GW revealed the 40k Maelstrom Lair of the Tyrant campaign book and box set releases for a pirate-themed 10th edition finale with Red Corsairs, new Aeldari minis, Yriel, rules, and more.
Games Workshop just did the funniest thing possible: they looked at tenth edition winding down and said, “Cool. Let’s end it with Corsairs space pirates, a Warp-storm raid zone, and a campaign box stuffed with rules.” Except this time, it is not wishlisting or rumors, because GW has straight-up confirmed the Maelstrom campaign book leaks are legit.
And the best part: it all points straight toward the 11th event, handoff this summer.
Maelstrom: The Lair of the Tyrant
Updated on February 9th, 2026, by Rob Baer with the latest product info, Reave-Captain, and Raiders rules.
Lair of the Tyrant Retail Price & Release Date:
- Huron Blackheart Release Date: February 28th, 2026
- Retail Price (MSRP/RRP): $80 (USA), $100 (Canada), $133 (Australia), £50 (UK), €65 (EU)
The Big Pitch: Multiple Ending Corsairs 40k Books That Push Toward 11th Edition
Yup, the Red Corsairs are sailing in loud, Prince Yriel is back in the spotlight, and narrative play is about to get a whole lot more “grab the loot and burn the map.”
Maelstrom and the Five Hundred Worlds books are shaping up like the end-of-edition final act, the kind where named characters rotate through center stage, factions get fast-tracked hobby love, and GW casually teases “long dead” returns just to watch the internet detonate.
If you’ve been waiting for a clean excuse to start a new Corsairs 40k force, refresh an old one, or finally run a pirate-themed crusade without homebrewing half the rules, these confirmed leaks look like that moment.
Red Corsairs Front and Center: Huron’s Crew Starts Filling Out
If Maelstrom is leaning into the tyrant angle, Huron and the Corsairs taking center stage tracks perfectly. Huron has already been shown off, and the GW themselves teased more Red Corsairs support coming right behind him.
Better yet, Huron is not showing up solo. He’s rolling deep with the Masters of the Maelstrom, and the Red Corsairs are getting fresh muscle in the form of a new battleforce: Lords of the Maelstrom. There are brand new models, classic Chaos staples, and upgrade bits to make the whole force scream “pirate empire” without leaning on daemons and mutations.
A captain is only as good as the monsters standing behind him, and Huron’s inner circle reads like a “worst people you know” all-star team.
The Badab War Veterans: Old Grudges, New Loot
Three members come straight out of the Badab War’s nastiest history:
- Garreon the Corpsemaster, a Lord-Apothecary and former Astral Claw (we have more on him below)
- Katar Garrix, a cold-hearted headsman formerly of the Executioners
- Garlon Souleater, a master manipulator and deadly sorcerer once under the Mantis Warriors banner
These are the kinds of characters that practically beg for narrative hobby choices. You can paint subtle remnants of their old Chapter colors under the Red Corsairs scheme, like the warband slapped new loyalty over old sins and never bothered to sand it down.
The Mortals: The People Who Make the Fleet Run
The mortal side of the crew is where this release gets extra spicy, because it sells the Red Corsairs as an actual empire, not just a warband with attitude.
- Captain Sargotta is the finest shipmaster in the fleet, and she openly despises the pirate lords under her command.
- The Enforcer is a Tarellian bounty hunter whose job is to hunt down deserters and cowards (we have all the guesses and rumor engines for her below). If she does not catch them, her enthralled Barghesi will tear them apart.
This crew does not just raid, either. They enforce order, they run logistics, and they keep the whole pirate machine from collapsing into infighting.
Garreon the Corpsemaster Got the Spotlight First
GW previously showed off Garreon the Corpsemaster, and yep, Huron’s favorite “please do not ask what’s in that jar” apothecary looks every bit as sketchy as the name suggests.
He fulfills a Rumor Engine from October 14th as well.
He’s the former Chief Apothecary of the Astral Claws, and if the rest of the Red Corsairs retinue is this spicy, the preview is going to be doing a lot of heavy lifting for Chaos fans.
Corsairs 40k Rumor Engines Confirmed:
The Wild Card: A Tarellian Dog Soldier
One of the more interesting Corsairs 40k leaks was a Chaos xenos model in the mix. The guesses ranged from a Kroot-style hireling to a Tarellian Dog Soldier mercenary. It turned out to be a Tarellian, and this model solved two rumor engines in one fell swoop. Who knows, maybe we’ll get more Tarellians in the future!
The Red Corsairs Shipmaster
There was chatter about an extra unit described as a hunter type, but that turned out to be somewhat far off. It was, instead, Captain Sargotta. She’s the sharpest shipmaster the Red Corsairs have, and the brain behind most of their wins in the void.
She also just happens to think the frothing pile of pirate lords she has to wrangle is a complete embarrassment.
Reave-Captain: The Kind of Leader Who Keeps Traitors in Line
The Reave-Captain is exactly what the name promises. To lead a crew of turncoat Space Marines, you need charisma, cruelty, and the kind of reputation that keeps the knives pointed outward.
This is your perfect “second centerpiece” model. Huron is the legend, and the Reave-Captain is the one doing the day-to-day raiding, enforcing discipline, and taking trophies.
Reave-Captain Datasheet Rules
The Red Corsairs Reave-Captain rules are built for one job: hit the point first, hit the enemy harder, and make the objective feel like it belongs to you. He’s an Infiltrating Chaos character with a legit invulnerable save, clean leader options, and a pair of charge bonuses that turn “made the charge” into “picked up a unit.”
He is not subtle, and that is the whole point.
- Built to brawl: Toughness four, five wounds, a three-plus save, and a four-plus invulnerable for real staying power in the scrum.
- Leader glue for your murder-bricks: he can attach to Chosen, Legionaries, or Red Corsairs Raiders, so your punch unit gets a real bully up front.
- Charge equals pain: Brutal Raider kicks in when the unit ends a charge, giving this model’s melee weapons +1 Strength and improving AP by one until end of turn. If you connect, you connect like a truck.
- Objective-assisted charges: Raider’s Due gives a charge re-roll when you declare a charge into units near objective markers. That is basically “this is a pirate raid, and the loot is the objective.”
- Melee that actually matters: the power sword swings a ton with Sustained Hits one, while the power maul brings a nastier damage profile. Either way, he is here to remove problem models, not just wear a cape.
Red Corsair Raiders: Chaos, Minus the Warp Weirdness
The Red Corsair Raiders are the breakout concept here, because they show a side of Chaos we do not get enough: Space Marines who turned their backs on the Imperium without leaning on daemons, mutations, or obvious Dark Gods’ favoritism.
They have an eclectic wargear look, mixing old armor marks with modern Imperial patterns, which is basically hobby catnip. This unit screams “looted, scavenged, and still lethal.”
So if you are building them, build them to look like they live in that moment where the boarding torpedoes hit, and the doors explode open.
Actionable hobby tip: make each Raider slightly different while unifying them with consistent iconography. Same reds, same markings, same basing. Let the armor marks and gear variety do the storytelling.
Red Corsairs Raiders Datasheet Rules
These Red Corsairs Raiders rules scream “forward deploy, take your lunch money, and keep moving.” They are Infiltrators with solid bodies, useful upgrade slots, and an OC snowball rule that rewards you for doing what Corsairs do best: kill something and claim the prize.
They are not a delicate skirmish unit. They are a theft crew with knives.
- Start on the line: Infiltrators means you get to set the terms early, pressure a flank, or stage a turn-one problem that demands an answer.
- Objective scaling threat: Trophy Takers gives the unit a permanent payoff the first time they destroy an enemy unit. Until end of battle, while not Battle-shocked, models in the unit get +1 Objective Control. Once they get a kill, they become a real scoring headache.
- Sneaky character delivery: if a Character with Leader could join Legionaries, it can join these Raiders instead. That is a big deal because it expands what buffs and beatsticks you can smuggle into a forward-deployed unit.
- Flexible upgrades, not just boltguns: the Champion can swap to a hand flamer for close-in clearing, and for every five models you can add a meltagun and a power fist. That lets the squad pivot from “pressure and score” to “pressure, score, and crack something important.”
- Dark Pacts on tap: they’re still Chaos, so you’re not losing this ability.
Lords of the Maelstrom Battleforce: What’s in the Corsiars 40k Box
Here’s where the Red Corsairs start looking like a real army project instead of a single cool character buy.
The Lords of the Maelstrom battleforce is headlined by new models, then backed up by a classic Chaos infantry core, plus Red Corsairs upgrades and transfers to lock in the theme.
Corsairs 40k Battleforce contents at a glance
- 10 Red Corsair Raiders (new plastic kit)
- 1 Reave-Captain (new plastic kit)
- 10 Chaos Space Marine Legionaries
- 5 Chaos Terminators
- 10 Traitor Guardsmen
- Red Corsairs upgrades and transfers
If you are building Red Corsairs from scratch, this is the kind of bundle that can actually serve as a foundation rather than a random box you buy “someday.” You get your new hotness, plus the bread-and-butter units that fill out a force and give you options.
Aeldari Corsairs Just Got an Upgrade Too
For the Aeldari Corsair fans, the void finally paid up: Prince Yriel is back with a slick new model, and he brought friends. The Eldritch Raiders Battleforce drops in the new jump pack Skyreavers, Kharseth the Void Dreamer, ten Corsair Voidscarred, and a freshly redesigned Vyper that can be styled as a Corsair Starfang.
If you’ve been tracking the leaks, yep, they were basically on the money, but the full reveal makes this feel like a real Corsair push.
The Maelstrom: Lair of the Tyrant Is 40k Narrative Play Going Full Corsairs Mode
If you liked the idea of the 500 Worlds: Titus campaign format, then buckle up. The Maelstrom: Lair of the Tyrant takes that same “big box of lore and rules” energy and hurls it straight into one of the nastiest Warp storms in the Imperium. Huron Blackheart and the Red Corsairs are kicking in doors, grabbing loot, and turning the region into a full-on raid zone.
This is a Warhammer 40k campaign book set built for players who want their games to feel like an ongoing story instead of a string of disconnected matchups. Four books in a slipcase, a brand-new war zone, and rules that reward you for playing like a ruthless captain with a reputation to build.
The Lore Book: Huron Blackheart, Prince Yriel, Ork Freebootas, and More
One of the books is a dedicated background lore deep dive, and it is not just “here’s a war zone, go fight.” It’s loaded with the kind of faction flavor that makes narrative campaigns actually stick.
You’re getting context and spotlight time for:
- Huron Blackheart and the Red Corsairs, leading the vicious raid at the center of the whole thing
- Prince Yriel of the Aeldari is showing up in the mix
- Ork Freebootas tribes doing what they do best, which is “piracy with extra yelling.”
- Chaos warbands scattered through the storm, lurking and waiting to ruin somebody’s day
Raid and Ruin: The Campaign Rules That Reward You for Being a Menace
The Raid and Ruin book is where the campaign engine lives. This is the stuff that turns your games into a season of escalating grudges.
Notoriety Points and Titles
Instead of just “win game, feel good,” players are competing for Notoriety Points and earning titles to prove who’s the nastiest captain in the Maelstrom. That’s a big deal, because campaigns live or die on incentives. Notoriety gives you a reason to play aggressively, take risks, and chase objectives that feel thematic instead of purely optimal.
Twelve New Missions, Including Multiplayer Options
You get twelve new missions, plus options for three and four-player games. That’s huge for groups that always have “one extra person” on game night or want occasional chaos matches without homebrewing half the rules.
Crucible of Champions: Create Your Own Character Rules Are Here
The Crucible of Champions book lets you create a custom hero to lead your force. Not just a named character swap, but a flexible system for creating your own character unit.
This is the kind of thing narrative players love. It also means you can finally run the weird concept that’s been living in your head for years without needing to “counts-as” your way through every opponent interaction.
Examples of the Madness You Can Make
The examples alone tell you exactly what this system is trying to encourage:
- A Ravenwing Librarian on a bike
- A Rogue Trader with two inferno pistols
- A Krootox Rider with a rail rifle
- An Astra Militarum officer in a Sentinel
- A psychic Tyranid artillery-beast
- A Grot with big ideas
That is pure campaign fuel, and we love it.
The Maelstrom Battalions for Drukhari and Leagues of Votann
If you’re jumping into The Maelstrom campaign content and want forces that feel like they belong in a Warp-storm pirate brawl, the Maelstrom Battalions for Drukhari and Leagues of Votann are basically the “kick the door in” option. One is pure speed and blades, the other is cold, calculated Ironkin muscle, with scouts picking the best targets like they are shopping for rare minerals.
Drukhari Maelstrom Battalion
The Drukhari Maelstrom Battalion contents is exactly what you want from Commorragh: fast, vicious, and built to make your opponent regret leaving anything exposed. You are looking at a rapid strike force of deadly infantry and grav vehicles that wants to hit first, hit hard, and be gone before the return punch lands.
Contents:
- one Succubus
- ten Wyches
- five Hellions
- three Reaver jetbikes
- two Venoms
Leagues of Votann Maelstrom Battalion
On the other side, the Leagues of Votann battalion plays like a mining operation with a grudge. It leans heavily into Ironkin muscle and scouting, then commits only when the target is worth the risk. It is not flashy. It is effective, and it will absolutely ruin someone’s day once it decides the resources are worth collecting.
Contents:
- one Memnyr Strategist
- two units of three Steeljacks (six total)
- three Hernkyn Pioneers
Final Thoughts on the New Maelstrom Books and Red Corsairs
So yeah, if you were hoping tenth edition would go out with a polite little bow, Maelstrom is here to flip the table, steal the silverware, and sail off laughing. These confirmed leaks have all the classic end-of-edition ingredients: a big narrative stage, mission packs and campaign hooks that actually reward playing like a menace, and just enough shiny new plastic to make your pile of shame look you in the eyes and whisper “one more box.”
Red Corsairs getting real support, Aeldari Corsairs leveling up with Yriel and friends, and a pirate-themed war zone that invites weird alliances and grudges is exactly the kind of chaos 40k campaigns are supposed to have.
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