The 3D printing policy for official Games Workshop tournaments, like Warhammer 40k at the US Open, seems to have softened some.
Their stance used to be that there would be no 3D-printed bits unless you designed them yourself at tournaments. While that’s not getting a change, there is a slight softening in some of their wording, the stance on bases, and more! Obviously, GW is against you bringing fully 3D-printed minis to the battlefield for an official Warhammer brand event.
However, overall, their stance seems to be a little bit looser than before.
Games Workshop’s New 3D Printing Policy For Warhammer Tournaments
Let’s start with the older pre-US Open Series 3d printed & alternative model policy from Warhammer World.
Here, GW said you can design and print all of your own bits. They also can ask you to prove where they are from and possibly even remove them if there is any doubt. However, they don’t mention anything about models’ bases here, which has been a big issue in the past. Now, onto the new changes.
This comes from the recent Warhammer US Open Series, with some small but significant differences here. Now they say components (instead of parts) are allowed this time if you design them yourself.
So that seems to indicate you could still design and print all the components for your army, and as long as they aren’t from a 3rd party, you are totally good to go. They also don’t mention removing miniatures, so maybe that’s a step in the right direction.
The new US Open policy probably also has the most significant change. While the one from the Warhammer World Store might be a little more vague, this is a tad clearer. They now say you can use whatever bases you want, whether from a third-party company or not! This seems to indicate that the bases of models are now also termed components and not part of the actual miniature itself. In theory, you can also design and print 3d bases yourself.
Games Workshop Official Bases Policy
They used to be quite strict on this. You may remember a few years ago, at the Warhammer Citadel Cafe, they said you can’t use third-party bases in keeping with the 100% GW rule.
However, to be fair to them, Games Workshop hasn’t said anything this strict in a while, and the new policy seems to negate this. Either way, it is interesting to see how they have changed their stance on it over the years.
They also updated the basing rule in their tournament policies packet but didn’t address 3D printing bases here, either. The Championships document is the newest, so we’d probably go with it as a guide for playing at officially branded Games Workshop events.
We advise contacting your local store, tournament organizer, or event coordinator for non-GW tournaments if you have questions about your models or components. Many independent events focus more on the participants than stressing over a few 3d prints or components as long as players have hobbied on them.
What do you think about the newest Warhammer 40k 3D printing policies from Games Workshop?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
