Games Workshop is putting the real weight behind Warhammer 40,000's 11th edition launch by opening preorders for four faction Battalion boxes this Saturday, 25 April. Each one gathers a playable core army into a single box at around 25 to 30 per cent off buying the sprues individually, and they're pitched squarely at players spinning up a new army for the new edition in June.
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Find events near youThe four factions getting Battalions are Astra Militarum, Adepta Sororitas, Deathwatch and Orks. The Guard bundle is the most eye-catching of the lot at £160, packing the brand-new Hippogriff AFVs and Centaur RSV before those kits get solo releases, plus a Rogal Dorn battle tank and 10 Cadian Shock Troops to ride in them. The Orks get £100 of Speed Freak mayhem (six Deffkoptas, a Deffkilla Wartrike and a Rukkatrukk Squigbuggy). Sisters and Deathwatch both land at £100 too, built around three Paragon Warsuits and a Corvus Blackstar respectively.
The timing is deliberate. Armageddon itself, the two-player starter set that kicks off 11th edition with Blood Angels defending the planet from Wazdakka Gutsmek's Ork vanguard, has dominated Warhammer Community reveals for a month. These Battalions are the follow-up move: take what you learned from the starter, pick a side, and expand into a playable army without cherry-picking kits.
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Set up your group for freeBoxes hit shop shelves on Saturday 9 May, a fortnight after preorder. If 11th edition is your on-ramp into 40K, Battalions have historically been the cleanest way in. Your local Warhammer store or indie will likely run learn-to-play sessions around launch, so it's worth ringing ahead to book a slot. Running your own 40K meet-up? List it on Backseat Gamer so the lapsed Guard player down the road can find the table.
Sources: Warhammer Community | ICv2 | Spikey Bits
