Codex: Space Marines Is Out — New Kits, a New Character and What to Buy First

The 11th Edition Codex: Space Marines is out, and it came with a lot of new plastic. Games Workshop's Sunday preview showed a 232-page book, four of the range's core kits rebuilt from the ground up, a brand-new named character, and the Armageddon units finally breaking out into boxes of their own. Pre-orders opened in September and the release date was Saturday 3 October, so if you are shopping the Space Marines range today, this is what is on the shelf. Here it is, box by box.

The Space Marines codex: 232 pages, three editions

Games Workshop's announcement calls it a hefty 232 pages of collecting guides, updated datasheets, and an in-depth look inside a Space Marine fortress monastery. It comes in three flavours:

• Standard edition: softback, supplied in a slipcase.
• Collector's Edition: hardback with gold foil and printed page edges.
• Limited Edition: six swappable metal Chapter badges for the cover, a set of art prints, a metal Crux Terminatus, and the Command Pack bundled in. Games Workshop exclusive, so it is not something we can restock.

If you are wondering whether you need it, the answer depends on how you play. Codex: Orks was 11th Edition's first codex, and the Space Marines book follows the same pattern: the rules and detachments for your army in one place, plus a lot of hobby inspiration.

Four Space Marine core kits rebuilt

This is the part that matters if you already own a pile of blue plastic. Four of the most-bought kits in the entire 40,000 range have been replaced:

• Intercessor Squad — 13 helmets spread across three marks of armour, plus a power sword, a power fist and a sergeant's back banner.
• Outrider Squad — three bikes with ten helmet options; the sergeant takes a power sword or a thunder hammer.
• Vanguard Veteran Squad with Jump Packs — five models, combat shields available to every one of them, and a spread of master-crafted power swords, axes, a relic blade, a power fist or a thunder hammer.
• Captain on Bike — three weapon options, five heads, and a choice between a bike caught mid-charge or planted with one foot down.

Kaius Konorius, the Chapter Master's champion

The new character is Kaius Konorius, a blademaster. Games Workshop describes him as a Chapter veteran who fought alongside Marneus Calgar and has now ventured into the stars once again to serve as the Chapter Master's personal champion, adding that he is equally skilled at skewering Characters as he is at mowing down hordes of lesser foes.

In plainer terms: he is a duellist who also protects your warlord from Precision attacks, which is the sort of job an Ultramarines character tends to end up with.

Outriders & Captain on Bike

Anyone who has spent the last year trying to buy a single Land Speeder without a boxed game attached will appreciate this one. Three Armageddon releases went standalone:

• Champions of Armageddon — a Chaplain with jump pack, an Ancient and three Eradicators, as a Games Workshop exclusive set.
• Eradicators with heavy bolters — in a box of their own at last.
• Land Speeder — armed with either an onslaught gatling cannon or a pyrecannon.

Cards, dice and a Black Templars novel

• Command Pack: Space Marines — 94 reference cards and 24 double-sided tokens.
• Premium Dice Set — 16 dice carrying the Crux Terminatus.
• Helbrecht: Sin of Hope by Mike Vincent — a Black Library Special Edition. One for the Black Templars shelf.

Fifteen Space Marine detachments to pick from

The codex has 15 detachments — Gladius Task Force, Stormlance Task Force and Ironstorm Spearhead among the familiar names, joined by armour-specific forces tagged Tacticus, Phobos and Gravis. Games Workshop's own framing is that they split into three broad groups: those that change Combat Doctrines, those that buff core infantry, and those built around a specific armour type.

That last part is the genuinely new bit. If your collection is all one armour mark, several detachments are simply off the table for you — worth knowing before you buy on a whim. For how the detachments play on the table, read our Space Marines Army Analysis.

What the new Space Marines codex means for you

Our take, clearly labelled as opinion: this is a codex release that rewards patience rather than reflexes.

• If you already own Intercessors, Outriders or Vanguard Veterans, nothing in your army box stops working. The old kits still assemble, still play, still count. You are buying a new sculpt, not a legal requirement.
• If you are about to start Space Marines, the new kits are the ones to build around. Our beginner's guide to Space Marines explains the Chapters and where to begin.
• If you want a particular Chapter, the lore is worth reading before you pick paint. Start with Faction Files: White Scars or the Ultramarines Army Analysis.
• If you are new to all this, a codex is the last thing you need. Start with a box of models and some paint — our starter set guide is a better first purchase than a 232-page rulebook.

Four redone kits, a new blademaster and a 232-page book. The Space Marines were not exactly short of options before, and now they have more. Somewhere, an Ork player is sighing into a cup of tea.

Further reading: Codex: Orks is out now and Faction Files: White Scars — Lore of the Sons of the Khan.