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Me and my friend have just started playing Warhammer 40k and my cousin wanted to join us. I told him what he needed and he picked the space marines. He just recently ordered his codex but it is the 6th edition... I think. Here's the amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/Warhammer-40-000-Space-Marines/dp/1841548944/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1428713885&sr=8-2&keywords=space+marines+codex

I'm just wondering if he can play with me and my friend when we have different codex. We share the 7th edition rule book, so that is up to date.

That's out of date, the most recent SM Codex is this one

Yeah, that's actually the 5th edition codex. You could still make it work with some tweaks (ignore the psychic powers for the ones in the rulebook being the main one, but there are also a few special rules that have been replaced by updated versions in the main rulebook) - but the 6th edition one (used with the current FAQ available on the GW website) is a better fit for the current rules.

Ok thanks, I'll try my best to see if we can work around the out of date rules. So as long as the special rule isn't in the book we shouldn't use it?

No, if the special rule is in the codex, use that. If the same special rule is in the rulebook, use the rulebook version instead.

As for compatibility, your codex can be an older edition then the game system and they do skip editions some times. For example the Dark Angels went from a 4th edition codex to a 6th edition codex. There was no 5th edition and there probably won't be a 7th edition either. The Space Marines, being so popular, is one of the only armies to get a new codex with every new edition. The 7th edition book is rumored to be right around the corner.