What is Warhammer 40K – Where to Start

Alongside the massive sci-fi universes of Star Trek, Star Wars, and Dune, Warhammer 40K has long stood as one of the genre’s lesser-known pillars. Sure, Warhammer 40K is one of the most popular tabletop wargames, but the IP hasn’t permeated pop culture like other sci-fi franchises.

Yet, despite its relative obscurity, there are countless ways for fans to engage with the Warhammer 40K universe, from novels to audio dramas to video games to, of course, the tabletop game that popularized it all.

That said, Warhammer 40K loads much of its lore on the front end, which can be overwhelming for newcomers. Between conversations surrounding the protective capabilities of a ship’s Gellar field or the perceived threat of a horde of Pink Horrors, Warhammer 40K terminology can be dense. Thankfully, there are a few places prospective fans can start to make their first journey into the Imperium a smooth one.

The need-to-know setting details

The Emperor

Warhammer 40K is set in a universe where there is only war. Humanity is besieged in a never-ending battle over territory and its very soul, as it contends against hostile alien empires and soul-devouring hellspawn. Even then, calling the Terra-based Imperium or Mars-loyal Adeptus Mechanicus the “good guys” would be a vast overstatement. Thankfully, the story has a place that could be seen as a beginning of sorts.

Around the 30th millennium, humanity was about to exit the Age of Strife. The age had nearly heralded the collapse of humanity, with an abrupt fall to disease, famine, mutation, eroding education, and constant infighting. However, an impossibly gifted psychic, the Emperor, appeared and united the planet. He created the Adeptus Astartes, better known as Space Marines, to aid in this task. However, the Emperor’s plans didn’t end there. 

He went to work on 21 clones called Primarchs. Each one was to embody one of his specific traits or abilities. But disaster struck before the Primarchs were ready to come out of the oven, and they were scattered across the cosmos. The Emperor led a search and conquest mission across the stars, searching for his lost sons. Humanity’s intergalactic empire grew in the process, relationships were rekindled with the machine-worshipping former humans on Mars, and the Imperium of Man was established in earnest.

The Horus Heresy

At the height of the Emperor’s stewardship, around the 31st millennium, tragedy struck. The Emperor’s favorite Primarch, Horus, was swayed by the corruption of the Warp and the Chaos Gods that reside within. This would mark the start of the Horus Heresy, which saw Horus recruit numerous other Primarchs and Astartes legions to his cause. Ultimately, many would submit to the powers of the Warp, becoming twisted and demonically empowered versions of their former selves.

The conflict between Primarchs and Astartes all came to a head back on Terra. There, Horus would fall at the Emperor’s hand, but not before mortally wounding his father. In a bid to keep the Emperor alive, he was interred upon his golden throne. There, he remains a living corpse, serving as a beacon to starships traversing the Warp. However, this comes at the cost of 1,000 or more daily sacrifices of psychic-sensitive people. 

Fast forward another 10,000 years, and the Imperium struggles to maintain a grip on its planets as various hostile alien factions seize territory. The Warp and the Chaos Gods are an ever-existent threat, even more aggressive and bolder without the Emperor’s complete protection. Perhaps worst of all, somewhere along the way, the Imperium began to misinterpret the Emperor’s will and philosophies, reverting into a violently xenophobic religious cult.

If you like board games…

The nice thing about Warhammer 40K tabletop is that fans can enjoy it in a variety of different ways. And, technically, even without lore investment. Of course, there are the battles that make up the core game, but it’s not uncommon for fans to get into the hobby just to collect and paint miniatures. From the Tau’s anime mechs to space Orks to reanimated robo-skeletons, there’s a faction for just about everyone — even if that means only collecting things that look cool.

The actual tabletop game of Warhammer 40K revolves around two or more players waging a battle between their armies. Armies are comprised of detailed miniatures that players build and have the option to paint. While it may sound simple, note that each miniature’s gear, skills, and abilities are up to the player. Between the vast range of faction miniatures and all the gear/skill options, there are infinite ways to customize an army.

How players engage with the actual game of Warhammer 40K is also fluid. While standard tournament rules tally points for objectives and kills at the end of a set number of rounds, there are several different rulesets for wildly different experiences. A “Crusade” mode even caters to a more narrative-centric experience, allowing players to record notable injuries or upgrade well-performing troops.

If you think you could be interested in trying the physical Warhammer 40K game, the best bet is to head to your local tabletop gaming store. There, you can check out miniatures, see if a faction aesthetically speaks to you, and maybe even catch a couple of players in a match. If there aren’t any opportunities to see Warhammer 40K being played live, it might be worth watching a bit on YouTube. This way, it should be pretty easy to determine whether you are interested in the tabletop game.

If you like reading…

Here’s a fun fact: Games Workshop (Warhammer 40K‘s owner) has a publishing house. It’s called Black Library, and it’s constantly releasing new books and audio content. While it might be easy to imagine that a company primarily making money off plastic pieces for board games might phone it in for feature-length novels or audio dramas, that’s not the case. There are some absolute bangers in the Black Library’s catalog.

I’d say that the quintessential place to start for somebody trying to get into Warhammer 40K would be the Horus Heresy series. While the series is 93 books strong, the first three follow Horus in the lead-up to his fall from grace. It serves as a fantastic primer on the universe and paints the creeping influence of Chaos in a terrifying light.

If readers are looking for something less involved, more akin to a one-off, there are countless novellas, short story collections, one-off novels, and expertly produced audio dramas. In the case of audio dramas specifically, I’d recommend The Way Out. It’s a horror story about a lost ship that stumbles its way out of the Warp and onto a haunted station.

If you like video games…

Maybe prospective Warhammer 40K fans have played or seen a video game set within the franchise’s universe. There’s certainly no shortage of them. As far as getting the Warhammer 40K tabletop experience digitally, there’s no direct analog currently available. However, a few titles get pretty close to the heart and soul of Warhammer 40K. 

The best bet currently is Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, released in 2021 but still receiving sporadic updates. Battlesector‘s allure is in its army-building and turn-based gameplay. Players can build out the army list they want from available factions (with more available through DLC) and have a reasonably faithful experience of using that army on the tabletop.

There are a few good picks if players just want an immersive experience in the Warhammer 40K universe. If players don’t mind playing titles a few years old, both the first two Dawn of War games and Space Marine fit the bill. The former is a top-down tactical action game, while the latter is a third-person action adventure. For recent offerings, 2023 did produce the excellent Rogue Trader. It’s an RPG that feels like something crossed between the earlier Baldur’s Gate entries and Knights of the Old Republic. And if players absolutely need a contemporary action game, there’s an option for that, too. Fatshark’s Darktide drops players into an Imperium hive city teeming with cultists, demons, and zombies.

If you like films and TV…

While fans have put forward some remarkable animated or CG efforts, there isn’t much official film or TV Warhammer 40K content. There was a 2010 animated film called Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40K Movie, but that wasn’t too great. That said, it seems like this is in the process of changing. Namely, Henry Cavill of Superman and Netflix’s The Witcher fame has been linked to a developing project between Games Workshop and Amazon. Of course, for now, that means all prospective fans can do is wait.

While there isn’t too much right now to draw in cinematically inclined fans, it might be well worth dipping toes into the universe. If you’re waiting on Amazon’s upcoming projects to jump into the IP, a little background certainly couldn’t hurt. In that case, a book, game, or even just some time reading about factions on the official website can suffice. And who knows, maybe it’ll inspire you to try out another medium.