In the grim darkness of the distant future, there is only war.

The galaxy writhes in the metallic grip of total war. The Imperium is on the brink of annihilation, besieged on all sides by heretical warlords, witches, daemons, and opportunistic alien empires. The Great Rift tears at the void, a jagged wound at the heart of the Emperor's realm that bleeds madness and mutations.

In every star system and on every planet, battle rages fiercer than ever as loyalists, heretics, and aliens tear reality itself apart in their war for dominance. Each day the flames rise higher: this is the most terrible age in history, and there is no peace among the stars…

The Book
This 280-page hardcover book is an essential guide to Warhammer 40,000, containing everything you need to know to collect, assemble, paint, and play with Citadel miniatures in the grim darkness of the 41st millennium.

You’ll find an overview of the Warhammer 40,000 hobby in all its aspects, the basic rules for playing battles ranging from small skirmishes to massive Offensive games, and a thorough introduction to the rich and dark setting thanks to thrilling background lore, astonishing illustrations and photographs, and an evocative overview of each individual faction involved in the wars of the distant future.

THE WARHAMMER 40,000 HOBBY
The book opens with an introduction to this fantastic hobby, divided into four pillars: Collecting, Assembling, Painting, and Playing. You’ll discover how to begin your collection of Citadel miniatures, how hobbyists assemble and paint their models, and receive tips on which tools to use and which guides will help you further. You’ll also embark on your adventure as a commander with an overview of how, where, and why players face off in dynamic battles on the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop, a War Story featuring two armies, and an explanation of the various styles of play: the structured Combat Patrol format, the competitive Capitulum Adprobavit games, and the narrative campaigns Crusade.

DARK IMPERIUM
This in-depth background section provides you a portal into the grim darkness of the 41st millennium. It is a distant future dominated by an oppressive and corrupt human empire, whose unstable borders are defended by damned heroes and threatened from within and without. The history of the Imperium is marked by ignorance and slaughter and the laughter of thirsty gods.

The first half of this guide explores the decadent Imperium and the galaxy in which it is situated: the long-dead God-Emperor who eternally sits upon his Golden Throne, the High Lords and the bureaucracy that rules in his name, the fanatical Ecclesiarchy that preaches the imperial faith, the mysterious Ordos of the Inquisition that sees all, and the post-human Space Marines who fight wars that no one else could survive. You’ll also discover the hellish dimension known as the Warp, which fuels mutations and interstellar travel, the mad Chaos Gods that dominate its infinite depths, the blasphemous cults that serve them, and the Great Rift that cleaves realspace in two.

There is also a double-sided galactic map highlighting the key planets, systems, war zones, and warp storms.

The second half delves into the history of the setting, from the myth-shrouded past to the apocalyptic battles of the present. You’ll find a timeline of the development of Humanity, up to the Era of the Imperium. You’ll explore the superstitions that fuel the Imperium's worship of lost technology and its fear and hatred of aliens and mutants, the Great Crusade with which the Emperor sought to reunite Humanity, the Horus Heresy that set the galaxy ablaze, and the millennia of war and loss that have shaped the Imperium.

Finally, you will enter the Indomitus Era, marked by the opening of the Great Rift, the birth of a new God of Death, and the resurrection of Primarch Roboute Guilliman. As the Indomitus Crusade of the new Lord Regent tries to reunite a dying Imperium, a psychic awakening heralds a terrifying Age of Sorcery, and Abaddon the Despoiler infests the galaxy with the aid of the daemon demigod Vashtorr and his Arks of Omen. The return of Lion El'Jonson, the Emperor's First Primarch, does little more than delay total disaster, and with the renewed assault of the Leviathan Hive Fleet, the galaxy may become nothing more than food