Games Workshop Unveils Sweeping New Miniature Reveals at AdeptiCon 2026

Games Workshop dropped a bombshell at AdeptiCon Preview 2026: Warhammer 40,000 11th Edition is coming in June, anchored by a Blood Angels versus Orks cinematic trailer and a launch box that GW itself is calling the biggest starter set in the game's history. The announcement landed on March 26 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, delivered live on the Warhammer Twitch and YouTube channels to thousands of viewers worldwide.

The new edition kicks off with Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon, described as the biggest Warhammer 40,000 launch set yet, packed with new miniatures for Space Marines and Orks. The lore centers on Armageddon after The Return of Yarrick, with Wazdakka Gutsmek's vanguard landing first and Ghazghkull's main force closing in, while Blood Angels lead the Imperial response alongside support from Salamanders, Ultramarines, Space Wolves, and other Chapters. For painters, the launch box is a goldmine of new reference sculpts: among the confirmed models is a new Intercessor Squad built around a deliberate mix of older and newer armor marks, reflecting the in-universe reality that Primaris Space Marines have spent years patching suits with older components — a kit loaded with nostalgic callbacks to classic Space Marine designs.

Wazdakka Gutsmek finally got the miniature Ork players have wanted for years, and the Ork Boyz kit receives an overdue refresh. Something that overshadowed even the 11th Edition news was the reveal that the fan-favorite Steel Legion are getting a revamp, though only concept art was shown, placing that release some distance out. Commission painters chasing hot faction schemes will want to note that the box's cover art deliberately calls back to 2nd Edition's aesthetic, a detail that is already driving palette discussion across painting communities.

Age of Sigmar delivered one of the show's most talked-about moments. While 40,000 was shouting about new editions, Games Workshop casually dropped the Cannonade Cogfort. Presenters Eddie Eccles and Adam Troke confirmed at the AdeptiCon show that options would exist to field entire armies of only Cogforts — a centerpiece model that is already being discussed in terms of how to achieve the rust-and-rivets look that the sculpt demands. City of Ash, a new Age of Sigmar boxed set, features two complete Spearhead forces from the Cities of Sigmar and Skaven, along with a battlepack of missions, a city-themed double-sided board, and new terrain, with the long-awaited Clans Eshin finally getting dedicated plastic Gutter Runners and Night Runners.

Kill Team's reveal was equally characterful. New elite Guardsmen take on the Red Terror — an iconic Tyranid bioform available in plastic for the first time — in the next expansion for Kill Team. The expansion pits the elite Spectre Squad soldiers of call sign Jester against a single massive foe, with their efforts spread across nine linked Joint Ops missions, a format that gives painters one enormous centerpiece monster and a tight kill team of characterful Cadian veterans to detail.

Horus Heresy painters were not left waiting. Reinforcements are coming for Legiones Astartes and Solar Auxilia armies, including Ogryns, big guns, and a Spartan. Warhammer Underworlds received Thyrielle's Zephyrites, a Mastery warband consisting of four Lumineth Realm-lords and their vulpine spirit companion Tzul, who functions as a token rather than a fighter, determining the reach of the warband's abilities from wherever it is placed on the board.

GW said it will be showing more of the 11th Edition launch box over the coming weeks, culminating in a live unboxing show — so while the edition itself is confirmed, the slow-drip reveal campaign is only just getting started. For painters, that means the reference images and official Eavy Metal schemes are still rolling in, and now is the time to bookmark the Warhammer Community hub and start saving high-resolution photographs from each linked reveal page before the painting community's contrast-recipe threads begin flooding the forums.