In March, Games Workshop released a new 10th edition of its long-running flagship game, Warhammer 40,000. With streamlined rules, fewer books to consult, and more readable unit profiles, GW hopes to make the complex wargame more accessible this time around, and that extends to cost.

Warhammer is not cheap to play and in recent years has fallen somewhere between golf and black market human organ collecting. Until now, players have had to purchase an expensive core rulebook, but GW has released the 10th edition of the rules for free. In the coming weeks, rules for the game's various playable factions will also be released for free, and the plan is to make them available for the life of the edition. A new codex (corps book) will be released, but it will not replace the free rules, but will add new options and rules for other modes. [Basically, it appears that the 10th edition will not require the purchase of a book to play the full "Warhammer 40,000" game. That's a pretty big change considering that the 9th edition required at least a £42.5/$70 core book and a £32.5/$55 Codex.

Further lowering the barrier to entry is a new game mode called Combat Patrol. Combat Patrol boxes are sets of miniatures for each army and are currently available at a discounted price of £95/$160. For example, the Aeldari box contains a Farsi leader model, a towering robotic wraithlord, six Windrider jet bikes, and ten Guardian soldiers. Normally, these boxes are just the building blocks of an army, and more would need to be purchased to reach the game's standard size, but in Combat Patrol mode, everyone plays with just one of these boxes' contents. [But in combat patrol mode, everyone will be playing with only one of the contents of these boxes. This is not always an easy task. Given that these boxes were originally assembled as a sales tool rather than a gameplay concept, some of them contain fairly random forces, but if GW can pull this off, one Combat Patrol box is really all that is needed to It would mean that we could start playing. Well, as long as you have the assembly tools and paint to assemble the minis and make them look pretty. Look, I'm not saying it will be cheap.

But if you're looking to spend a lot more money, pre-orders for the new Leviathan box set will open next weekend. This huge bundle of space marines and tyranids, which also includes a special edition printed rulebook and other goodies, is sure to be quite a hit to the wallet, although the price has not yet been announced. If you want to get your hands on one, make sure you get it in time for the Saturday, June 10 release date. They're going to be gone as fast as a minute after they go on sale.