40k 11th Edition Q&A: Primarch Answers, Codex Prices Dropping, Ork Boyz Changes & July Rules Updates

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GW’s latest Warhammer 40k 11th Edition Q&A answers big questions: cheaper softcover codexes, rebuilt Ork Boyz datasheet, and rules updates for July 22.

Warhammer 40k 11th Edition just picked up its latest Q&A, and for once the headline wasn’t Primarchs or lore, although they said plenty about the fate of all the “dead primarchs”. What everyone actually brought to GW’s summer Q&A was one nervous question: were the new codexes about to torch our hobby budgets? Honestly, the answer came back better than we expected.

Eddie and Adam sat down after the Big Summer Preview and chewed through hundreds of reader questions, most of them jokes about drinking Typhus Corrosion. But the ones that mattered told us what we’re going to buy, how armies get built now, and when the big rules updates actually land. That’s firmer ground than the earlier 11th Edition Q&A gave us, and this time the answers point somewhere.

The Big Idea: This Q&A Was Built for the Wallet, Not the Hype Reel

Updated on July 13, 2026, by Rob Baer with the latest Warhammer 40k 11th Edition Summer Q&A.

Most of these sit-downs spend 20-40 minutes avoiding the questions players actually care about. This one didn’t. Eddie and Adam covered the issues hobbyists have been arguing over, with most of the useful answers focused on prices, army building, and rules support instead of marketing.

So overall, the new Codex Orks sets the pattern for the edition, the pricing news is solid, and several long-running rules questions finally got a date. We pulled together every answer worth keeping and grouped them below. If you only care about one faction, skip straight to it. If you want a broader look at where 11th Edition is going, it’s all here.

The New Codexes Are Cheaper, Thicker, and Hardbacks are Optional

• Softcover codexes cost about a third less than the current hardbacks. The exact difference changes by currency, but every version will be cheaper, which is rare territory for GW.
• Codex Orks is the thickest Ork book ever, with 178 pages in a slipcase. It’s thicker but shorter than the older books and includes more Ork lore and rules than any previous Ork codex.
• The deep-lore format carries across the whole 11th Edition codex schedule, with each book built around its faction. The Space Marine codex explores a chapter through its fortress-monastery, including the Chapter Keep, Librarius, and Chaplaincy.
• Collector’s edition codexes are confirmed, with a hardback book, slipcase, green foil, and a fold-out cover that clasps shut. The contents are the same, but the premium hardback option is still available for anyone who wants it. More details are in our Big Summer Preview breakdown.

Orks Walked Off With the Biggest Pile of Answers

• The new Ork Boyz datasheet allows one Nob for every nine Boyz, so larger mobs can include multiple Nobs. You can also take one of each special weapon per 10 models, which means a mob of 20 can bring two big shootas, two rokkits, and two burnas.
• Grots keep their Runtherd, but only in the standalone box. The Grots in Armageddon and the starter set show up without one.
• Siege of Deathmire doesn’t lock any models. The Orks get their new units either way, and the three new Ork detachments are also coming regardless of the result. The outcome only changes the reveal order. The Imperium won weeks one and two, the Orks moved ahead in week three, and a draw counts as an Ork win.
• GW pushed back on the Angron slander. They listed his victories, including wrecking part of the Indomitus Crusade and nearly killing Dante before the Lion stepped in. According to GW, he’s doing fine.

Aeldari Exodites Ride Only With the Craftworlds

• Exodites can only join Craftworld Aeldari armies. They can’t be added to a Drukhari force. For anyone following the Exodites-are-back rumors, this is the first firm answer on where they belong.
• The transfer sheet includes six clans, including the Clan of the Ghost Star, and comes in the Kill Team Exodite Dragonmasters set.
• One box builds models for four datasheets. The Kill Team Exodite box builds Dragon Knights and the Dragon Masters, with the three Dragon Masters used as separate characters.

Terrain, Rules, and the 40k Housekeeping

• To match the painted Battlefield Armageddon terrain with unpainted kits, buy two Combat Patrol terrain sets, or the 40k starter set plus one Combat Patrol set. Either option gives you enough terrain for a 2,000-point game.
• Armageddon terrain connects to other Armageddon terrain, but not other ranges. It shares the same industrial style as Sector Imperialis and Sector Mechanicus kits, but the clip fittings don’t cross over.
• Healing rules should be cleared up around July 22, as part of the first monthly update. Healing generated more questions than anything else in the session, so it’s one of the main things to watch in the 11th Edition rules.
• Combat Patrol updates are expected the same day, alongside the first monthly 40k update on or around July 22.
• The new plastic Custodes models are staying, with full 11th Edition support for all their options. They aren’t going to Legends. Not sure what that means for remaing FW kits…
• Imperial Agents will keep getting support as the edition continues. They won’t receive new detachments at launch, but Arbites and Inquisition players aren’t being dropped. The earlier Q&A has the rest of the army-status answers.
• There still isn’t a High Gothic name for the bolter, and GW hasn’t confirmed more designer interviews, though it says it wants to do them.
• The Fate of the 40k Primarchs: According to GW, your favorite Primarch is still dead. Theirs isn’t.  What does that mean? Read the exact exchange below

(This was a quickfire round collecting a lot of Primarch questions — Where is the Wolf King? Vulcan lives. Where are you hiding, [Corvus Corax]? Can we get another loyalist Primarch to even the odds?)

So we had a lot of questions about Primarchs. Last time we had a Q&A, we sort of hinted that maybe the Primarchs were all dead. I might have slightly misspoken when I said all the Primarchs were dead. What is true is that your favourite Primarch is dead. If you’re watching — whichever one your favourite is — he’s dead. Not mine. Mine’s fine.

Horus Heresy Q&As

• The plastic Telemon Dreadnought is about the same size as the resin version, possibly half a centimetre taller and slightly bulkier. Both should look fine in the same army.
• Judgement of Valdor’s Tzeentch list is a separate detachment, including the Lord of Change and Blue Horrors. It can be run on its own or added to an existing Demons of the Ruinstorm army without replacing that army.
• More unusual Titan weapons are likely coming for Legions Imperialis.

Age of Sigmar and the Old World Had Plenty to Say

• Ogors now have three cultures, not two. Gutbusters, Beastclaws, and the new Mawseekers, who follow the Gulping God, are all covered in the new Ogor Mawtribes battletome.
• The Army Set builds a complete Spearhead with models left over. Get the new box, and you have the exact Spearhead roster, plus extras.
• The Ogor range update moves several kits to Legends. The Butcher, Hunters, Tyrant, Ironguts, and Gluttons are getting new sculpts. The Scrap Launcher, Ironblaster, Thundertusk, Stonehorn, Bloodpelt Hunter, Mantrapper, Gorgers, and Kragnos are staying. The Man-Eaters, Yhetees, Firebellies, Leadbelchers, Gnoblars as a unit, Great Mawpot (cause Red carries it with him now), and Mournfang are leaving, with Mournfang becoming Mawbeasts. Most still have straightforward counts-as options on the current Ogor roster.
• New Warcry rules are coming, including support for the new Ogor Mawtribes miniatures.
• Red the Maw would apparently eat other Ogors. More Maw per bite, along with any huge beasts wandering around Ghur. It was a joke, but it fits.

Old World Q&As

• The new Chaos Dragon can be built without riders, a throne, a Lord, or gaps where those parts should go. That makes it usable as a plain dragon for something like Galrauch.
• Orion falls into the trap and returns anyway. The Old World team is using the elf myth where a hero is sacrificed every year to bring him back, so he could, in theory, return soon.
• Battle March is getting two pre-made boxes, with 600-point Warriors of Chaos and Grand Cathay armies ready to play. They work alongside the new Old World Warriors of Chaos core box, and more Battle March armies are planned.
• Chaos Warriors and Chaos Knights can swap parts, including axes and spears. A separate weapon upgrade pack also sounds possible later…

Necromunda Is Not Turning Into Kill Team

• The rumor that Necromunda is being stripped down is false. GW says the campaign rules aren’t being gutted to make the game play like Kill Team. The gang books remain the foundation of the edition, and only the Badlands Enforcers are leaving temporarily before returning.
• The new Core Set expands the gangs instead of replacing them. The new Escher and Goliath kits add to existing crews, while older gang rules remain available through the free gang PDFs.
• Both the Underhive and Outland gang lists are getting rules, covering a huge number of gangs, hangers-on, and hired guns.
• There’s an unannounced Goliath model in the preview images. The large axe-wielding model shown in the Warhammer Community pictures isn’t part of the Core Set, and GW suggested he may not be the only unrevealed model. We’ll cover that with the rest of the Necromunda pre-order coverage.
• Gang vehicles, Corpse Grinders, Enforcers, Chaos gangs, and Genestealer gangs are all staying. None of them are being retired.
• The rules changes are aimed at removing slow points, not depth. Saves are now listed on the profile, range modifiers affect cover saves later in the sequence instead of changing the hit roll, and failed insanity tests use a table. The game still has plenty of rules, but fewer parts should stop play.

Warhammer Plus and the Last Few Odds and Ends

• Warhammer Academy is getting subtitles in eight languages: English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean.
• Warhammer TV is available on nearly every major platform, including web, Apple iOS and TV, Android and Android TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV. LG support is planned for later this year. Our Warhammer TV explainer covers what’s worth watching.
• Don’t drink your paint. That’s GW’s official answer to the Agrax versus Nuln Oil question, and Typhus Corrosion is apparently the worst-tasting option. Lol, add it to the pile of Warhammer Plus extras nobody asked for.

Catching Up: Answers From the Earlier 11th Edition Q&A

Armageddon Is The Launch, But The Box Isn’t The Whole Edition

The new edition is launching with Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon, and GW made it pretty clear this box is the big starting gun for 11th Edition. It’s not the only way to play, but it’s the collector-friendly, lore-heavy, new-model-packed version of the launch.

• The Armageddon box is the main launch set for 11th Edition. It features Blood Angels, Orks, and the exclusive Operation Imperator campaign book.
• The Armageddon box is limited. GW said there are “loads” of copies, but it’s still a finite release. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
• Operation Imperator is exclusive to the Armageddon box. The campaign book will not be sold separately later, which makes the box more than just plastic and cardboard.
• The core rulebook and mission materials will be sold separately. Players who skip the launch box won’t be locked out of the edition.
• The core rules will be free. Just like 10th Edition, the 11th Edition core rules will be available through the Warhammer 40,000 app or as a download.
• The Armageddon box releases in June. GW didn’t give an exact date during the Q&A, but confirmed the launch window.
• The price is not confirmed yet. GW said it will cost a little more than Leviathan and a little less than Saturnine.
• Each side in the Armageddon box is roughly 750 points. That puts the box around Combat Patrol plus some extra spice, not a full 2,000-point army in a box.
• A Warhammer+ battle report using 11th Edition rules is coming in May. That gives players a proper look at the new rules in action before the edition fully lands.

Free Rules, Combat Patrol, and App Support

GW seems to know that asking players to buy a launch box, new books, new decks, and new models all at once can make wallets start smoking. So the big accessibility pieces are staying pretty friendly.

• The 11th Edition core rules are free. Players can use the app or download them.
• Combat Patrol rules will also be free. You won’t need to buy the new Combat Patrol Companion just to play the mode.
• Combat Patrol datasheets and detachments will be available in the app. That keeps the easiest entry point into 40k fairly simple.
• The Combat Patrol Companion is more of a lore and onboarding product. It sounds useful for new players, but it isn’t required to roll dice.
• Legends support is coming to the app, but not at launch. Legend units will be added as codices start releasing.
• Legends units remain supported. Older units will still have datasheets and will continue to work the way Legends does now.

No Armies Are Getting Squatted

This was probably one of the biggest panic-button questions going into the Q&A. GW answered it cleanly: no armies are being removed from Warhammer 40k in 11th Edition.

• No current 40k armies are being squatted. Nobody is getting the old Squats treatment.
• Deathwatch are still playable. They can be used as Imperial Agents allies or as a Space Marine army using Space Marine detachments.
• Deathwatch aren’t getting new Deathwatch-specific detachments at launch. They still have options, just not a fresh bespoke launch package.
• Grey Knights are still an army. GW confirmed they remain fully supported.
• Grey Knights will get new detachments.
• Chaos Daemons are still an army. Their 10th Edition Index remains legal.
• Chaos Daemons will get new detachments. They can also still appear alongside god-specific Chaos Legions, they already received a Faction Focus, so we know a little about their new rules.
• Imperial Agents work basically the same as they do now. They can be taken as allies in Imperial armies or run as their own force.
• Imperial Agents aren’t getting new launch detachments.
• Allies still exist, but full soup is not coming back. You can still bring things like Imperial Agents or Chaos Knights where current rules allow, but GW is not returning to the anything-goes allied army days.

Detachment Points Are the Big Army-Building Change

The biggest list-building shift in 11th Edition is the new detachment point system. Instead of picking one detachment and calling it a day, you build out your army rules using a limited number of detachment points.

• At 2,000 points, armies generally get three detachment points.
• Detachments cost detachment points. Some will cost one, others may cost more.
• Most 2,000-point armies will end up with six or nine Stratagems. The total depends on which detachments you choose.
• Unused detachment points give no bonus. Use them or lose them.
• Smaller games get fewer detachment points. Larger games may get more.
• 1,500-point games count as Strike Force. GW said you stay in that bracket until hitting the next points threshold.
• Some detachments only affect specific units or characters. A one-point detachment may still be worth it if it buffs a key unit or lone hero.

This is where 11th Edition list-building could get fun, and also where every competitive player with a spreadsheet is about to become completely insufferable for a month. Customization is back, but on a bigger scale, and it’s tied to the army structure rather than agonizing over whether one guy in a squad gets a slightly shinier pistol.

Objectives Are Now Terrain Pieces

This may be the most important table-level change in 11th Edition. Objectives are no longer just little discs you toe into while pretending nobody can see you through a wall.

• Objectives are usually tied to terrain pieces.
• The whole terrain piece counts as the objective.
• Units holding objectives are often standing on or around terrain.
• Objective play now cares much more about terrain footprints, firing lanes, and movement.
• Leagues of Votann and other armies with objective-based rules may benefit. If an ability triggers against units on objectives, the larger terrain-based objective zones may make that easier to activate.
• The mission and battlefield layout are tied more closely together. Force disposition and mission setup will help determine the terrain layout.

This should make games feel more like a fight over actual battlefield positions instead of tiny invisible scoring bubbles. It also means terrain quality and layout are going to matter a lot.

Final Thoughts on the Warhammer 40k 11th Edition Q&A

Well, you heard them, July 22 is the date to watch now. That’s when the healing rules should finally get straightened out, and it’s the same day GW’s first monthly 40k update is supposed to land. Both came up more than almost anything else in the session, which tells you they’re the questions still hanging over the edition.

Sure, cheaper codexes and a rebuilt Boyz datasheet are solid wins, but on-time updates will matter more across the whole edition.

This Q&A did what it needed to do. It answered hobby-table arguments, gave players useful buying information, and mostly skipped the usual hype. Honestly, more sessions like this would be welcome in the future too.

🔗 Related Reads:

• 40k 11th Edition Rules Get a Surprise Tacoma Open FAQ
• Every reveal from GW’s Big Summer Preview
• Codex Orks is 11th Edition’s first drop
• The new Ork Armageddon datasheets
• Ogor Mawtribes reveal brings 7 fresh kits
• Aeldari Exodites get a Kill Team box first
• Everything in the 11th Edition rules

Which answer from GW’s summer Q&A landed best for your army?

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