Warhammer 40K: 8th vs 9th – Where Are the Codexes?
As we all wait to get our first peek at the upcoming Marine and Necron codex, let’s take a look back to see how good we had it last time around.
Warhammer 40,000 9th edition is here and the codexes are barreling our way. Sure the entire planet is under quarantine in our houses, but let’s be honest. How much of your total hobby time is actually spent playing? We all spend way more time, hobbying, reseaching, arguing online, and keep up with the latest in our beloved game. But even with that this time around 9th seems a little slow out of the gate.
We decided to go do a little data-mining to see exactly what the rollout of 8th looked like compared to 9th. Take a look.
9th Edition
The game launched officially in July and this is what we have been clamoring for since then:
Indomitus Box – July 11
9th Starter Sets – August 8th
Space Marine & Necron Codexes – October
8th Edition
Now let’s rewind to June of 2017 and look at what GW machinegunned into our eager hands the last time around.
Dark Imperium – June 3rd
Codex Space Marines – July 22
Codex Chaos Space Marines – August 5th
Codex Grey Knights – August 5th
Codex Death Guard – September 9th
Codex Adeptus Mechanicus – September 16th
Codex Astra Militarum – September 30th
Codex Craftworlds – October 21st
Codex Tyranids – November 4th
Codex Blood Angels – December 2nd
Codex Dark Angels – December 9th
2018
Codex Chaos Daemons – January 6th
Codex Adeptus Custodes- January 20th
Codex Thousand Sons – January 27th
Codex T’au Empire – March 10th
Codex Necrons – March 24th
Codex Drukhari – March 31st
Codex Deathwatch – May 5th
Codex Harlequins – May 19th
Codex Imperial Knights – June 2nd
Codex Space Wolves – August 14th
Codex Orks – October 27th
2019
Codex Genestealer Cult – February 2nd
Codex Chaos Knights – July 6th
2020
Codex Adepta Sororitas – January 11th
Thoughts
As you can see there are some numbers to address.
- In the first 3 months of 9th Edition we are going to get 2 new codexes.
- In the first 3 months of 8th Edition we got 6 new codexes.
- In the first 6 months of 8th Edition we got 10 new codexes.
- In the first year of 8th Edition we got 19 new codexes.
A big question is – will 9th edition spin up the codex machinegun and start to rapid fire them all out to us after October? I remember at the time we were a year into 8th people could not believe that GW was kicking out codexes so fast. With hindsight we can see that they were rushing as fast as possible in that first 12 months. The next two years of 8th would see 5 new codexes, and all the supplemental codex redos like Marines (& Supplementals), CSM, campaigns like Vigilus and the oddballs like Apocalypse and Urban Conquest. They wrapped up the last year with Psychic Awakening and Sororitas who made it to the 8th Edition finish line with a few months to spare.
But the bigger question is – is the the new normal? GW kept the last editions of both 40K and Age of Sigmar for about 3 years each. If 3 years is the planned lifespan of an edition, and with each system having roughly 2 dozen factions so far – it looks like rapid fire releases may be the way it has to be to get players their updated edition in enough time to really explore and enjoy them during the lifespan of the edition.
With the unforeseen circumstances slowing down the initial two codexes of 9th for three months, I have a funny feeling things may be about to get crazy in the codex department… real soon. Be ready.
~Do you expect the codexes to start flying after October? Based on the 8th release order who should get them first?
