Another year, another Warhammer Day. Where does the time go? To celebrate, Games Workshop ran a stream teasing some new units, refreshed game systems, more battleforces, and possibly the weirdest Kill Team I’ve ever seen. I’ve known about it for an hour and am already obsessed.
Because there’s a lot to go over, I’ve rounded up the major headlines from Warhammer Day so that you can see everything that happened at a glance. Want to skip ahead to the game system that interests you most? Hit the nav bar along the top of your screen (or on the sidebar if you’re reading from desktop) to jump to that section.
Ratlings, snacks, & a faithful pooch for Kill Team
- We’re getting a space hobbit Kill Team
- Orks are back with massive rocket-fuelled hammers
It may feel as if the latest edition has only just dropped and is thus still flavor of the month (Kill Team: Hivestorm might be the best starter set Warhammer has made, if you ask me), but we’ve already got our first glimpse at the next expansion. ‘Brutal and Cunning’ pits a hobbit-esque Ratling sniper team with a love for tea against melee-focused Orks who have gone overboard on ways to mess foes up. The result is a little more lighthearted than we may be used to, particularly after the grim units of Bheta-Decima and Kill Team: Salvation. A Ratling wielding the unit’s biggest sniper rifle is using his power pack to heat up a grilled cheese sandwich along with a cup of tea, for example. There’s also a faithful hound who’s there to warn his masters when danger is near.
Considering the Orks included in this pack, that ‘danger’ wants to get very near indeed. These units hit proper ‘ard thanks to weapons like hammers with rockets attached. It’s definitely a different style of play to the Kommandos we got in the last Kill Team: Starter Set, so it doesn’t feel as if we’re retreading old ground here.
It’s the same with the included scenery. Bunker-style terrain is featured in this box, and the missions include bunker defence where one side has to hold off the foe. This still takes place in the Volkus Kill Zone, of course, so it goes nicely with any Hivestorm terrain you have.
As a fun bonus, you also get a mission for this year’s 40K seasonal miniature, which shows some Ratlings getting into the Thanksgiving spirit by digging into a crate of sausages, a full roast chicken, pies, and booze. Lovely.
Warhammer Underworlds gets a facelift & easier rules
- The game is getting a new, more accessible edition
- Card illustrations are out, photography is in
Rather than giving us a new season alone, we’re getting a whole other edition for warhammer’s attempt to crack the best board games market. This takes us to a kingdom overrun by Skaven (which we first saw in Skaventide), more specifically a mine under the city of Embergard. It’s classic Underworlds stuff, basically.
The biggest takeaway is a more accessible ruleset described as a total reset, and the “most balanced [the game has] ever been.” While I’m all for this kind of streamlining, particularly the refined board that gets you into the action much faster, I’m not so keen on the change in art style. The hand-painted illustrations seen on cards of the old edition are gone, replaced by model photography seen in pretty much all other Games Workshop products. While this does look very stylish, and I don’t hate it, I’d say it syphons away some personality – now Underworlds looks just like Age of Sigmar or Warcry. Which makes sense considering they’re set in the same world, but still feels like a shame.
Is this a cost-cutting decision or a creative pivot to bring it in line with other games? I’m not sure, but if it is the former, I suppose that makes sense. Artwork of the kind we used to get must be expensive, and Underworlds probably isn’t the biggest money-spinner, so I’d understand Games Workshop wanting to reduce overheads by using photos of the models they’ve spent ages painting anyway.
Still, it’s not all grumbling from me. The warbands are now more codified than before with very distinct labels that provide a solid idea of what each warband can ‘do’ at a glance. It sounds as if we can now use any of the new decks with any warband too, which will make Underworlds a very flexible game.
The first playable Dark Mechanicum faction
- First playable Dark Mechnicum faction
- Few details, but we got our first look at a model
Alongside a better look at the Mechanicum battle group for Legions Imperialis that has been long-rumored, fans have finally gotten the Dark Mechanicum faction they always wanted… sort of. This is part of the pint-sized Legions Imperialis, and while there wasn’t much to see just yet, we did get a good look at some gnarly Chaos robots we can take to war.
It sounds as if we might be getting a battleforce for the Dark Mechanicum soon if the stream is anything to go by, so hopefully we’ll get more info soon.
Battleforces galore & an Emperor’s Children tease
- Emperor’s Children for 2025
- New Holiday Battleforces
There wasn’t a lot of headline-grabbing stuff announced for either Warhammer 40K or Age of Sigmar, but we did get a look at the new ‘Slaves to Darkness’ Battletome (along with a couple of new sorcerer models and another Darkoath Spearhead). Games Workshop offered the lowdown on some limited Battleforce boxes too. As always, these are pitched as a gift for yourself or others to dig into over the Holiday season. Necrons, Tau, Imperial Knights, Adeptus Sororitas, and Dark Angels were shown off for 40K, while Cities of Sigmar, Nurgle, Ironjawz, and Flesh Eater Courts filled the roster for Age of Sigmar.
However, fans may be most interested in the stinger we got for the end of the stream – the logo for the Emperor’s Children, a notoriously hedonistic Chaos Space Marine faction for Warhammer 40,000. This was followed by a ‘coming 2025,’ so I suspect this means we can expect Noise Marines rocking out with their guitar guns before next year is finished…
Get Ghal Maraz for your shelf, as a treat
- No Old World info, but there was merch
- Replica of the iconic Warhammer itself
Warhammer merch is bringing us the most iconic, well, Warhammer. The weapon of Sigmar that the entire fantasy game system was named after has been recreated by the Warhammer Armoury as a full size collectible, for display or use in cosplay.
Besides being a gorgeous recreation with that leather-wrapped haft and intricate detailing on the ‘metal’ (though don’t worry, it’s actually a lightweight foam so won’t weight as much as a small motorbike), it sounds as if this was a fun design challenge in that it had to be resized from its proportions as a miniature – when scaled up, it’d be totally unwieldy.
We don’t have a price yet, but I’d be surprised if it was anywhere south of $150 /£120 due to the size and premium finish. Gifts for gamers don’t always come cheap, I suppose.
We’ve apparently got more announcements coming up in November, so while you wait, why not try the best card games and best tabletop RPGs?