The Warhammer 40K Beginners’ Guide

Introduction

At some point in your life you came across these tabletop wargames, these masses of miniatures troops, historical or fantastic, pitted against each other in a giagantic battle of chess, governed by rulebooks, rulers, and dice. The scene is set with small buildings, miniature hills, and usually a flat green mat of grass.

At one point you will also have heard or come across the name Warhammer or Warhammer 40,000 (or 40k). It’s all so confusing!

Well, this short guide is aimed at you who are interested in the dark and futuristic world of Warhammer 40k, but don’t quite know how to start! Read on!

General Description

Tabletop wargames are usually played using miniatures. These masses of miniatures are not just randomly placed and moved around; they are guided by precise rules. There are many,many sets of rules out there; different rule sets cover different armies that have existed in different periods, other rule sets cover imaginary armies, or futuristic armies. The most popular set of rules  these today is most probably the Warhammer 40k system.

This rules system is published by the British company Games Workshop, which also produces the actual miniatures for the Warhammer 40k  game (actually its miniatures arm Citadel Miniatures does the miniatures, but I’m splitting hairs). Games Workshop produces several other tabletop wargame systems, including the almost-as-famous Warhammer Fantasy and The Lord of the Rings tabletop wargame, and others.

In this mini ebook we are going to be focusing on Warhammer 40k, but once you learn the basics of this game, it will be much easier to learn most of the other game systems out there.

What is Warhammer 40k about?

Warhammer 40K is a sci-fi tabletop wargame which is set 40,000 years in the future; a dark, dark gothic future where humanity is spread over a sprawling galactic empire beset by dangers from all sides. Human life has lost its value, and the Imperial warmachine consumes lives by the billions. This dark empire, however cruel  and heartless it might be, stands as a bulwark against far more chaotic and primal forces which threaten to wipe humanity from the galaxy itself. There are many other races in the galaxy and from beyond – eldar, orks, tau, tyranids, and many more, striving against each other for their own vision of order, or chaos, consciously or mindlessly.

Aim of the Game

During a Warhammer 40k game you are in control of one of these many galactic forces, as you try and overcome your opponent to galactic domination. The game takes place between 2 or more opponents, who strive for the upper hand in battle.

-End of Part 1-

The Warhammer 40K Beginner’s Guide Part 2

Miniatures

The game is played using miniatures of various shapes and sizes. They are undoubtedly the most eye-catching component of the game. Warhammer 40k is played (roughly) on the 25mm scale, which means that the “standard” model, that of a human being, is usually about 25mm high. The sizes of course vary, but are mostly relative to this basic size.

But what exactly are these miniatures? Each miniature represents a single entity on the battlefield, be it a soldier, officer, vehicle, or a monstrous daemon, and has its own characteristics which set it apart from different miniatures on the table. Miniatures within a group man times have the same characteristics, which can vary depending on what each individual model is equipped with.

In Warhammer 40k there are hundreds upon hundreds of different models to choose from. Depending on which race you decide to field,you will have a range of models to choose from (more on this later).

The miniatures themselves are all made by Games Workshop, and each particular model has its own characteristics. Miniatures are mostlybought unassembled, and thus have to be assembled by you, the player. These models come in either plastic or metal, and even resin (only special ones).These miniatures, once assembled, have to be painted and based.

What does “base” mean?

Well, each miniature comes with a little plastic base of a standard size. In Warhammer 40k, these bases are used both as aids to help the figure stand, and as indicators of the model’s relative size. Thus, a human-sized figure will have a rather small (usually circular) base, while a larger monstrous creature, which is quite larger than the average human being,will have a quite larger circular base to stand on.

While most bases used are circular, sometimes you may meet with square bases also. These square bases do not mean anything in particular. Usually, models have square bases because they are also compatible with the Warhammer Fantasy gaming, which requires square bases most of the time.

Measuring and those famous Dice

An important aspect of a miniature tabletop wargame is scale. Since these models are generally built to scale, in relative sizes to each other, it also follows that in any given period of time, the distance they can move is also relative. Thus, rulers or measuring tapes are used to calculate how far a particular model or unit of models can move each turn. The amount of movement each model is allowed to move is always given in the model’s race’s/army rulebook. Thus, you will find movement rules for Ork models in the Ork rulebook, or Codex (although the basic rules for all models will be found in the main Warhammer 40k rulebook).

Another essential item used in Warhammer 40k games is 6-sided dice (or d6). If you ever witnessed a Warhammer 40k game, you will probably have seen the players rolling massive amounts of dice at all times. These dice are used to pit combatants against each other, to check whether a chance of something happening actually occurs, and so on.

Terrain

One final element in any Warhammer 40k Game, and yet one which is very often overlooked by many players, is terrain. Terrain is all those little miniature hills and trees and bogs and collapsed buildings that add two important elements in the game.

First, a tactical element. As in real life, all sorts of terrain can be used to your advantage in battle. Putting some sniper models behind a wall means that while they may shoot freely, any enemy that shoots at them has a  lower chance of hitting them than if the snipers were in the middle of an open field, since they are able to duck behind the wall. Of course, if the enemy shot is too strong (say, a missile), then of course the wall will be quite useless, or less effective than if the shot were a simple gunshot. All these variables are represented in a simplified manner in the game rules.

Second, an aesthetic element. Terrain (at least decently made terrain) makes the game much more visually appealing. The player (you!) will feel more immersed in the game if the scene is set by well-made terrain, than if there is no scene other than a flat, gray table. Of course, terrain can be as simple and as complex as you want it to be.

-End of Part 2-