Editing Warhammer 40,000 (section)

==The Hobby==
===The tabletop===
[[File:The Dawn.jpg|300px|thumb|right|Space Marines always steal the spotlight from all the other races and factions. Blood Ravens steal everything else. Except for the Glory. That belongs exclusively to the [[Galactic Partridges]].]]

Playing the tabletop game of W40k involves the placement of the small plastic and metal models that represent each unit onto a 6'x4' tabletop battlefield. This could be anything from a sterile kitchen bench to a detailed hand-crafted board complete with forests, ruins, rocks, bunkers etc. Terrain is an important part of the game, as the 40K shooting rules rely on "true line of sight" to target any given unit. Terrain can also be used to either player's (and race's) advantage to block units and vehicles and to provide extra protection against shooting, even if within range and line of sight. Difficult and Dangerous Terrains can also hinder movement or even kill models, because sometimes it IS possible for [[Derp|a tank the size of the Sydney Opera House to destroy its tracks on a stray log.]]

The rules for the game are drawn from the ''Warhammer 40K'' Rulebook, sold by [[Games Workshop]] as well as the supplementing 'Codex' books. While the Rulebook provides all the general rules required to play the game, the Codex books, one for each race and some factions, provide specific rules such as unit statistics, wargear and point costs.

====Missions====
There are many game modes you can [[Cities of Death|play]], no matter what race you are pitted up against. You can either decide to kill each other's units and then in the end count how many points all the dead models add up to and if that number is higher or lower than the opponent's death-count. You can capture a beforehand-decided amount of objectives on the board (that can additionally either buff or nerf units controlling them) or just have a single objective to fight over, resulting in a hilarious game of [[tarpit|tar-pits]] and clusterfucks. 
Some missions require the opponents to deploy and act differently, depending on mission-specific side-objectives and/or special rules. Most importantly of all, you can decide and combine any missions in a single game and play however you want. '''[[Rule Zero]]''' and homebrew rules and scenarios are king.

====Units====
[[File:Jump Troopers.jpg|350px|right|thumb|"With great balls I shall clad them"- Big E on Guardsmen]]

Each unit in 40K, whether an Imperial Guardsman, a Daemon Prince or a Falcon Grav-Tank, has a set of 'characteristics' that are compared to the statistics of whatever they are attacking to ascertain whatever roll may be necessary on a D6 to succeed in their action. The characteristics are as follows: Movement (M), Weapon Skill (WS), Ballistic Skill (BS), Strength (S), Toughness (T), Wounds (W), Attacks (A), Leadership (Ld) and Armour/Invulnerable Save (Sv). For vehicles; '''in 7th edition and [[Horus Heresy|Age of Darkness]]''' games it is simplified to Frontal, Side and Rear armor ratings, hull points (HP), and Ballistic Skill (BS). Certain units that are a mix between vehicle and infantry/monster, such as Walkers, who retain the Armour ratings and hull points in place of Toughness and Wounds, but use all remaining characteristics as well. '''In the latest edition, this was done away with for brevity.''' Depending on the type of attack made (shooting, assault, psychic, etc), different characteristics are used to resolve the attack. Some special close combat weapons, such as Power Fists, will enhance the characteristics of the user or provide other support bonuses. When shooting, the separate statistics of the weapon fired also come into play.

All units also have a "point cost", representing their overall worth and rarity in an army. There are a number of rules concerning selecting an army from a Codex army book, but one of the most important is the points limit. The points limit is the method used in W40k as an upper limit to army size and/or power. The most common type of W40k game is set at 1,500 points. For comparison, the average squad of 10 Imperial Guardsmen is worth around 60 points, and a Space Marine intercessor squad of the same size is worth 200 points. A single Grey Knight Dreadnought is 130 points. With any unit, upgrades can greatly increase their points cost and effectiveness. Fully-equipped Independent Characters can reach well over 100 points, for example, and the aforementioned squads will usually be equipped with more expensive heavy weapons, squad leaders, or other equipment. Army selection can be limited by the codex's Force Organization Chart; every unit is categorized as HQ, Troop, Elite, Fast Attack, Flyers, Heavy Support, or Lords of War, and the Force Organization Chart specifies the minimum and maximum number of each type of units any army may field in a single game. You may choose to ignore these charts and field whatever you like within the points value, but do so with a disadvantage in certain army-specific powers called Strategems.

Units usually fight as squads, though there are many exceptions. All infantry are formed into a squad with similar units and usually a squad leader (i.e. a squad of Ork Slugga Boyz led by a Nob or a squad of Guardsmen led by Sarge). Units such as vehicles/walkers (Tau Hammerhead, Baal Predator) are usually, but not always (in case of Sentinels and Jetbikes) fielded as a lone unit.

The role of hero units, known as ''Characters'', is an important one in 40K. They are the leaders for each army and one of the most powerful types of unit available to any player. Characters have the distinction of being able to operate as a single model. They can also be fluff-actual, named characters with their own history and unique appearance (such as Celestine the Living Saint), while others like a Space Marine Captain or an Ork Warboss are generic commanders. Both kinds can have a massive impact on the game, especially in the Shooting and Assault phases where their greatly enhanced weapons and abilities can be brought to bear and cause a big amount of [[Rage]] from the opposing player, or in area buffs, which greatly increase the effectiveness of nearby friendly troops.

Characters who are under a certain size (read: not FUCKHUEG) cannot be targeted if not the closest model to the enemy without special rules helping the enemy (e.g. a squad of red scorpions tactical marines cannot dive in front of a leviathan dreadnought). Let the plebs take the hits.

====Phases====
[[Image:Sighing_Marine.jpg‎ |right|thumb|200px|If I ever find the fucker who nerfed Rhino Rush...]]

'''Be wary of the [[skub]]by tone the following sections are written in, because a dispute reigns about how some in-game mechanics are not realistic, but must be applied anyway.'''

The game is divided into seven phases: the Command Phase, the Movement Phase, the Psychic Phase, the Shooting Phase, the Charge Phase, the Fight Phase, and the Morale Phase - each forming a part of each individual player's turn. Quite simply, the Command Phase is for using abilities, the Movement Phase is for movement only, the Psychic Phase is for casting psychic powers, the Shooting Phase is for shooting (or rarely moving), while the charge phase is for trying to get your dudes into gloriously bloody combat, and the fight phase is for resolving said gloriously bloody combats. The morale phase is for seeing if any of your dudes run away after taking casualties in their unit.

To resolve Shooting, players first check to see if they are in range; '''if''' they are, they roll to hit; '''if''' they hit, they roll to wound; '''if''' they wound, the enemy rolls saves. The same rules apply no matter how close the shooter is to the target, though many units can’t shoot if right next to an enemy, and certain weapons fire twice as many shots at closer range, which on second thought makes even less sense. Seriously, people are bad shots in the 41st millennium. (Imagine news footage of pirate gunmen who are shooting from the hip with AK's even though they're not fast drawing, or holding said AK's in front of them in willful disregard that rifle butts go on shoulders, who can't even hold their guns level to fire aimed shots, let alone look down the gunsights, all the while standing in the middle of the street, which they can do because the guys downrange are doing the exact same thing. I don't know if I should cry or laugh.) Thus, [[derp|while within the maximum range of the weapon, neither range nor cover makes you harder to hit]] (although cover does grant a bonus to the save roll of the target).

It's maybe for this reason that individuals in the 41st millennium like to carry outrageously huge and outlandish shooting and melee weapons and [[Ork|like to get stuck in]] with them. The Fight Phase is resolved about the same as the Shooting Phase (which at least makes more sense, since you can parry a sword, but you can't parry a hypervelocity slug, let alone a high energy plasma ball of death or a coherent, high intensity light beam, examples in other works of fiction notwithstanding), melee combat once begun can be disengaged from (but those who Fall Back forfeit their ability to shoot or charge in their next turn), and units not engaged in melee combat can't fire upon combatants in melee. Also, generally speaking, the fight phase is the only phase which happens for both sides every turn - you get to engage in vigorous melee combat on both your turn '''and''' your enemy's turn.

Hit rolls for soldiers in a squad can be rolled together, as can saving rolls. As yet, the gameplay mechanics genii at Games Workshop have not conceived of some physics-defying method by which more than one die can be rolled simultaneously to represent the myriad possible results to an individual unit, such as a tank, and so tragically gamers are still forced to roll to hit, and to roll for wounding, first one and then the other. (Although it's thought by many this is deliberate to draw out the tension and suspense, since victory can hang on these successive rolls. It's also thought W40k players could instead play back alley craps games for the same effect, and save some money in the process.)

In the 41st millennium, military engineers have not yet devised an effective targeting or guidance system that would enable a tank killer to fire on enemy armor (tank sized targets) with confidence of hitting these targets, at the ranges typical of combat in this futuristic era. As such, infantry are frequently tragically forced to engage in melee combat against such armored monstrosities with chainswords, handfuls of potatomasher grenades, and standard issue steel balls.

Both shooting units (e.g. Space Marine Eradicators) and assault units (e.g. Dark Eldar Wyches) have great but very different roles to play. The 40K rulebook describes the manner in which the many varying unit attributes in 40K interrelate. At the end of the Turn, when casualties on both sides have been resolved from shooting and fighting, Leadership (Ld) tests of all sorts must be made. These test how many models from each unit that has taken casualties turn craven and run away, if any. The number of models that run depend on the amount of casualties taken, the highest Ld characteristic in the unit, and a D6 roll made by the controlling player. In this manner an army can be destroyed without actually killing each individual unit, as units that ''flee'' off the board are not allowed to return in the following turns.

====General 40k Tactics====
Contrary to popular belief, you *can* actually apply tactics to 40k beyond the "hurl-your-units-or-park-them-in-front-of-a-gunline-and-yell-for-your-respective-god". You will sometimes be called a cheesemongering win-at-all-costs bastard, because why treat toy soldiers you paid craptons of money for like pawns in a chess-game? [[Skub|Am i rite?]] Building your army-list is a very important part of this, but given two balanced lists, victory tends to go to the better general (or the far luckier one... <s>some days, the dice *really* hate you</s> the dice always hate you). Tactics are gladly discussed [[Warhammer_40,000/Tactics_(9E)|here]]. There are also myriad tactics articles for pretty much every current army with rules, for 8e, 7e, 6e and sometimes 5e.

===Collecting===
There are three elements to ''Warhammer 40K'': The lore, the gameplay and the collecting/modeling. In the same way that the average powergamer in any game will not give two fucks about the background or modeling and that the writer of most of this article would take the background over the gameplay any day, the modeling is something that can replace the other two elements of the game completely. As the game relies on models to represent every unit in an army, and is supported by a massive plethora of awesome artwork, there are great opportunities for the more artistic among us to use those lovely, juicy artist brains of theirs.

[[Image:Chapter_Master_Leonidas.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Chapter Master Leonidas is among the few non-Space Wolf or Imperial Fists Space Marines who's manly enough for a beard. Also, yes that’s an angry Lego stud on the top of the banner.]]

''Warhammer 40K'' models are sold for outrageous sums by Games Workshop in boxed sets produced by Citadel Miniatures. For a while, Citadel released their "[[Finecast]]" line of models, which are basically the same metal models cast in a pseudo-plastic-resin-thingy; very detailed with the caveat that the models have problems with bubbling on the board. Thankfully, most models are now in legit plastic, but you may still need to depend on Finecast for more detailed hero characters or the occasional specialized bitz. Games Workshop also owns Forgeworld, who sell ridiculously expensive and equally ridiculously awesome resin kits of alternative 40K models. These models must be glued together by hand, and this leaves quite some room for customization, better known as "conversion". Conversion consists of everything from gluing on a different arm or weapon, to using the modelling putty known as 'Green Stuff' to add shapes and layers to the model as you see fit. This can result in anything from a different pistol to a more dynamic pose to something too awesome for this world that Games Workshop never thought of. Hell, conversions are sometimes the best way to fix some of GW's [[Dreadknight|stupidest mistakes]].

Each model must also be painted by hand, and for those who prefer painting to modelling, 40K still provides plenty of opportunities. While the entire GDP of the U.S.A. could not buy a year's worth of Games Workshop painting products, the fact remains that Games Workshop models, some more than others, lend themselves extremely well to a steady hand. The annual Games Workshop-run painting contest, the Golden Demon, is a perfect showcase for the incredible examples of epic that can be made by a good modeler and/or painter.

The biggest problem with collecting 40K is the cost, which has gone up by about 300% in the last decade. To buy yourself a playable 1,500 point army will probably cost hundreds of dollars, and a delicious, customized army of that size or larger (or heaven forbid, a Forgeworld army) will cost you thousands. The smart thing to do is to avoid retail as much as possible, though many people will tell you that you should still try to support your [[Local Game Store]]. (Money, money, money. Isn't it funny? In a rich man's wooorld.)

But it's fucking worth it, because even the ugliest miniatures or worst crunch-wise army are distilled awesome in the proper hands. Seriously, people. A well converted and beautifully painted army are only surpassed by an expositive-scenario (the now-called Armies on Parade) of themselves... unless you are a [[powergamer]].

===Edition History===
* [[Warhammer_40,000:_Rogue_Trader|Rogue Trader (1st Edition)]]
* [[Warhammer_40,000_2nd_edition|2nd Edition]]
* [[Warhammer_40,000_3rd_Edition|3rd Edition]]
* [[Warhammer_40,000_4th_edition|4th Edition]]
* [[Warhammer_40,000_5th_edition|5th Edition]]
* [[Warhammer_40,000_6th_edition|6th Edition]]
* [[Warhammer_40,000_7th_edition|7th Edition]]
* [[Warhammer_40,000_8th_edition|8th Edition]]
* [[Warhammer_40,000_9th_edition|9th Edition]]
* [[Warhammer_40,000_10th_Edition|10th Edition]]

===Roleplaying===
[[File:Undercover.png|200px|right|thumb|Bling bling, motherfucker]]
Aside from the wargame, ''Warhammer 40,000'' had also [[Blood Ravens|stolen]] into the long night of roleplaying games. Currently, thanks to the limited nature of the setting, there were five roleplaying systems, each focused on particular career / scenario that you can play. You can be:

* [[Dark Heresy|An Inquisitorial Agent]], investigating dangerous cults and heretical traitors in the seedy underbelly of the Imperium. Like [[Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay]], life is cheap and TPKs even cheaper.
* [[Rogue Trader (RPG)|A Rogue Trader]], seeking fame and fortune in the deep unknown of space. It's moar of the same from Dark Heresy, but you get a PERSONAL SPESS SHEEP as well.
* [[Deathwatch (RPG)|A Deathwatch Space Marine]], fighting some of the Imperium's most deadly foes with only your killteam at your side.
* [[Black Crusade (RPG)|A Chaos Worshiper]], both the normal and superhuman variety, seeking the power of the dark gods on a quest for immortality, or face a [[Chaos Spawn|fate worse than death]]. Expect backstabbing (from) fellow players.
* [[Only War|A lowly Imperial Guardsman]], fighting tooth and nail just to stay alive. You will earn your steel balls for certain if you make it through the first day.

Of course, while each game was focused on a specific aspect of the universe, [[All Guardsmen Party|that hasn't stopped]] [[Deffwotch|the creative GM]] [[Thorgun the Barbarian|from mixing and matching]] [[Republican Commando|systems and ideas]] to create their own unique experience. It's 40k, after all. In a universe where [[Psyker|wizards]] and [[Eldar|elves]] exist alongside [[Titan|giant robots]] and [[Plasma|energy weapons]], anything goes.

Unfortunately, nearly all sourcebooks are out of print due to the fact that they were all published by [[Fantasy Flight Games]], and GW let the license expire instead of renewing it, possibly because Fantasy Flight were making their own tabletop miniatures games in similar scales (such as Star Wars: Legion and Runewars) and were moving into direct competition with GW, who then transferred the RPG license to Ulisses and are going to make an entirely new setting and ruleset called '''[[Wrath & Glory]]''', allowing the players to take the role of various Xenos races as well as humans.

===Board Games===
Warhammer figurines can be used to play more conventional board games released by Games Workshop, usually two specific factions featuring a specific set of rules. These board games can be a good source of units for regular WH40K wargames, especially if the game itself costs less than what it would cost to buy each figure individually. Some of these are known as "[[Specialist Games]]", featuring figurines unique to the game themselves (but still part of the Warhammer 40k franchise); for a while they had been discontinued, but are slowly being re-released. Some examples are below:

*[[Space Hulk]]: Take a squad of [[terminator]]s through a derelict space craft while fending off hoards of [[genestealer]]s.
*[[Betrayal at Calth]]: A [[Horus Heresy]] themed battle between the [[Ultramarines]] and the [[Word Bearers]].
*[[Necromunda]]: A gang war between different themed gangs with their own strengths and weaknesses.
*[[Battlefleet Gothic]]: Lead fleets of ships as part of the 12th Black Crusade in classic naval warfare.
*[[Gorkamorka]]: Play as one of four [[Gorkamorka#Factions|ork-themed factions]] competing for control of the planet Gorkamorka, including ork-like human barbarians and [[Gretchin Revolutionary Committee|renegade gretchin]].
*[[Lost Patrol]]: You're going to die in this one. Play as five unlucky scouts who will be ripped to shreds by [[Genestealers]].