Join your host Garhdo as they take a look at Warhammer, explaining in less than 10 minutes everything you need to know to get started in this vast fandom, whether it is the games, the models, the painting, the novels or the lore that appeals to you!
May 2nd 2026
This was the very first Fandom Primer, working as my proof of concept for what I was trying to do. I knew that Warhammer was a franchise that I could talk about at length, having done so several times in the past, and so I wanted to prove that I could get it down to the absolutely essential information for a new fan, which I tested by giving the script to several friends, to see if they understood it, and felt that it flowed better, and thanks to them and their help, my Fandom Primers were born!
Transcript
Hello my friends, Welcome to Garhdo Goes Geek for this Fandom Primer. Today we are learning about Warhammer.
Warhammer is a setting created by Games Workshop, a British company known primarily for making and selling miniature models. There is a good chance you have a Warhammer store in your hometown, and inside you can find boxes of models of various sizes and price ranges that fit either a science-fiction or medieval fantasy setting and probably several examples on display in the stores, usually painted by staff members who work there, who will happily tell you more about the models and the games that they were created for.
Warhammer is the brand name now used for the company stores, but it is also the name of several tabletop gaming systems designed for the models they sell. The biggest and most popular game by far is Warhammer 40,000, the science-fiction setting, which first released in 1987. It is set in the grim darkness of the 41st Millennium, and the once powerful Imperium of Mankind is beset on all sides by alien warriors, demonic creatures, heretics and traitors. The Imperium is defended by many brave souls in it’s enormous armies, but especially the Space Marines, superhuman warriors in powered armour with the finest weapons who stride into battle in the name of the God-Emperor of Mankind.
The fantasy setting is Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, which succeeded the original Warhammer Fantasy Battle in 2015, and takes place in a variety of different magical elemental planes, inhabited by a variety of races and linked by Realmgates, and under attack by the forces of Chaos. There are many factions but they all fall into one of the Four Grand Alliances of Order, Chaos, Death and Destruction. It is a time of struggle certainly, but it is also known for its powerful heroes, including the Stormcast Eternals, which are souls of dead warriors reforged by the god Sigmar into warriors that can slay the many monsters and survive the endless spells that roam the Mortal Realms.
Each of these games is generally played with an army of miniatures, with rules available in a variety of faction books. There are other games, usually smaller in scale, but they all bear a relation to one of these larger ones. Notable ones are the skirmish games Kill Team, Necromunda and Warcry which focus on individual models rather than large armies, the more rules complex games of The Old World and The Horus Heresy, both of which are set during important events in the history of the Mortal Realms and the Imperium of Mankind respectively, and the American football inspired Blood Bowl.
The models are supplied unassembled and unpainted, being made of hard plastic. Once assembled, they can be painted in a variety of colours, and Games Workshop has their own line of acrylic paints that can be used for this purpose, and some paints such as contrast and shade paints are designed to create shadows and highlights on the model with a single coat, due to the unique paint mixture and how it dries.
Games Workshop describes itself first and foremost as a miniatures company, and the while hobby of collecting, building, painting and/or gaming with an army of miniatures is undoubtedly the driving factor for many people who become fans of it, Warhammer is a setting. What this means is that it is so packed full of lore and world building that allows games to be played yes, but also allows many other stories to be told. Games Workshop themselves have a publishing arm called the Black Library that has created many series and standalone novels by a large group of authors, and some of their novels have even been featured on the New York Times Bestseller list. Additionally because it is a setting it means that there is no need to read everything – each series or novel can stand on its own as a complete experience. Many are also widely available in audiobook format, and omnibus collections and classic books are regularly reprinted, such as for the Gaunt’s Ghosts or Horus Heresy series. There are even dedicated series for Crime and Horror stories, as well as even some for younger readers.
Games Workshop is also very generous with it’s license, leading to many hit video games being made for various genres, standing amongst their genre contemporaries, and many are still widely available, from Strategy games like Dawn of War and Total War: Warhammer, first-person shooters like Boltgun, third-person action games such as Space Marine and Shootas, Blood and Teef, role-playing games like Rogue Trader, co-operative games Darktide and Vermintide, turn-based tactics games like Daemonhunters: Chaos Gate, and dungeoncrawlers like Chaosbane, as well as crossovers in games as varied as Call of Duty and Power Wash Simulator, and even a direct adaptation of Blood Bowl.
There are even classic tabletop pen and paper roleplaying games for Warhammer, which are currently being produced by Crucible7, These games allow players to create their own characters, team up and go on adventures set by the Games Master who will guide them through their story, allowing their decisions as well as their skill with a dice to influence the outcome. Games Workshop has also recently launched it’s own subscription service, with one of the features being the Warhammer TV site, which provides not only lore, battle reports and painting, but other hobby content, but also an array of Warhammer animations, telling stories in their worlds.
The best place to start is honestly by going into a Warhammer store and looking at the models. They allow you to see what the people and creatures inhabiting these worlds look like, and if you want to see more. Not only that but you can get a free introductory model of either a Stormcast Eternal or a Space Marine, and the staff will help you to build and paint it, and can even offer you a free introductory game if they have time available, showing you how the gameplay and rules work, and allowing you to use your new model. Many stores will offer themed games, painting contests, tutorials, as well as many more events to encourage the community to come together.
I do think there is something for everyone in Warhammer, as even the novels can provide rich characters, usually dark comedy, emotional storytelling, genuine horror moments, and much more. For some personal recommendations however I would like to highlight the animation Astartes, which is available for free on Warhammer’s community page and focuses on a team of Space Marines in a boarding action on an enemy ship, the novel The Infinite and The Divine by Robert Rath, which features two immortal beings whose bitter rivalry over the centuries ends up drastically affecting an Imperial planet, the first three novels of the epic Horus Heresy saga Horus Rising, False Gods and Galaxy in Flames, written by Dan Abnett, Graham MacNeill and Ben Counter respectively which show the start of a devastating civil war in the Imperium’s past, forming a foundational event for Warhammer 40,000, and finally the video game Vermintide II, a cooperative online horde game in the vein of Left4Dead that is still getting support 8 years after release and sees a group of heroes known as the Ubersreik 5 battling hordes of the Skaven ratmen and their Nurgle cultist allies. Dorling Kindersly also has begun publishing Warhammer reference books, including the new Character Encyclopedia, which comes with a free miniature of Titus, protagonist of the Space Marine 2 video game.
It is also a good time to get into the tabletop games. Age of Sigmar is currently on its third edition and is releasing new rulebooks for each faction, while Warhammer 40,000 is on the cusp of its 11th Edition, and so is currently releasing new campaign books to breathe new life into the game now all the factions have rules by changing up gameplay and releasing new characters. There were also recent new editions for The Old World, Kill Team, Horus Heresy, and Blood Bowl, meaning it is also an exciting time to get into any of those as well.
Hopefully by now you have all you need to start exploring this fandom. If you enjoyed this please like and share it with your friends. I also have other content available in my attached Linktree. Please take care of yourselves and look after your health as best as you can. Until next time my friends.
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