The mystery of what order the new 10th Edition codex books will release may be solved with the easy-to-follow pattern from 8th and 9th Edition Warhammer 40k!
GW gave us an early codex release roadmap for 10th edition, but that only shows us a small portion of the actual books to be released for 10th Edition. So, let’s look back to 8th Edtion (and indexes) and go to 9th to see how we can expect 10th Edition to shape up!
There May Be a Pattern To The 10th Edition Codex Releases
As we said, we’ll start by going back to lineup of 8th Edition Warhammer 40k Supplements:
- Space Marines July 2017
- Chaos Space Marines August 2017
- Grey Knights August 2017
- Adeptus Mechanicus September 2017
- Craftworlds October 2017
- Astra Militarum October 2017
- Tyranids November 2017
- Blood Angels December 2017
- Dark Angels December 2017
- Adeptus Custodes January 2018
- Chaos Daemons January 2018
- Thousand Sons February 2018
- Tau Empire March 2018
- Necrons March 2018
- Drukhari April 2018
- Harlequins May 2018
- Deathwatch May 2018
- Imperial Knights June 2018
- Space Wolves August 2018
- Orks November 2018
- Genestealer Cults February 2019
- Chaos Space Marines (2nd Edition) March 2019
- Chaos Knights July 2019
- Space Marines (2nd Edition) August 2019
- Ultramarines (Space Marines) August 2019
- White Scars (Space Marines) August 2019
- Iron Hands (Space Marines) September 2019
- Ravenguard (Space Marines) September 2019
- Imperial Fists (Space Marines) October 2019
- Salamanders (Space Marines) October 2019
- Adepta Sororitas November 2019
As you can see, there are already some differences between 9th and 8th, most notably the Astra Militarum codex, as they were one of last to get a new book in 9th. Other than that, though, the start looks very similar (even to 10th Edition) as you have Space Marines, Nids, Chaos, and Adeptus Mechanicus lined up.
However, 8th Edition was more than just codexes, as they made the Psychic Awakening books to tide players over during the noticeable publishing gap from late 2019 into the summer of 2020 when 9th Edition was released.
- Imperium Nihilus: Vigilus Defiant (Ultramarines) December 2018
- Imperium Nihilus: Vigilus Ablaze (Black Legion) April 2019
- Psychic Awakening: Phoenix Rising (Craftworlds, Drukhari & Index: Ynnari) October 2019
- Psychic Awakening: Faith & Fury (Chaos Space Marines & Space Marines) November 2019
- Psychic Awakening: Blood of Baal (Blood Angels & Tyranids) December 2019
- Psychic Awakening: Ritual of the Damned (Dark Angels, Grey Knights & Thousand Sons) January 2020
- Psychic Awakening: The Greater Good (Tau, Astra Militarum & Genestealer Cults) February 2020
- Psychic Awakening: Saga of the Beast (Space Wolves & Orks) March 2020
- Psychic Awakening: Engine War (Adeptus Mechanicus, Imperial Knights, Chaos Knights & Chaos Daemons) June 2020
- Psychic Awakening: War of the Spider (Adeptus Custodes, Sisters of Silence, Assassins, Death Guard & Agents of Bile) June 2020
- Psychic Awakening: Pariah (Adepta Sororitas, Necrons & Index: Inquisition) July 2020
The narrative expansions took place over the course of nearly two years and offered minor updates and changes to 29 factions and sub-factions, Some of which, like Agents of Bile, were brand new.
These books also served the purpose of accelerating the 40k story forward, as it was relatively still during the course of the edition up until this point sans the Vigilus storyline.
This also held players over until their new books came out in 9th Edition. However, you had to pay for these supplements, which contained more new rules for many factions.
Moving Into 9th Edition Warhammer 40k
- Necrons October 2020
- Space Marines October 2020
- Deathwatch November 2020
- Space Wolves November 2020
- Blood Angels December 2020
- Dark Angels January 2021
- Death Guard January 2021
- Drukhari March 2021
- Adeptus Mechanicus May 2021
- Adeptus Sororitas June 2021
- Grey Knights August 2021
- Thousand Sons August 2021
- Orks September 2021
- Black Templars November 2021
- Adeptus Custodes January 2022
- Genestealer Cult January 2022
- Tau February 2022
- Aeldari March 2022
- Tyranids April 2022
- Chaos Knights May 2022 (army box)
- Imperial Knights May 2022
- Chaos Space Marines July 2022
- Chaos Daemons August 2022
- Leagues of Votann September 2022 (army box)
- Astra Militarum November 2022
- World Eaters February 2023
For 9th Edition, the Tyranids and Necrons sort of switched places for the early Xenos army getting the early book. Other than that (and some Space Marine Chapters), they followed along fairly close to 9th, with the real main difference being Chaos Space Marines, which from the looks of it, won’t have long to wait at all for 10th Edition.
Either way, let’s hope some of the armies don’t have so long to wait, as it sucks getting to play with your long-awaited codex for just a couple of months… While Games Workshop did them a little differently in 9th, they still did plenty of supplements.
- Charadon: Book of Rust January 2021
- Charadon: Book of Fire July 2021
- War Zone Octarius Book 1: Rising Tide October 2021
- War Zone Octarius Book 2: Critical Mass November 2021
- Arks of Omen Abaddon January 2023
- Arks of Omen Angron February 2023
- Arks of Omen Farsight March 2023
- Arks of Omen The Lion April 2023
These books added a whole host of new characters, such as Lion, and had a decent amount of rules inside. This also added a new way to play with Boarding Actions, but all of the new character rules were given away for free, considering we knew the new edition was so imminent.
However, the main difference between these and 8th, is that these will have no bearing on 10th Edition as that is a complete rules reboot.
10th Edition Warhammer 40k Codex Releases Roadmap
So, the beginning looks pretty similar to 9th (other than Tyranids, but they were early in 8th). We have another early Mechanicus book, and it does look like, once again, GW will release a separate codex for all the big Space Marines chapters.
Dark Angels are the first ( they were the 4th book in 9th edition), but this makes sense with Lion returning. Some of the other differences look to be Tau are coming in slightly earlier than last time, and Chaos Space Marines will not have to wait for the majority of an edition.
So, looking back, you can get a decent timeframe of when your favorite faction will drop. However, we assume something like Leagues of Votann will be far earlier in the edition than this time, as they are now established and could be a good mid-edition release with a bunch of new units.
Either way, we have a good idea of what books will be on the way through early 2024 as we barrel to 11th Edition Warhammer 40k in 2026.
Check out the latest Warhammer 40k rumors for the rest of the 9th and even 10th Edition, new releases, and more!
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What are your thoughts on the previous editions’ codex release roadmaps? Do you think 10th Edition will continue the same pattern?
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About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
