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Obviously, when any list like this comes up, it’s going to be entirely subjective, and I want to make it clear right from the beginning that these opinions are my own and clearly not a Standard of Truth.

That said, I have combed through every single model on the Games Workshop website, and I picked out my favorite, the best looking models in Warhammer 40k. If you have arguments against these picks, I urge you to leave them in the comments and, if you sway me, I’ll add your models to this list.

For now, these models, going in order from Space Marines, to Armies of the Imperium, to Chaos, to Xenos, are my favorites: the best looking models in Warhammer 40k.

Best Looking Models in Warhammer 40k — Space Marines

1. Bladeguard Veterans

My first pick for best looking model of the Space Marines is the Bladeguard Veterans. I like my Space Marines to have a little pomp and circumstance to them, a little bit of regalia, but without overdoing it, and that’s just what the Bladeguard Veterans have. They have the Iron Halo and the tabbard and the golden filigree, but if you were to compare the Bladeguard Veterans to the, for example, the Vanguard Veterans, you would see a distinct difference.

The Vanguard Veterans vastly overdo their finery, with every surface covered with this detail or that detail, while the Bladeguard Veterans are in a perfect middle ground. You can still apply decals to the shoulders of the Bladeguard, because they’re not all muddled up with skulls and Aquillas and ropes and whatever else.

And those shields? Those are magnificent. (Buy from Amazon)

2. Venerable Dreadnought

I like the new shiny stuff as much as the next guy. I’ve made no secret of the fact that I enjoy painting Primaris more than I enjoy painting Firstborn. But the Venerable Dreadnought, a Castraferrum Pattern dreadnought, is the best dreadnought that Games Workshop has ever made.

Again, you’re seeing that I have a penchant for regalia with my Space Marines, and that comes through in the Venerable Dreadnought, but it’s more than just his plaques and nameplates that make him such an icon. The Castraferrum is such a perfectly different Dreadnought. The Redemptor–and even the Contemptor–look like very anthropomorphized giant mechs, while the Venerable Dreadnought’s blocky, chonky, cuboid appearance is just so unusual and yet exactly what it needs to be. And when you see a Castraferrum Dreadnought in action, even in a game like Dawn of War, you have to agree that they really just look badass. (Buy from Amazon)

3. Black Templars Castellan

I’m not going to pick a best looking model in Warhammer 40k from all of the individual Space Marine chapters, but I think that there are a few who need shoutouts. And one of those is the Black Templars Castellan. Listen, Black Templar lore is not something that I am entirely up on, so I am not 100% sure what this guy’s role is in the Black Templars army list, but there is nothing about this model that I don’t like. And it all starts with that chest plate. That thing is entirely different a standard Space Marine’s chest plate, and yet so perfect at the same time.

In writing there’s a term that we use for how a book should end, and it’s “surprising, yet inevitable.” You want the book’s ending to leave you guessing up until the last few pages as to how it’s going to resolve, but then you want the reader to say “Oh, this was the perfect ending. It couldn’t have ended any other way.” That’s surprising yet inevitable. And that’s how I feel about the Black Templars Castellan: surprising, yet inevitable. (Buy from Amazon)

4. Tor Garadon

The only named character in the Space Marines that I’m going to include in my list of the best looking models in Warhammer 40k, Tor Garadon just is so overwhelmingly an Imperial Fist that you’ve got to hand it to the sculptors for being able to distill the essence of what an Imperial Fist is down so succinctly into one model. He is a big chonky lad. He has girth. He has that massive power fist, but he is just so utterly massive. It looks like he could stare down a Baneblade’s main gun and the Baneblade would turn to drive around him.

The addition of having him stand on battle-scarred concrete blocks seems very fitting for an Imperial Fist, as he looks very defensive and looks like he is going absolutely nowhere but standing his ground. I love this model, and I’m not even an Imperial Fists player. (Buy from Amazon)

Best Looking Models in Warhammer 40k — Armies of the Imperium

5. Celestine the Living Saint

The Sisters of Battle are going to be a little over-represented in this list, but it’s because I think they hit it out of the park so consistently. Celestine is one of the most perfect winged models that they’ve made, one who looks like her wings are both real and armored, both fanciful and quite possible of actually creating lift off. And the fact that they used the trailing pieces of paper script to lift her into the air–rather than a clear plastic rod–is perfect. (Buy from Amazon)

6. The Triumph of St. Katherine

No list of the best looking models in Warhammer 40k would be complete without this diorama model that is at once so completely over-the-top and also exactly evocative of everything that it means to be Adepta Sororitas. I’ve owned this model before, and it’s truly a delight to paint, from first getting the marble floor just right, to painting each individual figure, to all of the creepy little cherubim that float above it. These diorama bases aren’t common in Warhammer (though I am very reminded here of Katakros, Mortarch of the Necropolis) but I love the idea of them and I really hope to see them do more. (Buy from Amazon)

7. Penitent Engines

There is a lot of love about the Penitent Engine, and not the least of them is that they’re an absolute corruption of the Space Marine dreadnought. Where the dreadnought puts a revered and powerful veteran of the Chapter in a sacred sarcophagus where he will fight nobly, the Sisters of Battle put sinners in their flagellant engines where they will atone for their crimes until they are destroyed. They look incredible, and the terrified (or penitent, I guess) bodies strapped to the front of them produce an iconic look. And, because they’re Sisters of Battle, they’re covered in filigree and relics. (Buy from Amazon)

8. Serberys Raiders

The Serberys Raiders are one of my favorite units in the game, and not just because they’re an incredibly good unit (I think I put them in my best units of Warhammer 40k list) but because the Adeptus Mechanicus is just so incredibly weird, and it’s not good enough that they self-mutilate themselves into cybernetic creatures, but they cut and slash horses into the same thing. The sculpts are amazing, they’re fun to paint, and the Ad Mech aesthetic is just so good. (Buy from Amazon)

9. Archaeopter

Speaking of the Adeptus Mecahnicus aesthetic, I would be remiss if I didn’t address my favorite Ad Mech unit of them all. I wrote a whole article about the Retrofuturism of the Adeptus Mechanicus, about how they are inspired by 1950s ray guns and turn-of-the-century flying machines. The wings on this thing look like the wings that Wile E. Coyote straps to himself to fly off a cliff, but somehow, someway, it fits perfectly into Warhammer 40k, and I love it. (Buy from Amazon)

10. The Baneblade

I never cared much for the Baneblade until I bought one, and now I can’t imagine not having an army that is primarily made up of Baneblade variants. These super heavies are so over-the-top, so ridiculous. They make the Leman Russ look like a little toddler tank by comparison. They are bristling with guns, and when they’re not bristling with guns they have capacity to carry four squads of Imperial Guard. I love these things, and my army is going to have at least three. I don’t know how I’m going to make that work with points, but I’m going to find a way. (Buy from Amazon)

Best Looking Models in Warhammer 40k — Chaos

11. Lord of Change

I am not a Tzeentch Fan. Tzeentch and Slaanesh are my least favorite Chaos gods, and to be fair I don’t really love ANY of the Chaos gods, but this monstrosity that is part-bird, part-snake, part-sorcerer is absolutely amazing. I am a sucker for Greater Daemons and Daemon Primarchs (as we shall see), but this guy just hits all the right notes for me. I would never play a game with him, but I’d love to paint him and put him on the shelf. (Buy from Amazon)

12. Great Unclean One

Speaking of Greater Daemons, the Great Unclean One is one of the best models to ever come out of Games Workshop. It has everything it needs to have. It is 100% corrupted by disease and plague, with torn skin and open boils and dripping pus and an enormous wound in its belly, and yet it is grinning with all the delight that Papa Nurgle inspires in his minions. He looks like he’ll take so much delight–glee–in slashing you with his diseased sword and spreading contagion to you. (Buy from Amazon)

13. The Changeling

I admit that I don’t know the history behind this model, but he has been around for a while, and he certainly seems like he’s the partial inspiration for the Nighthaunt: a ghostly spectre with no legs or body, but with an unholy number of arms beside an empty hood. And the colors of this guy are just so good, too. Like I said, I’ll never play Tzeentch, but I do have one of this in my collection. (Buy from Amazon)

14. Knight Rampager

Yes, I skipped the Imperial Knights. They don’t do much for me, but this twisted Knight, that is covered in corruption, spikes, horns, chains and skulls looks terrific. The weapons he wields, both the claw and the hooked chainsword, look brutal and the complete rusty corroded, tattered look of this Knight Rampager just pushes all the right buttons.

15. Fabius Bile

I debated long and hard before putting Fabius Bile on this list, because I was questioning whether I loved the model or whether I just loved the concept of a Chaos scientist who was so vile that even Abaddon got rid of him. I love that. But the model itself is great, too, and deserving of a spot. Yes, we’ve seen a lot of models in Warhammer 40k that have cybernetic arms coming out of their backs, but none of them have been placed with such an evil regality as on Fabius Bile. Walking with his cane he looks like he’s completely confident in everything he does, a man who is scared by nothing and inspires fear in everything. A perfect model. (Buy from Amazon)

16. Master of Executions

Look, I don’t play Chaos, so I’m not even 100% sure what role the Master of Executions plays in this game, but if you’ve been reading this site for any amount of time you’ll know that I am a sucker for models that have massive bones as part of their armor. I love it on the Death Jesters. I love it on Maugan Ra. And I love it on the Master of Executions. His ridiculously big axe is priceless. (And of course the trophy rack. Gotta love a good trophy rack.) (Buy from Amazon)

17. Mortarion

Mortarion holds a special place in my heart because it was with Mortarion that I made a resolution that I was not going to be content to be just a so-so painter, but that I was going to up my game, pick a really great model as a canvas, and paint him to the best of my ability. And I did, and I think he came out looking really terrific (if I do say so myself). The wings are perfect for any kind of design, pattern, or color scheme, and there is so much to blend and so many color choices. However, I painted him more than a year ago, and I think I could do a better job. And, me being me, I’m wondering if I should strip him and repaint him. Hmmm… (Buy from Amazon)

18. Rubric Marines

We need some troops in here, and there are no better Chaos troops than the Rubric Marines. With their semi-Egyptian feel and those headdresses that are absolutely magnificent, I really wonder if there’s any Warhammer 40k player who hasn’t considered painting the Rubric Marines at least once, to see if they could do them justice. I know that I’ve painted three different squads of them, with different color schemes each time. I’m still stymied by the overabundance of gold trim on these guys (on all Chaos Space Marines) but I’m getting better with them every time. (Buy from Amazon)

Best Looking Models in Warhammer 40k — Xenos

19. Avatar of Khaine

Probably the newest model on this list, and definitely the newest model that I have painted (and absolutely loved). I like that although he is designed to take on the look of flame and lava, people have painted him in so many different color schemes (I did him in blues and turquoise). I love the three options of weapons, the three options of heads. You can really make him look anyway you want him to, and I think that’s a sign of a great model.

20. Death Jester

What was I just saying about the Death Jester and armor that is essentially skulls and ribcages? There is something so terrifying, so menacing about this grinning skull with his long sniper rifle (which also has a death’s scythe on it) that makes this Harlequin my absolute favorite of their number. I remember back in First Edition when the standard Harlequin box came with three Death Jesters, who all had the same kind of vibe, but this current sculpt is just that taken up to 11. (Buy from Amazon)

21. Raider

I’ll admit it. I don’t like the Drukhari. There is something so vile about their whole story that makes me loathe them even more than all of the other armies in Warhammer 40k who have vile backstories. BUT. If you’re going to have an army of marauding, torturous slavers who do all manner of unspeakable things to their slaves, the Raider is a very fitting vehicle for them to be riding around in. And aesthetically, it’s really great, very fitting into 40k, but in a style that is totally unlike anything but the Drukhari. (Buy from Amazon)

22. Atalan Jackals

Have there ever been Warhammer 40k vehicles that look like they could actually move as they’re supposed to? The Genestealer Cults are one of my favorite armies partly because of the fact that they’re just so… real. I know that sounds weird. They’re the normal “humans”, the people who make the Imperium work–or that’s what they want you to think. All of the Genestealer Cults vehicles are great, but the Atalan Jackals are just so very perfectly ordinary. It looks like if you put some Necromunda guys on some dirt bikes–and that’s exactly what they’re supposed to look like. (Buy from Amazon)

23. Wazbom Blastajet

I know what you’re thinking: of all the many, many Ork options, why did I go with a relatively obscure flyer? Part of it is because I have a deep, abiding love for Aeronautica Imperialis, but the bigger part is because if there was ever a creation of the Orks that made less sense from a scientific perspective, that had to rely on the Waaagh! common belief that things are going to work so they must therefore work, then it’s a flyer. And, sure, I could have gone with the Deffkopta, but why go small when you can go big? The Wazbom Blastajet is just so absurd that it’s perfect for the Orks. (Buy from Amazon)

24. Kill Team Pathfinders

I needed to pick something from the T’au Empire and I know that they’re absolutely made of giant mechs–that’s kind of their whole thing–but have you ever gotten your hands on the Kill Team Pathfinders? They’re just so flavorful, with great poses and such character. I never liked T’au infantry until I got the Pathfinders and they almost immediately became my very favorite models in the line. (Buy from Amazon)

So those are my picks for the best looking models in Warhammer 40k. What is on your list? Leave a comment!