New Warhammer 40k 10th edition rules preview are here for the Space Marines and Tyranids faction rules and how they will work in the new edition!
This is going to be a big change from 9th as now you will pick a sub-faction and get a particular set of rules for your army depending on what you pick, and they say your army rules will fit on one double-sided page.
Then, you also get detachment rules for each army as well, which look to give you three options (which seem to fit on one page).
Considering Tyranids and Space Marines are coming out in the starter set, those are the rules we’ll be looking at.
Here are the quick links to the latest for 10th Edition Warhammer 40k and the full articles below!
- Warhammer 40k New 10th Edition Release Guide: LATEST
- New 10th Edition Warhammer 40k Starter Set
- What Will Happen To Codex Books in 10th Edition
- All the Latest 10th Edition Rules Changes
- How to Build Army Lists in 10th Edition Warhammer 40k
Now let’s jump into the new rules!
GW Reveals New 40k 10th Edition Faction Rules for Tyranids & Space Marines
The rules come from Warhammer Community.
The Index Cards released at the dawn of the new edition will each come with one Detachment, representing a common fighting style for a particular faction, and more will emerge as new Codexes arrive and armies expand. There is one golden rule: every Detachment must fit onto a single double-page spread. This means you’ll never need to go leafing through an armful of rulebooks to find that key Stratagem – you’ll have your core rules, your datasheets, and two pages of unique rules, and you’re good to go!
With only two pages of unique rules (we assume this includes all Stratagems, Relics, and Traits), it should be pretty easy to keep track of everything. Also, let’s hope this means when they come out with codexes, they have more lore and some form of free rules.
On top of this, every faction gets an army ability regardless of which Detachment you’re using. This represents the totemic aspect of that faction in war – so the Orks get Waaagh!, Tyranids get Synapse, the Astra Militarum get Orders, and the Space Marines get Oath of Moment.
Those all make sense so far, and now it looks like you won’t have quite as many rules considering Nids get Synapse as their singular army rule (but then you get to pick detachment rules on top of that). Then, getting to re-roll hits and wounds against a unit for totally free is awesome.
Also, this will make Terminators hit on a 2+ for almost every weapon and get re-rolls, so they should never really miss or not wound the chosen target.
Warhammer 40k 10th Edition Detachments Rules
The Tyranids begin their adventures in the new edition as an Invasion Fleet, focused on swift evolution and overwhelming offence. The Invasion Fleet’s Detachment rule is Hyper-adaptations, which provides three different abilities you can choose from each battle, depending on what you’re fighting.
Swarming Instincts adds the Sustained Hits 1 ability to your attacks against INFANTRY and SWARMS, landing an extra blow whenever you score a Critical Hit – that’s the new term for rolling an unmodified 6 on your Hit roll. This will be your go-to adaptation to handle an enemy horde or a stoic wall of elite infantry.
It looks like each sub-faction will have three options, and you pick one before the game starts. For Nids, we also learn what Critical Hits are (6’s to hit, pretty obvious, but hey), and Sustained Hits give you exploding 6’s. However, we really don’t know exactly what the other two will give you quite yet.
Warhammer 40k 10th Edition Faction Rules: Stratagems and Enhancements
No Detachment will contain more than six Stratagems. Add that to a robust universal menu of 12 Core Stratagems, and there’s now simply less to keep track of. Armour of Contempt returns as a Stratagem for the Gladius Task Force, the first Space Marine Detachment.
Well, at most, you can have 18 Stratagems, which is still a decent amount, but considering most are generic, it should be pretty straightforward. This is like a NERFed form of AoC as it only affects one unit but could still be super useful for only 1 CP.
Enhancements replace the old Relics and Warlord Traits, offering a unified list of unique upgrades for each Detachment. Unlike Stratagems, there are no Core Enhancements – each one is tied to a specific Detachment for a specific faction, tailored to your roster and abilities. These include refined personal wargear like Artificer Armour, or tactical talents that allow a commander to enhance the unit they’re leading.
It looks like they are just combining Relics and Warlord Traits into one now, and it should make it easier to select stuff for your characters. This isn’t anything too crazy, but having a 5+ FNP and a 2+ Save is always lovely!
So overall, once again, these new changes are very similar to Age of Sigmar. More to come as we ramp up to the big reveal of Warhammer 40k 10th Edition at Warhammer Fest 2023!
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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!
