40K Factions by Popularity, Sales, and how much GW likes them.

[Silvereyes]

20 hours ago, ThaneOfTas said:

Gut feel based on the lack of any rumours yet makes me think that the Drukhari will be waiting for 11th before they get their refresh, so sometime in the next 3-4 years, but I wouldn't expect them in the year or so before 11th.

 

God that would suck for them, being the last in 10th to get a codex, and only getting the bare minimum in models. Hopefully their codex is at least somewhat designed with 11th in mind.

 

20 hours ago, ThaneOfTas said:

Well, Death Guard have already had their launch box back in 8th, and it was the box that launched them as an independent faction.

 

Guess the question then is, is a 9 year gap too close for Death Guard, but a 12 year gap for Orks is acceptable?

 

20 hours ago, ThaneOfTas said:

Thousand Sons, World Eaters and Emperor's children could all use another wave, but a launch box tends to refresh the core of a range, while they may branch out a bit more for marines, for the opposition factions they've been fairly consistent in having the box launch with their core iconic units.

 

That makes sense, I see.

 

19 hours ago, ZeroWolf said:

With regards to the DE, only rumour from Valraks sources is a multipart Archon. Not to say there can't be more, but that's it for the moment

 

God I feel like an idiot. Seen some people use the acronym "DE", and I had no idea what it meant. Had to Google Archon to realize that you mean Dark Eldar. The person in my game group who plays them also insists on just calling them Dark Eldar, he refuses to call them Druhkari.

 

9 hours ago, Karhedron said:

My understanding from past conversations is that GW devs "bid" to work on particular projects, they don't get assigned. That means that the people who work on particular codices do so because they like that faction so they would certainly not be setting out to produce a sub-standard codex. However they may have certain ideas about how they would like the faction to play that may not or may not work too well in practice.

 

That is fascinating. Listening to the Poorhammer podcast, they've sometimes brought up the idea that GW, despite being a huge billion dollar company, can sometimes be a bit old fashioned in how they handle things, or in a way a far smaller company would do things. I would of imagine the codexes would of been produced more like in a factory line honestly with how they are put out on a cycle.

[Karhedron]

1 hour ago, Silvereyes said:

I would of imagine the codexes would of been produced more like in a factory line honestly with how they are put out on a cycle.

 

I am sure you are right in terms of project planning. There is no way that they would be able to get the books and models synced up to a steady schedule otherwise. But in terms of who does what, my understanding is that people get a lot of freedom to pick the projects they want to work on. I seem to recall that Phil Kelly led the Eldar development for several editions. 

[ZeroWolf]

2 hours ago, Silvereyes said:

 

God that would suck for them, being the last in 10th to get a codex, and only getting the bare minimum in models. Hopefully their codex is at least somewhat designed with 11th in mind.

 

 

Guess the question then is, is a 9 year gap too close for Death Guard, but a 12 year gap for Orks is acceptable?

 

 

That makes sense, I see.

 

 

God I feel like an idiot. Seen some people use the acronym "DE", and I had no idea what it meant. Had to Google Archon to realize that you mean Dark Eldar. The person in my game group who plays them also insists on just calling them Dark Eldar, he refuses to call them Druhkari.

 

 

That is fascinating. Listening to the Poorhammer podcast, they've sometimes brought up the idea that GW, despite being a huge billion dollar company, can sometimes be a bit old fashioned in how they handle things, or in a way a far smaller company would do things. I would of imagine the codexes would of been produced more like in a factory line honestly with how they are put out on a cycle.

Yeah I used DE and Drukhari interchangeably, same with Eldar and Aledari. Most times DE is easier to type 

[N1SB]

On 8/10/2025 at 5:25 AM, Silvereyes said:

Very interesting. Would you also include Grey Knights in your A tier? Heretic Astartes, at least in 40K, I've seen a lot of comments along the lines that GW only cares about loyalist Marines, and that Chaos Space Marines just don't get the same attention. But I imagine they are obviously popular in 30K, Death Guard was in a starter box for 7th (I think?), and World Eaters and Emperor's Children are pretty new on the scene.

 

Your point is well taken, Grey Knights would be like the very bottom of my A Tier just because it's another Astartes.  I was literally thinking about them, like Deathwatch gets better treatment than they do.  And for an exception that kinda proves the rule, this edition they didn't get much treatment except for the Dread Knight I think, but lore-wise I see all this chatter about how the Terminus Decree that the Grey Knights guard has been retconned; it's like GW has to throw them a bone.

 

With World Eaters getting a full range refresh last go-around, with a Primarch model, and Emperor's Children getting theirs recently, also with a Primarch...the Heretic Astartes seem to get a lot of attention.  Not contradicting your point, because Loyalists get even more, but if full range refreshes aren't attention...those poor Dark Eldar.