WARHAMMER 40,000 - 11TH EDITION

Welcome to the Grim Darkness of the Far Future

There is only war… but there should also be snacks.

Welcome to Warhammer 40,000, where humanity is hanging on by its fingernails, aliens are everywhere, daemons are having a lovely time, and somehow everyone has decided that the best solution is more guns.

The galaxy of the 41st Millennium is not a nice place. In fact, it is spectacularly awful. But that is exactly what makes it so much fun.

And with the arrival of 11th Edition, now is a brilliant time to jump in.

SO… WHAT ACTUALLY IS 40K?

At its heart, Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop battle game.

You build and paint an army of miniature soldiers, monsters, tanks, robots, aliens or whatever wonderfully ridiculous things your chosen faction contains, then you put them on a table. You roll some dice. You make questionable tactical decisions. You blame the dice and eventually someone wins, usually.

The really important bit is that you don't need to know everything before you start. Nobody joins a 40K club knowing every rule, weapon profile, faction ability and obscure piece of Imperial history. If somebody tells you they do, ask them how many hours they've spent reading the rulebook instead of going outside.

WHAT'S NEW IN 11TH EDITION?

11th Edition isn't simply 10th Edition with a new cover. Games Workshop has made some significant changes intended to make the battlefield more interesting while giving armies more ways to express what makes them unique.

OBJECTIVES HAVE CHANGED

One of the biggest visual changes is that traditional round objective markers are out.

Instead, objectives are tied to terrain footprints, that means the battlefield itself matters more. Buildings, ruins and other pieces of terrain aren't just decoration — they can become the places where your army fights, hides and desperately tries to hold an important position.

So yes: That piece of scenery you spent three hours painting badly is now tactically important.

TERRAIN MATTERS MORE

11th Edition puts a greater emphasis on keeping your troops alive by using the battlefield.

The new terrain rules make it easier for units to stay hidden and change how cover works, including a shift toward cover affecting Hit rolls rather than simply improving saves. This means that charging blindly across an open battlefield may not be the smartest plan. Unless you're an Ork, in which case…

WAAAAAGH!

FIGHTING HAS BEEN CLEANED UP

Close combat has also received a number of changes. Charging, choosing targets, activation order, pile-ins and consolidations have all been adjusted. The aim is to make the Fight phase feel cleaner while still giving melee armies plenty of opportunities to smash things, which is good news for anyone whose tactical plan begins with: “I wonder how quickly I can get this enormous monster into their face?”

ARMIES ARE GETTING MORE PERSONAL

One of the really interesting changes in 11th Edition is the new approach to Detachments. Existing Codexes remain usable, while a huge number of additional Detachments have been introduced. Rather than every army being forced into one particular style of play, Detachments give you more opportunities to build an army around the way you want to play.

Want heavily armoured troops? Sneaky troops? Lots of infantry? Big monsters? A terrifying collection of tanks? There is more room to make your army feel like your army.

AND THEN THERE ARE THE ORKS…

The launch of 11th Edition throws us straight into one of the most entertaining places imaginable:

ARMAGEDDON.

The Orks have arrived, Again. Ghazghkull Thraka's forces are descending on the war-torn world, while Imperial forces attempt to hold the line. Space Marines from multiple Chapters are being thrown into the fight, including Blood Angels, Salamanders, Ultramarines and Space Wolves, because apparently when your planet is being invaded by an enormous green horde, the obvious response is:

“Send the Space Marines.” And lots of them.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR A NEW PLAYER

Honestly?

11th Edition is a pretty good time to start.

You don't have to spend years learning an old edition before you're allowed to play, everyone is learning, everyone is forgetting rules, everyone is discovering that the unit they thought was amazing is actually terrible at doing the thing they bought it for, and then everyone tries again.

That's part of the fun, a new edition also gives a club a great opportunity to run beginner games where people can learn together.

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A MASTER PAINTER

Your first army does not need to look like it belongs in a Golden Demon competition, your first Space Marine might have:

slightly wonky eyes
too much wash
not enough wash
a shoulder pad painted the wrong colour
a mysterious fingerprint in the paint
or, if you're particularly talented, all five.

That's fine.

Painted models are cool, unpainted models are also cool. The important thing is that they're yours.You will get better as you go.

THE GOLDEN RULE OF OUR CLUB

HAVE FUN.

40K can be competitive.

It can be tactical, it can be incredibly complicated, it can involve army lists, probabilities, stratagems, objectives and enough dice to fill a small swimming pool, but none of that matters if you're not enjoying yourself.

Our club is here to help people:

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Meet people

🎨 Build and paint models

🎲 Play games

📖 Learn the lore

😂 Have a laugh

🧠 Get better at the game

💥 Blow things up

If you're new, ask questions, if you make a mistake, don't worry, if you forget a rule, we'll look it up, if your army gets absolutely annihilated… we'll probably laugh with you…. Probably.

WHERE DO I START?

You don't need to buy a 2,000-point army tomorrow, start small, a few models, maybe a Combat Patrol. Get into a small beginner game, then learn how movement works, learn how shooting works, learn how charging works, once your comfortable slowly add more.

The new Combat Patrol Companion is specifically designed as an introduction to the hobby and includes guidance on building, painting, lore and playing your first games.

And remember:

PICK AN ARMY YOU THINK LOOKS COOL.

Not the army someone on the internet says is the strongest, not the army your mate says you should play, not the army with the mathematically perfect tournament list, pick the army that makes you go: