Warhammer 40,000
Warhammer 40,000 is a British miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world, and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom. The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, and the tenth and current edition was released in June 2023.
As in other miniature wargames, players enact battles using miniature models of warriors and fighting vehicles. The playing area is a tabletop model of a battlefield, comprising models of buildings, hills, trees, and other terrain features. Each player takes turns moving their model warriors around the battlefield and fighting their opponent's warriors. These fights are resolved using dice and simple arithmetic.
Warhammer 40,000 is set in the distant future, where a stagnant human civilisation is beset by hostile aliens and supernatural creatures. The models in the game are a mixture of humans, aliens, and supernatural monsters wielding futuristic weaponry and supernatural powers. The fictional setting of the game has been developed through a large body of novels published by Black Library. Warhammer 40,000 was initially conceived as a scifi counterpart to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, a medieval fantasy wargame also produced by Games Workshop. Warhammer Fantasy shares some themes and characters with Warhammer 40,000 but the two settings are independent of each other. The game has received widespread praise for the tone and depth of its setting, and is considered the foundational work of the grimdark genre of speculative fiction, the word grimdark itself derived from the series' tagline: "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war".
Warhammer 40,000 has spawned many spin-off media. Games Workshop has produced a number of other tabletop or board games connected to the brand, including both extrapolations of the mechanics and scale of the base game to simulate unique situations, as with Space Hulk, ''Necromunda, Kill Team, and other wargames simulating vastly different scales and aspects of warfare within the same fictional setting, as with Battlefleet Gothic, Adeptus Titanicus or Warhammer Epic. Video game spin-offs, such as Dawn of War, the Space Marine series, the Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader'' turn based game, and others have also been released.
Overview
Note: The overview here refers to the 10th edition of the rules.The rulebooks and miniature models required to play Warhammer 40,000 are subject to copyright and sold exclusively by Games Workshop and its subsidiaries. These miniatures, in combination with other materials, are generally more expensive than other tabletop games. A new player can expect to spend at least £200 to assemble enough materials for a regular game, and the armies that appear in tournaments can be many times more.
Miniature models
Games Workshop sells a large variety of gaming models for Warhammer 40,000, but no ready-to-play models. Rather, it sells boxes of model parts, which players are expected to assemble and paint themselves. Each miniature model represents an individual soldier, vehicle, or monster. Most Warhammer 40,000 models are made of polystyrene but certain models, which are made and sold in small volumes, are made of lead-free pewter or epoxy resin. Games Workshop also sells glue, tools, and acrylic paints for finishing models. The assembly and painting of the models is a major aspect of the hobby, and many customers of Games Workshop buy models simply to paint and display them. A player might spend weeks assembling and painting models before they have a playable army.Playing field
The current official rulebook recommends a table width of, and table length varies based on the size of the armies being used. In contrast to board games, Warhammer 40,000 does not have a fixed playing field. Players construct their own custom-made battlefield using modular terrain models. Games Workshop sells a variety of proprietary terrain models, but players often use generic or homemade ones. Unlike certain other miniature wargames such as BattleTech, Warhammer 40,000 does not use a grid system, so players must use a measuring tape to measure distances, which are measured in inches.Assembling armies
All the models that a player has selected to use in a match are collectively termed an "army." In Warhammer 40,000, players are not restricted to playing with a fixed and symmetrical combination of game pieces, such as in chess. They get to choose which models they will fight with from a catalogue of "datasheets" presented in the rulebooks. Each datasheet corresponds to a particular model and contains any relevant gameplay statistics and permissible attachments. For instance, a model of a Tactical Space Marine has a "Move" range of 6 inches and a "Toughness" rating of 4 and is armed with a "boltgun" with a range of 24 inches. Both players must declare which models they will play with before the match starts, and once the match is underway, they cannot add any new models to their armies.In official tournaments, it is mandatory for players to only use Games Workshop's models, and those models must be properly assembled to match the player's army roster; substitute models are forbidden. For example, if a player wants to use an Ork Weirdboy in their army, they must use an Ork Weirdboy model from Games Workshop. Games Workshop has also banned the use of 3D-printed miniatures in official tournaments. Public tournaments organised by independent groups might permit third-party models so long as the models are clearly identifiable as to which Warhammer 40,000 model they are meant to represent. Tournaments might also have rules regarding whether armies are permitted to be used unpainted or must be painted to a certain standard.
The composition of the players' armies must fit the rivalries and alliances depicted in the setting. All models listed in the rulebooks have keywords that divide them into [|factions]. In a matched game, a player may only use models in their army that are all loyal to a common faction. Thus, a player cannot, for example, use a mixture of Aeldari and Necron models in their army, because in the game's fictional setting, Aeldari and Necrons are mortal enemies and would never fight alongside each other.
The game uses a point system to ensure that the match will be "balanced", i.e., the armies will be of comparable overall strength. The players must agree as to what "points limit" they will play at, which roughly determines how big and powerful their respective armies will be. Each model and weapon has a "point value" which roughly corresponds to how powerful the model is; for example, a Tactical Space Marine is valued at 13 points, whereas a Land Raider tank is valued at 240 points. The sum of the point values of a player's models must not exceed the agreed limit. If the point values of the players' respective armies both add up to the limit, they are assumed to be balanced. 500 to 2,000 points are common point limits.
Although the rules place no limit on how big an army can be, players tend to use armies comprising between a few dozen to a hundred models, depending on its faction. A large army will slow down the pace of the match as the players must physically handle many more models and consider each strategically. Larger armies also cost more money and take more work to paint and assemble.
Gameplay
At the start of a game, each player places their models in the initial deployment zones at opposite ends of the playing field. The players roll dice to determine who takes the first turn.At the start of a turn, a player will have a command phase, in which they gain one "command point", which is used for stratagems. Certain abilities possessed by models activate in this phase, and some stratagems can only be used in this phase. A player will also roll a "battle shock" test for each of their units reduced to "half strength" or with half or less models / "wounds" remaining. If this morale test is failed, the unit will lose its "objective control" and its ability to use stratagems until the next command phase, when that unit is allowed to retake the "battle shock" test.
In the first phase of play, a player moves each model in their army by hand across the field. A model can be moved no farther than its listed "Move characteristic". For instance, a Space Marine model can be moved no farther than six inches per turn. If a model cannot fly or use a jump pack, it must go around obstacles such as walls and trees. However, models with the "Infantry" and the "Beast" keyword can move through terrain designated as a "ruin" in the 10th edition of Warhammer.
Models are grouped into "units", commonly called squads, that move as a whole. All models in a unit must stay close to each other. Each model in a unit must finish a turn within two inches of another model from the unit. If there are more than five models in a unit, each model must be within two inches of two other models.
After moving, each model can attack any enemy unit within range and line-of-fire of whatever weapons and psychic powers its models have. For instance, a model of a Space Marine armed with a "boltgun" weapon can shoot any enemy unit within 24 inches. Most of the races in the game have units with psychic powers, who are called psykers. Prior to the release of the 10th edition of the game, psyker units had the ability to cause unusual effects that function similarly to magic in a fantasy universe, such as rendering allied units invulnerable or teleporting units across the battlefield. The 10th Edition rules no longer use this feature. After ranged weapons are used, each unit can charge into melee range against enemy units. Units engaged in melee combat then take turns attacking each other until they all have fought. Units cannot shoot at an enemy unit that is engaged in melee combat with a friendly unit.
When it is their turn to attack, the player declares to their opponent whichever of the models is attacking whichever enemy unit, and rolls dice to determine how much damage their models inflict upon their targets. The attacking player cannot target individual models within an enemy unit. If an enemy unit receives damage, the enemy player chooses which model in the unit suffers injury. Damage is measured in points, and if a model suffers more points of damage than its "Wound characteristic" permits, it dies. Dead models are removed from the playing field. Most models have only one Wound point, but certain models such as "hero characters", vehicles and elite troops have multiple Wound points, so the damage they accumulate must be recorded.