AdeptiCon is the biggest source of Warhammer reveals each year, so it's not surprising that 2024's show was rammed to the gills with announcements. Big changes for Age of Sigmar, the return of (some) old foes in Warhammer 40K, new Kill Team warbands with a very snazzy fashion sense, and plenty more were unveiled to get fans buzzed about the year ahead.
Because publisher Games Workshop dropped a lot of info over its hour-long AdeptiCon stream, I've broken it all down here so that you can quickly catch up on everything new for Warhammer at a glance - no matter which of its games you like best.
Buckle up – some of the best board games and wargames are about to get spicier.
Age of Sigmar
- New edition of the game due summer '24
- The Skaven have returned
- A quicker, more accessible game type is on the way
Warhammer's fantasy wargame enjoyed the juiciest set of reveals at AdeptiCon 2024. Actually, it wasn't even close. Alongside a brand-new edition that represents the biggest overhaul since Age of Sigmar launched in 2015, it was confirmed that Skaven are coming back with a vengeance... and some wonderfully kooky weapons of war that are just as likely to blow up as they are hurt the foe.
A new and more accessible game mode was also unveiled, giving Age of Sigmar (AoS) an equivalent to Warhammer 40K's Combat Patrol.
New edition & the return of Skaven
Folks have suspected that a new Age of Sigmar edition was coming for a while now, and that theory proved accurate. The game's getting an overhaul in summer 2024, and Games Workshop says that this will be the most significant revision AoS has ever had. There aren't many details on what those changes are yet, but it sounds like accessibility without losing depth is top of the agenda.
Fans finally got what they've been clamoring for, too – a comeback from the Skaven ratmen. This faction was revealed as one of the armies launching the new edition, and that means they'll show up in starter sets and a potential launch box (Games Workshop normally makes one to 'see in' a new version of its games).
Going up against these monsters will be the knightly Stormcast Eternals (who can be revived after death, if you didn't already know). They'll be battling alongside their most experienced veterans, the brand-new Reclusian Stormcast. These warriors tie into the 'Sigmar lied' plot hook that Games Workshop's been teasing for a little while, largely because Stormcast aren't immortal as was promised – with each resurrection, they lose part of their soul until nothing is left. And as it happens, Reclusian Stormcast are on their last life…
While I'm generally more excited about the Skaven and a more approachable AoS in general, this plot twist makes the Stormcast much more compelling in my book. What were fairly stoic warrior-heroes are now tinged with tragedy, adding depth to them.
New Spearhead game mode is much quicker
Besides the new edition, AdeptiCon also revealed that Age of Sigmar would be getting a leaner and more beginner-friendly match type - if you don't have enough time for Warhammer Age of Sigmar, this new game mode is for you. Called 'Spearhead,' it's a streamlined version with a much shorter run-time. Indeed, sessions should apparently take an hour or less.
Rather than faffing with army composition or points costs, this will also use pre-balanced armies found in Spearhead boxsets. Apparently, every faction will get one.
Seeing as AoS can be a bit dense, having a more straightforward way to play is no bad thing. Plus, Spearhead means we don't need to set aside an afternoon or whole day to play - you can get through a couple of matches in as many hours.
A metal-as-hell champion
Even though Age of Sigmar's current edition is drawing to a close, the ongoing Dawnbringer narrative campaign has yet to wrap up – and it'll do so while being stomped under the heels of a dinosaur-riding Chaos champion, Abraxia, Spear of the Everchosen. She seems to have stepped off a metal album cover and is really hacked off about that, so the model certainly makes a statement if you want a showstopper.
She'll be available first in the Abraxia’s Varanspear box, which I suspect might be a Spearhead pack - but that's not confirmed.
Warhammer 40K
- All about Chaos Space Marines
- Two new Chaos Lord models
- Two new Battleforce boxes
In contrast to Age of Sigmar, this sci-fi wargame got the fewest reveals of AdeptiCon 2024. It only received one update (for Chaos Space Marines), and I can imagine fans may be a little deflated as a result. Still, the models that were unveiled are gorgeous.
Dropping alongside the 10th Edition Codex for Chaos Space Marines, two new Chaos Lord models are leading the charge (one on foot and another using a jump pack). While I'm a bit disappointed we didn't get more to go with them, these are both dynamic sculpts that I'm already stoked to paint.
It was also confirmed that not one but two army boxes are on the way for these fallen Space Marines. We can look forward to 'Veterans of the Long War,' which is a classic setup with traditional Legionaries, Terminators, and Possessed, and 'Dread Talons' with cultists and fast-moving jump pack units.
Yes, that's not quite as exciting as all the shiny new models in the Kroot army fans lost their minds over, or even the Deathwing Assault box that made me turn my back on my beloved Chaos for a while. Revised and new models seem unlikely if the Battleforce boxes have already been shown, too. But hey - I can hope we get something else before release. Right? Right...?
Kill Team
- New Votann scouts
- Features a Genestealer Cult
- Massive scenery
The Bheta-Decima campaign continues in 40K's shorter, more bite-size sibling with Kill Team: Termination. Specifically, we're getting more scenery (which is massive and can turn deadly fast thanks to it being an unpredictable plasma generator) and another two factions for Kill Team – the scout Hernkyn Yaegirs and Genestealer Brood Brothers.
The first of these are vanguards for the Leagues of Votann (read: a sci-fi spin on fantasy dwarves), so are clad in western-style dusters and love close-combat weaponry. Shotguns, plasma knives, and pistols? Absolutely. In all honesty, these might be my favorite Votann miniatures so far - they ooze style, attitude, and a Clint Eastwood-esque personality.
I'm also sold on the Genestealers, which is unusual for me – I'm not usually a fan of theirs. However, these guys hit the sweet spot by providing fairly normal troopers that have subtle and unsettling mutations peeking from under the surface. Their leaders, mainly the enormous Tyranid Patriarch, are equally stunning.
So far (and as I mentioned in my Kill Team: Salvation review), I've been mighty impressed with this narrative series. Fingers crossed it keeps that winning streak going with this pack.
Underworlds
- A new two-player starter pack
- Sigmarite zealots and ghoul chefs (?)
- Features four decks
AdeptiCon 2024 may have given us the best warband I've ever seen for Underworlds – and it stars a guy sitting on someone else's shoulders in a trenchcoat. It's utterly absurd, and I love it.
This pack, called Wintermaw, delves deeper into the icy Deathgorge where frostbitten monsters dwell. Only truly unhinged warriors dare to tread there, so it's fitting that the two warbands featured in this starter box are out of their minds. One (featuring a preacher riding around on his son's shoulders) are Sigmarite zealots who are truly unhinged; they worship lightning and seem to have been hit by it more than a few times. Opposing them are what I can only describe as ghoul chefs that are trying to gather the best cuts of meat.
See, this kind of zany nonsense is why I love Underworlds.
Anyway, because this is a starter pack, you get everything you need to play in the box – general rules, card decks for these warbands, two extra decks for mixing things up, a board, and tokens.
Warcry
- Skeletons vs Sylvaneth
- Terrain is a walking carnivorous tree
- Both warbands are horribly twisted
It seems as if the Gnarlwood saga is coming to an end in Warcry, as this AdeptiCon reveal suggests that the end-goal all these warbands have been striving toward (to hit a downed starship) is in reach.
This particular boxset, Warcry: Briar and Bone, pits the forces of life and death against each other. On one side are the skeletal Teratic Cohorts. On the other sit the Twistweald fey. These may seem to be on opposite ends of the spectrum, but they're actually very similar thematically – they have both been twisted into something horrible. I've not been the hugest fan of either faction in the past (I still miss my Wood Elves from old-school Warhammer, now replaced with the Sylvaneth), but the lore of these two warbands makes me sit up and take notice. The former have been cobbled together from other skeletons into a horrific mish-mash by their god as a punishment, while the latter are infected with parasites from the Gnarlwood that fractured their minds. Do they need a hug? I feel like they need a hug.
Oh, and a giant man-eating tree as scenery doesn't hurt either…
The Old World
- The dwarf holds return
- Four new hero models
- Dwarf rulebook and army box on way
The classic Warhammer Fantasy Battle dwarfs are coming back in the next Old World drop, and though many units are simply returning to production, we are getting a handful of new minis too alongside a book telling you how to run this grumpy, grudgeholding faction.
There are four new models in total: two lords (one on foot and the other being held aloft on a shield), a dwarf Thane wielding a rifle, and Ungrim Ironfist. The latter is a classic Warhammer character that's having an encore for Old World, but this version is younger and much more imposing.
Because I was such a big fan of this game (Warhammer: The Old World is like a time capsule, and I'm obsessed), I'm very happy to see more old-school factions being added to the mix.
Horus Heresy & Necromunda
- Are the Mechnicum coming to Horus Heresy?
- Potential tease for new Necromunda boxset
There was very, very little said on Horus Heresy and Necromunda during AdeptiCon 2024 beyond some cryptic teases. For Horus Heresy, a video of what I assume is Mars occasionally flickered into the symbol of the Mechanicum, the tech-society of Warhammer's far future. Thus far the game has only focused on Space Marines and, more recently, the normal humans of the Solar Auxilia, so this will add more variety to proceedings if we are getting some machine-obsessed tech wizards.
As for Necromunda, the teaser dipped below-ground to a hidden, ominous facility. I'm assuming this will be the setting of the next boxed set, because it feels like we're due another one soon.
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