UKTC 11th Edition Change

As many of you know the new edition of Warhammer 40k is coming and has been announced by Games Workshop for a June release. 

Please note that the below is based on our assumptions and only the publicly available information Games Workshop has released and we are no more privy to the facts than you are. That being said, this is not our first edition change and we know how to handle things smoothly for all.

This article covers how we will manage the process of transitioning from one edition to the next so that all players can continue to attend events in meantime, understand when and how long they will have to learn the new rules, and how we will manage aspects such as changes to missions and terrain.

As we are now in our 10th year, this will not be the first time we have an edition change in or around the date of one of our events. At this time it is par for the course and this article will clearly set out everything you need to know to confidently attend a UKTC event over April, May and through June.

In June we are hosting one event, the Leeds Super Major on 13-14, this event has a rules cut off on the 7th and given that Games Workshop have announced a ‘June’ release date, this event will be played with 10th edition rules. The logic for this is simple: even if 11th edition comes out on the 1st of June, 6 days prior to our rules cut off: this will not be enough time for 400 people to learn the new game to tournament standard. 

Players should note that Games Workshop has announced that your codex will be valid from day 1. This means that the new game is not a hard reset of the rules with a whole new rulebook to read. It’s largely an update to the game and make it better for all. Accordingly we anticipate most players will be able to rapidly adapt to the new edition swiftly and stress free.

Our first event in July is the Birmingham Super Major on the 4th and 5th, with a rules cut off of the 28th of June. Assuming a Saturday product launch, as has always been the case, we anticipate that the new edition will be out prior to the rules cut off date. Accordingly, at the Birmingham GT we will be running two 40k events, your ticket will be valid for whichever event you choose to participate in and there will be prizing and ranking points for both. This means that whether you want to rush to learn the new edition and play that or don’t want to, then you can play in the 10th edition event instead. 

Last time we hosted an event of this format in 2023 we found most people wanted to play the new edition but we still had about 100 playing the old one. Furthermore, we’ll have more Judges on site than usual who will be able to help you get up to speed. Finally, should you not want to play for points, we will have open gaming tables all weekend and will be providing demo staff to actively teach you the new game. Just like usual, registration will commence 10 days prior to the event and at that point in time you just need to let us know what you want to participate in. 

Finally, Games Workshop has confirmed that ‘The missions you play and the objectives in each game will be defined by your selection of army.’ and ‘Objective markers are gone… instead armies will battle over critical pieces of terrain.’ This means that updates to both our mission pack and our terrain should be expected. We firmly understand the disruption changes like these can be to communities who have invested thousands of pounds in and hours into their terrain, and as the owner of over £100,000 of terrain ourselves, we will be managing this transition to minimize disruption in the short term and to maximise the long term engagement in the game. We will be working with all reputable TOs who want to be involved to help manage this transition. This will be a part of our new terrain library programme which will be fully detailed in an upcoming roadmap article enabling local TOs to gain free access and use of our terrain at nil cost.