Games Workshop: Warhammer 40K - Dark Imperium Boxed Set Inbound - Primaris Space Marines and Death Guard Factions

Games Workshop: June 3rd – mark your calendars folks, because that’s the day you’ll be able to pre-order your copy of the new edition of Warhammer 40,000. You’ll then be among the first to get your hands on it come release day on June 17th.

Incredible stuff! Here in the Warhammer Community Team, we think that the models alone make this the best Warhammer 40,000 box set ever made. Discussion has already begun about who’s buying two sets in order to bulk out their forces and, as is a time-honoured tradition, there are plenty of pledges of swapsies as the team vie to gain either more Space Marines or Death Guard.

And yet, Dark Imperium is really just the beginning. The launch lineup for the new edition of Warhammer 40,000 is the most extensive we’ve had for any game we’ve ever released. So brace yourself, and let’s dive on in! This is an awesome box set. Inside, you get two armies of brand new miniatures, the full hardback Warhammer 40,000 book, dice and range rulers. Even the outside is covered in gorgeous artwork, and the sight of all those goodies as you open the box for the first time is very satisfying… but a bit more on that later…  

Fresh from the forges of Mars, and ready to bleed in defence of the Imperium, the Primaris Space Marines have come tooled for war. The bolt rifle-wielding Intercessors are the mainstay of the force. Alongside them march plasma-toting Hellblasters, providing deadly fire-support. And dropping in from orbit are Inceptors with the short range fury of their twin assault bolters.

Leading these new warriors are the champions of the Primaris Space Marines: the inspiring presence of the Lieutenants, the banner-carrying Ancients, and the commander of the force, a Captain clad in new Gravis armour. The Death Guard are equally impressive. First up, a unit of Plague Marines. The archetypal unit of the XIV Legion swollen with the raw power of decay, these form of the core of any Death Guard force. Nurgle fans will also be pleased to see a shambling plague host represented by the repugnant and varied Poxwalkers, each draped in scraps of clothing from their former lives. There is a new vehicle on offer too – the Foetid Bloat-drone, a floating Daemon Engine that hunts its prey with a malign intelligence.

Rounding off the Death Guard are their own leaders, including a huge new Lord of Contagion, clad in warped Cataphractii Terminator plate and wielding one of the most brutal looking axes we’ve ever seen. Alongside him is the Noxious Blightbringer, a dark reflection of the noble Legion banner bearers of old, who carries a cursed plague bell that tolls with the death knell of his victims. Last but not least is the Malignant Plaguecaster – one of the pestilent sorcerers of this pox-ridden Legion.

A complete set of datasheets to field both these Death Guard and Primaris Space Marines armies are included in two separate booklets inside the box. You’ll also find a host of new background information on the two forces and on the Plague Wars being fought in Ultramar.

And of course, there’s the new Warhammer 40,000 book itself. This 280-page, hardback tome is included in the Dark Imperium box and is also available separately. This book is your guide to the new edition and contains an extensive exploration of the Warhammer 40,000 setting. This includes some pretty major advancements in the story for every faction in the galaxy, not least of which are the arrival of the Great Rift, the rise of Chaos, and the launching of the Indomitus Crusade.

And rules. Lots of rules. All the rules you need to wage the bloodiest of wars in the far future. Alongside the core rules for the game, there are missions, full guidelines for the 3 ways to play (open, narrative and matched) and advanced rules to represent the myriad war zones of the far future, including all the rules you need to play games of Cities of Death, Planetstrike, Stronghold Assault and Death from the Skies.

So there you have it – the new edition of Warhammer 40,000 is so very nearly here. The release date is set. The galaxy is burning. All that remains is for you decide if you’re going to stand against the darkness or rain fire on what remains of the galaxy’s crumbling realms…

Just received my newsletter and social media notice and Wayland Games and Element Games will be taking discounted pre-orders of the new Warhammer 40K - Dark Imperium boxed set and rules starting from June 3rd.