The world of Warhammer 40,000 is full of weird and wonderful armies. From the skeletal Necrons to the ancient Aeldari and the many flavours of Space Marines, there is a faction for everyone when it comes 40K. But even with all the choices out there, players will often wonder if and when we will see any new armies hit shelves. Since it has been 19 years since we got a whole new race in the form of the T’au, many players believe it is time for a new race to hit the scene. Heck, some players think that some of the minor factions in the 41st millennium are deserving of the full codex treatment, much like we have seen with the recent Chaos Knights supplement.
Well today I thought it would be fun to speculate on possible new additions we could see in the near future as it pertains to 40K factions. With all the lore and background we have for the setting, I will be spoilt for choice when it comes to my predictions. However, I will do my best to keep my guess as grounded as possible, so no codex Men of Iron or Thunder Warriors. That’s not to say that some of these will not be pure wish fulfilment on my part, but some of them could in theory be a real contender for a new codex in future editions of the game.
The Lost and the Damned
Let’s start off with an easy one. We all know that the lure of Chaos has enraptured many once loyal servants of the Emperor. While traitorous Astartes take the limelight when it comes to playable forces, it is important to remember that many mortals also fall to the ruinous powers. Currently, this is either represented by Chaos Cultists or some of the minor (if a little limiting) forces we see in games like Blackstone Fortress. But this wasn’t always the case.
Back during the Eye of Terror campaign, we got to play with the traitorous guardsmen and mutants that had thrown their lot in with Abaddon during the 13th Black Crusade. These Lost and Damned souls were a great excuse for hobbyists to go nuts and create some weird and whacky forces on the tabletop. Later on, we would get a full traitor guard army from the people at Forge World, with conversion kits that are sadly no longer available.
With all this to work with, it’s not hard to imagine Games Workshop revisiting this idea in the near future. These Lost and the Damned could not only contain traitor guardsmen, but mutants, beastmen and other assorted creatures of chaos. Rogue psykers, chaos spawns and even warp entities could really make the army unique from an army building perspective, while offering hobbyists a chance to create interesting conversions for their champions and followers. I honestly believe when it comes to this prediction it isn’t a case of if we will see a codex Lost and the Damned, but a case of when we will see it instead.
Chaos Xenos
It’s easy to forget with all the focus that humanity gets in 40K, that not every worshiper of the dark gods is human. Many xenos give praise to the chaos gods, and some even base their entire culture around their worship. Most famously, during the Great Crusade the primarch Fulgrim and the Emperor’s Children came into conflict with the Slannesh worshiping Laer. Other races might not directly worship the dark gods, but are willing to work alongside the force of chaos such as the mercenary Loxatl that fought with the Blood Pact.
With the way 8th edition (and possibly all future editions) are structed, it would be great to see the force of Chaos get some additional support for soup based lists. But unlike the above Lost and the Damned, the addition of a new xenos race that is allied with the ruinous powers offers Games Workshop more design space to explore how chaos is viewed by alien races.
Additionally, the force could start life with fewer units than many other factions, since they could easily be added to existing chaos armies as allies while their own range grows and evolves. In doing so Games Workshop gets the best of both worlds, creating a new and exciting xenos species while also adding to the available units for those players out there that have thrown their lot in with the ruinous powers.
They could even be creatures native to the region of space known as the Eye of Terror, thus giving them a very tangible connection to the ruinous powers. This could also explain why we haven’t seen them until now, as they have been out of view of the rest of the universe. But with the onset of the Cicatix Maledictum, this new race could start to expand out from their homeworlds in the warp to wage war against the rest of the galaxy.
Talons of the Emperor
This is a more recent concept that I have noticed been discussed over the last few month, ever since the idea of a new Adeptus Custodes codex was floated about the internet. While they are an interesting army within the narrative of the 40K story arc, the nature of the Adeptus Custodes means that they are rather limited from a gameplay perspective. Been an elite army with very few options outside of forge world, many players either have to soup them together with other imperial forces, or rely on their innate power to carry the day.
But this wasn’t always the case. Back during the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy, the Custodes would often work along side the Sister of Silence. Together they were collectively known as the Talons of the Emperor, as they would acts as his left and right hand on the battlefield bringing the wrath of the master of mankind to his enemies. This came to an end with the end of the heresy, when the Sisters disbanded and the Custodes retreated deep within the imperial palace.
But now, thanks to the returning Roboute Guilliman, these two forces have returned to the imperium during it greatest time of need. Considering both factions lack a decent number of units to field, it would make sense to have them once again join forces in one “Talons of the Emperor” codex. This would give the Custodes access to cheaper troops for objective capturing and command points through battalion detachments, while giving the Sisters more heavy hitting units to handle tougher threats. All we would then need is for Games Workshop to throw in the Imperial Assassin rules and we would really have a codex to make the Emperor proud.
And there we have it, some predictions/wild speculations to the possible future codex’s we could see in the near future. Will any of these come true? Maybe, maybe not. Either way I’m looking forward to what the future has in store for us when it comes to Warhammer 40,000.
What army would you like to see get the full codex treatment? Why not let us know about them in the comments below. While you’re there you could like and subscribe to keep up to date with all we do here at Master of Magics.
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