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A new version of an old Warhammer board game - Combat Arena - has made a surprise appearance, and it's due to land incredibly soon.
After being radio silent for years, the head-to-head Warhammer board game is getting dug up for another instalment later this month. Much like Hunger Games or Battle Royale, it pits characters (captured against their will, if the previous edition is anything to go by) against one another in a fight to the death. You can choose between 10 heroes drawn from across the Warhammer 40,000 world, each with their own abilities to master.
However, there's a twist. Dubbed 'Lair of the Beast', this version resurrects the Combat Arena format with a key difference - now, a gnarly alien monster has been added to shake things up. As well as battling rival heroes in this 30ish-minute experience for two to four players, the 'Ambull' will be doing its best to tear you all limb from limb.
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If the miniatures shown here look familiar, they should. Many of them appeared in the old Blackstone Fortress box set (which would probably rank as one of the best board games in your collection if you love both 40K and dungeon-crawlers), while the Ambull was featured in 'The Dreaded Ambull' expansion. This is something publisher Games Workshop seems to be getting better at in recent years; revisiting limited-run or hard-to-get figures, often for entry-level boxsets. A good example would be the new Warhammer Underworlds starter set, due to see release very soon. While it's a fresh entry-point to the series of board games for adults, it features retired warbands we've seen before but can't really get now. The revised Warcry starter set does much the same thing.
Combat Arena: Lair of the Beast is due to launch at some point later in July from Barnes and Noble. Unfortunately, we don't have a UK release window yet.
It's a busy month for Warhammer board games; a tie-in for the upcoming Space Marine 2 is also available now. Although the sarcastic amongst you might ask "isn't that just 40K?" Space Marine: The Board Game is a more focused survival experience that pits Space Marine 2's hero, Titus, against an endless horde of Tyranids. It's available exclusively from Target for $39.99, but should apparently be coming to other territories before long. The Titus miniature will also be released separately sometime in the not-so-distant future, allowing you to field the Ultramarine hero in your own army (perhaps as an addition to Leviathan or the upcoming starter sets).
Want some recommendations? Don't miss these board games for 2 players. You can also check out our Warhammer 10th Edition first impressions, or see if the new 40K boxset is worth getting with our Warhammer 40K Leviathan impressions.
