Is GW Handling 11th Edition Poorly for the Non-Tournament Level Player?
There was some strangeness with the release schedule for Codex: Orks, and now Codex: Space Marines and Custodes have come out significantly quicker. But according to the Q&A Codex: Custodes will be the last codex of 2026. At the highest level of play we are seeing a swathe of armies capable of performing quite well, Emperor’s Children for example, but there is also undoubtedly a power discrepancy between armies with codices and armies without, especially marine body armies and their far skinnier, fleshier counterparts.
The up until now monthly balance passes seem to have hit the marks for a lot of factions and been received fairly well, but they have been sneaking in changes that aren’t being pointed out in documentation (such as Snap Shooting 6s no longer being crits as discussed in a different thread on this sub). These changes are incredibly significant given the way this impacts Overwatch threats, but it will not be obvious to many people if a rules change like this is not immediately documented.
I also have overheard that players in my local scene are becoming disinterested in 40K, but people in the competitive scene or who are tournament grinders seem to think this edition is phenomenal. I’m wondering what’s causing the disconnect between people who play at tournaments compared to “casually” locally. With 10th edition seeming to be somewhat divisive and 11th edition coming out of the gates with a fairly positive reception, I’m interested to know what’s causing the hype to fizzle for the new edition.
Edit: there is a lot of variety in the comments. I’ve seen people touch on:
- Codex releases (mainly staggered releases)
- Poor communication from GW
- Army Balance
- Rules complexity/organization.
The army balance appears to have taken a bit of a backseat compared to other points people are discussing, it feels as though GW is mainly dropping the ball on the methods of their rules and not the literal writing of them. It may be time for GW to evaluate their rules delivery system and see if it needs a touch-up