Warhammer World Championship Preview 2025 – Part 1

After the Big Summer Preview Games Workshop included a Preview Live show into the World Championship, held in Atlanta, to give us a teaser on what's to come.

And this preview got a hilarious teaser, with lots of easter eggs and humour that kept us excited for this nights show.

The previews covered the main systems of Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer Age of Sigmar, Horus Heresy and The Old World, along with the side ranges of Legions Imperialis and Necromunda, and the latest stand-alone release for Warhammer Quest.

As the amount of previews is so vast, we are going to split the coverage into two parts, beginning with the grim dark future in part one and move towards the fantasy in part two.

Instead of a major army announcement for Warhammer 40k, we get a combination of new heroes. Three characters for close quarter combat, Berehk Stornbrow for the Leagues of Votann, who got a huge update in the summer, The Twin Lance for the T'au Empire and a very dynamic pose of a Tyranid Prime with Lash Whip to go with the Indomitus or Combat Patrol releases.

The second teaser for Warhammer 40k is a narrative expansion - 500 Worlds: Titus - along with the matching miniatures. There is a slipcase with four books covering the battle of Captain Titus against the Necrons. And of course you couldn't do this without a proper set of heroes, and the threat of Nekrosor Ammentar.

Captain Demetrian Titus, Master of the Watch, who you know from the Space Marine video game will be released, along with his entourage of The Wardens of Ultramar, including other known characters from the game like Ancient Gadriel, Veteran Sergeant Metaurus, Gaius Silva, Amelia Minervas, Lucia Vestha and Dainal Kornelius.

The antagonists of this story arch are the Necrons with a new villain, Nekrosor Ammentar and updated model of the C'tan Shard of the Nightbringer.

Moving on to the Horus Heresy. We got a glimpse of these previews in the summer, as we got first pictures of the new Breacher Squads and a Rumour Engine style close-up of the volkite chargers. But now we get the updated heavy Cataphractii Terminators sculpts, as two sets (one with power mauls and volkite chargers, the other one with power fists and combi-bolters) to match with the uparmoured miniatures of Mk II, III and VI Legiones Astartes. These new releases will be part of a new Siege Assault Battle Group, covering a Leviathan Dreadnought as well.

It is not just about the Legiones Astartes this time, and we get the long awaited Skitarii Battle-Pilgryms. While the 40k Skitarii are proper sculpts, they don't match the image the novels of the Horus Heresy have painted of them, so this is an important release for a lot of the Mechanicum players to properly depict them on the battlefield.  And they are not alone, but led by a Marshal with a multi-option plastic kit, and while we're talking about plastic - the Vultarax Stratos-automata is moving from the resin to plastic as well!

All of the Skitarii novelties will be packed as a battle group and accompanied with a new Journal Tactica - The Steel Hand of Mars.

And while we're waiting for the next story arch beyond the Siege of Terra, there will be a re-print of 12 novels from the Horus Heresy Saga as a curated collection with new cover art.

But before we move on to the Underhive, we are going to look at the previews for Legions Imperialis. The Saturnine releases was downscaled introducing Saturnine Heavy Assault Cadre with twelve Saturnine Terminator bases and two Saturnine Command squads, but also four massive Saturnine Dreadnoughts as a new infantry set for the Legiones Astartes. But wait there is more!

Araknae-pattern Weapons Platforms from the large scale moved to Epic scale as well, and we finally - finally! - get our Astartes Super-heavy Tanks with the Fellblades, Falchions and Glaives, and in case of the Falchion with rather unexpected Ascalon Inferno Gun.

And there is a Journal Strategia as well, The Ruin of the Salamanders, and three new Battle Groups, two for the Legiones Astartes and one for the Solar Auxilia as well.

The final preview wave for the Grim Dark is set by the next release for Necromunda - The Aranthian Succession: Spire of Primus supplement. With Ozostium Aranthus the Divine Prince, the Underhive receives their interpretation of Ozymandias, who seized control over Necromunda or at least large parts of it.

But it is not just the character model that was shown, but two new plastic kits as well, the Palanite Justicars and Ironhead Squad Charter Masters and Drill Masters.

This is part one - we will move on with Age of Sigmar and the Old World in part two of our recap.