Games Workshop has announced a new edition (opens in new tab) of its flagship tabletop wargame, Warhammer 40,000. A gorgeous CG trailer sets the tone, depicting space marines at war with the greedy Tyranids.

Serving as billboards for this edition are the Terminators - space marines in giant exoskeleton armor. Recent releases of this game have focused on a new breed of primaris, a new design and concept that replaces the old Firstborn. This new Terminator is closer to the classic look for maximum nostalgia, suggesting that Games Workshop is stepping back a bit from this controversial push.

Even more surprising, however, is the trailer's narration. This narration, by Roboot Galliman, the de facto leader of the Imperium, is a desperate commentary on the emptiness of the Imperium's victories over its enemies and the deception used to keep its own people in line. This is a far cry from the straightforward battle rhetoric that accompanies Games Workshop's marketing, perhaps indicating a change in approach to this setting in light of the rather persistent problem that the game attracts fascists who idolize its grim hero without irony may indicate a change in the way in which the game is played.

In recent years, Games Workshop has made clear its opinion of such people and its stance that there is "nothing good" about this setting (open in new tab), but has not been particularly successful in reflecting this in its stories and marketing materials. The game has increasingly moved away from its satirical roots, frequently landing on the awkward stance that Imperium fascism is bad, but necessary and even a noble price to pay to ensure the survival of humanity. It's like the "at least in Mussolini's time the trains ran on time" of dystopian science fiction, the very sort of fallacy that real Nazis flock to.

In the trailer, Galliman states exactly the opposite. The lies that the Imperium tells the people are in pursuit of meaningless victories that support a corrupt organization. While it makes perfect sense for the character to have lived in a time when the emperor still existed and aspired to a completely different kind of society, and that Roboute woke up to this distorted future with great concern for how things had been going since then, the public marketing of the new edition of the game to the forefront is striking. Personally, I hope this is a sign of a new era for this stage.

The rules of the game will be completely overhauled, with the main goal of streamlining what has become an overbearingly complex game. With changes to unit stats reminiscent of its sibling, Warhammer Age of Sigmar, the removal of the pesky stratagem system, and a promised reduction in the number of books that need to be consulted during play, the game looks to be an easier entry point for new players.

This is aided by a new mode called Combat Patrol, which allows new players to purchase one discounted model box (appropriately, an existing Combat Patrol) and immediately play as an army. The game also eliminates most restrictions on corps building. In other words, you can build a corps with almost any combination of units without being tied to a corps building diagram.

Upon the release of the new edition, Games Workshop will make the rules for each army available free of charge for everyone to use immediately.

With the 8th and 9th editions, Warhammer 40,000 was the biggest success in history, but it also generated the biggest controversy. This 10th edition may represent a new beginning for the game, and perhaps for its bleak setting as well.