeworld in time, or were busy on a different warzone settled down/drilled countless worlds to instill their martial prowess and proud traditions to their host planets in order to carry on Cadia's legacy. Even though Cadia has fallen, the Cadian Shock Troopers aren't going anywhere. So Abaddon in typical fashion snatched defeat from the jaws of victory by turning his Cadia problem into many many problems.
  • Due to his involvement in the Damocles Gulf Crusade against the T'au at the time, Knight Commander Pask was unable to reach Cadia before it fell. Pask was ashamed and wept manly tears when he learned about the fate of his homeworld. He wished he could have fought and died honorably with its proud defenders, then he turned said shame into hatred of the forces of Chaos.
Catachan Jungle Fighters[edit]
  • Despite being a proverbial stone's throw away from the Great Rift, Catachan not only avoided being corrupted by Chaos, but was able to hold its own against the daemonic hordes thanks to a combination of the Jungle Fighters' prowess and the inherent lethality of the native flora and fauna.
    • By the time the Indomitus Crusade arrived, the forces of Chaos had already been driven off- it's noted that when the Crusade left Catachan, its forces were greatly swelled by volunteers from the Catachan Jungle Fighters.
  • According to a story that's made its rounds around the Jungle Fighters, Gunnery Sergeant Harker first picked up Payback when he was a new recruit. His platoon had been sent to deal with a small band of Orks which turned out to be a Blood Axes ambush; when his lasgun's energy cells fried from overuse he claimed the heavy bolter from the remains of the platoon's heavy weapons squad. Harker was the sole survivor.
Armageddon Steel Legion[edit]
  • As mentioned previously, the Third War for Armageddon has been complicated further by the appearance of the forces of Khorne and Tzeentch. Reinforcements are slowly returning, but the influence of Chaos remains a dangerous wild card in the continuing Imperium-Ork conflict.
Vostroyan Firstborn[edit]
  • The Vostroyan Firstborn still uphold their tradition of reinforcing the regiments outside of Vostroya's territory to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately, they're on the side of the Great Rift where the Astronomican isn't visible, which means that many of the transports they send never reach their destinations. The Vostroyans keep sending transports anyway, hell-bent on never repeating their refusal to send aid during the Horus Heresy.
Valhallan Ice Warriors[edit]
  • Valhalla was surprisingly able to keep on with business as usual through the Noctis Aeterna, with the sheer stubbornness of the Valhallan Ice Warriors seeing them through the disappearance of a coherent chain of command.
  • With the aid of the nearby Hive World of Skovi, the Valhallans drive off a major Ork fleet before it can reach Valhalla. While the losses are predictably staggering, it is still a victory.
Tallarn Desert Raiders[edit]
  • The Tallarn Desert Raiders have recently taken up guerrilla tactics, acting as diversionary forces working in conjunction with other parts of the Indomitus Crusade. Additionally, their vaunted mobility has allowed them to thrive even as other regiments are strained by Warp storm-related logistics issues.
  • A detachment of Tallarn Desert Raiders aided the Grey Knights in battling the rotten hordes spawned by the sentient plague Eater of Lives. As a show of gratitude, the Grey Knights carve the names of the Tallarn commanders into their armor...before euthanizing the lot of them, just to be safe.
Mordian Iron Guard[edit]
  • When the Thousand Sons and Tzeentch's Daemons attacked the Stygius Sector (where Mordian is located), Mordian alone was able to drive off the forces of the Architect of Fate. They remain ready for the inevitable next assault, aided by the Iron Hands after they refused to retreat from the sector.

Sisters of Battle[edit]

  • As an unexpected side effect of the Great Rift's opening, miracles and acts of faith are being reported in never-before-seen numbers. Perhaps the influx of psychic power has strengthened the Emperor's influence?
    • Among other things, this includes appearances of golden-faced spirits that can banish Daemons with a touch, flocks of golden eagles, and even a psychic manifestation of the Emperor himself. Obviously Emps has been busy in the Warp.

Adeptus Custodes[edit]

  • Several of the more specialized branches of the Adeptus Custodes are introduced, such as the Shadowkeepers (assigned with guarding the archaeotech and Age of Strife-era horrors locked up in the Imperial Palace) and the Solar Watch (who defend the Sol system, the better to prevent threats from reaching Terra). Amazingly, only some of them have entirely golden armor.
    • Adeptus Custodes armor isn't painted; the auramite it's made of is naturally the classic shining gold, but alchemy can change it to entirely different colors as well.
  • Despite some initial dismay owing to their worry that the Space Marines could fail the Emperor as they had in the Horus Heresy, the Custodes accepted the Primaris Marines as part of the Emperor's plan following confirmation by the Emissaries Imperatus (the division of the Custodes entrusted with interpreting and relaying the Emperor's will) that the Emperor had approved of them. During the Indomitus Crusade, they were vital in ensuring the Space Marine Chapters accepted their new "gifts from the Emperor", in part because the Custodes threatened to have the more reluctant ones declared traitors on the spot if they refused.
  • A detachment of Custodes under Shield-Captain Heraclast Vadrian has set off to look for the lost forge world of Morvane, which is thought to have information on how to repair the Golden Throne. Another Custodes detachment it sent to the remains of Cadia; the reasons why are kept secret among even the Custodes themselves but the presence of the Shadowkeepers strongly suggests that something extremely dangerous is hiding there.
  • Constantin Valdor disappeared under mysterious circumstances after the end of the Horus Heresy. Rumor has it that he is still alive and in service of the Emperor.
  • While 30k Custodes are vehemently independent from the Mechanicus, having their own logistical corps with artisans making armaments and even tech-cults independent from Mars responsible for R&D, it seems that in 40k those artisans are AdMech-initiated, judging by their symbol on every Dawneagle Jetbike and Venerable Land Raider.

Imperial Knights[edit]

  • During the Dark Age of Technology the Knight Worlds' conservative outlook regarding technological advances and feudal culture led them to be viewed as the boondocks of human civilization. Despite remaining a source of amusement, they ultimately had the last laugh when the Age of Strife happened.
  • Both Armiger and Dominus pattern are STCs from the Dark Age of Technology, which means they can get rules for Horus Heresy.
  • By the way, Armigers are Battletech as fuck. They do not possess Throne Mechanicum, but rely on brain implants to connect the pilot. Moreover, those are usually tuned to be "connected" to the proper Noble in a real Knight, who can basically read the thoughts of his fellow squires in battle.
  • The Knight Preceptor is quite rare, primarily due to the STC for the las-impulsor being lost on two separate occasions.
    • Originally, the las-impulsor was constructed on only three Forge Worlds dubbed the Deuterium Stars; one of them turned turned traitor in the Horus Heresy and the other two were destroyed. The STC was not recovered until 3,000 years later, when it was found in territory that had previously been occupied by Orks.
    • The second time was in M38 when the aforementioned STC was stolen by Chaos Space Marines and taken into the Maelstrom. A joint operation between the Black Templars and the Freeblade Moritor Repugnum was able to reclaim it, and since its return in mid-M41 the Preceptor has been in regular use.
  • House Hawkshroud is in grave danger as Waaagh! Zagsmasha's path cross their home world of Krastellan. The situation is so dire Knights call in on all debts from other Imperium armies nobles helped. Several of their old allies along with the Primaris Marines of the Valiant Blades are on their way, but it is uncertain as to whether they will be able to reach Krastellan in time.
  • As the clashes between the AdMech and the Necrons grow more common, many worlds such as Voltoris and Auros IV discover that they too have had Necron tombs hidden on their worlds which are now beginning to reactivate. Many Knight Houses are forced to withdraw their forces to combat the new threat.
  • The beasts native to Raisa proliferate under the influence of nearby Warp Storms. The cull by House Cadmus takes weeks to bring them down to manageable numbers, and new fortifications are erected to keep the mutants contained.
  • When the Iron Warriors attack the Knight World of Randoryn Alpha, House Cerberan makes a valiant defense but ultimately falls. Most of its surviving nobles are broken by their subsequent tortures, but their sole surviving precept Sir Hektur is able to escape when his Knight's machine-spirit breaks loose from the remaking engines and rescues him. Now a Freeblade, he is able to free many serfs and Sacristans, earning him the epithet of "The Chainbreaker".

Elucidian Starstriders[edit]

  • Following the Plague Wars, Ultramar was badly damaged and billions of citizens were forced to become refugees. However, Roboute Guilliman noticed that the tides of the Warp have exposed new pathways on the outermost edges of the Imperium which may yet be uncorrupted.
  • In light of the above, Guilliman convened nearly a hundred Rogue Traders for a symposium on Macragge, commissioning them to map the new routes and establish new colonies that might be free of Chaos's influence.
  • Elucia Vhane herself is an estranged daughter of the influential Vhane dynasty, working from a map said to originate from the Dark Age of Technology.

Xenos[edit]

General[edit]

  • Xenos are confirmed to be taking a back seat this edition for the most part, with the primary conflict being Imperium Vs. Chaos. In other words, business as usual for the Xenos factions.
  • The Old Ones are said to have been the very first form of sentient life in the galaxy.
  • The Octarius War draws to a close as massively strengthened Orks and Tyranids alike break away to attack nearby systems weakened by the opening of the Great Rift. Kryptmann must be pissed.

Orks[edit]

  • Following several missions against xenos forces that appeared to be fleeing from an unknown foe, Watch Master Valesnus of the Deathwatch sends a request for reinforcements shortly before his Watch Fortress's astropathic relay explodes in a burst of WAAAGH! energy and auspicator buoys display an impossibly massive Ork fleet. By the time the reinforcements arrive, the Watch Fortress has been destroyed. Valesnus's body is found pinned to the wreckage with the remains of several battle-brothers, all of which have Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka's personal glyph branded onto their chests.
    • Reports of Ghazghkull's activity cause consternation among Imperial high command, as he is documented to be in several completely different locations all at once. Warp-based time dilation is a possible reason for how he's doing it, but there are too many sightings for this to be the only explanation. Indeed, some Orks say that he can now witness and influence events from far away using "the Great Green".
  • A Salamanders strike force drawn from elements of the 2nd and 5th companies respond to a distress call from the Imperial naval base on Thrastos. In their haste to aid the navy, the Salamanders fail to notice a fleet of Ork warships hiding in a nearby asteroid field. The Ork Blood Axe Warboss Borzog, who was also a survivor from the Salamanders victory over the Orks on Phaistos, nearly wipes out the Salamanders strike force in a brutal trap. The base is overrun, and the Salamanders are forced to limp off with a few damaged Imperial Navy ships and leave their dead behind. Like Borzog before him, Captain Pellas Mir'san swears revenge over his enemy.
  • The Orks know the Great Rift as "Gork's Grin," and claim it's Gork's mouth opening up to swallow the stars (and spit out all the Chaos stuff he didn't want to swallow). Following an impeccable display of Ork logic that Gork might swallow and spit up other armies too, many greenskin armadas head straight for the Great Rift in the hope of finding some new fights.
  • The long-forgotten Brain Boyz are given a mention; depending on which Runtherd is telling the story, either a plague some kind caused them to die out or devolve, or they were even more bellicose than the Orks and left to find the ultimate fight with the biggest Orks they could find. Either way, they somehow managed to engineer pure knowledge into the minds of the Orks.
  • Many Ork-beleaguered worlds that have been trapped behind the Great Rift are unable to evacuate their citizens as they usually would, dooming them to unwinnable wars of attrition.
  • Gork and Mork have apparently been rather busy slaughtering daemons in the Warp, and when the veil between the Warp and the Materium breaks they plan to lead the whole Ork race into a massive battle they call the "Great Waaagh!".
  • Freebooterz have grown more common due to the Great Rift making more than a few Orks "a bit perkooliar", turning them into greedy loot-grabbers or Madboyz.
  • Mad Dok Grotsnik is rumored to be using the organs and body parts "donated" by his customers to be creating some kind of composite super-Ork, Frankenstein style.
    • To feed his need for more bodies, Grotsnik has arranged for the creation of his own warband called "Da Corpse Lootas". This bunch of Deathskulls, Painboyz, Freebooterz, and Grotsnik's own "Stitchboyz" exists solely to steal dead bodies from the battlefield (and make them if there are none) for Grotsnik to use as spare parts.
  • Wazdakka Gutsmek's Waaagh! is pushing deep into the north of Segmentum Solar, and is apparently severe enough for the Custodes of the Dread Host to intervene. Nazdreg Ug Urdgrub has also been spotted leading his forces into the vicinity of Valhalla, and after hearing about the Stormsurge he has his Boyz set out for the Farsight Enclaves in the hopes of looting one for use as a Stompa.
  • A brief summary of the War of the Beast.
  • Old Zogwort's Weirdwaagh! was swallowed up by a Warp storm, only to burst out of the Warp over the world of Morrowgrym Prime. If the visions of Imperial astropaths in that system are correct, he was literally sneezed out by Mork- and the green ectoplasm Zogwort's hordes were covered with lends a disturbing credence to that notion.
  • Boss Zagstruk's boyz have noticed that Da Boss has become much more ambitious as of late. Recently, he conquered an Imperial Shrine World which now serves as the capital of his growing Stormwaaagh!.
  • Boss Snikrot has not been taking the occasional truces with the Imperium necessary to deal with Armageddon's daemon problem very well. As of late, more than a few Nobs have turned up dead with their heads on spikes as Snikrot's warning against "mobbin' up wiv humies".
  • Following his bailing out of Badmek Mogrot from Alaric Prime (and subsequently milking his technological know-wotz for all they're worth), Kaptin Badrukk and his Freebooterz have become more daring and dangerous than ever before. Da Blacktoof alone is now capable of annihilating hive cities unassisted.
  • Deff Skwadron gets an entire section of the "Famous Flyboyz" box to itself.
  • Contrary to popular belief, Makari is alive and well.
  • Ghazghkull is decapitated in a duel with Ragnar Blackmane, but is somehow brought back to life by Mad Dok Grotsnik.

Necrons[edit]

  • General overview of the Necron military hierarchy.
  • The creation of the Great Rift has triggered the awakening of numerous Tomb Worlds due to anti-Warp protocols. Furthermore, the ancient faction of Cryptek weaponsmiths known as the Technomandrites of Magistrakh has re-emerged, long after its supposed defeat by the Silent King in the early days of the War in Heaven.
  • The Necrons are striking at the Forge Worlds throughout the galaxy, largely to gain access to the Blackstone on them. As it turns out most Forge Worlds and many Knight Worlds are also built on Tomb Worlds, and so have large supplies of Blackstone left behind by the Necrons. Naturally, the re-awakened Necrons on said planets have demonstrated their objections to the current inhabitants in exactly the manner you might expect.
  • The Triarch Praetorians have renewed their old vows to the Silent King after learning of his return, swearing to unify the old Necron Empire lest the Tyranids consume it.
  • Orikan the Diviner's ultimate goal is clarified; when the stars are right, his physical form will become the vessel for celestial power unmatched throughout the galaxy, and the thousands of temporal traps he has seeded throughout the galaxy will grant him total control over the passage of time. Incidentally, he predicted the Great Rift too. Why do we get the feeling this won't work out the way he expects it to?
  • When the Necrons turned on the Deceiver, none of the other C'tan came to its aid as they had grown wise to its schemes. The shards of the Deceiver have since fallen prey to their own lies, convincing themselves that it is they who are in control over the Necrons even when they are really slaves.
  • Leading into 9th Edition, Szarekh has formed a plan to set up specialized pylon arrays that completely sever parts of realspace from the Warp. Living beings within affected regions are afflicted with growing despair and apathy until they are rendered virtually mindless...which also makes them ideal candidates for experiments on reversing the biotransference process.
Sautekh[edit]
  • Imotekh's territory has expanded greatly, as many of the Tomb Worlds awakened by the Great Rift's creation are invaded by the Sautekh Dynasty and forced into his empire. Odds are the Tau are about to learn just how good they had it when they just had to contend with the Imperium, Tyranids, and Orks.
  • Following the above, Imotekh's forces have been battling Chaos extensively in the hopes of putting the dynasties yet to awaken in the Sautekh Dynasty's debt.
  • Imotekh is still very pissed off about the Damnos war, and has sworn that he will have the Ultramarines destroyed, Macragge burned, and its leaders dragged before him in chains so they may know the price of defying him.
Nephrekh[edit]
  • The Nephrekh Dynasty's attempts at improving their translocation beams to pierce the Great Rift have been hampered by the Thousand Sons, who want the technology for themselves.
  • The shining golden color of the Necrons of the Nephrekh Dynasty is due to the presence of "metagold", an exotic material that allows its bearer to briefly transform into a being of pure light.
Nihilakh[edit]
  • The Nihilakh Dynasty has been increasingly prone to sending its legions outside its territory, and there are reports that their billions of slaves are being tasked with building strange geometric monuments.
  • Trazyn the Infinite is losing patience with the current spate of wars destroying relics before he can "rescue" them. In the name of keeping the history of the galaxy preserved, he has commanded his legions to start occupying nearby worlds so he can catalog them without interruption.
Mephrit[edit]
  • The Mephrit Dynasty is currently at war with Craftworlds Alaitoc and Saim-Hann after they launched several attacks on Exodite worlds.
Novokh[edit]
  • The Novokh Dynasty is at home in the incessant conflict that engulfs the Imperium Nihilus, as it provides a fine opportunity to indulge in their hunger for battle.

Tyranids[edit]

  • The Great Rift has become a stumbling block for the Tyranids; as Daemons have no biomass to harvest and planets lost to Chaos are usually sucked into the Warp, the Hive Mind has begun to create new generations of Hive Fleets better able to handle the Great Rift's pressures.
  • Brief descriptions of the preferred tactics of the main Hive Fleets:
    • Behemoth uses a simple brute force approach, favoring powerful monsters above all else as it smashes its way through any resistance.
    • Kraken excels at outflanking and outmaneuvering its prey, and also exploits Lictors and Genestealers to perform hit-and-run attacks.
    • Leviathan possesses a more advanced synaptic network than other Hive Fleets and prefers coordinated attacks from both land and air.
    • Jormungandr seeds planets with broods of Raveners, Trygons, and Mawlocs to undermine defenses and ambush victims when the invasion begins in earnest. Should they be repelled, they retreat to the tunnels to resume their assault later.
      • Jormungandr's tactics and even color scheme is a pretty huge reference to the Airachnids in the Starship Troopers film. Black, Yellow, with Red highlights. Even utilize Bug Meteors. Presumably maleceptors, neurothropes and zoanthropes are Brain Bugs.
    • Hydra overwhelms its foes with ridiculously massive swarms of Gaunts, which can be produced far faster than those of other Hive Fleets. It focuses mainly on planets that have recently repelled an earlier Tyranid invasion, feeding on both weakened defenders and the remnants of the previous invasion alike.
    • Gorgon deploys creatures with advanced toxic glands full of semi-sentient spores. These spores adapt specifically to kill the Hive Fleet's chosen prey, an evolution the Hive Fleet developed after its defeat by the Tau Empire.
    • Kronos focuses on ranged combat, as the Chaos forces it specializes in fighting are too dangerous to fight in melee.
  • Tyranid organisms from splinter fleets tend to develop unique markings, perhaps as a way to distinguish them from their original Hive Fleet.
  • Hive Fleet Leviathan's attack on Baal nearly succeeds, with the bugs preparing to eat Baal's moons. However, they are ultimately defeated due to a combination of the Great Rift sucking their bio-ships into the Warp, Ka'bandha showing up to keep the Tyranids from robbing him of his revenge against the Blood Angels, and the arrival of the Indomitus Crusade.
    • The tendril of Hive Fleet Leviathan engaged at Baal was confirmed as being larger even then the forces in Octarius, being the largest concentration of Tyranid seen yet. The Swarmlord, as predicted, died again in a fight with a tired Dante
    • Despite this, several of Leviathan's bio-ships were in fact later expelled from the Warp, forming new splinters that spread out across the galaxy. One splinter ends up attacking the Red Corsairs' fleet. Another emerges alarmingly close to Segmentum Solar, and is said to possess strange new biomorphs. Deathwatch Apothecaries involved with these battles note that the Tyranids displayed very little mutation despite being stuck in the Warp for who knows how long.
  • Hive Fleet Gorgon wasn't actually destroyed after all, as the Tau and IG were too busy fighting each other to notice the remnant of the Hive Fleet escaping. It has since rebuilt and kept busy by poisoning the crops of several agri-worlds. Several systems fall prey to the tainted foodstuffs.
  • At least three new Tyranid Hive Fleets have emerged: Kronus, Scylla, and Charybdis.
  • Hive Fleet Tiamet is building an organic psychic super structure on one of the worlds it's occupied (something that is itself highly unusual for Tyranids to do); nobody's sure what it does, but it seems to act as some kind of psychic beacon. A Deathwatch Kill-Team stumbles over the structure as they investigate the trade fleets that have gone missing near the system (themselves strongly implied to have been hijacked by Genestealer Cults for use in constructing the structure), but is quickly overwhelmed. Since then, one Watch Commander Vilnus has agreed to work with Kryptmann to figure out a plan to whatever the Tyranids are trying to do.
  • Strangely, Hive Fleet Hydra has consistently ignored most inhabited worlds in its path, and instead focuses on cannibalizing the splinters of other Hive Fleets. Nobody knows why. Because even a failed fleet has biomass and DNA to be added to the swarm, and it now allows for Nid vs. Nid battles on the tabletop.
  • Hive Fleet Kronos seems to be the Hive Mind's solution for dealing with the aftermath of the Great Rift, and despite its recent creation it has grown greatly thanks to Leviathan leaving several weakened worlds for the newer Hive Fleet to consume. Kronos is currently traveling coreward along the Great Rift and focuses its attacks on areas of especially intense Warp activity. Indeed, the Shadow in the Warp projected from Kronos' Zoanthropes and Maleceptors is actually strong enough to close up smaller Warp rifts entirely.
  • It is suggested that the Tyranids may have entered the galaxy as early as the Great Crusade, with records making mention of a legion of flying xenos creatures that are described in terms highly reminiscent of Gargoyles in the Thracian Sector. Coincidentally, an obscure hive fleet called Hive Fleet Ouroboros that uses mostly flying creatures has been spotted in said sector, and those creatures seem to sport unusually primitive versions of the typical Tyranid biomorphs.
  • One splinter fleet of Behemoth called the Court of the Nephilim King has recently been making a name for itself. Its forces consist mainly of synapse creatures, monsters, and bio-titans, allowing it to rapidly overwhelm its opponents while maintaining a greater degree of autonomy than other Tyranid forces. After a series of crushing defeats to the splinter fleet, House Raven swears vengeance against the Court of the Nephilim King.

Genestealer Cults[edit]

  • Genestealer Abominants are Aberrants further mutated by gene-matter gifted by the Patriarch that are used to lead lesser Aberrants into battle.
  • In rare cases where a Genestealer Cult has grown extremely large on a densely populated planet but has not yet subverted its defenses, an existing Purestrain Genestealer may develop into an additional Patriarch to better coordinate the cult's spread while ensuring that it does not collapse if the current Patriarch is slain.

T'au[edit]

  • Revised versions of the Tau alphabet and number system are given, along with several Tau words.
  • General descriptions of a Tau military force are described.
  • The Tau have been working on a new prototype "slipstream drive" granting them advanced FTL travel that allows them to explore the Universe to the fullest. This allowed them to launch a Fourth Sphere Expansion ...which promptly vanished. Having found themselves stuck between the newly formed Great Rift, the scores of dead worlds left behind by Hive Fleet Gorgon, and the Sautekh dynasty, the ships of the Fourth Sphere activated all their slipstream drives at once. Unfortunately for them, this accidentally opened up a Warp rift that sucked in the entire fleet. Warp fuckery means that the entire Empire is able to witness the fleet's apparent doom, and the remaining attempts at expansion are halted by a combination of Ork attacks, the return of Hive Fleet Gorgon, and the Great Rift driving many of the gue'vesa insane.
    • A couple of years later, a drone is discovered floating through the Zone of Silence orbiting a wormhole that wasn't there before, which they dub the Startide Nexus. When its mainframe is analyzed, the Empire discovers that a large chunk of the Fourth Sphere has survived and settled in a region far to the north of the Empire called the Chalnath Expanse, which is apparently located on the other side of the Nexus. A Fifth Sphere expansion is prepared to re-establish contact with the new colonies.
  • The Fourth Sphere survivors estimate that nearly 3/4 of their number were unable to return to realspace, and their description of unnatural beings and malicious sentiences that attacked them strongly suggest that they were assailed by Daemons while they were stuck in the Warp. The Startide Nexus was the result of them being flung back out of the Warp by...well, they don't know but they're pretty sure it's not friendly. Many of them can barely conceal their hostility towards the alien auxiliary forces accompanying their Fifth Sphere reinforcements.
    • Their fate is revealed in full in War of Secrets. Short version: Chaos happened. When the fleet was stuck in the Warp, daemons targeted the Nicassar first, then the Kroot and other allied aliens. The T'au would have been devoured too, were it not for a Warp entity suddenly appearing and cutting open a rift for the Tau to exit to realspace. Commander Surestrike, leader of the Fourth Sphere Expansion, concluded that said entity was a "God" created from the belief of psychic-capable races. Therefore, to preserve the integrity of the Greater Good, all alien races save for the Tau must be exterminated.
    • The Ethereals and Shadowsun grow concerned upon receiving multiple reports of Fourth Sphere warriors engaging in unusual acts of brutality, such as slaughtering unarmed prisoners and going out of their way to maximize casualties among their non-Tau allies. Following one especially bloody Kroot uprising, all alien auxiliaries are removed from Fourth Sphere contingents.
  • Shas'o Kais tagged along the Fourth Sphere Expansion, though out of respect and fear, he was put into cyrogenic stasis, only awakened when the most important missions called for. A bizarre malfunction in the stasis pod he was kept in allowed his mind to remain active when while in stasis, giving him ample opportunity to retrieve information about the enemies of the Empire and all but perfect his own skills as a one-Tau army.
  • At least one of the Tau colonization fleets from the Fourth Sphere is flung close to Baal. The Blood Angels make quick work of them.
  • One group of Tau Earth Caste farmers on the planet Dhar'tan break protocol and begin making offerings to the "fertility god" the native tribes worship in the hopes of ending a drought. Unfortunately for them, the "fertility god" in question is Rotigus and the planet soon becomes a fetid swamp-world. This means Tau are capable of sorcery, if nothing else. Between that and the Fourth Sphere warriors being exposed to the Warp without the protection of a Gellar Field, it may be possible that we are seeing the first signs of Chaos corruption among the Tau.
  • Tau scientists have attempted to make more XV02 suits after Longstrike demonstrated their effectiveness, but thus far all other test pilots were either incompatible with the neural framework or went brain-dead shortly afterwards.
  • Aun'Va was in the process of uploading his memories and mind before his death, allowing the resulting AI to pass for him after the real one was slain. The Empire as a whole has not discovered the deception yet, but since the hologram has no ability to compel obedience like a true Ethereal it's only a matter of time before the truth slips out. Already one high-ranked commander has directly refused orders from "Aun'Va", joining the Farsight Enclaves soon afterwards.
  • A massive force of Chaos Space Marines and the Death Guard have attacked the Startide Nexus in the hopes of invading the Tau Empire directly. The Tau, having no real experience with Chaos beyond relatively minor skirmishes until now, are getting some very nasty lessons about what the galaxy has in store for them, and are locked in several wars of attrition against multiple Chaos incursions from Nurglite and Tzeetchian warbands. Even Shadowsun's desperate heroics surely cannot hold Nurgle's chosen Legion back for long.
    • More accurately, there are at least four distinct clashes between Tau forces and Chaos. The first is during the Plague Wars, where the Tau seek to colonise the planet Kellik, unaware that the Death Guard have already landed, intending to turn the world into a fetid swamp. The Tau force lands too late to stop them, but conflict erupts anyway as Commander O'Kais refuses to abandon his mission.
    • The second is the Battle of the Voridium Sceptre, where a force of the Thousand Sons led by Sorcerer Amenex Soulrend invade an earth caste laboratory complex to steal a relic made from Voridiun Crystals. They are only stopped before they can reach the central laboratories and the battle lines are drawn with the fight quickly becoming stalemated as the T'au defense refuses to fold.
    • The third is the Burning Moon. The only definitive Tau victory, as hundreds if not thousands of Tau warriors sacrifice themselves in a holding action to contain a Khornate warband, before several pathfinder teams can discharge tectonic bombs that shatter the ground beneath the Khornate forces and drown them in lava. This action costs the Tau dearly in manpower, but is still counted as a victory. Let it sink in for a moment, the forces of Khorne, infamous throughout the galaxy for their melee skills, lose to a faction that’s practically allergic to melee.
    • The fourth is the aforementioned battle for Startide Nexus. While it seemed that it would all be over for the Tau, the Death Guard inexplicably broke off their attack and retreated into the Warp. The Tau have no idea why they didn't press their attack further to T'au itself, and they're scared shitless about the possibility of them returning to finish the job.
  • Farsight for some reason made a return trip to Arthas Moloch, the planet where he found the Dawn Blade. After meditating there for some time he then returned to the Enclaves and...that's all we've heard from him come 8th edition.
  • The rising number of psychic phenomena and miracles associated with the Great Rift continue to baffle the Tau scientists, and in some cases Gue'vesa are moved enough to rejoin the Imperium.

Craftworld Eldar[edit]

  • There is a rumor that a new faction of Slaanesh Eldar is in the works... but what they've been doing for essentially millennia, and how Fulgrim's going to react, probably won't make much sense. Slaanesh Eldar would be Dark Eldar that serve Slaanesh, which is normally instantly fatal for them, except for in the shitty works of Multilazor. On the other hand, a previously unheard of faction of Eldar is mentioned to be known to the Inquisition; the portrait depicting a member of said faction looks incredibly mutated, the symbol next to them depicting their sub-factions is a Mark of Slaanesh, and the portrait itself is labeled only as "REDACTED".
    • The Death Guard codex also makes mention of Nurgle-corrupted, insectile Eldar pirates hailing from Saim-Hann. Make what you will of that.
  • The Eldar Empire is confirmed to have fought the Necrons in the past, though these conflicts were so one-sided that it only made them more certain of their invincibility. The War in Heaven is mentioned as the greatest of these Eldar-Necron wars.
  • Tensions are still high between the Ynnari and the Craftworlders, with many Craftworld elders condemning the new faction as misguided at best. Regardless, many Craftworlders have still joined the Ynnari's ranks though the overall organization remains small, with Yvraine herself doubting it would match even a small Craftworld in battle.
    • While Yvraine attempted to hold a gathering between the major Craftworlds, the Harlequins, three Corsair fleets, the Dark Eldar, and her own Ynnari to argue in favor of a lasting alliance between them, they soon fall to infighting until they are forced to work together to stop a Chaos incursion. Even then, their cooperation doesn't last long.
  • Every Craftworld has found itself attacked by Chaos at least once following the Great Rift's opening, even the ones hidden in the Webway, and at least two are probably dead.
  • Brief overview of how a Craftworld's military forces are organized.
  • The Bards of Twilight are finally described in detail; they are said to be an order of storytellers and poets entrusted with the full Asuryata- the legend of the Phoenix Lords.
  • The Great Rift has amplified the psychic powers of the Seers, and many Exarchs have discovered that they can channel Khaine's power to strengthen their already impressive battle prowess.
  • After a confrontation with Shalaxi Helbane, Yvraine has learned that the last Cronesword is in Slaanesh's own palace. If Ynnead can still be fully awakened, it will not be by using the Croneswords unless a miracle occurs.
  • It is implied that Imperial Guard forces accidentally unearthed the armor of the Warp Spider Phoenix Lord, which promptly came back to life and killed them.
Iyanden[edit]
  • Craftworld Iyanden is invaded by Chaos forces...again. This time, the attack is by Slaaneshi daemons led by a Keeper of Secrets, and only the combined aid of an army from every major Eldar and Dark Eldar faction in the galaxy keeps it from being destroyed. They've since had to deal with two other daemonic incursions, Orks, Imperial fleets, more Tyranids, and Necrons from the Sautekh Dynasty. Iyanden just can't catch a break, can they?
  • After Yvraine brought Yriel back from the dead, an idea has begun to form amongst some of the Craftworld's Spiritseers. In the event that the Craftworld is in danger, the Craftworld's population could commit mass suicide and merge with Iyanden's Infinity Circuit while the Wraith Constructs keep the Craftworld safe. Once the danger has passed, the Eldar in the Infinity Circuit can regrow their bodies like the Dark Eldar, both empowering Ynnead and denying Slaanesh souls. The only flaw in the plan is that if no Ynnari are around, Slaanesh is free to consume the souls of Iyanden's residents.
Ulthwé[edit]
  • Eldrad has been exiled from Ulthwé for stealing the Crystal Seers back in Death Masque and for causing three Farseers to crystallize during the events of Fracture of Biel-Tan. He works with the Ynnari at times, but now prefers to travel on his own along with his followers. They now live a nomadic lifestyle similar to the Eldar Corsairs, and he offers his wisdom to any who oppose Chaos, kind of like a dickish Space Elf Merlin.
  • Ulthwé has recently been divided into rival factions following the recent civil strife among the Eldar; the largest of these still follows the Seer Council, traveling with the Craftworld to stave off the many disasters that the Great Rift has been responsible for. Another has joined Eldrad and typically turns up with the former High Farseer as aid unlooked for, with the Eldar that joined the Ynnari composing a third faction. While in most cases they have fought as allies, it is not unheard of for them to come into violent conflict with each other.
  • Forced to acknowledge their reliance on the lesser races to survive, Ulthwé's forces begin aiding the Imperium and the Farsight Enclaves for the purposes of preserving future allies that could be used to fight Chaos.
    • However, this also leaves their own forces stretched thin, and soon a combined force of Daemons serving Tzeentch and Slaanesh led by six Keepers of Secrets and Kairos Fateweaver breach the defenses of Ulthwé. They are driven off by Eldrad and his followers before they can cause any major damage.
  • Ulthwé has begun more direct means of preventing human worlds from falling to Chaos by launching clandestine raids to assassinate Planetary Governors too dim-witted to notice Chaos taking hold of their world. This sometimes results in the loss of Eldar lives, such as the Adonis Palace Massacre.
    • On the world of Cadmas Tertius, Ulthwé sends in a squadron of Hemlock Wraithfighters backed up by Crimson Hunters to bomb the spire of the Adonis Palace and prevent the planet's rulers from completing a Slaaneshi ritual. The Eldar emissaries sent to explain the Craftworld's actions were called murderers and sent away by gunpoint by the Adonites' new leadership. Calling a fake parlay, the Adonite Navy then blew up several Ulthwé ships up before they can retreat while the Eldar curse the Adonites' short-sightedness.
Biel-tan[edit]
  • Biel-Tan is still in bad shape after the events of Fracture of Biel-Tan; its solar sails are shredded, the lost Infinity Circuit has yet to be replaced, and Bonesingers struggle just to keep the Craftworld intact. Though roughly half of the Craftworld's population was either killed or joined the Ynnari, the remainder are still as dedicated to wiping out the enemies of the Eldar as ever.
  • The Swordwind has adapted after the Fracture as well, learning to take advantage of its smaller numbers to better outmaneuver opponents, though the Craftworld remains a shadow of its former self.
  • Internal strife within the fleets of Biel-tan over the course of the Craftworld's future is averted by the Masque of the Frozen Stars, which redirects their frustrations toward the occupation of a cluster of nearby Exodite Worlds under invasion by Chaos known as the Three Sisters.
    • When the forces of Biel-Tan go to assist the Exodites, they are joined by Baharroth and Fuegan. Celebration turns to fear when Karandras shows up mid-battle, as 3 Phoenix Lords together could quickly turn into 6, bringing about the Rhana Dandra. After securing the Exodite worlds, the forces of Biel-Tan exterminate the nearby Hive World of Khazhar for harboring the cultists responsible for the Chaos invasion. Since then, many Exodites in awe of the Craftworlders and Phoenix Lords have joined Biel-Tan to repay the debts incurred from protecting their worlds.
Saim-Hann[edit]
  • Fluff about Saim-Hann society and some of its more colorful rituals, like their preference for settling disagreements via ritual duels.
  • Each clan is free to choose whether or not to fight for a given cause, and in some cases a clan may go to war without the approval of the rest of the Craftworld.
  • An entire Wild Rider Clan and part of the Craftworld itself were infected when just two Vectorums of the Death Guard managed to fight through and board the Craftworld. Although eventually driven off the Eldar are forced to cut loose the infected piece of their home, the resulting despair causing every member of the lost Wild Rider Clan to be possessed by a Daemon of Nurgle and transform into weird insect monsters.
  • Hive Fleets Scylla and Charybdis are both headed towards Saim-Hann; as befitting their namesakes, they have surrounded in a way that the Craftworld can only evade one by putting itself into the path of the other.
Alaitoc[edit]
  • Alaitoc's wide network of Rangers has proven to be a valuable asset, as they have helped alert the Craftworld to the many new threats appearing as a result of the Great Rift although no actual known examples exist.
  • The Imperium gained most of its knowledge of the Eldar because they consistently capture and torture the widespread agents of Alaitoc, making questionable the entire strategy considering how little gain it seems to provide compared to the trove of information it supplies their enemies with.
  • Still believing that the Necrons are the galaxy's greatest threat, Alaitoc completely destroys the Hyrekh Dynasty the day it wakes up after a sobering vision from its top Seer warning of something that threatens to swallow the galaxy whole. Illic Nightspear has been in talks with the Harlequins of the Masque of the Frozen Stars, and they believe they have only scratched the surface of the threat.
  • While Alaitoc is busy hunting down the Necrons, the Keeper of Secrets Sli’tha trys to strike at the craftworld, only to have his Deamonette reconnaissance forces struck down by pinpoint Ranger sniper fire.
Other Craftworlds[edit]
  • Yme-Loc is busy in the Halo Stars fighting the Deamon Engine factories of Warpsmith Ur-Shellax with their own super-heavy engines of Vaul.
  • Iybraesil’s matriarchal leadership sends some Howling Banshees into the Eye of Terror to find Jain-Zar and tell her to stop hanging out with the Ynarri. None return unchanged from the experience.
  • While Il-Kaithe's Bonesingers are away dealing with an Ork Waaaagh, the Craftworld is corrupted by a nearby Chaos-tainted star. Coral-like growth begin growing on the Craftworld's wraithbone structures, causing the Craftworld's inhabitants to go insane and launch near-suicidal battles.
  • The Autarchs of Lugganath get pissed off at their Dark Eldar siblings for opportunistic raids on Lugganath's Human allies after getting massacred by Chaos. Which is quite odd, considering Lugganath is known for harboring lots of Eldar Corsairs. As the Eldar and Dark Eldar duke it out, Lugganath is unaware of the Chaos fleet coming back around to finish the job.
  • Craftword Altansar is helping out the Imperium at Sangua Terra to protect it from Abaddon and the Planet Killer.

Dark Eldar[edit]

  • Overviews of the typical makeup of a Kabal, Wych Cult, and Haemonculus Coven.
  • The Great Rift's appearance did a number on the Webway, but the plethora of poorly defended worlds cut off from the greater Imperium has made for excellent raiding opportunities among the Dark Eldar.
    • The Cult of the Cursed Blade in particular has been amusing itself by "defending" Imperial worlds against Chaos attack in order to raise the hopes of their inhabitants- the better to savor the shock of the following betrayal.
  • The former region of Khaine's Gate is now called the Chasm of Woe, and is still infested with Daemons. Unable to actually seal it up, the Dark Eldar settled for creating layers of sub-dimensions between it and Commorragh proper to slow the tide of Chaos. Dilapidated parts of the city and territories of uppity Archons are preferred for being used as makeshift barricades in this manner.
    • After stumbling over the recent conflicts between the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Necrons, the Dark Eldar discover the anti-Warp capabilities of blackstone and begin incorporating it into the Chasm as well.
  • Asdrubael Vect is murdered. After inexplicably sending away his Incubus bodyguards, he is killed by Mandrakes working for an unknown employer and every failsafe the Haemonculi have made for him in the event of his death is destroyed. Just about every Archon in Commorragh is stunned, wondering if they'll be the next to die. The Harlequins of the Masque of the Veiled Path arrange a funeral for him in the Cult of the Cursed Blade's arena, and Urien Rakarth promises to show his newest creations there.
    • At the crescendo of the funeral, the Harlequins release hallucinogenic gases into the arena the proceedings are taking place, and Rakarth's creations as well as the Wyches of the Cult of the Cursed Blade join the Harlequins in massacring every Archon who attended it. The sheer pain and suffering thus produced resurrects Vect on the spot, and he is declared a living Dark Muse. The Archons loyal to him who showed up at his "funeral" were revived, and those who were only there to gloat over his corpse were turned into Grotesques forced to serve Vect. Vect's hold over Commorragh is now stronger than ever before, and his next order of business is to punish Yvraine for her humiliation of him.
  • Lady Malys had the good judgment to take the Kabal of the Poisoned Tongue out of Commorragh to lie low after word of Vect's death spread, and so she avoided the fate of the other Archons present at Vect's "funeral". For the time being, she's still gone to ground but not even her own Kabal is sure of what her plan is by now. It's also not stated whether or not she had a hand in Vect's death, with the wording leaning towards not.
  • The mysterious being Lady Malys met and gained the heart of is explicitly stated to be Cegorach.
  • The Prophets of Flesh have taken a special interest in the Primaris Space Marines, and Urien Rakarth personally wishes to acquire a Primaris Marine from every Space Marine Chapter as part of his flesh-libraries.
  • A White Scars strike force led by captain Khajaten Khan of the 3rd company launch a system-wide search for a Dark Eldar Haemonculus known as the Shatterling Prince. Though the White Scars slew many Dark Eldar in the Asmari System, Khajaten refused to send his forces into the webway after the Prince, citing what happened to Jaghatai Khan. A year later, Khajaten is found dead in his meditation cell within the White Scars Fortress-Monastery of Quan Zhou, and every mirror and window within his quarters shattered.
  • After the abduction of several Adeptus Custodes, Inquisitors of the Ordo Xenos discover that the Coven of the Twisted Spiral has constructed something that looks like a monstrous parody of the Golden Throne. They are slain shortly after they report their findings.
  • Lelith Hesperax's real goal in joining the Ynnari is predictably self-serving: she wishes to capture Lucius the Eternal and engage him in the greatest duel that Commorragh has ever seen. She does know about his whole resurrection thing, but she believes that if his armor is taken away from him beforehand she won't end up turning into Lucius if she wins.
  • Vect and Urien begin the creation of "false humans"- Dark Eldar who have been surgically altered to seem like ordinary humans- as spies against the Ynnari.
  • Drazhar comes very close to killing Yvraine on Craftworld Saim-Hann, but his killing blow is parried at the last second by Jain Zar. Jain Zar and her Howling Banshees pursue Drazhar to the lost city of Shaa-dom, where she is outmatched and cut in half by Drazhar. In the ruins of Craftworld Zandros, Yvraine has a vision of Jain Zar's death, and prays to Ynnead to revive one of the dead Exarch's that accompanied her. The Exarch puts on Jain Zar's armor, and Jain Zar is reborn. Yvraine sets up a duel between the Ynarri and Drazhar's forces on Zandros. Jain Zar and the Ynarri get powered up by the souls of the Eldar that fall in the battle, and Jain Zar decapitates Drazhar.
    • Afterwards, an Incubi puts on Drazhar's armor and merges with it, pretty much confirming Drazhar is Ahra.

Harlequins[edit]

  • It is believed the Harlequins' fighting skills were developed shortly before the Fall, when many among their audiences would lash out at the denunciation of their excesses.
  • While some masques have incorporated Ynnead into their dances, Cegorach's true intentions for Ynnead and the Ynnari are still a mystery. At least a few Masques, like the Masque of Frozen Stars, are actively hostile to them.
  • Rather than being one individual, "Sylandri Veilwalker" may be a pseudonym adopted by multiple Shadowseers of the Masque of the Veiled Path.
  • A persistent rumor suggests that Isha may be freed from her captivity should enough of the Eldar weep for the loss of the Maiden Worlds.
  • Following his resurrection, Vect is heavily indebted to the Masque of the Veiled Path. And with their reputation as being unpredictable and manipulative even when compared to the other Harlequins, there's no telling what they plan to do when they call it in.
  • Ephrael Stern and the Pariah establish contact with the Ynnari, managing to get their help in exchange for finding a Solitaire willing to ally with the Ynnari.

Chaos[edit]

General[edit]

  • A catastrophic warp storm called the Cicatrix Maledictum has effectively split the Imperium in half, stretching from the Eye of Terror all the way down to the Hadex Anomaly by Macragge and the Tau Empire. It's the damned Ruinstorm all over again!
    • However, it appears that the rift is not completely impassable, as there appear to be two small corridors through it. One over by Belis Corona and the Eye of Terror called the Nachmund Gauntlet, which is currently occupied by a Household of Chaos Knights that hadn't been in contact with the Imperium since the Horus Heresy. The other is down near Cirillo Prime and the Sautekh Dynasty, which is simply called the Temporary Rift Corridor. The exact nature of these corridors is (so far) unclear, though control of them will likely be a big point of contention in the 8th Edition campaigns (Realmgates anyone?).
  • The 13th Black Crusade is still going strong, but Chaos being Chaos means that a lot of the warbands have split off from Abaddon's main force to pillage nearby undefended worlds. However, this also means his forces have spread rather thin and might not be able to hold onto their new territory- but on the other hand the hordes of daemons pouring out of the Great Rift might mean they don't need to do so.
  • The Chaos Gods have not taken the appearance of the Primaris Marines very well, and have begun brewing up Mary Sue Marines of their own powered by Warp energy.
  • Nurgle has decided that the realm of Ultramar would look great as a part of his Garden, and so has released several of his nastiest plagues there along with the Death Guard and his Daemons. So far, three star systems around Ultramar have been corrupted, Espandor barely survived, Iax has been overrun by Daemons, and even Macragge is suffering from Chaos-inspired uprisings. Nurgle is sending his three greatest commanders to oversee what has become known to the Imperium as the Plague Wars: Typhus, Ku'Gath Plaguefather, and Mortarion.
    • However, it has slowed down somewhat after Khorne (with some coaxing from Tzeentch) invaded the Scourge Stars. Tzeentch and Slaanesh showed up soon afterwards, and yet another bout of infighting was only averted by Tzeentch suggesting a competition between their Champions to decide who gets to rule the Scourge Stars.
  • Unwilling to be outdone by Nurgle, Tzeentch sent out a force of Daemons and Chaos Space Marines led by M'kachen and Magnus the Red to invade the Stygius Sector, home of Mordian and the Mordian Iron Guard. A crusade force to defend the sector was launched, but was quickly overwhelmed; only the intervention of Craftworld Ulthwe allows the Imperials to evacuate the sector.
  • Disregarding the protests of the other Chaos Gods, Khorne opened a Warp rift above Terra to let in 88 cohorts of his daemons to attack the Imperial Palace, which were driven off by Guilliman, the Custodes, the Sisters of Silence, and the Primaris Marines. Khorne was upset enough by their failure to annihilate the Bloodthirsters assigned to lead the attack, but the fact they managed to attack Terra at all (and killed at least 2k Custodes) has put the Imperium on alert (more so than usual).
  • Chaos Beastmen are now more prominent, and are being embraced more, with official GW models with various Gor using Chainswords and and an Autopistol, the bounty hunter Gor Half-horn and Tzaangors with Autopistols and Chainswords. So in other words, we may have a Waaagh! but with sheep. Did someone say a Baaah?
  • Daemons are not immortal as originally thought; if a Daemon is unable to return to the Warp after its physical form is slain (e.g. due to the presence of the Sisters of Silence or being killed by the Emperor's Sword), its essence will disperse, destroying it entirely. Not even the Daemon Primarchs are immune to this.
    • However, there are supposedly a very small number of Daemons who cannot be destroyed this way, due to fate/casuality/the plot requiring them to be present for "The End".

Chaos Space Marines[edit]

  • It's confirmed that some of Abbadon's Black Crusades were merely distractions, used to keep the Imperium from realizing he had been slowly destroying the network of Pylons that the Cadian Gate had been connected to.
  • The method of creating Rubric Marines has apparently been given to the Black Legion, among other warbands.
Black Legion[edit]
  • Following the opening of the Great Rift, the Forge World Raeddon tries to evacuate its most sacred manufacturing relics, but is ultimately lost to the Warp when Black Legion forces destroy all its spaceports.
  • The planet Aralest VII is wiped out similarly, through a combination of mass cult uprisings and an orbital docking platform being dropped onto the world's capital hive city.
  • Just as the War of Beasts looks like it couldn't get any worse, Haarken Worldclaimer, the herald of Abaddon the Despoiler arrives with hosts of Raptors and declares the world to be the domain of Abaddon over all of Vigilus' vox networks. He proclaims that the world will fall in 80 days, and by the end, Mr. Spiky Topknot himself will arrive to oversee the invasion himself. Of course it didn't work and he goes again with his secondary plan.
Alpha Legion[edit]
  • Billions of sleeper agents placed within the Imperium by the Alpha Legion are activated when they foolishly look into the night sky and see the Great Rift. The resulting rebellions lead to the fall of dozens of worlds.
Iron Warriors[edit]
  • Obliterators and Mutilators are confirmed to have originated from the Iron Warriors, as the Technovirus that creates them was first made in Medrengard's laboratories.
    • Perturabo and Mortarion have worked together to allow the Technovirus to spread to other machines, transforming the war machines of their foes into mechanical abominations.
  • Perturabo had spent years of studying the defenses of Segmentum Obscurus; with the opening of the Great Rift, the Daemon Primarch orders a massive siege of the Segmentum's most valuable worlds.
Night Lords[edit]
  • For the Night Lords, the terror inspired by the Great Rift proves to be the perfect conditions for an unprecedented level of raiding and pillaging.
  • A temporary channel through the Great Rift near the Corinthe system proves to be a Night Lords trap. The Imperial ships trying to pass through the "safe" corridor are rapidly captured by Night Lords ambush forces.
Word Bearers[edit]
  • There are persistent if unconfirmed rumors that Lorgar has elected to end his seclusion on Sicarius to lead the Word Bearers personally.
  • Despite the efforts of Craftworld Alaitoc (which probably was mostly just them getting murderized by Chaos Space Marines), the Word Bearers complete a mass sacrifice of humans, Eldar, Orks, and Tau on the planet Gruelbowl. It is quickly subsumed into a Warp rift.
  • Kor Phaeton personally leads a strike force consisting of multiple Traitor Legions to attack the Talledus System, a stronghold of the Adeptus Ministorum and the Adepta Sororitas.
World Eaters[edit]
  • A massive force of World Eaters is en route to Terra, having been inspired by the recent Khornate incursion there.
  • At one point in the past, the Wyches of the Cult of the Seventh Woe broke into the fight pits of the World Eaters on the planet Gladius. Dozens of Wyches and Traitors alike kill each other, but Khorne is so pleased by their carnage that he sends down a shower of blood to bring the slain fighters back to life. The two factions gain a degree of respect for each other, culminating in the invasion known as the Great Blood Wager of Anathema Quartus.
Emperor's Children[edit]
  • As predicted by many fa/tg/uys, Fabius Bile becomes obsessed with capturing and dissecting Primaris Space Marines from the moment he first witnesses them in action. He now seeks to find a way to blend them with the power of the Warp to create his own Chaos Primaris Space Marines, and ultimately hopes to clone Roboute Guilliman himself.
Death Guard[edit]
  • A recap of the history of the Death Guard, including Mortarion's early life on Barbarus. Mortarion's "father" is confirmed to be an alien. It's strongly suggested that Mortarion took the Emperor's killing of his foster as a thoughtless dismissal of his life's struggles against the overlords of Barbarus, and that the ensuing resentment was what eventually led him to side with Horus.
  • The Death Guard's organization is discussed; much of it is very similar to the old Legion organization, albeit split into groups of 7 instead of groups of 10.
    • Specifically, it is split into 7 Plague Companies, each of which is composed of 7 Sepsis Cohorts. These in turn are split into 2 Maladictums, which are themselves composed of 7 Colonies. In practice, these all tend to deploy as smaller warbands known as Vectoriums.
    • Brief descriptions of each of the Plague Companies are given; each one is led by a Lord Commander that acts as the host of one of Nurgle's foulest diseases. Predictably, Typhus is Lord Commander of the First Plague Company.
  • Typhus and the First Plague Company have focused much of their activity around what used to be the Cadian Gate, generally making life miserable for the Imperial forces trying to hold onto it.
  • Typhus and Huron Blackheart duel on the world of Danasar. Typhus wins, but allows Huron to survive as a show of Nurgle's generosity.
  • The Death Guard defeats the Iron Warriors to claim control of the Temple of Ascension, with the duel between Mortarion and Perturabo lasting for seven hours.
  • During the War in the Rift, Ka'bandha is banished by Mortarion using the plague-ridden skulls of seven Khornate champions.
  • The Foul Blightspawn and Biologis Putrefiers are the Plague Marines tasked with creating new strains of disease for the Death Guard. The Foul Blightspawn creates new illnesses through blasphemous alchemical lore, which are then entrusted to the Biologis Putrefiers to "test" on any unfortunate victims they can find.
  • Plague Surgeons were once the Apothecaries of the Death Guard. However, instead of healing their brothers they now bolster the diseases that they carry. Like their Loyalist counterparts, they too harvest gene-seed- both from the Death Guard and from any Loyalist Space Marines they might encounter. Chief among their number is one Nauseous Rotbone, Mortarion's personal physician.
  • Foulspawn gets a mention; while Nurgle was amused by the Chaos Spawn's antics, Mortarion was not. However, he couldn't kill it without angering Nurgle, so instead he had it banished to the Plague Planet. It has continued to grow since that time, and is now the size of a small mountain.
  • Even after becoming a Daemon Prince, Mortarion still despises witches and psykers. The only reason he allows them in the Death Guard now is because he is forced to acknowledge their particular powers as gifts from Nurgle.
Thousand Sons[edit]
  • Recap of the Thousand Sons' history, the Burning of Prospero, the Rubric of Ahriman, and the Siege of Fenris.
  • Tizca is confirmed to still exist on the Planet of the Sorcerers, though it is now mutated into a twisted mockery of its former self.
  • The Thousand Sons still have their cults, albeit with a very different focus beyond simply specializing in a given psychic discipline. These include the lore-hunters of the Cult of Knowledge and the reality warpers of the Cult of Mutation. A few different Thousand Sons warbands are also introduced, complete with their own color schemes.
    • The further description on how each Cult is organized strongly suggests that the Thousand Sons have significantly increased their numbers since the Horus Heresy; with some extrapolation, their numbers can be estimated at approximately 65,000 Astartes (Rubricae and Living) on top of any cultists and Tzaangors that might be serving them.
  • Some kind of major ritual summoning is taking place near the Cadian Gate, overseen by the Cult of Prophecy.
  • The dust within a Rubric Marine still contains the Marine's remaining essence. If a Sorcerer can recover this dust and put it into a new suit of armor, the Rubric Marine will effectively be resurrected. In at least one battle, this was used to devastating effect against the Sisters of Silence by dumping a massive cloud of Rubric-dust onto one of their fortresses, which was then followed by dropping a bunch of empty suits of armor down like meteors. The dust reanimated the suits into new Rubrics, and the Sisters were killed.
  • After his encounter with Yvraine revealing the Rubric could be undone, Ahriman has determined that the knowledge he needs to learn how to do so is hidden in Commorragh.
  • Mutalith Vortex Beasts are created when dozens of unnameable beasts end up getting fused together into a single abomination, although some very unlucky Champions of Tzeentch have ended up turning into one of them right as it appeared they were about to become Daemon Princes.
  • Helbrutes of the Thousand Sons are not actually created from the Sons themselves due to the unsuitability of the Rubrics to power them. Instead, they lure in members of other Legions/warbands with promises of power and bind their souls to the machines. At that point the unsuspecting pilot is flayed and scorched with warpfire while he's still conscious and able to feel it before being installed into the sarcophagus.
  • Magnus has set a plan an in motion to hyper-accelerate humanity's development into a psychic race, gathering psykers from all over the Imperium to Sortiarius by promising them safety from Imperial persecution. Though his initial ritual is disrupted by the Grey Knights and Dark Angels, the plan itself has not yet been thwarted.
Other Renegades[edit]
  • Khorne Daemonkin are still a thing. The Crimson Slaughter also gets a mention, as do the other Renegades created from the Abyssal Crusade.
  • Huron Blackheart seems to have struck new bargains with the Ruinous Powers, as the Red Corsairs have been reported attacking Imperial assets far outside of the Maelstrom- and Huron himself has been reported as being in two different Segmentums at the same time.

Chaos Daemons[edit]

  • Unsurprisingly, the only thing that prevented a complete Chaos victory after the opening of the Great Rift was the persistent refusal of the Chaos Gods to work together and press their advantage. Their fixation on the Great Game has allowed the other races a chance to renew their resistance.
  • The scattering of the Primarchs was originally Tzeentch's idea, as he had foreseen that if they were left to their own devices the Emperor would defeat Chaos entirely.
  • More information on the War in the Rift and the clash of champions that ended it:
    • Tzeentch sought to determine the rules of the challenge, and was immediately opposed by the other three Chaos Gods. The only concession Khorne makes to the Architect of Fate's absurdly long list of stipulations is his agreement to limit the number of combatants.
    • Slaanesh's champions initially claim the advantage, but after failing to halt the advance of Nurgle's forces it quickly turns into a toss-up.
    • The War in the Rift ends inconclusively. Though Tzeentch technically won the Chaos Gods' contest of champions through the trickery of Kairos Fateweaver, Khorne's resulting shout of rage destroyed the hellplane that was supposed to be the winner's reward.
  • Be'lakor has been seen fighting alongside legions from all four Chaos Gods, and is said to have pledged his aid to several renegade Marine Chapters. It is believed he's plotting something, but nobody knows what it could be.
Khorne[edit]
  • They remembered Tuska Daemon-Killa!
  • An overview of the Blood Legions of Khorne is given. Among other types, the Red Tide Legions overrun their foes with Bloodletters while the Brazen Thunder Legions focus on mobility with Bloodcrushers and Flesh Hounds.
Tzeentch[edit]
  • Tzeentch's Scintillating Legions are described. Types of these forces include the Flamer-centric Conflagration Legions and the unpredictable Legions Anarchus.
  • The organization of one of the Conflagration Legions present at the Siege of Mordian is described in detail, complete with a rundown of the backstabbing conga line that comes with leading one.
  • Kairos' left head lets him see into the past, and the right head allows him to look into possible futures. However, both of them are blind to the present and can only judge his current position in time by the pages written in his Tome of Destiny.
Nurgle[edit]
  • Each subtype of Nurgle's Plague Legions embodies a specific aspect of decay, from the Infectius Legions that first seed his foul illnesses to the Epidemic Legions that spread and proliferate like their namesake.
  • An overview of Septicus' Plague Legion is given.
  • Horticulous Slimux from Age of Sigmar's Blightwar boxset is officially introduced into 40k. His lore remains unchanged, being Nurgle's first Plaguebearer and his chief gardener.
  • A new character called Rotigus is introduced, a Great Unclean One sorcerer worshiped by the ignorant as a fertility god that has gained much favor from Nurgle in recent days. Sometimes he answers prayers, always in a predictably Nurglite manner. He is sometimes called "the Rainfather" due to the diseased storm known as Nurgle's Deluge that hovers over him.
  • Two more Heralds of Nurgle are introduced: Spoilpox Scriveners and Sloppity Bilepipers. Spoilpox Scriveners are in charge of making sure that Plaguebearers keep counting their tally. Those Plaguebearers found performing especially sloppy work are infected with the Chortling Murrain, a disease that causes constant laughter, and are forced into the role of Sloppity Bilepiper, essentially a court jester of Nurgle who can make mortals and daemons alike literally laugh themselves to death. The Bilepipers don't last long in their new "position", since when the Chortling Murrain goes into remission they're transformed into a set of jolly gutpipes for another Bilepiper to use.
  • Once Nurgle attempted to create a pox that gnawed flesh. It ended up acting like a disinfectant instead. His daemons have refused to speak of it since.
  • The newest strains of the Zombie Plague cause Nurglings to develop inside their victims; when the zombie is destroyed, the Nurglings burst out and swarm anyone nearby.
  • Nurgle has devised a new plague that allows his forces to bypass Gellar Fields. The "Gellarpox" infects both those individuals who maintain the Gellar Field generators as well as the generator itself, subtly influencing them to weaken the protection the field provides and eventually turning the starship the generator is a part of into a biomechanical hellscape full of mutant horrors.
Slaanesh[edit]
  • Slaanesh's Legions of Excess are much more eclectic in their focuses, as befitting of the Dark Prince's arbitrary nature. The most obvious example of this is the Courante Legions, which treat battle as if it were some kind of bizarre dance right down to choreographed maneuvers.
  • Another example Daemonic Legion is shown, this time of the Slitherine Host that participated in Cadia's fall.
  • The Infernal Enrapturess is introduced as a variant of the regular Slanneshi Herald, playing a harp made off of the intestines and muscles of a dude.

Crunch Updates[edit]

Core Rules[edit]

  • "Not AoS 40k": From what we've seen so far thanks to GW actually disclosing their design process via Warhammer Community, many of the overhauls to the 8th edition ruleset are (unsurprisingly) modeled on equivalent rules developed for Age of Sigmar. However there is also a lot of inspiration being drawn from older editions of 40k, to the point that some of the "new" mechanics are recognizable from as far back as 2nd edition. Despite what the doomsayers will tell you 8th is not just Sigmar with guns -- they're trying to take what good things AoS had and overhaul the 40k we all love with that.
  • More Less Differently Random: Deployment-phase rolls that decide what your units can actually do for the rest of the game seem to be gone (and good riddance!), also gone is the random scatter for blasts and deep-strikes or random outflanking, but instead many weapons now deal random number of shots/hits or random damage in order to compensate for the absence of templates (see below) and woundbloat on the vehicles and monsters, and charges are still random range despite literally everyone wanting them to go back to fixed, meaning the result of every action may be even less reliable. This could be good or bad, depending on your tastes.
  • No Templates: Templates are gone, Just like Squats. Weapons like Flamers (except the ork burnas) will simply fire d6 automatic hits just like the spread weapons in Age of Sigmar (they don't ignore cover any more, though). Blast weapons like the Leman Russ work similarly by firing a random number of shots, though they do not hit automatically.
    • This change is skubtastic. Those in favor of the change say it speeds the game up, because scatters took too much time to resolve, and "blasts only hit 1 or 2 models anyway because people always spread out for max coherency." Those against it argue that this change leads to rule abuse or violations of common sense, such as Guard Conscripts forming up in musket lines (as thematic as it might be for some guard regiments). More controversially, the changes to Flamers mean certain ones (Example: Inferno Cannons) are arguably better at anti-aircraft than crowd control. However, since then some weapons have gotten an equivalent via bonuses to hit units with a certain number of models, or inflicting wounds to multiple units within a given distance of the original target.
  • Far Fewer More Reworked Special Rules: Uncapping and standardizing stats, and adding the movement stat all by itself, will eliminate a lot of "hacky" old special rules. On the other hand, special rules are now unique to the army or unit. Based on the faction focus material we've seen so far, 40k will be seeing a lot of "unique" special rules that are basically the same rule with different names and slightly different wording, much like in 3rd edition.
    • To give you an idea of how this will work, Nurglings will have a special rule unique to Nurgle called "Disgustingly Resilient" that lets them ignore wounds on a roll of 5 or 6, instead of having the (now nonexistent) Feel No Pain special rule normally found in the core rulebook. Ork, Tyranid, and Blood Angel units that would have had FnP will have the exact same rule text as Disgustingly Resilient, just with a different ASSFAGGOTS-like ability name and occasionally a different roll requirement. Same with other common rules like Hatred, Overheat, and Deep Strike. This means that any attempts to write rules that interact with these common, basic mechanics will be even hackier than 7th edition's special rules because they can't just refer to a common special rule by name anymore.
  • Bookkeeping Reduction: The amount of one-use gear or rules was reduced quite drastically, and with the removal of random warlord traits and psychic powers there is no need to keep track of those (as they're already written in the army roster). On the up side it speeds up the game and removes the need to use lots of tokens or notes, but the trade-off is that there is one more layer of tactical decision making shaved off the game - timing things like combi-weapon use or Waaaaagh! activation used to make or break games, and now it's gone.
  • Datasheet Overhaul: With the intent of eliminating the need to carry around half a library's worth of books, a unit's datasheet will contain almost all the information it needs to function, including rules for weapons and abilities. With a few exceptions. Units with a ton of options, like Tactical Squads, will only have the stats for the most common choices in their datasheet, with the rest of their choices getting rules elsewhere. Explanation of common or army-wide special rules may also be left out. So the special rules and wargear lists aren't completely disappearing from the rulebooks and codices, but active reliance on them will be greatly reduced.
  • Independent Character Overhaul: Characters can no longer join units, or join together with other characters to form a super-unit. In GW's own words, "The age of the prefix-star is over". Instead, ICs will have effects that cover all units with a certain keyword within a certain radius. Also, ICs with less than 10 wounds cannot be targeted in the shooting phase unless they're the closest enemy model (except by units with sniper and similar rules), so there's less worry now about losing your special snowflake to a railgun. Lastly, ICs have a rule called Heroic Intervention that lets them pile in and attack charging enemies even if they themselves aren't charged.
    • On the other hand, it is possible (even with Command rerolls) for a squad to make it into combat, but an Independent Character to fail a charge roll, leading to situations like Khorne Berzerkers making it into melee while Kharn takes a smoke break. You can only shoot a Character if it is the closest model, even if said character is standing in the open and the only closer unit is a Rhino locked in combat (which you obviously can't shoot either).
  • Summoning Overhaul: No more infinite Daemons in Matched Play. If you want to summon units, you now need points set aside to spend on them in advance, and summoning itself is going to be separated as its own form of deployment, alongside deep striking or outflanking. (Basically Summoning is a special form of reserves where you don't have to choose what's in reserve until you actually summon it, letting you change your list mid-game). Think of it like Schrodinger box, The cat is either dead, alive or secretly a baneblade and you and your opponent don't know until the wave form's collapsed and the box is opened (or unit summoned in this case).
  • Points and Power Levels: Units now have power levels (anyone who makes the obvious joke gets a mini down the windpipe) to approximate their average effectiveness, and are meant as a fast and casual balancing method for Open and Narrative Play. This system is similar to that of 40k competitor Warmachine. Not to worry, though, the points system we all know and love is still around in Matched Play if you want to use it, and is just as detailed as before (though likely with the usual tweaking of points values that comes with every new edition). In a bit of an odd move, though, points are not in the datasheets for units anymore, instead being detailed elsewhere in the rulebooks. Part of the reasoning behind this is so 40k can use the same "Living Rulebook" approach used in Age of Sigmar by way of releasing updates to address balance issues without forcing anyone to buy an entirely new Codex to do so. Might be a little obtuse, but on the other hand this means nobody has to worry about being saddled with an outdated Codex again, so the long reviled "Codex Creep" might finally be over.
    • Power Levels appear to be average points for the unit/20, rounded - so e.g. a Captain in Gravis Armor is 148 points or Power 7, while an Inceptor squad is 159 points or Power 8.
    • Points are amended in Matched play via Chapter Approved and other updates, but Power Level is not. Since more of the point changes are reductions in price, the overall P2P ratio is changed (around 19.5:1, but individual army ratios may be different).
  • Casualty Overhaul: When a unit loses models, instead of plucking whatever guys are closest to the attacker, the controlling player gets to decide which ones are removed.
    • This means you will almost assuredly get far more mileage out of your special weapons, and tactics like hidden power fist are viable once again.
    • Additionally, this probably means that musical-wounds shenanigans like the Nob Bikerz of yore are gone.
    • On the downside flanking enemy units to kill weapon specialists without the need to chew through the meatshields in the front is no longer a viable tactic, taking a lot of depth out of close-range firefight tactics.
    • This also presents the possibility to score more hits than there are models in the unit, making flamers and explosives a much greater threat to small units that rely on having multiple wounds to stay around. On the other hand, they are a much lesser threat against large units, as you cannot use clever positioning to guarantee you land more hits - your shot volume is random and not manipulatable through skill.
    • Flamers and most template weapons have lost Ignores Cover, although the ability still exists (and is not referred to as such, under the new policy of avoiding naming rules whenever possible, and if you must name it, giving the same rule a different name every time you use it).
    • Different template weapons do have different ranges now, which is nice.
  • No positioning mechanics: With no vehicle armour facing, the absence of templates, and manual wound allocation, there is little to no benefit from shooting enemy units from their flanks or rear. Army-specific rules seem to lose any semblance of positioning rules as well, seeing as Knights get their ion shield changed from 4++ from one facing to 5++ all around. This would speed up the game a bit, but at the cost of altering an entire tactical layer of it. Expect deep strikes, outflankers and hyper-mobile units to be used very differently than they are now.
  • No more Fire Arcs: All vehicles and fortifications measure LOS from their hull. Another skub, this means a Valkyrie can shoot all of its weapons if it can draw a line to something with the tip of its wing.
  • Twin-Linked Buff: Twin-linked weapons no longer reroll to-hit dice; instead, they now double the number of shots they would normally fire. This makes the vanilla Land Raider go from schizophrenic to dangerous and makes a lot of Ork vehicles downright terrifying though unless they also get an accuracy buff Orkz will notice the difference least since they got the biggest benefit from old twin linked. Land Raider Crusaders are going to become the anal rapists of the battlefield; assuming they stay the same it will be like a metal box with a tactical marine squad glued on to each side! Expect some buzz from Tyranid dakkafexes and spinegaunts, as well. If you thought playing against tau broadside spam was disgusting before, you ain't seen nothing yet.
  • Combi-Weapons Buff: Combi-weapons are no longer one use for the specialist weapon; instead, they can fire as either the normal or specialist weapon, or even fire both at the same time (but with a -1 to hit). They are now effectively a flat upgrade compared to either a basic weapon or their specialist weapon equivalent, since they can switch between either role with impunity. However, expect there to be some manner of trade-off, most likely a points increase if the Sisters of Battle leak is legit (claims to charge 19 points for a combi-melta). Otherwise units like Sternguard are going to end up ridiculously overpowered, and there won't be any reason at all to take regular special weapons over a combi-weapon.
  • Characteristic Overhaul: No more rules for high BS/WS, those stats are expressed as to-hit rolls now so nobody can have a better hit chance than a 2+ without special rules. Also, other stats are no longer capped, so you can have Strength, Toughness or Wound values higher than 10.
    • No more D Weapons: With Strength stats no longer capped at 10, weapons that previously needed the Destroyer special rule to kill everything will now likely just have really high strength and/or cause a lot of wounds. For example, the Knights' Reaper Chainsword now deals 6 damage- more than enough to wreck infantry and leave even heavy vehicles hurting.
  • Save Modifiers: Gone are the AP values of weaponry, and now we're getting back a mechanic not seen since 2nd Edition 40k, or more recently Warhammer Fantasy before it got squatted. The save modifier alters the target number needed for an armor save to work (e.g. with a -2 modifier, a unit which would normally have a 2+ save would now act as if they had a 4+ save instead). This is going to be a nerf to AP5 weapons like Bolters and flamers, which can now be stopped by Ork and Gaunt armour and will hit 5+ armour 66% as hard as before, the same with AP4 against 4+ and AP3 against 3+. In exchange, any armour piercing weapon will be much more effective against heavier armour, with heavy bolters able to better threaten tanks and MEQ/TEQ in the open, and hot-shot lasguns being better against TEQ than MEQ. Terminators will be more fragile in general unless they change how Invuln saves work. In essence, there will be far fewer hard counters and all weapons will be more versatile in general, eliminating some of the need to carefully choose weapons and targets. Dumbing down the game? Sure. Balancing the game? Probably.
  • Movement Phase Overhaul: The movement stat is back, and Running has been rolled into the Movement phase by being able to roll to add a little extra distance at the expense of shooting and charging. Some Flyers will have a minimum movement distance in addition to a maximum movement distance; if they are unable to move the minimum distance or if this distance would force them off the battlefield, they are destroyed.
    • Movement-based rules like Slow and Purposeful and Fleet are probably on their way out, as fast and slow units won't need special rules to represent that anymore.
    • Deep Striking equivalents set up at the end of the Movement Phase; while they cannot move or advance further and count as having moved for that turn, they can still shoot or charge normally.
  • Psychic Phase Overhaul: Rather than each of your psykers contributing to an Army-wide dice pool like in 7th, each psyker will once again have the capability to reliably cast their own powers. Any psyker model will be allowed to cast as many powers as their individual entry states, and instead of harnessing Warp Charges on a 4+ or making a Leadership check, the controlling player rolls 2d6. If the value surpasses the amount required to cast the power, they succeed, and any enemy psyker within 24" will have the option to Deny it. Of course, models can only Deny The Witch once per turn for each Mastery Level they have.
    • Stronger powers will have a higher Warp Charge value, and will therefore be harder to cast.
    • Every faction with psykers will have its own unique psychic powers, and all psykers know Smite by default, which has a Warp Charge value of 5 and now causes D3 mortal wounds to a target the closest target within 18" (a marked difference from the AoS Arcane Bolt), or D6 mortal wounds if you roll 10 or above on the psychic test. That being said, cheaper psykers like the Rubric Marines' Aspiring Sorcerer or grey Knights have a weakened version of it that causes fewer wounds. Generic core rulebook disciplines like Biomancy and Daemonology are gone.
    • Perils of the Warp now occurs on double 1s and double 6s during psychic tests. It causes D3 mortal wounds to the psyker, and if it dies as a result the power being manifested doesn't go off and all units within 6" of the psyker take d6 mortal wounds.
    • You can pick the Psychic Powers you want now, rather than rolling for them and hoping you get the right number.
    • In matched play, Psychic Focus means you cannot cast the same power more than once per turn unless that power is Smite. Expect Psyker armies to be about spamming the most cost-effective smite.
  • Shooting Phase Overhaul: In addition to being unable to shoot after Advancing or Falling Back, models can't shoot if there's an enemy model 1" or less away from them, which combines with the new assault rules to make close combat more dangerous. Heavy weapons no longer snap-fire if firing on the move, and instead get a flat -1 to hit modifier if fired on the move (which applies to vehicles too). Cover saves now add a bonus to the armor save instead of acting as a blanket save, and in certain cases only applies to specific unit types (e.g. Infantry can benefit from a crater's cover bonus, but a vehicle can't).
    • Split Fire for everybody! All squads can now use different weapons against different targets. No more situations when your bolter marines have to hose down a Land Raider with ineffectual shots just so the one dude with a melta needs to take a shot at it. This goes down to individual models - your crisis suit can shoot missile pods at that pesky vehicle while flaming some nearby infantry.
    • Every model can fire all their guns (with some exceptions).
      • Only one model per squad can use a grenade at a time (and they can't fire anything else).
      • Everyone else has to choose between firing all their pistols and all their non-pistol, non-grenade weapons.
    • Pistols are exempt from the restriction against shooting when an enemy is too close, and in fact a pistol user can fire at the closest enemy target to them even if they're locked in combat. This is a massive game changer to dual-pistol wielders such as Cypher, and also gives units like Assault Marines a little extra boost when they're closing in on an opponent. It might also make Plasma Pistols worth taking after all these years.
    • The alteration in how cover saves works means that some weapons may be able to reduce the save to the point where the cover bonus is canceled out, so don't be tempted to think you have a chance to survive a lascannon shot just because you're hiding behind a piece of rubble. Weapons that currently ignore cover will not be affected by the cover bonus at all. This may have the effect of making the units that need cover saves the most the least able to take advantage. However between these changes and the ones to how AP works, heavy infantry become the ones who rely on and benefit from cover most, with 2+ and 3+ armour being more vulnerable to getting caught in the open by heavy bolters than lighter infantry are, while light infantry will be able to stand up to fire from bolters in the open but plasma guns will be able to blast anything in cover better than flamers can.
    • Assault weapons can be fired after advancing, but take a -1 penalty to hit for doing so. This makes weapons like flamers, meltas, and the like much nastier than they used to be.
    • Plasma weapons have reverted to the 2nd edition style of having two firing modes: one that's weaker but safe to use (although in this case it's still S7 AP-3), and one which hits harder and deals more damage but runs the risk of killing the user (no armour saves allowed for that version of gets hot, and instead of removing a wound it kills the model outright). It turns out that if you give an archmagos ten millennia he actually can figure out how plasma works.
      • Fluff vets can Rage at the fact that apparently Chaos Space Marines use similar rules...despite old fluff or old crunch for them. (Back in 2nd, Gets Hot was a specific rule for CSM, but their plasma weapons had better rate of fire).
      • The Primaris Marines' Incinerator has -4 AP and +6" in range over the regular plasma gun.
      • Do note that when overcharging, a to hit roll of 1 kills the user without any saves possible, even if they're a character! EVEN IF THEY ARE A VEHICLE!!! Watch the fuck out if you're thinking about supercharging any Captain's/Chapter Master's/Razorback's guns as there is going to be a 1/6 chance they die from it.
  • Assault Phase Overhaul: Initiative is gone. Whoever charges first attacks first like in Age of Sigmar. This actually gives assault based armies a chance now (Orks, Dark Eldar, Tyranids, Blood Angels, Thunderwolf spam, Khorne armies). After chargers, players alternate "activating" units to fight, a la Heroclix. Challenges are gone. You also no longer gain extra attacks for multiple close-combat weapons or charging (unless the unit has an appropriate ability).
    • Daemonettes and Eldar CC units, among other high-I units, have a special rule that lets them almost always strike first even if they don't get the charge, unless both units have the same kind of rule in which case it depends on whose turn it is. (Note the similarity to Always Strikes First.)
    • Units now have the ability to fall back and walk out of engaged combat in the Movement Phase (it's basically the old 5th Edition Space Marine Combat Tactics, but for everyone!), BUT, they sacrifice the ability to advance or charge in that turn (and shoot, unless the unit in question has the right keyword). This gives Guard armies a chance now. However, falling back doesn't work if you're surrounded so it's not foolproof.
    • The first profiles indicate that WS4 is a 3+ to hit in CC, which makes melee combat quite a bit more aggressive.
      • In fact, WS1..5 seems to be 6+..2+ now, followed by a lack of scaling - both a Space Marine Captain and Guilliman now hit on a 2+ in melee. Expect anything with WS6+ to be reworked some other way to improve its melee capabilities, such as additional A or S, or improving its melee weapon(s) instead (Space Marine Captains seem to get +1A for their WS6, but we don't know enough right now to say much more).
    • Consolidation during activation allows a 3" move, which may bring you into combat with a new enemy, if you choose.
  • Melee Weapons Rebalancing: The melee and power weapons were redone now that they all use differing AP values and Unwieldy no longer exists. Power Swords now have more penetration than axes (which should have been the case in the first place since they have a longer blade) but provide no strength bonuses. Power Mauls are about the same, more Strength for less AP, and Power Fists now only have -1 to hit and cause multiple Wounds at Sx2, AP-3 (that's right, Power Armour now helps against Power Fists). Melee weapons which once just acted like basic CCWs (e.g. chainswords and choppas) now grant one extra attack.
  • Morale Overhaul: Leadership rules are changing; it's almost the same as Age of Sigmar's Battleshock: Roll 1d6, add up the amount of models lost and compare it to your Leadership value. If the result is greater, you remove the difference in models.
    • Commissars negate this effect to an extent by limiting morale-related losses to 1 model per unit. This is a revamp of their "Summary Execution" rule, and your opponent can never choose which model gets the blam.
  • Reserves Overhaul: While USRs like Deep Strike and Outflank no longer exist, unit- and faction-specific rules will serve a functionally identical role, albeit one tailored to said unit or faction (e.g. when a Trygon deploys by emerging from underground, another unit of Tyranids in the Troops slot can deploy with it to represent them using the Trygon's tunnel.)
    • Additionally, Matched Play adds the "Tactical Reserves" restriction- at least half of all units in a detachment must be set up on the battlefield, and any units that have not been deployed on the battlefield by the end of the third turn count as having been destroyed. In other words, no you can't just teleport your whole army of Deathwing Terminators in at once.
  • Keyword Abilities and Allies: While allies are still available, keyword abilities will only affect specific models. On the one hand, this means that hyper-synergistic superfriends cheese is gone. On the other hand, this means that half your army is effectively on a separate plane from the other half if you're using allies, and never the two shall meet.
  • Play Mode Overhaul: As mentioned above, the General's Handbook's 3 Ways to Play is coming to 40k. Open Play will replace Unbound, and is even more freeform than Age of Sigmar: the rules text amounts to "just grab some official Citadel Miniatures and do whatever the fuck you feel like." For Narrative and Matched Play, armies must be battle-forged, so no more overlap between battle-forged and unbound.
  • Detachment Overhaul: Decurions and Formations are gone. In their place, the classic Force Organization Chart is making a return, except there will be over a dozen different detachments to choose from that everybody can use, including the classic combined arms detachment, and as codices start to come out each army will get their own special versions as well (presumably bringing back Decurions/Formations as soon as an editor is asleep at the switch). These new detachments grant Command Points (see below), with detachments that require more unit choices yielding more Command Points.
    • Flyers are now a distinct unit type for the purposes of Battlefield Roles, so they no longer compete with other unit types in their old slots.
    • Contrary to 7th Edition's efforts to turn all Dedicated Transports into Fast Attack choices and eliminate the slot as a whole, DTs have been maintained as their own category in 8th, and (based on the currently released examples at least) one Dedicated Transport choice can now be included for each other choice. Is this opening the way for shenanigans like guardsmen squads able to take Taurox Primes as DTs? We can certainly hope so. Er no, only Scions and Commissars can hitch a lift on a Prime sadly, but this doesn't prevent you from taking the unit as a dedicated transport; they will simply be unable to ferry units around the board.
    • It's possible to take a unit with less than its minimum number of models, but you still need to pay for it as if it was at its normal minimum size.
      • Aside from the new morale system emphasizing 1-model units like never before, transports can now carry as many squads as you like, providing a potential reason to take a unit with models you paid for but did not field.
  • Wounds Overhaul: Everything is getting more wounds, with some units having twice as much as they used to, but at the same time more powerful weapons like Lascannons can dish out multiple wounds with each hit.
    • The need to keep track of the double-digit wounds that the bigger stuff will have will likely see a spike in the sales of pocket notepads.
    • On the other hand, players can continue to track them with dice, like before when things used to have 6 wounds at max; just use bigger dice, e.g. D20s.
    • With the addition of the new Damage stat, some weapons - as stated previously - will have the potential to strip multiple wounds from single models, while flamers and the like will deal multiple single-wound hits for anti-horde while also gaining some utility for lightly armored units with low unit counts.
      • Overkill damage doesn't spill onto other models, so dealing 6 damage with a lascannon to a Tac Squad won't cause 5 marines to die of shock at what happened to their buddy who took the hit. As a result, expect the meta to favor weapons with a reasonable number of attacks and medium damage, since overkill is now a waste in most situations.
    • Every weapon in the game will have the potential to deal (at least a little bit of) damage to anything they hit, though playing weapons to their strengths will kill stuff far more efficiently.
    • Rolling To Wound is still based on the target's toughness, but is greatly simplified. Instead of an entire 10x10 chart, To Wound is now determined with a simple table based on whether strength is twice (2+), greater (3+), equal (4+), less (5+), or half (6+) than the target's toughness. That's... actually a hell of a lot better. There's some debate on whether this is actually simpler or better, with Bolter and Lasguns now wounding T5 at the same roll, and Pulse weapons and Heavy Bolters treating Orks and Cultists as exactly as tough, though perhaps new rules and unrevealed details will avoid those shenanigans.
      • As you may have already guessed, Instant Death is gone. Not that a character can't die to a multi-damage hit, but no more will your T3 HQ pop to some jerk with a lucky missile shot on turn 1.
      • Mortal Wounds are now a thing, sitting somewhere between rending, instant death, and D damage. Mortal Wounds bypass to wound rolls, automatically doing one wound with no saves of any kind allowed (although secondary saves that replace the old Feel No Pain still apply). Another difference is that overkill wounds resulting from mortal wounds are the only kind that spill onto other models.
  • Vehicle Overhaul: Hull points and AV are gone, and vehicles now use the same profile system as everyone else, bringing them more in line with the likes of Monstrous Creatures. Yes, bolters and lasguns can hurt Land Raiders and Knights in theory, but when those vehicles have literally dozens of wounds on top of high toughness and saves (by GW's inaccurate estimates, it would take about 539.7 Marine bolters or 648 guard lasguns to bring down something like a Gorkanaut), you might as well leave it alone.
    • Number of bolter rounds to take down a Morkanaut: 486 hitting on 3+, wounding on 6+, being saved on 3+, to take down a model with 18 wounds. Lasguns require the same number of hits, as bolters and lasguns are now both AP-, and the difference in Strength between them only matters against models of Toughness below 8, but the guard tends to hit on 4+, so they need 648 rounds. The new rules broadly favor Attacks over AP over Strength, as shown below, with D being as good as Attacks provided your target has enough wounds to take the damage.
    • Eldar only require 194 Shuriken Catapult shots to down a Gorkanaut, due to Bladestorm. This number can be reduced further with judicious use of Doom.
      • Number of Space Marine-wielded and Guard-wielded Lascannon shots for comparison: 13.89 (13 31/35) and 18.51 (18 18/35), respectively. This is primarily due to Lascannons dealing 3.5 damage per shot, but also significantly due to vehicles having an armor save now and Lascannons having AP-3.
      • Again with a Heavy Bolter: 54 and 72 shooters, after accounting for 3 shots per gun.
        • Now that models with two Heavy Bolters shoot both of them, rather than Twin-Linking, that's obviously 27 and 36 for any of those, such as Inceptors or Centurions.
      • Hellblasters will take 81 shots (so 40.5 shooters at range 15") non-overcharged, or 27 (13.5) while overcharged, killing, on average, 4.5 (9) shooters.
      • Leman Russ Battle Cannons (so hitting on 4+): 15.43, 11.57 with hitting on 3+ (that's number of guns firing, accounting for both random A and random D). That's just an average, of course; it can take you anywhere from 6 to 108 shots (each of those cases are odds 1/18, though).
      • Meltaguns at half range: 12.07, 16.10 (melta now adds an unkept die to the damage roll at half range, regardless of target). Note how they take more shots than the Battle Cannon needs, on average; this is due to the Battle Cannon's much higher (average) A vs the meltagun's higher average D and higher AP.
    • Vehicles can now charge and engage in melee, replacing Tank Shock. While they tend to have high Strength and decent Attacks, many of them have terrible WS (with the exception of close-combat dedicated walkers like Dreadnoughts or vehicles with attachments that make them very nasty when ramming, like the Goliath Rockgrinder). This means it is often laughably easy to use cheap infantry to tarpit vehicles which do not Fly or have a similar rule (typically due to being very large and on legs), or, even funnier, tarpitting a non-Flyer with a Flyer.
      • While most fliers have the Airborne rule, preventing them from charging or being charged by non-Fly models, Valkyries have the Hoverjet rule which lets them ignore it for a turn. One player lost a game due to his opponent charging his Russ with a Valkyrie, and not being able to withdraw because the Russ was already backed up into a corner.
    • Vehicles have lost Relentless, and only some of them have gotten it back via special rules, so a substantial number of them are significantly less accurate than they used to be on the move. This is actually not Vehicle-specific; many other models have lost Relentless as well, including Bikes and models in Terminator armour. Combined with their newfound ability to get stuck in melee, this effectively means a double-nerf to Vehicles, helping significantly to contribute to 8th edition's apparent focus on infantry swarms, since your infantry now has fewer downsides compared to vehicles.
    • Instead of rolling on the Vehicle Damage chart, the more damage they take, the lower your vehicles' (and Monstrous Creatures') stats will become, with different models suffering differing stat penalties - so far every model seen has suffered penalties to movement, but we have seen penalties to WS, S, BS, and A - but always, so far, suffering penalties to three different stats. As a result, the vehicle repair abilities of units like Tech-priests and Tech-marines will likely become much more important now since they'll be able to restore a vehicle to its full effectiveness.
    • Vehicles now have armor saves on top of their high toughness and lack of facings, making some vehicles quite a bit more durable.
    • The Super Heavy classification was changed to "Titanic" with as of yet unknown attributes. Super Heavy Walkers can just step over infantry models thanks to "Titanic Feet".
  • Transport Overhaul: Units now disembark from Transports at the start of the Movement phase before the Transport itself moves, and any such units can move, shoot, and fight without any restrictions. It also appears that open-topped transports will allow the units inside to shoot out of them at any time and allows them to fire pistols if the transport is caught in melee combat. However, if a transport is destroyed any units inside it will die on a roll of 1.
    • Multiple units can all ride in one transport as long as it can hold all their models.
  • Increased Customization: When Games Workshop teased the datasheets they showed that Space Marine, Chaos Space Marine, Tau, and, more interestingly, Tyranid units had <Chapter>, <Legion>, <Sept>, and <Hive Fleet> listed in their keywords, respectively; the Codexes for each of these factions add special rules for each of these keywords, replacing things like Chapter Tactics.
  • Command Points and Stratagems: All battle forged armies get at least 3 command points now, plus extra from certain characters or from taking specific detachment types. Command Points can be used to trigger Stratagems, which have a variety of useful effects such as gaining a single re-roll (1CP), auto passing a morale check (2CP), or getting one of your units to fight immediately after a charging enemy unit has fought (2CP). Additional Stratagems are available in alternate scenarios like Stronghold Assault, as well as in the different play styles, with Narrative allowing for six additional Stratagems based on the mission (3 for attackers and 3 for defenders). Maelstrom of War also has a Stratagem that allows a discard and re-draw of a Tactical Objective after generation (2CP).
    • Each faction will also get their own unique Stratagems.

Known Faction Updates[edit]

This list is based primarily on GW's pre-release blog and should be considered incomplete until further notice. Full details can be found on each faction's tactics page.

  • Chaos Space Marines: Basic CSMs stated to have some kind of overall buff making them more viable Troops choices. Khorne Berzerkers have a rule called "Blood for the Blood God", which allows them to fight twice in each Fight phase. Chaos Leviathan Dreadnoughts confirmed as a new unit. Death to the False Emperor rule seems to be universal for CSM - it allows extra attacks for any results of 6+ that hit in the Fight phase against units with keyword: Imperium. Once, the extra attacks cannot produce any more attacks.
    • Failbaddon (and we still feel comfy calling him that because apparently every single member of the 13th crusade minus himself fucked off after Cadia) has his rules leaked: S4 T5 A6 2+ 4++, seven wounds, any weapon that successfully damages him has its damage halved (rounded up, so he can still be chipped away to nothing by small arms). Black Legion units within 6 inches reroll failed to hit, the first time Abby has ever really done anything for his army. His weapons are basically the same, Drachnyen is S+1 AP -3 with the same Daemon Weapon bonuses as before, Talon of Horus is Sx2 AP -3; both do Damage D3, as does his Talon-mounted twin bolter. Also, his Mark of Chaos Ascendant allows all friendly Heretic Astartes to auto pass morale checks within 12 inches.
    • Death Guard: They're getting the Thousand Sons treatment with several new units, weapons, and psychic powers. The new unit we know most about is the Poxwalkers, a gang of zombies that ignores the effects of morale and adds another model to its unit for every infantry model they kill. Typhus' special ability buffs them with +1 Strength and Toughness. Other new units include Foetid Bloat-Drones (Daemon Engines with what might be lascannons), the Malignant Plaguecaster (a Nurglite sorcerer), the Noxious Blightbringer (a plasma-toting banner bearer equivalent), and the Lord of Contagion (a Chaos Lord equivalent in Cataphractii Terminator armor and what appears to be a giant two-handed chainaxe). Plague Knives now reroll to wound rolls of 1 in melee. Plague Marines get a new toy called the Blight Launcher- an Assault 2 weapon with 24" range, Strength 6, D3 damage, and AP -2. One of their new psychic powers is called Miasma of Pestilence, which forces enemies to take a -1 to hit against the unit targeted by the power. All Death Guard units seem to share the Disgustingly Resilient rule used by Daemons of Nurgle.
    • Obliterators are weird GREAT now. And also probably not good. Each time they shoot, they get two four six shots at Strength 6+D3, AP -(D3), Damage D3; roll separately for each before rolling to hit with the entire unit. Max range 24 inches. No longer a long ranged shooter (you have Havocs for that), Deep-striking is what they were designed for.
  • Imperial Guard: Commissars mitigate losses in Morale tests. Leman Russes have 12 wounds, Toughness 8, and a 3+ armor save. Seven different orders exist, all of which activate automatically without any need to roll. Only one with known rules is FRFSRF, which makes all lasguns and hotshot lasguns Rapid Fire 2- that's 4 shots per lasgun at half range! A whole lot of diddly indeed. Veterans are officially dead - they cost twice as much as a regular infantry squad, have been moved to Elites, lost their doctrines (no more carapace armor or camo cloaks), and have worse leadership. What you end up getting is a paper-thin special weapon squad that happens to shoot straight. This is especially annoying as GW promised that they would be MORE useful in this edition, not less. This is probably GW's hamfisted way of getting you to buy more Zions Scions who can be taken as TROOPS! Meanwhile Rough riders miraculously survived being cut from 8th Edition - they have 2 wounds and can Outflank, and are now as cheap as any bog-standard infantry squad.
    • The Leman Russ Punisher becomes a whole lot more useful despite not actually changing that much due to the way wounds are resolved now.
    • The Wyvern can potentially roll 24 dice (typically 14) when it fires, and while it loses re-rolls to hit, it still re-rolls to wound; it also saw a big cost increase, which is probably fine since it was cheap as all hell before anyway.
    • Uriah Jacobus now has both the Adeptus Ministorum and Astra Militarum faction keywords, acting as an incredibly buffed up Ministorum Priest.
    • Sly Marbo does another freaking disappearing act after being brought back for about two months. Hopefully, he'll show up in a new codex or get released as a data slate, and maybe we won't have to wait years for it this time.
    • The loss of platoons puts an end to being able to cram multiple units into a single slot, forcing you to put a lot more thought into your slot choices now and weigh your options rather than just loading up until you hit your points limit. On the other hand, Guard players are no longer constrained by the "go big or go home" attitude that the minimum sizes for platoons, formations and decurions of 7th seemed to enforce, greatly reducing the cost of a playable Guard army in both points and dollars.
  • Craftworld Eldar: All Phoenix Lords now have 2+ armor saves, though none of them can take Warlord Traits or Craftworld Attributes (though they don't penalize your Craftworld army for taking them). Asurmen now can inflict mortal wounds and grant invulnerable saves to nearby Aspect Warriors. Jain Zar allows Howling Banshees to always fight first in combat. Aside using a stratagem for it, the move-shoot-move technique from 7th Edition is gone. Fleet is also gone. Battle Focus now only removes the -1 penalty for advancing on Assault weapons. Striking Scorpions' Mandiblasters deal extra mortal wounds at the start of a Fight phase. Howling Banshees can now advance and charge during the same turn, and are again immune to Overwatch. Warp-Spiders can still Flickerjump to impose a -1 to-hit penalty, but can no longer bounce away when shot at. Swooping Hawks can enter and leave the battlefield at will, so long as they've at least shown up once before the 3rd turn. They additionally can fly over enemy infantry and sprinkle mortal wounds over models passed. Dark Reapers always hit on a +3 with their Reaper Launchers. Wraithguard/Wraithblades are yet more durable, having a +3 save, T6 and now 3 wounds per model. Wraithlords benefit from a +3 save, T8 and 10 wounds, but now suffer from a degrading statline. Avatar of Khaine is now a HQ unit and can ignore some mortal wounds, and both forms of the Wailing Doom roll 2D6 for damage, selecting the higher number for the result. All Eldar share the Aeldari keyword, and can all be taken in each other's armies without penalty (though many abilities and auras remain mutually exclusive to their respective factions).
  • Ynnari: Strength from Death received a major nerf; only <Ynnari> Aeldari infantry or bikers can benefit from a Soulburst, which (for Matched Play) now can only occur once for each action per turn (If one unit uses a Soulburst to shoot a second time, no other units may shoot during any other Soulburst for the rest of that turn). Additionally, Ynnari units may only Soulburst on their player's turn. In regards to using the Ynnari as an army, all Asuryani, Drukhari, and Harlequin armies sacrifice Ancient Doom, Battle Focus, Power from Pain, and Rising Crescendo respectively in exchange for Strength from Death. In order to declare a Detachment as Ynnari, Yvraine, the Yncarne or the Visarch must be declared the Warlord of the player's army. Due to this, Ynnari Detachments fielded on their own lose access to all Craftworld Attributes, Asuryani, Druhkari and Harlequin stratagems, Relics and Warlord Traits. If a secondary detachment comprised of Asuryani, Drukhari or Harlequins is taken along side a Ynnari Detachment, players can then access their respective stratagems and even use them on relevant units within the Ynnari Detachment.
  • Chaos Daemons: Each Daemon type gets their own unique ability. Khorne Daemons gain an extra attack and Strength point whenever they charge or get charged at. Tzeentch Daemons get +1 to all invulnerable saves. Slaanesh daemons almost always hit first in combat even if they weren't the ones charging, and Nurgle daemons ignore wounds on a 5+. Lords of Change have a 4+ invulnerable save and 16 wounds. Daemonettes gain an extra attack if taken in units of 20 and a to-wound roll of 6 for them makes their attacks have AP-4. Nurglings can deploy closer to enemy units than normal.
  • Tau Empire: Stormsurge anchors now convey a +1 to hit in shooting. Stormsurge can fire at different targets for each of its 10 weapons, ignores the penalty for moving and shooting heavy weapons, and can fall back from combat without giving up its ability to shoot. Markerlight hits now confer a stacking buff that changes depending on how many Markerlight tokens the targetted unit currently has, 1 Markerlight token allows re-rolling of a to hit roll of 1, 2 tokens allows models with Seeker Missiles to fire them at regular BS, rather than hitting on a 6+ only. Crisis Battlesuits can also fire at different targets with all their weapons and share the ability to fall back without being unable to shoot. Drones now set up with the unit to which they are "attached" at the beginning of the battle, but are treated as separate units from then on, making them full fledged units rather than weird unit/wargear hybrids. No more penalties for Ethereals dying, and Invocations of the Elements seem to be usable once per turn per Ethereal, rather than once per game. Seeker Missiles now inflict Mortal Wounds. Riptides changed to 209 blank and lose squading (painful but necessary) and stormsurges are...150 points (making them now a viable choice).(although those prices are before paying for weapons and other wargear).
  • Dark Eldar: Dark Eldar transports get a 5+ invulnerable save against shooting attacks and can fire heavy weapons after moving with no penalty. Incubus leaders gain +2 damage on a to wound roll of 6, and klaives are S+1 AP-3. Dark Lance is S8 AP-4 D6 damage, Disintegrator Cannon is 3 shots with AP-3 and 2 damage. Wyches have a 4- invulnerable save in assault and force a roll-off against units trying to fall back; if the Wych's controller wins the roll-off, the enemy can't fall back. Drazhar grants unspecified buffs to Incubi.
  • Imperial Knights: Ion Shield is now a 5+ invulnerable save against shooting attacks that isn't restricted to facing. Base stats for a Knight Errant are 8" movement, WS/BS 3+, Strength 8, Toughness 8, 24 (!) wounds, 4 attacks, Leadership 9, and a 3+ armor save. Thermal Cannon is Heavy D3, S9, AP-4, D6 damage, rolling 2 dice and picking the highest value when in half range. Battle Cannon deals d6 shots when used against a unit with at least 5 models. Reaper chainsword and thunderstrike gauntlet do 6 damage, and the latter's throw ability allows it to deal D3 mortal wounds on a target within 9" on a 4+. They can also leave combat with regular infantry without losing the ability to shoot. Stomps apparently modified to act more like regular melee attacks.
  • Tyranids: Swarmlord's base stats are 9" movement, WS 2+, BS 3+, Strength 8, Toughness 6, 12 wounds, 7 attacks, Leadership 10, an armor save of 3+, and a 5+ invulnerable save that upgrades to 4+ in melee. His boneswords are AP -3 and deal d6 damage, and he has an ability that allows a friendly unit to move again in the shooting phase (which is very powerful given that most Tyranid units will have very high movement scores and that the Swarmlord can use it on himself to move 18" in a single movement phase). Catalyst gives the ability to ignore wounds suffered on a 5+. Hormagaunts have a movement of 8". Genestealers have a 5+ invulnerable save, 8" movement, can charge after advancing, have their attacks increased to 4 when in a unit of at least 10, and have a WS of 2+ when a Broodlord is taken with them. Additionally, their Rending Claws are AP-4 on a to wound roll of 6, which means that a full unit of 20 Genestealers is going to be causing 80+ attacks that hit on a 2+ and have a chance to ignore any armor. Synapse now grants total immunity to morale to all Tyranids in range, making it invaluable for swarms. Pyrovores briefly described as "one of the most improved units in the new edition".
  • Orks: Meganobz have 3 wounds. Choppas are S User, AP 0, 1 Damage and add an extra attack (like a Space Marine chainsword). Big Choppas are S+2, AP-1, and 2 Damage. A Warboss within 3" of an Ork unit trying to flee can inflict d3 hits on them to stop them from doing so. Nobs can roll a d6 for any nearby Ork units trying to flee; on a 6 the unit doesn't flee. Mob Rule now allows an Ork unit to set its Ld value equal to either its unit size or the Ld value of a nearby unit, which means the average blob of Boyz will be packing a Ld at least double that of other line infantry (and make the morale issues that plagued Orks in 7e a thing of the past when combined with the Warboss and Nob abilities). Painboy grants nearby infantry and bikes a 6+ against wounds suffered, and Big Mek with Kustom Force Field grants a 5+ invulnerable save. Warboss's WAAAGH! ability lets allied Ork units within 6" to charge after advancing. 'Ere We Go! allows failed charge rolls to be re-rolled. The psychic power Da Jump allows an Ork Infantry unit within 6″ of the Weirdboy using it to be teleported to any point more than 9″ away from enemy units on the battlefield. According to the Index, 'Ard Boyz have been removed. All Orks (aside from Gretchin) have their strength increased by 1 from previous editions, but have lost Furious Charge. Mobs of Boyz get bonus attacks in melee if they charge in with units over 20+.
  • Genestealer Cults: Cult Ambush now allows units deployed with it to move on the same turn they arrive. All Characters have a Look Out, Sir! equivalent called Unquestioning Loyalty that allows them to avoid taking an unsaved wound on a 4+. Mass Hypnosis disables an enemy unit from firing Overwatch, forces them to strike last in combat even if they were the one who charged that turn, and adds a -1 penalty to hit. A Genestealer Cult Battle-forged army can take one Astra Militarum detachment for each Genestealer Cult detachment present, even in Matched Play (in order to represent Brood Brothers; however, the detachments can't mix keywords- they have to be either all Genestealer Cult or all AM). Clearance Incinerator has 12" range and hits d6 times. Demolition Charge Cache is d6 shots, Strength 8, AP -3, d3 damage. Goliath Rockgrinder's Drilldozer Blade is S 8, AP -2, 6+d3 Attacks, and d3 damage. Patriarch allows nearby units to ignore morale.
  • Space Marines: Primaris Marines are a thing, as has been previously mentioned; while an individual one has better stats and gear than a "normal" marine, they cost significantly more points and have highly limited wargear choices, more akin to Aspect Warriors than Marines. Centurions have 2+ armor and 3 wounds. Centurion Missile Launcher is S8, AP -2, d3 damage. Grav-Cannon/Grav-Amp combo is 24" range, Heavy 4, S5, AP -3, 1 damage (d3 damage if the target's armor save is 3+ or better): while it's still a pretty good choice against heavy infantry with multiple wounds, it's far from the unstoppable death machine it used to be. Predators are T7 with 11 wounds. Guilliman's gun is Rapid Fire 3, S6, AP-1, 2 damage; his sword is S +2, AP -4, 3 damage, and on a 6+ it causes d3 additional mortal wounds. The Armor of Fate has a 3+ invulnerable save and lets Guilliman revive himself on a 4+ the first time he's removed as a casualty. All Ultramarines witin 6" of Guilliman re-roll all failed to hit and to wound rolls. Dreadnought CCWs are S12, AP -3, and 3 damage, and the Dread itself is T7 with 8 wounds.
    • Primaris Marines are confirmed to be getting their own transport. Besides the reveal of the Repulsor (AKA the hideous bastard child of a Predator and a Rhino with a Land Speeder's grav-plates for treads), the leaked datasheets for the Land Raider variants has revealed that it cannot transport Primaris Marines. That's right, the Raider can transport Marines, jump pack Marines, Terminators, Centurions, and Primarchs (in 30k at least), but Primaris Marines are just too special for that. Same goes for all other Space Marine transports.
  • Adeptus Ministorum: So it seems that somebody finally realized that the Sisters were a part of a bigger faction, and as such their book seems to get a name change, and one hell of a buff! Seriously while the leaks have yet to include points values, if the Power Levels are anything to go by they'll stay pricier than guard but less than Marines, and all of their abilities have been bumped up.
    • To start with, Acts of Faith are semi-random, in that you have to roll to see if they're performed still, and you only get one per turn. You can increase this by getting an Imagifier or Celestine, and the Acts of Faith basically give you extra phases. You may move as if it were the movement phase, shoot as if it were the shooting phase, fight in close combat as if it were that phase, or restore wounds to a model/bring a dead model back to life as if you were a cheating bastard taking advantage of a distracted opponent. The advantage of being able to move/shoot/attack twice shouldn't be underestimated, as this means you can immediately attack your opponent in melee, then disengage in the movement phase to allow other units to shoot them without the chance of that other unit fighting back.
      • A key wording detail means that units without the Acts of Faith ability can still have Acts of Faith manifested on them by Celestine or a Simulacrum Imperialis carried by an Imagnifer; Only the board-wide Act of Faith you get for free via the Ministorum on a 2+ requires a Unit have the "Act of Faith" ability, while other sources only require a keyword. This permits your vehicles (Exorcists first in line considering the punch they pack) to receive an Act of Faith from Celestine or an Imagnifer if they are within 6 inches.
      • Because of this, and because of how pistols and assault works now, Seraphim stand to be one of the best assault units, as they can fire their Hand Flamers/Inferno Pistols while in close combat TWICE before attacking to finish off whoever's left. Assuming they survived the opponent's turn, anyway.
      • In addition to being able to heal D3 wounds through AoF's, Hospitallers can choose instead to resurrect one dead model on a 4+.
    • Shield of Faith still gives the 6+ Invuln (and Celestine now bumps that to a 5+) and it also allows you to Deny, on a D6 and with different deny rules. Instead of rolling to beat the opponent's roll, you just need to roll to beat the casting value. While this does mean that things like 7+ powers can't be stopped by Shield of Faith, it also means you've got a 1/3rd chance of not getting hurt by common powers like Smite. Actually, no: Since you have to be beat the result of the opponent's 2d6, the only way you deny Smite or anything else of 5 warp charge is if they rolled exactly 5 on 2d6 and you rolled a 6 on 1d6.
      • Maths: Since there is a 1/9 chance of them rolling exactly a 5, and a 1/6 chance of you getting the six, this means there is a 1/54 chance of getting a deny, compared with a 1/6 chance they fail, so it may come up once every few games at most.
        • More direct math: Having this rule lets you decrease the success rate of a WC5 power from 45/54 to 44/54, with better performance against WC4.
    • All HQs are a lot more durable. Celestine is still a tank (having 7 Wounds now) and the Canoness is bumped up to 5 and given a Rosarius as standard (fitting as no player ever ran her without one), and with the removal of Instant Death this means your squishy HQs won't be instantly wiped by one plasma gun.
    • Dominions got a new rule, one that allows them to move at the start of the game as if it's the movement phase, and if they're in a transport this means the transport does the move instead. Combined with AoFs this means they can move three times in one turn in case you wanted to make the Eldar look slow.
    • All Sisters vehicles got buffed. They keep Shield of Faith (which Celestine can buff, keep in mind), gain a better profile and the weapons changes also made the Immolater's damage output good again while the Exorcist causes D3 Wounds now.
    • Celestians gained a form of Look Out Sir! Every time a friendly Sisters model loses a Wound, on a 2+ they don't suffer the Wound and the Celestians suffer a Mortal Wound.
      • Given how the Sisters can resurrect each other now, a small Celestian squad could definitely be worth it since this applies to both ranged and melee attacks.
    • Repentias got nerfed, in that they're only AP-2 whereas most Eviscerators are AP-4 (presumably so that you don't spend your AoF on only them so that they fight twice). However, the Repentia's weaker Eviscerators are effectively half the cost of the standard Eviscerator after factoring in the cost of the base model. Otherwise they're still great in melee as they can re-roll failed too hits while their Mistress allows them to re-roll failed Shield of Faith rolls.
    • Penitent Engines retain the spot of weaker CC Dreadnoughts; however, they now have a roll that allows them to make their full set of attacks TWICE if you roll a 4+. Sadly, they don't get Acts of Faith, despite being fluff-wise basically a Repentia on steroids.
    • Not everything is nice, however; most 'normal' Sisters have WS4+ now, though they keep their BS3+, and most units that used to be capped at 10 are now capped at 5. Still, those are minor drawbacks compared to fairly substantial buffs.
  • Necrons: Reanimation Protocols is back to the late 5th ed/6th ed version (the Matt Ward codex version), where models that go down are set aside, and you roll for them to come back to life on a 5+. The change is that now the roll for it is done at the start of your turn (instead of the end of the phase) and models who fail to stand back up can roll again to come back next turn, and the turn after that, and every turn until either the whole squad is wiped or they finally pass.
  • Adeptus Mechanicus: The Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus factions are now grouped into one faction, although both remain as subfactions. Doctrina Imperatives are joined into the Canticles, and both have been nerfed. Kastelans are now separate from their data-smith but can also be increased to a 2+ armor save and a 4+ Invulnerable save. Ranger and Vanguard Alphas lost a wound, and every unit has a 6+ invulnerable save like Sisters of Battle.

Beta Rules[edit]

Something very important that so many people miss, either because they can't read or have no clue what words mean, is that 8th edition is big on beta rules. These (for anyone without common sense or a brain) are rules that are not yet official rules and might not be official rules, instead they're rules meant entirely for playtesting and general feedback, and can only be used if both players agree to use them. These usually show up in GW's big FAQ's, and if you're using those, at least make sure to look at which section the rules are in so that you don't confuse actual rules with unofficial rules (especially when you want to update a tactica).

Armies of the Dark Millennium[edit]

New Codices and Codex Supplements[edit]

Indexes[edit]

  • The following "get you by" rules to bring all currently released armies up to date with 8th Edition; unlike with AoS, you are expected to pay for these. Notably, the Imperium and Xenos books are split into two volumes. Now mostly obsolete but do contain usable "legacy" options in the form of wargear and units absent in the codexes.
    • Index Imperium 1: Space Marines, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Grey Knights, Deathwatch and Legion of the Damned. (The Space Marine book)
    • Index Imperium 2: Astra Militarum, Adeptus Mechanicus, Imperial Knights, Imperial Agents and Talons of the Emperor. (The non-Space Marine book)
    • Index Chaos: Heretic Astartes (Chaos Space Marines), Chaos Daemons and Questor Traitoris (Chaos Knights).
    • Index Xenos 1: Craftworlds, Drukarii (Dark Eldar), Ynnari, Harlequins and Necrons.
    • Index Xenos 2: Orks, Tau Empire, Tyranids and Genestealer Cults.
  • Forge World's Imperial Armour books will also be getting their own indices, designed to be compatible with the above-mentioned indices.
    • Imperial Armour - Index: Forces of the Adeptus Astartes - Space Marines, Grey Knights, Inquisition, and Sisters of Battle.
    • Imperial Armour - Index: Forces of the Astra Militarum - Imperial Guard, Death Korps of Krieg, Elysian Drop Troops, Titan Legions and Knights. For some reason Renegades and Heretics is also in this book.
    • Imperial Armour - Index: Forces of Chaos - Chaos Space Marines, Daemons, Chaos Titans, and Renegade Knights.
    • Imperial Armour - Index: Xenos - Orks, Eldar, Dark Eldar, Necrons, Tyranids, Tau; no mention of Ynnari, Genestealers, or other more recent armies due to none of them being featured in any of the IA books yet.

Codexes[edit]

The new codexes reintroduced faction-specific Warlord Traits, Relics, and Stratagems, and updated the initially shoddy psychic disciplines. They also introduced the mechanic of "sub-faction" traits that grant extra abilities to groups within a faction (e.g. Space Marine Chapters) that allow for greater variance in play styles.

    • Adeptus Astartes: Space Marines: Adds 26 new Stratagems for Space Marines, including Chapter-specific ones. Crimson Fists will be getting their own Relic and WT, and later on ended up getting their own Chapter Tactic too. Rules for the existing Primaris units are expanded upon to give them more options, and rules for Reivers, Aggressors, Redemptor Dreadnoughts, and Repulsors have been added. Chapter Tactics have been added, and crunchwise they're solid with a focus on improving a given list overall rather than having the benefits focused exclusively on certain unit types as they have been in the past (e.g. while . White Scars are faster and can charge after falling back, Ultramarines get +1 to Leadership and can shoot after falling back (with -1 to BS), Raven Guard are harder to hit at long range, etc. Chapter-specific Stratagems compensate for the simplicity of Chapter Tactics this edition by acting as a way of selectively re-adding bonus rules and restrictions if a player chooses to spend CP to do so, with things like White Scars bikers being able to advance, shoot, and charge in the same turn, Iron Hands vehicles gaining an enhanced PotMS that also removes the penalties for advancing and shooting with assault weapons for vehicles, and Black Templars gaining an improved Deny the Witch on a 4+ (and don't worry, they still can't take psykers). Some people are still upset that the Chapter Tactics were not as flavorful as they had hoped, but most of the community is content with how the Codex was handled (and judging by the following releases, how most other Codexes will work from now on).
      • Adeptus Astartes: Space Marines II: Slated to expand the first Codex with overhauled Chapter Tactics, the ability to create custom tactics for Successor Chapters, new units and wargear options, a second psychic discipline, and Litanies of Faith to put the Chaplains on par with the buffs that their Dark Apostle counterparts got.
      • Codex Supplements: Ultramarines and White Scars: The Smurfs getting their own supplement is predictable; the same treatment being given to the White Scars on the other hand was unexpected. Either way, they both get extra relics, psychic power disciplines, and revised rules for their unique units and special characters. GW has suggested that they plan to make a supplement for all of the major Chapters featured in the Codex proper, which will likely receive the same treatment (this has already happened with the RavenGaurd and IronhHand codex been released).
    • Heretic Astartes: Chaos Space Marines: CSMs get new Stratagems as well (including god and Legion-specific ones), as well as Legion Traits that function similarly to Chapter Tactics. A combination of the new Death to the False Emperor rule and several buffs to their overall melee ability have caused Chaos Space Marines to go from spiky Loyalists with fewer toys to melee powerhouses. Plague Marines also got a ton of new options, which in retrospect was a sign of what was to come in the Death Guard Codex.
      • Heretic Astartes: Chaos Space Marines II: Due to the metric fuckton of stuff slated to be added in the Vigilus Ablaze campaign supplement, a new version of the Chaos Space Marines Codex integrating the original with the new content as well as the Chapter Approved points changes has been announced. Likely to be the model for how armies will be updated from here on out, much like AoS and its Battletomes.
    • Adeptus Astartes: Grey Knights: Compared to the other two Codexes above, the Grey Knights haven't gotten quite as many new toys (though they do get their own Stratagems as well as getting Brotherhood of Psykers back), but they remain effective against Daemons and their new Stratagems do a fair enough job of mitigating their weaknesses. Still, they're a far cry from the massive hunk of cheese they used to be back in Ward's day.
    • Heretic Astartes: Death Guard: New Stratagems, relics, and warlord traits as well as contagion psychic discipline, Legion tactics are Disgustingly Resilient and Inexorable Advance (Infantry and Hellbrute units don't suffer accuracy penalty to moving and firing heavy weapons or advancing and firing assault weapons, while rapid fire weapons gain their extra shot at 2/3 range instead of half range). Almost all units gain Plague Weapon equipment options that grant re-roll of 1 to wound. The primarch Mortarion is a 24 power (470 point) flying Lord of War with 18 wounds as well as 4+ invul and Disgustingly Resilient saves, heavy melee damage, a pistol with 18" cone attack, grenades, as well as three psychic powers, explodes on a 4+ but not damaging Nurgle units, also has attendant Nurglings. More impressively has three auras one on a 4+ and decreasing to a 6+ with damage taken causes D3 mortal wounds to all enemy units within 7", the next allows Death Guard with Plague Weapons (read: virtually all of them) within 7" to reroll wound rolls of 1, the third reduces the toughness of all enemy within 7" by 1. A host more new models; Foul Blightspawn (equivalent of a Primaris lieutenant), Biologus Putrifier (similar), Deathshroud Terminators (bodyguard unit, make the transition from 30k), The Plague Surgeon (Apothecary), Blightlord Terminators, The Myphitic Blight-hauler (fast attack tank, Foul stench provides -1 to enemy melee hit rolls upon it in fight phase and Putrescent provides 7" cover save aura to allied units), Plagueburst Crawler (Mortar artillery tank, doesn't require line of sight). Other updates are to Typhus (new model, same stats with exception weapon damage upgraded from D3 to 3) and Foetid Bloat-Drone (New melee and heavy weapon equipment options). No options for Death Guard bike units however; true to their fluff, the emphasis is firmly on powerful footslogging units advancing slowly but steadily, shrugging off enemy fire, then destroying the opponent in close combat with strong melee, short range guns, damaging/debuffing auras and unit explosions.
    • Adeptus Mechanicus: Folds Skitarii and Cult Mechanicus units into one faction. It introduces new Stratagems for the Ad Mech, warlord traits, and Forgeworld Dogmas (the Ad Mech equivalent of Chapter Tactics if you will) which grants special rules to all units that share a common Forgeworld. While bringing in the standard 8th codex rules and generally considered a very well balanced codex, it didn't really add depth to the faction or shake up the existing lists and playstyles. Most notably, their many 30k toys recieve no rules, ironically leaving the cog-boys with a rather limited toolbox.
    • Astra Militarum: The Imperial Guard recieved the long-awaited royal treatment. Introduces Regimental Doctrines (IG equivalent of Chapter Tactics), Stratagems, Orders, Relics, and warlord traits for 8 Regiments (Cadia, Armageddon, Tallarn, Valhalla, Vostroya, Mordia, and the Militarum Tempestus), alongside tips for kitbashing other regiments like the Savlar Chem-Dogs. Conscripts took a nerf to their maximum squad size (down from 50 to 30) and their ability to receive orders, and the cost of plasma weapons increased for BS3 units (e.g. Scions and Veteran); in return, many underperforming vehicles, like the entire Leman Russ and Baneblade families, had improvements ranging from weapon buffs to point cost reductions. The return of regimental doctrines and orders provided a significant increase in firepower, however survivability remains unchanged (read: low). Generic Ogryn Bodyguards are now available as a unit, designed to be built using the Nork Neddog pieces from the Ogryn/Bullgryn squad kit. Gotta justify dat plastic somehow! Meanwhile Rough Riders have at last been dropped (for now... ), and several old favourite characters, including ones GW had teased since May, also failed to appear.
    • Eldar: Craftworlds: Like most of the above, they got Craftworld Attributes as their Chapter Tactics counterpart as well as a bunch of price drops for many units considered overcosted (e.g. Falcons), as well as the usual complement of Stratagems, WTs, and Relics for the faction as a whole along with the main Craftworlds (Saim-Hann, Biel-Tan, Ulthwe, Alaitoc, and Iyanden). Current verdict is that while they're one of the stronger armies so far, they're nowhere near as ridiculously OP as they were in 7th edition.
    • Tyranids: The community considers this to be a belated apology for 5th through 7th editions, with a return to 4th edition's superior customization options on top of the new Stratagems, Hive Fleet Adaptations, and so forth. A bunch of units such as the Carnifexes (themselves split into three types: the base customizable version as well as the classic Screamer-Killer and Thornback versions, which get improved rules to compensate for their comparatively fixed loadouts) get some much-needed buffs, and wargear that hasn't been seen since 4th edition makes a triumphant return, all while avoiding the pitfalls that 4th edition made. The gribblies have a degree of mobility that is unmatched by any of the current armies (with the right Stratagems and army build, they can easily get the equivalent of three movement phases in a single turn) and are devastating in melee, but beyond a few datasheets they haven't gotten much else in the way of new units.
    • Adeptus Astartes: Blood Angels: Confirmed to be getting access to Scout Bikes, Hunters, Stalkers, Stormtalons, and Stormhawks, as well as Cataphractii and Tartaros Terminators. Red Thirst now puts them back in their proper place as the aggressive melee specialists among the Space Marines, and they also get a lot of stuff to help them make the most of their jump packs.
    • Adeptus Astartes: Dark Angels: Plasma spam augmented by the presence of Hellblasters? Check. Support for Greening, Deathwing, and Ravenwing? Check. Near-immunity to morale? Check. Between all of those and the same support for the units formerly limited to vanilla Marines the Blood Angels got, things are looking good for the First Legion.
    • Chaos Daemons: First codex release of 2018. Lots of love for Nurgle again, including several new units introduced in Age of Sigmar. All four gods get their own Chapter Tactics equivalents, though running a mono-god build is still difficult due to the general melee focus of the army.
    • Adeptus Custodes: After being a thing in 40k 7th Edition for its final 10 minutes, these guys have gotten a true Codex. Gameplay-wise, HQs and the obligatory relics and stratagems every Codex have been added as well as some new Terminators and Jetbikes, making them an actual army instead of being relegated to allies for other Imperial forces. And by the Emperor, they've firmly established themselves as the "super-elite" army, focusing on forces so small that even Grey Knights could outnumber them that compensate with a ton of invulnerable saves and the best wargear the Imperium has to offer. GW has also mentioned that all the Forgeworld goodies the Custodes have in the Horus Heresy line will be receiving rules for 40K at some point as well.
    • Heretic Astartes: Thousand Sons: Yep, they're getting a promotion to a full Codex, which is unsurprising given all the goodies they received from last edition. Tzaangor Shamans and Tzaangor Enlightened are being added for the people who wish they could field a Beastmen army in 40K, and the surprising addition of the Mutalith Vortex Beast from the Warriors of Chaos gives them some extra oomph in melee even as it brings your nightmares to life. At this rate, we should start placing bets on the likelihood of Archaon or the Skaven showing up in 40K next. More importantly, their variety of psychic powers is unmatched, allowing them to shit out mindbullets and buffs alike.
    • T'au Empire: Commander spam has been curbed with a hard limit of one Commander per detachment. Riptides are more cost-effective, Ethereals get a couple of new wargear options, and the usual extra Stratagems, relics, Sept Tenets, and so on. There's still an issue with several units being overpriced and Kroot still suck, but on the whole the Codex is still usable enough. Fluff-wise, the Fourth/Fifth Sphere expansion is described with a heavily implied showdown against Chaos in the near future.
    • Necrons: Dynastic Codes (i.e. Necron Chapter Tactics) have been announced and a new piece of wargear for Crypteks that lets them act as a flying Techmarine/Apothecary hybrid has been shown off as part of the Forgebane boxed set. Apart from that, the typical Codex additions.
    • Eldar: Drukhari: Distinct rules for the Commoragh Cabals, Haemonculus Covens, and Wych Cults. Wyches are actually good now, too. Also gets some unique army building options to better reflect the structure of a Dark Eldar raiding party.
    • Eldar: Harlequins: Rules for Masque Forms, and gave all three flavors of Eldar the ability to use the Webway Portal fortification. No new units, sadly, but what's there got buffed nicely and received a bunch of Stratagems ideal for mind-fucks.
    • Adeptus Astartes: Deathwatch: Mixed Primaris Marine units are confirmed, as are Stratagems tailored for killing specific xenos. They also get Mission Tactics for focusing on units with specific FOC roles.
    • Imperial Knights: The Knights have gotten quite a bit of new stuff, with four new Knight types, Household Traditions, and an entire system to make your own Freeblades.
    • Space Wolves: Primaris Marines, the remaining units from vanilla Space Marines that the Wolves didn't get, and Wulfen Dreadnoughts were all added along with the usual mix of Stratagems, WTs, and relics. Solidly choppy and character focused, as the Wolves should be.
    • Orks: No fewer than six new Ork vehicles, a much-needed buff to Ork shooting, and the addition of Clan Kulturs has done quite a bit to make up for the past weakness of the Orks. And of course, they've got all the other doodads that come with having a Codex as well.
    • Genestealer Cults: New models for the Genestealer Aberrants are confirmed, along with a leader unit for them called the Genestealer Abominant. They also got a buggy and a biker unit as well, plus a bunch of new Characters and a female Magus sculpt. Cult Ambush was completely redone, allowing the Genestealer Cults to channel Space Hulk and set up their forces as a set of markers whose identity is only revealed after the start of the battle.
    • Adepta Sororitas: Scheduled for 2019 and slated to come with the decades-awaited plastic Sisters of Battle. A beta version of the Codex is available in Chapter Approved 2018 in order to let fans playtest it. Fortunately, they seem to be actually looking into the feedback provided, as the mini-dex was pretty weak.
    • Elucidian Starstriders and Gellarpox Infected: A pair of mini-codexes which will be added alongside Kill-Team: Rogue Trader in order to allow those kill-teams to be used in a standard 40k game (if only as a secondary detachment). The first codex features Rogue Trader Elucia Vhane and her retinue, and the second one is a Nurgle-themed Lost and the Damned army consisting mainly of mutants and lesser warp-tainted beasts.
    • Codex: Chaos Knights: Originally introduced as a free Index, this will expand the Chaos Knights with new Stratagems, WTs, and sub-factions akin to the Loyalists. While these factions aren't as fleshed-out as the Loyalists and lack as many specific items, the codex as a whole does enough to put them on par by opening a large amount of customized loadouts.

Specialist Games[edit]

  • Necromunda: An old classic dating all the way back to 2nd edition, soon to get a brand new mix of models and updated rules based on a combination of 2nd edition elements and rules from later editions (e.g. they get templates and pieplates back). And they bring back squats. Yay.
  • Kill Team: Now a Specialist Game rather than merely being a scaled-down version of 40k, its new features include an alternating activation system, skill trees for customizing Kill-Team members, and a modified form of the Stratagem system called Tactics.
  • Adeptus Titanicus: Another old Specialist Game dating back to Epic. The only thing you need to know about it now is that it has plastic Titans. Yep.
  • Apocalypse: Apocalypse is also getting the Specialist Game treatment, with a completely overhauled ruleset that differentiates it from just being a really big game of 40k.

New Dataslates[edit]

Chapter Approved: The old name is being reused for the 40k counterpart to AoS's General's Handbook, in that it'll be a yearly release containing revised points costs for the models and wargear of multiple factions, rules tweaks, and the introduction of game expansions like Apocalypse. The first issue was released in Christmas of 2017.

New Campaign Supplements[edit]

  • Imperium Nihilus- Vigilus Defiant: The first major campaign supplement of 8e (not counting Fate of Konor) is the first part of a two part campaign thay takes place on Vigilus, the fortress world that guards the Nachmund Gauntlet and allows the Imperium some degree of travel to and from the Imperium Nihilus. When an Ork Waaagh! forces the world's Genestealer Cult out of hiding, the Imperium reacts to hold onto Vigilus at all costs and just barely holds on even with the help of numerous Space Marine Chapters led by Marneus Calgar. Matters are complicated further when the Eldar attack after a misunderstanding, but things really start getting bad after a Chaos Lord claiming to be Abaddon's herald shows up to announce that the Despoiler wishes to conquer the world for himself.
The factions known to be involved include the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Space Marines (specifically the Ultramarines, Imperial Fists, Crimson Fists, Dark Angels, White Scars, and Space Wolves) Orks, the Eldar of Craftworld Saim-Hann, the Genestealer Cult of the Pauper Princes, the Dark Eldar, and the Black Legion. Will include rules for Primaris Calgar, the Chaos Lord Haarken Worldclaimer, and a new system of Specialist Detachments that allows a detachment to spend a CP in exchange for access to new Stratagems, WTs, and Artifacts.
  • Urban Conquest: A modular system designed for custom-made campaigns, featuring options for building your own hive cities to serve as battlefields on the fly.
  • Imperium Nihilus- Vigilus Ablaze: The second part of the Vigilus campaign, starting off with Abaddon's arrival at Vigilus and the Black Legion generally ruining everyone's day. He defeats Marneus Calgar in a duel, but is ultimately forced to retreat before he can slay the Chapter Master after a joint Imperial-Eldar attack cripples the Vengeful Spirit with vortex warheads, forcing the Despoiler to go into the Warp to get his flagship back before it's totally destroyed. Even then, it is hinted that when he returns to plague the Imperium the Planet Killer will be brought to bear once again. Vigilus itself barely survives, but most of its hives are burned down in order to eliminate Chaos taint and the planet's orbit is permanently changed due to the Fallen Angels activating an ancient gravitic weapon, which also changes the shape of the Nachmund Gauntlet. Gives Chaos Space Marines the royal treatment- on top of the Specialist Detachments, the Black Legion will be getting its own Stratagems, Relics, and WTs while the Legion Traits will be expanded to include a bunch of Renegade Chapters such as The Purge, the Red Corsairs, and the Flawless Host, who also get their own Relic and Stratagem each. And to top it off, it gives new rules for the Bloodmaster and Skulltaker to go with their new models.
  • Psychic Awakening: This appears to be the Malign Portents of 8e, promising massive expansions to every army in 40k and a story arc that will affect the entire galaxy. Given the name, it won't be a surprise if the 40k equivalent of AoS's Endless Spells are also added here. GW has also revealed that multiple new rulesets will be added for existing codices.
    • Phoenix Rising: The first chapter of this story arc focuses on all flavors of the Eldar with a specific focus on the Ynnari's quest to awaken Ynnead. In addition to,this includes new models for both Incubi and Howling Banshees as well as Jain Zar and Drazhar. Also included, alongside new rules like the return of Exarch Powers is custom attributes for the Craftworld and Dark Eldar in line with the custom Successor Chapter Attributes included with the 8.5 Codex for Space Marines.
    • Faith and Fire: Centered on the Imperium's defense of the planet Talledus against the forces of Chaos. In addition to acting as the expansion for the Black Templars, this introduces a few new Stratagems and Relics for vanilla Marines as well as expanded WTs, Stratagems, and relics for the vanilla Chaos Space Marine legions (other than the Black Legion, which already had something similar in Vigilus Ablaze).
    • Blood and Talons: Blood Angels vs. Tyranids, Round 2.
    • Ritual of the Damned: Grey Knights and Dark Angels duking it out with the Thousand Sons as Magnus carries out a ritual that would transform massive amounts of humans into psykers with dangerous consequences.
    • The Greater Good: The Tau Empire get their first real taste of Chaos in the form of the Death Guard's impending arrival, which threatens to break through the Startide Nexus and into the heart of the Empire. And then there's the Genestealer Cult on a planet the Tau are about to take over, who are none too pleased about the interlopers. Meanwhile, the IG of the Eastern Fringe are stuck between the Tau and the Genestealers and desperately trying to keep it in Imperial hands.
    • Saga of the Beast: Ragnar Blackmane carries out a dating raid against Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka. Though badly wounded, Blackmane decapitates the Warboss, bringing an end to his WAAAGH!...or at least, that's what would have happened if Mad Dok Grotsnik didn't just stitch Ghazghkull's head back on.
    • Engine War: Imperial Knights, Chaos Knights, Admech, and Daemons face off in this one.
    • War of the Spider: The Talons of the Emperor and the Officio Assassinorum find themselves in a three-way battle with the Death Guard and the minions of Fabius Bile in the ruins of Cadia.

Boxed Sets[edit]

  • Dark Imperium, the starter set for 8th, will be Death Guard vs. Primaris Ultramarines. It contains brand-new models for the Primaris Space Marine squads, new Death Guard models, and 5 new Death Guard units; the Foetid Bloat-Drone, Poxwalkers (basically plague zombies), the Lord of Contagion, Noxious Blightbringer, and the Malignant Plaguecaster. Fluff-wise, it is about the Plague Wars being fought in the Ultramar sub-sector.
  • First strike is a getting started set for 8th, which contains Death Guard vs primaris Ultramarines. It contains 3 reivers, 3 Intercessors, 3 plague marines and 6 pox walkers all of whom are “easy to build” models. It also contains the rules for the contained models, a small guidebook with an unknown amount of scenarios, and a "double-sided gaming mat in the box, and it’s printed so that it doubles as a set of cardboard Munitorum Armoured Containers". It has been released and is $30, making for a good start into the hobby.
  • Know no fear seems to be a "mini dark Imperium", with 2 armies - Death Guard and Primaris Ultramarines, as well as the core rules and model rules, a starter set book (probably a more detailed version of the First Strike Book), and a larger play-mat and cardboard scenery. Fluff-wise, it seems like Know no fear and First strike are both smaller battles being fought during the Plague wars. The models included are:
    • Death Guard - 1 Foetid Bloat-drone, 10 Pox walkers, 5 Plague Marines and 1 Lord of Contagion.
    • Primaris Marines - 3 Inceptors, 5 Hellblasters, 5 intercessors and 1 Primaris captain.
  • Forgebane is another starter set, and the first not to use Ultramarines or the Death Guard. Instead, it's Adeptus Mechanicus against Necrons in a fight over a Forge World that was really a Tomb World. The models included appear to be:
    • Adeptus Mechanicus - 1 Magos Dominus, 10 Skitarii Rangers, and 2 Knight Armiger Warglaives.
    • Necrons- 1 Cryptek (with canoptek cloak), 5 Immortals, 5 Lychguard, and 3 Canoptek Wraiths.
  • Imperial Knights: Renegades features a one-on-one knight battle between Chaos and Imperial knights.
    • More importantly, this box gives you a free knight. It's two knights and a scenery piece, but costs as much as one knight and the scenery.
  • Tooth and Claw is another new starter set, this time featuring Space Wolves and Genestealer Cults battling over the planet Vigilus, the Imperium's foothold in the Nachmund Gauntlet.
    • Space Wolves- 1 Primaris Battle Leader, 5 Intercessors, 3 Aggressors, and 1 Redemptor Dreadnought
    • Genestealer Cults- 1 Abominant Leader, 5 Aberrants, 1 Acolyte Iconward, 5 Hybrid Metamorphs, and 8 Purestrain Genestealers.
  • Wake the Dead - Another starter set in line with Tooth and Claw. This set pits Primaris Ultramarines against Eldar of Craftworld Saim-Hann and their wraith-constructs in another battle on Vigilus. Even against the creator's pet Primaris Marines, the Eldar get a better deal.
    • Space Marines - 1 new plastic Primaris Lieutenant, 5 Intercessors, 5 Reivers, and 3 Inceptors.
    • Eldar - 1 new plastic Spiritseer (finally, the first step in updating the ancient Eldar lineup), 10 Guardian Defenders, a Wave Serpent, and 5 Wraithguard.
  • Wrath and Rapture - A second starter set that has no space marines, only Chaos Daemons. While being marketed more towards Age of Sigmar than 40k it still comes with models and new rules for 40k as well as the story why the forces of Khorne and Slaanesh are fighting in the warp. Is honestly a steal if you are starting a Daemon army as you get a bunch of units and updated models for Karanak, Flesh hounds , Fiends and a new Slannesh HQ.
    • Daemons of Khorne - 1 Karanak, 5 Flesh hounds, 3 Bloodcrushers, 10 Bloodletters
    • Daemons of Slaanesh - 1 Infernal Enrapturess, 3 Fiends, 5 Seekers, 10 Daemonettes
  • Shadowspear- Ultramarines vs. Black Legion. Notably, everything in it is either a new sculpt or a never-before-seen unit, such as the Space Marine Eliminators or the Venomcrawler daemon engine. Also comes with mini-Codexes for Vanguard Space Marines and Daemonkin.
    • Ultramarines - 1 Primaris Captain in Phobos armour, 1 Primaris Librarian in Phobos armour, 1 Primaris lieutenant in Phobos Armour, 10 Infiltrators, 3 Eliminators, 3 Suppressors
    • Black Legion - 1 Master of Possession, 2 Greater Possessed, 10 Chaos Space Marines, 2 Obliterators, 1 Venomcrawler
  • Blood of the Phoenix - Eldar vs Deldar boxset and tied in with the new Psychic awakening GW has going on. Held new models for Jain Zar, Howling banshees, Drazhar and Incubi. Is a pretty decent box with the huge catch that it FUCKING COST £140 (230 Ameribucks or 390 Kangaroo skins)! It really isn't worth that much money, no matter how good Jain Zars new model is.
    • Eldar - 1 Jain-Zar, 5 Howling banshees, 1 Falcon, 1 Vyper
    • Dark Eldar - 1 Drazhar, 5 Incubi, 5 Scourges, 5 Hellions, 1 Venom
  • Sisters of Battle boxset - The new starter set for Sisters, containing a small force of Plastic Sisters (Hooray), that are all easy build (Hooroo). This will be a good starter box for sister players, but the main force won't be released till 2020 about 2-3 months later (Boo). The box has a good amount of stuff in it as it has the Codex and data cards as well, but it cost another shit tonne with it costing £125. It was made in such a small number that the only ones available now are from ebay Scalpers. Fuck.
    • Models - 1 Canoness, 10 Battle Sisters, 5 Seraphim, 4 Repentia, 3 Flagellants, 1 Mistress of Repentance, 1 Imagifier, 1 Penitent engine.
  • Dark Vengeance - Only for a week in December but the Starter set is back in made to order, meaning that it's been a box set for 3 editions of 40k. Inside it's the same as it was before (minus the Chaos Champion), and it's actually priced well (for GW) at £85, making it the cheapest big starter set.
    • Dark Angels - 1 DA Master, 1 Librarian, 10 Tactical Marines, 5 Deathwing Terminators, 3 Ravenwing Bikers
    • Chaos Space Marines - 1 Chaos Lord, 6 Chaos Chosen, 20 Cultists, 1 Hellbrute
  • Prophecy of the Wolf Space Wolves vs Orks. Orks are a bit more orkier and the Space Wolves are more generic. Coming in at £137 or $170, it's made for fans and isn't really friendly towards newcomers.
    • Space Wolves-10 Space Wolf Infiltrators or Incursors ,Ragnar Blackmane now in Primaris form!
    • Orks- Ghazghkull Thraka with Makari, 5 Ork Nobz, 3 Ork Meganobz, 1 Grot Oiler, 1 Ammo Runt

tl;dr[edit]

In spite of the edition (and inevitable meta) shake-up, the life cycle of Warhammer 40,000 goes on.

  • Powergamers are actively trying to break the system before it even comes out. For their part, the game designers claim they play-tested the shit out of 8th so that it isn't a broken mess (like 7th Edition), and specifically referred to stuff like death stars as loopholes to be plugged, so they may yet evade (or at least slow down, because who are we really kidding?) power gaming.
  • Neckbeards are raging over the "dumbing down" of the rules. This is ignoring the fact that 7th edition was a broken, bloated mess with so many different special rules, random charts, cheesy formations, and supplements that by its end it was almost impossible to keep track of what's what. On the other hand, the 8th edition rules have removed entire layers of tactical decision making (like the loss of facing mechanics) and stripped the unique mechanics and wargear that more esoteric armies relied on and other armies got their character from (the Inquisition in particular got fucked over by this) so they do have a point, but the Codexes have compensated for the latter issue. Specifically, the Stratagems introduced in each Codex emulate the effects of several faction-specific abilities and each army gets at least one faction-specific rule; additionally, specific sub-factions within several of the armies which got Codexes now have their own special rules to better depict their preferred fighting styles. BUT at the same time stratagems are broken as fuck, making some games boil down to "I play this card and magic things happen". What is even more retarded is that errata for the main rules is almost as big as core rules, and now to play the game you need core rules, codex, 10 pages of FAQ/Errata, and the supplements and campaign books to access brokenly good stratagems and other shenanigans. Between this, all the beta rules, Chapter Approved and other bullshit following the rules is now a real nightmare. It's almost as bad as 7th edition was by the end of it.
  • Tournament Players are rethinking their lists since their 7th Edition "decurion formation detachments" are now invalid.
  • Garagehammer guys are still in the garage doing their thing.
  • Narrative guys are making their own rules and "forging a narrative", now aided by the "Narrative Play" option.
  • Lore fans are raging about the Primaris Marines, the shoehorning of even more silly adjective nounverbers and pants-on-head retarded dog-Latin names for obvious copyright/trademark reasons, and the story advancing in ways they don't like. Both of the remaining Fantasy players find that last part to be as cute as all hell.
  • Games Workshop is still trying to take your money, increasing prices by a third since the announcement of 8th edition, forcing Marine players to buy big expensive vehicles to transport Primaris models and charging 25 bucks a book for the equivalent of the warscroll compendiums Fantasy players got for free when AoS dropped. On the bright side, they have also realized that they have to actually listen to their community in order to keep it happy and have been fairly good about addressing rules issues as they come up (though they still struggle to keep said issues from happening in the first place, as seen above).
  • The general player base is stuck in the crossfire from the shit-flinging of the Neckbeards and Tournament players.
  • Overall, GW's claims that this will be the best edition yet may have been overly optimistic, but there is clearly more work and effort being put into trying to make 40k better than there has been in a very long time. For the time being, the community as a whole is relatively content.
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