Warhammer 11th Edition is Officially a Scam

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]So, Games Workshop finally released the massive reveal of their new launch box for 11th edition Warhammer 40k, confirming everything inside. And this might not be good actually because this new Warhammer box hides a big secret that is a major problem for not just anybody who is looking to buy this box at launch, but for the entire new 11th edition of Warhammer. It turns out that there is a big problem with the new Warhammer. And this box has accidentally exposed that secret. But to talk about all of that, first we need to look at all the new reveals from Games Workshop and talk about what is going on with the new models because this is one of the most controversial edition launches that I have ever seen in my 20 years of playing Warhammer 40k. And honestly, I think my opinion on the miniatures in this Armageddon box might be pretty controversial. So, I want to start with the new Orc models first because personally headlining this, I want to be positive here before we start exposing Games Workshop. I really love these new Orc models. I have some problems with them, but from a highle standpoint, I think they're great. Now, obviously, we'd heard before from leaks that this new addition would be orcs versus space marines and focused on fast attack units and bikes, and the leaks were half right because firstly, we're getting the new and improved war track for the orcs.

[00:01:32]This is a new refresh model returning to the orc roster from the ancient days of your aka my childhood. And I absolutely hate this thing, but only because it happens to be one of the most annoying units to face in Dawn of War I.

[00:01:46]Seriously, please let my heavy bolter stand still for 2 seconds. I'm begging you. But modelwise, I think this kit looks lovely. I love the treads. I love the massive suspension. I love the scrappy nature of the vehicle. I love the eating grid on the face of the driver, the absurd amount of rockets.

[00:02:05]It's all great. There's also this new big mech daco rig coming in the box, which honestly looks even better. It is super clunky and dumb, but in the best Orcy way possible. In particular, I really love the front cannon on this thing. This is an absurd weapon. It's called the Blitz Cannon, and this is so chunky. It's just adorable. Now, this is basically a walking gun platform, and it works. I'm so happy we're leaving the beast snaga stuff behind and embracing traditional orc values. More daka means more damage. Speaking of which, we also get new orc boys. No, a big change here is that orc boys are no longer going to be separated into melee sluga boys and ranged shooter boys. I guess Michael Jackson finally got his wish after all.

[00:02:54]We're all living together in harmony.

[00:02:56]Dhaka and Kunken side by side. You know, it doesn't matter if you're black or white. only if you're green. I'm mixed on this change because it's going to hurt my ability to build up my orc army that I wanted to play in older editions of Warhammer like fifth edition where they still obviously have that distinction between Sluga and Shuda. But look, I can dig it. It feels ory to not have any strict military doctrine for your basic boys. Though, I'm worried the gameplay-wise that the shooting of orc boys is now just going to be incidental rather than the main event like it was for shooters. As far as the actual new models go though, you know, they look good. They're touched up highdefinition Orc boys looking pretty refreshed from the decades old previous iteration. And we don't talk about that other one. The posing in the models is good. They look a lot less hunched over than the previous version. And these new boys have a lot more movement and natural motion in their arms, which is great. I love how expressive their faces are. I I think they look good. But star of the show for me has to be the knob. Oh, this knob awakens something in me. I love how big this knob is. It's extremely intimidating to look at. You could even grip it with one hand, and it's just going to unload absolutely everywhere.

[00:04:08]And I hope nobody takes any of that out of context. I want to touch it. Now, to be critical for a second, I think the new Orc boys are a little bit overdetailed for what will be a kit that you'll need to paint hundreds of. So, you know, good luck with that. And a major problem here is that this is a totally monopose kit with no customization or weapon options outside of changing the knobs weapons and a few head swaps, which is a massive issue and plagued the previous iteration of the Orc boys that ended up just getting replaced by an older sprew. So, Games Workshop are going to need to replace this kit almost immediately with a less monopose one for Orc players after release. Now, replacing pushfit starter set model kits like that isn't unusual.

[00:04:50]So, I'm assuming we're going to get a more orcy customizable orc boys kit later down the line. But, if we don't, well, while the models here look good, my opinion of them will hit the gutter if they are all we get. We need more customizable orc boys. So, they look good, but worry me for the future. Same for the graten here. They're also very monopose. Now, these were really controversial on reveal because they have little tiny ears. And yeah, okay, I missed the big ears. I think it's done by Games Workshop to make the Grotz look a lot less like goblins, but it has only succeeded in making them look more like Patrick Stewart rather than Michael Berryman. And weirdly, no Run herder character is included in here who leads the Grotz. That model used to come in the old Grotz box, but I guess GW might be selling that character separately after this release. Which brings us to the really dark secret that is going to be hitting Warhammer fans this summer.

[00:05:46]Because yes, this is going to be a real big summer. And not only because of the new addition of Warhammer, but because of something, dare I say, even more exciting, like war. Real war. Queen Anne's war. The year is 1701. The last of the Habsburg's monarchs, Charles II, is dead. England declares war on Spain and France. War comes to North America.

[00:06:08]and with it the promise of booty and treasure. YAH. THAT'S RIGHT. IT'S the summer of Plunder and it's only a few weeks away. This is a virtual mega campaign where you can play games of blood and plunder, Port Royal or Oak and Iron and earn points to capture territory on a massive dynamic campaign map of the Caribbean and the Americas and even win tons of prizes and real plunder by doing so. I love this. It's really simple to take part in. Simply join the Discord linked below and sign up with your chosen faction. Go for pirates is my suggestion. And then simply play your favorite game. Then you enter in the result of your game. Who won? Who lost? And it will contribute to your allianc's standing in the ultimate race for supremacy. This is a massively fun mega campaign. I take part in it every year. I'm going to be doing so again. And this year looks to be the funnest. It's going to feature these massive alliances forming between the different nation states. It's really cool. It's a great excuse to play some really fun games and even win prizes.

[00:07:18]Now, if you're interested in playing an army scale game, then I would suggest you look into getting started with a Blood and Plunder starter set. Or if you just want to take part in smaller skirmish size games, then Port Royal is the game for you. You can simply pick up a faction box and the rule book and you're good to go. And don't forget to use my code DM summer to get 20% off anything you buy in the Firelock game store. And hell, you can even play Port Royal Solo and enter your games into the campaign, too. So, you've got no excuse not to join up this year. Simply sign up today and get ready to make history.

[00:07:55]Click the link below. And thanks to Firelock Games for sponsoring today's video. DM Summer. use the code. Okay, so that's all the orca units. We're going to talk about the characters later and you'll see why it'll make sense. But how about the space marines? Well, damn.

[00:08:12]People are really disappointed in the space marines here. Even the most Codex pill space marine slurpers are expressing intense frustration at the new models. But once again, I must be controversial here and say I think the Space Marine models look okay. To me, they look just like Space Marines. The highlight in this box is, of course, the new land speededer that is returning.

[00:08:36]I'm not sure what role this is meant to occupy as a unit when the storm speededer already exists and is basically the same model. I mean, genuinely, I couldn't really tell them apart at a glance, but hey, you know, the land speeder, it looks better without a turret on the back. So, it's an improvement, I guess, on what was meant to be the improvement.

[00:08:53]>> He does exactly what I do, but better.

[00:08:55]>> Then there's the intercessor squad. This is well it's an intercessor squad.

[00:09:00]Pretty sure some of them are actually identical to previously released models or close enough to be. Games workshop aren't even pretending here. They're just monopose pushfit spruce space marines with new old helmets. Okay. And then there's the Vanguard Veterans aka Jumpack Space Marines aka Jumpack Intercessors. Seriously, these are identical. The only difference is is that they come with power swords and a helmet change. Now, back in the olden days, we used to have wargeear choices for this sort of thing. This would have just been the same unit from the same sprew, but with, you know, lots of customization. But now, apparently, power swords justifies a whole new unit entry. Then there's the eradicator squad with heavy bolters. This is this is this is an eradicator squad with heavy bolters. This time, fundamentally the same thing, but will be a different entry again in the codeex, which, you know, is exactly what space marines need, more entries in the codeex. Now, some people are calling this box a scam.

[00:09:54]The Games Workshop are reselling the same models again and pretending they're different. But I've said it before, there's no space anymore for Space Marines to go in terms of design. This is a major problem for Games Workshop, and this box is the result. We're going to be seeing this a lot more, believe me. However, bear in mind, these miniatures are meant to just be a refresh of some basic Space Marine miniatures. I mean, that sounds lame, but so are the orc models, and everybody is loving those. So, why are people so upset at the Space Marines refresh and not the orcs? Well, honestly, it's because orcs get new models once every like 10 years or so. But for Space Marine players, they wake up every morning to a new subfaction worth of new models every single day. So, seeing the same models get re-released again and again and again for Space Marines is just not exciting. And for some players, it's honestly a bit annoying because they expect new exciting things to happen with the launch of a new edition.

[00:10:55]I guess 11th edition is like the holdover edition. But from my perspective, for new players, these Space Marine models will be really handy because I think new players will appreciate having the more basic fundamental models to get their army and model collection started. Especially considering that it has now been leaked that the miniatures of this launch box will later be repackaged to make up the starter sets aimed at new players during the lifespan of the new edition. And from that perspective, having a bunch of basic intercessors and a land speededer in here is great. These are models that are simple to build and play with and are a fine introduction for new players to Warhammer. However, at the same time, I totally agree with a lot of the criticism. Because for existing players who already have Space Marine miniatures, who've already started a collection, who've started an army, this isn't a very good box. It's in fact kind of lame and is way less impressive than the starter set that came for 10th edition which had totally unique models, new units, and almost everything in there well honestly looked better. So Leviathan, the 10th edition starter was a great box even if you already had a miniatures collection. Armageddon, this new one, it ain't. So for that reason, I don't think that existing players should buy this box. This launch box isn't for you. It's not for Warhammer players.

[00:12:18]It's for new people. And that's the real reason why so many people in the Warhammer community feel utterly disappointed. And this could be bad if Games Workshop were forcing people to buy this box set. But luckily, Games Workshop have announced that the new rule book for 11th edition will be available to buy at launch separately.

[00:12:39]So, no one is going to be forced to buy this box to play the new edition of Warhammer, and they'll have to reby a whole ton of models that they already have. Unless, of course, you want the lore from the new rule book for 11th edition Warhammer 40k, because Games Workshop have of course locked the lore book behind the payw wall of this box in a really bizarre maneuver. I I don't know why they have done that. But look, even with that, unlike Leviathan, I don't think I'll be buying this box. And I do not recommend it for existing players. I don't think that the Armageddon launch box for Warhammer 40k is really that good for existing players, especially considering that if you are interested in this new box, I've got really, really bad news. This thing is going to be way more expensive than anyone expected. This launch box is going to cost $300 or £200, and that's a huge price. This is the most expensive launch box in the history of Warhammer. It's 20% more expensive than the Leviathan launch box, and comes with way less models, especially large vehicle-iz models. And if we go back even further, the ninth edition box was $200, literally a third cheaper. That's a big ask for players, especially considering that the models in here are push fit and have zero posing customization. But that's not even the worst part about this box because there is another a larger a big secret to this thing that reveals a lot about the new addition and how Games Workshop are treating Warhammer going forward. Something that really worries me for the future. See, there's two parts to this. Firstly, Games Workshop are clearly squishing narrative play into a competitive framework like the worst sandwich in history. Previously, we used to have the crusade mode that looks to be over and instead narrative players are going to be getting this new deck of cards to supplement their games, but otherwise in the new edition, there's only going to be one way to play Warhammer now, and that's match play, aka competitive play. This sucks for casual players. Games Workshop have been pushing competitive play a lot recently, mostly because it drives model sales and now they are going allin with the new edition. Now GW have claimed that every game will be narrative now. But you know that that that's just not true. Rather, it seems that the new edition will be powered by a new card system that might not even satisfy anybody. But related to this focus on competitive play, there's something even more sinister about this box that has kind of slipped under the radar for a lot of people. Because has anyone else noticed how many character models there are inside this box?

[00:15:28]Because it's a lot. The space marines get a chaplain with jumpack, a new librarian, a new captain with shield, an ancient with a banner, and then the orcs have even more. There's a new orc war boss who looks pretty cool admittedly.

[00:15:41]There's a big boss who seems a bit redundant, but okay. There's a banner knob, so basically an orc with a with a big banner. So I I guess that's a character now. And then there's also the new Pinboy and Weird Boy. That's a lot of characters. Almost a fifth of the models in here are characters. They're hero units for their factions. And there's a reason why. Because Games Workshop, they are changing the rules of Warhammer in 11th edition. So that players can now fit multiple character models, hero models into squads and their armies instead of only having one hero unit per squad. And this is going to absolutely explode the use of characters in Warhammer in a massive way. Seriously, I hope you like Hero Hammer because we're going to see way more superhero characters in everyone's armies. And on the one hand, that's cool, right? I have a lot of commasar models. I've been collecting Imperial Guard for like 20 years. I never get to use them. Likewise, I also collect Sisters of Battle who have a ton of available characters to play with. And same for Space Marines. And of course, there's the Gene Sailor cults who don't have a lot of characters, more so they don't have very many units that aren't.

[00:16:54]And now 11th edition means we'll get to use them all. All of them and more. And we'll be expected to. But this focus on characters has a dark side. Because if you buy, say, a squad of Guardsmen, every single individual Guardsman model that you've bought costs around $5. But if you buy a single character model like a commasar for Imperial Guard, they will cost you for one miniature $39.

[00:17:22]That's pencils up the nose underpants on the head. Speaking gibberish insane.

[00:17:27]Characters are expensive. They are the single most expensive models in the game. Dollar per plastic. Characters are extremely pricey and they're only affordable if you only have to buy like one or two of them. It's why armies like dailer cults are mostly characters because nobody plays them. But we're not going to have the choice of just buying one or two characters anymore. Now we're going to need a lot of character models for 11th edition. And this, as a result, is actually a massive secret price rise for Warhammer. If you want to play the game going forward, you will need to buy a ton of these individual $40 characters as Games Workshop are encouraging people to buy more lone character models to play the game. And bear in mind that, you know, they often are vital or integral for competitive play. And that is now going to be the only way to play Warhammer 40k. And this game design change wouldn't be a problem. I'd be open-minded for it. If Games Workshop priced their individual character models reasonably or responsibly. If a character model was like £8 or £10, you know, £10 or $15, I wouldn't be calling this out. I'd say it's cool. Let's see how it plays and move on. Those models don't cost that much. They cost three, four, five times more than that. I mean, look, from Games Workshop's perspective, it's clear they're saying, "Why sell five models for $65 when we can sell one model, an almost identical model in a lot of cases, for the price of $40?"

[00:18:57]And the result is the Games Workshop are changing Warhammer to focus on the models that give them the highest margins because sculptors can turn out one of these single new sculpts in a lunch break and then Games Workshop can fit four of these special character sprews onto the factory mold when they're printing the models in their factory. Meaning that you know these miniatures to produce can be four, five, six times less expensive to produce than a single squad. And this is an element of inshitification of last stage decay.

[00:19:27]It's why every fast food place eventually devolves into a pizza restaurant. Or why every high street shop becomes a bookies. Or every rental becomes an Airbnb. They're exploiting absurd margins. They're racing to the bottom. And now Games Workshop are joining them by changing the core rules of the game to suit it. And this would be a fine experiment again if they didn't cost so much. And already we're seeing the problem now. In this launch box alone, Games Workshop have invented a new orc model, the Orc Banner Boy, that gives an invulnerable save to a squad. This is literally what a custom force field already does, but it's an excuse to sell another character model for Games Workshop. Whereas in a previous edition, this orc banner boy, he would have just been an option for the Orc boy sprew, but not anymore. Now it is a separate purchase. $40, please.

[00:20:17]Hell, remember the runt herder? He isn't included with the Grotz in this box.

[00:20:21]presumably so he can be sold separately as a further $40 extra purchase. There's DLC happening now for your DLC. And it gets worse. It is already been leaked that there are more Orc characters coming. Remember a few months ago there was that Orc model packaging that got exposed. Games Workshop are going character crazy. And that's before we even talk about how Warhammer is now moving to focus on named characters like Kalgar, Lionel Johnson, Yaric. All of which cost even more money than a generic named model simply because they have a name. All still for the same amount of plastic and sculpting and design. Compare Yaric to any commasar in terms of pricing and it's just crazy.

[00:21:02]It's it's it's lunacy. But this is the new business model of Games Workshop.

[00:21:07]They have scammed everyone into buying individual tiny sprews of one guardsman or space marine size model for the price of what used to be an entire tank or squad of infantry. They are literally timesing their profit by 10 off the back of this new scheme and they're twisting Warhammer to fit in. It's transforming the game. This is why we're losing wargeear options so you can't customize your character models anymore. Gone are the days of having an unnamed Nekron Lord with 200 points of war gear that made him completely different from other Nekron lords. And this is why the game now feels more like Magic the Gathering than ever, where the focus is on individual characters with auras and special powers that empower miniatures around them. It's about using your special abilities. The game is becoming a hero shooter and we're losing the feel of the war game at the heart of this.

[00:21:56]Instead, it now feels like a card game.

[00:21:58]And to me, that is a major mistake.

[00:22:00]Warhammer is losing its identity. But let me know what you think below. And if you do want to play a war game featuring flying snake monsters, massive tanks, legions of infantry, base building, nuclear missiles, command and conquer style gameplay in a tabletop war game, check out my new game, Little Big War, available now on Patreon or Wargame Vault linked below. Or support my content on Patreon and get bonus videos and reviews of games and join a growing active hobby community. And thanks to all my patrons for supporting the channel. I could not do this without you. And I'll catch you all next time.