One of Warhammer’s Greatest Board Games Is Returning

Board games are available in a huge variety at Warhammer, and most of them are of excellent quality. Cursed City exudes a look reminiscent of Bloodborne, Blood Bowl features cruel sporting competitions, and cult classics like Mordheim have inspired a plethora of spiritual successors. Though the latter two in particular rely significantly on dice rolls, none of these games have unusually complex rule systems. Games Workshop offers various options to satisfy your desire for rules.

We’ll conveniently disregard The Lord of the Rings Strategy Battle Game for the time being as it’s a skirmish game rather than a boxed game, even though I think its ruleset is the best that Games Workshop has ever made. Though Gorechosen was one of the best in recent years, Adeptus Titanicus offers a remarkably robust system to control your little titans as they drool oil across the battlefield and belch smoke into the skies.

In the original Age of Sigmar game, Gorechosen, you were in charge of managing pitfights between Khorne’s inhabitants. Combat Arena, a Warhammer 40,000 variant, was quickly created with the identical rules but a Tech-Priest, Adeptus Ministorum Crusader, Rogue Trader, Imperial Psyker, and a heavy-duty Servitor in place of the models. Combat Arena: Clash of Champions, a second version of the game, retained the fantastic rules but replaced the miniatures with a Primaris Lieutenant, Necron Royal Warden, Blood Angels Terminator, and Plague Marine. Model-wise, this was a letdown edition, but those fantastic rules still supported battles.


Lair of the Beast, a new Combat Arena edition, was revealed by Games Workshop yesterday. With the third futuristic installment of those fantastic Gorechosen rules, we’re back at the top of Games Workshop’s model tier list as the heroes of Blackstone Fortress take to the arena. With a variety of characters including Kroot Shapers, Eldar Rangers, Imperial Navigators, and Ministorum Priests, these are some of the best models that Games Workshop has ever produced. In case the inclusion of Space Marines and Ratlings along with the Rogue Traders isn’t enough, the game also includes the Ambull, a miniature that wasn’t made since its limited run ended with the Warhammer Quest expansion.

The 2-4 person PvP ruleset that made Gorechosen and Combat Arena great now has a PvE component thanks to the Ambull, who seems to be a villain in the game. With Gorechosen, seasoned designer James Hewitt honed a modern and efficient ruleset; hopefully, the Ambull’s inclusion doesn’t drastically alter that goal. If it does, then I suppose at least we have the old regulations and the cool model.

A classic in the Games Workshop canon, Combat Arena is ideal for a casual evening with a few friends. Only available at Müller, Thalia, Elbenwald, and GameStop in Germany and Barnes & Noble in the US, it’s really hard to find. Keep a watch out for these boxed games in UK game stores, and be prepared to email me if you come across one in stock.


Similar to other iterations, Lair of the Beast is most likely limited and will probably no longer be printed upon the introduction of a new edition. This is the best edition to acquire if you haven’t already, as I don’t think the included models will get any better. Combat Arena has included five and four models in its previous editions, respectively, with the second edition including incredibly uninteresting characters. Together with the Ambull, Lair of the Beast has more protagonists than the previous two editions combined, and they all have amazing designs.

While Gorechosen and its offspring are excellent Warhammer introductions, they may even be superior as stand-alone enclosed experiences. Lair of the Beast is worth your time if you enjoy board games, miniatures, or the complex area of the Warhammer universe that is home to Rogue Traders and their shaky friends. It has everything for someone and something for everyone. It’s me. I am a person. And I’m ecstatic.