If you’ve read our beginner’s guide to Warhammer 40,000, you’ll know that the Games Workshop tabletop miniatures game is a complex beast with a myriad of ways to build an army. It can be incredibly difficult to understand which units go with what factions, who has an updated codex and what to buy.
In this article, we try to make it easier for beginners to figure out which Warhammer 40,000 armies are up to date, easy to pick up and play, and what units and books are available for them.
In short, this is a full on Warhammer 40k armies overview with all Warhammer 40k races and factions.
Though the article doesn’t go into major detail about strategy and rules for the armies, it will give you a brief overview so that you can get to grips with what each faction and the detachments within each faction feel like and how they play.
If you are wondering if there are some upcoming changes or new releases for your army, you can check our updated overview of upcoming confirmed 40k releases here.
If you are more into Kill Team than full on 40k, we have a list of all Kill Team Factions here.
Note: As the 10th edition Codexes come out, we will update the factions in this article with any changes to the information below. There may be a slight delay in updating the information immediately after a new Codex has been released, we appreciate your patience!
List of all Warhammer 40k Factions and Armies
It can actually be hard to count the number of armies in 40k. Depending on how you decide to cut different things into pieces, there might be significantly more or less. This is especially the case for the various space Marines. At any rate, by our count, there are 34 different armies and these are the ones we include in our Warhammer 40k armies overview:
- Space Marines
- Ultramarines
- Imperial Fists
- Dark Angels
- Blood Angels
- Salamanders
- Iron Hands
- Space Wolves
- White Scars
- Raven Guard
- Deathwatch
- Grey Knights
- Astra Militarum
- Adepta Sororitas
- Adeptus Custodes
- Adeptus Mechanicus
- Imperial Knights
- Chaos Space Marines
- Death Guard
- Thousand Sons
- World Eaters
- Chaos Daemons Khorne
- Chaos Daemons Nurgle
- Chaos Daemons Tzeentch
- Chaos Daemons Slaanesh
- Chaos Knights
- Craftworlds
- Drukhari
- Harlequins
- Ynnari
- Tyranids
- Genestealer Cults
- Necrons
- Orks
- T’au Empire
- Leagues of Votann
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What armies are updated for 40k tenth or 10th edition and have a new codex?
It is safe to say that all armies are likely to be updated for 10th edition. It’s not advised to get the 9th edition codex for any armies at the moment though you can find the relevant PDF for each faction here.
There is a roadmap for as and when the new books for each faction which will be released however just below!
How we are dividing the Warhammer 40k Armies up
In Warhammer 40k you have a ton of different armies. They can roughly be divided into 4 big chunks:
- Space Marines
- Armies of the Imperium
- Armies of Chaos
- Armies of Xenos
Space Marines Army Overview
Introduction to Space Marines
The Space Marines are monastic orders of genetically enhanced superhumans fighting to defend humanity. They have been the flagship army of Warhammer 40,000 since the beginning of the game and is one of the classic Warhammer 40k factions for beginners. There is rarely an expansion or update in the game without some sort of update for these guys.
When it comes to playing the game, Space Marines are simpler than they were in the previous edition! The faction ability: Oath of the Moment, allows you to choose one enemy unit or model and the beginning of a round for all your models to reroll to hit rolls against it.
In a straight forward sense, just choose something you really need to kill this turn and then unload a shower of bolter fire at it!
Though many detachments have some unique rules that can play around with this faction rule, that shouldn’t matter for your first few games (or even years!) in the game if you just want to have fun and play narrative games with your friends, so if that’s the case, the Space Marine range of miniatures is a treasure trove of awesome sculpts. If you like the look of the big bulky marines, go for them!
What rule book should I get to play Space Marines?
The Space Marines have a brand new codex available that fully incorporates the new 10th edition rules, and has rules for all models currently playable in the army.
Codex: Space Marines is the book you need. Be aware that most of the time, you will also want the Codex Supplement of the subfaction you want to play (which are available as free PDFs on the Warhammer community page that is linked at the beginning of the article). Though the free PDFs have the Ultramarines flavoured detachment for the Space Marines, the codex does have all the other detachments in there as well. If you don’t have it yet, fear not, we shall explain them all with the detachment rules and a few enhancements and stratagems – though if you want the full experience it is advised to grab the codex.
What miniatures are available for Space Marine faction, and are they up to date?
This is where it can get a bit confusing: The Space Marines have some of the newest and some of the oldest miniatures available, so if you just pick stuff randomly from a webstore, you might end up with some miniatures that are insanely detailed plastic sculpts that you don’t even need to use glue to assemble, and others that are made of finecast resin which have to be assembled with superglue and will break and bend if you look at it wrong.
This is of course due to the fact that the army has been around for so long, and has had so many updates. The most important thing to know about miniature quality and what is up to date in the Space Marines range is all about the word Primaris: A couple of years ago, the Ultramarines Primarch returned from a 10.000 year stasis with a new vision for the Imperium and a host of new, stronger Space Marine warriors to carry out his vision. The Primaris Space Marines are taller and stronger than regular space marines, and are seen by some as the best the Imperium has to offer, and by others as something close to heresy because of all their technological innovations.
In the real world, what happened was that Games Workshop’s sculpting of plastic miniatures had gotten better and better over the decades, which has led to the miniatures growing in scale, since you could make them look better that way. This had the unfortunate consequence that older Space Marine miniatures were starting to look like strange diminutive figures compared to some other recent figures, while still holding immense sentimental value to people who had collected the army for most of their lives. So, Games Workshop decided to launch new, taller Space Marines not as a direct replacement of the old beloved “tiny marines”, but as a new kind of Space Marine all together.
In reality, the Primaris Space Marines have all but replaced the classic marines now, so as a new player with no nostalgic ties to the old stuff, you might as well only use Primaris Marines for your army, as they all look better together scale-wise, and are also mostly better in the game (with a few exceptions). I consider it very unlikely that GW will ever release any marines that are not Primaris again (and if they could without the biggest outcry from fans, they would phase the old models out completely).
That being said, even if you only go for Primaris Marines, there are still so many options: the army has close combat specialists such as the Bladeguard Veterans, snipers such as the Eliminators, massive mechs such as the Redemptor Dreadnoughts, a whole array of different Troops types, as well as a ton of different characters. The Space Marines have at least a couple of options for almost any role in the game, and more are added every year.
The most recent addition to the game has been the close combat Troops called Assault Intercessors, the Bladeguard Veterans, the meltagun-carrying Eradicators, the motorbike-riding Outriders and even an ATV with a gun mounted on top (as well as a few more). These generally encourage a fast assault style, but you can also play the army defensively, stealthily or a combination of those.
How do I get started playing Space Marines
Since Space Marines are the flagship faction for the game, there are a ton of ways to get started with them.
The recent starter sets for 10th Edition all include a contingent of Space Marines, such as the Ultimate Starter Set.
However, if you know you’re only going to play Space Marines, you don’t really need to buy a box with another army also included, and all the miniatures in the box are now also available in other kits. You could of course split the set with one of your friends (or sell off the Tyranid stuff), which is a super common thing to do.
Luckily, you have other options: The Space Marines: Combat Patrol also gives you a nice Primaris force, or you could go for one of the subfaction-specific Combat Patrol boxes (see below), since the miniatures in those usually aren’t subfaction-specific in their own right.
If you want to start the army with something that’s not in the starter set, a good tactic which works for most of the armies in the game is to download the Warhammer 40,000 app, create an army, see what you can fit in a Combat Patrol Detachment (you can read about detachments in our Beginner’s Guide to Warhammer 40k), and then basically buy the boxes necessary to field that army. This is one of the things that the app is really useful for if you’re a newcomer to the game or haven’t tried a specific army before.
Finally, Space Marines are generally defined by what Chapter (subfaction) they’re from. You can create your own custom Chapter, but it will usually be a successor to one of the standard Chapters, which have their own extra rules, special characters and units, as well as color schemes. Here’s a quick rundown of the most important Chapters and the special kits available to them.
Ultramarines Faction Overview
You may have noticed that most images of Space Marines you see in Games Workshop marketing and box art are painted blue with gold trim. This is because the flagship army of the Warhammer 40,000 game has a flagship subfaction: The Ultramarines are the “protagonists” of much of what’s going on in the Warhammer 40,000 universe from the Imperial perspective, and every new Space Marine release from Games Workshop that’s not specific to a different Chapter is always presented as an Ultramarine unit in blue and gold.
The Ultramarines are the pillars of civilization within the Space Marines: Their homeworld sector is almost an Imperium within the Imperium, carefully planned and protected, and home to some of the most manageable standards of living for humans in the galaxy.
At the moment, the Ultramarines are also one of two Space Marine chapters able to field their Primarch ancestor leader in battle (the other one is the Dark Angels) : Roboute Guilliman (see the image above) is a massive warrior and the de facto leader of the military efforts of most of humanity at the moment, and also an amazing painting project if you want to field him in your army.
Since almost everything Space Marine looks like it’s already part of the Ultramarines, the Chapter isn’t generally defined by its special units, but they do have some really cool characters with updated kits such as Marneus Calgar (the guy from the recent Marvel Warhammer 40,000 comic!) and his Victrix Honour Guard.
You can also make your Space Marines look more like Ultramarines with the Ultramarine Primaris Upgrades Pack.
Ultramarines on the Tabletop
Gladius Task Force Detachment
Detachment Rule – Combat Doctrine
Choose one per round, which then is in effect for any friendly unit in that turn: Devastator (shoot in a turn it advanced) Tactical (can shoot or charge in a turn it has fallen back) Assault (declare charge in a turn it has advanced).
As though this detachment was ripped straight from the Codex Astartes, the Ultramarines have something for almost every situation. One turn the entire army can advance and shoot, another turn they can advance and declare to charge or shoot, and as a third option for another turn units have the option of shooting or charging on a turn they have fallen back. These three different Combat Doctrines give the Ultramarines an incredible amount of flexibility and a little bit of unpredictability from the perspective of their opponents as a combat encounter can change in an instant depending on which discipline is active.
To further keep an enemy guessing their next move, for 1CP, a single unit can activate another combat doctrine! This is great when, for example, you wish to obliterate an enemy at range with the devastator doctrine but want to tie up a series of ranged threats with some assault marines.
Enhancements for Ultramarine characters often are centred around the Combat Doctrines we have talked about earlier. The Honour of Vehement is a great example; being a melee buffing piece of equipment that provides a +1 to strength and +1 to a weapon’s attack trait, its buffs increase to a +2S and a +2A while the assault doctrine is available. This gives a lot of the Ultramarine’s Enhancements a nice general feel to them while also making them feel extra useful on the turn the doctrine they are related to is active.
To complement the Ultramarine’s ability to adapt to any situation, a good and thematic unit to consider for them is the Command Squad. Able to equip themselves with 13 different ranged/melee weapons which are designed to kill either infantry or vehicles, this squad will more than likely have someone in it that can effectively target an enemy model on the battlefield.
In addition to the firepower, the Apothecary in this squad has the potential to make this squad extremely tanky as with the Narthecium ability, this squad can revive one destroyed model (excluding character models) during the Command Phase. They are also pretty effective when it comes to taking control of objective markers as each mode has a +1 to their OC trait if they have a Company Ancient in their squad.
Imperial Fists Faction Overview
This Chapter in yellow with red trim are experts of siege warfare doesn’t have any specific recent miniatures tied to their Chapter apart from a few characters, with Tor Garadon (pictured above) being the only dedicated Primaris character for the Imperial Fists. They do have a really nice Imperial Fists Primaris Upgrades and Transfers pack available with some cool power fists for your Imperial Fists sergeants (as you have probably figured out by now, they have a whole fist theme going on).
An important thing to note about the Imperial Fists is that they are the forefathers of two of the most popular Successor Chapters in the range: The Crimson Fists and the Black Templars.
The Crimson Fists are blue with (you guessed it) red fists, and have a rich history of iconic artwork made for Warhammer 40,000 publications, so you may run into veteran players who are very fond of them.
Imperial Fists on the tabletop
Detachment – Anvil Siege Force
Detachment rule – Shield of the Imperium
Ranged weapons all receive heavy (+1 to hit if they have not moved) and all weapons that already have heavy gain a +1 to wound if stationary.
To match their background lore of standing firm against a besieging enemy, the Shield of the Imperium detachment ability allows the Imperial Fists to bring their enemies to ruin from ranged attacks. All ranged weapons become heavy, encouraging players to hold their troops stationary to receive a +1 to hit rolls. In addition to this, any unit that has a heavy weapon already gains a +1 to wound rolls if it remains stationary.
Combine this with the Oath of the Moment faction ability, you can use this to doubly be sure that you hit a target with everything you have got, or it can mitigate the loss of the +1 to hit and wound rolls if you do need to move a squad to take an objective or to fall back.
For enhancements, the Imperial Fists have access to bonuses such as Architect of War (ignores enemy cover) and Stoic Defender (adds a +6 feel no pain for the leading unit, and keeps their OC when in battleshock). These enhancements are great thematically because they help solidify that even when under heavy fire, the Warlord and his leading unit can withstand the damage while holding the line and dishing out some blows as well.
That being said, in an army that benefits from standing still and blasting everything to pieces, there is a debate whether a warlord needs an enhancement like Stoic Defender unless he and his leading squad are the primary objective securing unit.
The must-have unit for the Imperial Fists has to be the Devastator squad (which pains me as I wanted it to be the Centurian Devastators for the If The Emperor Had Text To Speech meme in regards to Rogal Dorn). These boys have plenty of heavy weapon options that can make use of the detachment rule which is further improved by their Signum ability that allows them to ignore cover on a turn they have remained stationary. Just to emphasise, on a turn they remain stationary, they have a +1 to hit, +1 to wound, ignore enemy cover and (if they are attacking the Oath of the Moment target for that round) rerolls 1’s on their to hit dice.
Do you think that’s enough? No! These guys also have another ability called Armorium Cherub. With this ability, once per battle, they may turn one of their hit rolls into an unmodified 6. Great for high-damage, low-dice weapons that always seem to miss at crucial moments.
In total that is a lot of hit and wound potential for the Imperial Fist’s Devastators.
Black Templars Faction Overview
The Black Templars are an eternally crusading force of Space Marines in black, white and red, and they have quite a few specific pre-Primaris miniatures available to them. They recently had their own codex supplement released alongside a big update of their miniatures range, making them one of the most visually unique Space Marine chapters you can field. A Combat Patrol box for the chapter has also been released.
Dark Angels Warhammer 40k Faction Overview
The Dark Angels are the First Legion of the Space Marines, and they’re clad in green, gold, and often also cream robes. This chapter makes use of the Space Marine Codex as well as having their own PDF for units unique to the Dark Angels. They also have a dedicated Combat Patrol: Dark Angels box available with all the units, upgrade bits and transfers needed to field a Combat Patrol-level army of Dark Angels Space Marines.
In addition to all this, the Dark Angels also have some interesting special units such as the Deathwing Knights or their Ravenwing flyers.
Dark Angels on the Tabletop
Detachment Rule – Grim Resolve (found in Dark Angel PDF NOT the Space Marine Codex)
When battle shocked, their OC is 1 instead of 0.
The Dark Angels are put squarely in the “playing for objectives” type of army with their Grim Resolve detachment rule. Being able to maintain a minimum of 1 OC even when battleshocked should help the Sons of the Lion win control over objectives where other less determined chapters would lose.
A lot of the enhancements for the Dark Angels are focused around the battleshocked condition. For example, Stubborn Tenacity allows a character to add +1 to hit rolls if the bearer’s unit is below half strength and a +1 to wound rolls if they are also battleshocked – a huge encouragement for this character and the unit they lead to get out onto the front lines and not be afraid to take a beating.
To compliment the Dark Angel’s focus on capturing points and the battleshocked condition, the Ravenwing Black Knights are an excellent compliment to a Dark Angel’s force. The Knights of Caliban ability that they can make use of each time they charge gives them a +4 to anti-monster and +4 towards anti vehicle. Being mobile and extremely threatening to the enemy’s expensive units could help you screen your front lines and softer models against anything that may seek their death.
Blood Angels Faction Overview
The Blood Angels, clad almost entirely in red, are especially known for their cursed bloodline, which means they are always at risk of succumbing to a raging madness, so that those inflicted by it are sent to seek swift death on the battlefield in a Death Company before they are completely consumed by the rage.
The additional rules for the Blood Angels can be found in the PDFs mentioned above! And much like the Dark Angels, they also come with their own combat patrol boxset.
While Blood Angels have some cool classic Marine special units, it’s also worth noting that the new Codex Supplement has made it possible to field the Death Company mentioned above as Primaris Space Marines, which means you can make a lore-appropriate Blood Angels force without having to use older miniatures.
Blood Angels on the Tabletop
Detachment Rule – The Red Thirst (found in the Blood Angels PDF NOT the Space Marine Codex)
If a unit made a charge move this turn, add 1 to the strength and attack characteristics of the melee weapons used by the squad.
The mighty Sons of Sanguineous are best on the offensive when they first make contact with the enemy. With their Red Thirst detachment rule giving them a +1 to the strength and attack characteristics to their melee weapons, the Blood Angels are encouraged to strike hard and strike fast so that they are free to charge again in the following round.
Characters can aid their battle brothers in melee with attachments like Artisan of War to increase their armour penetration by +1 and their saving throw by gaining a +2. If, instead of killing opponents, your character would serve better at contesting control points, the Visage of Death enhancement reduces an enemy’s OC stat by half while he is in engagement range.
The Sanguinary Guard are the thematic pick for the blood angels as flying upon mighty wings, they represent their father on the battlefield. They are able to deal a lot of damage in melee each turn while also being defended with a -1 for enemies when they roll to hit them. Should your Warlord join them, enemies will roll at a -1 to hit him in addition to the debuff to their hit rolls.
Salamanders Faction Overview
The Salamanders are a Space Marine chapter clad in bright greens with coal-black skin, and they are especially known for using flame weaponry and being nice to civilians, so they’re one of the relatively “good” (as in, kind) Imperial factions.
They do have a very nice Salamanders Primaris Upgrades and Transfers pack with thunder hammers and flamers to help you make your Primaris Marines look the part, as well as the fearsome Chapter Master Adrax Agatone miniature pictured at the top of this Chapter’s section of this article.
Salamanders on the Tabletop
Firestorm Assault Force Detachment
Detachment rule – Close Range Eradication
All ranged weapons get assault (advance and shoot every turn). Also, gain +1S to ranged weapons within 12”
The fires of Nocturne burn brightest when the hammer quickly strikes the anvil of war. The Salamanders wish to hit hard and hit fast, having all their ranged weapons gaining the Assault trait, allowing them to advance and shoot every turn while also gaining a +1 to strength to ranged weapons within 12” of a target. It should be noted, that like most other Detachment rules for the Adeptus Astartes, all models/units in the army, including vehicles are included. So, there is no reason why a Salamanders player shouldn’t move a Land Raider up to the front lines to cause some (or fight some) chaos!
A Salamander character has access to some pretty cool enhancements that allow them to be a terror in close quarters. The War Tempered Artifice adds a +3 to a character’s strength, giving them the potential to threaten most models on the battlefield. The ability to reduce all damage from attacks by 1 and only taking a maximum amount of 1 damage from Melta and torrent weapons by equipping the Adamantine Mantle is also incredibly useful for avoiding being blasted by the enemy before getting into firing range.
A transport vehicle that represents the philosophy of the Salamanders has to be the Land Raider Redeemer. Armed with two flamestorm cannons, the option for a multi-melta and an ability that allows units to disembark from it while still being able to charge that turn, this model is a mean machine when it comes to close-quarters combat.
Iron Hands Faction Overview
The Iron Hands are clad in all black, and are easily recognisable by their mechanical arms, as they practice the art of perfection through replacing body parts with mechanical implants, as you can see on Iron Father Feirros on the image above this paragraph.
They don’t currently have an updated Codex Supplement, so you’ll have to use the rules in Codex: Space Marines, but they do have an Iron Hands Primaris Upgrades and Transfers pack available with plenty of metal arms and cyborg heads to make your Iron Hands Space Marines look as half-human as they should.
Iron Hands on the Tabletop
Ironstorm Spearhead Deatchment
Detachment rule – Armoured Wrath
Re-roll one hit, wound, or damage roll per unit phase.
Though the flesh is weak, it is indeed deeds that endure for the Iron Hands when the Armoured Wrath detachment rule provides every single unit, every single turn a re-roll in either hitting, wounding or damage. This means that the inherited risk of weapons with low attack values but high damage potential such as lascannons can be averted with a well-placed reroll.
Double this up with the Oath of the Moment ability and your ordinance is bound to puncture something eventually!
The enhancements for the Iron Hands are often centred around a Techmarine, providing buffs such as Adept of the Omnissiah (once per battle you can change a failed saving roll into a success for a vehicle within 6”). While this means that a character may be out of the way when it comes to the big engagements, their impact on your vehicular formation will be no less felt.
The big boy swinging out for the Iron Hands has to be the Ballistus Dreadnought. This fine piece of machinery has access to a Ballistus krak missile launcher and a Ballistus lascannon, both packing a serious wallop. Every time this unit fires at an enemy that is not below half strength, it can re-roll to hit dice (basically a free oath of the moment roll on enemies). This allows you to spread your Oath of the Moment choice to something else, while the Ballistus takes care of it.
Further, the Armoured Wrath re-rolls adds to the damage potential of the Dreadnought considering that both of the aforementioned weapons have a d6 damage potential. Just to make things sweeter from the Iron Hands perspective, you can always use the Stratagem Ancient Fury to give a stat buff to the Balistus, allowing it to tank a bit more incoming damage for one turn.
Space Wolves Faction Overview
The Space Wolves are clad in bright grey/blue with gold trim, and they’re one of the most easily distinguishable Space Marine chapters. Hailing from the planet Fenris, they’re all about wolf iconography and viking aesthetics.
Again, like the Blood Angels and Dark Angels above them, they have their own PDF and box available to help you build a Combat Patrol force and play it with all the additional rules you need.
However, in the case of the Space Wolves, there’s no point in only taking Primaris Space Marines unless you really want to, even though their current leader Ragnar Blackmane (pictured above), was recently updated as a Primaris model: The Space Wolves have a ton of cool special units, ranging from the wolf-riding Thunderwolf Cavalry to the Space Wolves Wulfen half-wolf berserkers and the Stormwolf flyer, so if you can handle everything being called something with “wolf” in it, the Space Wolves let you build one of the most visually distinct forces among the Space Marines.
Space Wolves on the tabletop
Detachment Rule – Deeds worthy of Saga (available in the PDF NOT the Space Marine Codex)
At the end of a battle round, select one saga. If the saga was completed by your army in that round, all Adeptus Astartes models in the army until the end of the battle. You can only select each saga once per battle.
Saga of the Warrior Born: Your Astartes character destroys one or more enemy characters. Once done, melee weapons have sustained hits 1.
Saga of Majesty: If you control one or more objective markers in enemy territory with one Astartes model near it, improve all OC by 1
Saga of the Bear: If one unit was reduced to half their strength but not destroyed, Astartes models all gain feel no pain +6.
Saga of the Beast Slayer: If a character destroys one or more enemy monster or vehicle unit, melee weapons gain the lethal hits abilitiy.
What makes the Space Wolves unique in respect to the other Adeptus Astartes chapters is that they have to work and complete tasks for their detachment rules to kick in. Though it may seem a bit harsh, the warriors from Fenris make do by allowing the benefits from these challenges to effect all their Astartes models. Unlike most armies with only one detachment rule, by turn 3, the Space Wolves have the potential to acquire 3.
Like the sagas on old Terra, the enhancements like Black Death (anti-monster and anti-vehicle is +4) are brilliant for helping your characters accomplish specific heroic deeds that will bring huge boosts to the army as a whole as well as turn them into formidable fighters for the rest of the game.
While we have tried to avoid choosing lords and named characters for this article, the Space Wolves are an exception when choosing a thematic unit. In an army where 50% of their detachment rule bonuses come from a character taking down a worthy target, it only makes sense that the Wolf Lord and his Thunderwolf get to be an exception. This model is tough, with a +4 invulnerable save in addition to the usual +3 and fast on wolf back with the ability Speed of the Hunter granting him +1 to advance and charge rolls. Once per battle round, he can also be targeted with a stratagem for 0CP even if another unit has made use of the stratagem this round.
White Scars Faction Overview
The White Scars, clad in almost all white with red trim, are masters of fast assaults, often on armed motorbikes such as the Outriders. They have a distinct medieval Mongolian vibe to their aesthetic, with curved swords and chainswords, shaved heads with locks of black hair, and some horse and eagle iconography as you can see on their leader Kor-Sarro Khan above (who sadly seems to be out of production at the moment of writing this article).
They don’t have an updated Codex Supplement, so you can use the rules in Codex: Space Marines for them. They do have a White Scars Primaris Upgrades and Transfers pack available with a couple of cool curved chainswords.
White Scars on the tabletop
Stormlance Task Force Detachment
Detachment rule – Lightning Assault
Units can advance and charge or charge after falling back.
The White Scars have got one huge card up their sleeves when they go to battle: threat potential. Lightning Assault can turn a unit that was non-threatening one turn to murdering everything in cold blood in melee range the next. What’s more is that something that is currently smashing one thing in the face now, can fall back from that combat in an instant and charge a different target soon after.
For those playing with this detachment, moving, and charging an enemy’s weak point before swapping a target to take on another is very much the core concept. This key component of White Scar play can also be combined with the Oath of the Moment ability if your fast attack units are converging on one singular target for maximum damage.
To highlight this theme even further, Enhancements such as Hunter’s Instincts and Fury of the Storm often require the warlord to be mounted – though there are a few that do not require this, should you wish your Warlord to be more stationary.
No White Scar’s army is complete without an Attack Bike Squad. Stratagems like full throttle allow them to move an additional 9” to help assault or support other units across the battlefield; and they have 5 toughness, 5 wounds, +3 saving throws and an OC of 2 which make them great for getting to victory points and then holding the point from enemies. Not content with just getting close and personal, the Outrider Escort ability allows them to fire at any enemy that has fired at a friendly unit within 6” of the Outriders. Not only can this be used in an offensive manner to try and get some more kills, but it can be used as a deterrent to prevent enemies from focusing on firing one of your more fragile units.
Raven Guard Faction Overview
The Raven Guard is the sneaky, stealthy Space Marine Chapter, all clad in black as you can see on the leader Kayvaan Shrike above.
They currently do not have an updated Codex Supplement, so you can just use the Codex: Space Marines rules found for them in that book. They have a Raven Guard Primaris Upgrades and Transfers Pack available to them with a lot of bird iconography and trinkets.
Raven Guard on the Tabletop
Vanguard Spearhead
Detachment Rule: Shadow Masters
At >12” -1 to hit and benefit of cover for all units + all units benefit equally to this.
Sneaky and deceptive, The Raven Guard have a natural resistance to long-ranged fire across the board. The standard benefit to units in cover is now extended to all units and models that are further than 12” away from an enemy model. This means that not only do all units gain a +1 to their saving throws (though they cannot improve past a +3), but they also benefit from a -1 to hit, making this detachment particularly tricky to take on if they are against a primarily ranged army.
Though this benefit may lose its shine when it comes to melee armies, stratagems like Guerilla Tactics allow two Phobus or Scout units to return to the strategic reserves at the end of the enemy melee turn (allowing them to avoid any close-range fire or potential charges next turn).
If you like the idea of a Warlord hunting enemies down solo, you can give them the Ghostweave Cloak which means he cannot be targeted by an attacker unless they are within 12” and has a further -1 to hit at range. Ideal for a situation where you want a Sniper-themed Warlord, or a big heavy hitter that can get close to the enemy without sustaining too much damage before beating them down in close quarters.
Though maybe not the unit that can provide a killing blow for the Raven Guard, the Infiltrator squad has a strong utility aspect to them. Omni-scramblers is an ability that the Infiltrators can use to prevent enemy reinforcements from setting up within 12” of them, allowing this unit to secure flanks and objectives and protect them from sudden incursions of enemy reinforcements.
The Infiltrator’s Comms Array provides the squad a +5 chance on a d6 to gain 1CP every time a stratagem is used on them. Remember the Guerilla Tactics stratagem we discussed earlier? In effect, repositioning this squad has the potential of being free, meaning that you can use those command points for other critical things on the battlefield. Replenishing your command points in such a way also gives your side some unpredictability. There will be no way for your enemy to know how many command points you have to play with per turn.
Almost as though your points are hidden behind a veil of shadows.
Deathwatch Faction Overview
The Deathwatch, easily distinguishable by their silver arms and pauldron on an otherwise black suit of armor, are different from all other Space Marine Chapters due to the fact that they’re made up of warriors from many of the other Space Marine Chapters. They specialise in hunting down aliens (called xenos in the Warhammer 40,000 universe).
They are currently a very up to date army, with a Codex Supplement: Deathwatch available with all the rules you need in addition to the Codex: Space Marines, and a Combat Patrol: Deathwatch box to help you easily build a Combat Patrol-sized Deathwatch force.
One of the coolest things about the Deathwatch is their ability to field Kill Teams: Mixed units of different types of Space Marines from different combat roles or chapters. You can buy some boxes of non-Primaris Kill Teams, such as the Kill Team Cassius, which are full of miniatures that still look great (if a bit small), or you can build your own Kill Teams from various Primaris units.
Grey Knights Faction Overview
The best way to understand the Grey Knights from a beginner’s perspective is to say that even though they are formally Space Marines, they really aren’t. They may be supersoldiers in power armor, but they don’t use the rules from Codex: Space Marines, and they can’t use any Primaris units. So in that regard, they are very different from all other brands of Space Marines out there.
Instead, they have their own range of generally good quality silver-clad psychic warriors who hunt the worst horrors of Chaos. They’re a secretive order with some really cool characters, such as Grand Master Voldus pictured above, and the Grey Knights Paladins, and they can also use many Space Marine Vehicles and Flyers.
The Grey Knights has a Combat Patrol box, so they’re easy to get started with.
Grey Knights on the Battlefield
Army rule: Teleport Assault
Depending on the army size (Combat Patrol 1 unit, Incursion 2 units, Strike Force 3 units, Onslaught 4 units), select a number of units at the end of your opponent’s turn. In the reinforcements step of your next movement phase, set each of those units up anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 9” horizontally from enemy models.
Detachment rule: Teleport Shunt
Each time a Grey Knight with the Deep Strike ability Advances, do not make an Advance roll but instead, add 6” to that unit’s Move characteristic and give the unit Fly until the end of the movement phase.
What’s more terrifying than a genetically modified super soldier who can rip your face apart? All of the above plus the ability to not only reposition mid battle, but also teleport through walls!
When many people look at the Grey Knights, most people think about the psychic aspect of them – which is definitely represented in their roster. But the additional movement and adaptability of this faction make them a very interesting force to sink your teeth into.
One of their enhancements (the First into the Fray) gives a character the fantastic ability to Deep Strike into a battle even if the mission rules say you cannot. For me personally, as the writer of this article, I just love the idea that the Grey Knights can look at a mission’s rules and just say “No thank you,” and do what they want anyway. Very thematic.
An excellent unit to include in a Grey Knights army would definitely be the Strike Squad. They have the Deep Strike ability, able to deploy outside of their normal parameters with their Scout ability, and on top of it all, have the Sanctifying Ritual psychic ability. This psychic power allows them to capture an objective marker and then leave while still allowing you to lay claim to it.
While it may seem small in a game where the objective is to kill as many of your enemy as you can, in a objective based game, this is huge. So long as you keep your flanks safe, not having to leave a unit behind to babysit an objective marker is insanely useful on the battlefield.
First Company Space Marines
Though not specific to any chapter, you can select the 1st Company Task Force as a detachment for your Space Marine army. The First Company of any Space Marine chapter is full of the elite that have fought in countless battles and long campaigns across the Imperium.
Much like the chapters before, we have added information about the tabletop side of things so you can have the clearest of pictures!
1st Company Task Force Detachment
Detachment Rule – Extremis level threat
Re-roll wound rolls in an oath of the moment attack for one turn.
The Extremis Level Threat detachment rule can allow one turn of re-rolling wounds for attacks toward a model that is the target of an Oath of the Moment. Note that compared to other detachments, this is a one-and-done sort of deal. The 1st Company Task Force has no other rule that is active throughout the game, so they may feel a little underwhelming unless you use the Extremis Level Threat rolls at the most optimal time.
A lot of the 1st Company’s enhancements have two sides to them: the effect on the individual model they are assigned to and the effect on the lead squad that is active for one phase. For example, the Imperium’s Sword enhancement increases the bearer’s melee attack value by +1 and the lead unit’s melee attack value by +1 for one phase. These enhancements feel like a small buff for the character they are wielded by but an overdrive button for the unit that they are attached to – making First Company characters much more fearsome when leading a unit rather than going solo.
The 1st Company has many Stratagems such as Heroes of the Chapter that provide models with a +1 to their hit rolls during shooting and melee attacks, further increasing the elite feel for units inside the detachment. One important thing to mention though is that most of the stratagems only affect Terminator, Sternguard, Vanguard or Bladeguard units – so you are limited in choice if you wish to make the maximum use of your stratagems.
Though you may have seen it coming, naturally the thematic and tactical unit choice to go for in this detachment would have to be a squad of Terminators! Not only can they benefit from much of what was said above, but they also have a cracking amount of armour (+2 saving throw with a +4 invulnerable save) they benefit from some mobility around the battlefield with the use of their Teleport Homer ability, and hit more often with their Fury of the Fist ability – allowing them to ignore any modifiers to their Ballistic or Weapon skill with an additional +1 to hit rolls should their target be a unit selected for the Oath of the Moment ability.
Successor Chapters and more
On top of all these different Chapters, there are also many other Successor Chapters that have color schemes and lore available, but no special units or codex supplements. These are just played with the Codex: Space Marines rules.
Armies of the Imperium Army Overview
Below are all the armies that defend humanity, but are not Space Marines. They are as diverse as they come, from the pretty regular humans fighting in the trenches for the Astra Militarum to the almost-robotic Adeptus Mechanicus and the Adeptus Custodes which are almost more Space Marine-esque than the Space Marines themselves. This section goes through each army and explains how to get started with them, and how up to date they are for the current edition.
Astra Militarum Faction Overview
Introduction to Astra Militarum armies
The Astra Militarum is the standing army of the Imperium, made up of billions of volunteers and conscripts. In many ways, it’s the one army in Warhammer 40,000 that fights most like a modern army from our world, with infantry, mobile divisions and artillery working in tandem to overwhelm the enemy with firepower. They have a very detailed history with many planet-specific regiments and special forces, and they generally offer a more down to earth point of view of the Warhammer 40,000 universe than what you get as a Space Marine player.
They are also a fun army to collect because of the vast variations in scale across the army, from lowly footsoldiers to fortress-like tanks.
What rule book should I get if I want to play Astra Militarum ?
The Astra Militarum currently has a pdf but no dedicated codex.
What miniatures are available for Astra Militarum , and are they up to date?
The Astra Militarum has some very old miniatures available, such as the Catachan Jungle Fighters, but otherwise, the army has recently received a massive update for almost everything from its Cadian Shock Troops to their new Lord Solar faction leader.
In general, the Astra Militarum has a wildly diverse model range with tanks big and small, mech walkers, psykers, cavalry and, of course, lots and lots of regular human infantry.
How do I get started playing Astra Militarum?
The best way to start the Astra Militarum army is with the Combat Patrol: Astra Militarum box, containing a 2 model Field Ordnance Battery, an Armored/Scout Sentinel, 20 Cadian Shock Troops and 1 Cadian Command Squad.
Astra Militarum on the Battlefield
Army Rule: Voice of Command
During the Command Phase, Officer models can issue the following orders to friendly units within 6”.
Move! Move! Move! – All models in a unit gain +3 to their movement characteristic
Fix Bayonets – Improve the WS of melee weapons in a unit by 1.
Take Aim! – Improve the BS of ranged weapons in a unit by 1.
First Rank, Fire! Second Rank, Fire! – Improve the attack characteristics of a ranged weapon in a unit by 1.
Take Cover! – Increase a model’s saving throw by +1 (though this cannot be improved beyond +3).
Duty and Honour! – Improve the leadership and control characteristics of models in a unit by 1.
Detachment Rule: Born Soldiers
If a unit remains stationary during a round, its ranged attacks gain the Lethal Hits ability.
The Astra Militarum, (or Imperial Guard, depending how old school you are) are the closest thing to having the power of friendship as an ability in the game. From the rank and file of infantry, to mighty war machines, many will benefit from directions of Officer models within an army. This gives the Astra Militarum a unique perspective on their army compositions, as most factions can get away with a singular character model to lead their army while the Imperial Guard require a good amount of officers spread across their ranks so that all units may achieve their full potential on the battlefield.
The enhancements for this Astra Militarum currently only work with officer models but they do allow for a variety of playing styles. Drill Commander allows a leader’s unit to have critical hits of +5 when remaining stationary, allowing the officer to focus on giving out orders from the back lines while laying down tremendous fire. If you’d rather have your officer take the fight to the enemy however, Death Mask of Ollanius gives the bearer’s unit a -1 to their OC characteristics instead of changing it to 0 when they fail a battleshock test. So, no matter how much punishment they take, they can still contest an objective.
Although the Astra Militarum are host to regiments such as the jungle fighting Catachan Devils or the Gasmask clad Death Korps of Krieg, the current PDF as it stands is very Cadia centric (in my honest humble opinion). It is likely to be less of the case when the Astra MIlitarum get their own codex like the Space Marines.
To keep with the Cadian theme however, a unit that can add quite a lot of diversity to your army is a Kasrkin squad. More elite than the standard guardsman, they can scout ahead 6” during deployment and have a +4 saving throw, which allow them to get to objectives quicker while also shrugging off some incoming fire. They also have access to some pretty good Hot-shot Lasgun weaponry which give them a fair chance at damaging a variety of targets.
With their Warrior Elite ability, you can stack 2 different orders on top of a Kasrkin squad – one from a nearby officer, another from themselves. This allows them a little independence from officers should they need, to pressure a target or objective away from the Astra Militarum firing line. They also have the Vox-caster ability, which gives you a chance of regaining a command point every time a stratagem is used on them!
Adepta Sororitas Faction Overview
Introduction to the army Adepta Sororitas
The Adepta Sororitas is the military branch of the Imperium’s church, the Ecclesiarchy, and they are easily distinguishable from other Imperium armies due to the fact that they’re almost all women. This comes from a loophole in a contract that forbid the Ecclessiarchy to have a standing army of “men at arms” (or something to that effect), but in practice it just means that they’re an awesome-looking army of warrior nuns. If you would like a break from all the hypermasculine armies of the Imperium, and you like all the history and iconography of the religious part of Imperial life in Warhammer 40,000, they might be just the army for you.
What rule book should I get if I want to play Adepta Sororitas?
The Adepta Sorotitas have a PDF but currently no dedicated codex for 10th edition.
What miniatures are available for Adepta Sororitas , and are they up to date?
The Adepta Sororitas miniatures range is very up to date, having received an almost complete overhaul just prior to the release of 9th edition. Everything from core Troops such as the Battle Sisters Squad to the flying pulpit for Junith Eruita and the beautiful diorama The Triumph of Saint Katherine are brand-new, very detailed plastic sculpts that are very coherent in style.
How do I get started playing Adepta Sororitas ?
The Adepta Sororitas has a pretty great Combat Patrol box available, so that could be a good first purchase – and then you’re free to go in any direction with the Battle Sisters’ by now very large selection of different units.
You could also go with their Boarding Patrol Box instead.
Adepta Sororitas on the Battlefield
Army Rule: Acts of Faith
Gain a miracle dice at the beginning of each turn and when one of your units are destroyed. Every time you gain a miracle dice, roll one d6, this is the value of the miracle dice. You may use these dice as substitutes for many different rolls during a battle.
Detachment rule: The Blood of Matyrs
If a unit is below starting strength, add 1 to hit rolls. If it is below half strength, add 1 to wound rolls as well.
If it isn’t clear from the army and detachment rules, the Adepta Sororitas (or the Sisters of Battle) are built around the idea of sacrificing everything they have on the battlefield. When full strength they start out as any army, but as they begin to shed their own blood, so too do they gain additional ways to make the enemy pay ten times over. And should an entire unit die, the squad allows you to gain a miracle dice which, when used at the correct time, has the potential to change the course of some engagements.
The enhancements for the Sisters of Battle keep with the theme of martyrdom, with the Saintly Example allowing you to gain d3 miracle dice upon the destruction of its bearer. With the Blade of Saint Ellynor, the wielder gains +1 to attacks, strength and damage, but when they have taken damage, these characteristics are increased by 2. With a huge emphasis on taking damage and making the ultimate sacrifice, characters in the Adepta Sororitas are not encouraged to hide in safety, but get out there and engage in glorious combat.
While there are many great units to choose from for the Adepta Sororitas, the faction makes a great deal of use out of individual character that can join a unit to further increase their effectiveness in battle. The Hospitaller is a great example of such a unit as she provides all the models in the unit that she is attached to a +5 Feel No Pain ability and can heal units within 3” of up to 3 wounds per unit. While this may seem counter productive with a faction that benefits from having damaged squads, the Hospitaller can act as a way for the Sororitas to stay in that sweet spot between perfect health and totally dead.
Adeptus Custodes Faction Overview
Introduction to the Adeptus Custodes faction
The Adeptus Custodes are genetically enhanced supersoldiers charged with protecting the home of the Emperor on Terra (the Earth), but in recent editions, they have joined the war effort across the galaxy.
They are golden-clad, hyper-elite warriors, so AOS Stormcast Eternals players will feel right at home aesthetically. They are one of only a few ways of fielding an army with a very low model count for the Imperium, so if you don’t want to paint more than a couple of miniatures, that might be all you need to know to get started with the Adeptus Custodes.
What miniatures are available for Adeptus Custodes , and are they up to date?
The Adeptus Custodes miniatures range is very up to date since they’re a fairly new army in the game, and, while their units may be expensive in game points-wise and real life money-wise, they do not need many units to make a full army – which is great if you really want to play the game but don’t want to paint 100+ models.
The boxes that the Adeptus Custodes come in also have a lot of flexibility when it comes to putting them together as we can see in the pictures below!
The Vertus Praetors can be built as either Praetors or Praetors with a Shield-Captain on Dawneagle Bike.
Like the Wardens, the Allarus Custodians can be built with either a Vexilus Praetor or a Shield-Captain in Allarus Terminator Armour.
The rest of the range is just a Dreadnought, a Land Raider (transport) and a few characters.
How do I get started playing Adeptus Custodes ?
Thanks to the limited miniatures range, it’s easy to get started with Adeptus Custodes, especially with the Combat Patrol box available for the army.
Adeptus Custodes on the Battlefield
Army Rule – Martial Ka’Tah
At the start of the fight phase, select a stance that will be active for your army until the end of that phase.
Kaptaris Stance – Enemy melee attacks have a -1 to hit against Custodes units
Dacatarai Stance – Melee weapons equipped by models gain Sustained Hits 1
Rednad Stance – melee weapons gain Lethal Hits.
Detachment Rule – Aegis of the Emperor
Custodes models gain a Feel No Pain +4 roll against mortal wounds.
The question you have to ask yourself when playing the Custodes is, do you want to punch your enemy in the face? And the answer is always yes. Their different stances allow you to choose how you want to punch them in the face, while also potentially resisting some incoming damage if you wish, just to get more of your golden boys in place before the real punching begins.
With their detachment rule in addition, a +4 roll against mortal wounds means you can afford to make sure your Custodes are in a better position before you commit to an engagement – though it does leave the Sisters of Silence a little bit wanting in the survivability department.
A quick note about the Custodes’ enhancements, they only apply to Custodes models and not models with the Anathema Psykana keyword (which is a shame but this should hopefully change when they bring the full codex out).
The enhancements for the Adeptus Custodes give your characters an incredible feel. The Unstoppable Destroyer allows you to make enemy units suffer d3 mortal wounds when you roll a 2-5 or 6 mortal wounds if you roll a 6 when you charge, and once per battle all enemies within 6” must take a battleshock test. Such an enhancement makes your characters an incredible threat to high value targets that lack invulnerable or Feel No Pain saves while also making him a threat in clutch objective based plays.
Custodians are all about being the elite warriors for the Emperor. So it’s only natural that the Allarus Custodians (being the elite of these elite warriors) are a fine addition to your army. Their Slayer of Tyrants ability lets them re-roll wounds against characters, monsters and vehicles, which make them really scary from the perspective of your opponent should they have some high value single models that need to be kept safe. Even if they keep such models on the backlines, the Allarus can use their From Golden Light ability to redeploy once per battle to get a flanking advantage on them.
As standard, the Allarus can upgrade their Guardian spears to a Castellan axe which boasts a healthy 9 strength attack with a damage value of 3. Add the Dacatarai stance in there for some Sustained Hits and that is a potential 24 damage in one turn from a single model if all the melee rolls are critical!
It’s crazy math-bending rolls like that which make the Adeptus Custodes such a tasty faction to play from a thematic standpoint.
Adeptus Mechanicus Army Overview
Introduction to the Adeptus Mechanicus army
The Adeptus Mechanicus is the technological branch of the Imperium. They weren’t always a part of the Imperium, and their religion is still somewhat heretical (depending on who you ask), but these mechanically augmented posthumans supply the Imperium with all the weaponry and technology it needs. Their soldiers march to war to defend their Forge Worlds or recover lost technology on metallic legs, chanting their binharic hymns and using archaic weaponry and radiation ammunition, since they’re barely human and have very little organic matter for the radiation to contaminate.
If you like the dieselpunk aesthetic of the army and you’re fascinated by the peculiar role of technology in the Imperium, the Adeptus Mechanicus is a very interesting army to paint, collect and play.
What rule book should I get for an Adeptus Mechanicus army?
The Adeptus Mechanicus have a 10th edition Codex available on the Games Workshop store. Other online stores sometimes have them in stock, but be careful that you are buying the current edition and not the 9th!
What miniatures are available for Adeptus Mechanicus , and are they up to date?
The Adeptus Mechanicus miniatures range is very up to date. They have Troops in the shape of Skitarii Rangers/Vanguard, the mounted (!) Serberys Raiders/Sulphurhounds as well as transports, flyers, fast attack options and a few other units, most of them great plastic sculpts with a very coherent visual style.
The army used to have a shortage of recently sculpted HQ choices, but the addition of the Tech-Priest Manipulus and Skitarii Marshal does improve on that, as well as the reinvention of the Blackstone Fortress character Daedalosus into a new generic HQ called a Technoarchaeologist.
How do I get started playing Adeptus Mechanicus ?
The Adeptus Mechanicus have a Combat Patrol box available, and while it doesn’t have the HQ choice you’d probably want (a Marshall or a Dominus), the rest of it is pretty useful.
You can also check out the Boarding Patrol box for the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The Adeptus Mechanicus on the Battlefield
Army rule – Doctrina Imperatives
At the beginning of a battle round, select an imperative to be active for your whole army until the beginning of the next battle round.
Protector Imperative – Ranged weapons gain Heavy. If your units are in your deployment zone and taking ranged fire, reduce the AP of your enemies weapon by 1.
Conqueror Imperative – Ranged weapons gain Assault. Ranged attacks towards enemies in their own deployment zone have +1 to their AP.
Detachment Rule: Rad-cohort
At the beginning of the game, cover the field of battle with nuclear radiation. All enemy units must either take cover (they are battle-shocked for the first round) or stand firm (on a roll of d6, on a +3 they take D3 mortal wounds.) From the second turn onwards, roll a D6, on a +3 the unit sufferers 1 mortal wound.
Let’s address the elephant in the room with the Adeptus Mechanicus’ detachment rule: they basically set off a light nuke in the general area of the battlefield every time you fight with them. What’s not to absolutely love about that? Gameplay wise, this means that the constant threat of damage towards your opponent’s units may be enough to make them play too passively or too aggressively to make the most use out of them, while also potentially battle-shocking enemies at the beginning of the game for that all important objective control.
Their army rule is also pretty flexible, granting all the weapons either Heavy or Assault traits which allow you to really focus on having a particular type of playstyle. The focus on different player’s deployment zones can also change the pace of combat, forcing each player to reposition themselves to gain/avoid the bonuses this rule provides.
The Adeptus Mechanicus’ enhancements put firepower centre stage, with the Omni-steriliser providing a +3 to the attack characteristic on a character’s ranged weapon (as well as anti-infantry +2 and anti-monster +4). If you wish to share out a boon to a whole squad, the Master Annihilator provides Sustained Hits 1 for the learning unit’s ranged weapon.
For this faction, the unit we wish to highlight has little to do with the tactical application of them, and 100% to do with cool-factor. Pteraxii Skystalkers may seem like a simple unit, which in all honesty, they are – but in this faction they are just full of flavour. Picture this scene: the battlefield is covered in nuclear waste, the battle is raging from down below, and then cyber-pterodactyls swoop down to shoot and claw people’s faces off. If that isn’t worth having in your army just for the cool-factor then I don’t know what is!
Imperial Knights Faction Overview
Introduction to the Imperial Knights army
The Imperial Knights hail from feudal worlds where nobles control their mighty mechs like mechanised knights in shining armour.
Their are an extremely elite army, since all the units specific to the army are towering mechs (they’re all building-grade huge), but they can also be included in separate detachments in other Imperium armies.
They look amazing, but aren’t recommended as a starter army, as you’ll want a lot of experience building and painting miniatures before taking on one of these massive sculpts.
What rule book should I get for Imperial Knights ?
The Imperial Knights currently have a PDF on the Warhammer Community website that you can use to get started for now, with a Codex expected sometime in the future!
What miniatures are available for Imperial Knights , and are they up to date?
The Imperial Knights range is very up to date, and if you like the iron giant aesthetic, all the miniatures are really cool. Even though they’re all big, there is some scale variety to the Imperial Knights, with Armigers being the smallest and Knight Castellans being some of the largest if you don’t count Forge World models, which we steer clear of in this guide to keep things manageable.
How do I get started playing Imperial Knights ?
Unless you plan to have a single Imperial Knight (or maybe a couple of Armiger models) as part of an Imperial army, it is not suggested that you start collecting and playing Imperial Knights. They are a huge investment in time, painting, and money. If you’re still figuring out the game’s setting, lore, and gameplay, we would always recommend going mild before going wild.
That being said, it’s totally understandable if you just NEED a Knight as part of your army since they look so cool! As part of their rule set mentioned in the next section, you can do that.
The Imperial Knights on the Battlefield
Army Rules – Code Chivalric
At the end of the Read Mission Objectives step, select one of the following oaths:
Lay Low the Tyrant
Oath Ability – Each time a model is selected to fight or shoot, re-roll a hit roll of 1 and re-roll a wound roll of 1.
Deed – This deed is completed if the enemy Warlord is destroyed.
Reclaim the Realm
Oath Ability – Add 1” to a model’s move characteristic and gain an additional 1” to advance and charge rolls.
Deed – This deed is completed if you have control over one or more objective markers in your opponent’s deployment zone.
Each Oath provides your models with an ability and gives your army a deed to complete. If the conditions of a deed are met, at the start of your Command Phase, your army becomes honoured for the rest of the battle, and you gain 3 Command Points.
Bondsman Abilities –
Imperial Knights have models with the Questoris and Armiger keywords. Some Questoris models have a Bondsman ability which can be used during the Command Phase. If a Questoris model does this, you may pick an Armiger model within 12” to benefit from the same ability (though you cannot have 2 or more Bondsman Abilities stacking on a singular Armiger) until the beginning of your next Command Phase.
Super Heavy Walker –
When a model with this ability makes a normal, advance or fallback move, it can do so over non-titanic models and terrain that are 4” or less as though they were not there.
Freeblades –
If all the models in your army have the Imperium keyword, you may have 1 Titanic Imperial Knight or up to 3 Armiger models. These models cannot be warlords and cannot be given enhancements.
Detachment rule – Indomitable Heroes
All Imperial Knights models within your army have the Feel No Pain 6+ ability. Should your army be honoured, they gain the Feel No Pain 5+ ability.
Mighty war machines of the Imperium, the Knights are an even more elite force than the Adeptus Custodes, when you take into account the number of models and the points cost of each one. But that being said, each Knight feels like a small army in its own right due to its size and damage potential.
Much like the medieval knights of old, the piolets of these machines seek to complete a secondary objective that you can choose. If they manage to succeed in this, your army has the potential for big buffs. This is an interesting Army Rule as it forces your opponent into a certain type of defence (either defend their warlord or defend their objective marker) which can give you a huge advantage when planning the initial stages of a battle.
Those models with the bondsman abilities are great for some synergy between your knights: making the already deadly, into totally lethal.
The problem with the Imperial Knights is that, for a whole army of them, it’s pretty expensive and you would need a lot of room for models like those. Thankfully, with the Freeblades ability, they also have the option of one big knight or up to 3 smaller ones appearing in any other Imperium army!
The enhancements of the Imperial Knights focus on patching up their weaknesses or exploiting their strengths. The Mythic Hero enhancement allows a unit with the bondsman ability to select up to two friendly Armiger models nearby, effectively doubling the abilities spread across the battlefield. The Undying Paragon is a simple enhancement that reduces the armour penetration characteristic of an incoming attack by 1, keeping the Knight a little safer from any high-piercing anti-vehicle damage.
The Knight Paladin is a good all-round model that can turn its hand to destroying both infantry and enemy vehicles depending on the weapon loadout. On top of all that, it can use its bondsman ability Paladin’s Duty, to provide itself and another ally with Lethal Hits to further increase their damage output. One key weakness a lot of Knights have is low attack, high damage ranged weapons such as lascannons. With its Seasoned Noble ability, the Knight Paladin can re-roll a hit, wound or saving throw per phase, meaning it can resist some potential high damage while also dishing out some extra damage if it is free to.
Various other Imperial Factions and Units
In addition to the armies that have a codex (or are going to get one soon), there are several other Imperium factions that can be included in various detachments. You don’t have to worry about any of these as a beginner, but they include the Inqusition, which Lord Inquisitor Kyria Draxos above here comes from, the Officio Assassinorum, which are the assassin branch of the Imperium (40k army names are often pretty easy to interpret), and the Sisters of Silence, which are silent warriors who are invulnerable to psychic attacks.
Armies of Chaos
The armies of Chaos are the great antagonists of the Imperium. They consist of legions of fallen Space Marines who followed the Traitor Primarchs into the Eye of Terror after the great civil war called the Horus Heresy (it’s a long story…) as well as actual daemons created by the Chaos Gods themselves. While not getting nearly as much attention as the Space Marines in terms of releases, the forces of Chaos are just as iconic a part of Warhammer 40,000 as the Space Marines.
In this section we cover the factions and legions that you can field for the Armies of Chaos, and which of them that are sufficiently up to date to start playing right now.
Chaos Space Marines Army Overview
Introduction to the Chaos Space Marines army
The Chaos Space Marines are evil (if you ask the Imperium!) counterparts to the Space Marines, worshipping the Gods of Chaos. In many ways their strategies mirror the Space Marines with infantry in power armor, mobile divisions and specific rules for specific legions, but they add many special unit types to the mix and have very different weapon loadouts.
At the moment, they are an umbrella faction that might later turn into several armies with their own codexes. So far they have subfactions such as the Death Guard, Thousand Sons and World Eaters, but it is suspected that, much like the Space Marine’s Codex, there will be a number of detachments that represent the individual Traitor Legions when a Chaos Codex comes out in full, and we intend to do a decent breakdown of them on this article when that happens!
They have received some substantial updates in recent years, but the miniatures range is still pretty uneven. If you want to play the “bad” bad guys of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, however, there’s almost no way around them.
What rule book should I get for Chaos Space Marines ?
The Chaos Space Marines currently have a PDF on the Warhammer Community page, with a full Codex scheduled to release sometime in the spring of 2024!
What miniatures are available for Chaos Space Marines, and are they up to date?
The Chaos Space Marines miniatures range was pretty outdated for a long time, but it has recently been updated to a very good standard – though some eyesores remain (see below).
On the one hand, recent years have seen the release of an awesome new Chaos Space Marines infantry box and a slew of other upgrades to important units in the army, as well as the terrifying Abaddon the Despoiler depicted above.
On the other hand, iconic units of the various subfactions such as a Night Lords Chaos Lord are very old and look like absolute farts, so what looks cool when you browse the rules in the Warhammer 40,000 app rules-wise might not look good on the tabletop at all.
Though these models for the Night Lords are old, they do have a new Kill Team coming out in the near future, which promises to give them a make over… Though whether we can expect all of their models to be updated is yet to be seen.
How do I get started playing Chaos Space Marines ?
The Combat Patrol: Chaos Space Marines is a great way to get started with the army.
Chaos Space Marines on the Battlefield
Army rules – Dark Pacts
Every time a unit fires, they can make a dark pact. They may add lethal hits OR sustained hits 1 until the end of their phase. After it resolves its attack, it must take a leadership test – if it fails, units suffer D3 mortal wounds.
The Lost and the Damned
If your faction is Heretic Astartes, you may include Khorne Berzerkers, Rubric Marines and Plague Marines. The number of points you can allocate to these units depends on the battle size (Incursion: 250 pts, Strike Force: 500 pts, Onslaught: 750 pts).
Detachment rule – Marks of Chaos
When selecting units for your army that are not epic heroes, choose to assign them the following keywords. Every time these units make a dark pact, gain the associated ability until the end of the phase.
Khorne: Blood Fury
In the fight phase, if the unit’s melee weapon gained lethal hits due to a Dark Pact, critical hits are scored on a 5+ while the Dark Pact is active.
Tzeentch: Warpfire
In the shooting phase, if the unit’s ranged weapon gained lethal hits due to a Dark Pact, critical hits are scored on a 5+ while the Dark Pact is active.
Nurgle: Spreading Sickness
In the shooting phase, if the unit’s ranged weapon gained sustained hits due to a Dark Pact, critical hits are scored on a 5+ while the Dark Pact is active.
Slaanesh: Excessive Cruelty
In the fight phase, if the unit’s melee weapon gained sustained hits due to a Dark Pact, critical hits are scored on a 5+ while the Dark Pact is active. .
Chaos Undivided: Glory to Chaos
Each time a model in this unit makes an attack, re-roll a hit roll of 1.
Fighting with the Chaos Space Marines can feel like a gambler’s paradise with the Dark Pact army rule. And while it will hurt your forces a little to fail a leadership roll and take D3 wounds, is it not totally worth it for the boon you gain from your dark patrons? The flexibility of these Dark Pacts allows you to really squeeze the value out of each of your units.
As suggested by the Detachment Rule, the enhancements for the Chaos Space Marines are themed around each of the four Dark Gods, with the Orbs of Unlife representing Nurgle for example. A character equipped with this can roll 1D6 for each enemy unit within 6” and on a +4 for them to suffer D3 mortal wounds, adding to a plague-spreading theme, should you wish to have a Nurgle lean to your army.
While picking the unit to showcase for this faction, I must admit that I will allow my bias to show slightly. I used to use a unit called the Obliterators a lot in the computer game Dawn of War that came out in the early 00s. These models were great in a firefight because they could use a ranged weapon that was perfect to counter the armour of any enemy.
It is the same for the Obliterators in the 10th edition with their Fleshmetal guns. Not only can these guys basically choose weapons that are perfect for whatever situation they find themselves in, but with their Warp Rift Firepower ability, they can add the indirect fire ability to their weapons once per battle when they make a dark pact!
World Eaters Army Overview
Introduction to the World Eaters Faction
The World Eaters are the Chaos-corrupted Space Marines Legion of the Daemon Primarch Angron. They’re blood-crazed, Khorne-worshipping berserkers who live to pile up skulls and chop up their enemies with chain-axes, dreaming of bringing both themselves and their enemies as a blood sacrifice to Khorne, the Chaos god of Rage.
As such, the World Eaters are an army that’s all about close combat. There’s not a unit in the entire army that can’t carry some sort of melee weapon, and the army has access to powerful yet unpredictable Blessings of Khorne.
What rulebook should I get for the World Eaters army?
The World Eaters currently have a PDF that you can access on the Warhammer Community website.
What miniatures are available to the World Eaters, and are they up to date?
Most of the World Eaters model range is very up to date. The army has some units in common with Chaos Space Marines, such as Terminators, Rhinos or Daemon Princes (often with slightly different rules), but the core of the army is faction-specific models.
The Khorne Berzerkers are the staple Space Marines of the army, armed with a variety of chain weapons and pistols. Their models used to be hilariously old, but they’ve received a brand new kit that matches other modern Chaos Space Marines kits.
A more recent addition is a unit of Khorne-dedicated cultists, the Jakhals, which are “regular” humans armed with, you guessed it, all sorts of chain weapons and combat stimms.
If you want even more close combat chainblade action, the World Eaters have a dual kit that can be assembled as either Eightbound or Exalted Eightbound, daemon-possessed champions of Khorne.
The World Eaters also have some unique Space Marine characters such as the Lord Invocatus and Khârn the Betrayer, as well as Khorne versions of some standard Chaos Space Marines characters.
Finally, the World Eaters have their raging, nigh-unkillable Daemon Primarch, Angron, who reappeared in the 40K storyline in 9th edition. He is armed with two absolutely huge melee weapons and will always reincarnate into realspace again after being killed.
How do I get started collecting a World Eaters army?
If you want to start playing World Eaters, you can’t go wrong with the Combat Patrol: World Eaters box. It contains 20 Khorne Berzerkers, a Lord Invocatus/Chaos Lord on Daemonic Mount and 10 Jakhals.
The World Eaters on the Battlefield
Army Rule – Blessing of Khorne
At the beginning of the battle round, roll eight D6. With these dice, you can activate up to 2 Blessings of Khorne from the list below. You may only activate each Blessing of Khorne once, and any unused dice are discarded.
When activated, the chosen ability is active for all the units in your army with the Blessings of Khorne ability until the end of the battle round.
Rage-Fulled Invigoration – Costs any double.
Add 2” to a model’s movement characteristic.
Wrathful Devotion – Costs any double.
Models gain the Feel No Pain ability 6+ ability (if a model already has the Feel No Pain ability, they gain a +1 to their rolls).
Martial Excellence – Cost double 3+
A model’s melee weapons have the Sustained Hits 1 ability.
Total Carnage – Cost double 4+ or any triple
Each time a model is destroyed because of a melee attack, and it has not fought this phase, roll a D6: on a 4+, the model is not removed from play until it has had the opportunity to finish making its attacks for the round. After this, it is removed from play.
Warp Blades – Cost double 5+ or any triple
The model’s weapons have the Lethal Hits ability.
Unbridled Bloodlust – Cost double 6 or triple 4+
This model/unit can charge in a turn they have advanced.
Detachment Rule
If a unit or model made a charge move during a turn, for the rest of the turn, the Strength and Attack characteristics on their melee weapons are increased by 1 until the end of the phase they are selected to attack.
The World Eaters like to do one thing, and they do one thing very well. Get into charge distance, and then smash their enemies to a pulp, before moving on to the next one. The Blessing of Khorne ability adds a maddening level of unpredictability for both the player and their opponent. Will your units gain an extra 2” of movement, potentially getting them within charge range? Will they be able to shrug off the next round of fire with a temporary Feel No Pain ability? Melee combat is Chaos, and the World Eaters worship Chaos.
In a move that surprises no one, a melee-focused faction has some excellent melee-focused enhancements such as the Berzerker Glaive; adding 1 to the attack and damage characteristics of the melee weapons on the character with it equipped, you can also add a D3 to the attack and damage characteristics for the round this character charges into combat. If all the dice roll their maximum results, that’s a potential extra 9 damage added to the output of a charge, enough to kill most models in the game when added with the regular amount of damage World Eater characters can do!
While in the other Chaos God-focused factions, we’ve chosen units that are a little spicier to showcase, the World Eaters need no fancy units to show, however. The good, old-fashioned Khorne Berzerker is one of the most iconic units in the Chaos roster as a whole, not just the World Eaters! They are an absolute terror on the battlefield – if they lose a model during the shooting phase, they can move D6 towards the nearest enemy unit, even getting within engagement range. So, while it is usually in an enemy’s best interest to kill these guys from far away, these mad lads have the potential to sprint across the map and sucker punch them right in the face for their efforts!
Death Guard Army Overview
Introduction to the Death Guard Faction
The Death Guard is a Chaos Space Marine legion following Nurgle, the Chaos God of decay, and have their own rule set and dedicated model range.
They are a very resilient army that will just keep going no mattter what you throw at them, with various disease-based abilities at their disposal. If you have a strong stomach, they’re fun to paint as well, but they’re pretty disgusting!
What rule book should I get for an Death Guard army?
You can find the Death Guard PDF on the Warhammer Community page.
What miniatures are available for Death Guard, and are they up to date?
The Death Guard miniatures range is very up to date, since they were the main antagonists of the previous edition of Warhammer 40,000 before the last. They have their own dedicated Space Marines in the shape of Plague Marines, as well as the zombie-like Poxwalkers, the artillery Plagueburst Crawler, their Primarch Mortarion pictured at the top of this section, and many more nauseating and fearsome miniatures. There’s a lot to collect and many interesting options for building your army, and all of it has up to date rules.
How do I get started playing Death Guard?
The Combat Patrol: Death Guard box gives you a unit of Plague Marines, 30(!) Poxwalkers a Typhus character and a Biologus Putrifier, which makes for a very cool starting force.
The Death Guard on the Battlefield
Army rule – Nurgle’s Gift (aura)
If an enemy unit is within contagion rage (3” in 1st Battle Round, 6” for 2nd Battle Round, 9” for 3rd Battle Round onwards), models within that unit lose 1 Toughness from their characteristics.
Detachment rule:
During the Declare Battle Formations step, you must choose one of the following illnesses. All the units in your army that have the Nurgle’s Gift ability gain the sickness you have chosen.
Skullsquirm Blight: If an enemy unit is within the Contagion Range, reduce its Ballistic Skill and Weapon Skill of the weapons it has equipped by 1.
Rattlejoin Ague: Enemy units within the Contagion range have their save’s roll worsened by 1.
Scabrous Soulrot: Reduce the Leadership and Objective Control of units and models within the Contagion Range.
In addition, if a Death Guard unit or model captures an objective marker, it is considered to be infected and remains under the player’s control even when they have no models near it. While an objective is infected, it is considered to have the Nurgle’s Gift ability until it is captured by an opponent.
As expected, the Death Guard are all about spreading Grandfather Nurgle’s “gifts” to the masses. The flexibility of the plagues at your disposal can really help you tailor your approach to certain enemies. Too many high saving throw enemies? Send them some Rattlejoint Ague. Is the battle going to be heavily focused on objectives? Throw down some Scabrous Soulrot to help tip the battle in your favour.
In addition, the added bonus of being able to infect an objective marker is super beneficial, allowing your army to trudge onwards without leaving anything or anyone behind.
The Enhancements for the Death Guard have the option to further enhance the spreading of various plagues with The Droning, forcing enemies to roll a D6 if they fail a leadership test within contagion range: on a 2-5 the unit takes 1 mortal wound, whereas on a 6, they take D3 mortal wounds.
Big and bulky like their dark patron, Deathshroud Terminators are a unit that really encapsulates the Death Guard mood. Toughness of 6, saving throws of +2, invulnerable save of +4, melee weapons that can choose a damage profile that specialises against killing tough but few models or weaker but more numerous enemies – these guys can take some serious damage while dishing it out too.
With their durability, you can be sure that the Deathshroud Terminators will be hanging around spreading Nurgle’s Gift for a long time. They also are great at acting as bodyguards, with their Silent Bodyguard ability; if a character model is leading this unit, any time an attack targets this unit and the strength of the attack is greater than the toughness of this unit, subtract 1 from the wound roll.
Thousand Sons Army Overview
Introduction to the Thousand Sons Army
The Thousand Sons are the master Psykers of the Chaos Space Marines, following their Primarch Magnus The Red (pictured above) in the worship of Tzeentch the Chaos God of Change. It is an army of sorcerers, semi-undead living suits of armour and daemonic beings, so if you want to lean into the “magical” side of the Warhammer 40,000 universe, they might be just the army for you.
What rule book should I get if I want to play Thousand Sons?
The Thousand Sons currently have a PDF available on the Warhammer Community website.
What miniatures are available for Thousand Sons, and are they up to date?
The Thousand Sons miniatures range is fairly up to date, being a bit older than the Death Guard, but with no very obsolete sculpts in the range.
The Rubric Marines and Scarab Occult Terminators showcase the Ancient Egyptian feel of the army’s visual style, and are flanked by Exalted Sorcerers and even beastlike Tzaangors, which is essentially an Age of Sigmar unit that you can turn into a Thousand Sons unit with the Tzaangor Upgrade Pack.
How do I get started collecting a Thousand Sons army?
The Combat Patrol box released for the Thousand Sons is a good place to start – but only for a specific kind of army for the faction, since it contains a whole bunch of mutant Tzaangors rather than a unit of Rubric Marines. However, it also contains a unit of Occult Scarab Terminators and the Infernal Master HQ choice, so you might as well buy it and add a unit of Rubric Marines on the side if you want a more traditional force.
The Thousand Sons on the Battlefield
Army Rule: Cabal of Sorcerers
At the end of your command phase, any models (excluding Battle-shocked models) with the Cabal of Sorcerers rule generate Cabal points equal to the value shown in its ability. During the Battle Round, you may spend these points to cast one of the following rituals. These rituals can only be cast once per Battle Round and at the start of your next command phase, your cabal points are reset to zero.
Weaver of Fates (2 Cabal Points) – At the start of any phase, re-roll a failed save for one Thousand Sons model that is within 18” of a chosen Psyker once during the phase.
Temporal Surge (5 Cabal Points) – At the start of your shooting phase, select 1 Thousand Sons unit within 18” of a chosen Psyker. Unless this unit is within the engagement range of an enemy model or unit, it may make a normal move, though if it does, it is not eligible to declare a charge later in the Battle Round.
Echoes From the Warp (6 Cabal Points) – At the start of any phase, you may select a chosen Psyker’s unit as a target for a stratagem for 0cp, even if this stratagem has already been used during this phase.
Doombolt (7 Cabal Points) – At the start of your shooting phase, select 1 enemy unit within 18” and visible to a chosen Psyker and roll a D6: on a 1, the target suffers D3 mortal wounds; on a 2-5, it suffers D3+3 mortal wounds; on a 6, it suffers D3+6 mortal wounds.
Twist of Fate (9 Cabal Points) – At the start of any phase, until the end of the chosen phase, a selected enemy unit within 18” of a chosen Psyker cannot make armour saving throws.
Detachment Rule – Kindred Sorcery
During your command phase, you may select one of the following abilities that take effect until the start of your next command phase.
Malevolent Charge – Psychic weapons have the Lethal Hits ability.
Psychic Maelstrom – Psychic weapons have Sustained Hits 1 ability.
Wrath of the Immaterium – Psychic weapons have the Devastating Wounds ability.
Harry Potter in big ol’ armour – if magic is your bag, you’ll be hard-pressed to find an army more satisfying. With enough magic users in your army, battle round 1 is going to give you enough points to throw some major fireworks with a potential 9 mortal wounds! Don’t want your high-armour enemy units to roll their saving throws? Tzeentch has got your back! See a group of Orks that look like they are about to charge you? Not this round! I can see the Thousand Sons being an extremely fun faction to play as, and in return, very frustrating to play against.
What’s more, the Enhancement Lord of Forbidden Lore allows you to cast a ritual that has already been cast by another Psyker. Which, if you have enough points, might be the difference between you having a relaxed game with a friend, and them flipping the table over as you laugh maniacally.
It’ll come as no surprise that, in an army where magic is extremely important, the Exalted Sorcerer is the unit of choice for the Thousand Sons. Providing 2 Cabal Points for your wicked rituals at the beginning of each round, the Exalted Sorcerer also has a good selection of ranged and melee weapons (no need to hide your sorcerer on the backlines like the stereotypical magic wielder), while also having a 4+ invulnerable saving throw.
While leading a unit, its Arcane shield ability spreads its Invulnerable Save to all other models in the unit, allowing the exalted Sorcerer to toughen up the more vulnerable units within the Thousand Son’s roster. Furthermore, the Exalted Sorcerer can act as a medic for the unit it is leading with its Rebind Rubricae Psychic ability. At the start of the command phase, roll a D6: on a 1, the unit suffers D3 mortal wounds; on a 2-5, you can return 1 destroyed model to the unit; and on a 6, you can return up to 2 destroyed models to this unit.
With both of these Psychic abilities combined, the Exalted Sorcerer and his bodyguard unit are going to require a lot of focused fire to take them down!
Chaos Daemons Army Overview
The Chaos Daemons are the daemonic manifestations of the powers of the four Chaos Gods Khorne (Rage), Nurgle (Decay), Tzeentch (Change) and Slaanesh (Excess). In the past they used to be very confusing for new players, with specific rules for each type of Daemon, but with 10th Edition, their special rules are specifically applied to their own units via their data cards, with some pretty cool universal Daemon rules applying to all using the Army and Detachment rules.
Please note: Due to the the way the rules have been written for the Chaos Daemons, the “The Chaos Daemons on the Battlefield” section of this article will be at the bottom of the Slaanesh Army Overview. If you wish to have a taste of how the other Chaos Daemons play, they share similarities with their respective Traitor Space Marine Legions play (World Eaters for Khorne, Thousand Sons for Tzeench, Death Guard for Nurgle).
One of the greatest aspects of the Chaos Daemons for a beginner is that whatever army you collect for them, you’re almost certain to be able to play that army in Warhammer Age of Sigmar as well, since the two games share roughly the same Chaos Daemon pantheon and miniatures.
Khorne Army Overview
Introduction to the Khorne Army
Upon his throne of skulls, Khorne sits and watches as the galaxy is wrought by war. Khorne always wants more war, violence, death. He cares not who is killed or from whose battered body blood flows from, so long as it flows. His daemon legions represent him on the battlefield with impressive melee capabilities and relentless charging potential.
What rule book should I get if I want to play a Khorne Army?
The Chaos Daemons have a Pdf available on the Warhammer Community webpage.
What miniatures are available for Khorne, and are they up to date?
The Khorne range of Daemon miniatures is fairly up to date, and has the advantage of getting an update whenever the God of rage gets an update in Age of Sigmar as well. Iconic units include the Daemons of Khorne Bloodthirster pictured above, Bloodletters and Flesh Hounds.
How do I get started collecting Khorne?
The Start Collecting! Daemons of Khorne gives you a unit of Bloodletters, a unit of mounted Bloodcrushers and a Herald on Blood Throne to lead your force.
You can also get the Boarding Patrol Box for Daemons of Khorne
Nurgle Army Overview
Introduction to the Nurgle Faction
Nurgle is the God of Decay, and his disgusting disease-spreading daemons are a mixture of zombie aesthetic and a strange silliness that makes them all the more scary. Like the Death Guard, they are all about the slow unstoppable advance.
Though he is the God of buboes and pestilence, he is often referred to as Grandfather: a title given to him by his followers for his kindness and generosity in giving them life eternal (even if such a life is filled with terrible illness).
What rule book should I get if I want to play Nurgle?
The Chaos Daemons have a PDF on the Warhammer Community Website.
What miniatures are availablefor Nurgle, and are they up to date?
The Nurgle Daemons miniatures range is pretty up to date since the Age of Sigmar Nurgle range got an upgrade a few years ago. Plaguebearers of Nurgle and Nurglings are some of your horde-like units, supported by characters with insane names such as Sloppity Bilepiper and Horticulous Slimux. The most iconic Nurgle unit, however, is the hulking Great Unclean One pictured at the top of this section, which can be assembled in a few different ways. The Nurgle range is sure to be supported for years to come (like that of the other Chaos Gods) since they play an important part in both the 40k and Age of Sigmar universes.
How do I get started collecting a Nurgle army?
The Start Collecting! Daemons of Nurgle box comes with a unit of Plaguebearers, a unit of Nurglings, a unit of fly-mounted Plague Drones and a Herald of Nurgle character, meaning you get some of your most iconic units in one box.
Tzeentch Army Overview
Introduction to Tzeentch
The Daemons of Tzeentch, the Chaos God of Change, are all bout magic, change and mutation. This is perfectly embodied in the Horror Daemons, which split into smaller versions of themselves when they die, and the terrifying sorcerer bird the Lord of Change, pictured above.
To follow Tzeentch is to walk through a maze blind, following only the maddening whispers of your own intellectual ambition. Will the way you walk lead to knowledge? Will it lead to a horrid death? Or, if the Changer of Ways wishes it, will it be a bitter sweet combination of the two?
What rule book should I get if I want play Tzeentch ?
The Chaos Daemons have a PDF on the Warhammer Community Website.
What miniatures are available for Tzeentch , and are they up to date?
Most of the Tzeentch miniatures range is up to date, but especially the Flamers of Tzeentch and Screamers of Tzeentch are in dire need of an update.
The Horrors of Tzeentch are a very strange unit that basically requires you to buy two different kits: They can start out as Pink Horrors, which split into twice the number of smaller Blue Horrors when they die. In turn, the Blue Horrors split into even smaller Brimstone Horrors when they die. The latter two are in a separate box from the pink ones, so you’ll need quite a few boxes of these.
How do I get started collecting Tzeentch?
The Start Collecting! Daemons of Tzeentch box gives you a Burning Chariot of Tzeentch, a unit of Flamers of Tzeentch, a unit of Screamers of Tzeentch, and a unit of Pink Horrors (but not the blue and crimson ones you need), as well as an optional Herald of Nurgle on Foot. Miniatures-wise, this is one of the older sets of sculpts available in a Start Collecting! box, so let’s hope they get an update soon.
Slaanesh Army Overview
Introduction to Slaanesh armies
Slaanesh is the Chaos God of Excess and obsession, and they’re all about ever-increasing intensities of sensations. Pulling off the perfect hit-and-run, striking an enemy where they are weakest and revelling in the drawing out of pain is just a small list of things the Daemons of Slaanesh indulge in while on the battlefield.
The miniatures is a disturbing range of graceful but horrifying creatures that have received a lot of updates via the Age of Sigmar storyline in recent years, and it will probably continue to do so.
What rule book should I get if I want to play Slaanesh ?
The Chaos Daemons have a PDF on the Warhammer Community Website.
What miniatures are available for Slaanesh, and are they up to date?
The Daemons of Slaanesh miniatures range is generally up to date, with the Daemonettes of Slaanesh infantry being fairly old but still serviceable, and larger models such as the Keeper of Secrets pictured above being brand new.
How do I get started collecting Slaanesh?
The Start Collecting! Daemons of Slaanesh box contains a unit of Daemonettes of Slaanesh, a unit of Seekers of Slaanesh and an Exalted Seeker of Slaanesh to get your Daemons of Slaanesh force started.
The Chaos Daemons on the Battlefield
Army Rule – The Shadow of Chaos
Throughout the game, different areas of the battlefield are considered to be in your army’s Shadow of Chaos. These areas are:
Your Shadow of Chaos is always active throughout your deployment zone.
If half the objectives in no-man’s land or your enemy’s deployment zone are controlled by you at the start of any phase, Shadow of Chaos is active throughout these areas respectively.
Daemonic Manifestation
If a unit or model is within an area affected by the Shadow of Chaos, each time they take a Battle-shock test (with a 1 added to the result) and the test is passed, one model may regain D3 wounds. If the unit is a Battleline unit, they may restore D3 destroyed models.
Daemonic Terror
While an enemy is within the Shadow of Chaos, they must subtract 1 from all their Battle-shock tests. Should they fail one of these tests, they will suffer D3 mortal wounds.
Daemonic Pact
If you have an army that has the Chaos keyword for each model, you can take several points worth of Daemons from this army depending on the size of the battle (Incursion: 250 pts, Strike Force: 500 pts, Onslaught: 750 pts).
Detachment Rules – Warp Rifts
If a unit is using the Deep Strike ability, if they set up wholly within the Shadow of Chaos, they may set up anywhere +6” away from an enemy model/unit instead of the usual 9”.
While we have spoken a lot of Nurgle, Khorne and Tzeench due to those Chaos Gods having access to some Space Marine representation on the tabletop, it’s only fair that we take a slight Slaanesh lean when explain the Chaos Demons – though please bear in mind that the other gods are equally represented in the roster!
The Shadows of Chaos are a fantastic rule for the Dark Prince’s daemonic legions as the scantily clad daemons of Slaanesh prefer to get up close with their claws while avoiding taking too much of a beating. The Warp Rifts these daemons can make use of to redeploy within 6” of an enemy unit will keep them constantly on their toes, one eye on their flanks at all times.
The Souleater enhancement allows a model to potentially regain 1 lost wound for each enemy model they destroy. While not amazing for duelling, which is canonically what champions of Slaanesh revel in, this enhancement will be great for keeping a character nice and healthy throughout the battle when killing lesser foes.
Daemons are the nightmares of mankind made manifest. Since we are rolling with a Slaanesh theme, it’s only right that we highlight possibly the most nightmarish model in all of Warhammer. Just on aesthetics alone, properly painted, an Infernal Enrapturess is certainly enrapturing, if not for all of the wrong reasons (or right reasons if that is the vibe you are aiming for!).
Interestingly enough, she works as a really effective combat medic with her Harmonic Alignment ability. While she leads a unit, at the beginning of each command phase, she may return D3 models that have been destroyed to that unit she is leading. She also fills a much-needed lack of ranged firepower that the Daemons of Slaanesh are missing due to them being primarily a close-range force. She can turn her organic harp into a 6-attack weapon aimed at killing infantry, or a single-attack beast that can crack open vehicles!
Chaos Knights Army Overview
Introduction to Chaos Knights armies
The Chaos Knights are the dark mirror of the valiant Imperial Knights: They’re towering giants of metal marching into terrifying duels with other Knights, but this time around, they serve the forces of Chaos. If you like painting huge miniatures, but you want a break from the clean design of the Imperial Knights, the chains, pikes and spikes of the Chaos Knights might be your next favourite project.
What rule book should I get if I want to play Chaos Knights?
The Chaos Knights have a PDF on the Warhammer Community page.
What miniatures are available for Chaos Knights, and are they up to date?
The Chaos Knights miniatures range is very up to date, and even though it might look like it to the untrained eye, only some of them are Imperial Knights with different suggested color schemes.
Imperial Knights and Chaos Knights share the Armiger, Castellan and Preceptor kits from the Imperial Knights range, but the dual kit for Knight Desecrator/Rampager is unique to the faction as is the Knight Abominant.
How do I get started playing Chaos Knights?
The short answer is: If you’re a beginner, don’t. The Chaos Knights units are a huge investment. Though much like the Imperial Knights, you can take a Chaos Knight or a few Wardog models and add them to a Chaos army you have! Once you’ve cut your teeth with a few games, then maybe that would be a better time to invest in a Chaos Knights army!
The Chaos Knights on the Battlefield
Army Rules – Harbingers of Dread
Each model in your army gains a bonus depending on which of the following Dread abilities are active for your army. When a Dread ability is active, it will apply until the end of the battle.
Despair (Aura) – From Battle Round 1 onwards
While an enemy is within 12” of a model, -1 from their Battle-shock tests.
Doom and Darkness – From Battle Round 3 onwards
If a model makes an attack and its target is Battle-shocked, add 1 to the wound roll.
Each time a target attacks this model, if the unit is Battle-shocked, subtract 1 from the Hit roll.
Super Heavy Walker –
When a model with this ability makes a normal, advance or fallback move, it can do so over non-titanic models and terrain that are 4” or less as though they were not there.
Dreadblades –
If all the models in your army have the Chaos keyword, you may have 1 Titanic Chaos Knight or up to 3 War Dog models. These models cannot be warlords and cannot be given enhancements.
Detachment Rule – Traitor’s Lance
In the Battle-shock step of your opponent’s Command phase, if an enemy unit that is below its Starting Strength is within 12″ of a Chaos Knights model from your army, that enemy unit must take a Battleshock test. For the purposes of this ability, if a unit has a Starting Strength of 1, it is considered to be below its Starting Strength while it has lost one or more wounds.
Though the Chaos Knights have some parallels with their loyalist brothers, a huge thing that these guys make use of and exploit in their enemy is leadership and Battle-shock tests. Realistically, who can blame a unit of Guardsmen needing to test their leadership when near a 50 ft tall angry iron giant? Harbingers of the Dead has a wonderful building up of impending doom, as units whose leadership crumbles become easier targets and are less effective in combat. This feeling is further extended by Traitor’s Lance, allowing the Chaos Knights to force Battle-shock tests on enemy units that are below full strength. Even a strong opponent, suffering only one wound, is affected by the Traitor’s Lance.
The Battle-shock tests don’t stop with just the Army and Detachment Rules, as the Lord of Dread Enhancement can force an enemy within engagement range to take a Battle-shock test. This isn’t just a one-time thing either, but at the beginning of each Fight Phase, making the character equipped with this enhancement an absolute beast at contesting objective markers.
The Knight Abominant feels like a model that perfectly ties in with the Battle-shock testing/heavy-hitting theme of the Chaos Knights. As well as huge Volkite combustors that can annihilate most enemies from afar, the Abominant has 2 Psychic abilities: Vortex Terrors and Warp Storms. Vortex Terrors forces an enemy unit within 12” to take a Battle-shock test, making them more susceptible to the Knight’s attacks, while Warp Storms has the potential to make each enemy unit within 9” take D3 mortal wounds on a roll of 3+ during the movement phase – that’s free kills just for standing around and looking intimidating!
Xenos Armies
Aeldari Army Overview
Introduction Aeldari Armies
Like the elves of J.R.R. Tolkien’s world of Middle-Earth, the Aeldari of the Craftworlds are a species in decline. They live long, disciplined lives, dedicating all their energy to specific disciplines and skills to avoid their tendency to excess, which would make them vulnerable to the influence of the Chaos God Slaanesh, who devours their souls when they die.
To save themselves from being devoured, all Aeldari of the Craftworlds carry a spirit stone that captures their soul when they die, and they travel the galaxy in great ships that store all these dead souls. When truly threatened by enemies, the Craftworlds field constructs powered by these spirit stones, so that long-dead Aeldari ancestors may march to war once again as huge suits of armour.
Skilled, disciplined and mysterious to most other factions of the Galaxy, the Aeldari Craftworlds offer a perspective on the Warhammer 40,000 universe where humans, orks, T’au and the like are mere fools who do not understand the true nature of the universe. So, if you want to play as the ancient, graceful “elven” culture in decline that you can also find in many other genre universes, the Craftworlds might be just the army for you.
What rule book should I get if I want to play Aeldari?
Currently there is no Codex available for this faction, but you can find a PDF for the on the Warhammer Community website.
What miniatures are available for Aeldari, and are they up to date?
The Aeldari now have a pretty well-updated model range, after being very outdated for many years. The range has some good plastic characters such as the Spiritseer, Farseer, Jain Zar (pictured at the top of this section) and Eldran Ulthran, and the infantry unit Howling Banshees got a more modern plastic kit in recent years.
The many vehicles and constructs of the Craftworlds, such as Fire Prism or Wraithguard also look pretty good.
In addition to all this, the army had some excellent updates to models such as the Avatar of Khaine in recent years!
How do I get started Collecting Aeldari?
The Combat Patrol: Aeldari is a great way to start an Aeldari force – much better than the old Start Collecting! box for the army, which didn’t even feature any Troop choices.
The Aeldari on the Battlefield
Army Rule – Strands of Fate
At the start of the battle, roll 12 D6. If you wish to reroll these dice, you may reduce the number of dice you roll by 1. You may do this until you either accept the dice roll or you have only one D6 remaining. Once this is the case, you must put these dice aside or make a note of your dice rolls as these have become your Fate dice pool.
Once per phase, before rolling a dice for a model/unit with the Strands of Faith ability, you may use a dice result from your Fate dice pool as a replacement to the roll. Each Fate dice can only be used once, and once it is used, it must be removed from the Fate dice pool. If multiple dice were to be rolled, after the Fate dice have been removed, you may then roll the remainder of your dice.
Strands of Fate can be used for the following dice rolls:
Advance roll
Battle-shock test
Charge roll
Damage roll
Hit roll
Saving throw
Wound roll
Detachment rule – Unparalleled Foresight
Each time a unit is selected to shoot or fire, it may re-roll a hit and a wound when resolving its attacks.
The Aeldari reflect their powers of hindsight, insight and foresight through an intense roster of highly mobile units with very specific combat roles. This is great for players who like to have dedicated units for specific jobs and also has great opportunities for themes that you can build an army composition around.
Playing into the Strands of Fate Army Rule, you can equip a character with the Weeping Stones enhancement which allows them to add to the Strands of Fate dice pool for each unit they destroy. That being said, if instead you want some longevity in your more fragile characters, you can equip them with the Phoenix Gem which, on a D6 roll of +2 upon death, can bring them back to life with full health.
What makes the Aeldari interesting as a faction is that if you take Yvraine as a Warlord, you can turn your army into a Ynnari army – allowing you to dedicate a certain number of points to Drukhari units depending on the size of the army you intend to play with.
On top of that, you can also include Harlequins in an Aeldari army. However, it does seem that their roster is lacking compared to having their own dedicated codex in 9th edition, the hope is that there will be a detachment dedicated to them (and the Ynnari) once the full Aeldari codex comes out.
The Strands of Fate and Unparalleled Foresight abilities for the Aeldari give you plenty of opportunities for rerolling and making some very important clutch manoeuvres. With this in mind, an ideal unit to take advantage of these abilities would be the Dark Reapers: a strong ranged unit with weapons that have access to weapons that have relatively low attack values but with high strength and decent damage output.
To add to their ranged capabilities, their weapons ignore cover and with the Inescapable Accuracy ability, they can simply choose to ignore any or all modifiers to their Ballistic Skill and their hit roll.
While most ranged units that have this level of firepower tend to be pretty squishy, Dark Reaper not only have a +3 saving roll, but also an invulnerable save of +5 (though their toughness is a wimpy 3) – so by Eldar standards, they’re pretty beefy!
Drukhari Army Overview
Introduction Drukhari armies
The Drukhari are the evil twins of the Craftworlds Aeldari, so to speak. Instead of seeking control and discipline, they have gone all in on their Slaaneshian weaknesses, seeking decadence, violence and excess wherever they can.
They terrorize the galaxy as raiders and slavers, striking with no warning from their home city of Commorragh which is hidden deep within the Aeldari’s secret Webway. So if the idea of playing as the evil pirates/vikings of the galaxy, they might be just the right army for you.
What rule book should I get if I want to play Drukhari ?
Currently there is no Codex available for this faction, but you can find a PDF for the on the Warhammer Community website.
What miniatures are available Drukhari, and are they up to date?
While the miniatures range for the the Drukhari are somewhat mixed (helmets look good on a lot of models but the faces can look a little old fashioned), it is generally in the same shape as the Craftworlds range, as most of its infantry units are modern plastic sculpts. The Kabalites, Wyches, and Scourges look great, however, and so does everything else you’ll probably want for your first army, such as their Raider ships or Reaver vehicles.
Note that while most of the essential units of the Drukhari are very coherent in style, the Drukhari range is also home to some really strange stuff such as the Cronos or the actual snake-man Sslyth.
How do I get started Collecting Drukhari?
Along with the new codex , a Combat Patrol: Drukhari box is also up for the Drukhari. It contains everything you need to build a Combat Patrol force, including the Incubi that have been unavailable for a while.
You also have the option of getting the Drukhari Boarding Patrol box instead.
The Drukhari on the Battlefield
Army Rule – Power from Pain
At the start of a battle, according to your army size, you gain the following amount of Pain Tokens.
Combat Patrol – 1
Incursion – 2
Strike Force – 3
Onslaught – 4
Throughout a battle, if an enemy unit is destroyed or fails a Battle-shock test, you gain 1 pain token. At the start of the following phases, you may choose a unit to be Empowered Through Pain:
Movement/Charge phase – You may re-roll an Advance or Charge roll made by a unit.
Shooting/Fighting phase – Each mode within a unit can re-roll their hit roll dice.
These abilities are active until the end of the phase.
Detachment Rule – Realspace Raiders
At the beginning of the battle, you may acquire one additional Pain token if you have an Archon, Succubus, or Haemonculus model (this can stack for up to 3 Pain Tokens if you have one of each.
With the Detachment Rule Realspace Raiders encouraging you to take 3 character models for the additional Pain Tokens, the Drukhari (much like their Aeldari counter parts) have some great opportunities for building up units for dedicated combat roles, while having a good foundation for working around a theme.
With Pain Tokens providing some serious advantages to your units, the Drukhari work best when forcing their opponents into situations where they will take plenty of Battle-shock tests or by simply annihilating squads of enemies as quick as they can.
A great way to pressure an opponent is through the battle enhancement Crucible of Malediction, which forces an enemy unit within 12” once per battle to take a Battle-shock test. It also doubles up as an anti-psyker weapon as any who fail a test takes D3 mortal wounds.
When reading through the units for the Drukhari, an effort was made to try and find the units that best displayed Dark Eldar swiftness and cruelty, but also make a good pain token generator (remembering that we generate those through wiping an enemy unit out or making them fail a Battle-shock test).
Ideally, something that can force Battle-shock tests would be a lot more reliable for Token creation than being dependent on getting squad wipes. Sadly, while we can find plenty of units that a perfect flavour-wise for the Dark Eldar, units that force enemies to take battle-shock tests are lacking from their roster.
This means that to get the most out of the Drukhari Army Rule, we’ll need a unit that has enough firepower to burst down a unit below half strength (the threshold for when they will need to make battle-shock tests) without wiping it off the battlefield.
While not an obvious choice, the Drukhari Reavers may be a good, mobile jet bike unit to consider adding to your army on account of some interesting abilities and wargear options. The Eviscerating Fly-by allows them to potentially cause 1 mortal wound per Reaver when they move over an opponent on a roll of +4. To add to this, Reavers can use Cluster Caltrops: a piece of wargear that allows them to reroll one D6 for each model in the squad if they inflict a wound.
In a full squad of Reavers, they can potentially bring down a good amount of burst damage on fragile backline units that can be harvested for Pain tokens!
Harlequins Army Overview
Introduction to Harlequins armies
Tricksters and murderous performers, the Harlequins are follower of the Aeldari Laughing God, and they’re fast, elegant, elite fighters that can advance and charge, or fall back and shoot in the same turn, so if you like a fighting style where you’re constantly relocating and outmaneuvering your enemy, they might be just the right army for you.
What rule book should I get for Harlequins?
Currently, the Harlequins are part of the Aeldari PDF, and you can find all the stat blocks and index cards there.
What miniatures are available for Harlequins, and are they up to date?
The Harlequins miniatures range is very limited, with only one infantry unit, three characters and three vehicles where two are versions of the same kit, but they all look really good if you are able to paint their complex, chequered colour scheme, as seen on this Harlequin Troupe:
How do I get started collecting Harlequins?
You don’t have that many different options, but be sure to buy a couple of boxes of Harlequin Troupe, as this also includes the Troupe Master as an HQ choice, and then supplement that with a Solitaire (3+ invulnerable save! Interesting special rules!) and then more Troupes or a vehicle. Try different combinations in the app, but if you’re already interested in this army, there are so few options that you’ll probably end up buying everything in the Harlequins range anyway.
Ynnari Army Overview
Introduction Ynnari armies
This is where Aeldari lore gets really complex, if it wasn’t already: The Ynnari believe that if every Aeldari dies, Ynnead the God of Death will slay the Chaos God Slaanesh. Yvraine, emissary to this God of Death and leader of the Ynnari, seeks to avoid this cost of lives by conducting a ritual that requires five of the legendary Croneswords of the Goddess Goddess Morai-Heg.
They are an Aeldari faction that can include Craftworlds, Drukhari and Harlequin detachments in their armies (though you must have Yvraine as your Warlord and all of the Ynnari stat blocks currently live in the Aeldari Codex). This allows for some interesting mixed armies of unlikely allies that’s quite different from anything else in the Warhammer 40,000 universe.
So, if you want to play the Aeldari faction that believes the power of friendship(?) is the way to defeat a Chaos god, this is the faction for you!
What rule book should I get for Ynnari?
Currently, the Ynnari are part of the Aeldari PDF, and you can find all the stat blocks and index cards there.
What miniatures are available for Ynnari, and are they up to date?
Since the Ynnari are made up of Aeldari warriors from the Craftworlds, Drukhari and Harlequin ranges, consult the corresponding sections of our guides for those armies for most of your units. Apart from that, only one dedicated miniatures kit is available for the Ynnari, but what a kit it is: The Triumvirate of Ynnead contains the three most important characters of the Ynnari, which are the Yncarne, Yvraine and the Visarch, which are all HQ choices for your army and impressive modern plastic sculpts to boot.
How do I get started collecting Ynnari?
Currently to build a Ynarri army, it must be based on a Aeldari army and have Yvraine as the Warlord. So to start, getting her is a must. Then, when playing a small game of 1000 points, only 500 of them can be dedicated to Drukhari models. So as a new player, it may be pretty expensive to start with the Ynarri.
It may be a wise choice to choose either the Aeldari or the Drukhari as your first army and then, when you are ready, branch out into the other as the Ynnari.
Tyranids Army Overview
Introduction to Tyranids armies
The Tyranids are one of the greatest horror elements of the Warhammer 40,000 Universe. They are a swarm of galaxy-travelling monsters who consume everything in their path and incorporate the biomass of it into their ever-growing armies.
As the main antagonists of the 10th edition, the Tyranids have received huge updates in their models and their rosters of units, with major potential for lore developments as their tendrils spread across the galaxy.
What rule book should I get for Tyranids?
The Tyranids currently have a 10th edition Codex available on their store website. Currently, websites like Amazon are still selling the 9th edition, be careful to double check which version you are buying!
What miniatures are available for Tyranids, and are they up to date?
The Tyranids miniature ranges have had a huge update recently, from the small termagaunts to the big stuff like the Tervigon. From some of the oldest looking armies to incredibly detailed stuff, these new models will feel modern for a while to come.
Termaguants
This is in addition to all the new Tyranid units that help balance out some of the previous edition’s weaknesses.
How do I get started collecting Tyranids ?
The Tyranids have a Combat Patrol box available with everything you need to start your own swarm.
Tyranids on the Battlefield
Army Rules: Synapse
While Tyranid units are within 6” of a Synapse creature, they may roll 3D6 instead of the standard 2D6 when taking a Battle-shock test.
Shadow of the Warp
Once per battle, during either player’s Command phase, you can choose to use the Shadow of the Warp ability. This forces all the enemy units to take a Battle-shock test.
Detachment Rules: Unending Swarm
Units with the Endless Multitudes ability move D6 towards the closest enemy unit when they are shot at. This can be used multiple times in one turn and units can get into melee range with this ability.
True to their nature, Tyranids have some of the most adaptable playstyles in the game due to their incredibly diverse roster of units and the flexibility of their Army Rules. As your army scuttles forward, The Shadow of the Warp can be used at the beginning of a battle in a defensive manner to break the morale of an army before you even approach them, or used once your forces have taken them down in number for a more consistent breaking of their fighting spirit.
With the natural instinct to shoot down Tyranids from afar, those fighting armies using the Unending Swarm Detachment Rule will be in shock as firing at Tyranids just seems to bring them closer. If they don’t shoot to kill, it may serve them better to simply not shoot at all!
Though shooting down Tyranids proves a challenge when a character takes the Naturalised Camouflage Enhancement, allowing 3 endless multitude units within 9” of the bearer to be treated as those they are in cover.
One weakness the Unending Swarm detachment will face when trying to get into melee range of their enemy is that the weaker units of Tyranids tend to get shot to death before being able to chow down. While being shot at is not the worst thing, since your units will be able to move an additional D6 towards their targets, the Venomthropes have a way to reduce the incoming damage.
Units within 6” of this unit will gain stealth, meaning that at a distance your units will be safe from ranged attacks. When the enemy are eventually able to take aim, models within 6” gain the benefit of being in cover, making them resistant to ranged attacks.
With a squad or two of Venomthropes at the centre of the swarm, you’ll have a much better chance of feasting on the gun lines of your enemies!
Genestealer Cults Army Overview
Introduction Genestealer Cults armies
The Genestealer Cults are cults on human worlds that worship the coming of the Tyranids, and they consist of hybrids of genestealer and human DNA, so some look almost like humans while others have extra arms and terrifying mouths full of sharp teeth.
They are a great army to collect if you like the idea of playing as an alien insurrection undermining the Imperial order, and they can be a part of Tyranid armies as well, so they can be played in several ways.
They are also one of the most updated armies outside of the Space Marines ranks, so if you want state of the art miniatures, they might be just the army for you.
What rule book should I get for Genestealer Cults?
Currently there is no Codex available for this faction, but you can find a PDF for the on the Warhammer Community website.
What miniatures are available for Genestealer Cults, and are they up to date?
The Genestealer Cults miniatures range is generally very up to date. The Troops choice Neophyte Hybrids are some of the best-looking infantry models in the game in my opinion (and you can play them in Necromunda as well!). Models such as the Atalan Jackals or the Abominant completely embody the “alien working class insurrection” style of the army. If you want to include Brood Brothers in your army (Astra Militarum units that are part of the insurrection), there is even a Genestealer Cults Upgrade Frame available that can help you turn any human infantry model into a hybrid.
How do I get started collecting Genestealer Cults?
The Combat Patrol: Genestealer Cults box is stuffed with Neophyte Cultists, which is great, but it also has Aberrants and a Goliath vehicle and a Magus HQ choice, so there’s plenty to build an army from in there.
The Genestealer Cult on the Battlefield
Army rule – Ambush
When a unit is destroyed, roll one d6, adding a 1 to it if it is a battleline unit and adding a +1 on the first or second battle round. On a +5, add a new identical unit in Cult Ambush and place a Cult Ambush marker.
If an enemy model (except for aircraft) gets within 9” of a Cult Ambush marker, the marker is removed and at the end of the reinforcements phase, for every marker that is still on the battlefield, place a unit from Cult Ambush within 3” of the Cult Ambush marker and 9” away from any enemy models.
Characters are not revived with any units they are attached to using the Ambush rule.
Brood Brothers
You may take units and models from the Astra Militarum codex and include them in your Genestealer Cult army (with the exception of Epic Heroes, Ogryns and a few other units). The amount of points you may spend on Astra Militarum models and units change depending on the size of the battle (Incursion: 250 pts, Strike Force: 500 pts, Onslaught: 750 pts).
Detachment Rule – They Came from Below
Every time a unit from your army is set up as reinforcements, the weapons equipped by the models gain Sustained Hits 1 and Ignores Cover until the end of the next fight phase.
The Genestealer Cults can create a great sense of panic on the battlefield when entire units of xenos-infected humans can simply respawn anywhere on the map. The Ambush Army Rule will ensure that your opponent never truly have their flanks secured.
However, this rule does require planning for your units to get wiped out pretty early in the game for a definite impact in the battle, so don’t get too attached to the lives of your combatants!
The enhancements of the Genestealer Cults also allow for some interesting play with the army’s stratagems. Not only does Inscrutable Cunning provide your character and their unit with the infiltrator ability, but also provides you with an additional Command Point on a roll of 4+ every time you use a stratagem on them. Following up on this, if your opponent has a stratagem that they are reliant on, you can force them to add 1 Command Point to the cost of reusing that stratagem for the rest of the battle with the Meticulous Planner enhancement.
Hybrid Metamorphs are what you get when you combine the terror of the Tyranids with the flesh of mankind. Though not ideal in ranged combat, mixed with the Deep Striking and Redeployment, getting into close combat will not be too hard for the Genestealer Cult. These boys can also pack a significant wallop with the potential to go for 5 melee attacks each. With 10 models in a squad, that is 50 melee attacks in one turn, all at a 3+ to hit!
Necrons Army Overview
Introduction to Necrons armies
The Necrons are an ancient alien species who found immortality by leaving behind their organic bodies and inhabiting metallic skeletal bodies, and after thousands of years, they have awoken to conquer the galaxy.
Though they seek to reconquer what was theirs, the varying Necron Dynasties struggle to work as one – each seeking to be the dominant house. In the past, their will was united by the Silent King, a leader responsible for the once mortal Necrontyre becoming the souless machines they are now. Though the Silent King has returned to the setting, his focus is not on the control of the universe, but on combating the threats posed by Chaos and the Tyranids (though he and his kin are more than happy to show the Imperium of Man their place if they meddle in his affairs).
What rule book should I get for Necrons?
The Necrons currently have a 10th edition Codex available on their store website. Currently, websites like Amazon are still selling the 9th edition, be careful to double check which version you are buying!
What miniatures are available for Necrons, and are they up to date?
The Necron miniatures range is very up to date.
The kit that most embodies the style of the Necrons is the Necron Warriors kit, metallic skeletons marching tirelessly towards the enemy with their Gauss weapons, but the range also includes close combat fighters such as the Skorpekh Destroyers, a ton of characters both old and new (beware that some of them are pretty dated sculpts) and massive kits such as Szarekh, The Silent King or C’Tan Shard of the Void Dragon. It is generally a very diverse range with tons of options.
How do I get started playing Necrons?
The easiest way to get started with Necrons is to get the Combat Patrol, which has a good selection of the more elite units in the Necron roster. You can easily swap out some of the options in this box set with a couple of Necron Warrior squads to beef up the numbers as well, if you’re into that.
The Necrons on the Battlefield
Army Rule: Reanimation Protocols
At the end of your command phase, each unit in your army regains D3 wounds. Models missing wounds are prioritised with this healing, but if all models are full health and the unit is below Starting Strength, return missing models with one wound remaining.
Detachment Rule – Awakened Dynasty
Units gain a +1 to their Hit rolls if they are led by a character.
To wipe the Necrons off the map is a gruelling task. Not only do they naturally keep coming back once dead due to their Reanimation Protocols, but there are plenty of models that can buff this ability to nearby units.
This rule extending to all the units and models within their roster means that even the toughest in the army becomes just that much more resistant to destruction. Should a player feel particularly attached to such models, they can always fall back until they regain enough wounds to then get back in the fight – giving the Necrons some potential hit-and-run strategies with their bigger units.
Detachment Rules such as Awakened Dynasty also allow these unkillable machines to have a consistent level of damage output, should they be led by a character. This ability can further be enhanced by equipping one of these soulless beings with the Phasal Subjugator Enhancement: providing all Necron units within 6” a further +1 to hit.
If ripping apart your enemy molecule by molecule is something you wish to achieve with the efficiency of a machine, Necron Immortals are an ideal choice. If using the Awakened Dynasty Detachment, they hit on 2+ if led by a character and re-roll Wound rolls of 1. If the target is within range of an objective, you may reroll all wound rolls.
These guys also have the option of using a gauss blaster or a tesla carbine, which in a nut shell allows you to either focus this unit on annihilating heavy or light infantry, depending on what role you wish this unit to accomplish. Though they are rather vulnerable with one 1 Wound and are a little slow with their 5” of movement, their reanimation protocols can mitigate some incoming damage if they are focused on or find themselves out of position.
Orks Army Overview
Introduction Ork armies
For another completely unique perspective on the Warhammer 40,000 universe, look no further than the Orks! These green-skinned hooligans are a constant threat to the Imperium as great hordes of them can appear seemingly out of nowhere, simply because the sheer joy of fighting makes them grow and increase in number. There is some disagreement as to how magical the Orks are: do their vehicles really go faster just because the Orks believe they will if they paint them the right color? Are the Orks really a kind of fungus? Would their spaceships be able to fly if the Orks didn’t think they were? – And so on.
What’s definitely true is that they are hilarious and a lot of humour has gone into the creation of them, but in the Warhammer 40,000 they are also absolutely terrifying as they swarm Imperial trenches with their crude weapons and fanged troll-like faces. To an Imperial Guardsman, the Orks are no joke.
What rule book should I get if I want to play Orks?
Currently there is no Codex available for this faction, but you can find a PDF for the on the Warhammer Community website.
What miniatures are available for Orks, and are they up to date?
The Ork model range is, just as you would expect from the Orks, a wild mixture of brand new and wonky old stuff: The Beast Snagga range of orks is great, and the Ork Boyz recently got a nice update, but calling a character such as Mad Dok Grotsnik a “finely detailed resin kit” (which the Games Workshop webstore does) is a bit of a stretch by today’s standards:
That being said, there’s a lot of good stuff in the middle of the range, quality-wise: Meganobz and Flash Gitz have a lot of character, and flyers such as the Blitza-Bommer look great.
Where the range really shines is with some of the new vehicles that ooze Orkishness, while having names so ridiculous even Daemons of Nurgle can’t keep up, such as the Boomdakka Snazzwagon made famous by the Games Workshop videos or the Megatrakk Scrapjet pictured below:
Regardless of what kind of army you want to build, there’s plenty to choose from in the Ork range, and even the oldest sculpts have the same comedy horror style as the more recent releases, so with the right paint job, it’s all going to look coherent.
How do I get started collecting Orks?
The Combat Patrol: Orks box is almost a must-buy for any kind of Ork army, with its two units of Ork Boyz and a Megaboss being particularly useful.
Orks on the Battlefield
Army Rule- WAAAGH!
Once per battle, you can announce a WAAAGH! At the beginning of the battle round. Until the end of this round, your units can:
Charge in a turn they have advanced.
Add 1 to the Attacks and Strength traits of their melee weapons.
Gain a 5+ invulnerable saving throw.
Detachment Rule – WAAAGH! Tribe
All melee weapons equipped by Orks have Sustained Hits 1.
Orks like one thing, and one thing only. They like fighting and winning and by the Emperor, do they have a good time doing it.
The WAAAGH! Tribe specialises in good old hand to hand combat, meaning they will be reliant on using the WAAAGH! Army Rule just before the boyz get into charging distance. Though you may lose some lads on the way, once melee is joined, cutting through firing lines will feel worth the effort.
To make sure the biggest boyz get into close combat fastest, the Follow Me Ladz enhancement adds 2” to a character’s unit, ensuring they are the first to the fight.
But don’t be fooled by the Ork’s penchant for melee, as they have amazing ranged options as well which will hopefully be enhanced in the Detachment Rules that come out with their future Codex.
If you want to truly feel the WAAAGH! Then you can’t go far wrong with a unit or two of Meganobz. Durable with 3 wounds and a +2 save, decent kombi-weapons that have Anti-infantry 4+ and the option to swap their regular 12 strength, -3 Armour Piercing killsaw with a twin killsaw (that’s a twin-linked saw!); Meganobz are very capable of krumping any targets soft or tough.
If those melee options are not enough, on the turn you call a WAAAGH!, the melee weapons in this squad gain the Devastating Wounds ability, further increasing their punching power at the height of combat.
T’au Empire Army Overview
Introduction T’au Empire armies
When it comes to technological innovation and expansion strategies, the T’au Empire are the polar opposites of the Imperium: The T’au employ new technology wherever they can, from advanced weapons to artificial intelligence (which is completely forbidden in the Imperium), and when they conquer new worlds, they always seek to assimilate other populations into their empire rather than destroy them.
The T’au are a caste-based society where everyone serves the Greater Good that they hope to bring to the entire galaxy. In many ways, they’re either the closest you get to the actual good guys of the Warhammer 40,000 universe or a bunch of colonizers who falsely believe that their way is the only true way.
Either way, they’re a great army to play if you like shooting, mechs and standing out from all the grimdark stuff in the game.
What rule book should I get for T’au Empire?
Currently there is no Codex available for this faction, but you can find a PDF for the on the Warhammer Community website.
What miniatures are available for T’au Empire, and are they up to date?
The T’au Empire miniatures range is somewhat outdated, with only a few updates released in the previous edition of the game, and from a beginner’s perspective it suffers from many of its characters being made of resin or even metal, which makes them more difficult to work with.
Apart from this, the range still looks modern because of the clean design of the armour and mechs of the T’au, with lots of recesses and big surfaces on many models, which should make them easy to paint so they look good.
The scale of the army is pretty stunning, with tiny Tactical Drones and small Troops such as the Fire Warriors Strike Team at one end and towering mechs such as the KV128 Stormsurge at the other, with many different vehicles and mechs in between.
Because of their assimilation strategies, the T’au Empire also has access to alien auxillaries such as the Kroot Carnivore Squad which brings an entirely different style to the army.
How do I get started collecting T’au Empire?
The Combat Patrol: T’au Empire box is a good place to get started with the army, containing a Troop choice, two HQ choices, Stealth Suits and a Battlesuit.
The Tau Empire on the Battlefield
Army Rule – For the Greater Good
During the shooting phase, your units can work in pairs. One unit is considered the Observer unit, the second the Guided and the targeted enemy being the Spotted unit.
During the shooting phase, if the Spotted unit is visible to both the Observer and the Guided unit then the following effects applies:
Each time the Guided unit shoots at the spotted unit, improve their Ballistic Skill by 1. If the Observer unit has the Markerlight keyword, the attacks gain the Ignores Cover ability.
If the Guided unit shoots at an enemy unit that is not the Spotted unit, worsen their Ballistic Skill by 1.
Detachment Rule – Kauyon
From the third battle round, all ranged weapons have the Sustained Hits 1 ability, with this increasing to Sustained hits 2 if the unit is a Guided unit.
The firing line to end all firing lines, the Tau are heavily encouraged to use their ranged units to work together to take down their opponents from afar. If a Tau player can maintain sections of their lines until the third battle round, they are rewarded with (you guessed it) even more firepower with the Kauyon Detachment Rule.
The Greater Good, however, has more than just Tau fighting for it. To screen off close combat, the savage Kroot can keep the flanks safe while also probing enemy objectives while the Tau lays waste to enemy units with powerful ranged attacks.
While commanders of many armies like to sit comfortably with other squads, a Tau commander can hold his own in combat with a battlesuit and fight solo. This is made even more of a viable strategy when equipped with the Precision Hunter Enhancement, adding 1 to their Hit rolls and further adding 1 to their Wound rolls from the third battle round.
If you’re a fan of totally customisable units that can be equipped with a whole host of Tau firepower, the Crisis Battlesuits are the ideal unit to add to your army. Their wargear options allow them to be equipped with up to 9 different weapons that can either be selected 3 times or you can choose to go for any other combination of weapons you like (and that’s not including the drones!).
If you choose one of these options to be a weapon support system, you can ignore all Hit roll modifiers to your ranged attacks: making Crisis Battlesuits ideal for blasting apart units in cover or stealth. What’s more is that for a beefy ranged unit with tons of guns, they have a base Movement of 10” that can make use of their Turbo-jets ability which automatically makes their advance rolls 6”.
Leagues of Votann Army Overview
Introduction to Leagues of Votann Armies
The Leagues of Votann are short-statured demihumans, descended from Terra but a species of their own after millenia of evolution. They live near the galactic core, where they work together to harvest resources, craft technological wonders and defend their Kindred. All Kin (as they call themselves) are clones, bred in different types to accomodate different tasks within their society, and they all live under the guidance of the Votann, great artificially intelligent machines that grant them knowledge and identity.
Unlike the humans of the Imperium, the stout Kin have no fear of advancements in technology, and the Votann have helped them keep and develop ancient technologies from before the Age of Strife so that the Kindred, while not as numerous as other great empires in the galaxy, have weapons and machines that often surpass what the Imperium can field in both sophistication and deadliness.
This confidence in technology as a boon is the most evident in the presence of Ironkin, artificially intelligent robots that the Kin treat as, well, kin.
In combat, the armies of the Leagues of Votann are slow on foot, but carry excellent guns, and have really good defenses on even their most basic infantry. They make up for their lack of speed with heavily armed transports such as the Sagitaur and Hekaton Land Fortress, and with the swift hoverbikes of the Hernkyn Pioneers. When it becomes time to join the fray in melee, the power-armoured Hearthguard and the cyborgized Cthonian Beserks take over with gauntlets, hammers and plasma axes. The leaders of the Leagues of Votann can pass Judgment on enemy units, allowing you to strike with vengeance on the enemies you bear particular grudges against (so if you hadn’t already guessed they’re a kind of space dwarves, now you know), and among their ranks you can even find the wise Grimnyr, psykers with a special connection to the Votann.
What rulebook should I get for Leagues of Votann?
Currently there is no Codex available for this faction, but you can find a PDF for the on the Warhammer Community website.
What miniatures are available for Leagues of Votann, and are they up to date?
The Leagues of Votann are a very new army, built from the ground up for 9th edition, so all their miniatures are very up to date.
Their only Troops choice are Hearthkyn Warriors, which can be equipped with a variety of really good special weapons, so expect to paint a fair few of these little guys.
Their other infantry types are Einhyr Hearthguard (power-armoured Elites), Brôkhyr Thunderkyn (a ranged heavy weapons squad), and Cthonian Beserks (melee berserkers).
The Leagues of Votann have access to three different Vehicle units: The fast Hernkyn Pioneers (objective-grabbing hoverbikes that are popular in most Votann lists), Sagitaurs (transports that can be run in squads and let you split up Warrior units into to units of 5) and the mighty Hekaton Land Fortress (a huge weapons platform and transport).
The Leagues also have 4 regular HQ choices: The Kâhl (a buffing frontline leader who grants the Judgment tokens the army runs on), the Einhyr Champion (an HQ version of the Hearthguard), the Grimnyr (a psyker with two CORV drones) and the Brôkhyr Iron-Master (a vehicle-repairing engineer with an Ironkin assistant and a bunch of robotic helpers).
The one named character of the Leagues of Votann is Ûthar the Destined, a super-version of the Kâhl made from the same kit.
How do I get started collecting Leagues of Votann?
The best way to start a Leagues of Votann army is with the Combat Patrol: Leagues of Votann box, which contains a Kâhl/Ûthar the Destined, 10 Hearthkyn Warriors, 3 Hernkyn Pioneers and 5 Cthonian Beserks.
The Leagues of Votann on the Battlefield
Army Rule: Eye of the Ancestors
Each time an enemy unit destroys a Leagues of Votann unit, they earn a Judgement Token. They can earn up to 2 of these tokens, which provide a Leagues of Votann unit the following buffs when attacking.
1 Judgement Token: Add 1 to Hit rolls.
2 Judgement Tokens: Add 1 to hit rolls and 1 to Wound rolls.
Detachment Rule: Ruthless Efficiency
When the battle starts, select one enemy unit. This unit starts with 2 Judgement Tokens. At the start of any Command Phase, if the selected unit is destroyed you will gain Command Points based on which turn the unit was destroyed.
One the first or second Command phase, you gain 3 Command Points, on the third or fourth, you gain 2 and on the fifth, you gain one.
The Leagues of Votann are the embodiment of picking out an enemy unit and saying “Screw this unit in particular” before wiping it off the board with a stern and knowing expression on their face.
The issue that opponents to the Leagues of Votann will face is that, with every unit destroyed, they will face tougher resistance. Furthermore, the more effective a unit is at killing these short space dwellers, the more likely it is to get turned into a paste once the Votann decide it’s time for revenge.
Being a practical, technical species, they have great objective control potential with the Appraising Glare Enhancement. At the start of every Command Phase, a character can choose one objective marker to increase the Judgement Token value of any enemy in its range by 1 (up to a maximum of 2). Should an enemy try to take such a place with overwhelming numbers, The League wouldn’t mind at all.
While by and large we have shown units for each faction that add a certain tactical function to your fighting force, for the Leagues of Votann we are going to highlight a unit that just oozes with testosterone.
The Cthonian Berserkers are lightly armoured with a 6+ save (though they have Feel No Pain at 5+), they are slow at 5” for movement, but they pack a wallop in close combat with their heavy plasma axes and twin concussion gauntlets. Not to say they are exclusively close combatants however, as they are equipped with mole grenade launchers that have D6 attacks and can reduce the movement of targets with their Subterranean Explosives ability.
Picture it. A small squad of angry, shirtless space dwarfs are charging your line. You laugh, “These short guys can’t possibly catch up with us,” you exclaim! Then they rain grenades upon you and in the confusion, they catch up with you and slice you to bits. As far as flavour goes, these guys get big ticks.
Combat Patrol Boxes and Boarding Patrol Boxes for Warhammer 40k
Before we dive into the details of each faction, it can be good to know that GW sells Combat Patrol boxes (earlier called Start Collecting Boxes). If you are starting a new army, getting the Combat Patrol box for that faction can be a very cheap place to start getting some miniatures. GW have also released Boarding Patrol Boxes, which is a bit smaller but sometimes better value than Combat Patrol Boxes
These are the current Combat Patrol Boxes you can get for Warhammer 40k Armies:
And these are the current Boarding Patrol Boxes:
