Warhammer 40k (Table Top Game) geeks help me

Ok, I never played Warhammer 40k (Or warhammer fantasy battle for that matter) but I am extreamly curious of it.

I know a little bit about Ork and Human lore. I also know about the Tyranid, Tau, and Eldar general stories.

I want to know more or less if this is a game I should invest my time, and money into. I like the concept, and I love the deep lore of each faction.

I am just curious, how does the overall flow of the game (table top game, in case there are any videogame spinoffs). When the dice is rolled, what happens next, what each roll does. ect.

Also, how is each army more or less designed to be played. I don't expect you guys to go in depth into advanced tactics, just a general summary.

 

You take it in turns to complete a full player turn. The phase flow in a player turn is0 Movement phase ==> Shooting phase ==> Assault Phase. The use of dice can differ. For example, in movement, most stuff just moves 6". In shooting, each model gets a certain number of shots. For example, a Space Marine gets two shots if it's in twelve inches. So you roll two dice, one for each shot. If it's above a certain number (in this case, 3), it 'hits'. You then roll to wound. This depends on the enemy's toughness too. The opponent then gets a chance to negate it with an armour save roll. Assaults work in a similar way, but you end up rolling more dice for them.



Space Marines are fairly elite. They don't do horde. They're resilient, and can often be put to multiple uses, where as other armies are more specialised. Orks, Imperial Guard and Tyranids use a horde system. They can easily flood the field in models. Eldar are more specialised, with a glass-cannon feel to them. Tau are similar.

40k is said to have less strategy than Warmachine, a similar game. On the other hand, the story and setting of 40k is arguably more fun than Warmachine. 40k is definitely more fun to model and paint.

 

Alright, to start off, let's go into the actual questions you asked:

Overall game flow:
At the start of the game, you will roll 1d6 and your opponent will roll another 1d6 to determine game type and deployment type. Gametypes are Annihilation (where the goal is to eliminate the opponent's army), Capture and Control (essentially capture the flag) and Seize Ground (where you battle to control at least 4 objectives). Deployment types are Dawn of War (where most of your army is required to start in reserves, only your HQ (commander) and two troops choices are allowed to start on the board at the start of the game), Spearhead (where the table is divided into quarters and both players start on opposite corners) and Pitched Battle (similar to spearhead, only you start on the sides of the table instead of the corners). As I play Tau, I personally always try for Spearhead to maximize the distance between myself and my opponent.

Each turn is divided into phases, where you are allowed to make certain actions.

The Movement Phase is when you position your units. Each infantry unit can move 6" per turn, while jump infantry for most factions can move 12" (the exception is Tau, whose jump infantry, except for Vespid Stingwings, are equipped with jet packs, letting them move only 6" in the movement phase, but an additional 6" during the Assualt Phase). Vehicles vary on type. At the beginning of each Movement Phase after the first, you may choose to attempt to bring units in from your reserves, assuming that you have any (in Dawn of War, you will be allowed to bring reserves in on the first turn).

The Shooting Phase is where you, well, shoot things. The rules on what you can shoot depends on weapon type and whether or not you moved during the Movement Phase. A unit equipped with Assault weapons can move and shoot freely, but a unit equipped with Rapid Fire weapons must choose to either stand still and fire once at full range or twice at 12" Rapid Fire range or can move and shoot twice at Rapid Fire range. Heavy weapons can only be fired on the same turn that a unit moves in special circumstances (for example, a Tau Broadside Battlesuit can move and shoot its Heavy Railgun if equipped with an Advanced Stabilization System, but must choose use the Slow and Purposeful special rule (moves on the roll of 1d6) if the player wishes to do so). If a unit does not shoot, if they have not declared an attempt to shoot, they can Run, which lets them move on the roll of 1d6.

The Assault Phase is where close combat is dealt with. A unit within 6" of another can choose to Assault and bring the fight in close. As this is a basic explanation of the rules, I'll let you do the research on the close combat system as, while not overly complex, is easily the most complex part of the game. The Assault Phase must be resolved in a specific order. Special rules involving the Assault Phase (such as the aforementioned Tau Battlesuit Assault movement) are first, followed by Assault declarations and moves, followed by close combat, which follows its own procedure.

The game will last at least five turns, at this point, you roll 1d6. On a 4 or higher, the game will continue into turn 6, after which the game will continue on a 5+. The game will always end after turn 7.

Keep in mind that this is a very basic explanation of the game flow and the best way to figure out how it works is to play a few games yourself.

Die rolls:
Dice will be rolled for pretty much everything. For example, the dice rolls in the Shooting Phase is as follows: You declare the shot, check range, then roll for every unit in range to hit their targets (the hit roll is based on your unit's Ballistics Skill, with a BS of 3 hitting on a 4+). Then, you will take the rolls you hit with and roll them again to see if they wound their targets (the wound roll is the weapon's Strength vs. the target's Toughness, for example, a Tau Pulse Rifle with Strength 5 will wound a Toughness 4 Space Marine on a 3+). Then your opponent will take any saving throws available to them (Armor Saves are most common. To take an Armor Save, the shooter's weapon must have a higher Armor Penetration than the target's Armor Save, for example, a Pulse Rifle's AP 5 will not penetrate a Space Marine's 3+ Armor Save, but a Tau Plasma Rifle, with AP 2, will).

Dice will also be used when resolving close combat in a similar, but distinct, manner to shooting. The key difference is that in order to determine if you hit, you take your unit's Weapon Skill vs. their target's Weapon Skill. Unfortunately, the To Hit chart for close combat is needlessly complex and I still haven't figured it out completely.

Reserves will enter the game on a 5+ on 1d6 on turn 2 with the chances increasing on every turn until they are free on turn 5.

If your unit takes 25% casualties in one turn, that unit will have to take a Leadership test. If they are forced to take a Leadership test, you take the highest Leadership stat in the unit (IE, team leaders such as a Space Marine Sargeant of a Tau Fire Warrior Shas'ui will have slightly higher Leadership than the rest of the unit) and roll 2d6 and try to roll under that number. Close combat rules, as always, are much more complex.

Leadership tests are also taken for certain special rules, most commonly psyker powers. Some special units have psyker powers and they can use one of their powers once per turn with varying rules between units (for example, while Eldar psykers can always choose which power they can use, Ork Weird Boys use a random power on 1d6). Keep in mind that Tau and Necrons are the only two factions in the game that have no playable psykers (even though the Tau Empire includes a race that is just as psychic as the Eldar, the strongest playable psykers in the game, they hide that race's existence from the Imperium of Man for fear that the Imperium would wage all out war against them).

There are other die rolls, such as the afformentioned Slow and Purposeful special rule, but they are usually on a case by case basis.

Factions:
Let's keep this simple, so I'll give a list and the general overview on how they're played as far as I can tell.

The basic Space Marines are probably the best starter army as they're versatile enough to do anything, even though they will be outclassed by any unit that specializes in one area. There are also several sub factions of Space Marines that I will go over later on this list.

The Orks are very unpredictable and also very versatile in a completely different way than the Marines. You can play them as a swarm army, flooding the board with a lot of weak units intended to either swarm their opponent's lines with as many close combat units as possible or out shooting the opponent through sheer numbers instead of shooting skill (Orks, statistically, will only hit every 1 out of 3 shots). Alternatively, you can play a slightly smaller list of stronger units that will also try to swarm the opponent in close combat (I played against this kind of list the first time I played against Orks. I lost. On turn 2.)

Imperial Guard, the front line forces of the Imperium of Man, are a swarm army, but don't try to get them in close combat. They WILL lose.... except against Tau. They have the cheapest units in the game, equipped with weakest guns in the game (the Lasgun, a Strength 3 peashooter with no AP). They make up for this by having decent vehicles and numbers. There's a reason they say that Lasguns are only useful in bulk.

On the opposite side of the Imperial Guard, there are the Tyranids, AKA, the things that the Zerg are based on. While the Imperial Guard is a shooting swarm, the Tyranids are, in theory, a close combat swarm. They also have the advantage of having a LOT of Monstrous Creatures. These Monstrous Creatures tend to have insanely high Toughness to the point where they're immune to Instant Death (the strongest guns in the game have Strength 10, Instant Death can only be achieved if a unit has half the Toughness of the fired weapon's Strength, most Tyranid Monstrous Creatures have 6 Toughness) and several Wounds. Personally, I hate dealing with Tyranids.

Space Wolves are a specific chapter of Space Marines that can be summed up with two words: Space Vikings. They're similar to regular Marines, except that they are more focused on close combat.

Blood Angels, I have little experience with, but I can tell you that they are, like Wolves, an assault based chapter of Space Marines. Plus, they're the pet army of the lead writer, so don't be surprised if people say "if there's a bullshit rule, Blood Angels have it."

Grey Knights are the newest army in the game. They're the elite of the elite Space Marines. While they won't field as many units, their strength will more than make up for it, especially with their Grey Knight specific units like Dreadknights. Not to mention that every single close combat weapon in the Grey Knights list is a power weapon that will ignore ALL armor saves, even the dreaded 2+ save of Marine Terminators and Tau Broadside Battlesuits.

Chaos Space Marines are very similar to regular Marines except that they have a lot of Chaos specific units that have different strengths, such as the close combat exclusive Khorne Berserkers or the Plague Marines, who, due to be so infect by Chaos, are effectively zombies who ALWAYS get a Feels No Pain saving throw of 4+ on anything other than Instant Death. These special units come at the cost of not being able to field as many units as loyalist Marines. However, it is currently rumored that the Chaos Marine codex will be replaced with the Chaos Legions codex that contains three "mini-codices" that will restrict what units can be fielded together.

The Tau Empire's greatest strength is also their greatest weakness: Their only strength is ranged combat. With the exception of their Kroot and Vespid allies, Tau cannot handle close combat in any circumstances. They make up for this by having some of the best guns in the game. Their basic gun (Pulse Rifle with 30" Range, S5, AP5, Rapid Fire) outclasses any other basic weapon in terms of range, Strength and AP. Not to mention that they mount a S10, AP1 Railgun on infantry with Broadside Battlesuits. However, as of now, due to how ridiculously outdated their codex is, they're probably the most underpowered army (as well as the second most limited army) in the game and will continue to be until they get their 6th edition codex next year.

Necrons are like slightly weaker Space Marines that have a 50% chance of standing right back up after you kill them, then shooting at that nice heavy tank you've got and wrecking it with their basic gun. This comes at the cost of their units being relatively expensive and the fact that their army list is more limited and outdated than the Tau list (Tau have a 4th Edition codex, Necrons are still playing with a 3rd Edition codex) and will continue to be outdated until they get THEIR 6th Edition codex next year, though they are next in line for a new codex.

Eldar are an army that I have yet to figure out completely. However, I have heard them described as this: If Space Marines are an army of generalists, Eldar are an army of specialists. From what I understand their strength and weakness lie in making their specialized units work in harmony.

Dark Eldar are very precise and very fast, but they are also very fragile. They're focused very much on close combat, but even they don't want to stay in close combat for too long.

Chaos Daemons are unique in that they're the only army that's cross compatible between Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer Fantasy. That said, DON'T start with a Chaos Daemons army. At least half of their army is required to start the game in reserves, though they will Deep Strike (teleporting or dropping into the battlefield with a chance of the unit being completely destroyed if they land in terrain) in starting on turn 2.

Personally, I'd recommend starting with any army that sound interesting to you (though do further research as I am by no means an expert), but Tau and Necrons aren't recommended for how outdated they are (coming from a Tau player), Chaos Marines aren't recommended due to the chances of them getting a complete overhaul and Dark Eldar and Chaos Daemons aren't recommended out of sheer difficulty of playing them.

If you want to start with Space Marines/Blood Angels or Orks, then I'd recommend the Assault on Black Reach starter kit that comes with a small force of Space Marines and a small force of Orks. If for some bizarre reason you want to start with Tau, Tau are unique in that they're the only army with a fully playable Battleforce (each army has a Battleforce set that comes with two troops units, one or two other units and a transport vehicle. Basic Tau Battlesuits (the Tau Battleforce comes with one Battlesuit and a 3 man Stealthsuit team) can be legally used as Battlesuit Commanders).

Otherwise, head up to your local game store and ask for advice from players there.

 

I like versatility. I'm interested in either Space Marines or Orks. I'm leaning towards Marines. :)

Do the different factions play differently? What are the stupid rules of the Blood Angels?

 

Well, I will warn you that a lot of people say that standard Marines are boring precisely because of just how generalized they are. Most people would say to play a specialized chapter for this reason. My suggestion would be Space Wolves because Space Wolves are some of the biggest badasses in the 40k setting and this is the setting with characters like the Imperial Guard's Commisar Yarrick (who lost an arm to an Ork warboss, but killed the warboss and took his power claw for a prosthetic, then replaced his lost eye with a prosthetic that shoots lasers. He's also the only normal human that the Black Templar Space Marines have ever willingly worked with. Not to mention that he's almost 70 years old) and the Tau's Commander Shadowsun (the most talented Fire Warrior in the entire Tau Empire and the only one entrusted to test the experimental XV22 Stealth Armor).

As for Blood Angels, they have a few special units that can only be used by them, plus almost every unit in their list can be given extra special rules and extra equipment such as Feels No Pain, Invulnerable Saves (an alternative to the Armor Save that can stop even Instant Death, but it is only available at 5+) and Terminator armor (grants higher Toughness and Armor Save, plus an Invulnerable Save, though to be fair, any Marine chapter can pass out Terminator armor as they see fit), plus, if I remember correctly, their psykers are considerably more powerful than regular Marine psykers. I would be lying if I said that they're unbalanced because they're not. Its just that they've got a lot more special rules and units than any other Marine chapter (except for maybe Space Wolves, but, as Wolves were introduced in 2nd Edition, they were intentionally as different from standard Marines as possible).

Also, go to Games Workshop's website and check the "Getting Started" subsections of any faction you're interested in to get a basic idea on how Games Workshop expects each faction to work.

 

I checked it out. Space Marines look the coolest, along with Grey Knight Daemon Hunters.

I know a bit about the space marines. Idk, futuristic Roman Legions sound cooler than Space Paladins by a little bit.

id rather have a few strong soldiers than a swarm of weakerones. So idk, I'm at an impass. V_v

 

If you really want to break things down to how the factions parallel to real life groups:

Ultramarines: Space Romans
Grey Knights: Space Paladins
White Scars (war bike focused Marine chapter): Space Monguls
Black Templars (another Marine chapter) and Sisters of Battle (closest thing there is to female Space Marines): Space Crusaders
Tau: Space Communists
Necrons: Space Zombies
Orks: Space Rednecks
Blood Angels: Space Vampires
Space Wolves: Space Vikings
Eldar: Space Elves
Dark Eldar: Space Dark Elves/Space Pirates
Tyranids: Space Locusts
Chaos Marines: Space Satanists

 

Thanks for your help. I think Ultramarines are the way to go for me. Idk if its "boring", my goal will bring the battle to where their weaknesses are.

 

More accuratly I'd say the Orks are more of Space Barbarians mixed with English football hooligans.

Also, the Imperium in General: Catholic Space Nazis

Techincally the Space Marines, it doesn't have to be the Ultramarines. You can paint your Marines whatever you want. On the tabletop, Space Marines are a well-rounded and forgiving army. They are a very popular starting army, coming in the box sets and with a decent ten-man squad coming in at about $35. The average Space Marine is very effective in both ranged and close combat, not to mention as well-armed and -armored as most armies' elite soldiers. However, this makes Space Marines expensive in terms of point costs, so they are almost always outnumbered by their opponents. Not that this should particularly worry players.

 

Do you mean the normadic Mongolian warriors?
Not that I know anything about 40k apart from what factions look like, I wondered if they were Mongols.

 

Yes, White Scars are Mongols in Space. Heck, their Primarch was basicly Genghis Khan in Space. Funnily enough the actually Genghis Khan is the Blood God Khorne's oldest/most powerful Daemon Prince, Doombreed.

 

Depends on how you look at them. Either way, they're violent, stupid and inbred (sort of), just like the American stereotypical redneck. Some people who take the Space Redneck interpretation actually paint Confederate flags on their vehicles. However, to be fair, as Games Workshop is a British company, they weren't thinking of American stereotypes when developing the Orks.

Yeah, sounds about right.

Copied from TV Tropes, but a great way to sum things up. Also, a good point to bring up that the Space Marine codex isn't specifically meant for Ultramarines, but for any chapter without their own codex, already established or otherwise. Personally, I'd probably paint a standard Marine force as either Salamanders or White Scars.

 

Ok, Raven Gaurds. :)

I like thier look, I also like thier logical tactical approach to combat. Lots of recon and guerrila style tactics as opposed to dropping a sledghammer. Also, they look the best with mostly black armor.

Since they play by the same rules most other space Marine Chapter, if my tactics change where I need a more "sledghammer style" of fighting, I could just get heavier troops. And keep thier paint. Or if I feel wierd using a knuckle busting style offence with a "guerrilla tactical" style chapter, I could always repaint them. Heck, my first paintjob is probably going to be spray paint or something cheap like that. I might even fight a battle with basic greys. BTW, any tips on painting?

 

Violent? That's an understatment, they were geneticly design to be the ultimate warriors, of course they're violent. Stupid? Well most Orks, there are quite a few smart Orks... well as smart as an Ork could be (most of those are Warbosses). Inbred? They reproduce by spores that come from their bodies, how is that anywhere close to inbreding? Personally I ain't seein' the Space Redneck interpretation so much given the facts I know.

Yes, I am shameless. I regret nothing for copy pasta!

I painted my first Space Marines in the Colors of the Sons of Guilliman (an an Ultramarines descended Chapter, obviously), mostly because I like their color scheme.

Don't forget the pale skin! Raven Guard Space Marines have pale skin like their primarch. Just so ya know, not my place to tell ya what to do.

 

Inbreeding implies that there is no diversity of DNA in the gene pool which begot the new species, as a result, there are unnessisary redundancies in the genetic material. Reproducing asexually, such as leaving spores when killed, is this to the superlative degree.

 

Makes sense I guess. But I still don't see the redneck interpretation.

 

Its fine. I honestly don't see them as Rednecks, although it is funny.

I see them as brutes, bullies, and bascally angry. Basically, that big kid in elementary school, who used to beat up smaller kids for lunch money? Yeah. Him.

Also, what's Deep Impact, Orbital Bombardment, Tomahawks and stuff? And why would you want to strt with reinforcements?

 

If by "deep impact," you mean Deep Strike, its a rule that lets you place certain reserve units anywhere you want on the board. The explanation is that the unit teleports or drops onto the battlefield to flank the opponent. However, there is a draw back to this. In order to Deep Strike, you must roll a Scatter (a Scatter Die with only 1/3 chance of dropping exactly where you want, plus 2d6 to determine the distance of the scatter) and if the unit scatters into an obstacle (terrain or other units), you roll 1d6 with a 1/3 chance each of the unit being destroyed, delayed (arguably the best thing you can hope for on Deep Strike mishaps) or your opponent being able to place the unit.

In the fluff, orbital bombardment is used, mostly by the Imperium through Exterminatus orders, to wipe all of the life off a planet if such a measure is deemed necessary. Just don't suggest Exterminatus in front of Space Wolves or Salamanders as it doesn't go over very well with them.

Not sure what you mean by Tomahawk, though.

As for why you would start the game with reserves, it all depends on what you're doing with the reserves units. In Dawn of War deployment, you are required to have everything except up to one HQ and two Troops in reserves (even then, you can start the game with a clear board if you want to). There's also the aforementioned Deep Strike special rule and the Outflank special rule, which allows certain units to enter the game from table edges you don't control. Otherwise, the only other reason you'd want to have reserves is to keep specific units safe until you want to use them.

 

Well they are the comic relief race/faction, which says a lot about the setting.

Hmm, I can see that interpretation. But I have to somewhat disagree to an extent. I'm mean sure they'll butcher your family and blow up your home but thats because war is what they're made for, and its the only thing they understand. Also, its fun. They don't really kill people out of malice.

 

Why not mention it in front of them? If they are a threat to mankind they should be killed. I mean, how else you going to get an Ork population put down for good? Simple: Withdraw, and destroy all non friendly life on the planet. Any human who dissagrees is endangering humanity with their naivety.

I fully agree about comic relief. The whole backstory on Pain Boyz and the way they talk explain that clearly enough. They are essentially science fiction versions of the classic goblin... albeit bigga. And, the bully doesnt bully out of mallice, but to him its fun to bully others.