Races of Warhammer 40,000

The purpose of this article is to list and explain how the various races in the Warhammer 40,000 universe interact with each other. This is not meant to be a comprehensive history or description of each race, rather it is meant to be a comparative description of social and martial prowess in relation to each other. Another important aspect of this article is that it will ignore the balancing tools used by the game to make individual things fair, and will focus on the fictional universe created by Games Workshop in its many publications.

The Adeptus Astartes

The Adeptus Astartes, otherwise known as the Space Marines (Warhammer 40,000) are a group of genetically engineered super soldiers. They were created by the Emperor of Mankind to help forge the Imperium, and to protect it from outside threats. The group is broken up into many chapters which consist of approximately 1,000 members. Each chapter is independently run, and has its own history and traditions. This leads to a variety of differences in attitude and philosophy between the chapters.

ocietal Characteristics

The way that the Space Marine chapters are organized, it is hard to sum up their general societal motives. For the most part, Space Marines are fanatically loyal to the Emperor, and are very determined to defend the Imperium. However, a wide variety of opinions on how to accomplish goals have originated amongst the chapters, often leading to minor disputes, and trouble or outright refusal to work together.

Martial Characteristics

The Space Marines form a formidable fighting force. With extremely tough armor, made of ceramite, a material made of pressurized diamond dust, and genetic modifications to enhance survivability, one space marine is far superior to almost all other standard soldiers, as well as most elite troops. With an average kill ratio of 100 to 1 against humanoid targets, The space marines can take on a force much larger than theirs and expect to prevail. However, their limited numbers make it difficult to wage a full-scale war against an enemy without support of another force, such as the Imperial Guard or other chapters of Space Marines. In standard operation, the Space Marines depend on the Imperial Guard to form the battle lines, and hold most captured territory.

pecific Relations

Adeptus Sororitas

Space Marines will sometimes find themselves working side by side with the Sisters of Battle to defend a territory or to purge an enemy and retake a world. This happens most often at the request of the Inquisition, though sometimes circumstances end up causing this collaboration. Most Space Marine chapters tend not to get along well with the Sisters, due to the Sisters' puritanical outlook, and rigid leadership from the Eclisiarchy. In addition, the fighting styles of these two groups tend to clash, as the Space Marines tend to take a more strategic approach, where as the Sisters are more prone to rushing into battle.

In a one on one conflict between Space Marines and the Adeptus Sororitas, The Space Marines can be counted on to come out the victors, though the situations where these two forces would battle are rare. Space Marine superiority is largely due to the superior armour (though technically the same, the Astartes warriors have a link to their armour via "the black carapace") and survivability of the Marines, as well as having greater access to advanced weapons and vehicles.

Chaos Marines

Dark Eldar

Eldar

Guard

Inquisition

Orks

the orks are a violent, brutal, bloodthirsty, savage and uncivilised race. they wage war on other races for the pure thrill and enjoyment of it. they excel at close combat with sheer force and their favoured tactic is charging at the enemy as a massive horde, commonly referred to as 'a green tide of death'. what is the orks greatest strength is also their greatest weakness since due to their violent and warlike nature they almost never cooperate with each other. the orks are part of a creature family known as 'greenskins' along with grots and gretchin. orks thrive on war and are always looking for one. if there is a massive full-scale war on a planet chances are that the orks will come and fight everyone there. if orks cant find a good fight then they will turn on each other. when a warboss can thousands of orks under one banner and attack a planet it is called a waaaggh!. this is a rare occasion since orks have such a incapability to work to work together but when it does it is a grave threat indeed. orks are not very bright but they show surprising creativity when it comes to weaponry of any kind. greenskins are so numerous that they are truly a dire threat in the galaxy.

in ork society the biggest is considered the best. beacause of this grots and gretchin are usually mistreated in society and are usually bitten, beaten, shot, punched, kicked, stepped on, eaten and fed to squigs. this is why warbosses are always the biggest. orks always send grots charging at the enemy first in battle to soak up the enemy fire and encase there are any landmines, booby traps etc.

Necron

Necrons are ancient machines that have lain dormant in their tombs for centuries. they are slaves to the c'tan gods and their objective is to cleanse(exterminate) all organic life from the galaxy so the c'tan can feast on souls. they are remorseless, merciless, and will stop at nothing to please their gods. most of their troops resemble robotic skeletons and most of their weaponry fires a mysterious energy called gauss. it looks like green lightning when it fires. the truly horrific necron troops are flayed ones. unlke other troops they shamble,like zombies, and the have 3 huge claws on each hand,perfect for cutting and ripping through enemy infintry and vehicle armour. they also flay(skin)bodies and drape the pieces of flayed skin over themselves until they look like a shambling grotesque horrors, thus spreading much fear and revulsion in the ranks of enemy armies. their nemesis are the eldar.

the necrontyr weren't always servants to the c'tan. once they were human but they were hideously jealous of the eldars long lives.the lives of the necrontyr were very short while eldar lived for thousands of years.they were then visited by the c'tan. the c'tan offered immortality but for a price. the necrontyr agreed and every single necrontyr traded in their flesh and bone for flexible regenerative metal. once every necrontyr was converted the c'tan performed the horrific trick that they had planned all along. using their sorcery, the c'tan took control of the converted necrontyr and they were now slaves to the c'tan.

the necrons and their new masters set about conquering the galaxy. they embarked on a conquest of bloodshed and slaughter until ther galaxy was cleansed. the c'tan, seeing no further conquest, sent the necrons to their tombs and the necrons slumbered for centuries. but while they were slumbering, life started to infect the galaxy again.

eons later the c'tan realised that the galaxy was flourishing with life again and the gods awakened the necrons. the necrons started to rise out of their tombs and started slaughtering again. but much time had passed while they were slumbering and they encountered fierce opposition. now the races had grown much stronger and now were actually able to repel the necrons. the necrons are one of the most dire threats to the imperium and the other races.

Tau

TYRANIDSthe tyranids are rapidly evoling monstrous race that devours everything in its path. all tyranids are sentiently linked to a phsycic entity known as the hive mind whose prey is whole planets. the tyrands drift through space in hive ships, encased in sacs inside that will protect them for the journey. when they touch down on a planet the tyranids contained in the hive ships break out and swarm all over the planet and star converting it. here are the stages of conversion:

1. wipe out any opposition on the planet(space marines, imperial guard, planetary defense)2. devour all organic substance and deposit it as material3. build hive ships and more tyrands with the material

unlike most other races, tyranids don't build their weaponry out of metal and plastic, but instead use gene splicing in organic conversion.their bio-weapons are like living creatures. the gun itself serves as a hive or nest for whatever creature is used as the ammunition. the bio weapon is complete with umbilical cords and muscles and it is made of flesh and bone. some bio-weapons even replace the wielders hand.

The Adeptus Arbites

The Chaos Space Marines

The Dark Eldar

The Eldar

The Imperial Guard

The Holy Inquisition

The Orks

The Necrontyr

The Tau Empire

The Tyranid

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