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NOTE: This is first in a series of seven articles about getting started in Warhammer 40k. When all of the articles are written and posted, they will receive their own landing page.

For the very fundamentals of Warhammer 40k gameplay, it needs to be understood that EVERY ARMY IS THE BAD GUYS. We’ll get into this more in the Lore section, but for now: every army is the baddies. In the infamous words of the Warhammer 40k rulebook: “In the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium, there is only war.”

Why is this important to understand? Because it’s the reason that every army can fight every other army. It’s the reason that Space Marines fight Orks, but it’s also the reason that Space Marines fight Imperial Guard (who are part of the Imperium of Man), and it’s even the reason that Space Marines fight Space Marines. In the lore, everybody fights everybody, and while there are times when certain factions will fight together on the same side, even the most stalwart ideological armies will fight their peers: think Adeptus Custodes (the Emperor of Man’s personal bodyguard) fighting the Sisters of Battle (the most puritanical worshippers of the Emperor there are.) Everyone fights everyone.

So, for gameplay purposes, it doesn’t matter who you’re going to play as. You’re going to get into fights.

So what does that mean to get into fights?

Getting Started in Warhammer 40k: How Do You Play Warhammer 40k?

Warhammer 40k is a tabletop wargame, and as such you need a tabletop (or a floor–that works, too). You’re going to need an army of a set size (we’ll talk about army size below) and you’re going to need an opponent.

The thing about Warhammer 40k as a game, however, is that it can be as competitive or as casual as you make it. If you’re looking for a beer and pretzels game, you can get it in Warhammer 40k. If you’re looking for finely-crafted list building that bends the meta so far it almost breaks, then you can do that, too. The point is to find an opponent who likes to play the same way you do.

There are three basic ways to play Warhammer 40k: Open Play, Narrative Play, and Matched Play

Open Play:

This is probably the easiest way to get into the game. If you’ve never played a wargame before and you want to get the hang of how things work, then Open Play is for you. There are no points involved. (Different models and units can be assigned different points, and to balance the game, points are used–you take 1000 points, I take 1000 points. But in Open Play, we don’t use points at all.) So, there is no balance to the game. NOTE: that doesn’t mean that this is the kindergarten version of Warhammer 40k. On the contrary, Open Play is often used when you don’t WANT balance. Either when you’re learning, or when you’re trying to portray an unbalanced battle. Because, you know, not every battle is balanced. But, if we’re talking about portraying specific battles…

Narrative Play:

In Narrative Play, there are sometimes points and sometimes not, but there is a story behind the game. Perhaps you’re recreating a “historical” (from the lore) battle. Or you’re playing an ambush. Or you’re playing a meat grinder. Games like this often do use points and say that the defending force gets 1000 points, and the attacking force gets 2000, and the goal is to see how long the defenders can survive. In Narrative Play, there is always an objective–or multiple objectives. They may be designated by cards you draw (we’ll talk about cards more later) or they may just be agreed to by the players.

Matched Play:

Matched Play is where you are playing even. You both have the same number of points and you are trying to win the game in as balanced a way as possible. This might involve holding objectives, or killing heroes or wiping your opponent out entirely. Matched play is what you find at tournaments. In a tournament game, the terrain will typically be as neutral as possible to give both sides an equal footing. This is the chess version of Warhammer 40k (as much as you can say any game that rolls 30 dice at a time is like chess). It’s for list-builders against list-builders. It can be very fun, or it can be very cutthroat.

No matter what, all three of these ways to play Warhammer 40k–Open, Narrative, and Matched–will appeal to someone and not appeal to others. Make sure that your opponent is okay with how you want to play, and you can both have a great time.

Getting Started in Warhammer 40k: What Do You Need to Play?

Models:

This is where you can really dive in (and also where you can really spend a LOT of money). Games Workshop, love ’em or hate ’em, makes the best miniatures currently on the market (for my money, anyway). The Warhammer 40k models are stellar and while there are a few ranges that are in need of a facelift because the sculpts may be ten, fifteen or twenty years old, generally Games Workshop is always releasing something new and shiny to get you interested in. How do you know which models to buy? We’re going to have four whole articles dedicated to that, but for now know that there are the Space Marines, the Imperium of Man, the Armies of Chaos, and the Xenos Armies. You’ll learn more about them in the…

Rulebook:

To play Warhammer 40k you’re going to need the Core Rulebook. This can be found in numerous places around. You can buy the Warhammer 40k 9th Edition Core Rulebook on its own or it can be bought in the Warhammer 40k Command Edition Starter Set (which comes with models for you and an opponent). If you just want the basic rules and not the entire rulebook, the Elite Edition Starter Set and the Recruit Edition Starter Sets both have introductory rules. They’re not EVERYTHING you need to know, but they’ll get you started. If you’re a casual player you may never need the full rulebook and will always be content with the introductory rules. But wait, there’s more:

A Codex:

Games Workshop likes to sell a lot of rules, but with the enormous number of models that there are, all of which have different stats and special abilities, it’s impossible (or next to impossible) to cram them all into one book. So most factions have a separate Codex. This codex will tell you a lot of the lore about your army, as well as give you all the stats for all the models in that army’s entire range. (Well, unless Games Workshop has released something new since the Codex came out, in which case you’ll need:)

Chapter Approved:

You don’t really need this if you’re a beginner. Chapter Approved is a regular publication that comes out when Games Workshop realizes that a particular army is “broken” (either too powerful or not powerful enough) and they need to make some tweaks. There are also some special rules included in the Chapter Approveds. Basically, if you’re going to be serious about Matched Play, then you need this. If you’re content to play casually, you really don’t.

Dice:

You’re going to need a lot of dice. And sometimes a LOT of dice. Some actions have one unit firing all their guns and you’re rolling 28 dice at once. Because of this, a dice tray is a nice thing to have. Not necessary, but it’ll make your life easier. (Note: Games Workshop loves to sell special dice for each faction that might have the faction’s symbol on it and be specially colored, but you don’t need those. They’re SUPER expensive compared to dice you can buy for pennies at your local hobby store.)

Ruler or Tape Measure:

In Warhammer 40k there are no squares or hexes for determining movement. All of your models move according to inches. A small tape measure is usually the easiest thing, because sometimes you need to measure longer than a ruler would reach (if you’re measuring the range of a gun, for example). But stay away from a big hefty construction tape measure. They just get in the way. A small 6′ or 12′ is fine.

Terrain:

There are people who are entirely devoted to making incredible wargaming terrain for Warhammer 40k, and it can be really satisfying to see your well-painted army fighting around well-painted, sculpted, molded, scratch-built terrain. But if you don’t have fancy terrain, there’s nothing wrong with raiding the pantry and pulling out a few boxes of noodles, a couple cans of beans, and imagining them as buildings.

And that’s it for what you need to play the game!

Getting Started in Warhammer 40k: The Phases of the Game

Once you have determined the type of game you’re playing (Open, Narrative, Matched), you will follow the rules of setup. There may be a scenario written in the rulebook that has a diagram of the board, or you may select cards that have secret (and sometimes non-secret) objectives on them. The cards are typically purchased separately from the rulebooks and are not always necessary.

But once you know what kind of game you’re playing, and what your objectives are, you begin setup. Depending on the game you’re playing you may place your units in an alternating fashion–them then you, then them, etc. Or you place all of yours and then they’ll place all of theirs. The rules of each game are clear (or, with Open Play, you just agree on a setup and go with it).

Command Phase:

During the Command Phase, players roll initiative to see who goes first, and they also can play certain command abilities, some of which cost a number of Command Points. The number of Command Points you get is determined by the size of your army, and the way that your army is composed. For example, you get more Command Points if all of your units are from the same army–say, they’re all Space Marines–while you’ll get slightly less if you’re Space Marines fighting alongside the Sisters of Battle. Even within single armies, different army compositions can raise or lower your Command Points. For now, just know that you can spend Command Points to gain abilities or reroll dice.

Movement Phase:

During the Movement Phase, you (obviously) move your units. There will be some decision making here, because there will be some units you want to move forward, while there will be some you’ll want to remain in the rear. In particular, there are some types of guns that have penalties or restrictions to shoot if you have moved. You’ll want to be judicious in your movement.

Psychic Phase:

There are some models known as Psykers who can use psychic powers (essentially magic). It is during this phase that these powers are used. Very often there are no Psykers in the game and this phase is skipped, but some armies, like Grey Knights or Thousand Sons, have a lot of Psykers and this is a very important phase.

Shooting Phase:

Now is when you fire your weapons. You designate a unit, designate it’s target, make sure it’s in range (all weapons have a range characteristic) and then you calculate how many dice you need to roll. First, you will be rolling to hit, and this is based on your Ballistic Skill (BS). The better your Ballistic Skill, the easier it is to hit your target. Some things can alter your hit roll, such as if the enemy is in cover. Then, once you have determined how many of the shots hit, you need to roll to see if they wounded. This is done by comparing the Strength characteristic of your weapon against the Toughness characteristic of the enemy. Once you know how many wounds you have done, it’s not over yet! Your opponent has a chance to save them with their armor. Armor will have a save number like 4+ or 6+, meaning that if you roll a 4 or higher, or a 6 or higher then the armor will have stopped the shot. However, some weapons have an Armor Piercing value, written as AP -1 or AP -3. So, if you have someone with an Armor Save of 4+, and you are shooting them with a weapon AP -1, then that means they will save on a 5 or better. (Yes, this is a lot of rolling to figure out who has shot who, but that’s the rules.)

Charge Phase:

In the Charge Phase you declare which of your units are going to attempt to charge into hand-to-hand combat with your opponent and which are not. To charge, you roll 2D6 and move that number of inches. If the enemy is farther away than what you rolled (for example, if they are eight inches away and you rolled a five). If your charge succeeds, your enemy may have the opportunity to shoot you as you run to them. If your charge doesn’t succeed, you simply stay in place.

Fight Phase:

The Fight Phase is similar to the Shooting Phase in that same “roll to hit, roll to wound, roll to save” way. Fighting only happens between units in contact on the tabletop, and typically the weapons they use will have a Strength rating that refers to the character’s Strength rating (“Strength +1” or “Strength x2” etc). The other difference in the Fight Phase is that once you attack, the opponent gets to counterattack. Casualties are determined, and both sides are consolidated.

Morale Phase:

In the Morale Phase we determine whether or not your troops break under pressure and flee the battlefield. This depends on the relative number of units that get killed on each side, plus a die roll for Leadership. There can be affecting factors, such as Space Marines’ “And They Shall Know No Fear” rules and the like.

At this point, the opponent take their turn, and goes through all of these phases themselves.

Typically a game lasts around five turns for each player, though different scenarios can have different turn limits.

The game ends usually when the turn limit has been reached, and then a winner is decided based on Victory Points. The Victory Points are scored based on the number of objectives that have been completed, including scenario objectives, plus Primary and Secondary Objectives.

Conclusion

That’s… really about it. Of course, the rulebook is hundreds of pages long and there is a lot of minutiae–less so if it’s Open Play and a LOT more if it’s Matched Play. Whichever way you decide to play, getting started in Warhammer 40k is something that you’ll never regret. (Though your wallet might.)

Getting Started In