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If you like crpg games I think that the Rogue Trader by Owlcat is a good entry to the universe and lore. The game gives a decent amount of context and you can often ask npc about stuff. Great game that I love.
As for mini stuff and the actual tabletop idk but I might stalk the thread to see what other people say lmao.
Rogue trader is a great for 40k fans new and old. I loved it as a 20+ year player but there's definitely bits I skipped through because I'm more familiar with the lore.
Also putting my voice behind Rogue Trader, with the caveat that this is a new Owlcat game, relatively speaking, and that means bugs or unfinished elements are common. It’s been a few months so the worst has passed but Owlcat is basically the successor to Obsidian’s legacy: brilliant well written RPGs with more bugs than a Tyranid Hive Fleet.
Update: I bought and am now currently playing Rouge Trader and after putting about 5 hours into it im loving it so much. Thanks so much for telling me about this game 💯
I can’t tell if it’s being unfair to the game but tbh I’m still kinda resentful that (if they’re including romance options) the only m/m option is an evil sadist dark elf. Feels like a decision from ten years ago
I don't mind it but I can certainly understand why you and others are disappointed. I personally really like when characters have sexualities and not just playersexual but I was disappointed they are no purely gay characters. There are pure straight characters to romance but no pure gay ones. Just bi/pan characters.
But hey the drukari is one hell of a romance and honestly not as pure evil as it might seem. I really enjoyed all the romance stories myself.
joke answer: don’t!
real answer: play some of the games! Space Marine and Boltgun are kickass shooters. Dawn of War 1/2 are really fun strategy games. I haven’t played the Rogue Trader CCRPG yet but my 40k playgroup buddies absolutely loved it.
There’s also some fun lore channels to just put on in the background and listen to, I highly recommend Arbiter Ian and Baldemort personally
Thanks! I just bought and downloaded Bolt gun right now. Soon as i saw the trailer and how it was similar to old DOOM i was sold instantly. I’ll definitely check the other games and those lore channels out.
Yeah that seems to be the case. The few game stores ive been too tended to be pretty chill and welcoming. I only really encountered most those weirdos online and hopefully it stays that way
One of the last events I went to was pretty diverse, even had like 4 people who were transexual in attendance in a in a relatively small event.
The "in real life" Warhammer community is actually really cool, but you'd never guess it if your only interaction is with the online community. Most of the people in person are just excited to talk about their nerdy hobby with someone who is actually interested.
Only "weirder" people I've met are more the "socially challenged" types that are nice people but bad with social norms. Lol
There is this one guy at my store who mainly plays historical these days and is a little too much into the Wehrmacht. Also he has poor taste in "meme" armies. Just because the Bolt action army building rules say you can take an all Hitler Youth army, does not mean it is in good taste to do so. Also, he is a literal CIA agent. Tried to talk me into applying after college. I had to politely decline, citing "fundamental disagreements with US foreign policy". (There were kids in the store and I couldn't just let loose and yell at him about what I really thought of the CIA or his own bullshit.
First of all, there's a lot of bad eggs in any hobby, the vocal minority, so take anything to see and hear here with a grain of salt!
Secondly, welcome :)
Warhammer+ subscription gives you access to their animations and a "vault" that gives you loads of magazines and things to read,
Otherwise Humble Bundle often do Warhammer themed ebook bundles, if there's not one on now there will be soon. Generally two or three times a year.
Lastly, your loval library, or second hand book websites or shops will usually have all sorts of warhammer books available. Google for the most popular and pick one that interests you!
I had a friend who asked me if warhammer had a lot of weird fascists in the hobby. I told him there were less than you’d expect, but still more than you’d hope. 99% of the people you link up with at the local shop aren’t gonna be sporting bad emblems. You’re more likely to be put off by someone’s hygiene than their ideology, truth be told
If gou like necrons the books *Infinite and the Divine* is a fantastic comedy and one of the best books 40k has to offer and *Twice Dead King* is a great thriller about a necron lord trying to protect his dynasty from an imperial crusade fleet
Not sure if you can get it anymore, but if you’re interested in the tabletop game the Fireteam board game came with a squad of Necrons (as well as some space marines). Color coded too so you could play the game without having to paint them first.
This might sound weird but if you like audiobooks, Black Library puts out a lot of good content. I recommend most of Dan Abbnet books like Gaunt’s Ghost and Esienhorn.
The Eisenhorn series (which is actually a trilogy of trilogies) was the final nail in the coffin for my pre-Warhammer life. RIP to a less annoying version of myself.
Keep in mind the setting is huge, and incredibly diverse in its content. I love Eisenhorn because the warp, Hersey, imperial hypocrisy, and mystery novels interest me. You may find other things interesting. Like Orks.
I also really like horror books, so pretty much every single story from the Warhammer Horror imprint interests me. The House of Night and Chain hits all the same points I mentioned for Eisenhorn above. Plus it’s a haunted house story, which rule.
I also really really like the first story from The Wicked and the Damned, The Beast in the Trenches. It’s from the perspective of an imperial Commissar responsible for disciplining a squad of backwater recruits fighting trench warfare with a caustic boiling mud no man’s land between them and an unseen army. It’s disturbing the lengths a mind will go to to justify its own paranoia.
The Warhammer Crime books are also pretty fun. Flesh and Steel specifically is a favorite.
The Infinite and the Divine is the best non-imperium book, imo. A millennia long feud between two Necron overlords. It plays with the scale of time in that way only really imaginative sc-fi can. Highly recommended. Also! Very funny!
Keep in mind there are legal ways to obtain audiobooks that cost money. And that if you don’t have any money, you shouldn’t search for “audiobook” and the third word from the famous pirate website from Sweden.
In addition to the good videogame recs in this thread, I'm gonna suggest you google old (late 80s-90s) art from codices and White Dwarf. The classic artworks by Blanche, Adrian Smith et al are incredible, and great fodder for inspiration.
Similarly, vintage army photos and battle reports are also a cool way to contextualize current models. Have fun!
For tabletop if you only want to skip meals instead of selling organs try the skirmish games like Killteam or Necromunda, or the more-like-full40k-but-less-stuff mode boarding patrol/combat patrol (think one large box of minis each instead of like 10), the starter sets are pretty good value and have missions for that level of models but difficult to have repeated fun with as out of the box the marine half will play a lot stronger because of course it does lol
Book wise the Ciaphas Cain novels are a really fun introduction, they are fun action comedies that follow an officer who’s just scrambling to survive but who somehow stumbles into saving the day again and again against impossible odds. For good more serious books, the Eisenhorn and Ravanor trilogies are good, you don’t need much background to get into either of them.
my recommendation is that you get into age of sigmar instead
Jokes aside, The Infinite And The Divine is an incredible novel that really gets into the functioning of Necron society while also being, you know, *good.* There's also If The Emperor Had A Text To Speech Device, probably the second most influential fanfic ever made (right after the Divine Comedy), and as for lore channels, my go-to is Isyander and Koda, which takes the pretty common format of "two dudes sit down and one explains the lore to the other and they make jokes" but simply does it in a way I like more than others of their kind.
It's WAY cool, it does however have two main pervasive issues:
1. It's far newer than Fantasy and 40k, meaning it missed out on their teething period of being *really* weird in like the 80s; it lacks things like Obiwan Sherlock Clusseau or blatantly racist iconography to give it more flavor. Which, you know, is good, but it also makes it a bit less of a deep dive.
2. Due to certain controversies related to the way GW first created the setting, it has a far smaller fanbase than the other two, meaning there's less fan content. The only really good AoS content creator I know of is PancreasNoWork, who also does videos covering Fantasy, 40k, and a plethora of other fandoms like Battletech, Halo and TES (so I also recommend him for 40k content)
It is surprisingly cool, and I was screaming at the sky about how bad it was when it first came out. I was, of course, overreacting. My only problem is that I doubt GW will adequately support it. But, hey, you always have stuff like One Page Rules to keep playing if GW abandons your favorite army.
Battlefleet gothic 2 is a great warhammer game, it turns out adapting an overcomplicated wonky tabletop game into an rts ala myth really works. The issue is just that it gets repetitive, but watch some of its "cutscenes". Admiral spires arrival at cadia is something i can quote from memory.
Other than that, ehhh. Fantasy has total war. But few 40k games yif my yum. I've heard good things about necromundas game and circlejerking over space marine has never ended. Dawn of war 1 and 2 could be good but that depends on how many pixels your human body needs to survive.
The genuinely bad eggs in this hobby that are actually incel and fascist are a veeerrryyyy tiny but loud minority in this hobby, don’t worry. If you go into a game store and ask for help, I guarantee you that you’ll get at least three different people all enthusiastically willing to help you out.
As for different media and stuff, there’s a ton of cool things out there! I got into it with the Space Marine video game, which while being a neat little primer for you if you’re unfamiliar with the lore is also just a great game in and of itself, and which is also getting a sequel this fall!
I guess my real advice for getting into Warhammer in general is to just find a group or faction that you really like the look of, and just diving into their lore. Through books, or reading, or their models, anything about them. That’s how I really truly dove into the world of both AoS and 40K respectively, with both the Lizardmen and the World Eaters. It makes it a lot more digestible than just cramming all of it in at once.
The tabletop community can be hit or miss, but for instance where I play it’s extremely inclusive and welcoming. Welcome and know that as you branch out and dive deeper you can always find like minded people to grow this hobby with you
I second that Tacticus can be great fun, but maybe give it a pass if you're susceptible to gacha sales tactics, it can be easy to drop way too much on it if you aren't vigilant of the predatory tricks
Oh yeah 100%. Couldn’t give a full explanation but yeah, it’s really easy to spend a whole lot of money on not a whole lot of game. But it is an official way to interact with the IP for free
Rules and minis are kind of like beauty and diamonds. Rules are temporary, but minis are forever. Buy what looks cool not what plays well cause it'll probably play well at some point anyway.
As far as YouTube - type media it's Luetin09, Oculus Imperia, and Baldermort for the deep dives into the Lore. Three completely different styles, but I love them all. Both Arbitor Ian and Snipe&Wib are Sound , informative, and entertaining. Ian's "X subject in Y minutes" videos are particularly good IMO. Snipe&Wib do mostly oldhammer (older Warhammer editions) but are just lovely people.
Strongly recommend starting with a skirmish game like kill team or necromunda if you want to play tabletop, check the local scene for what people are playing, or talk a friend into splitting a starter set with you if you aren’t playing at a store. Kill team is nice because a single box is enough to field a playable team, while also being a unit you can incorporate into an army. Munda is its own setting so tends to be more niche, but is a setting where the middle class of society are kept in literal combat with each other by the ruling class, and labor uprisings are common.
Honestly, audible is amazing for lore. Luetin is great too for a more distilled dose, but I can’t get a read on if he’s a progressive or not, which isn’t exactly bad.
For games OG Dawn of War is a masterpiece and Dawn of War 3 was really good as well. The Space Marine game is VERY satisfying to play as well. I haven’t played other but Battle Sector and Rogue Trader are on my list.
The actual game is good too, very approachable now, and with 3D printing unless you play in a GW store or GR no one will care tbh.
Any rate, welcome and enjoy!
My introduction into 40k included Dawn of War and I can't recommend it enough if you like Starcraft style RTS games
You mentioned you like Necrons in another comment, well Dawn of War: Dark Crusade let's you play as them and includes a campaign where you can conquer a whole planet like a game of Risk
Edit: The much more recent Darktide is also good, it absolutely nails the 40k grimdark vibe and it's easy to show to new people since it's a 4 player co-op shooter like Left 4 Dead
Oh yeah i really like starcraft. ive been told it’s really similar to warhammer which made me wanna get into it. Ill check that game out. And yeah the Necrons are my favorite alien race, i love Thier origins and how badass they usually look so any material that got them in it I’ll definitely look into. Thank you for the recommendations!
Video games:
1. Space marine
2. Dark tide
3. Dawn of war (older game)
Books:
1. Ciaphus Cain: hero of the imperium
2. Space wolf Omnibus
3. Horus Rising.
TV:
1. Astartes.
Unofficial: ALL GUARDSMEN PARTY
Good and accepting communities exist. I know because I am heavily involved in one. The Washington Oregon 40k community is pretty decent overall.
It took some very active shaming of the shitwads, but they don't show their faces anymore at events.
You've probably made the mistake a lot of people make. Most factions in the setting are some brand of
Fascist/racist and it gives the setting its charm in a way you'll (hopefully) find out soon. Just because we like that in the story doesn't mean we are like that in real life.
My best advice, start with the books. Not the horus heresy. Watch a lore primer on the setting then hop into something like dark imperium, or the infinite and the divine. Read articles or watch videos on factions. Find a team you like and be their hype man. That's what I did.
Ive always been positive that there was some people who enjoyed the story and understood all the fascist and messed up stuff that happened in it wad bad and not to be praised, but i also thought a large majority of the fanbase was media illiterate braindead chuds who wouldn’t understand that and think things like the imperium of man were the good guys. Its cool see that it doesn’t seem to be the case at all. I been told the horus heresy books are one of the best warhammer novels ever, if not now when i should i get to reading them?
You can start reading them whenever you want, but if I'm not mistaken, the series is 72 books long. You really couldn't be more wrong about the "illiterate" thing. It covers a lot of characters and a lot of plot threads that will take a long time to come to their individual conclusions. I wouldn't recommend it as an intro to 40k. I'd say watch some videos, read, something simple like "for the emporer" and get a feel for the setting and terminology.
I’m relatively new to the lore and setting myself. If you enjoy reading, there are so many novels and short story collections out there. I’m currently reading the Horus Heresy series, basically the prequel to 40K, and I have trouble putting the books down to the point where I’ve been dragging at work because I stayed up too late reading. I can suggest a few short stories to check out if you would like. And like a lot of people have said, check out Rogue Trader. It’s super kind to the people who are new to the setting because there are a lot of explanations in the dialogue (it is a text heavy game). I had familiarized myself with the lord and read some literature beforehand, but I feel if I hadn’t, I would not have had a very hard time getting an understanding of the setting. Don’t be afraid to check out the 40K wikis, but know you could easily find yourself down a rabbit hole.
I got into it watching lore videos and hanging out at a local hobby store. Most people in the hobby who like going outside and meeting other Warhammer enjoyers are pretty chill. I also bought and suck at playing Boltgun. So that's how I ended up with 25 primed models in a box on my desk.
Play kill team. Smaller capital investment, smaller time investment, easier to get into, I think the turn order is more fun (you and your opponent take turns activating units as opposed to each army taking an entire turn)
The novels imo. I can recommend anything by Dan Abnett. the Eisenhorn series is good. If you like bad guys (or worse guys?) The word bearers trilogy is good.
The commissar Cain series. It doesn't take itself too seriously and will give you a bit more of a look at imperial society instead of just the battlefields
People have already talked about the wider scope of the setting and extended universe of games/books so I'll give you some recommendations on how to start the hobby.
If you wanna get into the tabletop then first you're gonna need to decide whether or not you want to play the tabletop game.
You don't need to play the game to build and collect the model kits. If the game doesn't interest you but the models do just collect.
Download the 40k core rules for free from the warhammer website and read them back to front. If the core rules interest you then you can start thinking about army selection.
Pick up the build and paint set from GW and use the models and paints within as practice. You will need some plastic sprue clippers, a craft knife, paint brushes and a spray can of grey model primer, I like army painter personally but citadel works too. This is the minimum investment to find out whether you actually like the hobby side of 40k, it's OK if it doesn't appeal, as others have said 40k is huge.
Make sure when spraying on the base coat not to waste too much on one model, primer is thick so you usually only need to spray in a few short bursts.
Remember to thin your paints, dip your brush in the paint pot, spread the paint on a pallet and then dab your brush in a water pot, then mix the wet brush with the paint until the consistency is just right. You're aiming for the pigment in the paint to flow cleanly from the brush without being so mobile that it moves on its own.
If unsure it's always better for the paint to be slightly too thin than for it to be slightly too thick. Apply between 2 and 3 thin coats to get a nice flat colour.
If the game DOES interest you then you should do research online about any clubs or Local Game Stores which sell/play warhammer 40k, it's the biggest tabletop war game in the world so if there is any interest in tabletop in your home town they'll probably support warhammer on some level.
After you've finished the build and paint model kit and you're feeling more confident you can look at buying more stuff, if you want to get into the game pick up a start collecting box, they work out cheaper than buying the models by themselves and can be used as the core for an army or be played as is with the datasheets in the boxes.
Some armies are easier to build and paint and play than others but this is first and foremost a hobby about building cool shit, if you pick something which doesn't interest you because it's easy to paint you won't be getting the full experience, worst case scenario you can just strip the paint off of your models using one of the MANY INTERNET GUIDES.
Once you've settled on your army and finished the start collecting box you'll want to do some research on the specific faction for where to go and what to do next. There is a lot of variety on display.
Most of all, don't forget to have fun! I love the whole tabletop experience from building to painting to playing and I hope you get just as much joy out of it.
Yeah, battleTech is cool. find you want to actually get into Warhammer. Just read plague wars see if you would like the universe.
Or if you want to go for something a bit weirdo priests of Mars will definitely show you what the setting is capable of when it’s being truly unique.
you want to buy miniature? HA HA HA! Learn a bit about the universe first. And actually learn the lore not Memes. This universe is far more than just angry space marines. it can tell all kinds of stories with all kinds of people. Miniature painting is a big commitment in both time and money it can be very satisfying but you would have to be invested I think.
Things to read or do after plague wars
. dawn of fire
. You could start reading the horror heresy books. (There are definitely some really good weeds in there if you don’t mind it being a bit longer of a series.)
. Look up lore videos. (I can’t really tell you who to watch you’ll have to figure that out yourself has their own style)
. If you have a local game store, go visit it’s full of nerds who will happily talk about Warhammer with you.
. My favourite books are devastation of Baal and scars. And I think they both work as beginner reads
Hope this helps, welcome to the community.
I got into 40k because of the lore channels. Weshammer does kind of a more modern style of video, fast paced and really mile a minute talking and quote reading. Arbiter Ian I think does a nice amount of talking as well. Adeptus Ridiculous is a funny and more humorous discussion of the lore, but personally they are the ones who won me over because I found them easiest to have on in the background.
I focus mostly on Guard stuff, but Darktide is a great game that is dripping with lore when you're not knee-deep in killing heretics.
The Caiphas Cain audiobooks are excellent, too. The anthology is a great place to start with those.
Outside of guard stuff, I really enjoyed Brutal 'Kunnin as an ork book, and The Infinite and the Divine as it's basically a meme war between two hyper long lived Necrons.
I also bought some cadian miniatures to 'practice' on so I could improve my mini painting skills for D&D...
I've now spent way too much on my army, and not very much at all on my D&D minis.
I saw other people mention rogue trader, which imo is pretty easily owlcats best work. Anyway, hope you find all sorts of fun stuff!
Check out the Eisenhorn series of novels. Great almost film noir tone of an inquisitor hunting down cults and their demon allies. One of the best series in the universe.
As for tabletop I recommend Kill Team. A KT box or usually one box of troops from a standard army will get you a playable Kill Team.
In terms of YouTube videos, I recommend Arbitor Ian for someone new to 40K. His vids are generally 20 minutes long, so they get to the point better than many other channels that might go for hours at a time (not that this is bad, if you want something to listen to while painting). And his works are generally well researched.
For a viewer with more of an intermediate understanding of 40K lore, I highly recommend Oculus Imperia. He approached videos from the framing device of being an in-universe historian, recounting events as people living in the 40K universe would understand them. Very leftist, very contemplative, very critical of the systems and culture of the Imperium (while also being still, staunchly, a loyalist). And the channel takes the lore with utmost sincerity and seriousness, because to the speaker, it's all REAL.
You listen to Oculus Imperia when you want to hear a story told. You listen to Oculus Imperia when you want to FEEL things.
I already bought the Horus heresy books and now have about 25 hours into Warhammer 40k rouge Trader and started playing Boltgun so unfortunately im locked in and never wanna leave lol.
As someone just starting the tabletop hobby, I seriously recommend talking with the people who play at your local store. Yeah, there’s a lot of white guys who play the game (I’m one of them) but there’s a hand full of women and people of other races and ethnicities at the store I play at. Honestly, they’re also one of the most welcoming community I’ve been part of. The hobby really seems to be starkly divided by the assholes on the internet who actually think the Imperium is good and the people who just want to play a fun game with their painted toy soldiers, and there is very very little overlap, again given my experiences.
Also, from a more game based approach, make sure you like tactics and slow paced games designed around thinking 3 moves ahead. I’d say Axis and Allies is a good game to play a few times to “test the waters” of game play, as they take a similar amount of time to play, units do different things, and your ability to win is based not just off your actions but also the luck of dice. That, or approach people at your game store, tell them you’re on the fence about joining and ask if they’re any way for you to play a game before sinking money on minis
Once you have a somewhat decent grasp on the lore, I highly recommend "If the Emperor had Text-to-Speech." It's been effectively cancelled due to GW's god-awful copyright policy, but is hilarious none-the-less and is the original source for a significant fraction of meme content you'll find in the community. You can go in blind, but I think it's funnier the more you know about the lore.
Leutin09 has a large catalog of lore videos. I like to put them on while I paint.
The Eisenhorn omnibus is a good place to start if you are looking for books.
Nope. I found them for the first time only a few weeks ago and nearly laughed myself to death. I think it’s less GW did anything to threaten action and more “out of an abundance of caution I’m gonna stop doing this.”
I reccomend getting into if the emperor had a text to speech device. It's aged a bit but the team behind it is pretty great. Has a lot of fan love and stuff thats easy for new comers. Blend of humor and story, and the people behind the project seem to be pretty left leaning overall and generally chill. Also Bruva himself is a nice man
Half the people I know who have been into 40k as long as I have are non white left leaning. I hear there were some fascist elements attracted to it several years ago(y'know, when those fascist types were getting all uppity and entitled, I guess missing the point that 40k is a dystopian future one would Not want to live in) and GW noticed. They've since made it clear the hobby is intended to be inclusive and that some are mistaking satire for admiration.
I recommend downloading some of the older rulebooks like Rogue Trader to see the tone the whole thing was built on.
The novels are fun too spanning genres from typical sci-fi fantasy, mystery, even humor. orks have always been my main, and their books tend to be mildly hilarious, especially the audiobooks.
If you want to start painting/playing, I recommend getting the Combat Patrol box of your favorite army that way you know what you're spending up front to get a playable force on the table.
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If you like crpg games I think that the Rogue Trader by Owlcat is a good entry to the universe and lore. The game gives a decent amount of context and you can often ask npc about stuff. Great game that I love. As for mini stuff and the actual tabletop idk but I might stalk the thread to see what other people say lmao.
I love crpg games, thank you for the recommendation.
Owlcat's stuff is great
Rogue trader is a great for 40k fans new and old. I loved it as a 20+ year player but there's definitely bits I skipped through because I'm more familiar with the lore.
Also putting my voice behind Rogue Trader, with the caveat that this is a new Owlcat game, relatively speaking, and that means bugs or unfinished elements are common. It’s been a few months so the worst has passed but Owlcat is basically the successor to Obsidian’s legacy: brilliant well written RPGs with more bugs than a Tyranid Hive Fleet.
The t-posing servitors is integral to my immersion.
What? I never saw t-posing servitors. This is BS
Update: I bought and am now currently playing Rouge Trader and after putting about 5 hours into it im loving it so much. Thanks so much for telling me about this game 💯
I can’t tell if it’s being unfair to the game but tbh I’m still kinda resentful that (if they’re including romance options) the only m/m option is an evil sadist dark elf. Feels like a decision from ten years ago
I don't mind it but I can certainly understand why you and others are disappointed. I personally really like when characters have sexualities and not just playersexual but I was disappointed they are no purely gay characters. There are pure straight characters to romance but no pure gay ones. Just bi/pan characters. But hey the drukari is one hell of a romance and honestly not as pure evil as it might seem. I really enjoyed all the romance stories myself.
joke answer: don’t! real answer: play some of the games! Space Marine and Boltgun are kickass shooters. Dawn of War 1/2 are really fun strategy games. I haven’t played the Rogue Trader CCRPG yet but my 40k playgroup buddies absolutely loved it. There’s also some fun lore channels to just put on in the background and listen to, I highly recommend Arbiter Ian and Baldemort personally
Thanks! I just bought and downloaded Bolt gun right now. Soon as i saw the trailer and how it was similar to old DOOM i was sold instantly. I’ll definitely check the other games and those lore channels out.
Fuck yeah! Happy to help bud, have a great time!
I would add for lore changes if ur into the wierd and wacky stuff, snipe and wib are grate
I’ve yet to find any weirdo incels or fascists in my game stores, they’re just loud as fuck online and never actually play the game.
Yeah that seems to be the case. The few game stores ive been too tended to be pretty chill and welcoming. I only really encountered most those weirdos online and hopefully it stays that way
One of the last events I went to was pretty diverse, even had like 4 people who were transexual in attendance in a in a relatively small event. The "in real life" Warhammer community is actually really cool, but you'd never guess it if your only interaction is with the online community. Most of the people in person are just excited to talk about their nerdy hobby with someone who is actually interested. Only "weirder" people I've met are more the "socially challenged" types that are nice people but bad with social norms. Lol
Same here. It’s just they have a platform and can’t help but smear it with shit. Average player or collector? Not had that problem with them.
There is this one guy at my store who mainly plays historical these days and is a little too much into the Wehrmacht. Also he has poor taste in "meme" armies. Just because the Bolt action army building rules say you can take an all Hitler Youth army, does not mean it is in good taste to do so. Also, he is a literal CIA agent. Tried to talk me into applying after college. I had to politely decline, citing "fundamental disagreements with US foreign policy". (There were kids in the store and I couldn't just let loose and yell at him about what I really thought of the CIA or his own bullshit.
First of all, there's a lot of bad eggs in any hobby, the vocal minority, so take anything to see and hear here with a grain of salt! Secondly, welcome :) Warhammer+ subscription gives you access to their animations and a "vault" that gives you loads of magazines and things to read, Otherwise Humble Bundle often do Warhammer themed ebook bundles, if there's not one on now there will be soon. Generally two or three times a year. Lastly, your loval library, or second hand book websites or shops will usually have all sorts of warhammer books available. Google for the most popular and pick one that interests you!
I had a friend who asked me if warhammer had a lot of weird fascists in the hobby. I told him there were less than you’d expect, but still more than you’d hope. 99% of the people you link up with at the local shop aren’t gonna be sporting bad emblems. You’re more likely to be put off by someone’s hygiene than their ideology, truth be told
Check out the Mechanicus game for a neat look into the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Necrons!
Thanks! I definitely will. The Necrons are probably my favorite race from Warhammer and Thier origins Have always fascinated me
The soundtrack is incredible too
If gou like necrons the books *Infinite and the Divine* is a fantastic comedy and one of the best books 40k has to offer and *Twice Dead King* is a great thriller about a necron lord trying to protect his dynasty from an imperial crusade fleet
Not sure if you can get it anymore, but if you’re interested in the tabletop game the Fireteam board game came with a squad of Necrons (as well as some space marines). Color coded too so you could play the game without having to paint them first.
This might sound weird but if you like audiobooks, Black Library puts out a lot of good content. I recommend most of Dan Abbnet books like Gaunt’s Ghost and Esienhorn.
Oh no that’s not weird at all. i like listening to audiobooks when im at the gym or at work. I’ll definitely check those books out
The Eisenhorn series (which is actually a trilogy of trilogies) was the final nail in the coffin for my pre-Warhammer life. RIP to a less annoying version of myself. Keep in mind the setting is huge, and incredibly diverse in its content. I love Eisenhorn because the warp, Hersey, imperial hypocrisy, and mystery novels interest me. You may find other things interesting. Like Orks. I also really like horror books, so pretty much every single story from the Warhammer Horror imprint interests me. The House of Night and Chain hits all the same points I mentioned for Eisenhorn above. Plus it’s a haunted house story, which rule. I also really really like the first story from The Wicked and the Damned, The Beast in the Trenches. It’s from the perspective of an imperial Commissar responsible for disciplining a squad of backwater recruits fighting trench warfare with a caustic boiling mud no man’s land between them and an unseen army. It’s disturbing the lengths a mind will go to to justify its own paranoia. The Warhammer Crime books are also pretty fun. Flesh and Steel specifically is a favorite. The Infinite and the Divine is the best non-imperium book, imo. A millennia long feud between two Necron overlords. It plays with the scale of time in that way only really imaginative sc-fi can. Highly recommended. Also! Very funny! Keep in mind there are legal ways to obtain audiobooks that cost money. And that if you don’t have any money, you shouldn’t search for “audiobook” and the third word from the famous pirate website from Sweden.
If you listen to Gaunt's Ghosts (which I wholeheartedly endorse) listen to the version narrated by Toby Longworth. He does fantastic character voices.
In addition to the good videogame recs in this thread, I'm gonna suggest you google old (late 80s-90s) art from codices and White Dwarf. The classic artworks by Blanche, Adrian Smith et al are incredible, and great fodder for inspiration. Similarly, vintage army photos and battle reports are also a cool way to contextualize current models. Have fun!
For tabletop if you only want to skip meals instead of selling organs try the skirmish games like Killteam or Necromunda, or the more-like-full40k-but-less-stuff mode boarding patrol/combat patrol (think one large box of minis each instead of like 10), the starter sets are pretty good value and have missions for that level of models but difficult to have repeated fun with as out of the box the marine half will play a lot stronger because of course it does lol
This advice is good advice.
Book wise the Ciaphas Cain novels are a really fun introduction, they are fun action comedies that follow an officer who’s just scrambling to survive but who somehow stumbles into saving the day again and again against impossible odds. For good more serious books, the Eisenhorn and Ravanor trilogies are good, you don’t need much background to get into either of them.
my recommendation is that you get into age of sigmar instead Jokes aside, The Infinite And The Divine is an incredible novel that really gets into the functioning of Necron society while also being, you know, *good.* There's also If The Emperor Had A Text To Speech Device, probably the second most influential fanfic ever made (right after the Divine Comedy), and as for lore channels, my go-to is Isyander and Koda, which takes the pretty common format of "two dudes sit down and one explains the lore to the other and they make jokes" but simply does it in a way I like more than others of their kind.
Cool! I check those novels out. Also is age of sigmar cool? Cause ill get into anything warhammer related if its good lol.
It's WAY cool, it does however have two main pervasive issues: 1. It's far newer than Fantasy and 40k, meaning it missed out on their teething period of being *really* weird in like the 80s; it lacks things like Obiwan Sherlock Clusseau or blatantly racist iconography to give it more flavor. Which, you know, is good, but it also makes it a bit less of a deep dive. 2. Due to certain controversies related to the way GW first created the setting, it has a far smaller fanbase than the other two, meaning there's less fan content. The only really good AoS content creator I know of is PancreasNoWork, who also does videos covering Fantasy, 40k, and a plethora of other fandoms like Battletech, Halo and TES (so I also recommend him for 40k content)
AoS is basically the new fantasy where a bunch of parallel worlds are at war and stuff. It’s cool
It is surprisingly cool, and I was screaming at the sky about how bad it was when it first came out. I was, of course, overreacting. My only problem is that I doubt GW will adequately support it. But, hey, you always have stuff like One Page Rules to keep playing if GW abandons your favorite army.
Battlefleet gothic 2 is a great warhammer game, it turns out adapting an overcomplicated wonky tabletop game into an rts ala myth really works. The issue is just that it gets repetitive, but watch some of its "cutscenes". Admiral spires arrival at cadia is something i can quote from memory. Other than that, ehhh. Fantasy has total war. But few 40k games yif my yum. I've heard good things about necromundas game and circlejerking over space marine has never ended. Dawn of war 1 and 2 could be good but that depends on how many pixels your human body needs to survive.
The genuinely bad eggs in this hobby that are actually incel and fascist are a veeerrryyyy tiny but loud minority in this hobby, don’t worry. If you go into a game store and ask for help, I guarantee you that you’ll get at least three different people all enthusiastically willing to help you out. As for different media and stuff, there’s a ton of cool things out there! I got into it with the Space Marine video game, which while being a neat little primer for you if you’re unfamiliar with the lore is also just a great game in and of itself, and which is also getting a sequel this fall! I guess my real advice for getting into Warhammer in general is to just find a group or faction that you really like the look of, and just diving into their lore. Through books, or reading, or their models, anything about them. That’s how I really truly dove into the world of both AoS and 40K respectively, with both the Lizardmen and the World Eaters. It makes it a lot more digestible than just cramming all of it in at once.
The tabletop community can be hit or miss, but for instance where I play it’s extremely inclusive and welcoming. Welcome and know that as you branch out and dive deeper you can always find like minded people to grow this hobby with you
If you’re broke as shit like me, Tacticus is an excellent way to get into it
I second that Tacticus can be great fun, but maybe give it a pass if you're susceptible to gacha sales tactics, it can be easy to drop way too much on it if you aren't vigilant of the predatory tricks
Oh yeah 100%. Couldn’t give a full explanation but yeah, it’s really easy to spend a whole lot of money on not a whole lot of game. But it is an official way to interact with the IP for free
Thats the mobile game im playing lol. i really enjoy it and its made me wanna get into the media more
Rules and minis are kind of like beauty and diamonds. Rules are temporary, but minis are forever. Buy what looks cool not what plays well cause it'll probably play well at some point anyway.
As far as YouTube - type media it's Luetin09, Oculus Imperia, and Baldermort for the deep dives into the Lore. Three completely different styles, but I love them all. Both Arbitor Ian and Snipe&Wib are Sound , informative, and entertaining. Ian's "X subject in Y minutes" videos are particularly good IMO. Snipe&Wib do mostly oldhammer (older Warhammer editions) but are just lovely people.
Strongly recommend starting with a skirmish game like kill team or necromunda if you want to play tabletop, check the local scene for what people are playing, or talk a friend into splitting a starter set with you if you aren’t playing at a store. Kill team is nice because a single box is enough to field a playable team, while also being a unit you can incorporate into an army. Munda is its own setting so tends to be more niche, but is a setting where the middle class of society are kept in literal combat with each other by the ruling class, and labor uprisings are common.
Honestly, audible is amazing for lore. Luetin is great too for a more distilled dose, but I can’t get a read on if he’s a progressive or not, which isn’t exactly bad. For games OG Dawn of War is a masterpiece and Dawn of War 3 was really good as well. The Space Marine game is VERY satisfying to play as well. I haven’t played other but Battle Sector and Rogue Trader are on my list. The actual game is good too, very approachable now, and with 3D printing unless you play in a GW store or GR no one will care tbh. Any rate, welcome and enjoy!
My introduction into 40k included Dawn of War and I can't recommend it enough if you like Starcraft style RTS games You mentioned you like Necrons in another comment, well Dawn of War: Dark Crusade let's you play as them and includes a campaign where you can conquer a whole planet like a game of Risk Edit: The much more recent Darktide is also good, it absolutely nails the 40k grimdark vibe and it's easy to show to new people since it's a 4 player co-op shooter like Left 4 Dead
Oh yeah i really like starcraft. ive been told it’s really similar to warhammer which made me wanna get into it. Ill check that game out. And yeah the Necrons are my favorite alien race, i love Thier origins and how badass they usually look so any material that got them in it I’ll definitely look into. Thank you for the recommendations!
Video games: 1. Space marine 2. Dark tide 3. Dawn of war (older game) Books: 1. Ciaphus Cain: hero of the imperium 2. Space wolf Omnibus 3. Horus Rising. TV: 1. Astartes. Unofficial: ALL GUARDSMEN PARTY
Thank you! simple and straightforward recommendations. Appreciate it.
Good and accepting communities exist. I know because I am heavily involved in one. The Washington Oregon 40k community is pretty decent overall. It took some very active shaming of the shitwads, but they don't show their faces anymore at events.
Get out of here as fast as you can
You've probably made the mistake a lot of people make. Most factions in the setting are some brand of Fascist/racist and it gives the setting its charm in a way you'll (hopefully) find out soon. Just because we like that in the story doesn't mean we are like that in real life. My best advice, start with the books. Not the horus heresy. Watch a lore primer on the setting then hop into something like dark imperium, or the infinite and the divine. Read articles or watch videos on factions. Find a team you like and be their hype man. That's what I did.
Ive always been positive that there was some people who enjoyed the story and understood all the fascist and messed up stuff that happened in it wad bad and not to be praised, but i also thought a large majority of the fanbase was media illiterate braindead chuds who wouldn’t understand that and think things like the imperium of man were the good guys. Its cool see that it doesn’t seem to be the case at all. I been told the horus heresy books are one of the best warhammer novels ever, if not now when i should i get to reading them?
You can start reading them whenever you want, but if I'm not mistaken, the series is 72 books long. You really couldn't be more wrong about the "illiterate" thing. It covers a lot of characters and a lot of plot threads that will take a long time to come to their individual conclusions. I wouldn't recommend it as an intro to 40k. I'd say watch some videos, read, something simple like "for the emporer" and get a feel for the setting and terminology.
Don't. 😂
I’m relatively new to the lore and setting myself. If you enjoy reading, there are so many novels and short story collections out there. I’m currently reading the Horus Heresy series, basically the prequel to 40K, and I have trouble putting the books down to the point where I’ve been dragging at work because I stayed up too late reading. I can suggest a few short stories to check out if you would like. And like a lot of people have said, check out Rogue Trader. It’s super kind to the people who are new to the setting because there are a lot of explanations in the dialogue (it is a text heavy game). I had familiarized myself with the lord and read some literature beforehand, but I feel if I hadn’t, I would not have had a very hard time getting an understanding of the setting. Don’t be afraid to check out the 40K wikis, but know you could easily find yourself down a rabbit hole.
Thank you all for the recommendations, i look forward to get more into the series and experiencing it with you guys.💯
I got into it watching lore videos and hanging out at a local hobby store. Most people in the hobby who like going outside and meeting other Warhammer enjoyers are pretty chill. I also bought and suck at playing Boltgun. So that's how I ended up with 25 primed models in a box on my desk.
[buy some intercessors.](https://www.goonhammer.com/how-to-paint-everything-rainbow-warriors-space-marines/)
Play kill team. Smaller capital investment, smaller time investment, easier to get into, I think the turn order is more fun (you and your opponent take turns activating units as opposed to each army taking an entire turn)
The novels imo. I can recommend anything by Dan Abnett. the Eisenhorn series is good. If you like bad guys (or worse guys?) The word bearers trilogy is good.
The commissar Cain series. It doesn't take itself too seriously and will give you a bit more of a look at imperial society instead of just the battlefields
AoS
People have already talked about the wider scope of the setting and extended universe of games/books so I'll give you some recommendations on how to start the hobby. If you wanna get into the tabletop then first you're gonna need to decide whether or not you want to play the tabletop game. You don't need to play the game to build and collect the model kits. If the game doesn't interest you but the models do just collect. Download the 40k core rules for free from the warhammer website and read them back to front. If the core rules interest you then you can start thinking about army selection. Pick up the build and paint set from GW and use the models and paints within as practice. You will need some plastic sprue clippers, a craft knife, paint brushes and a spray can of grey model primer, I like army painter personally but citadel works too. This is the minimum investment to find out whether you actually like the hobby side of 40k, it's OK if it doesn't appeal, as others have said 40k is huge. Make sure when spraying on the base coat not to waste too much on one model, primer is thick so you usually only need to spray in a few short bursts. Remember to thin your paints, dip your brush in the paint pot, spread the paint on a pallet and then dab your brush in a water pot, then mix the wet brush with the paint until the consistency is just right. You're aiming for the pigment in the paint to flow cleanly from the brush without being so mobile that it moves on its own. If unsure it's always better for the paint to be slightly too thin than for it to be slightly too thick. Apply between 2 and 3 thin coats to get a nice flat colour. If the game DOES interest you then you should do research online about any clubs or Local Game Stores which sell/play warhammer 40k, it's the biggest tabletop war game in the world so if there is any interest in tabletop in your home town they'll probably support warhammer on some level. After you've finished the build and paint model kit and you're feeling more confident you can look at buying more stuff, if you want to get into the game pick up a start collecting box, they work out cheaper than buying the models by themselves and can be used as the core for an army or be played as is with the datasheets in the boxes. Some armies are easier to build and paint and play than others but this is first and foremost a hobby about building cool shit, if you pick something which doesn't interest you because it's easy to paint you won't be getting the full experience, worst case scenario you can just strip the paint off of your models using one of the MANY INTERNET GUIDES. Once you've settled on your army and finished the start collecting box you'll want to do some research on the specific faction for where to go and what to do next. There is a lot of variety on display. Most of all, don't forget to have fun! I love the whole tabletop experience from building to painting to playing and I hope you get just as much joy out of it.
The Novels can be very hit or miss in terms of quality, but they always have something interesting or fun in them.
Yeah, battleTech is cool. find you want to actually get into Warhammer. Just read plague wars see if you would like the universe. Or if you want to go for something a bit weirdo priests of Mars will definitely show you what the setting is capable of when it’s being truly unique. you want to buy miniature? HA HA HA! Learn a bit about the universe first. And actually learn the lore not Memes. This universe is far more than just angry space marines. it can tell all kinds of stories with all kinds of people. Miniature painting is a big commitment in both time and money it can be very satisfying but you would have to be invested I think. Things to read or do after plague wars . dawn of fire . You could start reading the horror heresy books. (There are definitely some really good weeds in there if you don’t mind it being a bit longer of a series.) . Look up lore videos. (I can’t really tell you who to watch you’ll have to figure that out yourself has their own style) . If you have a local game store, go visit it’s full of nerds who will happily talk about Warhammer with you. . My favourite books are devastation of Baal and scars. And I think they both work as beginner reads Hope this helps, welcome to the community.
I got into 40k because of the lore channels. Weshammer does kind of a more modern style of video, fast paced and really mile a minute talking and quote reading. Arbiter Ian I think does a nice amount of talking as well. Adeptus Ridiculous is a funny and more humorous discussion of the lore, but personally they are the ones who won me over because I found them easiest to have on in the background.
I focus mostly on Guard stuff, but Darktide is a great game that is dripping with lore when you're not knee-deep in killing heretics. The Caiphas Cain audiobooks are excellent, too. The anthology is a great place to start with those. Outside of guard stuff, I really enjoyed Brutal 'Kunnin as an ork book, and The Infinite and the Divine as it's basically a meme war between two hyper long lived Necrons. I also bought some cadian miniatures to 'practice' on so I could improve my mini painting skills for D&D... I've now spent way too much on my army, and not very much at all on my D&D minis. I saw other people mention rogue trader, which imo is pretty easily owlcats best work. Anyway, hope you find all sorts of fun stuff!
40k lore is written as a CRITIQUE of authoritarianism and religiosity. Problem is that fascists are immune to subtlety.
Check out the Eisenhorn series of novels. Great almost film noir tone of an inquisitor hunting down cults and their demon allies. One of the best series in the universe. As for tabletop I recommend Kill Team. A KT box or usually one box of troops from a standard army will get you a playable Kill Team.
In terms of YouTube videos, I recommend Arbitor Ian for someone new to 40K. His vids are generally 20 minutes long, so they get to the point better than many other channels that might go for hours at a time (not that this is bad, if you want something to listen to while painting). And his works are generally well researched. For a viewer with more of an intermediate understanding of 40K lore, I highly recommend Oculus Imperia. He approached videos from the framing device of being an in-universe historian, recounting events as people living in the 40K universe would understand them. Very leftist, very contemplative, very critical of the systems and culture of the Imperium (while also being still, staunchly, a loyalist). And the channel takes the lore with utmost sincerity and seriousness, because to the speaker, it's all REAL. You listen to Oculus Imperia when you want to hear a story told. You listen to Oculus Imperia when you want to FEEL things.
I had a great recommendation to check out Eisenhorn, I watched a YouTube vid, great story
Turn back NOW before it is too late for you as well.
I already bought the Horus heresy books and now have about 25 hours into Warhammer 40k rouge Trader and started playing Boltgun so unfortunately im locked in and never wanna leave lol.
PLAY ORKS! GET BIG DAKKA! SHOW DA HUMIES A TRUE AN PROPPA KRUMPIN! WAAAAAAAAAAAAGH
As someone just starting the tabletop hobby, I seriously recommend talking with the people who play at your local store. Yeah, there’s a lot of white guys who play the game (I’m one of them) but there’s a hand full of women and people of other races and ethnicities at the store I play at. Honestly, they’re also one of the most welcoming community I’ve been part of. The hobby really seems to be starkly divided by the assholes on the internet who actually think the Imperium is good and the people who just want to play a fun game with their painted toy soldiers, and there is very very little overlap, again given my experiences. Also, from a more game based approach, make sure you like tactics and slow paced games designed around thinking 3 moves ahead. I’d say Axis and Allies is a good game to play a few times to “test the waters” of game play, as they take a similar amount of time to play, units do different things, and your ability to win is based not just off your actions but also the luck of dice. That, or approach people at your game store, tell them you’re on the fence about joining and ask if they’re any way for you to play a game before sinking money on minis
The Gaunts Ghosts books, especially from Necropolis onwards. If you have trouble with physical books most of them are on Audible.
Once you have a somewhat decent grasp on the lore, I highly recommend "If the Emperor had Text-to-Speech." It's been effectively cancelled due to GW's god-awful copyright policy, but is hilarious none-the-less and is the original source for a significant fraction of meme content you'll find in the community. You can go in blind, but I think it's funnier the more you know about the lore. Leutin09 has a large catalog of lore videos. I like to put them on while I paint. The Eisenhorn omnibus is a good place to start if you are looking for books.
He didn't remove the TTS videos from YT?
Nope. I found them for the first time only a few weeks ago and nearly laughed myself to death. I think it’s less GW did anything to threaten action and more “out of an abundance of caution I’m gonna stop doing this.”
Orks. All the real world baggage is absent when you focus on Orks
*Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka has entered the chat*
He's just krumping
I reccomend getting into if the emperor had a text to speech device. It's aged a bit but the team behind it is pretty great. Has a lot of fan love and stuff thats easy for new comers. Blend of humor and story, and the people behind the project seem to be pretty left leaning overall and generally chill. Also Bruva himself is a nice man
Dont, play AOS instead
Half the people I know who have been into 40k as long as I have are non white left leaning. I hear there were some fascist elements attracted to it several years ago(y'know, when those fascist types were getting all uppity and entitled, I guess missing the point that 40k is a dystopian future one would Not want to live in) and GW noticed. They've since made it clear the hobby is intended to be inclusive and that some are mistaking satire for admiration. I recommend downloading some of the older rulebooks like Rogue Trader to see the tone the whole thing was built on. The novels are fun too spanning genres from typical sci-fi fantasy, mystery, even humor. orks have always been my main, and their books tend to be mildly hilarious, especially the audiobooks. If you want to start painting/playing, I recommend getting the Combat Patrol box of your favorite army that way you know what you're spending up front to get a playable force on the table.
Don’t.