Warhammer 40K

After more than forty thousand years of war and strife among the stars, Humanity stands on the brink of extinction. Beset on all sides by hostile aliens and threatened from within by traitors, Humanity’s only chance for survival rests with the continuation of the cruel and bloody regime known as the Imperium. Yet few among Mankind’s untold population realise the full truth of their situation. If there is any future at all, it is a grim one…

The Book

A 280-page hardback, this is the essential book for any fan of Warhammer 40,000 – everything you need to know to collect, build, paint and play with Citadel miniatures.

Rules

The Core Rules explain everything you need to play to play Warhammer 40,000. Moving, shooting, using psychic powers, charging, fighting and morale tests are covered, giving you the basic framework to play with. You can play a game using only these 8 pages, bolting on more advanced and complex rules when you and your opponent are ready.

Three Ways to Play

- Open Play – pick some models, put them on the table and begin a game. This is the most flexible approach, designed with near-limitless possibilities; all you need is some models, their datasheets and the core rules. Included are some themes and ideas you can use or build upon to add atmosphere to your games, and 3 example missions.

- Narrative Play – Warhammer 40,000 has a vast, rich history with countless epic battles. Narrative Play is designed to let you and your friends re-enact those battles at your leisure. There are special rules to help you do this, such as Concealed Deployment and unpredictable, random battle lengths, and the book includes several missions - 6 Crucible of War missions and 1 Echoes of War mission, each showing you how to play in this style.

- Matched Play – for many players, Warhammer 40,000 is an opportunity to prove their mettle with tactics and strategy, an exercise in out-thinking and out-gunning their opponent with balanced, equal armies: Matched Play is for them. There are several ways to ensure that your forces are balanced against each other – a points limit is the typical way, but the system is flexible enough to allow armies based on unit numbers, Power Ratings, Wounds; as long as your limits are agreed, the possibilities are manifold. This book provides details on choosing your armies, and provides missions as examples of the tactical challenges available: 6 Eternal War and 6 Maelstrom of War missions, with explanations covering the use of Tactical Objectives.

Advanced Rules

While the Core Rules provide with you with everything needed to play, the Advanced Rules are a selection of rules and expansions that can be used to play with your miniatures the way that you want to. With these rules, there are always new challenges to face, new battles to fight, and new ways to play:

- Battle-Forged Armies: organise your models in a way that reflects the armies of Warhammer 40,000 – this places restrictions on your army, but makes up for it with powerful benefits, which use a system of Command Points;

- Battlefield Terrain: rules for a variety of terrains (Woods, Ruins, Barricades, Obstacles, Imperial Statuary, Fuel Pipes, Battlescape and Hills), each of which introduce scenarios and opportunities that change the nature of battle;

- Battlezones: rules for fighting amidst the effects of otherworldly environments, including low visibility, beneath an apocalyptic orbital battle and in the middle of a devastating psychic maelstrom;

- Planetstrike: slam down from orbit in a terrifying planetary assault. Two players are separated into Attacker and Defender, with scenarios that play out a full incursion and a Planetfall mission;

- Cities of Death: street fighting in the ruins of a shattered city, with buildings bitterly fought over – the claustrophobia of urban warfare makes for tense battles with snipers and grenades coming to the fore. Includes a Firesweep mission for playing out room-to-room combat;

- Stronghold Assault: dig in for a game of fortified siege warfare. One player seeks to overwhelm the prepared defences of another, with a Bunker Assault mission included;

- Death From the Skies: dogfighting for your Flyer models, allowing the recreation of epic clashes above the battlefield. A Tactical Strike mission involves a defence against a bombing run;

- Multiplayer Battles: rules accommodating three (or more!) players, with an example of a multiplayer battle to work from;

- Campaigns: an overview of linking your games into Tree, Matrix and Map campaigns.

Dark Millennium

The book contains a full detailing of the state of the galaxy after the events of the Gathering Storm – the major players, the struggles they face and the sheer grimness of eternal war, as Chaos threatens to engulf Humanity.

The Imperium of Man

Details of the various worlds within the Imperium, explanations of the Ecclesiarchy – the official state religion of the Imperium, and the Ages of Mankind, with maps of important locations within the galaxy showing in stark detail how the Great Rift may have doomed Humanity forever. There’s also an in-depth account of the current state of the Imperium – the increased threat from Chaos and the steps being taken in order to counter them.

The Forces of Chaos

You’ll find an explanation of the Chaos Gods – who they are, their motivations and their methods – along with the vile armies of the Heretic Astartes: Space Marines, once loyal, who now blindly follow the corrupt lure of Chaos, debasing themselves in battle for their dark masters.

The Xenos Threat

This book provides an overview of the major alien antagonists who populate the galaxy – the Aeldari (Craftworld, Harlequins, Ynnari and Drukhari), Necrons, Orks, Tyranids, Genestealer Cults and T’au Empire. Each of these includes their backstory and guides to their equipment, hierarchies and weapons of war.

The Miniatures

31 detailed plastic Citadel miniatures from the Primaris Space Marines and Death Guard range, in blue and green plastic, ready for you to assemble:

Primaris Space Marines

Mighty warriors and fearless protectors of humanity, equipped with the greatest weapons and armour the Imperium can provide, the Space Marines are heroes one and all.

- 1 Primaris Space Marine Captain, resplendent in cloak and iron halo, holding aloft a master-crafted power sword in one hand and wielding a boltstorm gauntlet on the other;

- a 5-man Primaris Space Marine Intercessor Squad – the heart of a Primaris Space Marines army – armed with bolt rifles and bolt pistols;

- 1 3-man Primaris Space Marine Inceptor Squad – shock troops who slam into the fight with jump packs screaming – armed with assault bolters;

- 1 5-man Primaris Space Marine Hellblaster Squad – the finest marksmen, able to lay low entire armies on their own – armed with plasma incinerators and bolt pistols.

Death Guard

The Death Guard trudge inexorably into battle amidst the drone of endless swarms of flies. Bloated, rotten and riddled with disease, these revolting traitors are virtually immune to pain.

- 1 Death Guard Lord of Contagion , a huge, terrifying Chaos Space Marine covered in spiked, corrupted Terminator armour armed with a plaguereaper.

- 5 Death Guard Plague Marines – 4 armed with boltguns and plague knives, 1 plague champion armed with bolt pistol, plaguesword and power fist;

- 1 Death Guard Foetid Bloat-drone – a huge machine held aloft by rusted turbines – armed with plaguespitters and a plague probe;

- 10 Death Guard Poxwalkers – the rotten, shambling core of the army – armed with improvised weapons (hammers, claws, bayonets and metal pipes are featured.)

Gaming Content

Everything you need to learn to play Warhammer 40,000 going with your new miniatures is included in the box, including a 96-page book featuring:

- an introduction to the Warhammer 40,000 hobby – collecting, building, painting and playing with Citadel miniatures;

- a guide to the state of the galaxy in Warhammer 40,000 – the Imperium of Man, the forces of Chaos, the Xenos threat and their terrible intertwinings;

- an overview of the heroic Primaris Space Marines, with a focus on Captains, Intercessors, Inceptors and Hellblasters;

- an overview of the Death Guard, with a focus on the Lords of Contagion, Plague Marines, Foetid Bloat-Drones and Poxwalkers;

- background information setting up the epic conflict between the Ultramarines and Death Guard in the Ultramar system – the home of the Ultramarines;

- a step-by-step painting guide, beginning with a guide to the fundamentals – the brushes and paints to choose – and giving you the tips and techniques needed to paint the miniatures included in the box;

- a ‘start playing’ guide – this is split into 6 missions, each of which introduces more miniatures and more advanced concepts into the flow of the game, taking you from a basic fight between a couple of models to full-blown combat between all 31 included in the box! The missions are designed to be intuitive, and the new player is encouraged to add rules at their own pace;

- a set of core rules – these are the fundamental rules for playing Warhammer 40,000, split into easy to follow phases with a mission designed to ease you in;

- datasheets for every miniature – these are handy cards containing the rules for each model in the box;

- a 2’ x 4’ double-sided gaming mat – one side is specially designed with icons showing you where to place miniatures in order to play the 6 missions included in the book, and the other has no markings, so you can play your own games. Each side is printed in full colour with an evocative design of a ruined Imperial city;

- a scenery piece! The inside tray of the box is designed to look like a sealed Imperial bunker, meaning it can be placed on your mat as a piece of scenery for your miniatures to battle over;

- 6 6-sided dice, and a 12” translucent measuring ruler, each vitally important for measuring movement and other in game tasks;

- a decal sheet for your Ultramarines, featuring army and troop iconography;

- 15 32mm, 10 25mm, 4 40mm, 1 50mm and 1 60mm round plastic bases for your miniatures to stand upon, with 3 45mm plastic flying stems for the Inceptor Squad.

The Miniatures

15 easy to build push-fit (no glue required!) miniatures in blue and green coloured plastic, representing the heroic Ultramarines and putrescent Death Guard:

Ultramarines

- 3 Primaris Intercessors – clad in Mk X power armour, they are each armed with a bolt rifle and carry grenades. 1 model is a Sergeant, who leads the unit – he has a holstered pistol and is easily identified by his bare, unhelmed head;

- 3 Primaris Reivers – again clad in Mk X power armour, these Space Marines carry heavy bolt pistols and combat blades – they distinguished by the sinister skull motif on their helmets, with the Sergeant featuring a half-skull faceplate.

Death Guard

- 3 Plague Marines – each festering and bursting out of their armour due to the malign corruption of the Plague God Nurgle. 1 wields a boltgun, 1 is armed with a blight launcher and 1 – the Champion, who leads the unit – has a plasma gun, power fist and plague knife;

- 6 Poxwalkers – these are the cursed victims of the plagues, transformed into living weapons. Each is armed with an improvised close combat weapon, with hammers, chains, planks of wood and metal pipes with nails in represented.

Gaming Content

Everything you need to learn to play with your new miniatures is included in the box:

- a 24-page booklet containing the core rules for playing Warhammer 40,000, with each phase of the game explained in a clear, easy to follow manner from the initial setup to one side’s victory;

- a 56-page book that guides you through the background, history and current state of the Warhammer 40,000 galaxy, with introductions to the Primaris Space Marines and Death Guard, as well as 9 other armies. It features step-by-step guides to painting your miniatures, with guides to the paints and brushes you need, along with a showcase of beautifully-painted miniatures to inspire your hobby journey. It also includes explanations of the different ways to play Warhammer 40,000, along with training missions that gradually introduce the core concepts to the total beginner;

- a 2’ x 2’ double-sided gaming mat – one side is specially designed with icons showing you where to place miniatures in order to play the training missions, and the other has no markings, so you can play your own games. Each side is printed in full colour with an evocative design of a ruined Imperial city;

- a scenery piece! The inside tray of the box is designed to look like a set of armoured containers, meaning it can be placed on your mat as a piece of scenery for your miniatures to battle over;

- datasheets for the miniatures in the box – these are handy cards with the information on movement and weapons for each model printed on, meaning less flipping through books for information and more actual gaming;

- 6 6-sided dice, and a 6” translucent measuring ruler, each vitally important for games;

- a decal sheet for your Ultramarines, featuring army and troop iconography;

- 9 32mm and 6 40mm round plastic bases for your miniatures to stand upon.