Games Workshop recently introduced the 9th edition of the Warhammer 40,000 ruleset. On Friday, it modernized the venerable tabletop wargame even further by launching a subscription model and a smartphone app. Warhammer 40,000: The App is available now on Android devices, and will be coming soon to iOS.
The new Warhammer app is free to download, and contains all the information available in the basic rules — which are free to download. For an additional monthly $4.99 fee, users will also gain access to every 8th supplement needed to play the modern version of the game. That includes books like Codex: Space Marines and Codex: Necrons, both of which are required to get full use of the models included in the new Warhammer 40,000: Indomitus boxed set. New codexes will come with a code that unlocks the content inside the app.
Previously, playing Warhammer 40,000 required purchasing the $65 Core Book and at least one additional $40 Codex to field an army. Without models, that put the price of entry to the hobby wargame at $105. The new $4.99 fee is much more attractive, although how that will change going forward with new codexes isn’t entirely clear.
The move to a smartphone app mirrors the recent release of D&D Beyond Player Tools, a free app that allows Dungeons & Dragons players to access their character sheets offline. However, D&D Beyond does not require a subscription. Instead, players can use a subset of free content or purchase additional content as they would any other D&D book.
Update: While 8th edition content will be included for the $4.99 subscription price, new 9th edition content will require some kind of additional purchase going forward. One option that Games Workshop has offered is that new codexes — which cost $40 — will come with a code that unlocks that content inside the app. We’ve updated the article to reflect that.
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Warhammer: 40,000 Kill Team Starter Set
- $130
Prices taken at time of publishing.
A smaller, skirmish version of Warhammer 40,000 that’s no less grim or dark than the full-blown tabletop version. This set also comes with a boat load of high quality terrain.
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