Predicting the 11th edition boxset

[Orange Knight]

We all know it's coming... and we all know it will feature Marines.

Whispers in the Warp have been suggesting an Astartes vs Ork boxset, perhaps calling back to the "Assault on Black Reach" and I've had some fun theorising about the content.

 

Here are my predictions:

 

Astartes:

 

-Space Marine Captain with banner (something to make him stand out from the others)

 

-Terminator Apothecary (a character model that would be welcomed to the range. In the past has only existed in Dark Angel armies and the Grey Knight. I'm sure DA players will be thrilled to have this option back too)

 

-Saboteur (A new lone-operative character that can infiltrate, disrupt objectives and enemy reserves, damage a vehicle, etc)

 

-5 Vanguard Veterans (Hammers and Shields, the full kit would have additional weapon options)

 

-5 Primaris marines with Grav weapons (New unit, could be Gravis or Tacticus armour)

 

-10 Tactical Intercessors (A new kit to replace the current Intercessors. Will have some more cosmetic options such as a few Mk7 helmets, some other bits from older armours, and additional weapon options on top of the grenade launcher. Plasma Incinerator or Melta rifle. The kit would also have a weapon selection for the Sgt including chainsword, power sword, fist, Volkite Pistol, etc)

 

-Venerable Redemptor Dreadnought (a more decorated Dreadnought chassis, armed with Lascannons, Power Fist, and other secondary weapons. Perhaps twin Volkites in the place of storm bolters, and a shield dome instead of a hull mounted weapon)

 

Orks:

 

-New Warboss (Bigger and more imposing than the current models)

 

-New Painboy (A better looking kit than the existing plastic sculpt)

 

-New Weirdboy (New model armed with some sort of stave, modernised to match the current look of Orks)

 

-20 Ork Boys (New kit that doesn't suffer from the problems of the last update. 10 Boys with Sluggad and Choppas, 10 Boys with Shootas)

 

-5 Nobz (New kit, bigger and more imposing, armed with Sluggas and Power Klaws)

 

-5 Stormboyz (New kit, perhaps more comical in appearence)

 

-New Deff Dread (Much bigger and more threatening model, with updated rules to match. Something that can stand up to a Redemptor)

 

 

And that's about it. I could be wildly off the mark, but I think the above units would make a very compelling boxset. Let me know what you guys think, and if you have different predictions.

Edited September 22 by Orange Knight

[TheMawr]

So far the "villain" side had been much more creative and less "predictable" than that. ( Tyranids had only termagants, and necron the warriors and reinvented overlord Where the only pre excisting entries )

 

Weirdboy i half wonder if he stayed despite being resin because we get a minderz/warpheadz kill team with a weirdboy before the new edition hits. Its a far reach though, but in the same corner where arbites came from.

 

Personally wouldnt even be suprised if the entirety of the ork side is "new" entries  ( or renewed retro entries ) not even regular boyz. With the necessary updates to old kits ( incl boyz ) mostly coming with the accompanying mpk wave.

Im still placing bets on a cybork theme.

 

 

[CL_Mission]

I feel like the Ork side at least will have more NEW units (even if it's just one). Obviously it's hard to predict something that doesn't exist but both Indomitus and Leviathan introduced multiple new units to Necrons and Tyranids (as well as Marines) so I think it will be more than just refreshing existing sets.

The Marine half seems pretty safe but I don't think the Terminators will be there, I think we'll see them before. Hard to say what will be in their place, I wouldn't be surprised to see a NEW unit even if the codex is already stuffed to bursting. A completely wild guess would be a Tacticus or Gravis Lascannon unit or maybe even Grav (even though we've seen very little of Grav since 8th), I know we have already have Eliminators with Las but I think GW could go for something with a more Devastator feel with a proper Lascannon. 

[ZeroWolf]

I think current rumours spoke about a new land speeder appearing in the box on the marine side

[Orange Knight]

Not sure I want a new Landspeeder, but I love the idea of some new ranged Gravis unit.

 

And yeah, I think both sides will probably have a whole new unit no one expects or predicts... for better or worse lol

[CL_Mission]

I'd love to see a new Landspeeder in the starter box just to see HOW gw could do it. Sure they put a Dreadnought in Leviathan but I feel a Landspeeder would be much more complicated and tough to do with the need to be push-fit, if they really wanted to I'm sure they could.

Third edition came with a Landspeeder but third edition is a bit of an anomaly in that it wasn't push-fit/single pose models like the others. Also that Landspeeder was smaller than I imagine a new one would be.

[Brother Captain Vakarian]

Here’s my predictions (a lot of these are based on Valrak’s rumors): 

 

Marines: 

Characters: 

- Captain, basic power armor, plasma pistol and power sword (I would’ve said jump captain but we now have two so I doubt it) 

- Jump Chaplain 

- Terminator Lieutenant (for the LOLZ, since he won’t be able to join any units in the box) 

- Ancient (because every box seems to have one, but with a melee weapon here to fit the box styling) 

 

Units: 

- Tactical Intercessors (plasma gun to go with the grenade launcher, some special loadout for the sergeant, one 10-man unit) 

- Vanguard Veterans (jump packs, special melee weapons, mix of storm shields and pistols) 

- New Land Speeder (maybe more like the old Typhoon, compared to the Storm speeders? Only guessing this because it’s heavily rumored) 

- A Phobos-armored close support shooting unit of some sort. Maybe just a sneaky shooting unit that isn’t snipers, maybe something closer to Reivers but with better guns. This is a WAG by me. There does always seem to be a unit that doesn’t quite fit the box’s theme, but still shares some similarities. (In Indomitus, the  Eradicators as gravis armored close-ranged heavy weapons; in Leviathan, the Terminators as a mixed ranged and melee unit). 

 

Orks: 

 

Characters: 

 

- New Warboss, with big choppa or claw and a fancy shoota of some sort

- Weirdboy

- Painboy 

- Big Mek in mega armor

-  Nob with boss pole 

 

Units: 

- Burna Boyz 

- Storm Boyz 

- Lootas 

- Meganobz (3-model unit) 

- Bigger deff dread (not a straight replacement, a bigger model) 

 

I really would have figured we would have seen that weird new monopose Boyz kit in this box rather than in 9th, but I really doubt we’ll see it repeat. And strangely I feel Orks will be the more shooting-heavy half of the box.  

[Orange Knight]

If there are rumors of a new Land Speeder I'm not going to doubt them. Everything else seems to come true lol.

 

But why? We have 3 recent variants that cover the old archetypes. This would be a redundant unit when compared to a few other gaps in the range.

Edited September 21 by Orange Knight

[ThaneOfTas]

38 minutes ago, Orange Knight said:

But why? We have 3 recent variants that cover the old archetypes.

From what I've heard it would be a light transport similar to the Land Speeder Storm

[Brother Captain Vakarian]

That probably makes more sense than my guess. Maybe it will be able to transport Phobos units it addition to scouts? 

[Orange Knight]

Well, now that Assault Terminators have been revealed I'm changing my original prediction to include Vanguard Veterans instead lol

[CL_Mission]

59 minutes ago, Orange Knight said:

Well, now that Assault Terminators have been revealed I'm changing my original prediction to include Vanguard Veterans instead lol

Thanks for confirming the reveal for Warahmmer day next month!

[Indy Techwisp]

If this is the launch box then it's all gonna be monopose, innit?

I doubt we're gonna get any big new "multipart" kits in the starter boxset.

 

[Tawnis]

Okay, so I think that's a solid guess on the Space Marine side, I think rather than the Saboteur (that would be pretty similar to the combi-Lt from 10th) we're going to get either a Gravis or Terminator Lt. I also think that we could see the return of the Jump Librarian, or Jump Chaplain to go with the new Vangurd Vets. They do really like their SM characters (we had 4 last launch). Also, while the Venerable is a solid guess, I'm gunna bet on a new version of the Ironclad or something similar to that, I think there's a neat aesthetic there and it could still be differentiated enough from the Brutalis as a dedicated vehicle smasher.

 

Orks: 

- I think the new Warboss is a good call, as well as the Painboy and the Weirdboy. (However, I think we only get one of the latter two and another comes out later (my money is the Weirdboy in the launch kit and the Painboy later)).

- New Big Mek that fixes Vehicles. Maybe return of the Kustom Force Field Version. 

- New Ork Character with a Jump Pack. 

- 5 Lootas

- 5 Burna Boyz

- 5 Storm Boyz

- 10 Gretchin

- New type of large fighting transport, looks like a bigger deff dread that has a small transport capacity of 6 models. 

- 2-3 Model New medium skirmish vehicle unit, possibly a Legends revival like the Wartrakks or Grot Tanks

- 3 Model Heavy Infantry unit. Could be new Maga Nobz, or something else that plays in a similar wheelhouse. 

 

Specifically, I think the launch box will NOT contain any generic boyz. I think that GW will hope that the lack of them will get new Ork players to buy up all the excess kits of the monopose ones that no one likes before they release a better boyz kit later in 11th. While Ork themes have often leaned heavily into Green Tide, I think this one will have more of a mek/tech feel to it. 

Edited September 22 by Tawnis

[Karhedron]

Edition launch boxes frequently have a lot of new units in them so my guess is that apart from Characters, most of the units will be things we have not seen before with maybe just 1 or 2 updates to existing infantry units.

[Tawnis]

6 hours ago, Karhedron said:

Edition launch boxes frequently have a lot of new units in them so my guess is that apart from Characters, most of the units will be things we have not seen before with maybe just 1 or 2 updates to existing infantry units.

Yeah, you are right. Though you've got to wonder, where the heck is the remaining design space for Space Marines? 

OP mentioned a Grav-Gun squad which is a good idea. A Lascannon Heavy Weapon Team I suppose. Beyond that, and characters in different marks of armour, it feels like anything will just be a slightly different version of something we already have. Even those are just "weapon from tactical or devastator squad as a whole unit.

[Orange Knight]

Leviathan was pretty safe. We got the infernus marines which are a new unit, but the rest were just overdue upgrades to existing kits (even the Ballistus was just another configuration of a classic Dread).

I wouldn't be surprised if a Grav Squad (or another weapon) is the only fully new infantry squad we get. It's now "in-vogue" for GW to refresh old units, so a Venerable Dreadnought doesn't seem too wild either.

 

But they could surprise us with a bunch of grav bikes? lol

Edited September 23 by Orange Knight

[CL_Mission]

Grav armour marines with Grav guns on Grav bikes makes the most sense.

[Orange Knight]

Valrak is saying the 11th edition launch box is Blood Angels vs Orks, in a call back to the 2nd edition boxset.

That would be cool, and it makes my prediction of Primaris Vanguard in the box more likely I suppose...

[CL_Mission]

If that pans out I'll predict the requisite captain or a sergeant resembling the guy from the front of the 2nd edition box, raised power fist and all that, he'll just be chapter agnostic.

[Evil Eye]

My personal choice if I were making the boxset...

 

Marines:

 

>Captain with power fist and bolter. Homage to the classic 2E cover, nice simple loadout.

>"Master of Executions", a jump pack character with a big axe. Obviously a callback to the old metal sculpt and a fun secondary leader.

>Techmarine on bike. It's about time we got one of these, last one was in RT!

>2 10-man squads of Tactical Intercessors. Update to the incredibly dull Intercessor box, nixes the redundant bolter receivers in favour of far more armour variety and some special weapons; 1 squad has a heavy bolter and flamer, the other has a missile launcher and meltagun. (The multipart kit has more options of course!)

>5 Vanguard Veterans. GW does a good job with veterans IMO so these should be alright.

>"Intruder light tank". A better-armoured Invader with tracks and a better gun (maybe a lascannon?), kinda fulfilling a CVRT style niche; highly mobile with decent firepower, and relatively durable against small arms. Kind of a baby Predator? Also meshes nicely with the Techmarine who can keep up with it and do repairs.

 

Orks:

>Warboss in mega armour with power klaw and kombi-skorcha. The current mega armoured warboss is monobuild, this would at least add some variety.

>Big Mek with kustom force field. Self explanatory.

>Nob with WAAAGH! banner. Again, self explanatory, and a nice homage to that one sculpt with the big bosspole and mechanical arm.

>5 Nobz. Armed with 'uge choppas, though hopefully not replacing the existing (very fun) kit.

>30 boyz! Either two mobs of 15 or 3 mobs of 10. Maybe the latter, with two being armed with sluggas and choppas and one being armed with shootas.

>20 Gretchin. More gobby gitz is always good.

>"Wrekka Dredd". Redemptor sized Ork walker, larger than a Deff Dredd but smaller than the Gorkanaut. Armed with a big "Demolisshun Flail" and a rokkit pod.

 

Both sides have a big boy/vehicle, some elite guys, some regular troops and 3 characters.

[The Praetorian of Inwit]

I could see Flash Gitz and Stormboyz being Kill Team releases in the future. 

 

I think it will be new Boyz, new Nobz and characters, most likely a new Warboss, either a Weirdboy or Painboy and then some new characters they come up with. I think they'll also redo the Trukk. 

 

One thing that is almost certain is a an above inflation price increase and/or less plastic than Leviathan. 

[Magos Takatus]

On 9/23/2025 at 3:38 PM, CL_Mission said:

Grav armour marines with Grav guns on Grav bikes makes the most sense.

GW boarded the Grav-y train, I see. 

 

I am loving a lot of these ideas for the Ork side of the box. The weird science aspect of the Orks is what speaks to me most, so the more Cyborks, Lootas/Burnas, Meks and big Dreads, the happier I will be. I hope that Evil Eye's big Dread comes to pass, as it sounds a lot like the Mega Dread. That originally had optional upgrades for an indirect fire rocket pod that never got a model on the kit, so if they essentially added options for the Mega and Meka Dread, and gave the option for Evil Eye's sick sounding flail, I would be overjoyed.

 

Personally, I think we should see a Mad Dok Grotsnik model in 11th that doesn't look dreadful, and the launch box could give us some of those "Cyber Slasherz" or whatever they were called that Forge World included rules for in one of their Imperial Armour books. I think they were just Cybork Nobs, rules-wise.

 

I guess to predict the Ork side we need to rule out what it won't be. It's unlikely to be buggies and Beast Snaggas since they were both recent, which does leave Dread Mob style themes, Cybork Stuff, Green Tide, since that's probably evergreen, or they just prop up Zogrod and give us a big box full of Grots, which might actually cause a riot. If they reintroduce Grotsnik as a player, we might get Cyborks, if they go Nazdreg we get more shooty Orks? I really hope we get a Stormboys leader, whether generic or Zagstruk. I'd prefer generic, since Zagstruk is canonically a Goff and Stormboys also fit quite thematically in a Blood Axe force, so having to lean on a Goff character would be sad.

 

(Just to clarify, I'm not saying that the named character should necessarily be in the box, I'm just pondering what happens if GW start pushing them in the lore and then give them a new model during the edition) 

Edited Monday at 10:01 AM by Magos Takatus

[Evil Eye]

On 10/13/2025 at 10:50 AM, Magos Takatus said:

I hope that Evil Eye's big Dread comes to pass, as it sounds a lot like the Mega Dread. That originally had optional upgrades for an indirect fire rocket pod that never got a model on the kit, so if they essentially added options for the Mega and Meka Dread, and gave the option for Evil Eye's sick sounding flail, I would be overjoyed.

The Mega Dredd was definitely in my mind when I came up with that! I do miss the Ork FW stuff, especially the Kill Krusha with its autoloader and absurd (but technically functional) transmission.