With the GW Open going on this weekend in New Mexico 40k players also get the treat of seeing some new Warhammer previews. Some of the previews that Games Workshop has put on in the past have been better received than others, but this one looks like they knocked it out of the park. Not only were their awesome AoS and Necromunda reviews, but there was even an announcement of a stand-alone 40k Codex for the World Eaters! However, the most influential announcement was of the new campaign book series that will begin releasing in what I have to assume will be the wrap up of 9th Edition.
This looks to be a four book series with each one focusing on a specific Chaos character within the 40k universe. The first book is titled ‘Abaddon’, and it looks like GW was true to their word based on the book’s contents shown below. There will be no new 40k rules within this campaign book, but instead their will be rules to play a new type of game called Boarding Actions. Boarding Actions look to be a game focused around the narrative of two forces fighting within a ship. At first, I thought this would mean the games would be scaled down, but GW explicitly says,
This isn’t Kill Team – in Boarding Action games, whole armies will smash through doors and clear corners. The twist? There’s no room for bulky monsters and war machines, nor for burning rubber down tight corridors or taking to the skies in cramped hallways. Instead, infantry and elites take centre-stage, locked in a desperate battle for control. You must adapt your tactics to the close confines of a voidship, and you’ll need to bring your best to survive point-blank firefights and sudden ambushes.
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2022/11/19/warhammer-preview-online-the-first-three-arks-of-omen-books-revealed/
The second book in the Arks of Omen series is titled ‘Angron’, so I will give you all one guess as to when the awesome new Angron model GW previewed will release. The campaign series also looks like it will come with a completely stand alone Codex release for the World Eaters. The new models for the World Eaters release look absolutely amazing. Everything from the new World Eater Cultists, to the Exalted Eightbound, look like they could be center piece models! I am currently painting up a Flesh Tearers army I thought I would be playing in upcoming tournaments, but after seeing these World Eaters…..excellent business plan GW.
Finally, the third book that was announced comes with it’s very own new Chaos character. Vashtorr the Arkifane is described in his preview article as an, “enigmatic daemonic mechanic, a fiendish forge-master who specializes in corrupt machines and insane innovation.” It would be a lot to hope for from GW that this amazing model comes with some new Chaos models in the form of daemon-forge workers or constructs, but we can all dream. It will be interesting to see if Arkifane has anything to do with the Iron Warriors, as they are generally the Chaos Legion that 40k players think of when anything daemonforged is mentioned.
The fourth book gets just a quick mention that it will be Xenos focused. No mention of which Xenos faction, but I will shoot my shot and make a recorded prediction. With Necrons and Orks getting some newer model lines throughout 9th Edition we can safely assume that it will not be either of these factions. While only some of the Aledari kits were updated, I also do not think it will be the Eldar that are focused on in this book. I am going to go with the Tyranids as my guess for a new campaign book with newer sculpted models announced as well. Feel free to point out I am wrong when we find out what this book actually is about!
There is no arguing that this is an exciting time to be a 40k player. With GW as responsive, and active, as ever by providing Balance Dataslates (as well as updates regarding how the Dataslates are working), it is amazing that they continue to release absolutely amazing new models at this pace. If these campaign books are in fact the closing of 9th Edition I cannot wait to see what GW has planned for their next version of 40k.
If you have been inspired by any of the previews GW showed over the weekend FLG sells GW product in their webcart at a discount! It is never too early to get started on that army you will be using for next year’s ITC Season!