What to Expect at the Birmingham Super-Major This Weekend

This weekend’s Birmingham Super-Major will be the first UKTC event played using the new 11th Edition event companion and terrain footprints.

There is, however, one important practical update players need to be aware of before they roll dice.

Because of the time required to build, and prepare the full new pre-painted Armageddon terrain sets for 11th Edition matched play, Birmingham will be played using the new footprints and event companion, but with transitional terrain pieces on the tables.

The terrain still looks excellent, and we are confident the tables will provide a strong competitive experience. But we want players to understand exactly how the terrain should be treated on the day.

How to play the terrain this weekend

For Birmingham, players should still use the event companion as the rules reference for how the terrain functions.

That means the event companion remains the source of truth for:

• the intended terrain layout;

• terrain types;

• light terrain;

• dense terrain;

However, where you are determining the actual physical location of the terrain on the table, use the terrain pieces and footprints in front of you.

We have matched the physical terrain to the new footprints as closely as possible. In a small number of places, some decorative parts of the terrain may overhang the footprint by slightly less than an inch. Where this happens, the overhanging part should be ignored for gameplay purposes.

In simple terms:

Play the terrain rules as written in the event companion. Use the pieces on the table to determine where the terrain is. Ignore any small decorative overhang outside the footprint.

This should make the tables easy to play, while keeping the event aligned with the new 11th Edition structure.

Why we are doing this

The move to 11th Edition is a significant terrain transition.

The new terrain system is not just cosmetic. The relationship between missions, objectives, terrain footprints, and battlefield layouts matters. Games Workshop has designed the new matched play environment around those interactions, and using the correct terrain is now a central part of delivering a fair, consistent, and intended tournament experience.

That is why UKTC is moving quickly to deploy the new Armageddon terrain system across our major events.

For Birmingham, the physical build timeline means we are using a transitional solution. For Edinburgh and the London Open, players can expect to play on the full new pre-painted Armageddon terrain sets, specifically designed for 11th Edition matched play.

The scale of the undertaking

It is worth emphasising the scale of what is happening behind the scenes. This is not a small scenery refresh or a routine terrain update. Each full Armageddon table requires 28 individual pieces of terrain. For the London Grand Tournament alone, we need terrain for what is tracking to be a sell out at 1200 players /  600 tables. That means UKTC is currently building, preparing, and organising around 16,800 individual terrain pieces before the end of the summer. It is a mammoth undertaking, and it is exactly why Birmingham sits in this transitional phase: we are moving as quickly as possible, but we are also determined to do the job properly. The end result will be worth it — a new generation of tournament tables built for 11th Edition from the ground up.

This investment is not only for UKTC’s own flagship events. As part of the UKTC Grass Roots Support Programme, we are also developing a terrain library intended to help other Tournament Organisers, clubs, stores, and local community organisers access suitable terrain where it can support regular organised play. If you are building a local scene and terrain is one of the practical barriers stopping you from running good events, we want to hear from you.

The future: proper 11th Edition battlefields

Birmingham is the bridge.

Edinburgh and the London Open are where players will start to see the full terrain vision deployed: beautiful, consistent, purpose-built Armageddon tables designed around the new edition and the way 11th Edition matched play is intended to function.

This is the direction tournament 40k is moving in. Correct terrain matters. Correct footprints matter. Clear layouts matter. The best tournament experience comes from tables that are not only fair and consistent, but also immersive and visually impressive.

UKTC will be the first organiser in the UK to deploy this new terrain at scale, and we are looking forward to a future of better-looking, better-playing tournament tables.

Final note for Birmingham players

Please arrive ready to use the event companion and the table setup together. If there is ever uncertainty, call a judge and we will resolve it clearly on the day.

We appreciate players’ patience during this transition period, and we are looking forward to seeing everyone at Birmingham this weekend.

Tickets are also available now for the upcoming Edinburgh Super-Major and London Open, where players will be able to experience the new Armageddon terrain in full.