40K: What’s Next For the Grimdark in 2019?
Let’s talk about what books could be coming out next for 40K.
With the release of Genestealer Cults the last of the old Codeces have been remade in 8th Edition (aside from SoB which we know are coming later this year). With that said we have several months that seem wide open for potential releases. We will no doubt get a glimpse at some of those at LVO this week. Lets take a gander at some of the possibilities.
What We Know For Sure
After GSC come’s out we can be pretty sure we know at least three of the books coming out this year. Those are:
- Vigilus 2, coming out relatively soon.
- Sisters of Battle, we don’t have a date for them yet but considering the Beta Codex just came out I’d put these towards the end of the year.
- Chapter Approved 2019, I don’t think its 100% confirmed but barring a radical change we can expect this around the end of the year.
That however gives us something like 8 months in which we don’t really have an idea of what will be coming out, including this summer. Summer is normally a big time for GW and they almost always plan a big release in the summer. Last summer saw Age of Signer 2.0 and the summer before that was 8th Edition. Since last year was an AoS year, a betting person would go with a big 40K release this summer, something more than just a new standard Codex. So could we see this year?
A New Codex: Space Marines
Space Marines are the most popular faction in 40K, by far. Yet currently pretty much everyone agrees that they are not in a good place power or game play wise. It’s not unheard of for Space Marines to get two Codeces in one edition, and as they were the first Codex to come out now would make sense for a new release. Add to that rumors of new Primaris kits that have been floating around and a drip of White Dwarf Space Marine Updates, Crimson Fists, Better Bolters, etc. and you’ve got some solid ground to work on. Consider for instance that the new Bolter Rules are beta rules, so what are they going to be released in? I’d say there is a high chance we will see a new Codex: Space Marines, or possible a Codex: Primaris sooner rather than later.
Codex: Emperor’s Children
We’ve been hearing rumors of an Emperor’s Children release for a while now, and I’d say there are good chances we see one this year. We know Slaanesh is supposed to be coming back in AoS and recently GW has been loving their dual system releases, just consider Maggotkin and Death Guard’s close release. It would make a lot of sense for Emperor’s Children to come out at that same time as a major AoS Slaanesh release. With both Death Guard and Thousand Sons having their own books, I think its only a matter of time before we get both Emperor’s Children and World Eaters, and EC are my bet for this year.
The Next Campaign
Vigilus added a lot of new stuff to the game and helped revitalize things and push the story forward. We know Vigilus 2 is coming out soon and can bet that if that wraps up the Campaign we will see a new Campaign follow on Vigilus’ heels. I’ve heard rumors of something to do with Baal, but I’m not sure what it would focus on. It would be nice to see a Xenos focused campaign next, maybe something with Ynnari. I’m sure Vigilus 2 should have some hints.
Codex: Ynnari
Speaking of the Death Elves, they really need some kind of book. They are a new and Pretty major faction (at least going by event results) but only have a small set of Index rules. These rules have also caused a lot of issues having been errated several times now. As a major part of the 40K universe at this point they really need a rework and a more fleshed out army list. Some Ynarri unique units would be cool and maybe allow for updated versions of the old aspects. Yanari are one of the only big Index factions still without any kind of Codex and I’d say its not unlikely we will see some sort of update for them this year.
Codex: Inquisition/Talons Of The Emperor
Like the Ynnari there is a decent sized chunk of random Imperial stuff still Index only. With Assassins getting some WD support the real left behinds are the Inquisition and the Sisters of Silence. Both are major players in the 41st Millennium, with Guilliman in particular making heavy use of the Sisters of Silence. Giving each their own fleshed out Codex, or making some kind of generic Imperial Operatives/Talons of the Emperor, etc. would make good sense and give GW an easy way to sell some models they already make.
More Primaris Lieutenants
I think we all know it’s inevitable that we’ll see more of these guys popping out this year. I’d expect at least 7 more by next Christmas, probably more. Can we get a Crimson Fists, Iron Hands White Scars and Raven Guard LTs please?
Codex: Lost And The Damned
GW has slowly been adding more Cultists, Abumans and renegade guard into the game. In particular the new Blackstone Fortresses set gave us new Renegade Guard models and Beastmen models, none of which have real 40K rules yet. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a Lost and the Damned list but they are a big part of 40K and seem to be slowly leaking back in, I’m on board with that.
The Surprise Codex!
I think its likely we’ll get at least one real surprise Codex, think back to how Custodes seemed to have come out of nowhere. I’m hoping it’ll be a new Xenoes faction, they need them, but it could be anything. It’s a Surprise after all.
A New Edition
What could make more sense for a big summer release than a new edition of 40k? Yes it does seem pretty quick for a new edition, but recall that 6th Edition came out in 2012 and was followed by 7th in 2014, only 2 years apart. While a new edition at this point would be a little surprising it would not be unprecedented. In addition 8th is already suffering under a bit of bloat and a lot of major changes in a short period of time. Not a major change, but more of something to clean them all up and maybe add a few things (vehicle facings plz thx) would be a good move for the next edition. If we do get a new edition I’d expect it to be a much smaller change that the one from 7th to 8th and one that keeps all the Codexes legal. Think AoS 1.0 to AoS 2.0.
A Real Army Builder App
We can hope, right?
Let us know what new things you expect to see this year, down in the comments!
