The new Land Speeder rules drop a 14″ Move anti-grav gunship into 11th edition Space Marines, with Purgation Run, an updated FLY keyword, and a fresh datasheet.
Games Workshop just dropped the rules for the updated Land Speeder, and they’re bringing back the old chassis with a real punch. It’s fast, mean, and clearly built to do the kind of flanking work the original kit was always supposed to do back in the day.
So, if you play Marines, and if you’ve been waiting on a reason to build around Fulguris Task Force, this datasheet probably pulls you out of the painting backlog and back to the table. The speeder first lands in the Warhammer 40k Armageddon starter set, and it’s clearly built to anchor the kind of Speeder-heavy Warhammer 40k 11th Edition Space Marine list GW has been hinting at for a while now.
- Stat line built for hit-and-run: M14, T8, W9, Sv3+, OC3, with three real guns on one chassis.
- Purgation Run is the engine: shoot, then make a D6″ normal move; you just can’t charge after.
- Updated FLY keyword cleans up vertical play: ignore vertical distance entirely, just shave 2″ off the Move.
The New Land Speeder Datasheet Hits Like Three Old Variants Folded Into One
Let’s start with what’s actually on the datasheet, because the numbers tell most of the story here. Movement 14″ is the eye-catcher, and that’s before you even start thinking about Advances or FLY tricks. Toughness 8 with 9 wounds and a 3+ save is also pretty decent for something this fast. The real problem is that there’s no invuln, so a stiff melta shot will still ruin its day. OC3 means it can actually sit on a midfield objective if it has to, which a lot of fast Marine vehicles can’t really claim.
- Stat line: M14, T8, W9, Sv3+, OC3, fast and durable enough to take a hit while still holding a midfield point.
- Onslaught gatling cannon: 24″ range, 8 shots, S5 AP0 D1 with DEVASTATING WOUNDS, a real headache for 1-2 wound infantry sitting on an objective, and even chunkier targets bleed mortals when sixes roll in.
- Heavy flamer swap: trades the gatling cannon for close-range infantry-grilling work when that’s the kind of board you’re playing into.
- Multi-melta + stormfury missile launcher: the missile launcher in particular does real work at 48″ S12 AP-3 D6+1, so the Land Speeder can pop a transport from the other side of the board and float forward to cook a screen the next turn.
What’s wild is the gun loadout. The Land Speeder comes packing an onslaught gatling cannon (or heavy flamer if you want to grill infantry up close), a multi-melta, and a stormfury missile launcher. That’s three real guns on one vehicle, and GW outright admitted it’s basically rolling the old Land Speeder, Tornado, and Typhoon variants into one kit.
Which is fun to see because between the gatling cannon eating screens and the missile launcher reaching across the board, this thing hits as hard as you’ve always wanted!
Putting those guns on a Movement 14 chassis would already make the Land Speeder annoying, but what really takes it from “fast gunboat” into “the unit your opponent can’t actually counter” is the engine-mode part datasheet.
- Purgation Run is the engine: after the Land Speeder shoots, it makes a normal move of up to D6″; you just give up your charge for the turn, which on a shooting-first flanker is exactly the trade you’d take every time.
- Shoot-and-scoot in the cleanest form 40k has had in years: pop out of cover, drop 8 shots into a backline unit, then duck back out of line of sight before your opponent’s turn.
- Even on the low end of D6, the move is still good: a 1″ move can be enough to break LOS to at least one angle, and Movement 14 means your starting position can sit further back than your opponent expects.
The Updated FLY Keyword Quietly Helps a Lot Too
GW also showed off how the FLY keyword will work in 11th Edition, and they cleaned it up nicely. Luckily, the Land Speeder is one of the first datasheets showing how it actually works.
When a FLYING unit takes to the skies, it now just subtracts 2″ from the maximum distance and ignores all vertical distance entirely. No more pulling out a protractor, working out elevation, and arguing about whether the bottom of the base counts. You go horizontal, you go vertical, it all just gets folded into one number.
For a Land Speeder, that means cresting a four-story ruin to land on the rooftop objective is basically free (well, -2″). The old game of trying to math out whether your speeder can clear the next building and still threaten a target is gone. It’s a small rules change in writing, but it’s a huge one on a table. Plus, in the 11th Edition, where the terrain rules themselves got a refresh, this is the kind of thing that can help make the whole edition feel easier to play.
How the New Land Speeder Slots Into an 11th Edition Marine List
This thing is built for the Fulguris Task Force detachment that GW already teased for Space Marines in 11th edition. That detachment is anchored around Speeders of every flavor, and the Land Speeder being the cheap, fast, three-gun option is going to make it one of the easier picks to spam.
But even outside Fulguris, this thing has obvious utility. Anti-light-armor, anti-screen, anti-characters. It’s the kind of unit you bring two or three of in a more general Oath-of-Moment list just because it solves a bunch of problems for not a lot of points (assuming the points land where they should). White Scars players, in particular, are going to be in heaven. GW’s own preview made a Scars joke about it, and honestly, a faction whose whole identity is “bikes and Land Speeders go fast” finally gets a Land Speeder worth being excited about.
Final Thoughts on the New Land Speeder Rules
The new Land Speeder rules are the kind of update the kit has been waiting on for years. Either way you look at it, GW gave the kit a real upgrade, and maybe that’s just a ploy to get people to buy more… but it’s going to work!
The bigger question is what this tells you about the rest of the 11th Edition Space Marine range. If GW is willing to fold three old variants into one modern kit and give it rules this sharp, the rest of the new 11th Edition stratagems and detachment drops from the 11th Edition Q&A FAQ cycle should keep everyone on their toes, too.
For now, the Armageddon box is where this kit first lands, and given the value on that starter set, getting a Land Speeder thrown in basically for free is just another reason that box keeps looking better, and better.
🔗 Related Reads:
- See All the Latest 11th Edition Rules Changes Here
- New 11th Edition Space Marines Detachments Guide
- Warhammer 40k Armageddon Starter Set Contents and Value
- New 11th Edition 40k Terrain Rules
- New Space Marines Models for 11th Edition Predictions
- 11th Edition Stratagems Overhauled
