If you’re one of the countless people who started their 40k journeys with 10th Edition, the past couple months have been rife with anticipation and anxiety regarding the transition to 11th. It’s set to be a sizable shift, and relearning so much of an already-complicated game isn’t exactly the most exciting prospect, especially if you’re someone with a busy life outside of the hobby. That being said, this is also a time of great excitement, with the shakeup to so many of the game’s core systems sure to lead to fresh gameplay, and hopefully more balanced games. As someone who’s personally been playing since 4th Edition, this will be my seventh edition changeover, though in truth it’s probably the one I’ve been most excited for in a long time. 10th managed to be a fantastic time to cut my teeth in competitive 40k after a stint playing Age of Sigmar, and 11th manages to keep true to a lot of its best selling points, while innovating on a few key returning concepts. That’s why today, I want to help guide you through surviving your very first edition change, and some of the most vital things to know about Warhammer 40k 11th Edition.
Via TaleofPainters
First and foremost, I’ll start by saying I’ve played a few test games using what we know of 11th’s ruleset, in order to put theory into practice as far as the new system goes. The first big takeaway is one that arrives with a sense of relief: 11th is more similar to 10th than it is different. As a bit of historical perspective, 40k has trended towards ‘pairs’ of editions, with even releases (4th, 6th, 8th, 10th) being so-called ‘Index Editions’, where the entire game is torn up and remade, while odd editions expound upon the concepts of the previous, refining it and adding welcome complexity. 11th follows in this grand tradition, taking much of what 10th succeeded at, and adding back a few things from previous iterations of 40k for narrative spice (and competitive balance). To that end, the biggest thing you’ll notice is how the board’s appearance has changed. 40k players have used ‘footprints’, rectangles of cloth or plastic which denote the actual area of terrain features, for over a decade at this point, but they’ve never really been official outside of tournament matched play; more often than not, you’d have new players just grab what they had around and create a roughly-equivalent board. Growing up, board game boxes were a staple of my battlefields, but all that’s changing in 11th—officially, this time.
Via Grimhammer Tactics
That’s because terrain is now canonically provided footprints, known as ‘Terrain Areas’, with objectives being specific blocks of terrain around the battlefield. From a thematic perspective, this does make some sense: Your troops are securing vital ruins, or scouring for relics, rather than standing on nebulous circular disks. Still, to play 11th, you’re absolutely going to need a set of Terrain Areas, supplied both officially by Games Workshop and/or via third parties. These areas are doubly relevant with the change to Primary, as 11th also re-introduces something we haven’t had in matched play for some time, being asymmetric missions. No longer are both a horde of bellowing greenskins and the emperor’s finest set to accomplish the very same goals on the battlefield, as depending on your choice of Detachment(s), your options for Primary are pulled from a matchup chart compared to that of your opponent. If they yearn to spill blood and satiate Khorne, while you’re a crack squad of recon-oriented Guardsmen, that story plays out in gameplay as well as narratively, no matter if you’re at the top tables of a Grand Tournament or playing in a garage. 11th is pushing hard for a more unified gameplay experience between the most competitive-minded and casual newcomer. This makes it easier for them to balance, sure, but also means anyone familiar with 40k can watch a streamed game and fully understand what’s going on.
Via Frontline Gaming
The specific rules of your army, thankfully, aren’t changing radically between Editions. While yes, the core rules shifting around a bit will impact the playability of certain units/Detachments (and we have new points on the way soon), the core identity of your army is steadfast. That 10th Ed Codex is going to be playable until you receive a new one sometime in the next 3 years. One thing to consider is how listbuilding will change, though, with the advent of Detachment Points (DP). Every single Detachment—including 1-5 new ones received by every army—has an associated DP cost, and in a standard 2,000pt game you’ll be able to spend up to 3 DP while building your army. This allows for some killer combinations, and far greater flexibility in how your models operate on the table, though crucially at <2,000pts, the number of available DP drops to 2. While it’s by no means the end-all-be-all, pretty much since 9th 40k has been solely balanced around that 2,000pt mark, so your mileage may vary at lower point totals.
Via Reddit
One other feature of 11th is the return of point costs, albeit not entirely. For the vast majority of units, they remain with free wargear, as you’ve grown used to in 10th, but for things like tanks and key squads, some weapons might incur a cost of ~10pts on top of the normal unit’s price tag. This does mean many of these options are likely getting cheaper though, making an army feel more diverse by virtue of loadouts serving different roles for their points! We won’t know until the formal Manufactorum Field Manual drops, but between repeatable Enhancements (called Upgrades) and these theoretical price differences on weapons, deciding between a unit’s loadout is far less arbitrary in 11th Edition.
The biggest thing to note about specific units when it comes to the changing of the guard, as far as a 40k Edition is concerned, is that a new Edition means Games Workshop is going to take some chances on units that saw little play in 10th. We saw this with the changes made to Aircraft (something I covered last week), but really that goes for everything overlooked. Something comically bad in 10th might rise to the top slots in 11th, you just never know.
The most important facet of adapting to 11th Edition however, is going to be done spending time with your friends & local community, getting games in. It’s impossible to know without testing how things might feel, or play, and judging the new rules solely on the page does both players & the designers a disservice. Everyone is going to be re-learning this game we all adore, and that means growing pains with regards to ‘gotcha’s and rules quirks; treat the opening couple of months as a wild west, and just test…well, everything! It’s a wild ride to experience 40k in its nascent state at the start of a ruleset, and sure some things might be a bit on the broken side, but everyone’s having fun with new toys. Whether that comes in the form of updated Detachments, new rules, or a change in mission priorities, give yourself room to experiment.
Via Reddit
If I had to break down 11th’s identity compared to 10th, it would be that of a shift towards player agency. More choices to be made in how you select things like Detachments, wargear, and missions, and a widening of the tools designers have to balance around the game’s most problematic rules. If you know 10th well, I actually think you’re set up to succeed in 11th, because much of its bedrock is shaped by taking the systems of the previous Edition, and adding more. If you can wrap your head around that ‘more’—especially in terms of the new map layouts—you’re sure to have a great time. Just be ready for more things to hit on 4s & 5s, with that cover change, and don’t be afraid to stick your Leaders in big squads. Happy adapting!
11th drops officially later this month. What are you looking forward to in the new Edition? Are there any units you hope see improvement with the point refresh? What do you want to see changed about the new ruleset? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
