Warhammer 40K Indomitus Launch Box Preview

Indomitus is the brand new boxed-set for Warhammer 40,000 (40K) that begins the next edition of the rules, 40K 9th Edition. Rather than being a starter-set, which would contain everything needed to get playing, Indomitus is a launch box for the new edition. In this article, we're going to look at what's in the box and talk about who it's for, as well as looking at some of the rules changes for the new edition of the hugely popular wargame.

You can buy all Warhammer 40K products including pre-ordering Indomitus when they go live on the 11 July 2020 from our Tabletop Sponsor, Firestorm Games.

Off The Shelf

Warhammer 40K Indomitus contains miniatures for the Adeptus Astartes and Necron forces. All of the miniatures are either brand new units or brand new sculpts. The only way to get these miniatures initially will be through Indomitus until they're released separately, and it's been reported by Games Workshop that the box is more than a 50% saving on buying them separately. It's the largest box that Games Workshop has released to date, containing 61 miniatures. Indomitus is a limited edition box and it's sure to sell out fast, so be sure to pre-order it when it goes on sale.

Starter Set vs Launch Box

Games Workshop have been very specific that this isn't a starter set like Dark Imperium was for 8th Edition, which contained the rules, 2 forces, and all accessories to start playing. Indomitus is a Launch Box and contains the 2 forces, a collectors edition of the rulebook, and The Edge of Silence, a booklet containing the rules for all the miniatures in the box, along with some background lore.

While Indomitus is aimed at veteran hobbyists, it's also a great starting point for anyone looking to get into Warhammer 40K with 9th Edition. It won't be priced as a starter-set, but if you're interested in playing either Adeptus Astartes or Necrons, then this is a solid place to start. All you need to add is a tape measure and dice. The miniatures are also push-fit, with only a few options for construction. The Adeptus Astartes are some of the cleanest miniatures to assemble we've ever seen, which makes Indomitus perfect for the beginner hobbyist. 

Indomitus Miniatures

Indomitus contains 2 forces of miniatures, the Adeptus Astartes, also known as Space Marines, and the Necrons, a force of cybernetic space-undead.

The Space Marine force is a new branch of Crusader marines, designed to take the battle directly to the enemy. It is made up of a new breed of Space Marines, known as Primaris, who are bigger and tougher than the original Space Marines.

The Indomitus Space Marine force contains:

• 1x Primaris Captain - The Alpha-marine. Armed with a heavy bolt pistol, master-crafted power sword, and relic shield. With 5 attacks, an invulnerable save, a save against mortal wounds, and an aura that lets you re-roll 1's to hit for units within 6 inches, it means this commander will be leading from the front.
• 1x Primaris Lieutenant - The leadership number 2. Armed with a neo-volkite pistol, master-crafted power sword, and storm shield. The Lieutenant comes with 4 attacks, an invulnerable save, and an aura that lets you re-roll 1's to wound for units with 6 inches, running in a group combined with the Captain makes your units extremely accurate.
• 1x Primaris Chaplain - Chaplains are the spiritual leaders of the Space Marine chapters. Armed with an absolvor bolt pistol and crozius arcanum. They have an aura ability that lets nearby units use their leadership values for tests. They also know the Litany of Hate and 1 other litany to add further boosts to friendly units. Their stats and armament also make them effective fighters themselves.
• 1x Judiciar - A new type of Space Marine, they are silent warriors of faith. Armed with an absolvor bolt pistol and an executioner relic blade, which is an insanely powerful close combat weapon. They have 4 attacks and an invulnerable save against melee attacks and can also choose an enemy unit within 6 inches to be the last to fight that phase.
• 10x Assault Intercessors - A close assault armed variant of the Primaris line warriors. Armed with heavy bolt pistols and chainswords, they come with 3 attacks each.
• 1x Bladeguard Ancient - The bladeguard's banner bearer. A capable warrior, armed with a heavy bolt pistol. The banner adds to the leadership of nearby units and also allows units a chance at an additional attack before they are taken out. The Ancients own aura effect adds 1 to nearby unit's hit rolls.
• 3x Bladeguard Veterans - They are the elite of a chapter's warriors. Armed with heavy bolt pistols, master crafted power swords, and storm shields. They have 3 attacks each and invulnerable saves so they can scythe through enemies in close combat.
• 3x Outriders - Primaris marine bikers. They are armed with heavy bolt pistols, twin-bolt rifles on the bikes, and chainswords. They have a 14-inch move and 3 attacks each, with a bonus 2 attacks if they charge. The bike's turbo-boost also allows them to move a standard 6 extra inches instead of rolling for advancing.
• 3x Eradicators - Heavy weapon Primaris marines. They are armed with the devastating melta rifles. The Eradicators can shoot twice at a single target, and if within 12 inches of their target, they get to roll 2 dice for wounding, discarding one of the rolls. They are incredibly effective at removing whatever they shoot at.

The Necron force, while they can be used in any Necron army, in Indomitus they represent the Szarekhan Dynasty, the forces of the last Silent King who is rumored to be returning. They are also the forces that the Crusader Marines are heading to face.

The Indomitus Necron force contains:

• 1x Overlord - Necron nobility. They are armed with a hyperphase glaive for devastating melee attacks and the insane Tachyon arrow, a single-use ranged attack with a 120-inch range which will almost certainly eliminate whatever it's fired at. The Overlords increase the movement and accuracy of nearby Necron units.
• 1x Royal Warden - The Wardens are the executioners of the Overlords. Armed with a relic gauss blaster for rapid-fire devastation. They can allow a nearby unit to fall back and still shoot and charge.
• 1x Plasmancer - Techno-wizards who wield energy as a weapon. Armed with a plasmic lance that can be used in shooting and melee. They can deal mortal wounds to all enemies within 6 inches and also select an enemy within 18 inches for a devastating ranged attack at the end of the movement phase.
• 2x Cryptothralls - Bodyguards to the Plasmancer (or other Cryptek). Armed with a scouring eye and scythed limbs. They stop the Plasmancer being targetted by ranged attacks while they are within 3 inches of them and have their attacks boosted to 6 while within that range. They have reanimation protocols, which means there's a chance that they can come back if your opponent hasn't removed both of them.
• 1x Skorpekh Lord - They only exist for one purpose, destruction of their enemies. Armed with an enmitic annihilator, flensing claw, and hyperphase harvester, they are incredibly effective at their sole purpose. The enmitic annihilator is an assault 2D3 weapon with the blast ability. They also come with an invulnerable save, an aura ability that re-rolls wound rolls for nearby destroyer units and can re-roll 1 for their own hit rolls.
• 3x Skorpekh Destroyers - Powerful warriors intent on destruction. 1 destroyer is armed with a hyperphase reap-blade and the other 2 have hyperphase threshers. The reap-blade is more powerful, but the threshers give their wielders a bonus attack. The destroyers can re-roll hit rolls of 1 and with a move of 8, they'll be in combat in no-time. They have reanimation protocols to bring them back if they're taken out.
• 1x Plasmacyte - Follows in the wake of the destroyers, boosting them with sentient energy. Armed with a monomolecular proboscis, it's not an effective combat unit, but it can be used to boost the strength and attacks of a destroyer unit it's attached to, with a small chance of killing them.
• 20x Necron Warriors - The line troops of the Neron army. They can be armed with either a gauss flayer or the shorter range and harder-hitting gauss reaper. Their reanimation protocols and Legion ability means there's a higher chance they will be resurrected each turn.
• 6x Canoptek Scarab Swarms - These swarms of cyber-scarabs break-down any matter for use in repairing the Necron forces. They are armed with feeder mandibles. With a move of 10 and 4 attacks each, which automatically wound on a hit roll of a 6, they can be devastating against low armored troops.
• 1x Canoptek Reanimator - They assist with the reanimation of fallen Necrons. Armed with an atomiser beam and elongated claws, their main purpose is to boost with reanimation protocol roll for a unit within 9 inches, further adding to the durability of your Necron line troops.

Warhammer 40k 9th Edition

The new 9th edition rulebook for Warhammer 40K has some big changes for 40K. Most have been announced and shown by Games Workshop during the build-up to launch. The new core rulebook in Indomitus has a full-art cover that's only available with the Indomintus box.

The new rulebook is a weighty tome. It rocks in at 372 pages, with the first 191 pages covering the background history and details of each Warhammer 40K faction in gloriously illustrated detail. 

The rules feel a lot more word-heavy than 8th edition and this could be to tighten up and avoid some of the exploits used in tournament play. The previously announced changes to command points, vehicles, terrain, and morale are all present. As well as the fantastic new balancing of smaller and larger games. Combat Patrol games bridge the gap between Kill Team and full 40K games and allow players quicker games, or smaller games for new players to get used to the rules. 

Players can also now pick secondary objectives in matched play games, which can cater to specific targets your force is good at. These secondary objectives give you bonus points for taking out enemy characters or vehicles, taking out more enemy units than you lose, having vehicles within your opponent's deployment zone, or completing psychic rituals. 

Narrative play is now entirely focused on the Crusade system, where your units gain experience each battle that can be used to gain battle honors, such as battle traits like Grizzled, which can stop a unit losing a wound on a roll of a 6, or weapon enhancements like armor-piercing that increases the AP of that unit's weapons. Units taken out during Crusade play can lose experience or gain battle scars but are always refreshed to their previous numbers to represent repairing and replenishment for your army.

The new core rulebook ends with a few appendixes that update some rules to the new edition. This includes adding the new blast ability to weapons, some units gaining the aircraft ability, and some clarification of rare rules and ends with a rules term glossary.

Indomitus is an incredible box, with some amazing miniatures. We're going to be adding the Crusader forces to our Raven Guard Space Marine army, and also starting a new slow-grow Crusade campaign with our local store. Games Workshop has also mentioned a new set of paints for the Szarekhan Dynasty, including a technical paint for glowing effects to be released soon, and we're very looking forward to painting our Necrons up in the colors of the Silent King.

A 2-week pre-order window goes live for Indomitus on 11 July 2020 and it will release on 25 July 2020.

This copy of Warhammer 40K Indomitus used to produce this preview was provided by Games Workshop.