8 Warhammer 40k Xenos Faction Packs Arrive With New Detachments + Rules

Spikey Bits » 11th Edition 40k » 8 Warhammer 40k Xenos Faction Packs Arrive With New Detachments + Rules

Warhammer 40k Xenos Faction Packs just dropped for 11th Edition, bringing 25 new detachments and full rules updates across all 8 Xenos armies.

GW just dropped 11th Edition Xenos Faction Packs for eight Xenos armies with twenty-five brand new detachments, and a rules updates section in every single PDF, making this the biggest patch any alien faction has seen since the start of 10th. 

This is Warhammer 40k 11th Edition rules update the Xenos players have been waiting for, because not only do we get all the new Detachment Points, but a decent amount of rule changes to go with them. Luckily, it looks like your army is still going to play similarly to now, just with an updated set of rules for 11th. 

Every faction pack is a stopgap until the full codex lands, but the new 1-DP detachments and the Rules Updates section are the real preview of where the Xenos factions are going.

How Detachment Points Work in This Faction Pack Drop

Here’s the framework Xenos (and all other factions) run on now. You get 2 DP at 1,000 points and 3 DP at 2,000, with every detachment in the pack carrying a 1, 2, or 3 DP price tag. That means at a 2,000-point list, you can split a 1 plus a 2, run three 1-DPs stacked into one brew, or grab a single 3-DP behemoth like Ork War Horde, depending on the army theme or shape you want.

Every detachment also has a Force Disposition tag: Take and Hold, Purge the Foe, Reconnaissance, Priority Assets, or Disruption. Then those tags get tied to mission rewards, so picking your detachment is also picking the mission shape you want to play.

Plus, the Aircraft change is universal across every faction, with Movement and OC both set to dash, and certain dual-mode Vehicles are now locked to one form or the other now.

Orks Get a Full Waaagh! Rework and Three New Detachments

Honestly, the Orks faction pack is one of the most aggressive rewrites in the whole drop. One thing that didn’t change much is WAAAGH! It’s still active for an entire turn, starting in your Command Phase, and still gives the army-wide effect. 

Three new 1-DP detachments arrived for the green tide:

• More Dakka! (Purge the Foe, 1 DP)
• Rollin’ Deff (Priority Assets, 1 DP)
• Taktikal Brigade (Disruption, 1 DP)

Here are some new rules highlights for the Orks that are worth looking at:

• Bully Boyz second Waaagh!: pops a second Waaagh!, but only Warboss, Nobz, and Meganobz units come along for that ride.
• Green Tide invulnerable save: every Boyz unit gets a 6+ invulnerable, and a 5+ kicks in once the mob hits 10 models.
• Kult of Speed tempo: Speed Freeks shoot AND declare a charge in a turn they Advanced or Fell Back, which rewrites how the army moves.
• Meganobz and Warboss buffs: Meganobz pick up Feel No Pain 5+ while the Waaagh! is active, Warboss gets +4 Attacks, and Ghazghkull’s banner hands Lethal Hits to every Orks unit within 12 inches of Makari.
• Hunta Rig and Kill Rig swap: both drop the Vehicle keyword and pick up Monster, which changes how they interact with Anti-Vehicle weapons across the board.

Aeldari Get Faster Vehicles and a Big Ynnead Rework

Look, the Aeldari pack does some real surgery on the Devoted of Ynnead detachment, which has been hovering near the bottom of the meta since it was initially NERFED at 10th’s launch. Strength from Death also got rewritten, so a dying friendly Ynnari unit in the Shooting phase hands a nearby unit a D6+1 Normal move, and Fade Back gets you a D6+1 surge once per turn now.

The four new 1-DP detachments:

• Armored Warhost (Reconnaissance, 1 DP)
• Fateful Performance (Disruption, 1 DP)
• Path of the Outcast (Reconnaissance, 1 DP)
• Twilight Flickers (Take and Hold, 1 DP)

Here are some key Aeldari takeaways:

• Agile Maneuvers and Star Engines: both trigger off an Advance and grant Assault to the unit’s ranged weapons for the turn, a clean tempo boost for vehicles.
• Warlocks rejoin the squad: Warlocks and Warlock Skyrunners lose Character and slot in as Bodyguards in Guardian or Windrider units at the Declare Battle Formations step, so the old Farseer plus Warlock conga line is dead.
• Aspect Shrine tokens: let you change a Hit or a Wound roll to a 6 instead of just buffing it.
• Asurmen and Ynnari Incubi: Asurmen picks up Anti-Infantry 5+ and Devastating Wounds on Bloody Twins for a phase, and Ynnari Incubi Demiklaives slip to AP-2.

Granted, the Warlock change reads weird at first, but the new Bodyguard role is actually a meaningful protection upgrade for the squad they ride with.

Drukhari Make Harlequins and Anhrathe Official

It looks like GW wants 11th Edition to be one of the Corsairs for Drukhari, as they get a rework to both Traveling Players and Corsairs. You could run these in 10th, but maybe we’ll see more support for them moving forward. Now you can bolt up to 250, 500, or 750 points of Harlequins and Anhrathe into a Drukhari army, with the catch that those borrowed units cannot be the Warlord and cannot carry Enhancements.

Three new 1-DP detachments dropped:

• Exhibition of Slaughter (Disruption, 1 DP)
• Kabalite Agonysts (Purge the Foe, 1 DP)
• Tools of Torment (Take and Hold, 1 DP)

The Rules updates section had some interesting changes for the Drukhari:

• Covenite Coterie Pain tokens: Connoisseurs of Pain trades old wording for a clean spend-a-token to worsen the attacker’s AP by 1, with the token back if the unit survives.
• Hellions reactive scoot: an enemy ends within 8 inches and the unit moves D6 inches, the new standard reactive pattern.
• Lady Malys spikes a stratagem: within 12 inches, by 1 CP, once per turn.
• Venoms and Aerialists rework: Venoms get a full datasheet overhaul, and Aerialists lets a 6-or-fewer Infantry unit embark mid-game on a flier.
• Split-unit lockdown: the Wych Cult and Kabal split-unit rule is locked to Kabalite Warriors, Hand of the Archon, and Wyches.

Tyranids Get Synapse Boosted and Shadow in the Warp Reworked

Luckily, for Tyranid players, Synapse is just getting a little wording change, but staying mostly the same. It’s still Tyranids units within 6 inches of a Synapse model take Battle-shock tests on 3D6 and get +1 Strength on melee attacks, which gives swarm builds a nice boost.

Three new 1-DP detachments arrived:

• Ambush Predators (Disruption, 1 DP)
• Talons of the Norn Queen (Take and Hold, 1 DP)
• Warrior Bioform Onslaught (Take and Hold, 1 DP)

Here are some of the key Tyranids changes:

• Shadow in the Warp bomb: a once-per-battle, table-wide Battle-shock test, with -1 if the enemy unit sits within 6 inches of a Synapse model.
• Crusher Stampede Enraged Behemoths: +1 to Hit below Starting Strength, scales to +1 to Wound below Half-strength, and pays out +2 OC at full strength.
• Big-bug damage bumps: Carnifexes scoot D6+2 inches when shot, the Exocrine bio-plasmic cannon climbs to Strength 9, and the Tyrannofex Rupture Cannon jumps to D6+6 damage.
• Hive Tyrant Onslaught aura: hands Assault and Lethal Hits to friendly ranged weapons within 6 inches.
• Tunnel Markers and Vanguard Invader: Trygons, Mawlocs, and Raveners pick up Vanguard Invader, and the new Subterranean Assault detachment uses Tunnel Markers for reserves play.

Genestealer Cults Rebuild Cult Ambush Around Resurgence Points

The Genestealer Cults army rule needed a rework, and 11th Edition delivered. Cult Ambush now runs on Resurgence points, 6, 10, or 14, depending on battle size, which you spend to return dead units via 32mm Cult Ambush markers placed more than 9 inches from enemies. The kicker is that markers vanish if an enemy ends within 8 inches, but units sitting in Cult Ambush no longer get auto-deleted at the end of turn 3, so the army actually gets to play the reserves game.

The three new 1-DP detachments:

• Heroes of the Uprising (Purge the Foe, 1 DP)
• Purestrain Broodswarm (Priority Assets, 1 DP)
• Xenocult Masses (Disruption, 1 DP)

The Rules Updates section is bigger than most. Here are some key points for the GSC:

• Biosanctic Broodsurge stims: grant +2 to Charge rolls now.
• Predatory Instincts: Infiltrators gain a -1 CP Heroic Intervention for Abominants, Biophagi, and Patriarchs.
• Host of Ascension reshuffle: Primed and Readied climbs to 2 CP, and Tunnel Crawlers drops to 6 inches.
• Support keyword rollout: Biophagus, Clamavus, Locus, and Nexos lose Leader and pick up the new Support keyword instead.
• Kelermorph and Primus: Kelermorph’s Hypersensory lets him shoot AND scoot when an enemy ends within 8 inches, and Primus now adds 1 to Hit rolls for the entire unit he’s leading.

Necrons Get a Destroyer Cult Buff and a Night Scythe Rework

The Necron pack has one of the spicier datasheet rewrites in the whole drop. Night Scythe loses the Aircraft keyword entirely and becomes a 14-inch Hover skimmer with Deep Strike, which is a complete identity shift for what used to be the army’s go-to flier.

Three new 1-DP detachments dropped:

• Hand of the Dynasty (Take and Hold, 1 DP)
• Skyshroud Spearhead (Reconnaissance, 1 DP)
• The Phaeron’s Armory (Priority Assets, 1 DP)

The rules updates section changed all kinds of characters and datasheets:

• Annihilation Legion Protocol: bakes +1 AP into Destroyer Cult ranged attacks against the closest eligible target, a meaningful damage bump baked straight into the detachment rule.
• Hypercrypt Hyperphasing scaling: 1, 2, or 3 units at Incursion, Strike Force, and Onslaught, and Cosmic Precision works for non-Deep-Strike arrivals too.
• Obeisance Phalanx Worthy Foes: +1 to Wound for Nobles, Lychguard, and Triarch units against the chosen enemy unit.
• Monolith Eternity Gate: send a unit from the board or reserves into reserves, then ingress within 6 inches with no charge that turn.
• Silent King and Plasmancer: Szarekh’s new Relentless March hands +2 inches Move to friendly Necrons within 6 inches, and Plasmancer’s Living Lightning is now four D6 mortal wound rolls at 18 inches.

Leagues of Votann Get Reactive Tools and a Tighter Hekaton

The Leagues of Votann faction packs upgrade the reactive shooting that’s already been super effective for the army. Needgaard’s Reactive Reprisal turns into a proper out-of-phase shooting trigger against a single enemy unit, and Void Hardened worsens AP by 1 against the attacker.

The three new 1-DP detachments:

• Armored Trailblazers (Disruption, 1 DP)
• Farseekers (Reconnaissance, 1 DP)
• Hearthguard Covenant (Priority Assets, 1 DP)

The Rules Updates section adds a stack of reactive tools and key character buffs:

• Brandfast Secure Positions: a Transport can disembark a unit wholly within 6 inches in any of your phases as long as your army has Hostile Acquisition, with no charge after.
• Persecution and Buri reactives: Claimstaker Reflex tightens to 8 inches, and Buri Aegnirssen scoots D6+2 inches when shot, bigger than the standard reactive move.
• Hekaton Land Fortress tighten: transport stays at 14, but the wagon now blocks Artillery models from boarding, and Exoarmour, Exoframes, and Ironkin Steeljacks each eat 2 slots in the bay.
• Hernkyn Yaegir reactive: swap to the standard 8-inch D6 move.
• Memnyr and Uthar buffs: Predictive Guidance cuts Fire Overwatch or Heroic Intervention by 1 CP once per round, and Uthar’s Ancestral Fortune changes any one roll to an unmodified 6 per turn for 1 YP.

T’au Empire Get a Full For the Greater Good Rewrite

Honestly, this is the rewrite everyone has been talking about with the Tau. With how hidden and visibility works in 11th Edition, it makes sense that For the Greater Good is rebuilt around Observer, Spotted, and Guided tagging. You pick Observer units at the start of the Shooting phase, each one marks a Spotted enemy unit, and Guided units fire at +1 BS against Spotted targets, plus Ignores Cover if the Observer has the Markerlight keyword.

Three new 1-DP detachments:

• Advanced Acquisition Cadre (Reconnaissance, 1 DP)
• Auxillary Cadre (Disruption, 1 DP)
• Experimental Prototype Cadre (Priority Assets, 1 DP)

The rest of the Rules Updates layers the cadre detachments on top of that core. The keyTau changes are:

• Kauyon Patient Hunter: Sustained Hits 1 on every T’au ranged weapon in turns 3 through 5, plus Guided units ignore BS modifiers and Hit roll mods against their Spotted unit.
• Mont’ka Killing Blow: Assault on every T’au ranged weapon in turns 1 through 3, plus Lethal Hits while Guided.
• Retaliation Cadre Bonded Heroes: Battlesuits get +1 Strength within 12 inches and +1 AP within 8 inches.
• Crisis Sunforge re-rolls: re-roll Wound AND Damage against Monsters and Vehicles.
• Riptide and Ion Accelerator: Nova Charge converts to a once-per-battle Devastating Wounds buff on a chosen weapon, and the Ion Accelerator gets a fresh statline, 9 Strength at -2 AP for 3 Damage standard, 10 Strength at -3 AP for 4 Damage supercharge.

Final Thoughts on the 11th Edition Xenos Faction Packs

Bottom line, whether you liked the changes to your army or not, the 11th Edition Xenos faction packs are the first real preview of how 11th Edition Codexes are going to feel for the alien factions. Three (or four) new detachments per army, Force Disposition tags wired into the mission types, Munitorum mission rewards, and a Rules Updates section that actually rewrites army-rule cornerstones, is a lot more than the Space Marines drop carried yesterday.

Either way, the next wave of 11th Edition codex releases is the next big thing to watch, since these are all just stop-gaps until those drop. Each Xenos faction has its full codex still ahead of it, and whatever lands inside those books has to coexist with what just dropped today. The detachments and rule rewrites in these packs are a deliberate look at what the rules team has been building.

🔗 Related Reads:

• Warhammer 40k 11th Edition Rules: Big Reveals, Rumors + Predictions
• New 11th Edition Space Marine Rules Drop With No Patch Notes
• 3 New 11th Edition Genestealer Cults Detachments
• Top Most Dangerous Xenos Threats in Warhammer 40k
• 40k Codex Release Schedule 2026 Roadmap
• 11th Edition 40k Q&A FAQ Reveals Big Changes for 2026
• Warhammer 40k Factions: All Armies and Races Explained

What do you think about the new 11th Edition Xenos Faction Packs and the Rules Updates landing for every alien army?

PREV ARTICLE

« GW CEO Said No AI, Then This Space Marine Art Dropped With 6 Fingers