Should i buy warhammer 40k

If you want to strike with overwhelming force before swiftly fading into the wilderness as if your army was never there at all, then this is the army for you.

The Mordian Iron Guard are superbly drilled and accoutred soldiers from a world bathed in perpetual night and cursed by the attentions of Chaos. In battle, the Iron Guard present a solid wall of brightly uniformed, flawlessly formed troops. Are you a fan of proud, unyielding soldiers? Then the Mordians are for you.

They fight and die facing the enemy, standing tall in perfectly ordered ranks and unleashing volley after volley of devastating las-fire. Militarum Tempestus Scions are cold, proficient killers whose deadly firepower reduces foes to smouldering heaps of corpses. Trained in the Schola Progenium, these men commit to a rigorous program of physical and mental indoctrination that raises them to the peak of human conditioning.

Command the very best of the best with the Scions of the Militarum Tempestus. These merciless killers are trained to completely obliterate their foes in a pinpoint fusillade of hot-shot las rounds. The Daemons of Tzeentch surround themselves in layer upon layer of mind-traps and illusions, each mirage shifting into the next.

The result utterly confounds those nearby that would do the Daemons harm, and means their attacks are often ineffective. Daemons of Tzeentch forces are psychic powerhouses, using warpflame to smite their enemies on the tabletop with incredible effect. The Daemons of Nurgle are surrounded by an aura of pestilence and disease that infects all nearby, as their talons and blades drip with thrice-ripened plagues. The merest touch of these weapons, in the presence of such a creature, can cause a mortal to wither and die in seconds.

Nurgle armies are slow and indomitable. They crush the enemy with tides of Plaguebearers, while using vast Great Unclean Ones and Beasts of Nurgle to do devastating damage in close combat. The Daemons of Slaanesh dance across the battlefield with a grace and speed that belies belief. They can close the killing fields of a battlefield in a heartbeat, falling upon their surprised and panic-stricken prey with psychotic delight.

The Daemons of Khorne perceive everything through a red mist of undiluted rage, and they cannot wait to spill blood. They surge across the battlefield to get to grips with their foes as quickly as possible so that the slaughter can begin in earnest.

Khorne armies are simple, brutal, and effective, using elite close-combat infantry and cavalry supported by rampaging Bloodthirsters to crush the opponent up close — ideal for countering shooting forces. Of all the Iconoclast houses, there are none more bold nor tenacious than House Lucaris. House Lucaris armies are focused on close combat, striking with savage accuracy on the charge and making them a great force for fans of Knight Rampagers.

The Fallen Nobles of House Herpetrax are indomitable, refusing to yield even as their Knight suits burn around them. House Hereptrax Knights are durable even by the terrifying standards of their brethren.

They fight on where lesser Knights would have fallen, forcing your enemies to dedicate extra resources to slaying your war machines. When the Cicatrix Maledictum tore across the stars, the Knights of House Khymere were amongst the nightmarish warriors who burst from the Great Rift to prey upon the worlds of the Imperium. House Khymere forces are most effective up-close and personal, unleashing devastating melee attacks that wound even the toughest foes with ease while shattering the morale of lesser enemies.

Centuries of service to these uncompromising masters has made them incredibly effective warriors. House Vextrix forces are punishingly accurate, making them great at both shooting and brutal melee. No Imperial record exists of the nightmares that befell the world of Matarakh, but the Khomentis Knights now fight for the Dark Mechanicum.

House Khomentis forces get stronger in melee as they take damage, meaning your Knights get more dangerous as the battle goes on — and considering how dangerous a Knight is to begin with, this is terrifying indeed! Inexorable and unflinching, the Black Legion exemplify the threat posed by the Heretic Astartes, emerging from the Eye of Terror for the sole purpose of erasing the Imperium from the galaxy. Black Legion forces are masters of mobility, advancing on the enemy while keeping up withering hails of fire and using Terminators to devastating effect.

Clad in ornate armour of rich lapis lazuli and purest gold, the Thousand Sons are enthralled to Tzeentch, the Changer of the Ways. Few armies can match the psychic dominance of the Thousand Sons.

As their Sorcerers unleash destructive powers, ranks of Rubric Marines march in lifeless lockstep, supported by hordes of deranged cultists and avian Tzaangors. If you want to unleash foul magicks and arcane rituals, join the sons of Magnus. Once a proud and loyal Legion, treachery has transformed the Adeptus Astartes of the Death Guard into plague-ridden hulks.

Now, they persecute wars across the galaxy for Nurgle and their Daemon Primarch, Mortarion. Death Guard armies are slow, inexorable, and unbelievably effective at mid-range.

Twisted by the brain implants known as the Butchers Nails, they live only to spill blood for Khorne. World Eaters armies are brutal close combat forces, leveraging Khorne Berzerkers to shatter foes in relentless melees. Few can remain standing when such an army gets into close range!

The Night Lords revel in fear and mayhem. They will take apart an opposing army piecemeal, dividing and isolating the weakest enemies so that their confused cries can be savoured. Night Lords forces shatter enemy morale through their terror tactics.

This maximises the impact of your Chaos Space Marines — in moments, a single gruesome death can become a devastating rout. Cold-hearted warriors whose only faith is in their wargear, the Iron Warriors have perfected siege warfare, and are able to gouge out even the most stubbornly entrenched enemies.

Each lives by a brutal, uncompromising creed — Iron Within, Iron Without! The Word Bearers march to war for the glory of the Chaos pantheon, stirred into a rapturous state of fanaticism by blasphemous catechisms and the dark promises of the Ruinous Powers.

On the tabletop, the zeal of the Word Bearers makes them resistant to devastating losses, allowing them to field vast units of elite infantry without any fear of them fleeing. The warriors of the Alpha Legion are masters of duplicity, able to mislead and misdirect even the most vigilant of enemies before delivering the killing blow. Their loyalties are ever in question — their effectiveness is not.

Alpha Legion forces are deadly on the tabletop, as they are harder to hit at a distance. This allows their own fire support units to lay down withering fire with little fear of reprisal. The Brazen Beasts charge into the enemy with animal fury, tearing them limb from limb. They leave behind nothing but mangled corpses and blazing devastation. Their legend may not be as long as those of the Traitor Legions, but given time, it will be just as bloody! Brazen Beasts forces can pierce even the heaviest armour in close, combat, with even standard infantry capable of punching holes in terminators, tanks, and more besides.

The Red Corsairs are consummate raiders with vast resources at their disposal. When they emerge from the warp, they strike fast with overwhelming force to achieve their objectives before the enemy can respond.

With an array of strategic options to play with, Red Corsairs forces can capitalise on tactical tricks more than any other Chaos Space Marines — perfect for plotters, planners, and tacticians!

For the Crimson Slaughter, the maddening cries of tormented spirits can only be satiated by the spilling of blood. Crimson Slaughter armies turn carnage into strategic opportunity.

The Flawless Host have an unshakeable faith in their own abilities, their every strike perfectly timed and expertly placed. The Purge seek to cleanse the galaxy of everything that lives, not moving on until each of their opponents is completely obliterated.

They worship Nurgle, but their true master is a relentless and unflinching nihilism. On the tabletop, forces dedicated to The Purge are utterly ruthless when it comes to finishing off damaged units. By focusing their fire, they can easily down even the most dangerous of enemies.

The constant whispering of Daemons ensures that The Scourged know what course of action an enemy will take almost before they themselves do. Serving Tzeentch, the God of Change, they are uncannily effective combatants. Charge a force belonging to The Scourged at your peril — with brutal point-blank accuracy on their side, these Chaos Space Marines are excellent at defending against melee-focused forces.

Fabius Bile is a figure of terror and legend throughout the 41st Millennium. Having mastered — and twisted — the arts of genetic modification, he goes to war at the head of an army of horrifying creations that match the strength of the Chaos Space Marines with sinister modifications of his own.

With Fabius Bile allowing you to customise your forces even further, this army is ideal for tinkerers, schemers, or just anyone who wants to rip enemies apart in close combat!

Famed above all other craftworlds for the sublime skill of their Rangers, choose Alaitoc if you favour using stealth and guile to prove the superiority of the Aeldari in battle.

The Aeldari of Biel-Tan — the most militant of all craftworlds — are consumed with bitterness. Their numbers depleted and their craftworld shattered, they continue to pursue their campaign of xenocide against all the lesser races of the galaxy. Biel-Tan is renowned for the sheer number of Aspect Temples it hosts — and for the quality of its warriors in their chosen field of warfare.

If you seek to form an army around a solid core of Aspect Warriors, Biel-Tan is the clear choice. The once-great craftworld of Iyanden is now a place of ghosts as much as of the living. Despite this, the Asuryani of that faded realm do not meekly accept their fate — instead they call ever more of their fallen ancestors back into the fight for survival. Since repelling a devastating attack from Hive Fleet Kraken at terrible cost, the people of Iyanden have relied upon their Ghost Warriors with increasing frequency.

Iyanden is the go-to choice if you seek to wield the full might of the Ghost Warriors. The jetbike-riding kindreds of Saim-Hann are renowned for their preference for fast, mobile warfare, striking as a serpent before falling back beyond the reach of retaliation.

Theirs is a craftworld of ancient tradition and a proud warrior culture. Famed for its Wild Rider clans, the warriors of Saim-Hann are masters of the skies. If you seek to use blistering speed and the dynamic movement to outmanoeuvre your opponent, then Saim-Hann is your Craftworld of choice.

Now, with their own forces splintered and Chaos rampant, they are tested like never before…. Devoted to the worship of the new-born Aeldari god of the dead, Ynnead, the Ynarri are zealous warriors from the Drukhari, Craftworlds and Harlequins who have forsaken their former oaths in exchange for salvation — and strange, death defying powers..

The Ynnari allow you to combine some of your favourite Aeldari models in a single faction, offering access to incredible heroes with all manner of strange powers. Though by far the largest and most influential of the Drukhari kabals, the Black Heart has been taught by Vect to never be satisfied, and to rapaciously pursue ever more power. Poisoned weapons, such as splinter rifles, are more effective in Poisoned Tongue armies. Unleash venomous volleys with your Kabalite Warriors and watch your enemies fall before you!

The Kabalites of the Flayed Skull excel in aerial warfare, using their speed and manoeuvrability to harry the most elusive targets. Load up your transports and get them into position easily with the Flayed Skull — flying models have increased movement and accurate firepower, making them exceptionally deadly. Every weapon produced in the workshops of the Kabal of the Obsidian Rose is a masterpiece, equal in accuracy and lethality to the finest armaments of the other Kabals.

Many of the weapons of an Obsidian Rose army operate at longer ranges than others, making this a choice for anyone who wants to engage from a distance and cut down the foe before they reach your lines. There is no place for frailties amongst the Cult of the Cursed Blade, for they teach that weakness exists only to be exploited by the strong.

Stronger than other Wyches, and less likely to flee, Cursed Blade forces are ideal for any player who likes to make an impact and stick around for the late game.

Whether enthralling spectators in the arena or slaughtering their way through an enemy army, the Cult of Strife have developed a penchant for bombastically violent opening manoeuvres which are as beautifully orchestrated as they are viciously deadly. Slashing and stabbing rapidly as they rush into melee, Cult of Strife armies are perfect for players who like to adopt a hit and run approach, hunting enemy units and striking hard.

Wyches of the Cult of the Red Grief revel in high-speed murder, and there is fierce competition amongst their ranks as to who can butcher their victims the quickest. The Prophets of Flesh have modified their own bodies and those of their servants to an extraordinary extent — so much so that few weapons their enemies bring to bear against them can inflict damage greater than that they have already endured.

If you want an incredibly durable force, join the Prophets of Flesh — they are so inured to pain that they can survive even the most vicious attacks that would cripple lesser warriors. The Coven of the Dark Creed has perfected every method of inducing terror, to the extent that their mere presence fills the minds of their enemies with nightmarish dread.

The mere presence of the Coven of the Dark Creed makes enemies more likely to flee in terror. Use this coven if you want to reduce enemy numbers quickly with carefully targeted strikes. The practice of internecine assassinations that exists amongst the Coven of Twelve ensures that weapons and wits are kept razor-sharp at all times, and only those members who are master flesh-carvers survive long.

Coven of Twelve armies want to close with the enemy quickly and butcher them in close combat, their weapons piercing and carving through armour. The Cult of the Four-armed Emperor are cunning, wily and endlessly patient. They are the masters of subterranean assault. Wherever one of their devoted walks in the open, a thousand more lurk beneath, ready to surge up for the kill.

Do you dream of patiently planning a decisive ambush? Then join the Cult of the Four-armed Emperor. The cultists of the Twisted Helix did not have the Genestealer Curse thrust upon them, but instead voluntarily took it into their society through extreme medical experimentation.

They harbour unnumbered bio-horrors amongst their ranks. Play the mad scientist with the Twisted Helix. They excel in the arts of insane alchemy and dark experimentation, creating monstrous hybrids of all sizes and shapes who have the energies of forbidden bio-chemical concoctions boiling through their veins to lend them uncanny strength and speed.

The Pauper Princes believe that greatness can only be found in self-sacrifice and humility. Zealous to the point of mania, they bring the edifice of the Imperium low to ensure the new order can thrive — even if it costs every life save for the Patriarch itself. Do you see your heroes as the stars of your army and everyone else as just cannon fodder?

Well, the cultists of the Pauper Princes are so zealous they would gladly hurl themselves on an active frag grenade to protect their cult leaders. The Hivecult are militant, organised and hierarchical. They infiltrate not only the criminal underworlds and hive gangs of their host planets, but also the Astra Militarum regiments that recruit from them.

To the Hivecult, it is a divine duty to be armed and dangerous. The members of the Hivecult are used to fighting in tight-knit military units. If you want a force well-drilled in the use of sidearms as well as repurposed industrial tools, then is your Cult. In battle, they fight with an uncanny discipline that sees them triumph against the odds. The Cult of the Bladed Cog is born as much of metal as it is of raw human stock, and is further augmented by the extra-galactic anatomies of the Tyranids.

This great blend of human, xenos beast and war machine is a deadly threat to its Adeptus Mechanicus hosts. If you see no difference between man, machine and alien then join the Bladed Cog. Their belief that all three can be made into a single, all-conquering organism has given them a supernatural resilience that makes them strong and hardy combatants. The weather-beaten, rugged survivalists of the Rusted Claw are more at home on the open wastes than they are in the claustrophobic confines of an Imperial underhive.

They are the pioneers, the nomads and the prospectors of their kind. Throw away your material possessions and join the cult of the Rusted Claw. While they are often clad in rags and tattered leather, the skin and chitin beneath is as hard as oak. The Masque of the Midnight Sorrow numbers many bands of Players, scattered far across the realms of the Aeldari, all fighting a constant war against the Ruinous Powers.

The worshippers of Chaos face few more determined or single-minded foes: these Harlequins will perform any deed to defy She Who Thirsts. Midnight Sorrow units can always be in the right place to launch a devastating counter-attack, making them perfect for players who want to control the flow of the battlefield. Facing the Harlequins of the Laughing God in battle is a terrifying experience, but few masques are as sinister or unsettling as those of the Silent Shroud.

The Silent Shroud affect the morale of nearby units, increasing their likelihood of fleeing under fire. If surgical strikes are your style, you might want to consider the Silent Shroud.

Their victims barely have time to realise their danger before the Harlequins are dispensing death throughout their ranks. The Masque of the Veiled Path epitomises every mistrustful thought and resentful prejudice Humanity has ever held for the Aeldari. Amongst the Asuryani, it is said that to trust the Veiled Path is to step willingly into the void.

For all this, they are skilled warriors. The Frozen Stars strike wherever and however they believe will elicit the greatest and grisliest amusement. In some ways they carry themselves as a force for good, striving to inspire their fellow Aeldari and follow the steps of the Final Act. Frozen Stars armies get more powerful when they play aggressively, and are a good pick if you like to engage quickly and devastate your enemies with a flurry of blows. In the Dreaming Shadow, the fervour and energy of the Harlequins becomes something grimmer and more funereal.

They are the guardians of myriad symbolic underworlds; their charge is to ensure that the dead stay dead, and the slumbering never wake. Mortally wounded warriors of the Dreaming Shadow will attempt to land one final strike upon their foe — perfect if you want to ensure that even in death, your units are effective. Since first settling on the planet Raisa — located upon the very edge of the known galaxy — House Cadmus have taken great pride in their autonomous nature.

In recent times, when the shadow of Hive Fleet Leviathan fell over Gryphonne IV, the Knights of Raisa fought ferociously in its ultimately doomed defence. The destruction of the forge world freed House Cadmus from their obligations to the Tech-Priests, resulting in a change of allegiance that was widely embraced.

The Knights of House Cadmus hone their skills in competitive hunts — they excel at destroying enemy infantry, cutting them down in droves with deadly sweeps of their chainblades and mailed fists. No knightly house exemplifies proud martial tradition like House Terryn. Its Nobles have fought for Humanity since its founding in the 25th Millennium. The house derives its name from Maximilian Terryn, first ruler of the tropical world of Voltoris, a planet colonised at the start of the Age of Strife.

Driving their towering steeds ever onward, the Nobles of House Terryn are amongst the most eager to get to grips with their foes. If you want to thunder across the battlefield, this house is for you. Legend has it, before the STC Knight suits could be completed, settlers were forced to fight these beasts from horseback.

Wielding gargantuan weapons with the skill and grace of an expert duellist, scions of House Griffith live for the glory of combat. Griffith is your house if you want to revel in meeting out justice, up close and personal. There is no knightly house more loyal than House Hawkshroud. Its Nobles have cultivated an impeccable reputation for honouring their debts and keeping their word regardless of the personal cost, often on campaign fulfilling the promises of their lords and laying down their lives to uphold past alliances.

Whilst their oaths remain unfulfilled, the Knights of House Hawkshroud will stand and fight to their dying breath. Ideal for a general who values outlasting their opponents. By the time the antecedents of House Mortan had arrived upon Kimdaria, the mysterious nebula known as the Black Pall surrounded the planet. The Knights of House Mortan know well the value of a well-placed strike — they honour a well-executed killing blow above all else. When fighting at close quarters, they rain deadly-accurate blows upon their quarry, each movement carefully calculated for maximum effect.

Chrysis was the first Knight world to be rediscovered during the Great Crusade. The Nobles of House Krast are driven to take on the largest foes, making them peerless hunters of renegade Knights. Their cold, calculated efficiency gives them the edge in lethal close-quarters battles and duels.

Only a handful of cities remain on the Questor Mechanicus world of Kolossi. Ever advancing, the guns of House Raven never once let up. If you want to stomp implacably across the battlefield, unleashing copious amounts of firepower, House Raven is for you. True servants of the Machine God, the warriors of House Taranis bear the honour of belonging to the first of the knightly houses, and although they bear the names of Noble and Knight, they do not follow the feudal ways of their kin.

Founded on Mars, House Taranis believe themselves uniquely favoured by the Omnissiah. It may well be true — their superbly maintained machines shrug off blows that first seem to have struck true.

If you like your enemies stare in disbelief at the amount of punishment you can take, choose House Taranis. Despite being one of the greater houses amongst those aligned to the Adeptus Mechanicus, House Vulker is reclusive and mysterious. Yet when called to war, the Knights of House Vulker leave behind their curious trappings, striding out to do battle with all the surety of their peers.

House Vulker places a premium upon well-coordinated plans for both attack and defence, always engaging the enemy at the optimal distance by utilising carefully cogitated trajectories. The accuracy of their close-range firepower is legendary amongst the knightly houses. Every other clan knows that the Bad Moons are showy gits with too many teef for their own good.

They also know to dive for cover when the yellow-daubed loons open fire — the sheer amount of dakka that a Bad Moons warband kicks out is amazing to behold. Want to show off the biggest, loudest, and shiniest shootas? With all manner of targeting arrays, extra ammo feeds, and bandoliers of additional munitions, Bad Moons can typically lay down more dakka than any other clan.

This reputation comes from their tendency to use actual battlefield tactics, often to great effect — nothing surprises an enemy commander like Orks who actually think about how, where, and when to fight. Their instinctive grasp of battlefield strategy allows them to surprise even the most experienced enemies with their manoeuvres, feints, and ambushes. Orks of the Deathskulls are cunning, light-fingered, untrustworthy and insular, with a mean streak a mile wide.

That said, there are none more skilled when it comes to looting the battlefield and cobbling together weapons and tanks from the resultant junk.

Are you superstitious? Is your favourite colour blue? If you want to surge across the battlefield in a roaring green tide, this is the clan for you.

Once you get stuck into hand-to-hand combat, the Goffs quickly overwhelm their enemies by dint of sheer violent ferocity. If it goes fast, kills people violently, and is painted a bright and garish red, then an Evil Sunz Ork probably already has three of it, and undoubtedly wants another. If you feel the need for speed, then go for this Clan and daub your vehicles, warriors, and even yourself bright red.

For the Evil Sunz, this practice actually seems to work. Snakebites are traditionalists, and many of them are only one or two rusty rungs above Feral Orks on the ladder of civilisation. This has never held Snakebite warbands back, however, for when they unleash their tribal fury upon the enemy, there are few who can long withstand it. While other clans may see them as somewhat backwards, their bizarre habit of actually allowing themselves to be bitten by venomous serpents to prove their toughness, means that they breed remarkably resilient warriors.

Freebooterz are outcasts from Ork society, greenskins who by choice or through exile have left their tribe and clan behind. They rampage around the galaxy in piratical mercenary warbands, fighting together even as they compete viciously with each other to accrue the most loot.

Nab all the best loot for yourself by joining the Freebooterz. In battle, they strive to outdo their fellow greenskins — if one mob of Freebooterz starts doing well, their comrades will strive all the harder to show them up and grab the glory for themselves. Choose this sept if you want to leave your enemies nowhere to hide.

Protected by a formidable ring of floating fortresses, this martial-led sept is well-placed to protect itself from all manner of threats. If you want your forces to get up close and personal then this is the army for you — its warriors are experts in the deadly art of engaging the enemy at close quarters and annihilating them.

Want an army that can keep their head amidst the heat of battle? Unleash a storm of searing pulse energy on any foe foolish enough to charge your forces. It is known to produce especially aggressive and skilled warriors. Want to take the fight to the enemy, utilising a highly mobile and aggressive form of warfare?

It has recovered quickly, thanks to its busy trade ports. Large numbers of aliens can be seen here alongside its famously efficient Water caste merchants and diplomats. If you want a sneaky army that makes extensive use of adaptive camouflage fields to elude and disorient your enemies then this is the sept for you. Hive Fleet Behemoth was the first tendril of the Tyranid invasion to awaken after the long journey though the void.

Its brutal, headlong charge through the eastern Imperium was driven by a ravenous hunger that had smouldered for countless aeons — a hunger it could never satiate. If you favour an aggressive play style, then Behemoth are for you. This Hive Fleet unleashes the full might of its swarms in an overwhelming frontal assault.

As the most aggressive of the Hive Fleets, Behemoth excel at getting into combat to feed. Its toxic hosts despoil and denature as they sweep across a world, spitting a miasma of polluting spores into darkening skies, and agonising their prey with a potent blend of necrotic poisons. Use a range of toxins that adapt with terrifying speed to any foe, agonising and ravaging the bodies of their unfortunate victims with Hive Fleet Gorgon. Hive Fleet Hydra drifts along in the wake of the Tyranid invasion, seeking out defeated splinters of previous hive fleets, cannibalising them and absorbing their genetic memory.

Though Hydra appears relatively small, it is capable of unleashing vast hordes of bioforms, burying its prey under sheer weight of numbers. Do you dream of overwhelming your prey with sheet weight of numbers? Then Hive Fleet Hydra is for you if you like drowning them in a tide of chitin, flesh and slashing claws. None can stand before the hordes of Hydra. Hive Fleet Jormungandr is an insidious menace.

When I started my hobby back up again, I knew I had to moderate my expectations. A long project, as it were. The company that makes the game, Games Workshop, was founded 40 years ago in the UK and has since then become a company valued in the billions. While other toy companies are failing, and people are losing interest in many physical toys as opposed to digital ones, Warhammer and Warhammer 40k is thriving in ways it never has before.

The Warhammer 40, universe makes almost every other setting appear underdeveloped by comparison. Star Trek is a joke when holding the details and attention paid to the universe Games Workshop have nurtured for decades. Star Wars may be fleshed out well in some ways — if you include comics and novels — but Warhammer dwarves their catalogue.

While Warhammer fantasy or AoC has a well-thought-out setting, the background pales next to what exists for 40,, which is one of the reasons you find more people leaning towards 40k rather than AoC.

That, and how Space Marines have always appeared cooler to boys and were designed and marketed in that way. The peripheral lore, books, and settings that go with it make it one of the deepest settings in existence, in my opinion.

How the models look is a big part of the success of the game — and the fact that the company employs, and holds a competition for master miniature painters to achieve results like above, and showing players what they could do, is a big part of the popularity of the game and why it has maintained a steady player base.

The fact is, Games Workshop has done a masterful job of creating what is essentially crack for the middle-class nerd with disposable income, and a hobby that younger nerds look to and may want to play or just awe at in store displays.

However, why should you play the game? Why should you get into, or take an interest in the massive setting that is Warhammer? Working with Warhammer miniatures can be a mundane and grueling task to some. The detail required in assembling and painting the things will test your patience, fine motor skills, and attention span. Good results here will depend on your ability to handle both fine tasks, and repetitive tasks — any of these things are valuable skills both inside Warhammer 40k and in the real world.

This point is of course not unique to WH40k, but other miniature games may not have the same combination of media, or the wealth that Warhammer offers to players. Actually playing with the figures will require different skill sets. The measuring, memorization, and the sheer amount of rules to remember, dice rolls in the dozens, and to quickly crunch relatively simple algebra will still offer opportunities to improve such skills while playing a game. This differs markedly from playing the same game online or digitally, which to me is a huge bonus.

Depending on what level you play the game — everything from casual to tournaments — it will tax different levels of your strategic thinking and other, related skills, all of which are transferrable to the real world as well.

Few communities for board and miniature games rival that of Warhammer. The community is global, with clubs even in mid-sized towns, and the hobby popular in many European countries and the US. Overall, the community which can bring people together is another reason in favor of Warhammer. Obviously, working with Warhammer will cater to your creative side.

The painting, the modeling, the building of your army — all of it works to encourage your fantasy and imagination. You can play the way you want, model your army the way you want. The rules even have support for creating your own specialized army setups, and the company actively works with you if you want to customize your models further, providing details and tools for you to do so.

Warhammer is like lego for adults — your imagination, not much else, sets the limitations here. In an ever-increasing digital age with our children and friends spending more and more time in front of screens, I view it as important to encourage hobbies that take us away from the digital world and the screens.

While parts of Warhammer can be made easier through the use of modern technology, it is the low tech of the board game that I find appealing here. I believe it crucial that we spend more time with each other — not through screens and digital media, but around a table, or in groups, engaging in socializing, games, thinking, and just plain fun.

Warhammer is a hobby that offers all of these things and offers it to all demographics and categories of people. The most common method is using multi-sided RPG dice , or tiny six-sided dice with different colors. Adding barricades, trees, ruins, and other items is the best way to avoid that.

There are plenty of companies that sell pre-made kits, including Games Workshop , Gamemat. Model tools and painting accessories: Warhammer models are simple to assemble, and they come with easy-to-follow instructions. MiniWarGaming and StrikingScorpion82 have excellent painting videos too. Alternatively, you can commission a painting company if you have the cash.

Brushes: at least three—a small layer brush , a medium layer brush , and a medium basecoat brush. Stay away from bargain brands. Acrylic model paints : colors depend entirely on your preferences. Vallejo and Formula P3 are stalwart alternatives to Games Workshop. You can buy cheaper ones if you want. Codices provide essential info, including datasheets and special rules for all your units, and often some interesting lore and background information too. Codex: Adeptus Astartes — Space Marines.

Suggested starting kits: Start Collecting! Overview: Hulking monks with guns. From a lore perspective, each Space Marine is seven feet tall, genetically modified, clad in power armor, and completely fearless. They have the most models out of any faction, and despite being elite foot soldiers, they somehow still have superior vehicles and tanks. Why play them: Because you like winning. Space Marines are the darling children of Games Workshop, so they always get the most updates, the newest models, the best rules, and the biggest codices.

Why not to play them: Everyone plays Space Marines. Codex: Craftworlds. Overview: What if Legolas, but in space? Despite their superiority in firepower and speed, the average Aeldari unit is fragile. Why play them: With certain Aeldari units aimed at the correct targets, your opponents will drown in their own tears.

Codex: Orks. Overview: The Ork philosophy is this: killing things.