Warhammer 40,000 update adds painter-friendly Combat Patrol Companion, terrain templates

Warhammer Community widened the Armageddon picture on May 11 with the Combat Patrol Companion, the Terrain Area Set, and standalone releases for the Core Rulebook, Chapter Approved Mission Deck, and Dominatus Deck, turning the new Warhammer 40,000 edition into more than a single launch box. For painters, that matters because the support wave is not just about rules packets. It is about reference art, battlefield presentation, and the kinds of products that shape how armies are built, painted, and shown off.

The most painter-friendly item is the Combat Patrol Companion. The 184-page book is aimed at new builders, painters, and players, but Warhammer says veteran hobbyists will have use for it too. It mixes background lore, artwork, quick hobby tips, and guidance for first Combat Patrol games, with one side of the book focused on the wider Warhammer hobby and the other on the setting and the armies you can field. It can also be used with an upgraded Warhammer 40,000 app to play Combat Patrol, which makes it feel less like a starter leaflet and more like a polished reference volume for anyone starting a new force or planning the next paint scheme.

The Terrain Area Set is the other release that will affect hobby tables immediately. It includes 16 double-sided card templates that reproduce the official terrain map footprints for the new edition across five sizes and shapes. Warhammer says the templates can be layered with terrain features already on hand to create clearly defined objectives, and they are easy to transport. That is a practical upgrade for anyone who paints terrain as seriously as miniatures, because board composition now becomes part of the presentation, not just a gaming afterthought.

The Armageddon box itself still carries the biggest modeling draw. It packs 23 brand new push-fit Space Marines and 38 brand new push-fit Orks, plus the Core Rules booklet, Armageddon: Operation Imperator lore book, Chapter Approved 2026-27 Mission Deck, Dominatus Narrative Campaign Deck, Armageddon datasheet cards, and an Armageddon transfer sheet. The story centers on Ghazghkull Thraka’s return to Armageddon and the Space Marines’ Operation Imperator, and that gives the Orks the clearest claim to centerpiece status. Forty-one new bodies on both sides of the conflict is a lot of fresh plastic, but the 38 new push-fit Orks look like the set most likely to become the next conversion base for painters who want a loud, weathered, narrative-heavy army on the table.