What We Know So Far: The Latest from Games Workshop This Spring

By Carter Estes  ·  April 10, 2026

If you blinked sometime in the last month, you missed a lot. Games Workshop just dropped the biggest 40K news cycle we've had in years, and I believe most hobbyists are still catching up to what it actually means for the table. So here's the shortlist, unvarnished, with a little bit of Texas-flavored commentary mixed in.

11th Edition Is Coming — And It's Coming Fast

Let's start with the headline: Warhammer 40,000 11th Edition was officially announced at AdeptiCon 2026, and the new edition is landing this summer. No more rumor-milling, no more cryptic teaser videos — GW put it on stage and said the quiet part loud. The edition drops with the Armageddon: The Return of Yarrick launch box, and they're calling it the biggest 40K launch set they've ever produced.

That's not marketing fluff. I've seen the leaked sprue counts, and the box is a monster.

Armageddon: Blood Angels vs. Orks, and Yarrick Is Back

The launch box pits Blood Angels against Orks on Armageddon — a planet that has been getting stomped on by xenos for the better part of forty years of lore. Commissar Yarrick, the one-eyed, claw-handed patriarch of grimdark willpower, sends out the distress call. Space Marines answer. Things go sideways. You know the drill.

The big hobby story inside the box is twofold. First, Yarrick is back with a new plastic sculpt that finally does him justice — the old metal mini has been showing its age for about fifteen years now. Second, and this is the one I keep circling back to: Wazdakka Gutsmek is getting his first official plastic miniature. Ever. For a character who has been in the Ork codex since I was in middle school, that's a big deal. He's dropping straight into the Armageddon storyline and he's bringing his bike.

If you play Orks, the entire narrative just tilted in your direction.

Custodes Go Full Plastic

In the shadow of the 11th edition reveal, GW also confirmed that the Legio Custodes range is going fully plastic. The old resin/metal hybrid kits are being retired and replaced with new plastic sculpts alongside a rules refresh. This is one of those announcements that feels small until you remember how expensive and brittle the old Forge World Custodes kits were. Full plastic means lower price points, better poseability, and a whole lot more of them on the table.

I run Thousand Sons primarily, so the Custodes aren't my fight — but I've got a couple of regulars at the shop who have been waiting on this news for three editions. Their day has arrived.

What This Means for Your Army

Here's the honest read: if you're starting a new 40K army right now, wait on the big purchases until 11th edition lands. That's not a knock on 10th — 10th was a solid edition and we had some of the best tournament games I've ever seen run through this shop during its run. But with points, detachments, and the whole force organization chart getting a refresh, you don't want to be the person who dropped a grand on a meta list three weeks before the meta reset.

What you can do right now:

• Build and paint what you already own. Models don't go obsolete — rules do. Any mini you paint this month is a mini that's ready to hit the table on day one of 11th.
• Stock up on hobby supplies. Paints, brushes, clippers, basing materials — none of that is changing. And new editions drive a run on brushes at every FLGS within two weeks of launch. Ask me how I know.
• Pre-order the Armageddon box early. GW has been pretty clear that the launch box is going to be allocation-constrained. Limited quantities, first-come-first-served. We'll have pre-orders open at The Game Station as soon as the window opens — come talk to us in the shop or drop a message through the site.

My Actual Take

I'm cautiously optimistic. GW has done enough edition transitions now that they generally know what they're doing, and the messaging around 11th — cleaner detachment rules, tightened points, a re-centered narrative focus on classic 40K planets like Armageddon — reads like a company that is learning from its mistakes. I'm not ready to call it a win until I actually get games in. But I believe this is the strongest setup to a new edition we've seen since 8th.

If you want to talk shop about army plans, the new box, or just commiserate about the backlog of half-painted sprues every hobbyist on earth is staring down right now, come by The Game Station. We run Warhammer nights every Tuesday and Thursday, and we'll have the new edition up and running in-store within a week of launch.

Until then: pick up a brush, thin your paints, and don't spend the rent money on a launch box until you know what you're building.

For the Emperor. (And the other guys too. I guess.)