The area of space known as the Maelstrom is a swirling mass of stellar storms and Warp rifts that is almost impossible to navigate safely, and within its heart lurks one of the greatest Chaos Lords of the 41st Millennium – Huron Blackheart, master of the Red Corsairs. Not content with simply maintaining his domain, Blackheart has begun another raid into the vulnerable underside of the Imperium, and it all starts here.
The Maelstrom: Lair of the Tyrant
The next major narrative expansion for Warhammer 40,000 takes us into the maddening vortex of the Maelstrom, as Huron Blackheart and the Red Corsairs look to score another devastating raid on Imperial space. They’re not the only ones hunting in the void, however, and Prince Yriel’s Eldritch Raiders have an agenda of their own to pursue in this cursed region.
Like the 500 Worlds: Titus set before it, The Maelstrom: Lair of the Tyrant comes as a set of books bound in a decorative slipcase, with each tome detailing new rules or background lore as part of the series.
The Lair of the Tyrant book tells the story of Huron’s latest raid and the Aeldari Corsair-shaped roadblocks he runs into, while Crucible of Champions presents new narrative rules for creating your own custom Warhammer 40,000 characters, a booklet of Detachments adds new Detachment options for Chaos Space Marines, Aeldari, Orks, and Leagues of Votann armies, and Raid and Ruin gives players a new campaign system that sends their armies on a piratical spree across the void.
If you fancy some treasure fit for a pirate lord, the set is also available in a luxurious Collector’s Edition. This version contains alternate cover art versions of the three books as well as the slipcase itself, emblazoned with red foil details and matching red gilt page edges. Each book also has a red ribbon page marker. These products are available while stocks last.
Huron Blackheart and the Masters of the Maelstrom
The mighty Huron Blackheart is not one to command his Red Corsairs from afar and now he’s taking to the battlefield in person with a brand new miniature, flanked by a command squad of exceptional underlings: Garreon the Corpsemaster, Katar Garrix, Garlon Souleater, Captain Sargotta, and the Enforcer with her Barghesi pup Plunder.
Huron Blackheart and the Masters of the Maelstrom can be fielded as two distinct units – Huron himself, who can join a number of units solo, and the command squad who can work with other troops to form a single large unit of specialist warriors that only Huron can join. This multi-part plastic set is a great Leader unit for those of piratical ambition, and is especially deadly when fighting in close combat at the head of a Red Corsairs army.
Battleforce: Lords of the Maelstrom
It’s not just Huron setting out from the Red Corsairs, as his wild warband of renegade Space Marines plunge into the void behind him with the new Battleforce: Lords of the Maelstrom box. This expansive set contains 10 brand new Red Corsairs Raiders – elite infantry with a wide assortment of weapons and armour styles – and a new multi-part Reave-Captain, alongside 10 Chaos Space Marines Legionaries, five Chaos Terminators, 10 Traitor Guardsmen, and a new Red Corsairs upgrades set that gives you plenty of sculpted shoulder pads and accessories for your Space Marines.
This product will be available while stocks last, but all of the new kits inside it will be available individually at a later date.
Battleforce: Eldritch Raiders
Aeldari Corsairs are also an ever-present threat around the Maelstrom and undoubtedly the best of them are the Eldritch Raiders, captained by the legendary Prince Yriel of Iyanden. Yriel leads his fleet into battle with a brand new miniature of his own and a raiding force of new Aeldari units, including the Void Dreamer Kharseth, ten Corsair Skyreavers equipped with graceful winged jump packs, and a Starfang that can alternately be built as a Vyper. You also get 10 Corsair Voidreavers that can be built as Corsair Voidscarred specialists, should you so choose.
This product will be available while stocks last, but all of the new kits inside it will be available individually at a later date.
The Maelstrom Battalion: Drukhari
Realspace raiding fleets from the dark city of Commorragh can be found across the galaxy, and the Maelstrom is a particularly fertile ground for their grotesque campaigns. This new Battalion box for the Drukhari collects a number of useful units together into a thematic army ripe for piratical raids, and contains:
A Succubus war leader
Two Venoms
Three Reaver jetbikes
Five Hellions
10 Wyches
These miniatures are perfect for starting a new Wych Cult-themed army, or adding a collection of units from the gladiatorial pits to your existing force. This product is available while stocks last, and comprises existing miniature kits also available separately.
The Maelstrom Battalion: Leagues of Votann
The Maelstrom’s proximity to the galactic core means that Oathbands from the Leagues of Votann are never far away, and heavily defended fleets continually run the gauntlet of raiders and reavers to engage in honest trade and exploration – even if their fair and reasoned reassignment of valuable assets can be misinterpreted as piracy by less pragmatic factions.
This new Battalion box presents a compact but elite force of hardy Kin and Ironkin that work together to defend critical claims, and contains:
A Memnyr Strategist
Three Hernkyn Pioneers
Six Ironkin Steeljacks, that can be equipped with heavy volkanite disintegrators or plasma swords and Autoch-pattern bolters
This product is available while stocks last, and comprises existing miniature kits also available separately.
Map of the Imperium Knitted Blanket
The vastness of space is freezing cold, but you don’t have to be – warm up under a new Map of the Imperium Knitted Blanket and allow the deadly yawn of the Great Rift to keep you toasty in the winter months. This incredibly cosy blanket is marked with both the Imperium Sanctus and Imperium Nihilus and a wide assortment of notable locations, like Baal, Macragge, and the blank space where Cadia used to be.*
The blanket measures 160cm x 102cm – plenty large enough to wrap around an adult human (though no promises for a Space Marine).
Ghost Legion
Alpha Legion warlord Solomon Akurra returns in the follow-up to Renegades: Harrowmaster, as his ambitions grow ever-greater following the unification of many feuding warbands and the conquering of entire star systems. Now he sets his sights on his grand plan – to shatter the Imperium and rebuild a stronger humanity from its pieces – but power such as Akurra’s attracts many enemies, and the God-Emperor’s servants are ready to make their counterattack.
The trials and tribulations of the Alpha Legion continue in Ghost Legion by Mike Brooks, and you can pick it up in a beautiful Special Edition release next week. The striking cover – depicting a hydra coiled around the Pale Spear, purported to be their Primarch’s own weapon – is etched with aqua blue foil and features printed page edges, a matching ribbon page marker, and is signed and numbered by the author. This product is available while stocks last.
You will also be able to pre-order Ghost Legion in hardback and eBook formats from Saturday.
Death Rider
Most Commissars are concerned with driving their forces into an attack – but not Valian Hesh, who finds himself desperately trying to prevent a suicidal assault by the Krieg 472nd Siege Regiment on T’au Empire lines. The world they’re on is doomed to an agonising death at the hands of an Imperial battleship, and as smoke and poison leeches into the atmosphere, Commissar Hesh knows that the only hope he and the entire regiment have of survival is if he can curtail their zeal long enough to withdraw from the front lines.
Death Rider by Rhuairidh James will be available to pre-order in hardback, eBook, and MP3 audiobook editions.
Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom
Once the commander of the noble Astral Claws Chapter, Lugft Huron’s ambitions ignited a vicious civil war that plunged the Badab Sector into chaos. His bid for independence didn’t go so well, and after a close encounter with a meltagun, the Space Marine now known as Blackheart scrambled into the very Maelstrom he had once pledged to contain.
There he assembled a fleet of renegades, pirates, and traitors, who quickly became more than just a thorn in the Imperium’s side. You can discover his latest exploits in Huron Blackheart: Master of the Maelstrom by Mike Brooks – now coming up for its paperback release.
The Twice-dead King Omnibus (French and German Editions)
Drink deep of the majestic Necrons in new French and German editions of The Twice-Dead King Omnibus by Nate Crowley, collecting two epic novels, a novella, and three short stories. The first two stories recount the tale of the spurned noble Oltyx and his quest to reclaim ancestral lands from devious betrayers, before defending them against those who would see the dynasty undone as soon as it has risen.
In addition to the two novels, one novella and three short stories tackle the Necrons from widely different perspectives. The novella Severed brings us to the vaunted Sautekh dynasty, where the Stormlord himself has charged Zahndrekh and Vargard Obyron with putting down a rebellion. ‘One Million Years’ pits the eternal Necrons against the ambitious Leagues of Votann aboard an awakening Necron ship. ‘The Life of Jethras the Martyr’ takes us to the other side to see how a lowly pilgrim found a moment of glory in fighting back against the hated Necrons. Finally, ‘Patience’ tells the story of a voidborn crewman who encounters Astartes, Necrons, and... something else for the first time – and lives to tell the tale.
This omnibus will be available to pre-order in paperback and eBook editions in both French and German.
Voidscarred (French and German Editions)
Aeldari Corsairs prefer to shirk the responsibilities of their craftworld in order to ply the stars in search of meaning and glory – and no, it’s totally not a phase. For Baron Myrin Stormdawn of the Starsplinters, things are going from bad to worse as a running conflict with Uzgul da Magnificent and his Badskab Bukkaneers escalates in an unexpected way. Then, he’s forced into an alliance with Taenar Leotharan – an admiral exiled from their home on Craftworld Ilmaren.
Taenar struggles to adjust to a life of piracy, and the Starsplinters are only as good as their last success and the whims of their capricious commander, Princess Tishria. These unenviable circumstances all come to a head in Voidscarred by Mike Brooks, releasing next week in French and German paperback and eBook editions for the first time.
This week on Warhammer+, Victory Pointers gets technical with one of the most deceptively important parts of a game of Warhammer 40,000 – the Movement phase. Loremasters joins Captain Titus in his latest expedition for a deep dive into the 500 Worlds of Ultramar, and four contestants sit down with the Scrap Demon team to come up with some horrifying Skaven abominations fresh from the labs of Blight City.
Here at Warhammer Community, we’re getting knee-deep in all things Maelstrom with a look at new rules for both the Red Corsairs and Eldritch Raiders, as well as the fantastic new character creation rules in Crucible of Champions. We’re really looking forward to that one, so make sure you check in this week!
* This product is currently delayed in Australia and New Zealand.
