Total War Warhammer 40k closed beta sign-ups are live, and Creative Assembly used the PC Gaming Show 2026 to show off the Astra Militarum and Ork rosters.
The closed beta sign-up page is live right now on the official Total War 40k site, and the gameplay reveal at PC Gaming Show 2026 gave us our clearest look yet at how Creative Assembly is treating the 41st Millennium.
Honestly, the smart play here is to hit the sign-up page first and watch the gameplay second if you want a chance to play the game before launch!
Get on the list early for this one, because anyone who remembers how the Total War Warhammer trilogy closed betas filled up knows the deal.
We covered how Total War 40k actually plays earlier this year, and the wishlist count just crossed one million Steam wishlists, so the sign-up pool is going to be deep.
Astra Militarum Roll Out the Heavy Hitters
- Closed beta sign-ups: live on the official Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000 page ahead of a still-TBA release window.
- Four launch factions: Space Marines, Astra Militarum, Orks, and Aeldari, with the Guard and Orks taking the spotlight in the new gameplay reveal.
- Yarrick and Ghazghkull: confirmed as faction leaders, with Armageddon set as one of the closed beta planets.
The news and first look come from the PC Gaming Show, and Creative Assembly opened registration the same day they showed off massive Astra Militarum vs. Ork battles on Armageddon.
To us, the Guard reveal hit harder than expected. Creative Assembly didn’t tease the chaff and save the toys for a later trailer; they put the whole range almost on screen at once. The roster runs from Cadian Shock Troops and Kasrkin up through Ogryns led by Commissars, then drops Leman Russ tanks, Rogal Dorn variants, Sentinels, the Baneblade, and Yarrick as the anchor.
Concept art for the Primaris Psyker also landed as the army’s psychic support, which tells us they’re treating the Warp as a unit role rather than flavor text, too!
So obviously, if you’ve spent any time pushing Imperial Guard around on the tabletop, this is the first time the army gets animated at full Total War scale. Which is going to look very different from how Cadian Shock Troops shake out on a 6×4 with L walls for cover, lol.
The Orks Bring the Green Tide
Unfortunately, the Orks didn’t get the exact level of breakdown, but what we saw lines up with what every Ork player wants. Vast hordes of Boyz and Gretchin came in first, Stormboyz dropped into the fray with their Rokkit Packs, and the heavy armor showed up as Deff Dreads (and a Stompa) plowing into Cadian lines.
Bottom line is that if Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka is leading this army, the Stompa needs to be there, and the Deff Dread wave needs to actually hit Imperial lines instead of getting countered at fifteen feet out. Which Creative Assembly clearly understood from this preview!
Yarrick and Ghazghkull Set the Stage on Armageddon
Armageddon is an easy win for CA, because the storyline is one 40k players already know extremely well, and with Yarrick’s model just dropping, the timing works perfectly. You really can’t go wrong with Commissar Yarrick for the Astra Militarum and Ghazghkull for the Orks as faction leaders in any setting, and the same planet Games Workshop centered the 11th Edition launch around for June 20.
The digital and tabletop calendars lining up like this isn’t an accident. GW and Creative Assembly are coordinating the Armageddon theme across two products at once, which is perfect for getting new players for both genres. On the tabletop side, the new Armageddon battalions are the closest thing the army has to the Total War unit list right now, so anyone who gets into the closed beta wants to jump into 40k; it should be easy to do.
Final Thoughts on Total War Warhammer 40k Closed Beta
While the new footage looks amazing, the big release date for Total War Warhammer 40k is still TBA, and the game is still headed to PC via Steam, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. None of that changed at PC Gaming Show 2026. But now you can put your name on the closed beta list today instead of wishlisting and waiting.
The other open question coming out of PC Gaming Show 2026 is how Creative Assembly handles the squad-based feel of tabletop 40k inside a Total War battle scale. They hinted at cover mechanics in the footage, but didn’t walk through the system quite yet.
But we think if they get the feel and mechanics of 40k right, this could be one of the biggest and best 40k video games ever!
Sign Up for the Closed Beta Here
🔗 Related Reads:
- How Total War 40k Actually Plays
- Total War 40k Hits One Million Steam Wishlists
- Big 40k Total War Update + Armageddon Release Plans
- Commissar Yarrick Returns to Armageddon in 40k
- A Beast of a Boss: Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka Lore
- Astra Militarum on the Tabletop: Imperial Guard Playstyles
- 4 New Armageddon Battalions Pricing Breakdown
