Preview New Warhammer 40,000 11th Edition Books & Kit
May 12, 2026 by brennon
Games Workshop has previewed more of what's coming for Warhammer 40,000 11th Edition. The new Armageddon boxed set is on the way but following that, you'll also be able to snap up separate books and other accessories for getting started with the armies you already possess.
Core Rules // Warhammer 40,000
Leading the way will be the new Core Rules that you'll be able to pick up separately from the Armageddon boxed set. This one drops the Blood Angel on the cover for an Ultramarine (because of course it does) and features all of the new and updated rules for Warhammer 40,000 11th Edition. I like that it's a slim document, so it's useful for those bringing it to the table for their wargames.
The second of the books that will be coming out as part of the 11th Edition launch is the Combat Patrol Companion.
Combat Patrol Companion // Warhammer 40,000
This has been designed as a companion for new builders, painters and players diving into the world of Warhammer 40,000. It also contains plenty for veterans, as it comes with a bunch of additional hobby information and plenty of background information on the various armies that you can play in Warhammer 40,000. It essentially works as the lore and hobby section of the rulebooks of old.
The book is split into an overview of the hobby and covers key concepts of the game, which can be used alongside the new Warhammer 40,000 app in order to play games of Combat Patrol. You will also find the aforementioned lore on the different armies and the setting, plus loads of artwork to get you interested in playing them.
Warhammer 40,000 Card Decks
The card decks from the Armageddon boxed set will also be available separately during the launch of 11th Edition.
Mission & Dominatus Deck // Warhammer 40,000
The Mission Deck does the job of previous Chapter Approved sets in that it gives you all of your missions, set-ups and more that you'll need for playing your games. This will be the way that you'll play your regular games down at the club with friends, tournament-level encounters and even your more narratively themed battles on the tabletop.
The Dominatus Deck is there for those wanting to play out narrative campaigns without all of the bookkeeping. It seems like this might take the place of Crusade as a game mode, as this contains the various missions that you'll be playing out over the course of a weekend of intense gaming or perhaps a few months with your gaming club. You'll find ways to upgrade your units and characters inside, as well as twists, turns and other ways to mix up your games as you fight for a planet like Armageddon or a different portion of the Imperium entirely.
Terrain Area Set
One of the core elements of the new Chapter Approved Mission Deck is the addition of the new Terrain Area rules for 11th Edition. Each map determines where and how these Area Set templates are placed on the battlefield, which you then use to mount your plastic terrain on top of.
Terrain Area Set // Warhammer 40,000
With the new terrain rules and the fact that these locations are now your objectives, it means that both tournament and more narratively focused gamers are now fighting over more interesting battlefields. These different footprints in this particular set are cardboard and come double-sided to suit two different styles of battlefield. You could, of course, make your own to the dimensions they shared a few weeks ago or get your hands on different designs from various gaming manufacturers.
I like that terrain is now becoming more of a thing in your games and that the rules are making it so your games don't start with your units huddled like frightened children behind terrain all the time. It should (hopefully) make for more interesting games.
Do you think you'll be skipping the big Armageddon box and going for these separate releases instead? Perhaps both?
Drop your thoughts below...
"Do you think you'll be skipping the big Armageddon box and going for these separate releases instead? Perhaps both?"
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![11th Edition Warhammer 40K Core Rules Now Available & More [Updated]](https://images.beastsofwar.com/2026/06/orks-new-cover-600-338.jpg)
Loving Orcs and all that but… no, it does not call to me. And the weird “you need this shape of terrain” stuff is way to much restrictive IMHO. I get that for competitive play you want balanced tables but that’s also achievable in other ways. Feels way too much like a board game and people you learn that one terrain in and out can cheese their way to victory. But maybe it’s me looking at games too much from the “how will people play this in tournaments” way.
I’m likely to get a mix of both.
As @sundancer said, the fixed terrain will be abused by hard-core tourney types. No doubt.
I know what the intent is, but I still like a table that is full of bespoke terrain and more varied.
This is … spoon-fed?
I guess the idea is that it means a newcomer to 40K doesn’t just stick a bunch of blocks on the tabletop and call it done. They have the templates to put their terrain onto, which then means they’ll have more interesting battlefields to play on.
But we all started with cans and blocks as terrain before we started building our stuff. If I understood the use of terrain correctly with 11th then each mission has a bespoke way to set up those “markers”. As @grantinvanman said it feels spoon fed.
Yeah but they could set up a couple of blocks of cardboard and a few tins and have a shit game and then pack it in. GW are looking at this from the viewpoint of at least the terrain will be in a “good” place so you might not pack it in.
Might still have a shit game but at least it was “fair” – I’m sure people will do whatever the like anyway so its much of a muchness tbh, but I see a reason behind it.
Maybe it’s just because “in my days” the boxes had some kind of proper terrain. 2nd, 3rd and 4th had stuff that looked good but looking at the 40k lexicanum from 5th onwards all boxes where “minis only”. Old man brain syndrome I presume. :S
They are going to be doing some different sets of “objective” terrain to go on these apparently. Ruined tanks and that kind of thing to be more interesting
@brennon five templates isn’t more interesting, to me, it’s … bland.
Combat patrol is the only format I enjoyed in 10th, army build would have been a niced edition. However maybe I am being dim but what exactly is in this book? I would love it to be expanded but I don’t see how this book does that? Also why would I need the paywalled garbage that is their app to play combat patrol?
It’s basically the lore primer for 40K from the looks of it, as well as detailing the various Combat Patrols. I don’t think you’ll be paywalled btw – it’s just saying the app will have Combat Patrol support. You’ll still likely be able to get the Core Rules and the Combat Patrol rules as free PDFs
I didn’t realise the combat patrol rules were behind the silly warhammer plus sign in. Still the app isn’t well layed out to support play
Not sure an expensive lore primer is needed on what is your intro mode, what happened to grab and box and you can pay? Beyond share holder dividends
From the Q&A the book is completely unnecessary, rules will be there to download. Which makes the article questionable in terms of it honesty
I agree on army building – you know, the 40K that most of us enjoyed since the beginning. Again, spoon-fed pre-built armies.
Maybe I’m liking this edition less, now that they tell more about it.
Time to hunt down some older edition rules and find people to game with, perhaps.
Yeah the old 40k in 40k minutes format would be ideal.
I am never sure if that is the case of the ideas behind an edition being translated badly or the fact the primer articles just put me off. I was genuinely looking forward to 4th ed AoS and why the time pre-order arrived the primer articles had sucked all desire to pick it up
Hope whatever happens you continue to get games you enjoyed. I just order a few 3d prints of trollet miniatures orks so I will be doing a new ork army after all
Just not a 11th ed GW one
….and just as you get used to 10th Edition (and GW make some changes to the rules to fix their horrid rules that never seem to be proofread or even playtested these days).
GW RELEASE AN ALL NEW RULE SYSTEM (with the rules freshly buggered up as usual).
Got to keep reselling the rules on that 3 year cycle, personally I feel 3 years is way too short. Five years would be more manageable, give time for the errors to be fixed and the players base to actually get some use out of them before whipping the proverbial tablecloth away from the table.
Alas too much catering to the rather vocal competitive/tourney element of the playerbase, while the silent majority who much prefer a more narrative experience are left out as per usual 🙁
I firmly believe GW should do a core rules which caters to casual player
Then do a competitive play document that has the regular updates, the silly terrain set ups, and nonsense that comes with it.
Which may let them extend the core rules cycle. They could still do a big narrative box of models every 3 years.
YIKES, just seem the “leaked” RRP for the 11th Edition box set. How does £180 GBP ($300 USD) strike you? Alas it seems that GW just don’t have a realistic grasp of things these days. For that price little Jimmy wanting it for Xmas isn’t going to happen (only the “Whales” are going to buy at this price). And GW have also locked the Operation Imperator lore book behind a paywall (it’s only available in the launch box set). Considering these are 61 “push-fit” minis, GW are starting to even price the “whales” out from purchasing it 🙁
By “leaked” you mean the G’Wullu Q&A video where they said “it will cost more than leviathan box but less than saturnine”
https://youtu.be/QEJQomLZy68?t=2553