Warhammer 40k: The Arks of Omen

Arks of Omen

Abaddon’s Black Legion is spreading their influence and a new way of playing 40k with the Arks of Omen!

What started with Nachmund has paved way for the Black Crusade to nearly control the entirety of the Imperium Nihilus. Now the Arks of Omen are here to secure the rest and more. Abaddon has never been content his just his little corner of the galaxy and leads one of the only legions willing to expand their ranks from anywhere. This means he has one of the largest legions. Who will be able to stand up to this threat?

From a story perspective, this feels very much like the End Times of Warhammer. Will this result in a story reset or is this just the tip of the iceberg? I have no idea but considering the number of planned releases we have already heard about I don’t think this will be the equivalent of End Times.

From a game perspective, what does this supplement add to 40k as a whole? It adds an entirely new way to play games of 40k, utilizing terrain currently exclusive to the most recent releases of Kill Team. This expansion focuses on ship to ship combat or battles within the Space Hulks he has mobilized. Most of the information we have seen so far suggests his focus is on the Imperium. Will anyone else be strong enough to take on this threat? I highly doubt anyone will be strong enough to do it alone. Would be interesting if we had a global campaign to determine the outcome but I don’t think we are at a point where we will see that in 40k. Only time will tell though because I also said the same thing about End Times.

Warzone Octarius books 1 and 2

Warzone Octarius

Warzone Octarius has come to give us new rules for Orks and Tyranids as well as for using Rogue Traders and even Kill Teams.

Warhammer 40k is constantly evolving and over this year 9th edition is no different. The Warzone supplements expand on rules for existing factions and share the story of a particular warzone. The second round of this is Warzone Octarius with books 1 and 2. The previous books were based on Charadon but I suspect Octarius was chosen due to the recent release of Kill Team: Octarius which featured exclusive models and terrain.

Book 1 brings us rules Cadia, Tyranids and the Armies of Renown: Kill Team. Now with the branding of Kill Team I originally assumed this would be the squads from Kill Team: Octarius but instead these Kill Teams are part of the Deathwatch and are comprised of Space Marines. Book 2 however brings the Kill Team flavor with rules for the Blood Axes, the Ork team from the Octarius box, along with Rogue Traders (Astra Cartographica) and the Speed Freeks Speed Mob as this book’s Army of Renown.

These books are less for casual or competitive players but more for those that like to follow an official campaign. Charadon did not see a Kill Team release but with Octarius receiving it’s own warzone books so soon after it’s Kill Team release I am fully expecting that the next warzone will be centered around Chalnath.