In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war, and the world of Armageddon has seen war many times throughout it’s bloodied history. Multiple classes against the forces of Angron’s legions have let the planet drink heavily from the blood of the fallen, but it is the Orks who have a hunger for the world and many times have they clashed with the forces of humanity.

But now something has happened. Using terrifying Ork technology, the Warlord Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thrakka has ripped entire planets out of reality and replaced them with the greatest Ork fleet the galaxy has ever seen. Even the legendary Commissar Sebastian Yarrick was not able to turn the tide, and the planet fell to a green tide. But there is still hope for humanity as the forces of the Adeptus Astartes rush to Armageddon to try and retake the planet before it is too late…

In Warhammer 40,000 Armageddon, up for pre order on Saturday 4th June, players can put together brand new forces of Space Marines and Orks alongside the brand new rules content for the 11th Edition of 40k while also reading up about the latest conflict for the planet.

In this full review, we’ll be checking out what what’s in the new Armageddon box, how much it costs and what the models are like while diving into the Operation Imperator narrative book.

Massive thanks to Games Workshop for sending us over the Armageddon launch box to check out on the site. If you would like to support the site then why not order your copy through our affiliate Element Games and save yourself some money too?

This article takes a look at the contents of the box, but we’ve also got a full review of the new Core Rules, the Chapter Approved and Dominatus decks and the Combat Patrol Companion here on the site too!

We’ve also filmed a full unboxing of the box which you can see just below of over on YouTube

So without further ado let’s dive into Armageddon…

Armageddon Unboxing and Review

It’s been 3 years already since the 10th Edition launch box Leviathan, and now this time it is the turn for the Orks to clash against the Space Marines!

Clocking in at £185 this is the most expensive 40k launch box yet containing 2 700 point armies (Essentially these are Combat Patrols with a couple of units added for each side) alongside the Core Rules, Operation Imperator background book and 2 card decks. While this is pricier than other launch boxes, just the two combat patrols alone would cost around £105 each, and each of the armies has a couple of units not included in those sets too. Added together with the books and cards there’s still great value to be had here if you want both of the forces, though perhaps now at a price point where you need to have a good think about it if you’re only interested in one of the armies.

Nostalgia is a very powerful thing, and this box gives me massive 2nd Edition love. From the box art recreating that famous 2nd Ed cover, to the forces inside being Goff Orks vs Blood Angels, this ticked all the boxes for me – and I suspect they are trying to give old school players like me those feelings of Nostalgia with this Armageddon set.

This is a jam packed box however, with an absolute mountain of plastic in the box! (Also the box is deep enough to store the entire contents when built too!)

It’s worth noting here that these are push fit kits, and so can be assembled without glue. If you do want to use glue I’d recommend cutting the pegs down a little (as the fits are so precise that using glue actually makes it a worse fit) but except in a very few rare cases I found that all the models in the box went together perfectly without using any glue at all – I only tended to use it to attach models to bases for a more durable finish.

First up let’s take a look at the Orks in the box! I’ve got a huge Ork force, so decided to paint this up as a Goff Detachment to add a bit of variety to the clans I have! Plus I had to jump on the 2nd edition hype Battlewagon!

First up in the Armageddon box is the new Dakkarig – this thing is massive, if you click through the photos you can see it is actually bigger than a DeffDred which really surprised me! This thing is ace, and the main body can swivel left and right on the waist. This also allows you to pop the upper body off the model for easier storage. It also means that if you pick up a couple of them you can actually have them posed differently, unlike the Screamer Killer from levithan.

If you’re anything like me then you’l have fond memories of the Wartrakk from Gorkamorka. This is another ace model, and again if you don’t glue it then it’s really easy to break down the subassemblies while painting in order to get to some of the more difficult to get to detail. I hope we see some more variations in the future with more weapon options!

The humble Gretchen return in the box, with enough models for a unit of 10. These got some mixed reviews when they were first revealed, but I absolutely love them. Again they have some very retro looks to them, spiked helmets included and are a nice updated take on them. They are really well designed with 5 models on a sprue, but enough spare parts to have 10 unique models, which is a really nice tough!

Again, the Ork Boys are another excellent push fit kit. They share a sprue with the grots and each of the 10 on the frame has at least 2 different assembly options. With 2 duplicate sprues this gives you 20 unique Ork Boyz in the Armageddon box, meaning that if you run them as a single unit then every single model will be unique (including 2 different weapon options for the Nob)

Finally, the box contains 5 heroes to lead your Ork Waaagh, and every single one of these is amazing! They are full of character and some of them tower over Space Marines, making them look really intimidating! I’m really excited to see what the multi part kits look like for these given that the push fit kits are so good!

You also get a full set of Datasheet cards for each unit in the box, allowing you to play with them before the new Codex is released!

The other half of the box are the Space Marines, and Dave painted these to match his existing Iron Ravens army with their distinctive silver and blue colour scheme.

The centerpiece model for the Marines is the Land Speeder, another nostalgic blast from the past! This is an interesting model because it actually has a hole for a standard flying stand if you don’t want to use the rocky outcrop that supports the model – which is great if you have multiple and don’t want them to look the same. There’s also two weapon options that plug into the body and can be swapped out, no magnets needed here!

Joining it are a unit of Vanguard Veterans. While these are perhaps less ornate than their previous incarnation, they still look great and are a lot easier to build in their push fit incarnation!

Another new unit is introduced in the Armageddon boxes with a new weapon option for the Eradicators, now wielding Heavy Bolters. These guys feel nice and chunky while still having the iconic form of a Space Marine – I know some people are not fans of the shields, but they look really good in person!

We also get a unit of 10 Intercessors, and these are very nice. There’s a blend of different armour types here that give them a feeling of classic tactical marines rather than the more modern look of Primaris Marines. like with the Orks, each marine is unique

Finally the Marine half of the box also contains 4 heroes, a Captain, Ancient, Librarian and a Jump Chaplain. It’s worth noting that every model in the box (Except for the Intercessor Sergeant) has the option of a helmet, meaning that if you don’t like to paint faces there’s not many you have to do here!

Like with the Orks, Armageddon also includes all the profile cards for the Space Marines too!

On top of the models, there’s also a couple of card decks in the box. One is Chapter Approved, which contains all the missions and deployment maps needed to play the game, the other is a new Narrative card deck “Dominatus” that allows players to run a narrative campaign over a weekend to determine the fate of Armageddon. If you want to learn a little more about these then check out our full review in which we dive into them.

Armageddon also includes a copy of the Core Warhammer 40,000 rules – it’s worth noting though that this time round it isnt a big hardback copy, instead its an A5 format softback book. While some will miss the larger hardback book, this smaller format actually makes it much easier to have on the table or pop into a bag or case when you’re playing at a tournament for example! We’ve got a full review of the 40k Core Rules up today which you can check out here.

It’s also worth noting that the narrative background about the 40k universe as a whole is no longer in the launch box. Instead Games Workshop are also releasing a separate book “Combat Patrol Companion” that is aimed more at new people getting into the hobby – you can check out our review of it here.

The final volume in the Armageddon box is an interesting one. Operation Imperator is a Codex sized hardback book which acts as a full sourcebook for this currently conflict on Armageddon itself. Think something along the lines of the Narrative books that we get at the end of an edition, but without any rules or gaming content – instead its 114 pages dedicated just to the lore of this new conflict.

We get some information about the previous wars of Armageddon and a summary of the events in the Yarrick book – but essentially this book tells the story of the conflict we are fighting within this box. I love this as a concept, previously I think the lore on the actual conflict in launch boxes has been a little light, and by the end of the edition its all but forgotten about. This time round we get a full book packed with everything that is going on across the planet. We visit numerous locations and hear about an assortment of forces.

There’s also a couple of little teases in the book here and there for stuff that might come in the future. For example there’s one passage where it talks about an Astra Militarum unit reporting seeing black armoured Space Marines covered in flames appearing out of nowhere to save them – Might we be getting a Legion of the Damned Kill Team in the future?…

While not containing anything from a rules point of view, I love that they have given this much attention to the lore this time round, and I hope we get more narrative books like this in the future!

Summary

So what do I think of the Armageddon box?

Well, as ever Games Workshop have put together an outstanding collection of miniatures. The Orks in particular take things to a new level over their previous range and they leave me really excited to see what they get when their new Codex drops later this year!

Splitting the book in the box from a massive hardback tome into a codex sized lore book and a small format rulebook is an interesting one, but I feel it makes sense. Big hardback books are a pain to lug around, especially when they are mostly filled with lore about the universe that most people picking this up are already aware of – so it makes sense splitting that out into a different book designed at newcomers. I love that we have a deep dive lore book about the conflict at Armageddon and hope that is something that continues going forward.

And of course you also get the cards that you need for both matched play and narrative play, which is great – Chapter Approved decks often fly off the shelves, so it’s great to have them included in the set.

So the big question is if the Armageddon box is worth it at £185?

For me it’s a yes, but then I’d paint up both of the forces in the box and save money in the long run over getting the bits individually. If you’re only interested in one of the armies in the box then it might be worth waiting for that Combat Patrol and picking up the missing kits when they are available – but with Combat Patrols priced at £105 then once you factor in the cost of those missing kits, the rulebook and the card decks then you’re probably not far off the asking price of the box anyway.

What I can say though, is this has been one of the most fun launch boxes for me to paint, and things from a rules point of view are a lot more fun than they have been for a long time. Armageddon is a great starting point for Warhammer 40k 11th Edition, and I’m excited to see where it leads!

Armageddon is up for pre order Saturday 6th June and is released the 20th.

Games Workshop provided Sprues & Brews with a free copy for review purposes.