Warhammer 40,000 takes place in the grim darkness of the far future, in which humanity fights spectacular battles across the galaxy to defend its place among the stars. Arrayed against the might of mankind are the many different alien races and the malignant forces of Chaos.
Heroes, villains, demigods, and daemons stand alongside warriors and fanatics, waging extraordinary wars across countless worlds. The Space Marines – towering, gene-sculpted superhumans – are humanity’s bastion against the darkness, warrior monks armed with arcane weapons from another era, who protect the million worlds of the Imperium of Man from mortal threats from within and without.
This barely scratches the surface of this incredible setting, but before we go further it’s time to learn about the keys of the Warhammer hobby.
The Keys to Warhammer
There are many ways to enjoy this setting of epic battles in the far future. These are known as the Five Keys.
To start, you can Collect your favourite models. Choose from a massive range of fantastic miniatures representing heroic characters, their armies, and the worlds they inhabit – check them out on the Games Workshop webstore. To bring them to life, you then Build and Paint them, either as one of the major factions that star in the setting, or you can unleash your creativity and invent an army all of your own.
Warhammer 40,000 is an exciting wargame full of strategic decisions and compelling stories to tell on the tabletop. You can Play games of Warhammer, either with your friends at home or in dedicated gaming spaces.
Warhammer 40,000 is a vast setting full to the brim with storytelling that’s both epic and personal, many of these tales you can Read about in the form of novels, short stories, and ebooks from the Black Library publishing arm. From sagas of heroism and desperate victories to tales of unimaginable horror, gritty crime drama, and mind-bending mysteries that will stretch your imagination, there are Black Library books for every reader.
Then there are also gorgeous animations to Watch, showing you the worlds of Warhammer 40,000 in motion, and bringing new and exciting perspectives on a cruel and uncaring galaxy consumed by war. These can be found on Warhammer+ – a subscription service that has new shows every week.
A Galaxy in Flames
The Space Marines are joined in their defence of humanity by the Astra Militarum – the colossal imperial army which directs billions of souls in combat, and the Adeptus Mechanicus – a posthuman priesthood of cyborg-engineers.
The Adepta Sororitas are the defenders of the faith, warrior women who protect the vast bulk of the Ecclesiarchy – a galaxy-wide church and the bulwark of humanity. Last but far from least, the Adeptus Custodes are the Emperor’s personal bodyguards, the very apex of augmented humanity whose prowess in battle humbles even the mighty Space Marines.
Standing against the beleaguered Imperium of man are the forces of the Archenemy – human and posthuman worshippers of the Dark Gods of Chaos. The Emperor’s Space Marines fought a brutal galaxy-wide civil war 10 millennia ago, a full half of their Legions turning traitor and becoming Chaos Space Marines, throwing in with the inimical forces of Chaos, followed by uncounted millions of mortal cultists seeking unholy power, and the Daemons of the warp itself, unnatural beings that seek the corruption of all life.
As for the xenos – the aliens who make this galaxy their home – there are many. The Aeldari are an inscrutable race afflicted by their own psychic power and dying from the repercussions of ancient hubris. The Drukhari are their dark mirror, Aeldari fallen to greed, lust, and love of carnage.
Rising from their eaons-long slumber are the Necrons, a synthetic race fooled by primordial star gods into transferring their consciousness into unliving, unfeeling machine bodies. The T’au Empire are a younger race encountering a hostile galaxy for the first time, enforcing their vision of the Greater Good at the barrel of huge guns and advanced battlesuits. The Leagues of Votann are a hardy offshoot of humanity, clone-wrought cousins sent into the dark in the distant past and now re-emerging with powerful technology now lost to the Imperium.
All are threatened by the Orks, greenskinned hooligans of untold number who embark on furious rampages of destruction spanning entire star systems at a time. Finally, the Tyranids are a relentlessly bioadaptive hive mind of infinite malice and hunger arrived from another galaxy they have already exhausted – having stripped every world bare of biomass. These voracious Hive Fleets are heralded by the insidious Genestealer Cults, mutated human-alien hybrids whose psychic presence draws the Tyranids to a planet – and then the destruction of all life upon it.
There are many different ways to take your first steps into the world of Warhammer 40,000, depending on which part of the Warhammer hobby appeals to you the most.
Visit a Warhammer Store
You can get your first free Space Marine miniature simply by visiting your local Warhammer store, and friendly store staff will be only too happy to show you how to assemble and paint your new model, and if you want to do more – they’ll show you other starter products to help you build your collection. They will even show you how to play the game itself. Check out your local store and find out how you can get involved!
Pick Up a Magazine
There’s also the Getting Started With Warhammer 40,000 magazine, which is packed with fantastic art, miniatures photography, and information on how to Collect, Build, Paint and Play games with Citadel Miniatures. It includes a Space Marine Assault Intercessor and a Necron Warrior – a terrifying alien construct made of living metal – as your first contact with the ever-present alien threat.
You can take your first steps on your painting journey with our series of video guides for beginners, intermediates – and even experts – on the Citadel Colour website. Here’s where to start.
Enter the Black Library
You can explore the iconic characters of Warhammer 40,000 in more depth with the free Black Library sampler, which gives you a taste of fantastic fiction set in the 41st Millennium.
Video Content
To get a closer look at what Warhammer 40,000 is all about, check out this playlist of videos below, which are beginner friendly and designed to get you started.
The Warhammer hobby is rich and rewarding, regardless of how you get involved.
Going Further With Starter Sets
You can take things further with the three Warhammer 40,000 starter sets. Each contains enough miniatures, rules, and accessories to get you started, with three different battle sizes – the Recruit Edition gives you enough to fight a skirmish between Space Marines and Necrons, the Elite Edition ups the ante with swift Imperial bikers and terrifying Skorpekh Destroyers, while the Command Edition comes with enough miniatures to build two starter armies – and war-torn terrain to help you start building your own tabletop battlefield.
You can find out more about all things Warhammer 40,000 by signing up for the Warhammer newsletter, which delivers fresh news and information to your inbox every week.
This is all just the beginning – Warhammer 40,000 is a rewarding hobby with something for everyone. So what are you waiting for? Join the best hobby in the world – just remember that in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.
