Hello all, Phat J here with my ruminations on a new edition of Warhammer 40K and what I’m most excited about as we begin this new journey.
Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve sat down and written anything. I was fortunate enough to purchase a home with the money I make on purchase referrals from these articles and the move has been hectic, to say the least. But with 11th edition Warhammer 40K literally just a day away from release I just HAD to sit down and put my thoughts to keyboard. It’s a big deal! I’ve been a part of this community for around 30 years, and I’ve been a part of every 40K edition since 3rd. I’ve seen things you wouldn’t believe, punk. Land Speeders on fire off the shoulder of Catachan. I watched Las-Beams glitter in the dark near the Cadian Gate. All those moments will be lost to time, like tears in the rain. Time to die (play 11th).
Look, I’ve not been the most faithful 40K player over the past several editions. I can confidently say that the last time I was consistent was 7th edition. I have, however, kept up with the game through the last three editions, collecting armies and playing the occasional game. I even went to the 2025 Bay Area Open to try and re-kindle my love for competitive play. I got curb stomped over three games and bailed on the second day of play, so basically par for the course for my competitive 40K career. But I like the excitement a new edition brings! There’s hope. This one won’t be like the last one. Competitive 40k 10th edition basically turned into a bland table of L-shaped buildings and circular neoprene pieces with various brandings. It honestly was as close to checkers as the game has ever been. Some people loved 10th edition. In San Diego the local league was bursting at the seams and as far as I can tell tournaments had some of the highest attendance numbers ever. People LIKE the game. It’s in a good place. It just wasn’t for me. But I will be honest, there are a handful of changes coming to 40K 11th edition that have me dusting off those old Grey Knight Terminators.
1.Detachments, Detachment Points, and Missions OH MY
I think the single most exciting aspect of 11th edition is the ability to tailor your army around multiple detachments and to have your game objectives be based on what those detachments would realistically be setting out to do. It’s thematic and it’s how I remember playing the game back in 3rd and 4th edition. I would literally show up to a hobby store with my Imperial Guard army, find an opponent, and play the game how I thought my army would realistically fight the battle. I had a lot of infantry with a smattering or Leman Russ tanks, so I would routinely find myself holding objectives and fighting my opponent at range. It’s was not really realistic for my Guard army to be rushing across the board to try and hold objectives in my opponents control area.
2. Secondary Missions
One of the more frustrating aspects of 10th edition 40K was the secondary mission structure. I can’t tell you the number of times I would pull secondary missions that were completely un-usable and I would either have to discard it for another card or just hope that I could use it later on, not being able to draw additional cards until I was able to do so. Now, in 11th, you can hold onto all secondary mission cards and use them as needed.
3. More Dynamic Movement
I am a HUGE fan of the changes to how charges work now. Just roll your dice and anything in range is chargeable. This should speed up the game considerably as you won’t have to agonize over which target is more realistic to roll on. Engagement range is now 2″, which as most of my readers will know, goes a LONG way in a pinch. Who’s base to base with who, WHO CARES. It’s 2″ you dolt. Overrun Fight also let’s units engaged in combat ‘pile into’ another enemy unit if their original target is wiped out before they can swing in melee. Honestly its just so much more fluid and realistic to me.
4. Overwatch TONED Down
There was nothing worse than Overwatch in 10th edition 40K. It was a gotcha moment that was good to pull in all aspects of movement, including the charge phase. It lengthened that game with players agonizing over who could or could not overwatch and when it would be sprung. Now, it just happens at the end of the opponents movement phase and you cannot re-roll those hits. I’m very much for this change, and I play with a Land Raider Redeemer!
5. Let’s Talk about Points
One of my biggest gripes with previous editions was the flat point cost for units despite their wargear options. Why would I NOT take the best wargear options when they literally cost the same amount of points if I didn’t take them? I know that we are not going back to the days of paying for a power sword upgrade but at the very least we will be seeing powerful weapon options on vehicles getting differing point costs. It also sounds like the more of the same unit you take the more expensive it will be, an effort to stop some of the outrageous spamming we see in competitive 40K (Defilers..cough..cough..).
6. New Models!
Of course when we have a new edition that means that all armies will be getting a refreshed Codex, which means we will see new sculpts of existing models and even entirely new units. It’s good for the game and keeps the Grognards excited! We’ve already seen what the Armageddon boxed set is coming with, and if that is any indicator of what we can expect to see with other armies, it’s going to be a GREAT three years.
We are so close now, and I feel a sense of renewed hope that I can finally rekindle my love for a game that has meant so much to me in various times of my life. The goal is to get out to some of my local gaming stores and start rolling dice as soon as I can. Hopefully even attend a few local tournaments.
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