What army should i pick for warhammer 40k

Daemons of Khorne gives you a unit of Bloodletters, a unit of mounted Bloodcrushers and a Herald on Blood Throne to lead your force. Nurgle is the God of Decay, and his disgusting disease-spreading daemons are a mixture of zombie aesthetic and a strange silliness that makes them all the more scary.

Like the Death Guard, they are all about the slow unstoppable advance. The Nurgle Daemons miniatures range is pretty up to date since the Age of Sigmar Nurgle range got an upgrade a few years ago. Plaguebearers of Nurgle and Nurglings are some of your horde-like units, supported by characters with insane names such as Sloppity Bilepiper and Horticulous Slimux.

The most iconic Nurgle unit, however, is the hulking Great Unclean One pictured at the top of this section, which can be assembled in af few different ways. The Nurgle range is sure to be supported for years to come like that of the other Chaos Gods since they play an important part in both the 40k and Age of Sigmar universes. Daemons of Nurgle box comes with a unit of Plaguebearers, a unit of Nurglings, a unit of fly-mounted Plague Drones and a Herald of Nurgle character, meaning you get some of your most iconic units in one box.

This is perfectly embodied in the Horror Daemons, which split into smaller versions of themselves when they die, and the terrifying sorcerer bird the Lord of Change , pictured above.

Most of the Tzeentch miniatures range is up to date, but especially the Flamers of Tzeentch and Screamers of Tzeentch are in dire need of an update.

The Horrors of Tzeentch are a very strange unit that basically requires you to buy two different kits: They can start out as Pink Horrors, which split into twice the number of smaller Blue Horrors when they die. In turn, the Blue Horrors split into even smaller Brimstone Horrors when they die. Daemons of Tzeentch box gives you a Burning Chariot of Tzeentch, a unit of Flamers of Tzeentch, a unit of Screamers of Tzeentch, and a unit of Pink Horrors but not the blue and crimson ones you need , as well as an optional Herald of Nurgle on Foot.

Miniatures-wise, this is one of the older sets of sculpts available in a Start Collecting! The miniatures is a disturbing range of graceful but horrifying creatures that have received a lot of updates via the Age of Sigmar storyline in recent years, and it will probably continue to do so.

The Daemons of Slaanesh miniatures range is generally up to date, with the Daemonettes of Slaanesh infantry being fairly old but still serviceable, and larger models such as the Keeper of Secrets pictured above being brand new. If you like painting huge miniatures, but you want a break from the clean design of the Imperial Knights, the chains, pikes and spikes of the Chaos Knights might be your next favorite project.

The Chaos Knights miniatures range is very up to date, and even though it might look like it to the untrained eye, only some of them are Imperial Knights with different suggested color schemes. Like the elves of J. They live long, disciplined lives, dedicating all their energy to specific disciplines and skills to avoid their tendency to excess, which would make them vulnerable to the influence of the Chaos God Slaanesh, who devours their souls when they die.

To save themselves from being devoured, all Aeldari of the Craftworlds carry a spirit stone that captures their soul when they die, and they travel the galaxy in great ships that store all these dead souls. When truly threatened by enemies, the Craftworlds field constructs powered by these spirit stones, so that long-dead Aeldari ancestors may march to war once again as huge suits of armour.

The range has some good plastic characters such as the Spiritseer , Farseer , Jain Zar pictured at the top of this section and Eldrad Ulthran , and the infantry unit Howling Banshees got a brand new plastic kit recently. The many vehicles and constructs of the Craftworlds, such as Fire Prism or Wraithguard also look pretty good.

Hopefully the range will get even more updates soon. Craftworlds box contains 5 Wraithguard, a Farseer, a Wraithlord and a War Walker, so you get a really cool army of big walkers. The only problem is that there are no Troops units in this box I had to look this up to make sure, so thank you, Craftworldeldar.

The Drukhari are the evil twins of the Craftworlds Aeldari, so to speak. Instead of seeking control and discipline, they have gone all in on their Slaaneshian weaknesses, seeking decadence, violence and excess wherever they can. While there are still quite a few resin sculpts in the Drukhari miniatures range, it is generally in better shape than the Craftworlds range, as most of its infantry units are modern plastic sculpts.

Confusingly, though, the most recent update to their Incubi warriors, which was released in a special army set during the Psychic Awakening event, are currently unavailable.

Note that while most of the essential units of the Drukhari are very coherent in style, the Drukhari range is also home to some really strange stuff such as the Cronos or the actual snake-man Sslyth.

Along with the new codex , a Combat Patrol: Drukhari box is also up for the Drukhari. It contains everything you need to build a Combat Patrol force, including the Incubi that have been unavailable for a while.

The Harlequins miniatures range is very limited, with only one infantry unit, three characters and three vehicles where two are versions of the same kit, but they all look really good if you are able to paint their complex, chequered color scheme, as seen on this Harlequin Troupe :.

Interesting special rules! So, if you want to play the Aeldari faction that believes things might end well after all, the Ynnari might be just the right faction for you.

Since the Ynnari are made up of Aeldari warriors from the Craftworlds, Drukhari and Harlequin ranges, consult the corresponding sections of our guides for those armies for most of your units.

Apart from that, only one dedicated miniatures kit is available for the Ynnari, but what a kit it is: The Triumvirate of Ynnead contains the three most important characters of the Ynnari, which are the Yncarne, Yvraine and the Visarch, which are all HQ choices for your army and impressive modern plastic sculpts to boot.

The Tyranids are one of the greatest horror elements of the Warhammer 40, Universe. They are a swarm of galaxy-travelling monsters who consume everything in their path and incorporate the biomass of it into their ever-growing armies.

Bear in mind that you can also combine your monsters with detachments that are either Brood Brothers which are Astra Militarum units that are infiltrated by Tyranid Genestealers and the Genestealer Cults described below, which have a ton of recent sculpts available, so there are quite a few ways to build a Tyranid army.

Tyranids box gives you 8 Genestealers, a Trygon and a Broodlord character, which is all you need to scare the crap out of anyone. The Genestealer Cults are cults on human worlds that worship the coming of the Tyranids, and they consist of hybrids of genestealer and human DNA, so some look almost like humans while others have extra arms and terrifying mouths full of sharp teeth.

They are a great army to collect if you like the idea of playing as an alien insurrection undermining the Imperial order, and they can be a part of Tyranid armies as well, so they can be played in several ways. They are also one of the most updated armies outside of the Space Marines ranks, so if you want state of the art miniatures, they might be just the army for you. Until then, you can play them with rules from the Warhammer 40, app. The Genestealer Cults miniatures range is generally very up to date.

The Troops choice Neophyte Hybrids are some of the best-looking infantry models in the game in my opinion and you can play them in Necromunda as well!

If you want to include Brood Brothers in your army Astra Militarum units that are part of the insurrection , there is even a Genestealer Cults Upgrade Frame available that can help you turn any human infantry model into a hybrid. Genestealer Cults box contains 10 Neophyte Hybrids, 5 Acolyte Hybrids, an Acolyte Iconward and an Achilles Ridgerunner vehicle to help you start a Genestealer Cults army with about half of what you need for a Combat Patrol force, depending on the loadout you select for your units.

Do it. Tweet a picture of your new Tyranid army at me along with a photo, and I will fight you in a bare-knuckle showdown on the Brooklyn Bridge. Tyranids are the classic swarm army. 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 Tyranids. In the Warhammer universe, Tyranids are less of an army and more of a galaxy-spanning hivemind that threatens to blot out the universe with creatures that can evolve and adapt to any threat.

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. All jokes aside, Tau is one of the stronger ranged armies in the game, with excellent guns and a lot of infantry.

Their soldiers and tech look very sleek and space age-y when compared to some other factions like Orks or the World War II-looking Imperial Guard , and one of their key selling points is their big Gundam-esque mech suits. Still, if an opponent manages to endure the withering fire and get into melee combat with Tau, these guys will generally crumple like a soda can. Another downside is that the Tau, like Necrons, have almost zero psykers on their side, making them extremely vulnerable to sorcerers and psychic powers.

Chris Mahon is a fantasy writer, speaker, and essayist living in Brooklyn, New York. In his free time he runs The Occult Triangle Lab, a blog on trigonometry, fantasy, and ungodly amounts of milk.

You can contact him on Twitter DeadmanMu or at christophmahon [at] gmail [dot] com. I will say I agree about the whole tau thing it breaks the irony. I half agree, I actually really enjoy the Tau as a race. The main reason I like the Tau is precisely because they are the good guys.

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All Rights Reserved. They are like Space Marines power armor and bolters , but physically weaker. Adepta Sororitas have some unique tanks and work using a faith system to gain bonuses. Sisters are weak in close combat and prefer to shoot. They have a focus on speed with some fast tanks and Assault Marines.

Very capable of being an alpha strike army. Actually, they have quite a few unique units to them now I think about it, like the Sanguinary Guard, Sanguinary Priests, and a Librarian Dreadnought. Overall, Blood Angels are a Space Marines army through and through with some specializations unique to them. Deathwing all Terminators , and Ravenwing Bikers , set them apart from other Marines. These units have distinct rules and abilities to Dark Angels.

Fluff-wise, Dark Angels are the mysterious chapter of Marines if you like that dark secretive element. Also, the Dark Angels fluff is that they came about from houses of knights. So, they maintain that type of noble structure within their chapter.

Oh, plasma. Dark Angels love plasma and get a lot of it. Death Watch are a low model count army that packs quite a punch. These are the elite of the Space Marines.

Grey Knights focus on smaller more elite units. Also, everyone is a psyker, which is rather unique to them. Grey Knights do not have a lot of units and options compared to most other armies. The great generalists of the game, as noted above. Part of that well-rounded nature is an extensive codex that offers lots of units. It is the largest codex compared to anything else.

Also, between different chapter traits, and stratagems, you can flavor the army a few different way. These guys lean more towards close combat than general Space Marines. Space Wolves have a Viking thing going in terms of back story and appearance. I feel they are the most distinctive Marine Chapter in terms of looks. The most elite army of infantry you can field.

In terms of fluff, these are the protectors of the Emperor and are created from his geneseed directly. They are far more powerful than a Space Marine, and fall short of only a Primarch, and the Emperor of course. The background is these guys make all the Imperial military gear armor, weapons, vehicles, etc.

These guys can shoot a ton and are also very fast. What they lack in raw strength they make up for with speed and capability. They also tend to be on the fragile side, though not the most fragile army out there. Aeldari Eldar have some great psykers to top it all off as well.

In fact, the army is very capable with psychic powers and have some of the most powerful psykers in the game. In general, the army works by having specialized units. So, they have a unit for every situation. The anvil of the Imperium. These guys are your modern-day military equivalent. They focus on large infantry squads with a TON of tank options for support and fire power. Astra Militarum is a weak close combat army who prefers to pound the enemy with fire power at range.

Speaking of, they have a lot of artillery type of options where they pound the enemy at range without the need to see them.

This is one of the strongest armies in 8th edition. Guard can put down a lot of bodies, a lot of fire power, and deal with anything they face. A very diverse army in terms of unit choices but generally aimed at close combat. In fact, the army has very little in the way of shooting. Daemons make thorough use of psykers.

The codex for Chaos Knights is very similar to that for Imperial Knights. In short, it will let you field an entire army of Chaos Knights. So, if you like playing with angry, stompy robots, then check this one out.

Lightly armored fast vehicles and poisoned weaponry are the mainstay of Drukhari Dark Eldar. What the army lacks in punch they often makeup for in volume and ease of wounding. Very much a finesse army. Also, Dark Eldar are one of the most fragile armies. In the right hands this army is brutal though. The focus of the army is on shooting.

The evil Space Marines. Mostly generalists, like their loyal counterparts, but with some daemonic flavor giving them some very unique units. Chaos Space Marines are usually effective mid to short ranged, though they also have some capable long ranged units as well.

Death Guard are followers of Nurgle, the god of plague and disease. As such, Death Guard is a very resilient and tough army, which suits the lore. With some interesting vehicles, and the ability to take a hit, they hold up very well against anything. Also, Death Guard have some capable psykers as well. Even the basic weapons in this army can cut through power armor with ease.

Genestealer Cults is probably the best army for alpha strikes. Basically, the army is a merging if Astra Militarum and Tyranids — sort of. I do know they are really intended for inclusion in an Eldar or Dark Eldar army. If anyone has a good brief overview of these guys it would be appreciated.

Great fire power, decent in close combat, and fast. Knights are relatively rounded, and the new codex opens up a lot of new options and variants for the army in 8th. Necrons do have some good close combat units as well to help offset their slow and shooty nature.

I feel that overall Necrons are a well balanced army, but they can be played a few different ways pretty successfully. Orks are scarcely armored brutes who love close combat. Orks can also do well with shooting if taken in enough quantity to compensate for their terrible ballistic skill.

The army works well as a horde, a greentide, but the newest codex also brought back Speedfreeks as a style of play — fast, fragile vehicles. These guys feature a lot of high powered long ranged fire power. Not only do they posses powerful shooting, they possess it in quantity as well.

They do not have a single dedicated close combat unit in the entire codex. Still, if you like shooting things, and you like a Gundam aesthetic, then this is a great army for you.