The 1ST EVER Installment of MAGMA LORD!

MAGMA LORD

 

 

I

 

            From the command bridge of the battle-barge Ignis et Sangui, Brother-Librarian Horrin saw the planet's features taking shape: the rockcrete spires of the single hive city's towering buildings; the gaping, hundred-thousand square mile hole in the ground known as the "Crater"; and most memorable of all, the Mountain of the Lords, the volcanic behemoth that dominates almost a third of planet's surface.

            Home at last.

            Horrin descended the stairs of the bridge, passing by the astropath psykers wired into the ship's Machine Spirit.            As he walked down the corridor to the main hangar bay, Horrin's giant form made a resonating boom with each of his armored footsteps. His eight foot tall frame towered over the over the occasional serf that hurried by. His regal blue armor, accented with crimson and black, shone in the hallway lamps.

            The Librarian was weary. It is true that all Space Marines undergo extensive physical training and genetic modification and that all Librarians possess extremely potent minds and psychic abilities. Nevertheless, it was all Horrin could do to hide his fatigue.

            He was not so much physically tired - the Apothecary had tended well to the arm wound Horrin had received from an exceptionally large Ork Nob. Rather, it was Horrin's mental state that was taking a toll on him. He felt an ever-present, ominous feeling pressing against his mind. He had experienced only once the psychic presence of the Tyranid Hive Mind, but this was different. He could not put his finger on it exactly.

            The mechanically distorted voice of a servitor crackled over the speakers and interrupted his train of thought. Attention. Five minutes until the first of the Thunderhawks are clear for departure to the surface.

            At long last, Horrin thought to himself. I can see the Chapter House again.

            Horrin reached the hangar and passed through the giant door. Inside he saw the servitors already loading his materials into his personal Thunderhawk gunship. There was also a small cluster of his fellow Battle-Brothers gathered around a dormant Rhino armored transport. Horrin recognized them all

            Brothers Astion, Paxon, Vastius, and Sabian were in a heated debate over something or another. Horrin could have used his psychic abilities to catch their words, but he personally frowned upon using his powers on his fellow marines. Also, the Techmarine Fortis may have been listening to the others' conversation but appeared focused on performing ritual blessings over the Rhino's Machine Spirit.

            Horrin came closer so he could hear but still kept his distance to stay out of sight.

            "But we live to die! That is our purpose," Sabian was saying. "Every one of us understood this when we took our oaths. We are war!"

            "Of course Sabian, but we must not throw our lives away without purpose. To die in battle in the name of the Chapter and Emperor is honorable, but not if there is no purpose." This husky voice belonged to Paxon.

            "Of course, but that's exactly my point!" Sabian's temper was rising now, but he did well to hide it. "There are always enemies of the Emperor. So as long as we die fighting them, is there ever an instance in which there is no meaning to our deaths?"

            The Vastius nodded his consent but replied, "This is so. Nevertheless, I would still like to have some moment of respite to meditate and train. I feel it is possible give our lives needlessly if we are not at our top shape."

            "Aye, and you shall get that rare peace, Brother Vastius." Horrin stepped out from the dimness of his hiding place.

            "Ah! Brother-Librarian!" Vastius and his comrades whirled around in surprise. Fortis, however, simply chuckled under his breath. His Servo-skulls must have warned him of Horrin's presence. "You startled me."

            "No need for alarm. It is only me," Horrin replied with a tired smile. "Are the rest of you as eager as Vastius to return to the Chapter House?"

            The marines nodded at him, though Horrin could notice that Sabian was the least enthusiastic in his response, as if his thoughts were elsewhere. Horrin did not address the matter, though.

            "Mmm. It has been a long campaign. I'm sure that Aquien is already preparing the prayers and eulogies for our fallen brothers." At the mention of their dead comrades, the other four Astartes bowed their heads.

            A Chapter serf then approached Horrin.

            "My Lord Librarian, your Thunderhawk awaits you. The servitors have finished loading your materials."

            "Thank you," Horrin replied with a nod. "Let the pilot know I'll be their momentarily."

            During this interruption, the other marines had begun to disperse. Now, only Sabian and Paxon remained. Horrin caught him before he too left.

            "Brother Sabian? A moment please."

            "Yes Brother-Librarian?"

            "Tell me. Am I correct in presuming that you wish to be dispatched again?"

            Sabian knew that the Librarian was searching within him, using his abilities to peer into his mind and soul. Nevertheless, Sabian made an attempt to give an excuse.

            "In the Emperor's service, of course."

            "Vastius and Paxon spoke some wise words. You should be thankful for this momentary peace. Even if more of our brothers are still spreading the Emperor's light, do not feel selfish for having this respite."

            "I understand."

            "Take their words to heart. A strong mind is not the same as being headstrong. Do not rush the course of history." Then, with a lighter tone in his voice and even a slight smile, Horrin said, "Now if you will excuse me, I have to go home."

II

 

            In contrast to the hive city and its simply constructed buildings, the Magma Lords’ chapter house was highly decorated, adorned with bas-reliefs, murals and statues. However, in comparison to the chapter houses of more established, older chapters, the Magma Lords’ chapter house was rather small. This was in no small amount due to their relatively recent founding, not even a thousand years ago.

            As Horrin descended the ramp of the Thunderhawk, he walked with a quick gait straight to the Librarium. There he could finally resume his studies, examining the new artifacts, relics, and tomes brought back from this most recent campaign.

            The Librarium consisted of several subterranean levels directly beneath the chapter house. It was the home of thousands upon thousands of documents and artifacts. Chapter serfs and servitors were always busily shuffling about the great, torch-lit halls, but despite their constant movement, the Librarium remained a relatively quiet place.

            Because of the chapter's vague history, they held knowledge and learning as  key tenets and a way of life. Also, the Magma Lords had a strong suspicion of their lineage to Vulkan and his chapter the Salamanders, though there was not enough evidence to prove it.

            Horrin walked passed shelf after shelf of tomes, codices, and manuscripts until he reached his personal office. The dim study was sparsely furnished with a cot, a chair and two desks each piled with stacks of papers. Also there was a simple, gold Aquila mounted on the wall above the head of the cot. But something else was in the room that was not normally there.

            With his psychic mind, Horrin detected that he was not alone in the small room.

            "As elusive as always, Inquisitor"

            "As keen as ever, Brother-Librarian"

            Horrin turned his gaze to the figure leaning against the wall. For several moments, the two simply looked at each other, tense, but not flinching a muscle. At last, and almost simultaneously, the Librarian and Inquisitor broke out into the grins that only lifelong friends could share.

            "How are you, my old friend? By the Emperor it's good to see you again," Vekman said, embracing his friend.

            "Remus, it has indeed been far too long," Horrin replied as he returned the embrace. "Though I must admit, this visit comes as quite a surprise."

            "A surprise? Truly, as an Astartes Librarian I would have thought you would be impervious to surprises!" he jibed.

            Horrin's grin widened at the joke. He truly did need a chance to regroup his thoughts and rest his weary mind and body. "True enough, but not even mighty, all-knowing Horrin could foresee your next move, you fox. But tell me in earnest: to what purpose do I owe the pleasure of your company?"

            "Mmm. Your prudence has certainly not left you, old friend. I suppose we should address the matters I have brought." At this, Vekman's tone became noticeably more serious. "You see, I have come looking for certain truths."

            "Truths, my friend?"

            "Indeed. I deeply regret to be the one required to head this investigation--"

            "Investigation? Do you mean to say that my chapter is under the watch of the Inquisition? I was unaware of any causes for such action."

            Vekman paused to take a breath before starting again. "I deeply regret to be the one required to head this investigation," he repeated, "but my superiors found that I have the best knowledge of the Magma Lords chapter. It has come to the attention of the Inquisition that the Magma Lords have become increasingly active in their studying of relics and artifacts. Our most recent reports say that several squads from the Magma Lords Fifth Company have just returned from the traitor held world of Rorgatha VI. My friend, all I need is to see and document what you retrieved. Once I can prove you have no tainted or blasphemous artifacts, you and your chapter will have no marks against you."

            "Are you saying that there is currently a mark against us?"

            "Horrin, I know you are innocent. But my authorities cannot take my word by itself. They desire proof. Please. Let me see."

            Horrin stood silently for a moment. His eyes directed at the Inquisitor, but his focus was not there. His thoughts were elsewhere. Then, looking square at Vekman and with a note of firmness in his voice, he replied, "I cannot."

            "What?" asked Vekman, surprise appearing in his eyes.

            "I cannot show you our Librarium's contents."

            "If there is nothing to hide then what harm is there in letting me see? Please! Let me see!"

            "No!"

            "I do not want to do this, but if you don't show me your chapter's most recent finds you, leave me with no choice but to excommunicate you and the entire Magma Lords chapter! Now show me the relics!"

 

My Doom of Malan'tai Conversion

I've often heard fellow Tyranid players say how they really want to play the Doom of Malan'tai but don't have a model for it. So I wanted to share my own conversion of the little beastie.

 

 

 

 

I apologize for not having a visual of the step by step procedure, but I'll briefly describe how I did this.

 

First I started with a Zoanthrope and sawed the model in two, right along the base of the head (this was before they were in Finecast, so I think it would be easier to do now)

 

Then I attached a piece of "Invisible Fence" pet wire for the body and the tail. I've found that wire works well since you can bend it into place. I then covered the wire in GreenStuff putty to make it more substantial.

 

During this step, I also formed a hole in the GreenStuff right in the middle of the underbelly. This would allow me to mount it onto the flying base.

 

The enlarged cranium was also done with Invisible Fence wire and GreenStuff. I formed several wires into a cage/basket-like shape to elongate the Zoanthrope model's already large brain (the wire can still be "seen" to give you a reference; it's the blue part of the cranium).


I then filled in the cage with plenty of GreenStuff. While the GreenStuff was still slightly malleable, I made the grooves of the Doom's gray matter with the back end of my paint brush and also with my fingernail.

 

The antennae and limbs were from the Mawloc part of the Trygon/Mawloc kit.

 

I was not entirely happy with the tail at first and thought it needed something on the end. So to finish it off, I took a spare horn from the Carnifex kit and attached it to the tip of the tail.

 

The paint scheme was chosen to match the rest of my Tyranid army, which I call Hive Fleet Wyvern.

 

And that's my conversion of the Doom of Malan'tai! I'd love to hear if anyone has any suggestions or alternative conversions! Thanks!

The Dividing Line - Special Mission

So I can't exactly find this PDF on Games-Workshop's site anymore (I think they've done away with their online articles), but it looks fun so I don't want it to be lost to the Warp!

The rules are as follows, as taken from: http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m1150687a_Warhammer_40,000__The_Dividing_Line


THE DIVIDING LINE

All good generals have heard of the maxim ‘divide and conquer’, but what if the battlefield itself were split in two? In the war-torn future of the 41st Millennium there are all manner of force fields, Warp barriers and other bizarre phenomena that can effectively partition a battlefield right down the middle and separate the armies fighting across it from their own allies. Part of defeating your enemy is having the right forces in the right place at the right time. What will you do if the troops you need are stuck on the wrong side of this dividing line? Will you expend time and resources tearing down the barrier to bring your combined force to bear, or will your troops forge ahead on their own, trusting to their own fighting skills to overcome the odds?

THE ARMIES
Each player picks an army from a Warhammer 40,000 Codex army list, to an agreed points total.

THE BATTLEFIELD
When setting up the battlefield, place a series of suitable markers in 12" intervals in a line that bisects the gaming board across its width, as shown in the diagram. These markers represent Force Field Emitters (see special rules below). Set up any remaining terrain in a mutually agreeable manner.

DEPLOYMENT
The players roll off, and the winner chooses to deploy first or second. The player that goes first chooses one of the long table edges to be ‘his’ own table edge. The opposite table edge is his opponent’s table edge. Starting with the player that will deploy first after deciding table edges, but before deploying any unit each player selects a point in his own deployment zone to be an objective (by placing a counter on it or any other clear method). These objectives cannot be placed in impassible terrain or within 1" of the dividing ‘force field’ line. In addition, the two objectives have to be placed on opposing sides of the force barrier. The player that won the roll-off then deploys his force on the table anywhere up to 12" from his table edge, making sure that no unit is within 1" of the ‘force barrier’. His opponent then deploys his force in the same manner, from his table edge. Deploy any Infiltrators and make any Scout moves.

FIRST TURN
The player who deployed first gets the first turn. His opponent may attempt to Seize the Initiative by rolling a dice. If he does so, and the result is a 6, he will get the first turn instead.

GAME LENGTH
Roll a dice at the end of game turn 5. On a 1-2 the game ends immediately, and on a 3 or more the game continues. If the game continues then roll the D6 again at the end of the 6th game turn, and this time the game ends immediately on a roll of a 1-3, and continues for a 7th and final turn on a roll of 4+. The game ends automatically at the end of game turn 7.

VICTORY CONDITIONS
At the end of the game, the player controlling the most objectives wins. A player controls an objective if there is at least one of his scoring units, and no enemy unit (any unit, whether scoring or not), within 3" of it. As different objectives vary in shape and size, it is important to agree at the beginning of the game exactly where this distance will be measured from. If the players control the same number of objectives, the game is a tactical draw.

SPECIAL RULES
Force Field Emitters: The battlefield is bisected by a series of objects (void shield pylons, Chaos Warp emitters, psychic field relays and so on) that project an impenetrable force field between them. Whilst a Force Field Emitter is within 12" of a neighbouring emitter, there exists between the two an impenetrable force field. This force field blocks all movement (even skimmers and jump infantry), line of sight and shooting attacks (including barrage weapons). If a blast
weapon scatters across the force barrier reduce the scatter distance by the minimum distance so that no portion of the blast marker falls across the opposite side of the force barrier. If a unit deep strikes onto the battlefield but they scatter onto the opposite side of the force field barrier to their intended target, then they will automatically suffer a Deep Strike Mishap. Each Force Field Emitter has an Armour Value of 13 and 3 hull points. Each glancing or penetrating hit inflicted on a Force Field Emitter will cause it to lose a single hit point. If a Force Field Emitter is reduced to zero hit points it is destroyed and removed from play. As Force Field Emitters are destroyed, the force field will begin to weaken as follows:

• If a single Force Field Emitter has been destroyed, the force field between the two emitters to either side of the destroyed emitter starts to weaken. Units may move between this section of the force field but it counts as difficult terrain and they must take a Dangerous Terrain test. Units may also shoot between this section of the force field but they must first roll to see their target using the Night Fighting rules and their target will receive a 5+ invulnerable save.

• If two neighbouring Force Field Emitters have been destroyed, the force field between the two emitters on either side of the destroyed ones collapses. Units may move across and shoot through this section of the force field as normal.

Dark Eldar and 6th Edition

So yes, call me a heretic, but I don’t just play imperial armies. In total, I have four armies that I play (well, three and a half really because one’s a work-in-progress but still enough to ally with). They are:

- Space Marines

- Death Korps of Krieg (played as regular Imperial Guard) (This is the work-in-progress one)

- Dark Eldar

- Tyranids

So in this little spiel, I’m gonna be highlighting my Dark Eldar of the Frozen Soul.

As you know, 6^th edition is now in full swing, so how does this affect the Dark Eldar? Well, there have been pros and cons for Dark Eldar as there have been with every other army. Honestly, I don’t think any army actually “came out on top”; everyone was boosted here, and everyone suffered there. What matters is where each army was helped and hurt, and by how much.

VEHICLES, HULL POINTS, ETC.

I see these as somewhat of a blessing. Not only do we Dark Eldar players have slightly more survivable vehicles, but now we can focus a wider range of our weapons at enemy vehicles. So those disintegrator cannons can actually do something against Rhinos, Chimeras, and other armor 10/11 vehicles. Nevertheless, I still think that disintegrators are best at anti-heavy infantry like terminators or monstrous creatures.

Also, I don’t know why, but I think Flickerfields are more useful now. I know that they’re still about the same, but it just makes me feel better knowing that I allowed my Raider one more round of shooting because of ignoring a glance. Plus, another upside is that it’s an invulnerable save, not a cover save! This means it works against weapons that ignore cover AND it works for attacks from assaults.

And on the topic of vehicle upgrades, Night Shields seem more useful as well, though as a whole, they probably suffered due to pre-measuring. What I foresee is that if Night Shields puts your Raider out of range, then your opponent is no longer denied the shot and forced to sit there helplessly. Now he can say, “Oh, that doesn’t work. Bummer. Let’s try again with your ‘unit x’ that actually IS in range!” But all in all, I still think I’ll be taking both on all my vehicles.

I've been hearing a lot about haywire goodness, too, and personally I think they may be the best anti-tank, non-vehicle unit out there now. I haven't had the chance to play any 6th ed. games with my Dark Eldar yet, but I'm thinking that just deep-striking them in (I run six strong in a unit) with haywire blasters and/or heat lances and/or blasters, they can pick off almost any vehicle via glancing (especially with the haywire)! I will say that I'm kinda bummed I didn't physically outfit them with haywires. I got them during 5th ed. rules, but now haywires are probably my top choice for them.

Lastly, I read on another site that Dark Lances are not as necessary anymore, since you can glance things to death. Not that the glancing thing isn’t true, but I still think they’re really good. In fact, now they have an even better chance of getting rid of Leman Russ tanks, Land Raiders, etc. I’m not exactly sure where the logic is with saying they’re unnecessary.

RESERVES AND THE NOW-LOATHED WEBWAY PORTAL

Yup. This is probably the hardest hit for my particular lists. I used to have two squads of 10 Warriors, a squad of 10 Wyches, and another squad of 9 Wyches joined by Lelith. Three of these squads were in raiders and I’d usually have either one Wych squad hang back in reserves for the Webway (if it wasn’t an objectives mission) or the Warriors stay in my deployment zone (if it was an objectives mission). If the Wyches weren’t coming out of the Webway, then I’d still be having a squad of Incubi, Reavers, Hellions, Beasts, Wracks, and/or my Cronos Parasite Engine pop out 6 inches away (or 12 for the Hellions) (or 36 for the Reavers!), get a few shots off, and charge their prey! NOT ANYMORE! With reserves being essentially treated like deep-striking, this makes the Webway Portal the most ridiculous use of 35 points in the codex. It still might be useful for Reavers with blade-veins, but I don’t see that as being worth the 35 points.

FEEL NO PAIN/ASSAULTS

This is another blow to the Dark Eldar. Pain Tokens generate Feel No Pain, but now that’s just 5+, not 4+. True, it can be useful against power weapons, so your Wyches stand a slightly better chance against, say, Terminators with Lightning Claws (though it will often be a very close fight since the Wyches are now hardier in hand-to-hand, but still are only strength 3 against toughness four with a 2+ save).

 

Also, the idea of Overwatch is particularly painful to think about with regard to my Wyches. Because of their Invulnerable Save only working in Close Combat, they can be shot up by anything short of lasguns with no saves at all if they don't have a Pain Token already (which, mind you, is now only a 5+, if I didn't mention that already)!

But let’s look into the previous Wych vs. Terminator situation some more. Say there are 5 Assault Terminators all with Lightning Claws against 10 Wyches, with a Hekatrix with an Agoniser and two Wyches with Razor Flails. First let’s assume the Terminators charge. The Wyches get 8 Overwatch shots that hit on 6+. Chances are, one to two 6’s will be reliably rolled. Then the shots wound on 4+ (assuming they’re all splinter pistols). That’s a 50/50 chance. So now we’re down to statistically 1 wounded terminator, who we’ll say makes his save. Great. Next, the Wyches strike first. There are 2x7 attacks from the normal Wyches for a total of 14 attacks; the Hekatrix gets 3 attacks; and the Razor Flail Wyches get 4. They all need 4+ to hit. Statistically, that’s 7 normal hits, 2 Hekatrix hits, and (with re-rolls accounted for) 3 Razor Flail hits. To wound, they need 5+ except for the Hekatrix whose Agoniser needs 4+. That’s a 1 in 3 chance. Now we’re at about 3 wounds plus 1 Agoniser wound (which can honestly be included with the rest by now since it’s AP 3). Four wounds will take down (maybe) one of the terminators, but chances are they’ll all pass their saves until the next round.

From the Terminators, we have 3x5 attacks plus 1x5 for charging: a grand total of 20 attacks. They hit on 4+, so we’re down to 10 hits. These 10 hits will generate roughly 9 wounds with re-rolls for the Lightning Claws. Excellent. Only 1 failed to wound. The Wyches now get their 4+ invulnerable saves, meaning either that 4 bite it, or if the squad has Feel No Pain, 3 bite it.

So to wrap it up, to prevent your Wyches from losing every combat against anything with a toughness of 4, I would include Lelith in the squad. Though she is still wounding on 5+, she hits on 3+ and the wounds that she does inflict IGNORE ARMOR! That doesn’t mean that they are power weapons with an AP value; they simply ignore it all! Plus she gets her glorious 10 attacks against our Terminator squad (4 base attacks +1 for close combat weapons, and +5 for being badass for having 5 more Weapon Skill points than the Terminators). Oh, and she also counts as being armed with a Shardnet and Impaler, so any models in base contact with her have 1 less attack. Sorry, but I kinda felt compelled to rant about her.

 CONCLUSION

Well, that’s about all I can think of at the moment that really pertains to Dark Eldar. I know I left out a few topics, but these were the main ones that pertain to my list in particular. Thoughts? Comments? Lawsuits? Leave all but the lawsuits below!

Introduction to the Magma Lords - Colors

So, as a writer, I find that any 40k army that you're truly passionate about should have some sort of background; it should never just puff out of thin air and be 100% ready for combat. Personally, I like an army with character and with a history. Therefore, when I was coming up with a color scheme, I chose to create something completely original. This gives me more flexibility to have fun with the army's back story and not have to conform to a cookie-cutter format that already exists. Thus, I "founded" the Magma Lords Chapter.

My initial reason to create the Magma Lords was because I really wanted to use the Vulkan He'stan model in my games (twin-linked flamers and meltas? That's a no-brainer!). I decided to make a lost founding of the Salamanders so that I could use Vulkan. But of course, I also wanted more than just the fact that they were descendents of the Salamanders. I wanted my chapter to have an original armor color, personalized models, and a lot more background.

Let's start with the armor. After deciding to redo my White Scars (I scrapped them since I had absolutely no bikes), I initially thought I'd go with the Sable Swords. "Who??" Exactly. A chapter that had an existing history in the game, but a very, very minimal one. I thought I could play around with them, but I didn't get very far. Soon, ADD/boredom took hold of my paintbrush and I made the shoulder trim and knee pads red but keeping the majority of the armor black. Then I realized that not all of my models had separate knee plates. So then I made the entire lower legs and feet red, too. And that's pretty much how we got to this:

It's basic, but effective, I think.

Next will be the personalized models and back story!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog "Magma Lord"! This is what I'm planning to use as an outlet for two of my main hobbies: creative writing and Warhammer 40,000. Those of you who are not familiar with the latter, well, let me just say that its a complex hobby. It involves table top gaming, model building and painting, and a plethora of fictional history. (I think that the creative writing part is pretty self-explanatory, so I'm gonna focus this intro post on 40k).

Warhammer is a table-top, strategy game set in the 41st Millennium. To give a frame of reference as to when this fictional universe is set, think of this: a millennium is 1,000 years. Therefore, we have just begun the 3rd millennium. This game - hence the name 40,000 - is set in the 41st millennium.

For game set up, modular terrain is placed on the table - typically 6ft. by 4ft. Terrain can be anything from a ruined building, to a copse of trees, to a hill. What's more, you can have as much terrain as you like, whether that's a small city sector, to a sparsely covered farmland. It's really a matter of preference and availability, but the more terrain the better. After all, the terrain is there to provide cover for the most important aspect of the game: your "army".

Warhammer is not just about creating pretty little dioramas. No, it is a game in which the players control two armies as they try to crush their opponent on the bloody field of battle. Therefore, the most important part of the game is your army. Games-Workshop, the company that created Warhammer, has also created a vastly detailed universe in which the game is set. I will now briefly summarize the majority of the playable armies in 40k.

Humans: Mankind is at the peak of its empire. The Imperium of Man is composed of xenophobic humans, who will put whole worlds to the torch to prevent the spread of enemy alien races. At the head of the Imperium is the Emperor of Mankind, a divine individual thousands of years old who, though dead in body, conducts humanity's wars with his supreme psychic power. The playable armies of mankind are as follows:

1. Space Marines: Genetically modified, super-human warriors, the Space Marines are humanity's chief defenders. They are warriors unparalleled in battle and who exist solely for war.


2. The Imperial Guard: The most numerous force at humanity's disposal, the Imperial Guard are the backbone of the Imperium's armies, made up of legions upon legions of human soldiers.


3. The Inquisition: Mankind has been formed into a religious empire. The soldiers of the Imperium border on zealots, some fighting with such fanaticism that they may seem gripped by madness. However, not all humans agree that the Emperor of mankind is worth dying for. This is where the Inquisition comes in. The Inquisition is the Imperial force that deals with heretics, renegades, and traitors. The Inquisition will stop at nothing to purge the galaxy of the alien and heretical filth that corrupts and infests the Imperium.

Xenos: Humans are not alone in the galaxy. There are aliens all around, and all are enemies of mankind. The diverse array of playable alien races are as follows:

1. Orks: Vicious and brutal, Orks are a race of aliens that live on and for war and war alone. Though they seem crude, their armies, known as Waaaghs, are massive hordes of green-skinned aliens armed with whatever weapons they can find, steal, or make. They are a plague on the entire galaxy, and as long as there is war (which they can certainly make plenty of by themselves), there will be Orks. As a whole, Orks' fighting style is brutish and simple: charge straight for the enemy and kill him, no matter what it takes.


2. Craftworld Eldar (or simply "Eldar"): Enigmatic and ancient, the Eldar are a shadow of the great empire they once ruled. They once had the galaxy as their plaything, but after apocalyptic events, they are reduced to a ghost of their former glory. They fight preferring stealth and trickery over brute strength


3. Dark Eldar: The depraved and sadistic cousins of the Eldar, the Dark Eldar are a sect of the Eldar that concealed themselves in another dimension to escape the apocalyptic fall of the Eldar Empire. They survive by feeding off of the souls and suffering of their enslaved prisoners. Dark Eldar are a race of self-centered pirates that care not for the fates of others. Their style of fighting is that of furious speed and hit-and-run tactics.


4. Tyranids: A super-predator species of aliens, the Tyranids are also known as "The Great Devourer". Humans first made contact with Tyranids in the Eastern fringe of the galaxy, suggesting that they are a nomadic race that came to this galaxy in search of fresh prey. Tyranids will invade a planet in their trillions, stripping it of all life. Once a planet has been entirely consumed of organic material, the Tyranids hurl themselves into digestive pools to be reabsorbed by the hive ships where the new organic matter will be used to create more Tyranids.


5. Tau: The young Tau Empire is the fastest developing civilization, and their success and technology is no small amount of proof. They fight for what they call the "Greater Good", trying to unify the galaxy under their banner. In combat, they are elite marksmen and use their sophisticated weapons and tanks to crush the enemy from a distance; they prefer to let their allies do the hand-to-hand melee


6. Necrons: A cursed race, the Necrons are an ancient civilization that was promised eternal life but tricked into becoming mindless, undead beings whose souls were confined to machine-bodies. They now seek to purge the galaxy of all life. They are all-around fighters, though they excel at ranged combat best.

The Forces of Chaos: During the Imperium of Man's infancy, the Gods of Chaos sowed the seeds of destruction, whispering heresies into the ears of men. This drove Space Marine against Space Marine, Guardsman against Guardsman, and ultimately humanity against itself. Some Space Marines and Guardsmen turned from the Immortal Emperor, denouncing him and his rule, and began to worship the Gods of Chaos instead. This great civil war still continues.

1. Chaos Space Marines: The Space Marines who forsook the Emperor and turned to the Gods of Chaos now call themselves Chaos Space Marines. After breaking all ties with the loyalist Space Marines, the Chaos Space Marines now fight against all forces of the Imperium and any alien foolish enough to challenge them.


2. Chaos Daemons: The legions of daemonic soldiers of the Chaos Gods themselves, Chaos Daemons take form in the world to wreak havoc and destruction against all life here. The Daemons are the loyal servants of the four Gods of Chaos: Slaanesh, the god of excess; Nurgle, god of plague; Tzeentch, god of change; and Khorne, the Blood God and god of war.

Anyway, now armed with a rough background knowledge of Warhammer, you will be able to choose your army. Once you choose which race you want to command, you must assemble your soldiers and machines of war for battle.