Combat in 11th Edition
The Road to 11th Edition continues, and we have a glorious unboxing for you. Just what is inside the Armageddon launch box? Well, before we dive into a bit more detail, here is a quick list:
● 23 brand new push-fit Space Marines
● 38 brand new push-fit Orks
● Conveniently sized Core Rules booklet
● Armageddon: Operation Imperator lore book
● Chapter Approved 2026-27 Mission Deck
● Dominatus Narrative Campaign Deck
● Armageddon datasheet cards
● Armageddon transfer sheet
That’s a lot of Grimdark in one box, and we are excited for it! Not just the models either, the books and decks of cards too. Lets dive in for a closer look.
All Models Revealed
First off, let’s start with the mighty superhumans, the wall against the oncoming horde, the angels of death…the Space Marines!
Captain with Relic Shield
A solid looking Captain and I’ve always loved the Relic Shields. Not a huge amount of say other than it’s a solid model, and special thanks to the tactical rock.
Librarian
Now we’re talking! This Librarian just exudes power. They’ve taken the rune etched armour from the Librarian in Terminator armour and applied it to a normal librarian too. That plus the power pose and, of course, tactical rock. This is a cool model and goes well with the Ork Weird Boy as we’ll see later.
Chaplain with Jump Pack
While we have seen him already is still pretty nice. Scary Chaplain face is always fun, and his armour looks quite detailed, more so than your average marine for sure. Again, special thanks to GW for using the new smoke trail method for flying models, it works really well.
Ancient
You might be thinking, I have a dozen banner carrying ancients already, what’s so special about this one? And you’d be right. However, it is a nice model (with a minor tactical mini rock) and, an important detail here, those banner markings on embossed. That’s not a freehand banner. Apart from the chapter symbol so you can add your own, the rest of it is embossed so you can easily replicate the cool design.
Intercessor Squad
While not the most exciting, it is a new Intercessor kit with more options for the posing and armour on the models. Always nice for those of us that light to highly customise our models.
Vanguard Veterans
The mini tactical rock squad! Isn’t it handy when there is always a small rock for you to push off when you want to take off haha. I’m sorry, these are nice models, especially the swords and the poses. For those who like to strike fast and get into glorious melee combat, these are essential.
Eradicator Squad with Heavy Bolters
There ain’t nothing standing in the way of these guys. Those guns are truly massive and the stances of the models give a proper sense of weight, and these guys are Space Marines! Really nice models. I always enjoy things that can sit on a gunline and destroy anything in sight.
Land Speeder
It’s back! The one and only classic Land Speeder. There was that new bigger variant, but we don’t talk about that. We wanted the old Land Speeder back and we got it! While some might feel it’s a little boxy (and they’re not wrong), that’s part of its charm. The marines inside look quite comfortable firing off their multiple heavy weapons at the approaching green tide. We might have to do something about that…
That was quite a show, but can it match the sheer ferocity of the green tide? Let’s take a look at the Orks.
Warboss
Da biggest and greenest Ork is still looking awesome. We’ve seen this one previous but it doesn’t make him any less mean or green.
Bigboss
I quite like the addition of another level of bosses in the Orks ranks. One, because it makes sense. How else are you going to keep all the Orks going in the right direction, and two, because it gies us an excuse to have more big Ork models out on the board looking cool.
Bannernob
While I don’t think most of the banner is embossed like the Space Marine one (perhaps some of the squares, hard to tell), there is definitely more spirit behind this Ork. He looks ready to face all comers, flag or not flag. In fact he’ll probably whack them with the flag as well.
Painboy
We’ve seen this one before but it’s still one the best models in the box. Such a fun concept and he even has an assistant. No injury is worth getting treated by this Pain Boy, a fact I think many Orks learn too late.
Weirdboy
I look at him again now and I imagine him screaming ‘Waaaaaagh’ with psychic amplification, and only while screaming do all the things on his backpack/harness wiggle and wave about. Also noticed how the rocks are sculpted in such a way that it goes with the librarian above and makes it seem like he’s facing the librarian’s attack head on…and doesn’t care at all.
Boyz
If you ask 10 Orks players what Boys should look like, you’ll get 10 different answers. The Ork visuals have changed so much over the years that everyone likes their own era. These ones are very stocky looking kind of bruisers. I’m imagining one lighting a match and grinning like Nick Nitro from the Command Elite (90s reference). I can definitely see the appeal and the thought that went into them, they certainly look like something you wouldn't want to meet on the battlefield. What do you think?
Gretchin
We shall always love Gretchin, and those spikey hats are just perfect.
Wartrakk
A very very cool bike…trike…thing. It looks proper ramshackle but somehow at the same time sturdy. The driver looks like he’s having a great time and the gunner has got his eyes locked on a target to launch every missile he has at. I want this model just to convert it into so many other things.
Big Mek Dakkarig
…I have no words. It’s massive. It has many rockets and a huge HUGE gun. The whole skeleton of the walker legs look really cool and I especially love that the ammunition and fuel barrels are easily shot from the front. So this thing is gonna go BANG! It’s a hard choice for me between this, the pain boy and the weird boy…but I think this might be my favourite model of the box.
Books and cards
Operation Imperator
A 114-page lore and artwork focused book for everything happening on Armageddon, that’s entirely without rules! Very nice. Very nice indeed. If, like me, you enjoy the lore more than anything else, this is going to be a big selling point for the box as it will never appear anywhere else.
Core Rules
The rule, the whole rules, and nothing but the rules. This is…you guessed it, the rules. But nothing else, and as such it’s in a highly portable small format that should make taking it to games and looking stuff up much easier.
Chapter Approved 26-27 Mission Deck
Given the new force disposition system of picking missions, this is one the most important things in the box. This will help you play all the new thematic missions. There are 25 missions, updated secondary missions, and deployment cards that give 3 choices for each matchup. Oh and several tokens for marking terrain objectives too.
Dominatus Campaign Deck
The new way to play campaigns. Covering things such as alliances, agendas and upgrades, this should cover everything you need to play a full campaign. Presumably in combination with the above chapter approved mission deck. This is one of the things I’m most suspicious about in the new edition, as moving away from crusade as it was to making matched play more thematic and using these cards, while it could work, could also remove some of the more depth and character we had before on a per faction basis.
Armageddon Datasheet Cards
Datasheets are always handy for having your units rules at your fingertips during games. I just wonder how long before they are obsolete because of updated rules or FAQs.
Armageddon Transfer Sheet
All the transfers you might need for Space Marines and Orks.
What’s Next?
So now we know everything right? What more is there to talk about? Well, next is the faction focus posts, finding out how your army is changing in the new edition and showing off some new detachments. I won’t be covering each individual faction, I simply don't know enough about them all to do that, but I will keep you updated in a more general sense with what is going on. We’ve started to get a few other rule tweaks sneaking out, so those are bound to be interesting as well.
