All good things come to an end, isn’t that the saying? Love it or hate it, the current edition of Warhammer 40,000 will inevitably come to an end. Will you bear it with a stiff upper lip, or will you be creating YouTube videos burning your army? Only time will tell!
This winter we will see the release of the final codices from the Warhammer 40,000 setting, the Astra Militarum and the new faction specific book the World Eaters (featuring a VERY angry Primarch release). It’s been a hell of a journey. Released in the summer of 2020, 9th edition fixed a lot of issues from the reboot that was 8th edition 40k. This edition saw MAJOR changes within Games Workshop themselves to focus on a competitive rule set and release consistent FAQ, Errata, and point changes via Chapter Approved to help fix imbalances caused by codex creep. However, not everything has been peaches and creams over in the 40k Universe. This edition saw offensive output hit terrifyingly new levels with games being decided on the first turn if proper terrain placement was not utilized. So much so that the company that released the codices themselves had to step in month after month and tone down their own rules. With each new codex the community had to adapt to new abilities and ways to negate their defenses, which lead to a fair amount of burnout as players saw their armies being invalidated with each reactionary update from the Warhammer Community team. Things have come to a head recently, with the new faction release Leagues of Votann. Games Workshop was forced to update point costs and change a core rule mechanic before the army was even released. Obviously, things need to change in a big way. But when would we be looking at a new edition release and what would it look like? Lets take a look at some clues as to when and what we should be expecting.
The When
The edition release pattern has been fairly consistent since 7th edition. New editions are released over the summer and last for three years. 9th edition was released the summer of 2020, which puts us just about at the tail end of the three year release window for the edition. The fact that we will see the last codex releases this Winter also confirms that yes, we will more than likely see the release of 10th edition Warhammer 40,000 this summer 2023. I would put money on a campaign that runs through the Spring that ends with a huge reveal (Loyalist Primarch???) that leads into the new edition release.
The What
So what will we likely see changed with the new edition? It’s really hard to tell at this point. I think one thing we know for sure is that they will be limiting command points, this we already know via the latest Chapter Approved. Stratagems have become an issue, with too many combinations leading to devastating Alpha Strikes. Games Workshop curtailed this by giving a fixed amount to start with, and charging for pre-game things like Warlord Traits and Relics. I would say its safe to assume there will be more ‘general’ stratagems added to the new rule book. I mean its always possible that Games Workshop will do away with the faction specific ones completely, but to invalidate all the codices at once and release new indexes? I’m not 100% sold on that rumor. One thing that I HOPE to see is a return to some of the things we lost with the 8th edition reboot. I really like vehicle facings, as it makes you think more about model placement than the current abstract can see and fire 360 degrees for all weapons rules we have now. I would also like to see a return to true line of sight for cover purposes. The current rules of having a model with its base touching the outside corner of a building and counting as being in cover is abuse-able and while I do get the reason for it given the over powered nature of the game, it takes away part of the realism that I miss from previous editions.
So, what are your thoughts on this? Will a new edition of the game be released this summer? If so what would you like to see changed or stay the same? Let us know in the comments!
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