This week’s Warhammer news hits three very different corners of the hobby.
First, the Adeptus Custodes are becoming dramatically tougher in their new codex. Meanwhile, Grand Narrative 2026 is heading to a collapsing forge world beside the Maelstrom. Finally, Horus Heresy fans are getting unreleased Emperor’s Children lore from an unpublished Black Book. Altogether, it is a strong mix of rules, narrative gaming, and deep setting material.
Adeptus Custodes Become Smaller, Tougher, and Far More Elite
The new Custodes datasheets push the army harder toward the fantasy of individual superhuman champions.
Most notably, standard Custodian Guard now reach Toughness 7 with five Wounds each. However, that durability comes with smaller squads, since Custodian units generally cap at three models before Leaders. Custodian Guard Sodalities also gain Sustained Hits 1 and strong Objective Control with a Vexilia.
Meanwhile, Trajann Valoris remains a brutal centerpiece with powerful melee output and nearby rerolls. His Moment Shackle can add attacks when something absolutely needs removing.
The Telemon Heavy Dreadnought looks equally nasty, combining vicious weapons with Toughness 11 and fourteen Wounds. Moreover, strong saves and Guardian Eternal should make it extremely difficult to shift. Martial Ka’tah also returns in expanded form, with its updated rules being revealed separately.
Ferrum’s Wake Sets the Stage for Grand Narrative 2026
Grand Narrative 2026 takes players to Ferrum’s Wake, a forge world breaking apart politically, spiritually, and physically. Moreover, the planet offers an unusually wide range of battlefields. Frozen industrial wastes dominate the poles, while the equator is packed with manufactoria and corrupted machinery. Elsewhere, armies can fight through shattered hives, ash deserts, transit ruins, lethal jungles, underhives, and buried Mechanicus infrastructure.
Consequently, it sounds built for varied tables rather than one repeated industrial board. The world is leaderless, with loyalists, rebels, militias, and cults fighting over its future. Meanwhile, the Maelstrom draws closer, making the entire situation feel increasingly doomed. The event runs in Atlanta from November 20 through November 23, with Warhammer 40,000 and Kill Team available. A separate Warhammer Open also runs that weekend for players wanting tournament play.
Lost Emperor’s Children Lore Finally Emerges
The final piece of Warhammer news is especially interesting for longtime Horus Heresy readers. Games Workshop is releasing material intended for an unpublished Black Book about the Emperor’s Children and Dark Mechanicum. Specifically, “The Pursuit of Perfection” examines how the III Legion changed as the Heresy progressed. Moreover, related material later appeared in the Rise of the Dark Mechanicum supplement for Legions Imperialis. The release also closes the current Pages from the Black Books series. For veterans who loved Forge World’s campaign books, this is exactly the kind of lost material worth preserving.
Overall, this week’s Warhammer news offers something for several kinds of players. Custodes fans get major rules changes, narrative gamers get a new campaign world, and Heresy readers get recovered lore.
