I was at a gaming convention in late 1987 or early 1988 when I first saw Warhammer 40,000. I vaguely recall one of my friends showing me a display case that was filled with these beautifully painted Chaos Marines, and even though I had no idea what the game was, or what they were about, I knew that this was something I needed to play.
I ended up buying a very small Blood Angel army of maybe a dozen Marines, because I thought their name was cool, they looked cool, and one of my friends convinced me that Chaos Marines were lame. You know, remembering that makes me sad. I know my friends had their opinions on things and they didn’t mean anything by it, but I wanted to play Chaos Marines because they looked cool, and I ended up playing Space Marines because I was made to feel like that’s what I should do.
I was just talking about the roots of this yesterday morning when I was still in London: I was raised by all these adults who wanted me to be polite and quiet and follow the rules and above all else, avoid being labeled as “difficult”. I learned early on in my life to be a people pleaser, because being liked by everyone was more important than anything else. It is one of the many reasons I have come to believe that making kids work as professionals is a really terrible thing to do to a person, and why I encourage parents to support their kids who want to perform by keeping them out of the entertainment industry, and letting them do things in school or in non-professional environments where they aren’t treated like regular and age-appropriate behaviour is wrong.
So anyway, I got my Space Marines and went down to this room in the gaming convention that had a bunch of banquet tables set up with Warhammer terrain. I remember that I still knew nothing about the mechanics of the game, or any of its lore. I just knew that it looked so cool, and was unlike any tabletop game I had ever played in my life (at this point in time, other than the D&D I’d played growing up, the only tabletop gaming I had done was a few games of Car Wars, Ogre, and Illuminati. I owe so much that is good in my life to Steve Jackson!) One of my friends helped me build an army — I want to say it was 1500 points, but that seems high — and I spent the next couple of hours getting destroyed by someone who actually knew how to be tactical. It was so much fun, the instant we finished, I picked up my tiny squad, went back to the vendor’s hall, and I bought the Rogue Trader rules. I can’t remember if I bought my first unpainted Marines there, or if I got them a few days later at my local game shop, but within a week or so I was buried in 40K lore and figures. I was never any good at painting, and I’m still just utter crap at it, but for the next several years, I worked on countless figures, usually when I was at Paramount, in my dressing room, waiting to be called to the set. I remember being asked what I did when I was on the set but not in a scene, and that I told the interviewer that I liked to paint 40K figures because it occupied my time, and gave me something to focus on that didn’t take me out of the scene I was in the same way reading a book or watching TV would.
This is all very long prologue to a question I have for the 40K players who are reading this: if someone were to be giving consideration to stepping back into the game, where would that person start today? I looked at a few resources online and I’m kind of overwhelmed by the options. It sort of looks like the 8th Edition rules are expensive and (according to reviews) short on rules and long on reasons I need to buy other books. This reminds me why I got out of the game in the first place, when I got so frustrated with Games Workshop constantly changing the rules and creating what was sort of a pre-Magic: The Gathering chase. This review at Amazon says, more or less, what my experience was:
I’m a long time Space Hulk player who has generally steered away from the W40k tabletop miniature game. From my love of Space Hulk, I’ve developed a strong liking of the 40k lore over the years, I’ve just never been interested in playing W40k itself. From the blast templates to the scatter dice, to the wide open terrain, it just seemed a bit more than I was interested in.
But that love for the lore has kept me nearby over the years. I’ve grown to love putting models together, and painting them, yet other than doing so for the various editions of Space Hulk I own and buying some other miniatures to practice painting on, I still never really cared to try 40k. Yet it somehow still always stayed close by me. I finally got curious a couple of years ago, and watched some “how to play 40k” videos on YouTube. I had to admit, it did look fun, but still not really something I wanted to jump into. But I kept reading 40k books and short stories, and really enjoying them.
Boy did I love Space Hulk! I even tried to paint all the Genestealers before I gave up about five figures in, and I was so enchanted by the Terminator lore, I ended my 40K playing with a single Terminator Squad that had a Librarian with the most amazing and unnecessarily giant banner you’ve ever seen.
I haven’t played since … gosh, 1989? Maybe 1990. I even sold off all my figures when Anne and I were first living together, because we needed to pay our bills. I haven’t thought much about the game since then, but when I was in London over the weekend, I saw a couple of people cosplaying as epic Space Marines, and it reminded me of all the things I loved about the game, especially the fiction and worldbuilding that was in that old Rogue Trader book. I guess I’m mostly interested in exploring the world and the fiction again, and maybe even doing a horrible job painting a small army to use for some narrative play. If I were to do that, where do you recommend I begin?
The rules are free! Download them and proxy a game. If you don’t like it, keep reading the books. The best thing you have going for you is you are blank slate. You don’t have a history of 7 edition of rules to confuse you.
They are not. You don’t get points and gear for most of the units just in the books
The core rules of the game are free. The /army/ rules are not. That being said, the current Index books aren’t exactly expensive, and, depending on the army you go with, can be entirely skipped if so desired (Codex: Space Marines is already out, Codex: Grey Knights and Codex: Chaos Space Marines will be out inside two weeks).
It also should be noted that the core rules have been reduced down to a mere 12 pages now, dramatically reducing the amount of weird rules interactions and cheese. Not eliminating it, but certainly bringing it down to a more manageable level.
The new system only uses points for tournament level play.
In ‘narrative’ and free form you are free to use any force and any models you’ve got.
There is a simplified ‘power points’ system which is detailed enough to get a rough estimate of two opposing forces as it doesn’t factor in exact gear cost.
Example : a standard 5 space marine tactical squad costs 5 ‘power points’.
You can make it a 10 man squad by paying 1 per extra model.
Terminators are 13 pp for a 5 man squad.
Simple and effective.
If you want to obsess then you can calculate traditional points values using the charts at the back of the index books & (future) codexes.
The website also lists points values for new gear such as the stuff the Reivers ( = scouts on steroids) use.
Hi Will, your english stalker here. Happy Birthday for Saturday for starters and I hoped you enjoyed the big smoke and the con!
I wondered if you have ever looked at the actual RPG’s that FFG brought out a few years back. I want to say that they are out of print, but to be honest I don’t know. I know they coughed the licence for the 3rd Ed Warhammer Fantasy RPG (which is awesome).
There were a number of them, all covering a different bit of the background (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warhammer_40,000_Roleplay) and I can honestly say I never played them.
Never saw the 40K thing, though I did like the space marines. My tiple if I do wargame now is X-Wing (more FFG) and Dropzone Commander
Did you try Dropfleet yet ?
It’s space battles in the dropzone commander universe.
The Dark Millennium box set with chaos and imperial is phenomenal value. It has the hard back rule book, two armies and a value at more than twice the price tag. You then only need to add in the Indexes for chaos and imperial for a few bucks extra. All in all you could put out $150 but all between 2 friends makes it totally affordable.
The value I found to be so good, I bought to boxes! Pay for the postage to the states and I’ll send you my spare copy of the rules of you don’t want the full box set…
Dark Imperium…
Whoopsie! 🙂 Thanks for the correction. Dark Millennium, Dark Vengeance, Dark Imperium… all grim Dark 😀
My gaming club has posted a few articles about 40k on our blog. We have some fans of 8th edition, earlier editions, and Shadow War, although the group usually prefers small skirmish games that don’t force you to use minis from any one manufacturer. We like to tell stories with the spectacle of fully painted minis and fantastic terrain:
https://www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com/blog/2017/07/20/aar-exploring-8th-edition-40k/
https://www.chicagoskirmishwargames.com/blog/2017/07/27/a-short-shadow-war-aar-tau-vs-squats/
Tabletop wargaming (whether Warhammer or not) is a great hobby to get into. I find building and painting (and trying to get better at both) is a great form of creativity and even meditation that helps to calm my mind. I listen to audiobooks (sometimes voiced by you) and podcasts (including Radio Free Burrito) while I do it and it’s sometimes the best parts of my day.
I’ve been making videos about tabletop wargaming on my YouTube channel for almost five years now:
https://www.youtube.com/tabletopminions
and I like to focus on beginners and getting new folks into the hobby. I try for high production values and good sound, as well. Please check out some of the videos (new videos every Friday, so there’s plenty to choose from) when you get the chance.
I know how much the hobby helps me, and I hope that it can help you, too. Ask me any questions at @tabletopminions on the Twitters.
Books: Eisenhorn, Ravenor, Horus Heresy series.
Basically if it’s written by Dan Abnett and set in 40k then read it.
Games: Shadow War Armageddon (get the rules free off the Games Workshop website – it’s a kill team size game 5-10 models).
BTW, a word of advice, if you decide to take the 8th edition path: if you get steered toward buying the 8th edition rules and the Indexes (Index: Chaos, etc.) just be aware that these supplemental books have the rules for forces and their equipment, but no description or fluff regarding them. So, if you’re not familiar with a force and its equipment, the rules provided in the index books may not mean much to you.
It really depends on what faction(s) interest you. If you want to play chaos marines, then the box set is a good place to start. It’s a bit pricy at $160, but you get the rulebook with a good overview of the current state of 40k lore, and two small armies with all the rules for the units in the box. You really don’t need to buy anything else to start playing.
If space marines and/or chaos space marines aren’t where you want to start then you can just get the core rulebook for $60, and the one of the 5 Index books for another $25. If you go this route, then the secondary market is where it’s at for picking up models. There’s always someone finding a bunch of miniatures in their attic, and posting them on ebay or craigslist to unload them cheap.
Hope this helps! I’ve personally just started playing again after quitting toward the end of 5th edition. Haven’t played more than a couple games with the new rules, but I’m enjoying it so far.
Maaaaan… I’m already trying not to get into further expensive tabletop hobbies, and now people talk 40k? Oy vey. Never enjoyed minis games, personally (I use the few minis I’ve acquired for PFS on the rare occasions I do THAT anymore).
That being said, however, I have been researching Strat-O-Matic, a tabletop baseball game that’s been around since the 1960s. And it’s not just baseball, they also have versions for football, basketball, and your favourite, hockey. The games themselves don’t appear to be a major investment… until you realize that card sets for whatever variety you want to add are quite expensive, and the main boardgame only comes with the most current rosters. Ah well.
Strat-o-Matic is good, but f you want to get away from the card sets, try Sher Co Grand Slam baseball. It takes into account the wind, the specific ball park, both defensive player and hit position on the field, and you can make the players “card’ yourself. It isn’t a game designed to exactly reproduce the players stats, but is very fun.
I’m always fascinated by what other people think is the best place to start with Warhammer 40K and Warhammer Age of Sigmar. Reading through all the comments I’m of the opinion that everyone is right! In other words there is no wrong place to start, but the volume of options is clearly overwhelming. There is an individual in SoCal that I would recommend you reach out to; Reece Robins at his business, Frontline Gaming (Frontlinegaming.org). His involvement in the industry, his investment in the hobby and his resources could be just the entry point you are looking for to give you an opportunity to take a zero investment look into hobby and help you find the right entry point for you. I look forward to seeing the Youtube video and saying hello at a future convention.
I would second reaching out to Reece. he’s fairly local to you and has an expansive knowledge of the game to help you get back into it. If the $160 pricetag is throwing you off of getting back into the hobby, they also have two new quick starter sets that get you a death guard(Chaos) vs space marine army for $80 with the base rules and the stats for the models in the box. I highly recommend getting back into the hobby (as chaos, Cough DeathToTheFalseEmperor cough) as it allows for narrative style gaming that I feel you would love! I’m a huge fan of both you and the game so my own selfish interests of combing favorites must be declared.
Its actually a great time ot get back into 40k. Personally I’m an Ork player, but to if you want to play Chaos they are getting alot more love this edition with cool new models and the like. The basic rules for the game are actually free and can be found here https://www.games-workshop.com/en-US/Battle-Primer-2017-ENG
Now, if you want to get into more advance tactics and the like then the full core rulebook will set you back $60. If you want to jump in with Chaos you can either by their index, which has basic rules for every Chaos model currently available for $25, or wait a few weeks and buy the Chaos Codex for $40 which will have some more advanced rules for most of the Chaos models.
Or you could just jump in with the Dark Imperium Boxset for 160 which gets you the Hardback rulebook, and a small starter army of Space Marine vs Chaos Death Guard along with dice and everything else you need to get started playing.
Hey Wil. Welcome back to the Glorious GrimDark!
A good start is Know No Fear or First Strike, which each have a handful of models, some background, the basic rules, a bit of scenery and a playmat. Relatively cheap – cheaper still if bought from an online shop with discount or whatnot.
From there I recommend a Start Collecting! box for your preferred army, plus the relevant Index or Codex. Then it’s just a case of painting and playing and before you know it you’ll be knee deep in tiny plastic soldiers demanding Blood for the Blood God or whatnot.
As far as the alt-right thing goes, well, yeeesss and also no. There’s the usual amount of sexist unpleasantness in the dark corners of Facebook and 4chan, but in the fan fora like BOLTER AND CHAINSWORD or DAKKA DAKKA you won’t see any of that. Nor will you (often) encounter it in real life.
Most people play the game to have fun and lose themselves in a galaxy of unending war, which echoes with the laughter of uncaring gods. 🙂
8th edition is short on rules because it has simplified the ruleset after a bunch of bloating. The Chaos marine codex is available for order next week. This means you can buy the two books you need to run a chaos army in the near future. It also means you don’t have to get any of the suplement books they released with the new edition which have caused some of the contention.
8th edition is quite fun really
There are actually three “starter sets” at the moment. Dark Imperium is the main one, which comes with a hardback core rulebook, 22 Primaris Space Marine models (a new variety introduced with this edition), and 31 Death Guard figures (10 Chaos Plague Marines, 1 flying drone, and 20 Poxwalker zombies). The other two starters have figures made with coloured plastic, so you don’t even have to paint to be able to play games and know which side is which at a glance. Each also includes an inner box which doubles as a cardboard terrain piece. Know No Fear is the mid-tier – a start playing guide with six missions to introduce the rules, 14 Primaris Space Marines, and 17 Death Guard (including 10 zombies). First Strike is the most basic – starter rules, training missions, a play mat, and push-fit models including 6 Primaris Space Marines (3 of a type not found in the larger sets) and 9 Death Guard (including 6 zombies).
Hey man, 40k is very much a your mileage may vary
You can still get the old Blood Angels vs Genestealers space hulk game that is relatively recent on eBay or somewhere. Also there is a Deathwatch vs Genestealer cult if you want to dip your toes.
Now I am well into the painting and I think that you being a part of the 40k community could really help image of the game, and more over hobbyists in general no longer being fat, smelly neck beards, but just guys, dudes and dudettes. And maybe just maybe you could get more people to paint their models
So I just wanted to offer you somewhere to hang out if your interested, run a small painting group, we a pretty proud of it ‘WAYPN’ What are you painting now? on Beasts of War ( http://www.beastsofwar.com/groups/painting/forum/ ) watch the youtube if you like it is pretty raw ha ha, but we are always positive and we help egg each other on to get more into painting to do more and to just be a community of painters.
That’s the only thing, we care about if you paint, so you could sign in under a pseudonym or just whatever you want your user name to be, and get advice there, we are very friendly and I always give advice from the newest users to the old vanguards of the site. Anyway I just thought I would offer a welcome somewhere where you could just be say… ‘CaptianCrunch’ rather than Wil Wheaton you know just Joe Blow and play in the mud for awhile.
Good Luck with whatever you do 🙂
Have a good one
Not currently a 40k player with a similar level of interest as yourself.
I’ve been drawn back in after buying the opening books of the Horus Heresy through a humble bundle deal. To be honest my expectations weren’t massively high but I’ve really enjoyed them to date (though some more than others). If you wanted to get a taste of them I’d suggest “Tales of Heresy” which is a collection of short stories. The only caveat is the stories are more pre Heresy so light on the Chaos (though with some insights of what follows).
From a game point of view I’m going to give 40k 8th a go because I understand it’s a lot easier to build forces. You don’t necessarily need a calculator (though that is still an option if you want) and you can mix up your armies a bit more. The emphasis seems to be more, it’s your hobby play it how you want. This appeals to me because I paint slow (real slow), and don’t have the focus to paint just one force but now I can paint up a few Imperial units that look pretty and still be able to use them together (at least that’s what I hope).
Look forward to the potential of an episode of Tabletop where you unleash your forces of Chaos.
Thank you for your videos; as a direct result of watching one I made myself a wet palette and I can’t get over how it is helping!
Thanks again.
PS I know it would have made more sense to comment below the video but youtube comment sections can be a bit off putting and this one seems fairly benign by comparison.
Wheaton in the grim dark…. I wonder how long it would take to find a star trek/warhammer crossover.
Go check out a local gaming club on warhammer night! The best way to get in is to play! Obligatory plug for the Chicago based club at the Dice Dojo. Most clubs have store armies and rules to go with them. Veterans around generally enjoy teaching the game to and introducing new players to the game. Its a great world to get into!
A Star Trek / 40k crossover ?
that needs to happen.
I’d imagine that the Necrons can fill the role of the Borg.
Orcs as Klingons
Vulcans as Eldar would make sense.
Best advice I got so far: play the army you like the most. Rules are constantly changing. Love your minis, enjoy the game and have fun.
Building an army based on current rules is a waste of money and time.
And, very important, find people who think alike and don’t discuss each and every point of the rules 😉
Dear Mr. Wheaton,
my name is Idilio Santos and I have been the store manager of Games Workshop Bremen (Northern Germany) for roughly 19 years. Hereby I officially invite you to join our very cool community for a Beginner’s Game of Warhammer 40.000. Don’t worry about not having any miniatures, we can borrow you some (even Chaos Space Marines). Just bring along some enthusiasm and the rest will follow.
Regards,
Idilio
It was great to meet you on Saturday Wil and appreciate you travelling over to the UK and fighting the jetlag. There has never been a better time to get (back) into 40k. I played 30 years ago (in my teens), a little with 5th edition and lost interest until 8th edition dropped – GW is on fire now – they can’t do anything wrong in my book (I have no affiliation with GW). Try any of the starter sets (First Strike, Know No Fear or Dark Imperium) which start at $40 and give you everything you need. Grab a couple of cans of coloured primer and you have a head start on the painting. Oh and read anything by Aaron Dembski Bowden – his work is awesome.
The rules themselves are free so you don’t need the main rule book. The book itself has a lot of fluff and is well put together. I would suggest getting one of the start collecting sets they are a great value. They have enough minis for a small game to start learning the new rules. Then down load Battle Scribe. It is free to use army list builder. The community updates it with the current points for all the units and army build rules. Once they release your factions Codex you can then pick it up for the fluff and the new abilities that always come out with new a Codex. So the only monies you need to sped to start are for the $80 for the get started set. Have fun gaming.
Hey Will,
whilst it may be a bit beside the point (i.e. not quite tactical tabletop gaming) the WH40K roleplaying game that came out a few years back is not bad at all. There, you can have all the lore without the unnecessarily complicated tabletop stuff and the constantly changing rules.
Also, AFAIK (and I am not a WH40K miniature gamer myself, but I know a few) I believe there are some rules for smaller scale games, skirmishes and the like with a reduced rules set and aimed at smaller armies, so no need to invest obscene amounts of time and money before you can start to play.
Cheers, Carsten
I’ve never been drawn into 40k but I was tested with the release of Kill Team to start off with something smaller without the large starting expense.
Have you considered going the historical gaming route? Models can be used for multiple rulesets if the first one either doesn’t work for you or stops being “flavour of the month”.
Cheers
James
Hi Will- 8th edition is far more accessible than 40k has ever been- the Dark Imperium box will give you everything you need to play including dice and range rulers, plus 57 models in two armies (chaos plague marines and Primaris space marines). It also included the full size hardback rule book which is packed with background and lore, and costs £95 (not sure what that is in dollars).
Games Workshop have also released some other kits to get started ‘know no fear’ and ‘first strike’ – the models in each set are cast in blue and green plastic so you can get gaming straight away and both boxes give you everything you need to play- the box tray even can even be used as scenery and there’s a glossy play mat for your battlefield in both boxes. Know no fear is £50 and first strike is £25, so both great price points for dipping a toe into the water first.
I’m not much of a gamer but am fascinated and respectful of gamer culture. I love the creativity and camaraderie that gaming engenders. I am an artist (not professional) and spend much of my free time painting and lettering. I really connected with the mindset that you referenced while painting your figures off-set. I know exactly what you mean! Thanks for including that piece. And it doesn’t matter how they look when you finish as long as you had fun in the painting of your figures.
Love your IG acct – and Anne’s.
I’m new to 40k with 8th edition. I couldn’t get into it before 8th since it just seemed unnecessarily complex. My buddy and I split the Dark Imperium box, and honestly that’s plenty to keep you building and painting for a while. And because it has two armies, you can share it with a friend and have a series of narrative battles. It’s also almost 1000 points and comes with the data sheets you need, so you could stick with that for some casual play.
Honestly, I share your skepticism. But I’ve been really happy with my experience so far (largely thanks to sharing it with my buddy) and 8th edition has been working well for us.
Dark Imperium and the other starter sets (Know No Fear and First Strike) are great entry points. Ignore the Amazon reviews (seriously, who buys wargames from Amazon?!?), the rules have been vastly simplified and are much easier to learn, and its well set up for narrative or quick ‘muck around’ play. If you are still in the vicinity of London and fancy a demo game, my gaming shop would be happy to host you! :wink wink nudge nudge:
I’ve been quite enjoying Shadow War, where you make a small team of as few as 3 to maybe 20 fighters, battle other teams and develop your fighters between games.
You have a decent range of teams, including those Chaos Marines.
As a humble part timer for GW, I see pretty much everyone who comes to start the hobby. Those who come back the most often to enjoy their purchase are those who are truly inspired by it. Or as we like to call it, the “Rule of Cool”.
The best place to begin really depends on what you’re looking for. If you want the core rules in its entirety and a bunch of Primaris Marines (Space Marines^2) and Death Guard, (Disease blessed Marines) then Dark Imperium is the way to go. It’s objectively the best value when it comes to minis per dollar spent ratio but if the aesthetics don’t appeal to you then its still money wasted.
Aside from Dark Imperium, the Start Collecting boxes are there for what their name implies, to start a collection of whatever faction the box is themed after. These boxes ALWAYS feature savings of a minimum of like 25-30% (some go close to 50%; eg. Fyreslayers) though I’m not sure how those saving percentages translate outside Canada.
If you got rid of all your tools and paints the Citadel Essentials box is a great cheap way to get everything you need back.
Heres a bit of a conundrum however. The CORE rules are available for free, this is true. (google Battle Primer 40k) but the 8th edition rulebook is more than just the 15 pages of core rules. It contains context for every army and what their place is in the lore right now, what this game is actually about, and the “Three Ways to Play”, one of which you mentioned, narritive play. These ways to play all feature their own missions, special rules, and army construction rules. If you don’t get Dark Imperium, it’s very much within your best interest that you get the rulebook everntually, even though by itself it is a little less enticing a buy.
Annnndddd last but not least Indices and Codexs. The indices are meant as a stopgap to allow every player to play 8th edition while their faction awaited a Codex. The Codexes are what really lets an army shine. They are a spotlight on every awesome part about their faction,and include everything from lore to what kind of explosive you want to strap to a conscripts chest. With this in mind, if your chosen force is due for a codex soon, spend some hobby time on your minis and wait for it if you can bear it. Or cave and get the index. The rules for all the other factions in there will still be useful.
I hope this answers any questions you might have had. Happy Wargaming Wil.
Hi Wil,
I’m genuinely surprised that you were into 40K! I’m a teacher that runs a school club, and I’m asked the question of how to get into 40K (cheaply!) by my students a lot .
Now is actually the best time to get back into 40K, with a new edition having just been released this Summer. I’ve written up a comprehensive Beginners Guide to 40K (https://tabletopteacher.blogspot.com/2017/07/beginners-guide-to-warhammer-40k.html), to help people get back into the Grim Dark Future of Mankind. I’ve included prices and budget options, if you’re looking to do this on a shoe string.
I’m almost certain this will get lost in the deluge of replies, but if it doesn’t make it to you hopefully it can help someone else. And if anyone is too lazy to read the whole thing, find your nearest game shop and ask for First Strike. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed.
Regardless, looking forward to seeing your first Primaris Space Marines!
Ben (the Tabletop Teacher)
We would advise you peruse the lore (most of it is available online via websites like lexicanum) and get yourself up do date with recent developments in the storyline – as there are quite a few. From there, choose the faction that you like (for aesthetic or background reason) and go with it. You can buy a starter set, as suggested in some of the above comments, but you can also get the rules separately and get the “Start Collecting” box for your faction of choice, they are good value and offer a range of opportunities in personalising the models.
I don’t play 40k but I do love the lore. I’d recommend Horus heresy saga of novels, I’m 8 books in. Although I stopped because I felt like the last two were uninteresting, the first 6 or so are incredibly gripping and brilliantly written. You’ll get even more obsessed with the setting from them.
My spidey senses are tingling to tell me that I feel a new Geek&Sundry show coming on.
Will, as others have mentioned, I to honestly think a good jumping point right now is the new novel “Dark Imperium.” It catches up in a lot of the fluff and sets the stage for the next cycle. Rules wise, there’s a new Getting Started magazine, about $8, that comes with one of the new Primaris marines. It has all the basic rules and a short expose on all the current factions. As far as factions, pretty much every army is fairly viable now; if you dive in again I advise just going with your heart on what grabs you model/flufff wise.
The game is so simple to jump into right now it’s crazy.
Hey Wil,
I hope your past experiences didn’t sour you on the Blood Angels. I’d be more happy to put some signed books your way as payback for all the great Burrito episodes…
Dan Abnett’s “Gaunt’s Ghosts” series is probably the best of the 40K novels, though I really love Sandy Mitchell’s “Ciaphas Cain” series as it adds a little humour and snark to the grim darkness.
Will, as a former 40kand Fantasy player, I can honestly saw that I have more fun playing Warmachine. The armies are affordable, playable right out of the box, and game machanics are simple to learn but with complex variations depending on the army that you choose. On top of that, each army has multiple choice of leadership models that each have specialties that change the play style of the army. I think you’d have fun, look for it at the next game con you are at.
Start with the Horus Heresy saga. It is set just as the Space Marines began to fall and Horus’s ultimate betrayal. Fascinating stuff.
You might want to give X-Wing a go. Partially because it’s less expensive to get into. Partially because you can play it for free on Vassal to see what you like and what to buy before you actually invest. FFG let’s it stay up because they make a ton of money from people like me deciding “Wait, dang it, I DO like that ship. Now I gotta spend money irl to play it at tournaments.”
The best thing about new 40k is the story has moved on the rules are free to download race rules with points are in the index books which are cheap figures now come with their rules. I’D get dark imperial it’s well worth it just for the models.
For jumping back into 40K fiction try some audio dramas. They were what sucked me into that world.
The “Black Library” division of Games Workshop does some high quality audiobooks/audio dramas, some of which are not too expensive. The audio dramas have great sound effects and all their audio has solid narration in my experience. http://www.blacklibrary.com/audio , is the place to go to support them directly.
My gateway drug for all of Warhammer 40,000 lore was “Heart of Rage” by James Swallow. It’s a Blood Angels story.
Toby Longworth is a good narrator and manages a variety of distinct voices well in my opinion. Plus the sound effects are lots of fun and the story is awesome.
– http://www.blacklibrary.com/audio/warhammer-40000-audio-dramas/Heart-of-Rage-mp3.html
Other favorites that further hooked me into Warhammer 40K lore include,
Fireborn, featuring the Salamanders
http://www.blacklibrary.com/audio/warhammer-40000-audio-dramas/Fireborn-mp3.html
Thorn and Talon, a collection of 3 short stories featuring Inquisitor Eisenhorn and his apprentice Ravenor,
http://www.blacklibrary.com/audio/warhammer-40000-audio-dramas/thorn-and-talon-mp3.html
These are awesome recommendations. Thank you!!
cool, your welcome. hope you enjoy. Yay audiobooks! if I may be allowed a compliment, I very much enjoy your readings of John Scalzi and R.A. Salvatore, and Titansgrave-The Ashes of Valkana was awesome.
some more audio favorites of mine:
Helion Rain, featuring the Raven Guard
http://www.blacklibrary.com/audio/warhammer-40000-audio-dramas/Helion-rain-mp3.html
The Madness Within, showing off the Crimson Fists
http://www.blacklibrary.com/audio/warhammer-40000-audio-dramas/The-Madness-Within-MP3.html
The opening trilogy of the Horus Heresy series is pretty solid.
http://www.blacklibrary.com/audio/the-horus-heresy-audiobooks/hh-opening-trilogy-audiobook-collection.html
I really liked “Know No Fear” by Dan Abnett.
The story deals with a defining moment for the Ultramarines and Word Bearers Legions in the Horus Heresy. I have heard Ultramarines can be polarizing as far as the game goes because of how the rules have dealt with them but focusing purely on the lore this is a really fun and gripping story.
It’s a bit further on in the Horus Heresy series, but in my opinion once you get past the opening trilogy you don’t need to read them in order necessarily.
http://www.blacklibrary.com/audio/the-horus-heresy-audiobooks/know-no-fear-audiobook.html
Hey Will, though like you I have ceased playing the actual game now, my interest in the lore has never really waned. One of my favourite books is the Sisters of Battle army book for 2nd Edition 40K. The historic storyline inside depicts the rise of the sisterhood and details the Ecclesiarchy in its control over the spiritualism of the general populace. My point is that many of the great books that Games Workshop have produced, with detailed histories and overviews, were produced quite a few years ago but are still worth tracking down for the wealth of lore about the 40K universe they contain.
already mentioned by a few others but the Dark Imperium box set is a phenomenal value and a great jumping in point.
“It sort of looks like the 8th Edition rules are expensive” Wait, what? Eight edition? Ugh. Yeah, that puts me right off. D&D is a lot older and is still only on 5th ed., and even then – miniatures aside – required far less investment. I guess that’s one of the reasons why all of the alternatives to W40K have sprung up. Our FLGS, I know, is about a 5 minute walk from the official GW shop and still manages to undercut them on their own figures…
But yeah, I totally get wanting to play it – walking into a games convention and seeing the W40K tables laid out still looks awesome.
8th edition for 40k is like 5th edition for D&D.
The update was needed because the previous one was a complicated mess that only die hard fans would want to play.
It really managed to reset the stage to the point it became fun for everyone.
Of course it’s up to GW to keep it that way, because they have been rather bad at maintaining balance as new units got released …
However given that there already have been rules updates I think it’s going to be ok.
link :
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2017/07/23/updated-faqs-and-boots-on-the-groundgw-homepage-post-2/
I quit about when you did but hung onto my minis. Came back just before 8th. People get freaked out by my tiny 1990 halrequin solitaire, Pickles.
If I were starting over and wanted to minimize painting yet capture some of what you say you loved – go Grey Knights – lots of psyker and terminator fun.
Hi Will,
Welcome back to Warhammer!
I’ve also been around the hobby since about 1996. On and off, with some big breaks in between. Now that I’m an adult (lol) I can afford the hobby much more than I could as a high schooler.
It is an expensive hobby, but so are many others. As a board gamer I’m sure you’re aware that games of all types aren’t cheap, especially those pesky CCGs.
As for starting again, depends on what army you’re interested it, but the general suggestion would be to by the latest 8th Edition Starter Box. It’s called Dark Imperium. You get some Loyalist Space Marines and some Chaos Space Marines (rotting, Nurgle ones). People often split boxes with friends or randoms on the internet and take one side or the other. Box also includes dice and rules.
If you don’t like either of those factions then just pick up the main rulebook. It’s expensive but it’s a very nice book.
It’s mostly background and lore and includes updates to the universe for the new edition, progressing the storyline etc…
Otherwise basic game rules themselves are available for free online and that would be sufficient for a beginner to dip their toe in. After that, pick a faction and buy their specific book (Chaos one comes out this weekend). That’s really all you’ll need to get started.
If you don’t get the starter box mentioned above, then most factions have a “Start Collecting” box which is a good discount and a solid start to an army.
If you’re after just lore and background, the Horus Heresy series of novels are pretty amazing. They happen 10,000 years before Warhammer 40k but it sets the groundwork for how the universe looks currently, how chaos marines happened etc…
GW’s books department, The Black Library, has a ton of amazing books that cover a wide variety of topics, but if you like Chaos Marines, the Horus Heresy or the Night Lords Trilogy are my main recommendations.
By everything you’ve said, sounds like you would enjoy Shadow War Armageddon. Skirmish level play based on the old Necromunda and 2nd edition rules set. One book, one squad, easy start and loads of fun…
Read anything by Aaron dembski Bowden. His night lords trilogy is some of the best modern sci fi out there. Seriously.
It’s overlooked because it’s subgenre, but it is AMAZING.
Horus heresy series is great but very long.
Please for the love of God, read the night lords trilogy.