The 11th Edition of Warhammer 40,000 is up for pre order very soon, and with it the amazing new Armageddon Launch Box. But maybe you’re new to Warhammer 40k and are not sure what faction you want to pick up? Maybe you want to dip your toe into Combat Patrol and see what all this is about? Well then maybe the Combat Patrol Companion is for you!

Aimed at brand new players looking to get into Warhammer, the Combat Patrol Companion shares an insight into what the 40k hobby is, gives an example Battle Report to show how the game plays and also has a full background breakdown of every faction in the game.

In this full review we’ll be checking out the Combat Patrol Companion, seeing who it is aimed at and if it’s worth picking up to add to your collection!

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

We’ve got lots of reviews here on the site today too, with our look at the new Armageddon box, the Core Rules of 11th Edition and the Chapter Approved and Dominatus card decks.

We’ve also filmed a full video look at the Combat Patrol Companion which you can see just below or over on YouTube

So without further ado, let’s jump into the new book!

Combat Patrol Companion Review

So first things first, what exactly is the book – and what it isnt.

Well this is a book 184 page softback book aimed at newcomers to the Warhammer 40,000 hobby and is priced at £20.50.

When this appeared on Warhammer Community a lot of people assumed that this was going to be a book in a similar format to the Age of Sigmar Spearhead books that contained all the rules for the current Combat Patrols. This book contains no rules content, and is more of an introduction and guide to starting out playing Warhammer 40k.

This might mean that this book isn’t aimed at you, and it might not be something you need to add to your collection. But there are a lot of people looking to take their first steps into the hobby, and the Combat Patrol Companion is for those people.

Previously when a new edition came out, Games Workshop tended to release a Warhammer 40k magazine that included a free miniature on the front – while they were a nice way of giving someone a taster of the 40k universe, what they didn’t have was the rich background and lore that Warhammer 40,000 is well known for. The Combat Patrol Companion has enough space within it’s 180+ pages to give new players all that glorious background that was traditionally in the first half of the hardback rulebook, without having to commit to buying a big box for a £40+ book for a game they might not know if they like yet.

Instead this gives newcomers a more reasonable option for seeing if the background of Warhammer 40k is something they would like to get involved with.

The book starts by explaining what the hobby actually is. Over the first 16 pages we learn about the 4 core elements of the hobby – Collecting models, Building them, Painting them and Playing games with them. It takes a really nice approach for talking through these core elements and listing how to go around doing it – so for example if you are looking to start, then the best way to get going is to pick a faction and buy the relevent Codex and Combat Patrol box. From here it will detail how to build models – including tips on how to clean them up and remove mould lines etc. We then get some basic painting tips explaining a few key techniques.

The Combat Patrol Companion then goes through some core principles of how the game works. Its worth pointing out that in order to play the game you still need the Core Rules – but these can be found both on Warhammer Community and in the upcoming Warhammer 40k app.

The book also includes a full written Battle Report that talks through a three turns of a battle to show the kinds of things that can happen in a game, how the units move around the battlefield and how they take objectives. I really like this, as it gives a good visual representation of how a game of 40k actually works.

The remainder of the book (around 140 pages) gives new players a deep dive of 40k lore – they will learn about the universe and the various factions that are represented. If you have picked up a previous hardback core book from a previous edition, then this is in a very similar format to the first half of those books. Launch Boxes and big rulebooks are aimed at experienced players, so I feel it makes sense that this has been separated out and made into it’s own product to act as a primer for people new to 40k!

Once we have gone through the lore, the book then visits each and every faction in the game that currently has a Combat Patrol. We learn about their background and who they are, and also find out what units are included in their Combat Patrol box. In addition to this, each faction also has some helpful tips on how best to expand out the Combat patrol into an army for Warhammer 40k with some guidance on what kits are worth picking up next.

Whenever I want to start a new project I often head to Warhammer World to get some inspiration from the studio models – but a new player who has not picked their faction yet can do similar with the Combat Patrol Companion – read the lore, look through the images of painted models and see what gives them that hobby inspiration!

Summary

While this book isnt for everyone, I do think this is a great first buy for someone looking to get into the Warhammer 40,000 hobby! The Combat Patrol Companion gives them some information about the basics of the hobby and what is involved in collecting, building and painting an army, while also giving them a first look at a battle report to understand the concept of what the game is. It also gives them a great source of lore and background about Warhammer 40k and a brilliant insight into all of the factions in the game and a way to start picking which faction they want to play. As a young player getting into the hobby back in the early 90’s I’d have loved something like this, and at £20 this is pretty reasonable as far as GW books go!

The Combat Patrol Companion is up for pre order Monday 6th June and is released Saturday 20th June

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