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We have discussed before the playstyles of each individual Warhammer 40k army, and we’ve even produced a flow chart to help you pick which Warhammer 40k army you want to play (even though it’s a little tongue in cheek).
But what is it about a Warhammer 40k army that makes you want to play it? Is it the playstyle? If it is, then we recommend you read that article. Is it the lore? If it is then we recommend you read these articles that begin to breakdown the lore (for the Space Marines and the Chaos Space Marines).
But what about the feel of the army? What about everything put together? Is there an army for you that you want to play simply because you can’t NOT play it? An army whose models are so much fun to paint that you can’t help but paint them? An army whose lore is so fascinating that you you absolutely have to play them out? And, yes, an army that has a playstyle that is so much fun (or so superior to others) that they are the army for you?
That’s what we’re going to find out.
With each Warhammer 40k army I’m going to list the best overall units and best HQ units.
A few caveats: we’re only going to look at each Warhammer 40k army that has a rulebook, so if you want to look at the lore for the White Scars or Word Bearers, then look at the lore, but they don’t have their own Codex or Supplement and you can’t buy models specific to them (generally). With that said:
What Warhammer 40k Army Should I Play?
Adeptus Astartes: Space Marines
The Space Marines are descended from the 20 Primarchs, who themselves carried genes from the Emperor of Mankind himself. He created the Space Marines to end the Age of Strife and to set out on the Great Crusade to reclaim the worlds of the Imperium that had been lost for thousands of years. Each Space Marine has the gene-seed of its Primarch. After the Horus Heresy, the nine remaining loyalist chapters were split apart in what is known as the First Founding, with most chapters spawning several new chapters beneath them who bear the geneseed, but are a different chapter altogether.
The Space Marines are almost every Warhammer 40k player’s first army for two reasons: they’re so ubiquitous (there are far more Space Marine models–and rules–for Space Marines than there are for any other army on this list), and they’re generally pretty easy to play. It’s not hard to get started playing Space Marines because Space Marines can be anything you want them to be. Want fast attack? You can be fast attack. Want heavy support? You can be heavy support.
One of the best parts of the Space Marines is all of the wonderful variation in Chapters. In the Lore there are 1000 Chapters of the Space Marines, as well as the two missing Legions, and the game developers have explicitly said that part of the reason for this is to allow you to come up with your own home brew Space Marine chapter. You don’t have to play as one of the original Legions. You can play as anyone and anything.
My last project was building the Rock Badgers Chapter of the Space Marines, which you can read about here.
The point is, make your Space Marines any way that you want them, and there will be plenty of opportunity for customization and creativity.
Best Space Marine Unit: Incursors– With Forward Deployment you can put them right into the middle of the battlefield to take objectives, but unlike some scouting units the Incursors are full-blown Space Marines who can deal out a lot of damage in range or in melee. (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Space Marine HQ: Chaplain on Bike– the Chaplain on Bike not only has all the great powers of the Chaplain litanies, but he can move quickly to stay up with (and buff) any unit, and if need be he’s tougher and has more wounds than a standard chaplain to deal out damage on his own (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Adeptus Astartes: Blood Angels
The Blood Angels are the descendants of Sanguinius, the Primarch who was, perhaps, destined to be Emperor of Mankind eventually was he not killed by the traitor Horus at the end of the Horus Heresy. Sanguinius was the most noble and good of all the Primarchs, and he had the literal wings of an angel.
The Blood Angels (a personal favorite of mine–I own an extensive collection) are unique in one vital respect, and that is the Black Rage. Blood Angels contain a flaw in their genes that results in them–nearly all of them eventually–going into a rage with a thirst for blood. A literal thirst. When Blood Angels break into this there is nothing to be done for them except to relegate them to the Death Company, a most brutal and aggressive close combat force that wants blood or death.
The truth is that ALL of the Blood Angels kind of want blood or death, because they know that eventually they, too, will succumb to the Black Rage and they would rather fight like mad men in battle than become actual mad men.
Consequently, the Blood Angels are a very speed-oriented army focused on assault. They are a ton of fun to play, with models that are extremely good-looking on the battlefield (like the Sanguinary Guard).
Best Blood Angels Unit: Sanguinary Guard is great in melee with an incredible save, heroic intervention, and are hard to hit (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Blood Angels HQ: Librarian Dreadnought– All the power of a librarian that can move quickly with the Wings of Sanguinious (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Adeptus Astartes: Dark Angels
The Dark Angels Space Marines hold a deep dark secret, one of the most mysterious of all the chapters. They are often questioned in their loyalty to the Emperor for myriad reasons, but the biggest is because, during the Horus Heresy, part of the Dark Angels turned traitor. Known as The Fallen, the Dark Angels tried to wipe them out by bombarding their own homeworld until the entire thing was destroyed.
The Dark Angels now hunt the remaining Fallen, and have been known to leave a battle in the middle of a fight if they know one of the Fallen have been spotted–so important is their quest to keep The Fallen a secret from the rest of the Imperium.
On the tabletop, the Dark Angels have two awesome things going for them: first, the Ravenwing, which are some seriously awesome bikers. Second, the Deathwing, which are armies made up entirely of Terminators. Either the Ravenwing or the Deathwing are brutal on the battlefield, and the fun that can be had in creating these armies is hard to match.
Lore-wise, the Dark Angels are a very noble and knightly Legion, which is reflected in the hoods, cloaks and vestments they wear over their power armor. Also, they love them some plasma.
Best Dark Angels Unit: Deathwing Terminators– Some might say the Ravenwing, but I think a Terminator-only army can be one of the best looking and most thematic armies to ever play. And they’re incredibly powerful (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Dark Angels HQ: Ravenwing Chief Apothecary– All the great stuff of a good apothecary (buffing and bringing characters back to life) but with the mobility of a bike (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Adeptus Astartes: Deathwatch
The Deathwatch are an elite force of Space Marines–kind of the Top Gun of the Adeptus Astartes. Each chapter or legion will send one of their best to fight in the Deathwatch for a time, taking on the hardest foes in commando-like raids. Consequently, the Deathwatch models wear their heraldry (all black armor with one silver arm) and the heraldry of their original chapter on their other shoulder pauldron.
Because of this interesting mix of characters, there is the chance for a lot of personalization in the Deathwatch. A squad of Deathwatch may have a single Terminator in it alongside Intercessors or Firstborn, or a single biker.
As an elite commando force, the armies play small, usually dropped into the battle by air and attacking hard and fast.
Best Deathwatch Unit: Veteran Kill Team– Well, obviously. You can’t go wrong with these. (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Deathwatch HQ: I’m going to cheat here and go for characters. Kill Team Cassius is a great flavorful starter box that has a little bit of everything from each chapter–Terminators, bikes, jumppacks, etc. (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Adeptus Astartes: Grey Knights
The Grey Knights are not one of the original Space Marine Legions, but are an elite force who are even more elite than regular Space Marines themselves. The Grey Knights are all psykers, to a man, making them not only a threat in close combat (because they are superhuman) but they are a threat during the Psychic Phase.
Grey Knights, because each individual Knight is so powerful, tend to come in smaller forces and a Grey Knight army will almost always be the smallest army on the board (Adeptus Custodes excepted).
They are known for having one very silly unit, the Nemesis Dreadknight, which acts like a Dreadnought but looks like a giant mech wearing a Baby Bjorn strapped to its tummy.
Still, don’t let one silly unit fool you. Grey Knights are no laughing matter.
Best Grey Knights Unit: Paladins– A strong and extremely tough unit that is -1 damage and -1 wounds. (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Grey Knights HQ: Grand Master in Nemesis Dreadknight– A really tough unit (Toughness 6, 2+ Save) with good melee (Strength 12 AP -3) and a good gun (Heavy 2D6 automatic hitting strength 6) (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Adeptus Astartes: Space Wolves
Space Wolves have been called Space Vikings or Space Werewolves, and both of those are partly true. There’s no denying that much of the inspiration for the look and feel of the Space Wolves comes from Norse mythology, but there is a lot of fun to be had in the lore which sees the Space Wolves as a pack of wolves, starting out as Blood Claws, the young pups who are trying to earn their stripes, up to the Long Fangs, the old men who act as the Devastator squads–heavy support from the rear.
They really do make every attempt to incorporate wolves into the armies: wolves run alongside the Space Marines, wolves pull the sled of one of the leaders of the Space Wolves, and–just like how the Blood Angels have a flaw in their genes–the Space Wolves can lose control and become Wulfen–essentially werewolves.
Space Wolves never cease to be a popular army because of both the fun of painting and creating your army, and also because of the relatively straightforward gameplay: you run at the enemy and you attack it, preferably will claws.
Best Space Wolves Unit: Wolf Guard– Getting them with Jump Packs and Lightning Claws at a surprisingly good point cost compared to similar Space Marine units is a bonus (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Space Wolves HQ: Bjorn the Fell-Handed– A great Dreadnought character with some powerful weapon options (I prefer the Helfrost cannon and the Trueclaw: Strength 12, -4 AP and D6 wounds) (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Adepta Sororitas: Sisters of Battle
The Sisters of Battle are an army with a very long history going way back to the first and second editions of the Warhammer 40k. Originally written in as kind of a get-around-the-rule “I am no man!” type thing, the Sisters of Battle are now canonically the protectors of the Ecclesiarchy, rooting out heretics.
When it comes to flavor it is very hard to beat the Sisters of Battle. In the Warhammer 40k world, the Emperor of Mankind (who is now called the God Emperor of Mankind and worshipped as such by all but the heretics), the Emperor originally was trying to stamp out religion, pre-heresy. But we have seen too many supernatural things–literal gods, literal demons, literal angels, literal miracles–to doubt that there is some form of pantheon. And the God Emperor of Mankind, despite his earlier wishes, does appear to be a part of this pantheon.
The Sisters of Battle are dripping in religious iconography, from reliquaries to scrolls to the ever-present fleur-de-lis, and they have some of the most wild vehicles you’ve ever seen: the Exorcist tank is a literal pipe organ that shoots rockets out of its pipes, and the Immolator has a shield made of stained glass.
The Adepta Sororitas are in powered armor, but they aren’t as powerful as the Space Marines. They have a good combination of shooting units and close combat (with a ton of flavorful choices like Arco-Flagellants on one side and Celestian Sacresancts on the other).
Best Sisters of Battle Unit: Celestian Sacresancts– A great melee unit that is incredibly hard to kill (2+ armor and 4+ invulnerable) (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Sisters of Battle HQ: Morvenn Vahl– Incredibly good in melee combat and decent shooting, very hard to kill (halves all damage) (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Adeptus Custodes
If the Space Marines are superhuman, and the Grey Knights are even more superhuman, then the Adeptus Custodes are the most superhuman of them all.
Guarding the Emperor on his Golden Throne himself, the Adeptus Custodes are perhaps nearer to Primarch than they are to Space Marine. Because of this, their armies are often quite small–the smallest armies that you’ll see in Warhammer 40k. They are good at virtually everything, but excel at close combat, and have some wicked jet bikes.
It may not be fair, but we’ll lump the Sisters of Silence in here as well (because the most recent Adeptus Custodes Codex did that): the Sisters of Silence are an order of female soldiers whose primary role it is to supply the Emperor with the psykers who must be sacrificed to him everyday to maintain his life. They are fierce in combat, but they have so few units and have been so unsupported that it’s really hard to say how they generally play. Perhaps with the new Codex that will change.
Best Adeptus Custodes Unit: Custodian Guard– It’s hard to pick a bad choice with the Adeptus Custodes as they’re all good (and there’s not that many to pick from, frankly) but the 3+ invulnerable save is magnificent (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Adeptus Custodes HQ: Shield Captain with Dawn Eagle– A really hard unit to ever kill with a 3+ invulnerable and 5+ Feel No Pain, plus he’s fast (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Adeptus Mechanicus
Coming from Mars, the Adeptus Mechanicus are the group that build all of the wargear used by the Imperium. I was going to say they’re the *people* who build all the wargear, but that would be perhaps overstating it. The Adeptus Mechanicus are mostly cyborgs. There is a law in Warhammer 40k Imperium that there can be no artificial intelligence, so none of these guys are actually robots, but often the line can be very hard to discern.
The Adeptus Mechanicus are an interesting bunch because, while the rest of the Imperium worships the God Emperor of Mankind, the Adeptus Mechanicus worships the Omnissiah, a kind of mechanical god. They don’t believe that vehicles have artificial intelligence, but they do believe in the Machine Spirit, which is, for all intents and purposes, the same thing.
As an army, the Ad Mech are great fun with a number of unique units. They have a kind of retrofuturism vibe going to them, especially with their flyers, like the Archaeopter Stratoraptor and the Pteraxii Sterylizors. They are best when they’re shooting, not great in close combat, even with their best close combat troops. They don’t have a ton of unit choices–they’re one of the smaller ranges–but what they have are a ton of fun.
Best Adeptus Mechanicus Unit: Ironstrider Balistarii– It’s hard to argue against the shooting power of the lascannons doing D3+3 damage and still being able to make their full move with no penalty (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Adeptus Mechanicus HQ: Skitarii Marshal– Not an incredibly tough unit himself, but he does have some great buffing (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Astra Militarum
Also known as the Imperial Guard, the Astra Militarum are the grunts of the Warhammer 40k universe. These are the standard humans in flak jackets with lasguns who hold the line against ravaging hordes while they desperately hope for back up.
There is a ton of differentiation that you can find in the Imperial Guard (for an entire article on it, read here) but suffice it to say that there are a million worlds in the Imperium and while the bog-standard Astra Militarum is patterned after the Cadians, you can really have Astra Militarum that look like just about anything or anyone.
They are very much a shooting army, and they love them some tanks and heavy support. The Imperial Guard are at their best when they’re behind a large gun line and much of their play will be trying to mow down the opponent before they have a chance to get into close combat with you. They do have a few fun close combat units, like the Ogryns, but generally they’re a pretty fragile army.
Best Astra Militarum Unit: Bullgryns– I know this is going out on a limb when this is a mechanized army, I love the Bullgryns. And with the right stratagems and psychic abilities on them they can be an almost invulnerable melee unit that does Strength 7 AP -1 2 Damage (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Astra Militarum HQ: Tank Commander– With either a Demolisher or Eradicator, this guy is a beast, and with Tank Orders he’s a big boost if there’s more than one tank on the board (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Imperial Knights
One of the more ancient armies, the Imperial Knights date back to almost pre-heresy days. Representing feudal houses, the Imperial Knights may be giant fighting robots, but these are no standard gundam. They follow the Warhammer 40k Imperial aesthetic in looking very gothic, very archaic.
The Imperial Knights are absolutely bristling with guns, and some of their guns are the most powerful weapons in Warhammer 40k. An army of Knights will be very small because each Knight costs quite a bit (even the smaller Knights).
Still, these can be some of the best-looking models on the table, especially for artists who want to use their freehand (or stencil) skills to do some beautiful work on the large open panels.
The Imperial Knights are great at range and great up close. Honestly, they would make one of the easiest armies for a starting player to get their feet wet with because the low model count makes it easy to get ready to play, and the well-rounded gameplay makes it easy to roll with the punches, whatever kind of punches they happen to be. (That’s not to say the Imperial Knights would be a cheap army, however.)
Best Imperial Knight: Knight Warden– Properly geared up the Warden can lay down a ton of firepower, and I especially like him with the Thunderstrike Gauntlet that brings him to 4 attacks with Strength 16, AP -4, D6 (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Heretic Astartes: Chaos Space Marines
There originally were 20 Space Marine Legions, but two Legions are forgotten to time, and of the 18 remaining, 9 broke off in a massive civil war known as the Horus Heresy. They came very close to actually breaking down the doors of the Imperial Palace on Holy Terra, but in the end the Emperor himself killed the Primarch Horus, ending the Heresy, and the traitor Legions fled into the chaos of the Warp.
Chaos Space Marines, then, are traitorous legions of the Space Marines that have been corrupted (they might say gifted) with demonic power. For the Chaos Space Marines, they still have a lot in common with standard Space Marines–or, at least, they have similar origins. While there are Imperial Rhinos and Chaos Rhinos, and Imperial Terminators and Chaos Terminators, there are also more mutated analogues: Imperial Dreadnoughts and Chaos Helbrutes, or Assault Marines and Raptors.
And, of course, there are the literal demons who fight alongside the Chaos Space Marines from time to time. You can field an entire army of Chaos Demons (which we’ll mention below) or you can have a small contingent fighting alongside your Chaos Space Marines.
In general, Chaos Space Marines can be every bit as versatile in battle as their non-corrupted brethren. The range is very wide and there is a ton of great flavor and beautiful sculpts. The one downside currently is that, while the Space Marines had their stats buffed to reflect the increased abilities of the Primaris Marines (in particular now having two wounds), the Chaos Space Marines are still waiting for their buff.
Best Chaos Space Marines Unit: Chaos Terminators– These are a no-brainer, especially for the point cost and as an answer to buffed Primaris marines. Lightning claws and combi-bolters are the way to go (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Chaos Space Marines HQ: Dark Apostle– He’s a good buffing HQ, but honestly I’m just picking him because he looks badass (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Heretic Astartes: Death Guard
One of the most beloved Legions of the Chaos Space Marines are the Death Guard, who have been corrupted by the god Nurgle, who is the god of pestilence and rot and decay. This makes the Death Guard one of the most visually striking (and fun to paint) armies there is, with gaping wounds, with extra mouths, with extraneous horns, and with all manner of pus and ooze and boils and sores.
One of the hardiest armies to go up against, the Death Guard are very hard to kill because, well, they’re extremely wounded to begin with. It’s something akin to fighting a zombie and chopping its arm off–it’ll keep coming at you and won’t even notice. In Warhammer 40k rules this is called Disgustingly Resilient, and it basically gives all Death Guard an invulnerable save.
Because they’re so tough, the Death Guard are good at both long range (if you want to keep them at long range) or at close combat.
And don’t forget the Nurglings! Little demons that are always grinning with delight.
Best Death Guard Unit: Blightlord Terminators– Aside from Poxwalkers, if you want someone just to get in your opponent’s grill and occupy him for turn after turn while he pounds away you, then this 2+ save, Toughness 5, 3 Wound, and Disgustingly Resilient unit is perfect (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Death Guard HQ: Mortarion– This is one time when I’m going to recommend the Big Bad: he’s not only great in shooting (he is) and melee (he very much is) but he’s also great at buffing and he’s really hard to kill (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Heretic Astartes: Thousand Sons
The Thousands Sons are Chaos Space Marines who come from the Primarch Magnus the Red, a Primarch who was a powerful psyker before the Horus Heresy, and one who uses psychic abilities to absolutely devastate his foes. The Thousand Sons are, more than any other Chaos Space Marine Legion, magic users. And their magic comes from Tzeentch, the God of Change.
But the Thousand Sons are more than that: they’re also soulless husks in animated armor. The Thousand Sons are cursed and they are essentially dried up and gone, leaving only automaton armor in their wake.
They are also one of the most visually striking units to put in the game. With a little influence from ancient Egypt, the Thousand Sons Rubric Marines, and the Scarab Occult Terminators, these are really gorgeous miniatures to paint–certainly very different from the Death Guard, and very different from the standard Chaos Space Marines.
They are a very tough Warhammer 40k army, and very powerful. They’re good at range and at close combat, but especially potent in the Psychic Phase.
Best Thousand Sons Unit: Scarab Occult Terminators– I have thing for Terminators if you haven’t already noticed. This has all the benefits of a good Terminator, with 2+ save and 3 Wounds, but also has a good melee attack and psyker abilities. And All Is Dust on all Thousand Sons is a boost (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Thousand Sons HQ: Ahriman– For a psychic army you need a great psyker at its head and that’s what you get with Ahriman and his 1+ to cast and 1+ to deny, plus he has buffs (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Chaos Demons
As mentioned above, you can play with Chaos Demons fighting alongside your Chaos Space Marines (there will almost always be Tzaangors with the Thousand Sons and Poxwalkers with the Death Guard) but if you want to play solely as one of the Chaos gods you can do that, too.
There is a lot of variety in this Warhammer 40k army in terms of gameplay: we’ve already talked about Nurgle, the God of Decay, Tzeentch, the God of Change, but there’s also Khorne, the God of Blood, and Slaanesh, the God of Excess. So whether you want to overwhelm your enemy with zombie-like hordes (Nurgle) or trample them with tusks and claws (Khorne) or blast them with magic (Tzeentch) or seduce them with trickery (Slaanesh), you can really take your pick.
Chaos Demons don’t wear armor (mostly) but they almost all have demonic invulnerable saves. Generally speaking, a Chaos Demon army is going to have a lot of units, come at you in close combat, and win through attrition.
Best Chaos Demons Unit: Beasts of Nurgle– There is hardly any better unit for claiming objectives, for this price. For 35 points you get a 5 Wound, Toughness 5, 6+, Disgustingly Resilient model (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Chaos Demons HQ: Lord of Change– A tough psyker who can deal out a lot of mortal wounds at range while being incredibly hard to kill (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Chaos Knights
Almost identical to Imperial Knights, this Warhammer 40k army is, well, traitor knights. They are, for all intents and purposes, the same as Imperial Knights except with chains and rotting flags and corroded armor. But in actual gameplay, they’re still big robots.
Best Chaos Knight: Despoiler: It’s expensive, but the Thermal Cannon is great for taking out tanks, and the Blast is great for infantry (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Aeldari–Craftworlds
The Aeldari Warhammer 40k army are one of the most ancient races in the galaxy–the second-oldest, in fact, next to the Necrons. When the Necrons were making a play to destroy the ancient (we’re talking 60 million years ago ancient) race known as the Old Ones, the powerful Old Ones created many races to be warriors to fight for them, and one of these races was the Aeldari (which are often known as the Eldar, because that was their name for the first six or seven editions.)
The Craftworlds Aeldari are known as Craftworlds because their original homeworlds are destroyed and they live on ships called Craftworlds. (The Aeldari ruled the galaxy for those sixty million years until they got too debauched, created a magnificent rift in the Warp, spawned an entirely new Chaos God–that’s where Slaanesh comes from–and completely fell to pieces.)
They are perhaps the most psychic of all the Warhammer 40k armies, but aside from that, they’re a little tricky to play with. The various units in the Aeldari are extremely specialized, with some brutal at long range but almost paper thin on defense and others brutal at short range but sitting ducks at range. Consequently, playing the Craftworlds Aeldari takes some getting used to.
It’s also worth pointing out that the Aeldari are THE most neglected Warhammer 40k army of the bunch, not having an update to their model range in more than twenty years. If you’re going to be playing with these guys some of them are seriously still metal. That being said, it’s surprising how well some of the sculpts (some, definitely not all) have held up to the test of time. The vehicles in particular still look great twenty years later.
Best Craftworlds Overall: Wraithknight– Use the D-Cannon and you get some non-line-of-sight shooting, and some melee (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Craftworlds HQ: Farseer– Gives buffs and debuffs. Nothing groundbreaking, but almost a no brainer for an Aeldari list (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Drukhari
The Drukhari are almost a Chaos Aeldari: the story goes that when the Aeldari were so powerful and getting so debauched in their pursuit of pleasure, the Drukhari continued in that line of thinking but took it in even more violent and gruesome dimensions. The Drukhari go into battle to take slaves who they will torture with mad delight until their appetites are sated. Seriously, these guys are bad news.
Glass cannons if there ever were any, the Drukhari (also called Dark Eldar for a long time) move very quickly, shoot a ton from their shuriken weapons, and essentially win the game by laying down SO MUCH low-strength firepower that eventually some of the shots will go through.
A lot of Drukhari players have a Drukhari Warhammer 40k army especially because they love the look of the sleek and slender Raiders and Ravagers.
Best Drukhari Unit: Succubus– There is really no other choice in this unit (which was previously even worse but got nerfed from “insanely powerful” to “mostly insanely powerful”). For only 60 points you get a ton of damage output (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Drukhari HQ: Archon– Not a flashy choice, but a good one. Has good melee output and moves quickly with the Overlord buff (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Harlequins
Though they have been dismissed as Space Clowns for their outfits, which are, as the name Harlequin would suggest, a form of fantasy costume, this Warhammer 40k army actually plays a role in Aeldari society that is more like a shaman or ancient storyteller. As such, these performers are among the most honored, most talented, and most skilled Aeldari there are.
Fighting in small groups, or troupes, the Harlequins are extremely light on their feet and their goal is to get you into close combat as quickly and efficiently as possible and to slice you to ribbons. For the Harlequins, there is very little to be said for their long range game (Death Jesters excepts) but in close combat assault they are nearly unmatched.
(As a personal note, my very first foray into Warhammer 40k armies was a box of Harlequins I bought when I was in the eighth grade, back using their first edition rules. They have always had a place in my heart, even when they were discontinued. The fact that they came back after so long gives me hope, however, for the eventual return of my second-oldest first-edition love: the Squats.)
Best Harlequins Unit: Skyweaver Jetbikes– Good shooting but great close combat and crazy movement, plus a wide variety of stratagems (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Harlequins HQ: Shadowseer– A good buffing HQ which can make the Harlequins out of range to hit (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Ynnari (Aeldari)
The Ynnari are an interesting Warhammer 40k army, one that has a complicated backstory and has a frustratingly incomplete product line.
Basically a religious sect of the Aeldari who want to bring the Aeldari back to the power that they once had (and specifically to get their souls back from the Warp), the Ynnari are trying to fulfill a prophesy that will bring back the Ynnead.
Although they have their own Codex (which has not been updated in a while) the Ynnari are typically taken as an adjunct force (or adjunct ruleset) alongside a standard Craftworlds, Harlequins, or Drukhari force.
Best Ynnari Unit: There’s really only one dedicated unit and it’s the Triumvirate of Ynnead (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Orks
Above when we mentioned the battle between the Old Ones and the Necrons, in what is known as the War in Heaven, the Old Ones created the Aeldari, but they also–it is rumored, though I’m not sure if it’s canon–that they created the precursors to the Orks.
Orks, as far as Warhammer 40k armies go, are a very different sort of thing. They come from an age when the Warhammer 40k army was much more lighthearted and satirical, and the Orks are much less like Tolkien Orcs and much more like big dumb doofuses who run into battle laughing their heads off because WAR IS JUST SO FUN.
My favorite part of the Orks is that there is no explanation for how they get their machinery–which can be quite complex, just look at the Shokk Gun–even works, except that if enough Orks *believe* that something will work, then their faith in it makes it work.
Worshipping the gods Gork and Mork, one who is brutal but cunning and the other who is cunning but brutal, the Orks have one of the widest ranges in the Warhammer 40k game, and they recently got a big update (which was needed as some of their models were almost as old as the Aeldari’s).
Playing the Orks gives you a lot of choices as they love their Big Shootas and their Rockit Launchas, but every Ork just wants to get into hand-to-hand combat and bash some brains in.
Best Ork Unit: Beast Snagga Boyz– Nothing flashy, but there are a ton of them and they can put out a lot of dakka Strength 4 (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Ork HQ: Ghazghkull Thraka– Really powerful HQ choice and very hard to kill: he can’t take more than 4 damage in any one turn (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Necrons
So we’ve referred to the Necrons a few times already: the Necrons are the most ancient race in the Warhammer 40k universe, and once of the most interesting Warhammer 40k armies available. More than 60 million years ago the Necrons were known as the Necrontyr, a race that had a very high mortality rate and who spent all of their lives trying to find a way to live longer. You can read the whole story here, but long story short they sold their souls (literally) to a god-like race called the C’Tan, who trapped the Necrons in bodies of living metal. Then the Necrons and C’Tan destroyed the Old Ones, after which the Necrons rose up and overthrew the C’Tan and trapped the shards of these powerful beings in their own weapons. Then, because that was a lot, the Necrons went to sleep for 60 million years.
Now the Necrons have reawakened. They are, in many ways, a space version of The Undead, and they have a LOT of references to ancient Egypt in their naming (Imotekh, Skorpekh) and their appearance.
Of all the Warhammer 40k armies, the Necrons have the access to the most powerful weapons in Warhammer 40k, both in the big picture (they have the most powerful weapons in the lore, including one weapon, the Celestial Orrery, that could wipe out whole star systems with the flick of a wrist) and in the game (the Gauss weapons that the basic infantry carry are some of the strongest weapons in the game).
For a long time this Warhammer 40k army was considered very shooty and less close combat, but recent range expansions have given Necron players a lot more choice when it comes to how they want to play their army. But in all of them, they have the infamous reanimation protocols, which can essentially bring these robots back to life (because: undead).
Best Necron Unit: Necron Warriors– Gauss weapons are really good, and even though they’re slow they’re hard enough to kill that they’ll get in range soon enough (or toss them in a transport) (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Necron HQ: The Silent King– Almost a must-have. Good shooting, great melee and hard to kill (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
T’au Empire
In the grim darkness of the 41st millennium, if there’s any Warhammer 40k army that can be termed the “good guys”, it’s the T’au. This isn’t to say that they’re great, but they do, above all other Warhammer 40k armies, have the willingness to meet a new race, not obliterate it, and invite it to join them in their collective. (They have been called Space Communists by many, and that’s not too far off. They do everything for the Greater Good, but if you don’t follow them into the Greater Good then they’ll kill you. So, not exactly the “good guys.”)
T’au are a weak race, but very technologically advanced, so they don’t do any hand-to-hand fighting on their own, and they build massive warsuits to protect themselves. These warsuits have some of the best guns in the game, including the famous T’au rail guns.
Some have said that T’au are not really fitting in with Warhammer 40k armies because the look is so completely different–it is not, at all, grim dark. But if you like your gundam and didn’t find it with Imperial Knights or Chaos Knights, then maybe you’ll get your fix with T’au Battlesuits.
But this is a shooty army, through and through. You don’t want to end up in close combat because even their warsuits are not very well suited towards hand-to-hand.
Best T’au Unit: Riptide– Take him with the Amplified Ion Accelerator which gives you either D6 shots Strength 8, AP -3, Damage D3, or overpower it to Strength 9 and Blast (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best T’au HQ: Farsight Commander– Great just for the ability to declare Mont’ka even if it’s already been declared once (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Tyranids
If there is any menace greater to the Milky Way galaxy and all of the races that live there, it is not the Warp and not the Chaos gods. It is the Tyranids. It was because of contact with the Tyranids in deep space that the Necrons decided it was time to wake up after 60 million years. The Tyranids are an existential threat to everything–Chaos gods included–because they simply eat and move on, and they’re immune to the effects of the Warp.
The Tyranids’ purpose is to add to their bio-mass, and they do this by eating everything they can, which gives them more bio-mass to create more and more of themselves. So they get bigger and stronger as they go. The only way to defeat them in battle is to make them suffer enough losses to make them think that they’re going to lose more bio-mass than they’ll gain. These are the only calculations in the mind of the Tyranids.
Looking like giant bugs, often, these creatures gain abilities based on the things that they consume, so they essentially learn from the DNA of their dinner, and that learning informs their new mutations.
And the scariest part of the Tyranids is that they’re not the only ones out there. The masses of Tyranids that have been encountered thus far are suspected to only be a scouting party for the much larger invasion fleet that will come to wipe out the Milky Way forever.
As can be expected, this Warhammer 40k army is a swarm army. You can play with some big scary monsters, but you’re mainly playing a battle of attrition.
Best Tyranid Unit: Hive Guard– For only 35 points you get a shooter with Heavy 2, 36″, Ignores line of sight, Strength 8, AP -2, D3 Wounds. It’s hard to beat that. (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Tyranid HQ: Swarmlord– Magnificent with the double move ability, as well as some psychic buffs. And he’s no slouch himself in melee (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Genestealer Cults
This Warhammer 40k army is a fascinating one because Genestealers are part of the Tyranids, and Genestealer Cults suppose that Genestealers–six armed aliens similar to Xenomorphs–land on a planet, infect the population, and then begin spawning Genestealer hybrids: half-alien, half-human. These cults generally exist in the depths of the underworld, and are portrayed as the lowest of the blue-collar workers.
When the Genestealer Cults rise up to battle, they are rising up with pick-axes and shotguns, not bolters or lascannons. But their goal is to rise up and raise the signal for Tyranids to come and consume the planet.
Playing the Genestealer Cults is fun, but tricky. They rely on their ability to pop out of the ground and ambush more than either their ranged or close combat attacks, so this is an army that you need to play strategically. Good at grabbing objectives and picking off unsuspecting units, you need to play the Genestealer Cults like you’d play chess.
One interesting development is that in the most recent Warhammer Day it was revealed that Genestealer Cults are fighting the Adeptus Custodes literally underneath the Imperial Palace. If the Genestealers send a signal to the Tyranids to come destroy Terra, well….
Best Genestealer Cults Unit: Acolyte Hybrids— Good in close combat and makes good use of the deployment rules (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
Best Genestealer Cults HQ: Patriarch– Great in melee, ignores morale, and is incredibly hard to kill him because other models can sacrifice themselves to die for him (Buy in USA | Buy in UK)
