Warhammer 40,000's major new edition is out next month

Warhammer 40,000’s long-awaited eighth edition finally has a release date.

After months of eking out information about the upcoming reboot of the sci-fi miniatures universe, Games Workshop has announced that the Dark Imperium starter box will hit shelves on June 17th.

Previously described as a ‘fresh start’ for the 30-year-old series, 40,000 is returning with revised rules that favour shorter match lengths and support open, narrative and matched play, following the lead of its fantasy sibling, Warhammer: Age of Sigmar.

The Dark Imperium set comes with the new Primaris Space Marines, which are more powerful than previous incarnations of the iconic armoured warriors and include four squads of Intercessors, Hellblasters and Inceptors, plus the opposing Death Guard army, with decayed Plague Marine troops, the disease-spreading Poxwalkers and a frankly gross vehicle unit in the form of a Foetid Bloat-drone. Both factions come with multiple leaders and the datasheets needed to play.

Games Workshop has confirmed that existing Warhammer 40,000 armies can be used with the eighth edition ruleset, with a primer for the core rules available for free from June 17th. To use existing troops, five supplemental Index volumes have been announced, dividing rules between Imperium, Chaos and xenos units; Ork and Tyranid forces will receive individual codex releases in the future.

The 280-page book included in the starter box (which will also be sold by itself) adds advanced rules sections, guidelines for the three different gameplay modes, a selection of missions and over 100 pages of lore explaining the changes to the universe.

The first Warhammer 40,000 novel set in the new timeline, also called Dark Imperium, has also been revealed, authored by Guy Haley.

There's no word on the price of the Dark Imperium starter box just yet, but with pre-orders opening next Saturday, June 3rd, all should be revealed soon.

UPDATE: Fan blog Salty Wargaming is reporting that the starter box will cost £95 in the UK, with the standalone rulebook at £35, but we have had no official confirmation of this. We will update the story as necessary.