Warhammer 40,000 Confirms Ready-Painted Terrain for 11th Edition, but Games Workshop Rules Out Ready-Painted Miniatures

Games Workshop has shocked Warhammer 40,000 fans by confirming a leak of plans to sell ready-painted terrain for the upcoming 11th Edition of the tabletop wargame, dubbed Armageddon. But after a significant amount of speculation that the company was also set to sell ready-painted miniatures, Games Workshop has now ruled that out.

Warhammer 40,000, the hugely popular sci-fi universe set in the grim dark far future, is normally played with terrain that provides cover, among other things. Official Warhammer 40,000 terrain from Games Workshop has, on the whole, not come pre-painted, but that’s about to change with the 11th Edition of the game in June.

It’s a significant change for Warhammer 40,000, but you can see why Games Workshop has made the decision. Part of the barrier to entry for Warhammer 40,000 — and indeed many of the company’s games — is the painting portion of the hobby. While a huge part of the community loves painting, some do not, and it can be a timesink. So, providing the option of pre-painted terrain (normal terrain isn’t going anywhere) will no doubt appeal to those who just want to get on and play the tabletop as quickly as possible. And, crucially, it will appeal to newcomers who are perhaps going to jump into the hobby with 11th Edition.

The next natural question is, are there any plans to sell ready-painted miniatures? But in a rare Warhammer 40,000 video Q&A, Games Workshop ruled it out. “No,” was the loud and clear response. So that’s that.

This means that while you’ll be able to save time with pre-painted terrain, you’ll still have to paint your miniatures if you want to play an official game of Warhammer 40,000. So, no change on that front, perhaps surprisingly in the context of the terrain decision.

Games Workshop spends much of the video talking about the nitty gritty of the 11th Edition rules and their impact on how the game will be played, as well as addressing burning questions about existing armies and their place on the war-torn world of Armageddon. We don’t have an exact release date yet for 11th Edition, nor a price, but we should get more information soon.

The Warhammer 40,000 universe is of course bigger than just the tabletop these days. There are video games, including the upcoming Dawn of War 4, Total War: Warhammer 40,000, and Dark Heresy, as well as animations (Amazon’s Prime Video animated anthology, Secret Level, includes a Warhammer 40,000 episode), and even an upcoming Warhammer 40,000 Cinematic Universe, led by superfan Henry Cavill.

Photo by Uli Deck/picture alliance via Getty Images.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.