Warhammer 40,000’s 10th Edition starter set Leviathan revealed - here’s what’s inside the launch box
Space Marines, Tyranids and plenty more.
The new starter set for the latest 10th edition of Warhammer 40,000 was revealed at Warhammer Fest over the weekend, giving us our first look at the upcoming launch box.
Warhammer 40,000’s 10th edition was unveiled by Games Workshop at the end of March, confirming the biggest revision for 40k in three years and plans to streamline the miniatures game with a ‘complete overhaul’ of its rules.
At the time, Games Workshop teased a “massive” launch set for 10th Edition, now revealed at last weekend’s Warhammer Fest event as a packed starter set subtitled Leviathan.
As seen in 10E’s cinematic launch trailer, Leviathan will include dozens of Space Marine and Tyranid units in keeping with the latest instalment’s setting during the start of the fourth Tyrannic War, with the largest Tyranid swarm in the 40k universe invading the Segmentum Pacificus.
The set will include 25 Space Marine figures and 47 Tyranids across a whopping 13 sprues. Games Workshop said that all of the models will be push-fit, meaning they can be assembled without needing glue.
The Space Marine forces will include squads of Sternguard Veterans - equipped with anti-Tyranid ammunition for their bolt weapons - flame-throwing Pyreblasting Infernus marines and heavily armoured Terminators.
Leading them will be a Terminator Captain and psychic Librarian, both clad in Tactical Dreadnought armour, accompanied by an Apothecary Biologis - able to use biological attacks against foes by taking samples from them - and a Lieutenant in Phobos Armour, equipped with dual combat blades and a combi-weapon.
The pièce de résistance of the Space Marine army, meanwhile, is arguably the Ballistus Dreadnought, a hulking walking tank outfitted with a missile launched and lascannon - ideal for tearing through armour and flesh alike. Ouch.
On the Tyranid side, they’ll be facing swarms of Termagants and Neurogaunts, the Hive’s rushing monsters who overwhelm with numbers and up-close combat. They’ll be aided by projectile-spitting Barbgaunts and the stealth ambush attacks of Von Ryan’s Leapers.
The bigger Tyranid models will include a fearsome many-armed Carnifex Screamer-Killer, a psyker-chomping, spider-like monstrosity Psychophage, the mind-melting Neurotyrant - channelling the Shadow in the Warp - and the Winged Tyranid Prime, a fearsome flying beast with talons that’s both swift and strong.
Pitted against each other in full, the Space Marine and Tyranid armies will make a balanced match. The units can also be split down into smaller squads to play 10th Edition’s new skirmish-focused Combat Patrol mode, a faster, beginner-friendly variant of the rules.
While Warhammer 40k’s 10th-edition rules will be made available for free online when the new edition launches over the summer, the Leviathan set will include a 392-page physical rulebook covering the core rules, faction lore and more. The book will include both the standard rules and rules for Combat Patrol, plus rules for the narrative Crusade mode along with a Crusade expansion that follows the Fourth Tyrannic War across multiple linked games.
Also in the box will be 66 mission cards that provide unique scenarios and rules variants for 40k’s Matched Play format, based on the variants seen in previous editions of Warhammer 40,000. The mission cards provide varying setup, environmental and victory objectives for both attacker and defender, with Games Workshop saying the deck will be suitable for both casual and competitive play.
The Leviathan launch box for Warhammer 40,000: 10th Edition will be released in June, marking the release date for the new edition. While the hardback Leviathan rulebook will be limited to the starter set, Games Workshop confirmed that everything else would be made available separately afterwards - with other 10th Edition releases to follow.