Monday, April 4, 2011

Warhammer 40k, an Introduction (The game)

So one of my favorite hobbies of all time is the Warhammer 40k tabletop gaming franchise.  I originally wrote a pretty detailed review of one of the "armies" in the Warhammer 40k universe a few posts ago, but I wanted to give a nice, broad, introduction to the tabletop game so that when I make more detailed posts in the future there is an intro to the 'world' of 40k.  This is going to be part 1 of a "2 parter" - part 1 will explain the game itself and its basic mechanics.  Part 2 (which I'll write up.. eventually) will be an introduction to the lore and backstory of this rich piece of ip (which includes something like 60 novels and a wealth of other information and lore).

Imperial Guardsmen, being led by an officer and his command squad

Where to begin when explaining the 40k tabletop game?  Well, I suppose we can start with the most basic principles.  40k is a tabletop game - that's right, this game isn't played on a console or on your computer (well.. they made those after the fact).  Rather, it is played on a large surface (somewhere in the magnitude of 6x4').  There is no "board".  Each player possesses an army, and that army contains individual models; most are 28mm (1.1 inches), but there are also various vehicles [walkers, tanks, aircraft] and other types of units.  

Before you play,

Before you get into the heat of battle you need to get your army ready.  This typically includes purchasing the models from Games Workshop or from some 3rd party.  You must then assemble them (most are plastic and come on "sprues" which you must cut the pieces out of - think gundam model box kits).  Assembly requires nothing more than some super glue and a nail file for rough edges.  After the models are assembled you need to paint them!  Painting is great because it lets you give your army a unique feel - are they a stealth force dressed in mostly black, or from an old chapter whose color scheme is already set.  Once they're painted and you decorate their base a bit (the base is the little circular piece of plastic they'e glued to - see the above picture) you're almost ready to battle.

A battle force of Ultramarine-chapter Space Marines are ready for battle!

Making an army list,

After you have your troops purchased, you need to make your army list.  All units in 40k have point values.  As such, players with two different armies can compete on an equal footing in say.. a 1500 point battle.  Each "army" in the 40k universe comes with a codex - aka, army-specific rules.  Armies range from the human Imperial Guard, to Orks (space orks~), Tyranids (think alien from AvP), eldar (space elves) and a bunch of others.  The army codex contains various ways to customize your army and get it ready for play.

War!

Find a friend, or local gaming store where 40k players gather, and play!  Most competitive matches will include detailed terrain (miniature structures/bombed out ruins/trenches/bunkers) with which to do battle in.  Ask for tips from your opponents on how to improve your army or check out various internet forums dedicated to the hobby.

Cheers~


51 comments:

  1. I always wanted to play this game when I was a bit younger but my parents never bought them for me. Hopefully I can give it a try now that I have my own income. Thanks for the post!

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  2. one of my friends plays this and always tries to get me into it, now I might. Thx!

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  3. Remember playing warhammer when I was still a teenager. Oh man this brings back some great memories.

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  4. I had a lot of people in my dormitory who played this weekly, they bought so many pieces and spent hours painting, I was somewhat envious of how serious and devoted they took their hobby and game.

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  5. i've only ever seen this game in-store. never played or even seen it really set-up. keen to see how battle is played out etc. keep up the good work :D

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  6. reminds me hero clicks, but...with a mix of like...age of empires. haha.

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  7. i seen people play this before, they get a real kick out of it lol i have no idea how to play but it looks cooler than trading card games.

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  8. thanks for the rules, i've always wondered how to play with these figurines. :D

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  9. They're not dolls - they're action figures!

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  10. my brother bought a 40k starter kit a few weeks ago, but i think it's not even unboxed yet :S

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  11. Had a friend who was into this. He said it's an expensive hobby though.

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  12. I used to love warhammer! I still have all my space marines somewhere...

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  13. Nice painting job on the Imperial Guard. I used to love Warhammer and 40k. 40k reminds me of a tabletop version of Starcraft 2.

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  14. Ive never really been into warhammer

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  15. Never really got into that, but it looks kind of cool

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  16. when i was a kid this was my favorite thing, oh so much fun!

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  17. I got some spacemarines, i havent painted al yeat.. ( 2 years ago i bought them) and i play much with my friends its so fun, he have built a 2 x 2 M world

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  18. I always wanted to try this, but I was afraid of screwing up my marines when I painted them so I never bought any... Kind of regret that I didn't...

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  19. My friend tries to convince me to play 40k again but I think I'll not play it. I played Tyranids but it got too expensive

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  20. Had some figurines of my own, very fun to paint them :x

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  21. i've stopped doing this like 5 years ago, but then went on again 1 year ago.. nice post and thx

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  22. 40k is awesome! My blog is about it :p mostly just about Eldar so far.

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  23. Thanks for the comments, guys ^__^. And yeah, Rockinrule, I was a big wc3 player before sc2 came out.

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  24. I've seen people playing this before, but I've always stuck to the TCG's myself.

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  25. watched my friends play and i was very intrigued.
    alas, i never had the funds or time to join

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  26. I got this game as a kid on a closeout, then years later sold it fora huge profit on ebay. I think it was this one at least, it may have been some other similar game.

    Now that I'm older, I kinda wish i woulda kept it. Looks cool as crap man.

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  27. still have to give that game a go.

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  28. I dont know why, but this kind of stuff has always intrigued me.

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  29. I use to be really into the Warhammer world until those fuckers Games Workshop shut down there place in Dublin about 3 years ago.....

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  30. I find that warhammer never really took off like the other rpgs but maybe there is a new hope for this
    How to Hack Life.

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  31. When I was young I have played in warhammer really a lot...

    FOLLOWED

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  32. i haven't played in ages!! This brings back memories. more!!!

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  33. I had a friend in gradeschool who was really into these. Good times.

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  34. Cheers for encouraging nerdiness in the world. There can never be enough of us.

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  35. I've been meaning to get into WH40K. I've got a shittonna Space Marines and Orks in need of painting up =]

    Great blow btw!

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  36. Great post! I want to be a space ork.

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  37. That's been around for a while hasn't it?

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  38. This is a nice little introduction, but it doesn't rally tell that much about the game itself, does it? Looking forward to following parts :)

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  39. good post
    following!

    incredible-mo.blogspot.com

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  40. I've always wanted to get into Warhammer 40k, but never really ended up doing it. Maybe I will.

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  41. this looks like a lot of fun! :D DO WANT!

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