   | |
| Manufacturers | Games Workshop, Citadel Miniatures, Forge World |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Players | 2+ |
| Setup time | 5–20+ minutes |
| Playing time | 60–180+ minutes |
| Chance | Medium (dice rolling) |
| Skills | Strategic thinking, arithmetic, miniature painting |
| Website | warhammer40000 |
Warhammer 40,000 (sometimes colloquially called Warhammer 40K, WH40K or 40k) is a miniature wargame produced by Games Workshop. It is the most popular miniature wargame in the world,[1][2][3] and is particularly popular in the United Kingdom.[4] The first edition of the rulebook was published in September 1987, and the tenth and current edition was released in June 2023.
As in other miniature wargames, players enact battles using miniature models of warriors and fighting vehicles. The playing area is a tabletop model of a battlefield, comprising models of buildings, hills, trees, and other terrain features. Each player takes turns moving their model warriors around the battlefield and fighting their opponent's warriors. These fights are resolved using dice and simple arithmetic.
Warhammer 40,000 is set in the distant future, where a stagnant human civilisation is beset by hostile aliens and supernatural creatures. The models in the game are a mixture of humans, aliens, and supernatural monsters wielding futuristic weaponry and supernatural powers. The fictional setting of the game has been developed through a large body of novels published by Black Library (Games Workshop's publishing division). Warhammer 40,000 was initially conceived as a scifi counterpart to Warhammer Fantasy Battle, a medieval fantasy wargame also produced by Games Workshop. Warhammer Fantasy shares some themes and characters with Warhammer 40,000 but the two settings are independent of each other. The game has received widespread praise for the tone and depth of its setting, and is considered the foundational work of the grimdark genre of speculative fiction, the word grimdark itself derived from the series' tagline: "In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war".
Warhammer 40,000 has spawned many spin-off media. Games Workshop has produced a number of other tabletop or board games connected to the brand, including both extrapolations of the mechanics and scale of the base game to simulate unique situations, as with Space Hulk or Kill Team, and wargames simulating vastly different scales and aspects of warfare within the same fictional setting, as with Battlefleet Gothic, Adeptus Titanicus or Warhammer Epic. Video game spin-offs, such as Dawn of War and the Space Marine series, have also been released.
- ^ "Top 5 Non-Collectible Miniature Games—Spring 2020". icv2.com. 12 August 2020. Archived from the original on 19 September 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
- ^ "TOP NON-COLLECTIBLE MINIATURES LINES – FALL 2022". icv2.com. March 23, 2023.
- ^ "TOP MINIATURES LINES – FALL 2023". icv2.com. March 25, 2024.
- ^ Edison Investment Research (10 April 2019). "On a Mission". www.edisongroup.com. Archived from the original on 21 February 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
This market analysis does not break down sales figures between specific product lines, but it adds partial validity to the claim that Warhammer 40,000 is most popular among the British, where Games Workshop's sales are strongest in general.