Getting into theWarhammer 40Kuniverse can be quite daunting for newcomers. Do you start with someWarhammer 40K video gamesin order to familiarize yourself with the factions? Do you maybe pick up someWarhammer 40K novelsand start delving into the lore? Or do you jump head first into the tabletop and try to learn everything as you go? The beauty of Warhammer 40K is that you may start anywhere and expand into other areas over time.
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There’s no good or bad place to start when it comes to 40K, however, some facets of the hobby are certainly more expensive than others. With 10th Edition now in full swing, many people are looking to get into 40K via the tabletop. Buying all the models, paints, tools, and everything else you need to create a tabletop-ready army is both expensive and time-consuming, which is why we put together this list to help you decide which factions are worth investing in right now.
Since most people who play Warhammer 40K don’t do it competitively, we decided against doing a list of the strongest factions in 10th Edition. We will go over some of those, however, we also wanted to include some armies that are affordable and/or easy to paint. There’s a little something for everybody here regardless of whether you’re a veteran player or a newcomer.
10Space Marines
The Space Marines are the default faction most people gravitate toward when they start delving into Warhammer 40K. These guys are the poster boys of the universe and a good chunk of the lore revolves around them. They also have a large presence on the tabletop thanks to the wide variety of units at their disposal. Space Marines are the most versatile faction out there and while they don’t necessarily excel in any particular area, they do well in most of them. In other words, they’re your typical ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ faction.
Putting together an army of Space Marines is pretty affordable thanks to the newly-announced starter sets. The Leviathan box that launched alongside 10th Edition provides even better value, however, those are already becoming very difficult to find in some regions. The only major issue you may come across while collecting Space Marines is deciding which chapter to focus on. Every chapter has unique models and plays differently on the tabletop. Every chapter has something interesting to offer, but if you’re just starting out, it’s probably best to keep things simple and go with the Ultramarines.
9Adeptus Custodes
Adeptus Custodes are known far and wide as being some of the most powerful warriors in the galaxy. You’ll hear that a lot in the lore and you’ll also experience it on the tabletop where they play like an elite army. Custodes have very few models to choose from, even when you include the Sisters of Silence roster, but all of them are powerful in their own right. They don’t have a ton of vehicles or other large models, but I guess you don’t need those when every Adeptus Custodes is a nine-foot-tall demigod.
Adeptus Custodes models are some of the easiest to paint since they mostly consist of gold and red, with only a couple of other colors thrown into the mix. In addition, Adeptus Custodes are also one of the most affordable factions out there. Individual squads and models can be pretty expensive, but you don’t need many of them to field an entire army since they’re worth a ton of points. Of course, if you decide to get fancy by adding some Forgeworld models to your army, you’ll definitely end up paying an arm and a leg for them. That can be said about every faction, but there are certain armies that have an unusually high number of models exclusive to Forgeworld, and the Adeptus Custodes are one of them.
8Grey Knights
If you played Warhammer 40K: Chaos Gate – Daemonhunters you’re already familiar with these guys. If not, all you really need to know about the Grey Knights is that they’re supped-up Space Marines with psychic powers. While technically a chapter of Space Marines, the Grey Knights are an entirely different beast and play like an elite army similar to the Custodes. However, the Grey Knights have a lot more tricks up their sleeves and rely heavily on mobility and psychic attacks to confuse, disable, and destroy their opponents.
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The Grey Knights Games Workshop model range is larger compared to that of the Adeptus Custodes, but they have next to no Forgeworld models. You’re mostly stuck with the Combat Patrol set when putting together an army, but that’s not really a huge issue since the box offers an excellent bang for the buck. Since they’re technically Space Marines, you may also use support vehicles from other chapters if needed. As far as the painting side is concerned, it’s a bit hard to recommend Grey Knights to beginners since their models tend to be very detailed and ornate.
7Imperial Knights/Chaos Knights
We’re lumping these two together because they’re essentially identical in terms of functionality. Imperial Knights are massive walkers that tower above everything else on the battlefield. Chaos Knights are the same but with more spikes, chains, tentacles, and various other bits and baubles granted to them as gifts by the Ruinous Powers. Knights are incredibly resilient and can deliver a ton of punishment, but they’re also incredibly easy to hit since they can’t benefit from cover unless you’ve got a bunch of tall structures on the battlefield.
Knights are the go-to units for players who showing off. An army consists of only a handful of these oversized mechs, but each of them can take out entire squads by themselves and look epic while doing it. Of course, every single model costs a small fortune and they can take quite a bit of time to paint because of their scale. Unless you want to spend an eternity on a single model, you’ll want to pick up some spray paints and an airbrush. The good news is that you don’t need to invest in a new pair of glasses for your dwindling eyesight because even small details are clearly visible on these bad boys.
6Chaos Space Marines
Just as their name suggests, the Chaos Space Marines are traitorous Space Marines who turned against the Emperor of Mankind and joined the forces of Chaos. The Chaos Space Marines are not quite as versatile as their loyalist brothers on the tabletop, but you still have a good amount of options to play around with, especially if you’re a fan of melee combat and burst damage. There are only a few chapters to choose from here, one of which is pretty terrible so far in 10th Edition.
If you want to build a themed army of Chaos Space Marines, do yourself a favor and go for either the Thousand Sons or the World Eaters. Despite being the focus of 8th Edition, the Death Guard are in a bad spot right now. Of course, you could also go with a more generic Chaos Undivided army instead. Again, you have a good amount of options here. Just make sure you have enough time on your hands if you decide to go for Chaos Space Marines because some of their models are quite difficult to paint due to all the skulls and spiky bits.
The Tyranids are getting a lot of love in 10th Edition, at least in terms of lore and models. They’re not exactly the best faction on the tabletop right now, but they’re definitely viable. The Tyranids make heavy use of the new Battle-Shock mechanic while their Detachment Rule gives units special abilities depending on what type of enemy target their fighting. Tyranids rely on swarming tactics to overwhelm their opponents and are quite powerful at short and medium range, but struggle when it comes to long-range combat.
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Just like with the Space Marines, the best way to start collecting Tyranids is via the new starter sets and the Leviathan box, provided you can find one. Tyranids are pretty easy to paint, but the process is still time-consuming because you will need a lot of models for a full army. Luckily, you can speed things up by using contrast paints. Contrast paints work particularly well on models with a lot of textures and sharp edges like the ones found in the Tyranids roster. Depending on what sort of techniques you use, it may actually take you longer to assemble the models than to paint them.
4Genestealer Cults
Genestealers are human-Tyranid hybrids living their lives in the service of The Great Devourer. These guys come in many shapes and sizes, ranging from creatures almost indistinguishable from humans to twisted abominations with multiple sets of arms, purple skin, and other mutations. Genestealer Cults are masters of infiltration and subterfuge both in the lore and on the tabletop where they rely heavily on ambushes to catch their enemies off guard.
Genestealers don’t have a ton of models at the moment, but hopefully that will change soon seeing as how 10th Edition focuses heavily on their Tyranid masters. This faction requires a lot of models to form a proper army, however, the good news is that they have one of the best Combat Patrol boxes out there with no less than 32 models. Another interesting thing to note about this faction is that it can incorporate certain Astra Militarium units within its ranks. If you have a few Imperial Guardsmen lying around don’t hesitate to use them to bolster your Genestealers.
Necrons are undead robots who were tricked by their gods into selling their souls in exchange for immortality millions of years ago. Their once sprawling empire has since faded into obscurity, but now the Necrons are slowly regaining their power and are preparing to dominate the galaxy once more. The Necrons are one of the most resilient factions on the tabletop thanks to their ability to restore fallen troops and put them back into the fight. On the flip side, Necrons are slow and their high-tech weapons don’t inflict quite as much damage as you might expect.
Necrons are one of the most popular factions in Warhammer 40K and received a lot of love during 9th Edition. If you’re able to track down some starter sets from 9th Edition you’ll have a pretty good foundation for a Necron army. The Necrons have a few other good-value boxes and kits, so you shouldn’t run into any issues when it comes to collecting them. They’re also very easy to paint to Battle Ready standards since many of their paint schemes consist of only a couple of colors. Of course, you can always go with a more intricate and eye-popping scheme if you want to impress your opponents.
The Aeldari, otherwise known as the Eldar, are an ancient race that’s been around as long as the Necrons. Their empire is but a shadow of its former self, but these space elves are still kicking and tend to get involved in most of the major events happening throughout the galaxy. If you’re looking to play the Aeldari on the tabletop, now would be the ideal time to do so as they’re very strong at the moment; maybe even a bit overpowered if we’re being honest. In stark contrast to the Necrons, the Eldar are fast and hit like a truck, but most of their units are very squishy.
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The Eldar have a good model range that includes units from multiple sub-factions. Unless you have mad painting skills, you may want to stay away from Harlequins and focus on simpler models like the ones found in the Combat Patrol box. In addition to regular-sized units, the Aeldari also have a bunch of Titans that rival even Imperial Knights in terms of scale, however, most of them are exclusive to Forgeworld. Alternatively, if you’re looking for a nice showpiece for your army you can’t go wrong with the Avatar of Khaine.
Warhammer 40K’s Orks are very different from the Orcs you’ll find in other settings like Lord of the Rings orWorld of Warcraft. These particular Orks are part fungi, they reproduce through spores, and most of their technology is essentially powered by their imagination. We don’t have time to explain the full scope of their ridiculousness in this article, but trust us when we say that this is the most unique version of Orcs you’ll find in any fictional universe. This translates to the tabletop to some extent as Orks have an element of randomness to their playstyle.
As you might expect, Orks are a melee-focused faction that relies on numbers and brute force to get the job done. That said, the Orks also have a bunch of crazy vehicles and strange beasts they like to bring into battle, so they’re definitely not a one-dimensional faction. You’ll want to include a little bit of everything if you want to put together a balanced army but, for the most part, the world is your oyster when it comes to the Orks. You are actively encouraged to kitbash when assembling an Ork army, so if you love to customize and create unique-looking units, this is the faction for you.
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