Warhammer 40K Getting Started: Choosing an Army and First Steps

Warhammer 40,000 is a tabletop miniature wargame where you build, paint, and command an army in tactical battles. The hobby has three pillars: collecting (buying and assembling models), painting (bringing them to life), and playing (the actual game). This guide covers all three for complete beginners.

Choosing Your First Army

Space Marines are the default recommendation. The most model variety, the most beginner-friendly rules, and the most forgiving on the tabletop. Each Space Marine chapter has a unique playstyle: Ultramarines are versatile, Blood Angels are melee-focused, Iron Hands are durable, Dark Angels have specialized Deathwing (Terminators) and Ravenwing (bikes) wings.

Necrons are excellent for beginners who want an alternative. Simple rules (reanimate dead models on a dice roll), durable units, and striking visual design. The Start Collecting box provides a solid core army. Painting Necrons is straightforward: metallic spray, wash, and glowing green accents.

Tyranids appeal to players who want swarm armies. Hormagaunts and Termagants are cheap screening units that flood the board. Hive Tyrants and Carnifexes provide monstrous centerpiece models. The hive fleet color scheme is your choice — there are no canonical color restrictions.

Orks are the fun faction. Ramshackle vehicles, massive mobs of Boyz, and unpredictable shooting (Ork ballistic skill is terrible, compensated by volume of fire). The hobby side rewards kitbashing: converting random bits into Orky vehicles is part of the culture.

Getting Your First Models

The Combat Patrol box for your chosen faction provides a playable army for the Combat Patrol game mode (roughly 500 points). These boxes are the best value entry point, containing an HQ unit, a few troop squads, and usually a vehicle or elite unit.

Assembly requires plastic glue (for Games Workshop plastic), clippers for removing parts from sprues, and a hobby knife for mold line cleanup. Follow the instruction manual. Dry-fit (assemble without glue first) to check positioning. Sub-assemblies (painting some parts before gluing them together) make painting easier for complex models.

Painting Your Army

See our Miniature Painting Beginners Guide for detailed techniques. The short version for Warhammer: prime with spray primer, basecoat each area, apply Agrax Earthshade or Nuln Oil wash, highlight raised edges.

Battle-ready standard (Games Workshop’s tabletop minimum) requires three colors and basing. This standard ensures your army looks cohesive on the table. Most players paint to this standard first, then improve individual models over time.

Speed painting techniques get armies game-ready fast. Contrast paints (Games Workshop’s one-coat-over-white-primer paints) create shadow and highlight in a single application. Speed paints (Army Painter equivalent) work similarly. An entire Combat Patrol can be painted in a weekend using these techniques.

Learning to Play

Core rules are free from Games Workshop’s website. The game uses alternating activations within each phase: Movement (reposition units), Shooting (ranged attacks), Charge (declare charges into melee), and Fight (resolve melee combat). Each unit has a datasheet listing their stats: Movement speed, Weapon Skill, Ballistic Skill, Strength, Toughness, Wounds, Attacks, Leadership, and Save.

Combat resolution: to hit, roll d6 against the attacking unit’s WS (melee) or BS (ranged). Most Space Marines hit on 3+. To wound, compare the weapon’s Strength to the target’s Toughness: S >= 2xT wounds on 2+, S > T on 3+, S = T on 4+, S < T on 5+, S <= T/2 on 6+. The target then rolls their Save (armor save modified by the weapon’s AP value).

Start with Combat Patrol games (500 points, smaller board). These games last 60-90 minutes, use 2-4 units per side, and teach core mechanics without overwhelming new players with army-wide special rules.

Building Your Collection

Resist buying everything at once. Start with one Combat Patrol box. Build, paint, and play with it. Then add one unit at a time based on what your army needs: more troops, anti-tank capability, or fast units for objectives.

The hobby is expensive but can be managed: buy Start Collecting/Combat Patrol boxes for value, use eBay for second-hand models, and split starter sets with a friend (each takes one faction).

For more Warhammer content, see our Warhammer 40K RTS Guide and Miniature Painting Beginners Guide. For lore, check Warhammer 40K Lore Primer.