Don’t call it a comeback, Apocalypse has been here for years! GW just announced the 8th Edition version is coming next week!
Warhammer Community dropped the mother of all 40k bombs as Apocalypse is bringing the Warhammer heat this summer!
UPDATE: Look for Apocalypse to go up for pre-order next week on June 29th.
Playing Apocalypse just got easier with the new starter set!
This new game consists of an innovative rules system that enables you to fight even the largest battles to completion in a matter of hours, with minimal downtime between player actions. We had a chat with the team behind the game to find out more, check it out:
Along with the Apocalypse Field Manual (your complete guide to playing cinematic, massed battles in the 41st Millennium), the set includes dozens of pop-out card tokens for keeping track of the action, from orders assigned to each Detachment to large and small blast markers that represent a unit’s embattled status.
There are also a whopping 300 Command Asset cards – split between universal and faction-specific cards – from which you can create a custom deck to give you the edge in battle. Command Assets are used in Apocalypse to unleash devastating psychic powers and pull off cunning strategies, so you’ll want to make sure you choose the best combination for the units and Detachments at your disposal.
On that note, if you want even more variety in the tactical nuances at your disposal, the Apocalypse Command Assets set offers you a further 100 cards to choose from.
Other handy accessories include an Apocalypse dice set, which includes 25 six-sided dice (D6s) and 25 twelve-sided dice (D12s) – after all, this is Apocalypse, so you’ll be rolling bucketloads of dice!
– and packs of transparent Movement Trays designed for Citadel 25mm, 32mm and 40mm Round Bases to help speed up gameplay and get your vast infantry formations stuck into the action!
Look for this to go on pre-order this week on June 22nd with delivery on the 29th of next week.
More on Apocalypse:
What makes this game so appealing? Well, you’ll be able to play with all your biggest models and it won’t take an entire weekend! Coming from GW themselves, we’ll be able to host bigger battles in half the time. The game may be set in 40k but it’ll have a completely new set of rules compared to what we know about 8th edition right now.
At the event, they said D12’s would be included in the box, which may mean the rules release themselves may be something similar to perhaps Titanicus rules set with specialized dice, cards, and stratagems.
We actually played a full-scale game of Titanicus and if you scale up the table size based on the models, an 8’x8′ table works perfectly for at 40k scale version of the game. Using the previous Apocalypse templates, the game went swimmingly.
Is this the format GW could use for the reboot? Well, it turns out they may have adapted the game to 8th already as well.
Back in 2017 GW rolled out Apocalypse in the first Chapter Approved book for 8th Edition, which may also be the framework for the new edition as well:
In Chapter Approved, Apocalypse is back, featuring rules and scenarios for playing your biggest battles ever. Apocalypse games are focused on epic moments, grand narratives, and fun, while accommodating armies that can run into the tens of thousands of points. The toolset in the book is a flexible and robust base from which you could build countless scenarios. We like the rules for multi-board games; perhaps one table could have a clutch of Deathstrikes waiting to fire as a team of desperate Pathfinderstry to stop them before they annihilate the Ta’unar Supremacy Armour on another.
The Apocalypse missions are similarly awesome. Our favourite is Exterminatus, set during the death of a world while viral bombardments, cyclonic torpedoes and orbital lasers tear apart the very planet your warriors stand on.
It’s not just about the games themselves – Chapter Approved is full of advice on organizing your Apocalypse games. As anyone who’s tried to run a club can attest to, organizing a pack of Warhammer fans has a lot in common with trying to herd cats. Thankfully, you’ll find tips for planning your games, picking a place and even using a gamemaster or umpire to make sure everything runs smoothly.
Apocalypse games are games you and your friends will remember for a long time. It’s great to see Games Workshop bringing it back and providing rules and a guide to help us organize games for our local groups. Can you imagine playing 10,000+ points of models on each side? These games are going to be epic!
2007’s Apocalypse Blast Template
How can you play games this size in half the time? Well, instead of moving each individual unit like normal in 40k, the units in this game will be broken down by entire formations. Break out those movement trays because you’ll be moving a bunch of units all at once!
With word of bigger and faster games of 40k on the way, will you be giving this a try? What faction will you be playing? Will the points ratio of all the units be the same as it is in 8th edition (just on a larger scale)? Let us know what you think in the comments of our Facebook Hobby Group.
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent six years writing for Bell of Lost Souls.
Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Long War 40k Doubles at Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
