Warhammer 40K Legends from the Far Future

Warhammer 40K
Legends from the Far Future

Designed by Sam Agsaoay
Created for Amy Fortunato, Typography 3

Queens College Fall 2021



Thank you to
Professor Amy Fortunato
for answering all my questions
Addison Baylon and Emmajane Manguerra
as my fellow design buddies

2

3

Introduction 20

6 Newbie Notes: The Basics of Warhammer

Introduction/Editor’s Note How to Play

8 28

Why Now is a Great Time to Start Playing Warhammer Getting into Warhammer part 1: The Basics

Lore Basics 32

12 Getting into Warhammer Part 2: Choosing Your Faction

Major Events in the Warhammer 40,000 Timeline 44

Table of Getting into Warhammer Part 3: Choosing Your Allies
Contents
52
4
Getting into Warhammer Part4: How to Build an Army
and Fight

62

Painting Miniatures: A Guide to Painting
Warhammer Models

Products

78

Warhammer 40k Lore Where to Start: Books

82

The Best Warhammer 40K Starter Set Guide,
and Beginners Tips

Articles

90

Warhammer Looks Expensive,
But the Truth is More Complicated

92

Rare Warhammer 40,000 Miniature
Sells for a Record-Breaking $35,000

93

‘Heroin for middle class nerds’:
How Warhammer Conquered Gaming

5

Introduction

“Warhammer is a tabletop battle game which puts players in command of armies of valiant humans, noble elves,
savage orcs or a variety of twisted and monstrous creatures. Players collect forces of miniature plastic models, all with
different stats and abilities, and use them to play out clashes on a tabletop battlefield. Unlike a board game, where
players’ moves are restricted to defined areas, Warhammer commanders freely manoeuvre their units set distances
using rulers and resolve shooting and hand-to-hand combat by rolling dice.”
- Owen Duffy, “Warhammer – a beginner’s guide to the legendary battle game”, theguardian.com
Welcome! If you are looking to learn about Warhammer 40k, you have found the right place! This is a beggin-
ners guide to the game. This book includes basic information to help you get started. This book includes both
lore and game rules, giving a good mix of both. Rules, factions, products, kits, books, painting, reasons to play,
is all listed somewhere in this tome.
This book is broken up into parts. First you will be eased into some lore. Then, you will be lead through how
the game functions. Then you will be taught some painting skills for your models. Then you’ll be recommend-
ed some products to get you started. Finally, there will be some articles at the end to cool you down from all
the info. Ready, lets go!

6

Editor’s Note

“Wow so I did this. I really made a whole book. Hi! Thanks for taking time to read this by the way. Um, I’m not 100% sure what
I should be writing for the editor’s notes. From my understanding, it’s kinda like a stream of conciousness about how this book
was made. Well, it was a journey to be sure.
Type is a journey for me. I started the semester really struggling with it and as definitely my weakest aspect in my designs.
Now I put more thought and consideration into it. I think about type a lot more and see the nuances of type in a lot of things. I
always thought about the graphic side of graphic design, but type is literally what people read and pay attention to and remem-
ber. Of course, the graphics are important, but really the type is the information that we look at and try to remember. Type in
itself is a graphic. I mean come on, I turn type into vectors and manipulate them as much as I do the photos. I definitely still
need to explore more. Texture, size, layout, all that. Designing this book was very fun actually. It diversified my skills a lot.”
- Sam Agsaoay
As of December 2021, Sam Agsaoay is a lower senior attending CUNY Queens College. They are attempting to
graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design with a concentration in Communication Design. They
have just a few classes left, but with the responsibility of two jobs and living on their own, they’re only taking
part time classes to be able to balance work, school, and personal life.

7

Why Now is a Great Time to

Start Playing Warhammer

by Lucy Orr

Video games aren’t the only pastime that has thrived during lockdown, as the
original Warhammer tabletop game becomes more popular than ever.

G ames Workshop is a company that has inspired a For those who prefer to imagine they are battling in a strong choice against magical units, and 10 Squig
cult-like following in the 45 years it has catered space Warhammer 40,000, with its Space Marine super- hoppers – which are basically bouncing balls of teeth,
to tabletop fantasy battle enthusiasts, but now warriors in mechanized suits, has great sci-fi appeal. totally without fear and a deep hatred for Dwarves.
things seem to have changed and it may finally be cool Inspired by Aliens and Star Wars, rather than Tolkien, Those familiar with Warhammer have seen it go through
to say you play Warhammer. Thanks to the lockdown extraterrestrial armies such as the Tyranids and the Eldar several editions, some more successful than others.
there has been a proliferation of online groups in recent stride across alien landscapes and/or your dinner table. Games Workshop threw out the rule book when they
months, as players old and new start to build their 40K now even has a Borg and Terminator-inspired race introduced Age of Sigmar in 2015, doing away with
armies. It’s become a running joke that Games Workshop called Necrons, which include skeletons with ray guns. standard fantasy tropes and stereotypes. Age of Sigmar
is single-handedly supporting the UK economy, as it is Beyond playing the game as intended, building and carved itself a new world inhabited by the human
now officially the best performing retailer of the last decade. painting an army can be a lot of fun on its own and Stormcast Eternals, who worshipped the god Sigmar.
If all you’ve ever done is walk past a Games Workshop last year Games Workshop released a Recruit Edition Stealing a lot of designs and mechanics from
shop you could’ve been mistaken for thinking of Warhammer 40K which is a great place to start. The Warhammer 40K, it’s a game of pared-down, loose units
Warhammer is just for teenagers with hours to set includes a handful of miniatures, dice, range rulers, designed for a faster paced experience. Not everyone
spend setting up intricately modeled landscapes and a mat, and a Recruit Manual featuring each unit’s was happy with this new, simpler set-up though and
battlegrounds, to populate with armies of orcs, elves, datasheet and guidance to help you learn the basics of some still favor the old Warhammer over this dramatic
and humans. After all, players command these armies, all the game. simplification, which lacks the deeper tactical play
of which have different stats and abilities, across spaces There’s also a new Start Collecting series which is a great of the original. Many miss the ambiguous rules that
defined by school rulers. way to introduce yourself to a new army or add to your created unique styles of play from group to group,
Gameplay involves rolling dice to resolve combat existing force, as well as saving you some money. These as well as the heavy army books that have now been
but you’ll only win by knowing your opponent’s pre-made armies range from Goblins to Space Marines replaced by shorter war scrolls. But your shelves will
weaknesses. Beware of getting involved if you enjoy and are also popular with veteran players. For example, thank you and Warhammer is arguably a more accessible
a tidy house though, as playing may mean you have to the Fungal Loonhorde box set is a great addition to experience because of these changes.
sacrifice your living room floor completely to Goblins any Night Goblin army and includes six stone trolls, Lockdown has seen many confined to their home
riding Squigs. whose magical resistance and natural armor make them

8

But there’s a surge of nostalgia for
the old metal miniatures and hushed
whispers of the return of s quare
bases.

and in some cases moving back in with the parents. with Games Workshop. Guildball by Steamforged,
Rooting through your loft and finding old armies with its precise rules and measurements, is a homage
from earlier editions of Warhammer has now become to Games Workshop’s Blood Bowl, with a football
extremely profitable, with prices soaring in the last sports theme rather than all-out war. A competitor
year. There’s nothing to stop you from playing with for 40K is Corvus Belli’s sci-fi skirmish game Infinity,
these familiar models though, as Games Workshop has although it’s overly complex and too often your fate is
also published conversion rules for their existing sealed by the roll of a die instead of a cunning strategy.
range of miniatures. But for reinforcements, you’ll For the moment Warhammer is definitely less about
have to spend your time scouring dedicated Facebook playing and more about painting and collecting. But
marketplaces with ever-increasing price tags. there’s a surge of nostalgia for the old metal miniatures
Make no mistake, Warhammer is not a cheap hobby. and hushed whispers of the return of square bases.
It can be seen as comparable in price to buying a new Warhammer has never been more popular and it’s
PlayStation 5 game every month, just without the initial going to be fascinating to see what happens when
layout for a console. The Age of Sigmar starter set comes the pandemic is over and Games Workshop’s captive
with everything you need for around £75. If you are audience disappears. Some, no doubt, will lose interest
willing to splash out there are some more aspirational but the golden age of Warhammer may still be yet to come.
miniatures, such as the customizable Mega-Gargant for
Age of Sigmar or the huge Baneblade tank for 40K. These
miniatures will set you back around £100 each but are
the pride of Games Workshops sculptors and end up a
highlight of any player’s army.

Warhammer has some serious competition in the likes
of American company Privateer Press, who made War
Machine in response to many of the issues people had

9

Lore Basics

10

12 20

Major Events in the Warhammer 40,000 Timeline Newbie Notes: The Basics of Warhammer
11

12

Major Events in the

Warhammer 40,000 Timeline
Actually, it turns out there is more than just war in the
grim darkness of the far future.
by:Jody McGregor

Warhammer 40,000 has crammed the bureaucracy of the Imperium of Man
intervening 38,000 years between now contains an entire division called the
and its dark future with history and Ordo Chronos who are supposed to set
incident, while also giving ancient alien official dates, but are currently experi-
civilizations like the necrons, c'tan, and encing a civil war called the Chronos-
old ones stories that spread back into trife. Their task is basically impossible
prehistory. We'll be skipping past that because the Great Rift—a tear in reality
stuff here for the sake of sanity, but established near the end of the 41st
even so there's a lot of ground to cover millennium—has caused temporal shifts
and things will have to be summarized. and fluctuations.
While the 41st millennium is worth
breaking down into individual years, These are all very good reasons for
what precedes is lumped together into Games Workshop to change their
broad ages. Which isn't to say that stuff minds about specific dates and times
doesn't matter—the 31st millennium given in various sources, and any look
gave us the Horus Heresy, an event that back through the older books is fraught
set up much of what happens after and with uncertainty. But we do what we
spawned an entire line of over 50 novels. can, and here's how the history of War-
hammer 40,000 looks today.
It's a lot, is the general point here. And
it's a confuse d lot too. Dates are given
according to the Imperial system, which
is a problem because the vast interstellar

13

M1 - M15 M25 - M30
Age of Terra Age of Strife

In this age humans slowly begin un- Warp storms separate and isolate hu-
derstanding the universe beyond Terra, man colonies, and wars break out both
eventually terraforming Mars and from between them. Various xenos species
there other nearby worlds. take advantage of this separation
to invade.

M15 - M25 M30
The Dark Age of
Technology The Great Crusade

Warpspace is discovered around M18, The Emperor becomes leader of Terra,
enabling the invention of warpdrives creates the Primarchs and Space Marine
and FTL interstellar travel. This ex- legions, and sends them to unite the
pansion leads to the first encounters scattered human worlds into an Imperi-
with xenos. um. Mars is the first to rejoin the fold,
and its Adeptus Mechanicus provide
Before the 41st Millennium the technology that drives the crusade.

14

M32 M36
The Rise of the Ecclesiarchy The Age of Apostasy

While the Emperor maintained an Imperial Truth that held A conflict between the Ecclesiarch and the other
there were no gods and used the Great Crusade to spread this High Lords of Terra called the Reign of Blood
message, during the Horus Heresy many within the Imperium is followed by a Plague of Unbelief in which an
began to worship him as God-Emperor. With his encasement apostate cardinal challenges the church itself.
in the Golden Throne this movement gains power and becomes
the official religion of the Imperium.

M31 M34 - M35 M37 - M41
The Horus Heresy The Nova Terra In- The Age of
terregnum Redemption
Horus, Warmaster of the Great Crusade, betrays the Em-
peror. The legions are divided, and many side with Horus. The Imperium is split in half by anoth- Multiple crusades of faith
His forces are eventually defeated when they lay siege to the er civil war, this time caused by Nova burn out the apostates and
Imperial Palace on Terra, but the Emperor is wounded has to Terra and the entire Segmentum Pacifi- heretics at the heart of the
be encased in life support within the Golden Throne to keep cum seceding. For nine centuries there Imperial Cult and renew the
him alive. The traitor legions are driven to the Eye of Terror are two warring Imperiums of Mankind. faith of the Imperium.
in the Great Scourging, from which they emerge periodically
in actions called Black Crusades. 15

139 240 312 400

Abaddon the Despoiler leads the 12th Inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn’s six-year War between the Deffsmasha orks and Macharius dies and becomes an Impe-
Black Crusade, opening with a raid on hunt for the heretic Murdin Eyclone Imperial forces in the Garmos system rial Saint. The generals who fought for
Arx Station. This is the first battle in comes to a head on the planet Hubris, drags on as dark eldar launch well- him squabble over the territories they
what becomes the Gothic War. within the cryonic vaults where the timed raids on both sides to maintain control, beginning a civil war called the
frozen planet’s wealthy citizens sleep the balance of power. Macharian Heresy.
through its winter.

151 392 444

Eldar come to the aid of the Imperial Lord Commander Solar Macharius Chaos Marines of the World Eaters le-
forces in the Gothic War. The combined leads a seven-year crusade that brings gion attack the Imperial world of Arma-
force is victorious, though they spend almost 1,000 worlds into the Imperi- geddon, and are defeated by the Space
several more years pursuing the fleeing um, many of them former colonies lost Wolves and Grey Knights chapters.
Chaos forces all the way back to the Eye in the Age of Apostasy.
of Terror.

The 41st Millennium, M41

16

738

A new chapter of Marines called the
Mentor Legion is created as part of the
26th Founding.

696 742 801

In the Koath system a probe is found The Inquisition investigates trade A tyranid hive fleet dubbed Naga enters
that, when translated, bears a message between tau and the Imperium in the the galaxy in eldar space, and is eventu-
of greeting from a xenos species called Damocles Gulf, declares the xenos to ally destroyed by them at great cost.
the tau. be a threat, and begins the Damocles
Crusade against them.

589 698 744 835

A space hulk called the Sin of Damna- The Ultramarines lead a united force in Szarekh, Silent King of the ancient The hive world Piety emerges from a
tion emerges from the warp. Previously, the Corinthian Crusade, defeating the cybernetic beings called necrons, learns warpstorm overrun by Chaos. Sisters of
in 996.M40, Marines of the Blood orks of Charadon. that creatures from beyond the galaxy Battle descend to recover several holy
Angels had attempted to assault it and are approaching. The tyranids are a con- artifacts, but only a handful survive.
failed disastrously. They return and this glomeration of species ruled by a hive The planet is eventually destroyed by
time successfully recapture it. mind who incorporate each world they Grey Knights via Exterminatus.
conquer into their biomass. Szarekh
begins awakening the necrons on their 897
Tomb Worlds to fight the tyranids.
The first contact between the Imperium
745 and necrons occurs at a Sisters of Battle
fortress-convent called Sanctuary 101,
The First Tyrannic War takes place as which the necrons destroy completely.
the Imperium fights back against the
invading tyranids, whose spread is 17
halted by the Ultramarines at the Battle
for Macragge. The Inquisition inves-
tigates and determines this invasion
force, named Hive Fleet Behemoth, is
only the first.

901 941

The Chapter Master of the Astral Claws The Second War for Armageddon. A
Space Marines rebels, destroys an Impe- huge force of orks led by Ghazghkull
rial fleet sent to investigate while they Mag Uruk Thraka attacks the hive
are in orbit around their homeworld world Armageddon, but are held back
Badab, and declares himself the Tyrant by Imperial Guard under the command
of Badab. of Commissar Yarrick long enough for
Space Marines to arrive and drive them off.

903

The Tau Empire is beset by Hive Fleet
Gorgon. The tau are forced to ally with
the Imperium to stop them.

The 41st Millennium to M42

18

975 993

The tau fight a gigantic ork invasion Hive Fleet Kraken is destroyed in the
fleet in the Great War of Confederation. Second Tyrannic War, but not before
devastating the eldar craftworld of
Iyanden and two chapters of Space
Marines—the Scythes of the Emperor
and the Lamenters.

998

The Third War for Armageddon. Troops
from over 20 Space Marine chapters are
required to hold Ghazghkull Thraka’s
orks this time, dragging the battle out
until the warlord grows bored and
departs.

989 999

The orks of Charadon are united under Following a warp anomaly called the
Arch-Arsonist Snagrod and rampage Great Awakening, which triggers
through the Loki Sector. At Rynn’s multiple daemon invasions, Abaddon
World they defeat the Marines of the launches the 13th Black Crusade. The
Crimson Fists, but reinforcements from planet Cadia is destroyed. Roboute
the Dark Angels chapter arrive and Guilliman, Primarch of the Ultrama-
purge them from Loki Sector. rines, is awakened after 10,000 years in
stasis and becomes Lord Commander
of the Imperium’s armies.

M42

Roboute Guilliman, having defeated
the 13th Black Crusade, launches the
Indomitus Crusade to reunite the Im-
perium it tore in half. With a new and
improved generation of Space Marines
called the Primaris under his com-
mand, he dedicates the first century of
the 42nd millennium to this crusade.

19

20

Newbie Notes:
The Basics of Warhammer

Warhammer 40,000 takes The Chaos Gods change their destiny, The As with Tzeentch, those who
place in the future Milky Any number of lessor Architect of Fate also has a are unhappy with their lives
Way Galaxy, where the demons and gods reside and habit of leading these people may find the love of Father
Imperium of Man controls go to war with each other to their own destruction in Nurgle. But unlike Tzeentch,
most of the solar systems. In within the warp, which is a the furtherance of his own Nurgle does not promise
the brutal galaxy of cruelty quasi-physical manifestation unfathomable plans. glory or encourage ambition.
and destruction, humanity of the thoughts of every Nurgle teaches his followers,
has blasted its way across the organic creature, but four Nurgle usually against their wills, to
stars in a never-ceasing quest gods stand taller than all of Father Nurgle, The Plague be content in the knowledge
to exterminate every single the others. Lord, or the Lord of Decay. of who they are and the gifts
race that is not human: full- Unique among the four they can give already. Every
blown genocide, even against Tzeentch greatest of the Chaos Gods, human being is a mother to
any non-hostile alien society The Lord of Change, The Nurgle loves life. In fact, millions of germs and micro-
they find. Architect of Fate. To tell a he loves all life, including scopic organisms.
But humanity’s holy war lie is to worship Tzeentch, the parasites that ravage a
against the xenos (aliens) lost the god of betrayal, ambition victim’s flesh or the viruses As the Lord of Decay infects
much of its progress with the and deception. that rot brains from the in- his worshippers’ bodies with
great civil war, The Horus side out. These small viruses his gifts, their flesh rots and
Heresy, which pit humanity Much beloved by T zeentch are of no less value than bloats as the hungry viruses
in a 10,000 years long war are those who would do a walking, talking human and parasites ravage them
against the same demons of anything to succeed. But being, and there are far more from the inside out. While
the warp their own violence although the Lord of Change of them. still living, they give the
and hatred created. smiles on those who seek to ultimate gift of their bodily

21

flesh to those who are smaller and a significant amount. And these contribute their own desires to the gether under the banner of chaos
weaker than they are. warriors, with exceptions, tend to glory of Slaanesh. in a civil war that saw both Horus,
abhor wanton murder. and the Emperor, dead.
Khorn The Imperium
The Blood God. Khorn is the psy- Unless, of course, it’s an act of Guarded by the mighty Space But The Emperor, though dead,
chic manifestation of all the rage genocide against an enemy. Marines and countless billions of still retains a spark of that psychic
of every sentient creature. In the Imperial Guard soldiers, the Impe- power. Sitting on the arcane Gold-
grimdark future of Warhammer Slaanesh rium of Man battles the forces of en Throne, The Emperor’s psychic
40,000, where there is only war, The Prince of Pleasure, Chaos and every xeno they find in light shines as a beacon in the
this makes him very powerful. ‘ She Who Thirsts. order to cement their rule of the warp to this day: a lighthouse in a
galaxy, which they view as their hellish ocean which allows ships to
Every act of murder pleases The Slaanesh is the god of perfection destiny given to them by The God successfully navigate the warp as
Blood God, including the coward- and desire. And although human- Emperor of Man. they travel between the stars.
ly murders of those weaker than ity’s own decadence and pride
the killer. But this presents a con- certainly feeds Slaanesh, this His name is unknown, but his psy- Space Marines
trasting nature to the Chaos God kinky god came into being in a chic (psyker) powers were second Built from the genetic material of
because Khorn is also the god of wanton orgy of sex and murder in to none. A giant, both in size and The Emperor’s own Primarchs,
martial pride, and loves the honor the worlds ruled by the alien race, psychic power, The Emperor of the Space Marines are about seven
and glory of champions trying to the Eldar. Upon his/her birth, Man was a living god who surely feet tall. These armored, genet-
destroy each other. Slaanesh consumed the souls of would have conquered the entire ically and surgically enhanced
countless billions of Eldar, con- galaxy with his armies of Space warriors are the Imperium’s last,
Because Khorn, like every Chaos demning them to an eternity of Marines, led by his bio-engineered greatest weapon against the xeno
God, is an aspect of the minds sadistic torture dreamt up by their children, The Primarchs. and the predations of Chaos.
of sentient beings, the most own predatory lusts.
common sentiments about war But 10,000 years prior to the 41st The Inquisition
and slaughter will dominate. Although sex certainly dominates Millennium, The Emperor was The most mysterious and revered
And while there is certainly no the idea of Slaanesh, the Prince of betrayed by the greatest of his own title in all of The Imperium:
shortage of cowardly murderers on Pleasure also adores music and art. sons: Horus the Favored. Half of Inquisitors have authority to
any Imperial world, the numbers Warriors and artists who seek the the 18 known Primarchs and 18 completely destroy a planet, even
of warriors outnumber them by joys of perfection in their skills all Space Marine Legions joined to-

22

a planet under the rule of The seize control of all production hulking brutes. They reproduce by ist dystopia, such that written by
Imperium, if the threat is suffi- facilities in the millions of worlds constantly shedding plant spores George Orwell in the book, 1984.
cient. They are the lead investiga- within the Imperium, only the from their own flesh, especially
tors in all of humanity’s wars and Adeptus Mechanicus knows how when they die. The Eldar and The Dark Eldar
conflicts with the authority to to create some of the space ships After the coming of She Who
conscript, or condemn, anyone in and titans used by The Imperium. Orks must be the favorite xeno thirsts, the survivors of the Eldar
furtherance of humanity’s dominance. And so far, the Inquisition has race of Khorn, because the Orks Race split into two factions. The
failed not only to discover these love war above all other things. Eldar, modeled after elves, are
The Adeptus Mechanicus secrets, but even to decode their For the green skins, exploding majestic and long lived. Their race
In any other circumstances, failure secret language: binary. artillery shells and burning tanks is led by powerful psykers called
to worship The Emperor or to fol- are the ultimate party. They war Farseers who navigate through the
low another religion will inevitably The Xenos with other races, chaos, or with webs of fate to guide the Eldar to safety.
result in a death sentence within The Imperium of Man is constant- each other, and they mostly just
The Imperium. But this is not so ly at war with every race of Xenos. do it for fun. Slaanesh slaughtered most of the
for the followers of The Machine Cult. Although some, like the Eldar Eldar’s own gods, leaving them no
and Tau, have sometimes formed The Tau one to protect them from him/her
The Adeptus Mechanicus are the temporary understandings with The Tau are the closest thing in the afterlife. The Eldar came
king priests of technology, with humanity, none would dare turn Warhammer 40,000 has to “good up with a solution of transferring
a total monopoly on the produc- their back on the Imperium for guys.” Unlike every other race their souls, upon death, to stones
tion of all machines or scientific all know of humanity’s ultimate fighting for domination of the which they fiercely defend against
research. Tech Adepts believe goal: to kill every single alien in galaxy, the Tau prefer not to Slaanesh and her demons.
that the machines have souls, and the galaxy. exterminate nor even enslave their
every act of repair or tuning of an enemies. Rather, they add their If they should ever falter in their
engine involves a ritual: a prayer at The Orks conquered enemies to The Tau defense, Slaanesh will consume
the very least. Very much the same as the orcs Empire and begin the p r o c e s s the souls of all the great and hon-
found in fantasy literature, but of reeducation. orable Eldar and damn them to an
The Machine Cult is tolerated be- the Orks of Warhammer 40,000 eternity of humiliation and suffering.
cause The Adeptus Mechanicus is (and Warhammer, the high fantasy All in the name of their philoso-
indispensable to the Imperium of series) are creatures made of spores phy, The Greater Good. The Tau But while the Eldar chose a noble
Man. Even if The Imperium could and fungus shaped into muscular, seem to be modeled after a social- path, the Dark Eldar only inten-

23

sified their pursuit of pleasures much as their more noble cousins. The Tyranids
which gave birth to Slaanesh in A mindless, chitinous swarm, the
the first place. This doesn’t seem Necrons Tyranids invade from an entirely
like such a sin on its face, at least Massive armies of nearly invinci- different galaxy, sending massive
in modern times, but Dark Eldar ble black metal cyborgs slumber hive fleets to the Imperium of
pleasure usually comes in the form beneath the worlds of the Impe- Man or its neighboring enemies
of torture. rium of Man, just waiting, like a with only one goal in mind: to
volcano under a city, to awaken devour.
The Dark Eldar are the most cruel and destroy everything.
and terrifying predators in the gal- Much like The Zerg of Starcraft
axy, constantly seeking new slaves Long before the coming of The (modeled after the Tyranids),
to give to their Haemonculi to Emperor, an ancient and warlike these aliens are a hive mind that
dissect and shape into tormented race saved its self from extinction consume entire worlds, assimilat-
monstrosities. Using the power of by transferring their minds to ma- ing their victims’ genetic material
sorcery, they harness the psychic chines. Now they wait, and when and using it in their own spawning
energy of their victims’ agony to they awake, they have only one pools to make more efficient warriors.
extend their lives. desire: to kill everything that lives.

This is the only way for the Dark The Necrons operate on a technol-
Eldar to escape the predations of ogy more advanced an arcane than
Slaanesh, because they are not anything seen in The Imperium
able to transfer their souls to gem or its enemies. The metal of their
stones. Even if they were, other bodies can actually self-repair, and
Dark Eldar would surely destroy whey they are finally put down,
those gem stones just for the sadis- their bodies teleport away in a
tic glee of damning their souls. For bloom of green energy, to be re-
although the Dark Eldar worship paired and unleashed once again.
Slaanesh, this does not grant them
any mercy. Slaanesh hungers for
the souls of Dark Eldar every bit as

24

“In the grim darkness
of the Far future,
there is only war.”

25

How to Play

26

28

Getting into Warhammer part 1: The Basics

32

Getting into Warhammer Part 2: Choosing Your Faction

44

Getting into Warhammer Part 3: Choosing Your Allies

52

Getting into Warhammer Part4: How to Build an Army
and Fight

62

Painting Miniatures: A Guide to Painting
Warhammer Models

27

GETTING INTO
WARHAMMER 40K,

PART 1

28

I never liked Warhammer 40K because What the Hell is
when I buy a game, I want to sit down Warhammer 40K?
and start playing. Warhammer is the
opposite of that. Getting into the War- If you’re an experienced Warhammer player, you can skip Two important rules about the hobby:
hammer hobby is like deciding to go back this part—you’ve already finished your triple-major degree, First, be sure to respond to everything you disapprove of
to college to triple major in Fine Arts, and are probably qualified to teach a course on the basics. with “heresy!” or “goddamn xenos…” Part of the fun of War-
Napoleonic warfare, and Space Opera Bib- If you’re more of a lurker around the edges of the 40K world hammer is adopting the fanatical, comically narrow-minded
lical Studies—you have to find a mentor, (like I was), intimidated by the dense lore and the esoteric rhetoric of the Imperium, which is based around hating here-
speak to a financial advisor, and plan out world of hobby-craft, here are the basics: Warhammer is a tics and aliens. If you’re on the Chaos side, be sure to shout
the next two years of your life before you tabletop war game where you buy your figures, glue ‘em the slogan of your respective Chaos god, like “Blood for the
buy a single figure. together, paint them, then field them to fight battles. You use Blood God!”, at every opportunity.
So if you told me six years ago that I’d be six-sided dice to determine whether your little soldiers hit Second, if you come across any T’au players, be sure to mock
writing an advice column about how to or miss and a tape measure to measure distances. Like D&D, them mercilessly. No one likes T’au. Nobody is sure why.
get into Warhammer, I’d ask how much you need specific hardback rulebooks to play. Right now, To be honest, the rampant tribalism within Warhammer is
Games Workshop was paying me (none, Warhammer is in its 8th edition. part of what convinced me to give it another chance: every-
I swear). If you told me I’d be playing a If you want to get a handle on the lore, I wrote this article on one seemed to have so much fun swearing their undying
Nurgle army, I’d ask when I lost my god- the magic of Warhammer (which gives some insight into the loyalty to one faction and pledging eternal hatred for all the
damn mind, because of all the factions universe), but the basic idea is this: others that it made me wonder what made them so passion-
in Warhammer, I hated the soldiers of 40,000 years into the future, humanity has become a fragile, ate about the game. So I took a closer look.
the grinning, plague-spewing Chaos god galaxy-spanning theocracy called the Imperium that loves
Nurgle the most. Gothic aesthetics and incredible violence. They are led by
This article series is going to take you their god-like Emperor, who has been preserved in a me-
through choosing, assembling, painting, chanical shrine called The Golden Throne, and have legions
and playing a Warhammer 40K army of hulking, genetically engineered guys in armor (Space Ma-
(specifically, the Death Guard), as well rines) and armies of normal-sized people armed with tanks
as everything I learn along the way. This and rifles (Imperial Guard). These guys defend the Imperium
isn’t an expert guide, this is an Idiot’s against alien races that run the gamut from murderous hive-
Guide, and I’m the idiot. Luckily, I have minds like the Tyranids to sophisticated elf-like civilizations
my friend Will, who actually knows what like the Aeldari, as well as the forces of Chaos, which consist
he’s doing. of demonic legions that follow the commands of their patron
Anyway. This is the story of how I learned Chaos God—Tzeentch, Khorne, Nurgle or Slaanesh.
to stop worrying and love Warhammer.
Or, more specifically, Papa Nurgle. Games Workshop has more models on shelves for some
factions than others (keep cranking out those Space Marines,
THE GW!), but they generally have enough variety to flesh out
BASICS whatever army you want to build, whether it’s Imperium,
alien, or Chaos (Nurgle’s Death Guard, the army I play, is a
Chaos force).

29

How I Opened My Heart to Nurgle

Nurgle is the disgusting, morbidly obese Chaos god of disease, death, tried to siege a city with anthax-carrier zombies), and all the rust and
and decay in the Warhammer 40K universe. Like I said, I used to hate buboes and weird chitinous growths seemed refreshingly organic and
him most of all—he was just gross. All the flavor text surrounding his interesting compared to the smooth metal armor plates of the Space
armies seemed to be variations of “bubotic, vomitous, oozing hordes of Marines and Eldar.
plague-spewing abominations.” Who would think it’d be fun to play as a On top of that, Nurgle’s force of heretic Space Marines, the Death Guard,
bunch of misshapen, pus-covered mutants? is terrifying—Plague Marines are silent, disciplined murderers en-
But what I didn’t count on was Nurgle himself—despite being the god tombed in power armor, surrounded by invisible clouds of viruses. They
of death and plagues, Nurgle is oddly the most lovable, humorous, and carry around giant death-knell bells that rip apart souls, and their scribes
weirdly benevolent of the Chaos Gods. While other gods have titles wander around looking for omens in flies, wounds, and puddles of acid.
like “The Hunter of Souls” and “Changer of Ways,” Nurgle is just Papa Sure, Khorne has bloodthirsty berserkers and shirtless Mad Max-looking
Nurgle, passing out his love to all his horribly misshapen followers. In a motherfuckers, but Nurgle is packing unkillable typhoid juggernauts.
dark future where there’s only war, Nurgle is a bright ray of sunshine— So when my friend Will asked if I wanted to go in on a $160 Dark Impe-
to him, the perpetual war engulfing the galaxy isn’t a horrifying struggle rium box, which has everything you need for a Death Guard army and a
for survival, it’s a non-stop party. Primaris Space Marine force, I said “Hell yes.”
Once I understood Nurgle, my whole perspective on his armies changed.
Controlling hordes of disease-ridden Poxwalkers appealed to my love of
necromancers and zombie armies (one of my D&D characters actually

The Emperor Wants You

So despite all the odds, I ended up dropping a couple hundred dollars fact, I’m paying them money to buy all this goddamn paint, then telling
on a Nurgle army. Since then, I’ve learned about all the different Plague you how great they are. This is the insidious genius of Games Workshop.
Marine companies, the ins and outs of Death Guard strategies and But it is fun.
weapons, and even played a couple mock games against Will. No one
was more surprised than me by all this, but now that I’ve started playing
with them, I wouldn’t give up my mutated little murder squads for
anyone.

But that’s me. In the next article, I’m going to take you through picking
the right faction for YOU.

Again, Games Workshop isn’t paying me a single cent to write all this. In

30

31

GETTING INTO
WARHAMMER 40K,

PART 2

CHOOSING Choosing a faction in Warhammer 40K is sort of like taking nates you, or their units look awesome. If you haven’t read
a Rorschach test. One person may look at Space Marines and my journey toward loving Nurgle and the Death Guard, you
YOUR see bland sci-fi beefcakes, while another might get excited can read that here.
by their Darth Vader helmets and cool pauldrons. Likewise, Two notes before we dive into the factions: first, I don’t have
FACTION a normal person may look at Tyranids and immediately feel the rulebooks for all these armies, so I’m speaking generally
disgusted, whereas most sociopaths actively enjoy the idea of about their character and abilities. Second, these are not all
32 swarming their opponents with hordes of eyeless monsters. the factions in the game–the bulk of the rest will come in the
I think it’s most important to choose an army that excites next article.
you, either because their playstyle fits yours, the lore fasci-

Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard)

In a galaxy full of seven-foot-tall giants in power armor, transdimensional ber- Commissars, Sergeants, and Commanders.
serker demons, and Egyptian cyborg skeletons, the Imperial Guard is a bunch of If you scoff at the idea of playing an army of grunts, my friend Will recommends
average Joes with rifles, bayonets, and a dream: to drown the enemy in a sea of reading the Black Library series Gaunt’s Ghosts, which follows an Imperial
their broken, bloody bodies. To paraphrase Gunnery Sergeant Hartman in Full Guard company called the Tanith First and Only as they fight their way through
Metal Jacket: “Guardsmen die. That’s what they’re here for.” massed artillery, Chaos forces, and the horrors of war. There’s something heroic
The Guard do best when they’re shooting down the enemy with massed ranks in playing an army of normal mortals who manage to beat the worst in the
of infantry and blowing them apart with volleys from huge fuck-off tanks. What galaxy with some armored vehicles, a couple machine guns, and a
the Imperial Guard models lack in individual firepower or survivability, they brazen disregard for their own lives.
more than make up for in numbers, support units, and awesome armored
vehicles (seriously, those tanks are boss). Synergy is a big part of what makes
the Guard terrifying on the battlefield, so keep in mind that
you’re going to need units like

33

Space Marines Space Marines are split
are what happen when you cross a into different legions, each with its own flavor and abilities:
human with an adult polar bear and slap it in power armor. Space Ma- there’s the Dark Angels, Deathwatch, Ultramarines, and Blood Angels, just to
rines chew bubblegum and kill heretics, and they’ve been out of bubblegum for ten name a few. The Dark Angels, for example, are an ancient legion that has access to
millennia. They’re the flagship faction of Warhammer 40K, and they’re the guys to more high-tech weaponry than others. They also have three different subfactions–
call when you need Emperor-approved badasses. the Greenwing, which specialize in “holding the line” in battles, the Ravenwing,
Space Marines are tough, pack a good amount of damage, and have a nice variety which are all about fast-attack vehicles, and the Deathwing, which are elite veter-
of units and weapons. Though you’re usually forced to field fewer of them than, ans clad in heavy Terminator armor.
say, the Imperial Guard, you don’t need to rely on superior numbers—each of
your units is a mobile wrecking ball of righteous fury, spitting bolter fire. Add in
some amazing combat support units and dreadnoughts (living sarcophagi mechs
with assault cannons), and Space Marines are rock-solid all-rounders who can suit
almost any playstyle or scenario.

Adeptus Astartes (Space Marines)

34

Adeptus Mechanicus (Machine Priests)

The Adeptus Mechanicus are a cult of pseudo-religious technophiles who the Knight Worlds, meaning that they have access to some of the coolest units
worship the Machine God and hang out on big Forge Worlds scattered across in the games: Titans. Every Warhammer player dreams of owning one of these
the galaxy, cranking out machinery and weapons for the Imperium. Originally hundred-dollar behemoths and absolutely wrecking someone with it, and with
human, they’ve spent the past few millennia augmenting themselves with hard- the Machine Priests, all your wildest dreams can come true.
ware and collecting ancient, high-powered tech. Their big clubhouse is on Mars, On the downside, they’ve got fewer vehicles to transport them around, bad lead-
right next to Holy Terra (Earth). ership (which can cause units to flee if too many are killed), and a limited number
Because they’re the only ones who actually know how to build and maintain of units available to play with.
technology in the Imperium (which looks upon science with fear and supersti-
tion), the Adeptus Mechanicus have access to some of the best weapons—serious-
ly, their infantry is packing armor-piercing boom sticks that make Space Marines’
bolters look like staple guns. And because they’re a bunch of cyborgs, many of
their special units have the ability to repair themselves.

Best of all, the Adeptus Mechanicus
are best buds with

35

Only one force es on psykers, the
in this universe is badass enough psychic sorcerers of the Warhammer
to withstand 10,000 years of continuous, no-holds-barred 40K universe. These tricky sons of bitches are highly mobile,
warfare against the Space Marines: Chaos Space Marines, also known as the disturbingly hard to kill, and able to pull of big, flashy magic effects that will blow
Heretic Astartes or Traitor Legions. These sick bastards decided for one reason or your opponents’ minds. If Thousand Sons played Magic: The Gathering, they’d be
another to betray the Emperor of Mankind and instead side with Chaos, a decision building annoying mono-blue decks.
that has doomed them forever. Playing Chaos Marines is similar to playing normal There’s something else Chaos Marines have that normal Marines don’t: daemons.
Space Marines, but before you go and call these guys palette-swaps, shut the hell Daemons take many forms, from titanic maws like the Great Unclean Ones to
up and listen for a second. legions of horned murderers like Bloodletters, and most of them have the ability to
Each Chaos Space Marine faction has its own cool, unique traits, just like the make invulnerable saves, which can instantly negate points of damage. Downside?
normal legions: the Death Guard, for example, have an ability called Disgustingly You usually have to summon them first, like any good Satanic cultist.
Resilient that allows all their units to soak up gunfire and knife wounds with their
rotting flesh. They also get access to virulent diseases that can wipe out whole
units and special rules that allow them to become a slow-moving juggernaut when
it comes to infantry battles.

The Thousands Sons, meanwhile, are one of the few armies in the game that focus-

Heretic Astartes (Chaos Space Marines)

36

Tau Empire

These guys are a bunch of fuckin’ nerds.

37

Eldar are snap
for the kind of person who like Pringles in the face of
sympathizes with the graceful, sorrowful elves in Lord enemy fire and melee armies, and though they can dish
of the Rings more than the dirt-covered humans—the sort of cultured sci-fi warga- out a lot of destruction, they can’t take much of it, especially considering that their
mer who gazes in disdain at armies clad in chunky power armor and prefers more units are usually small in number. On top of that, Eldar have a higher learning
precision and beauty in their faction. If Space Marines are human meat tenderizers, curve for new players, since each unit of soldiers is usually specialized for one
Eldar are a tray of surgical tools. task—if your specialists are in the wrong place with the wrong tools, they can get
In terms of lore, the Eldar are among the oldest and most advanced races in the gal- shredded like mozzarella cheese. That’s part of the strategy of Eldar, but it’s also
axy, with an understanding of technology and the Warp that makes the Imperium one of the key drawbacks.
look like hairy, religious cavemen (which, to be honest, they are). After reaching Apart from your vanilla Aeldari, there are also the Drukhari, Ynnari, and Harelquin
their peak, however, the Eldar fell into decadence and ended up unleashing a new sub-factions, each of which has their own flavor and plan to deal with the looming
Chaos God upon the galaxy, born from their collective unconscious. Now that threat of their race’s extinction. Except the Harlequins. Nobody knows why they
Chaos God, Slaanesh, is slowly consuming the Eldar that survived the cataclysmic do anything.
fall of their civilization.
Eldar are highly mobile, have excellent high-powered guns, strong and consistent
psykers, and great flying units. Unfortunately, they’re also glass cannons: they

Aeldari, Drukhari, and Ynnari (The Eldar)

38

Orks

Orks are the lovable, incredibly violent cockney ragamuffins of the 40K universe. erally have to rely on scavenging and jury-rigging their equipment from fallen
Seriously, these guys draw their battle plans in crayons and have trouble pro- enemies. Though their weapons are generally unreliable, when they hit, they hit
nouncing polysyllabic words. They call guns “shootas” and heavy machine guns hard. Orks love big, flashy explosions and huge hailstorms of gunfire so much
“big shootas.” What they desperately, desperately lack in brainpower they make that they have their own recognized onomatopoeia for the sound a machine gun
up for in sheer brawn and big, dumb smiles. Ork armies aren’t supposed to be makes: “dakka dakka.” This, of course, leads to the immortal Ork quote “Never
too serious—they’re meant to be Judge Dredd mixed with old Popeye cartoons. enough dakka.”

Orks like to travel in big ol’ hordes, so be prepared to have a lot of guys on the
board mobbing your opponents. Orks excel at stabbing people at close range and
bashing them apart with melee attacks, but their long-range weapons are spotty
at best. This is mostly because they’re too stupid to build
anything more complicated than a
club and gen-

39

Necrons are robotic Egyptian space skele- nent’s soul like spending
tons who have been scattered across the galaxy in giant, hidden tombs, awaiting a turn triumphantly wiping out half a squad of
the day when they can burst from their techno-sarcophagi and claim the stars in Necrons, watching you roll some dice, and seeing you put those little skeletons
the name of primordial cosmic gods, called the C’tan. They’re basically cyber-li- back on the table, one by one. On top of that, Necrons have incredibly powerful ar-
ches, and they don’t take shit from nobody, especially not sad, fleshy organic mor-piercing weapons across the board and additional protection for their vehicles
lifeforms. in the form of quantum shielding. However, they pay for all these obscene nec-
Necrons have a couple big things going for them: first, they’re made of the same romantic goodies by being relatively slow and having no access to (or protection
liquid metal as the T-1000, meaning they can regenerate damage. Second, if you do from) traditional psykers.
manage to push them in a giant vat of molten lava (or you know, just shoot them
enough), they have a chance to come back from the dead. Nothing hurts your oppo-

Necrons

40

Tyranids

If you want to land on my personal Shit List forever, go ahead and play Tyranids. fond of quoting Phil Kelly, who once said “If your opponent is looking across
I’m serious. Do it. Tweet a picture of your new Tyranid army at me along with a the table at your army and thinking ‘how am I going to kill all of this?’, you’ve
photo, and I will fight you in a bare-knuckle showdown on the Brooklyn Bridge. already won.”
Because you are what’s wrong with this world. In the Warhammer universe, Tyranids are less of an army and more of a gal-
Tyranids are the classic swarm army. If you’ve played against Zerg in Starcraft, axy-spanning hivemind that threatens to blot out the universe with creatures
you already know what they are and what they do (mostly because the Zerg that can evolve and adapt to any threat. You’re essentially controlling a bunch
are based on Tyranids). If not, imagine that you’re sitting across a table that is of miniature xenomorphs that excel at melee, but Tyranids are (regrettably)
half-covered in a sea of little eyeless dinosaurs that move in packs of twenty. very flexible, and come with a lot of different loadouts.
Sooner or later, the swarm is going to reach your guys, and though you may kill
ten, twenty, or even thirty of them, it still may not be enough to save yourself.
Of course, my friend Will loves Tyra-
nids. He’s very

41

All right, the truth All jokes aside, Tau is one
about the Tau is that they’re essentially the only of the stronger ranged armies in the game, with
decent people in the entire goddamn galaxy. The Imperium are a bunch of excellent guns and a lot of infantry. They’re similar to a mix of Eldar and
corrupt, oppressive religious zealots who are too busy throwing millions of lives into Imperial Guard, with massed infantry units pouring some really nasty fire into enemy
the giant blender of perpetual war to realize that they’ve lost their humanity, Chaos is lines. Their soldiers and tech look very sleek and space age-y when compared to some
a rag-tag horde of power-hungry psychopaths and literal hell-spawn who would burn other factions (like Orks or the World War II-looking Imperial Guard), and one of
the galaxy to the ground in a heartbeat if they had the chance, and most alien races their key selling points is their big Gundam-esque mech suits.
(excluding maybe the Aeldari) are terrifying, mindless engines of destruction whose Still, if an opponent manages to endure the withering fire and get into melee combat
sole purpose is to kill everyone and everything that isn’t them. with Tau, these guys will generally crumple like a soda can. Another downside is that
And that’s what made Warhammer 40K fun—no one’s the good guy, nobody deserves the Tau, like Necrons, have almost zero psykers on their side, making them extremely
to live, and nothing can stop this bloody cycle of death, destruction, and war. vulnerable to sorcerers and psychic powers.
Then Tau had to come along and offer a legitimate hope that somehow the races of
the galaxy could put aside their differences and sacrifice their own self-interest for the
Greater Good. Instead of being dogmatic purists, the Tau welcome all races to fight by
their side. Instead of ultimate dominion over the galaxy, they want to establish a new
order that brings peace to all. Instead of having looking like normal faces, they look
like blue fish people.

Tau Empire (For Real This Time)

42

Conclusion

That’s it for the first part of the faction overview–next one will include the
Genestealers, Grey Knights, Imperial Knights, and more!

43

GETTING INTO
WARHAMMER 40K,

PART 3

CHOOSING Aaaand we’re back with more Warhammer! Be sure to check that can spice up your main army. Some of these factions are
YOUR ALLIES out Part 1 and Part 2 to get the full picture. like rare seasonings that you sprinkle into your army (like
Some Warhammer factions play nice with others, like the agents of the Officio Assassinorum), while others are ghost
44 Space Marines and the Imperial Guard. Others, like the Orks, peppers that become the centerpiece of your whole force (like
don’t really have natural allies among the main factions. In an Imperial Knight).
the case of Orks, it’s probably because they’re a mob of Cock- If you’re really in love with some of these factions (like Chaos
ney psychopaths who eat paste and mutilate corpses. Either Daemons), you can build whole armies based on them,
way, most armies benefit from having some allies outside though some require higher learning curves and allies of
their faction. their own. Here’s a general overview of what you’ve got to
Luckily, Warhammer has a whole host of smaller factions work with.

Genestealer Cults

Genestealers are the secret Communists every- The Genestealers fill a very important role in
one was afraid of during the Cold War: they Warhammer 40K by allowing Tyranid players
sneak into manual laborer jobs in the Imperi- to pretend that anyone would want to be
um (sometimes even the Imperial Guard) and friends with them.
quietly sabotage everything they can until it’s The faction functions as a kind of hybrid
time to overthrow the planet in the name of between the Imperial Guard and the Tyranids,
their Tyranid overlords. with strong melee capabilities and large num-
There’s actually two sides to the Genesteal- bers. Paired with their faction-unique vehicles
ers: pureblood Genestealers and Genestealer (like tanks and mining drills) and extremely
Cults. The former are a special species of tricky ambush tactics, they’re surprisingly
Tyranid that are sent to infiltrate society and flexible and tactical. Unfortunately, they’re
begin producing human-like offspring, while not too durable and their ranged firepower is
the latter are groups of humans that have generally lacking.
begun worshipping the Tyranids as gods and
become genestealers through infection by
another genestealer.

Chaos Daemons I wrote about the magic of Warhammer 40K.
Daemons are generally fun to play with and
If you’re playing a Chaos faction, the highlight terrifying to deal with. The better ones can
of your day is probably summoning up a nice, take a lot of damage, dish out a lot of pain,
spicy Daemon unit or two. If you’re lucky, you bring hardcore psyker abilities to the table, or
get to slam a big, fat Greater Daemon on the a combination of all three. One of the hall-
board and start turning your opponent’s day marks of Daemons is an Invulnerability Save,
into a grade-A shitstorm. which gives them a chance to just shrug off
damage. A lot of them have unique abilities,
In the lore, daemons are denizens of the Warp, too–and they can be doozies. Here are some
the pseudo-mystical dimension that underlies of the all-stars for each Chaos Faction–the
reality. The Warp is influenced by the emo- Greater Daemons.
tions, thoughts, and desires of the galaxy’s
many species, and since there’s only war,
cruelty, and death in the grim darkness of the
future, that means the Warp is basically a roil-
ing hellscape filled with beings who personify
fear, deception, and rage. If you want to learn
more about that, you can check out this article

45

Khorne

This is a Bloodthirster. He is not a nice
person. He likes to immediately get
into melee range and turn his enemies
into a fine, red mist. Bloodthirsters
actually come in three flavors, so
you’ll have a chance to pick the right
one to wreak the most havoc. Though
Bloodthirsters have a stupid amount
of wounds and great damage output,
their huge size and the fact that they
usually need to get up close and person-
al means they make for big targets on
the board. Like Imperial Knights (keep
reading), they’re terrifying, but
not invincible.

Tzeentch This chicken-faced monstrosity is a Chaos
Lord of Charge, and it’s a beast when
46 it comes to bringing psyker fury down
on anything and everything, not to
mention stopping other players from
casting their own spells. It also has the
potential to straight-up ignore enemy
damage due to Tzeentch’s love of in-
vulnerability saves, so enjoy watching
your opponent waste their firepower on
your nigh-unkillable sorcerer abomina-
tion-thing.