Back during the AdeptiCon Preview we had a light look over the future of the competitive Warhammer 40,000 scene – the Chapter Approved 2025-26 Mission Deck – and with only a few short days until it goes up for pre-order, it’s time for a closer look at the new gameplay mechanics coming soon to a battlefield near you.
This expansive deck of missions, maps, and more presents three ways to play matched games of Warhammer 40,000 – Incursion, Strike Force, and Asymmetric War. This time, 1,000-point Incursion matches have their own set of deployment maps to better balance smaller games along with a couple of unit restrictions,* while the optional Asymmetric War rules will be a big draw for fans of ever-changing strategic challenges.
As the name suggests, these missions have deployment maps that give the Attacker and Defender entirely different zones, representing desperate last stands, sudden pincer attacks, and forlorn charges against dug-in defensive lines.
These alternative maps are a great way to shake up your usual games with unfamiliar objective placements, while building characterful battlefields to suit the asymmetric narrative. After all, you could hold your last stand on a bog-standard grassy field covered in ruins, but wouldn’t you rather build a mighty ringed fortress or sacrificial altar to defend?
Asymmetric War isn’t just about the deployment zones, as the normal Primary Missions are replaced with new objectives tailored specifically to this environment. One awards the Defender 50 Victory points just for showing up,** tasking the attacker with draining their opponent’s score to boost their own.
The Attacker always gets to go first in these missions, but in their haste they have to deploy all of their units before the Defender, giving a little bit of initiative back to the underdogs. Of course, Incursion and Strike Force games still use the existing deployment rules and balanced maps, so if you’re looking for tight competitive clashes worthy of the Warhammer Open series, this deck has you covered.
The greatest change that affects all three mission types is the Challenger system, replacing the Secret Missions from the Pariah Nexus mission deck. This new shared deck of cards gives a player falling behind a chance to catch up with either a useful Stratagem or extra mission, with one of each on each card.
You need to be trailing by six VP at the start of a battle round before you can draw one, and you can choose either the Stratagem or the mission – but not both. The modest catch-up these Challenger cards provide keeps the game tense until the last moment, so a rough opening turn doesn’t spell total doom for your forces.
For even more spice in your casual and narrative games, the Asymmetric War missions and Challenger cards pair beautifully with content from the Warhammer 40,000 Crusade books, such as Tactical Reserves and Surgical Deep Strikes from Crusade: Nachmund Gauntlet. Imagine waging a huge, sprawling siege as Defenders desperately reinforce beleaguered units while recklessly brave Attackers drop troops right into the midst of their bunker line… it’s all possible with just the Mission Deck and a book.
Pre-order your own copy of this vital gameplay companion this Saturday when the Chapter Approved 2025-26 Mission Deck goes up on the Warhammer webstore alongside a snazzy set of objective markers.
* The ‘rule of three’ becomes the ‘rule of two’, for instance.
** Which, if you’re anything like us, is more than we usually get all game…
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