How to Play Warhammer 40k [In Under 10 Minutes]

How to play Warhammer 40k 9th Edition in 10 minutes or less!
This is a quick breakdown designed to help you jump into Warhammer 40k 9th Edition!
Whether you're just starting to play or getting back into it, this will cover the basics of what you need to know so you can start playing RIGHT NOW!
Feel free to share this with anyone you know that's been struggling to understand the game. Our goal is to help as many people as possible have more fun with this fantastic hobby!
If you want more info on how to play better, paint good looking miniatures faster, and build up a cool army on a budget, check out our free guide.
Here is the link for you to get it now: bit.ly/40kFree...
We also offer free army designs so you can get the right army built for your style of play!
Click the link here and book an army design session now: bit.ly/FreeArm...

[@cubin4441]

This feels like our older cousin or brother is explaining the game and we just watch and follow his instructions

[@fosty.]

Do you mean when he says something like "This guy hit me BUT we have to roll again because something something"? I thought the same thing

[@alexisXcore93]

@@fosty. if you learned at 60% of how the rounds go, then its excellent. after a couple of games you are set

[@2008MustangFan]

I’ve been collecting for 10+ years and have a ridiculous amount of models but never played. I haven’t really tried at my local store either because no one really wants to take that much time to teach from ground zero. Your intro was by far the easiest to understand compared to many others and I have a good basic grasp now. Thank you.

[@alrethianscraftsbattles]

Sorry to hear that you never got play mate. Just be bold and go for it, you're missing out on tons of fun (though the painting is fun too :-) ) If you dont feel you are ready to go up against other players yet in your local GS then just take a few hours a week or less or however much time you are willing to invest, sit yourself down with the rules and play a few games by yourself (or with some friends or family) until you get a bit of grasp on the basic game. I promise you, you wont be dissapointed once you get the hang of it. It's a great game. Good Luck mate.

[@goreobsessed2308]

@Simple Jack yeah it can be like that sometimes I apologize for them

[@TomatoTomato911]

cant you just find a buddy and play? what i see is you just need few dices stat cards and the models and a piece of board to play on a table or floor. game shops may offer cool backgrounds but thats about it? do they have a host that does all the calculation to make it easier?

[@2008MustangFan]

@@TomatoTomato911 oh this was a long time ago. I’m part of a whole community now.

[@thevoidire]

I found game shops outside of big towns to be more inviting for new players in everything. Look up game shops in small towns and I'm sure they'll look after you :)

[@davidma6616]

Great breakdown for beginners! Def a good call to not mention more complex things like strategems and command points. A lot of videos targeted at beginners still delve into this stuff which is fine, but it's nice to have something like this which really makes the ultra basics highly digestible.

[@NightsattheGameTable]

David Ma thank you! That was the idea behind this video :)

[@gregHePilots]

couldn't agree more. My brother and I are playing 300 point games and simply sticking to the game that was described above. Basic rules and we are having a blast.

[@rookhousestudios3686]

What are command points

[@sanakhtthefatetwister9116]

​@@rookhousestudios3686 Your army starts with a certain number of Command Points (CP, small games usually have 3), and you can spend CP to use Stratagems which add another layer of tactical depth to the game. Perhaps you failed an important armour save, you could spend a Command Point to reroll that save, there's also a Stratagem called Fire Overwatch which lets you shoot at an enemy unit when it tries to charge you. Every different faction has their own unique list of Stratagems available too.

[@rbu2136]

Fresh this is complex. Of course I’ve been gaming for decades. But this is crazy. How about an App that you just input attacker defender and get immediate result?

[@79Xile]

This is one of the best vids I've seen gets you involved without getting bogged down.

[@NightsattheGameTable]

Xile79 thank you! That’s the whole idea for this!

[@Ecobeastsoffroad]

Agreed!

[@BL4D3RUNN3R0M3N]

This was the most "Welcome to the game, get f*cked by dice!" intro to the game I've ever seen and I love it. Lol Didn't touch on placing models for larger battles or picking game modes/ missions, but probably the best bare bones intro there is for the time.

[@t_jay5159]

Amazing video. As someone who was intimidated by the scale of 40k, seeing there was a 10 min video I watched it and at the end went "Huh, at its core I guess 40k isn't that complicated after all". Just wanted you to know that you've brought another player into 40k and you'll probably bring in many more

[@BMichaelGalloway]

Pretty nice, just like as if you walked into a Games Workshop for a demo...

[@NightsattheGameTable]

Thank you!

[@redzeroluevont138]

This makes me want to buy a shop and sell warhammer stuff. This dude does such a good job introducing the game.

[@JapetoYT]

​@@redzeroluevont138I'd buy your stuff lol

[@blinkingred]

"Sacrificed their human form" oh the lore snob in me wants to explode right now.

[@dannygordon3351]

@@superfluous9726 nah 1-1 I’d say necron weapons are insane but marines resilience balances it out imo

[@FrancisSpaghetti]

So what’s the truth then….?

[@sarven5974]

@@FrancisSpaghetti Necrons are very scary space terminators, but they aren't 'insanely' powerful and can still be beaten with a good'ol marine (or 2, or 3), guardsmen drop like flies against them though

[@c00lnm33]

@@FrancisSpaghetti so before they were transferred into their necrodermis bodies, Necrons were a fleshy race called the Necrontyr. Necrontyr aren't humans

[@barahng]

I don't think he meant literally human but rather still biological. Unless you take issue with the word sacrifice, then I can see your point as the term implies choice when most Necron'tyr had none/did so under false pretenses not knowing the C'tan would slurp their souls, if I'm remembering correctly.

[@lazydog223]

This video is perfect! Easy to understand, easy to follow and the instructors are enthusiastic to be teaching. Thank you!!

[@NightsattheGameTable]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it

[@bluebeard6189]

My little guy's been wanting me to play Warhammer 40,000. Your video was clear and concise enough for me to be able to sit down and say all right we'll play that game tonight

[@samuelduncan3499]

I was expecting it to be more complicated but you actually broke it down pretty well!

[@ninjunc]

I was a D&D/MTG/arcade kid (GenX). Always found this game fascinating, but until my sons started asking questions, I never attempted to learn. Thanks for the intro. It really helped me wrap my brain around what we might be getting into...even if this is only the tip of the iceberg. Cheers!

[@upsidedownpyramid7617]

2:00 they move 5 inches, wow that is a pretty far movement, it’s actually incredible how LARGE the movement area of the Necron units are. Way above average I would say.

[@CMTechnica]

For real. I remember the first time I got to use my “long range” weapons on my guard tanks. You don’t think 36/48/72 inches is very much, until you look at it compared to the table and models. First apocalypse size game, Baneblade spent the whole game taking shots at Tyranid heavy units from across the table, supported by a Russ squad from the other side of the table.

[@upsidedownpyramid7617]

@@CMTechnica I feel like the joke may have flown over your head here, I wish I knew more about playing warhammer 40k but I have yet to get into it.

[@npc-tq6yi]

Best comment ever

[@vega1252]

Which ironically is not lore accurate at all, Necrons move about 6 pixels an Hour in all games, slowest ships and HORRIBLE movement penalties. However, if you're close enough that Necrons can see you, you're dead anyways

[@marcelbenner993]

Never played 40k but the video has triggered a question in me. I guess it was done to show how close combat works, but would it strategically make sense for the Necrons to use their movement to get away from the marines instead of walking towards them?

[@Zloy585]

I'm getting the game soon and have been doing Research on the rules to be prepared, but all of the guides were very complicated. I got your video suggested, and honestly didn't think one could explain everything in 10 minutes, but wow! You did it! I understood everything on the first time, and now I'm even more motivated to get into WH. Thank you so much! You got yourself a new subscriber

[@misterderp4566]

I'm about to head into my first ever game -- thanks for this intro and, especially, thanks for the 'gate's open come on in' approach. I get the feeling that some are intimidated by the fact that folks have been playing for decades and don't feel 'qualified' to start. It's always a good thing to share what you love.

[@WeirdWolfGames]

Amazing how many in the hobby don't play the game but just love the amazing miniatures, thanks for putting this together for those trying to get up and running!

[@pablo-yx2st]

I kinda knew how to play but this made understanding the game so much easier

[@pancakemogul]

You've played for 31 years?! Necron players and their Reanimation Protocols man...

[@Colton_T]

Yep

[@ikeu6433]

There is only so much my noob ass wants to hear rn.

[@kratcliffe5680]

Fro. Someone who has always looked through the window and into a games workshop store, this has answered a lot of questions. Between this and watching the painting tutorials, I've now ordered my first paint set and spacemarine units. Tactical squad and razorback inbound. Thanks guys

[@mccoolfriend6818]

Wow, 31 years now 34 years that is an amazing amount of love for a game. I hope to follow in your footsteps too as well ! Amazing Tutorial video !

[@SWTobito0702]

Now that was a great how to play video. Breaking the game down to its core movement and fighting mechanic really helped me understand the game.

[@IvBeM]

This is a great video, and a very good way to show the basic loop every turn between two armies. It's the best time ever to learn 40K, as 9th edition is the best balanced edition yet, pretty much every race can be made into a dangerous army! If you worry about how the Necrons fared in this fight, keep in mind the host, for the sake of brevity, didn't mention a major rule the Necrons have in their favor: every time they lose any models, they repair themselves (a rule called Reanimator protocol). Basic necron warriors in particular are amazing at it: they succeed on a 5+ roll and reroll all 1s. A nearly 50% chance of reviving each model! The fight would have been much fairer in reality.

[@thedman623]

We made a canvas with grass print on it. Canvas is 1x1 meters. We then made a grid on the canvas so its 30x30 squares. Each unit needs to be in its own square. You can move in any direction you want and dices determino for how much squares. We then put plastic toy rocks and other models on the field and we can use that as a cover. We use a small laser to determine if we have a line of sight for shooting if its not sure. Melee stays the same. We changed some rules but we got rid of the tape measure.

[@squallgoku777]

Good, typical video of NaTGT - short, punchy and to the point, keeps you interested. I am not so much a fan of the newer live battle reports though of late. And really cool shirt Adam.

[@NightsattheGameTable]

Thank you! We’ve had to get creative with battle reports thanks to Covid. We’re fine tuning it more and more.

[@theBluCanary]

That really helped man thanks for teaching in /10/ minutes I just got Warhammer and it’s really fun! I just played with my brother and he liked it he said,” necron warriors are good because of there sweet guns and equipment.

[@bionicwizard]

So what I've learned from this so far is that whoever goes first gets a huge advantage

[@idkanymore9330]

Finally a video that actually explains in an easy to understand way. Thanks for this. I tried watching the official Warhammer videos and other tutorials but this is the first time where it's actually being explained in a way I can follow

[@tabletoptales2511]

That was great, highly informative if a bit too fast-paced, but I clicked on it because it was short so that kinda comes with the territory. I actually feel like I can play basic 40k right now. Thanks!

[@TopLevelJiuJitsu]

In the middle of building a Sister's squad at the moment. This is a great intro to the basic phases. Thank you

[@SgtOddballz]

great job... a vet here and most battle reports etc put me to sleep or i use them for background while hobby time... yours kept my attention.

[@DarknessLight77]

My only question after watching this is once a number of wounds are determined, who decides how they are distributed between the models? The attacker or defender?

[@ScottTheBot07]

That’s an absolutely awesome vid. Well done. Super useful

[@GalacticFrontlineNews]

Hey man thanks for this breakdown. Have been a bit overwhelmed considering jumping into the 40k tabletop game but this broke it down so well! Thank you so much!

[@Bex.o.o]

Thank you :) i collecyed but nevrr played as a teen, now my niece just started collecting and wants to play and is expecting me to play too, I found this video really helpful in understanding the basics of the gameplay.

[@knightofrock1908]

This is really good! Way easier to convince the boys to play with this now, it's so daunting when how to play vids are like 40 mins long

[@wilks2006]

A great breakdown of initial play. I am painting the command edition with my kids and will use this video again as tutorial for when we play.

[@maudjito]

I really like this system of starting with many dices then taking off the failures after many throws until you end up with the number of hits.

[@hvn7erx]

Bro thank you!! For a returning player this all has been helpful on refreshing and if I was new to start. Thanks man!!

[@roninomalley1766]

Poor James, the dice really did hate him :(

[@Phatcaulk69]

Excellent and well done. The short length makes it easier to understand how to play on baby wheel rules when I start to get into this

[@ProfaneEquinox]

definietly a good refresher for someone who hasnt played in a while! cheers

[@LukeE94]

You made him shoot the bolt pistols at the necrons first but gave him the AP advantage of the plasma pistol... either way glad this video has taught me to notice things like that for myself 😁

[@forrestlanaux5785]

I’ve been afraid to get into this but I have to admit this eased my worries quite a bit. Thank you!

[@FentonSteele]

I finally understand WH40k. Always thought it was some needlessly complex RTS game and I couldn't figure out how that would translate to dice rolls. Video really made everything click into place. Now I want to play it.

[@wittshannon12]

I’m new to Warhammer. This is a great video to understand how the game is played on the board. Thank you for sharing. Still have a lot to learn.

[@vashlex]

Really cool to watch, for beginners like me thst is. First start is always a bit hard since you have to learn all those tiny rules. But with this video it all makes more sense. Thanks!

[@ObtuseGoose2]

This so so easy when you use the book as guide as you demonstrated, idk why I was so intimidated by this it’s so fucking cool

[@paulh3892]

Thanks for the tutorial!! You made a very complex set of rules digestible enough to become one of my new favorite hobbies 😊

[@Chipnuts]

Thank you! As someone who hasn't played a game in over 20 years I needed this as a refresher!

[@RoschuhLP]

Holy fucking shit. this is exactly what i wanted. a speed run in explanation. I love it. thank you very very much m8

[@Dubauabud]

As someone who's thinking about getting into 40K this video was really helpful! I honestly felt a little scared with all the rules, but this makes it seem really simple and is easily digestible for a noobie like me, thank you!

[@SCM-DARSHANDASHRATHPADVEKAR]

I can watch your videos for hours man They are much easier to understand

[@MrEScience]

I just started painting minis only to have something to look at on the table during D&D games, even though we rarely use maps outside of complicated battles in our games. The amazing clerk at my LGS asked how my army was going since I'm always in that section now buying paint and such. Every other video teaching us to play warhammer is 45 minutes or longer. You explained it so perfectly fun and cecinct, and I F-ing love it. Risk is my absolute favorite board game to play, and now I think I need to start buying these ridiculously expensive models and go to game nights at the LGS...

[@justafurrywithinternet317]

I mean, you could like, make them out of clay or maybe even play-dough. Way cheaper that way.

[@dks6515]

Amazing video, very easy to understand for someone like me who i just getting in to the game. Thank you!

[@roberthart6434]

Good video. Getting back in haven't played 5th edition. My son is joining me as well! Super excited!

[@davidabonyi4556]

Now I understand how those fancy keywords work together. Thank you so much!

[@fugazi32]

Nice demo video! I'm getting bk into the hobby with my daughter after I took a 20+ year hiatus. The Horus Heresy books got me bk into it, now bought the Recruit box and core book and couple of codexes and miniatures. I've been painting by 2nd edition Orks and Gretchins, and my daughter is collecting Sisters of Battle.

[@SlippinPesty]

11:04 the sky does minecraft intro music in the backround really takes me back

[@Tarbashh]

Thank you for this. I'm looking to build my first army soon, and it's... daunting, to say the least lol. You've made an excellent jump off point for gameplay here!

[@grantmccoy6739]

Let me start out by saying, great video. Really concise and easy to understand demonstration of the state of gameplay. Rules critique: I feel like the "saving throw" is redundant, and doesn't really make sense. If you roll to hit, then roll to wound, why roll for armor saves? Also, should the defender should be able to allocate wounds? It's like magic the gathering, with the defender being able to determine who takes the damage. It makes combat more interactive, at the cost of taking some initiative away from the player. The result would be all 5 SM's alive, but 4 of them wounded. It makes more sense, because it allows the player to shoot back more effectively.

[@justafurrywithinternet317]

I feel like on a bigger scale it would be harder to track ig.

[@davidsteele7823]

This video is a brilliant concept. I'd absolutely love it to be expanded to other "ten minute" games, covering Scythe, Pandemic, Munchkin, Catan, etc.

[@corruptgunslinger]

Nice and concise. The Recruit box arrives tomorrow. This helps a lot. Now I have it. With this setup you're using: 10 Nec x 5 SpM : Can the Necrons even win against this squad? Seems like unless the marines roll all ones, the shooting and swords will annihilate nearly all Necrons on the first turn.

[@SuperFatPuppy]

absolutely great vid! I've never played WH before but this might be the clearest tutorial i've seen yet!

[@cubancavalier3051]

I haven’t gotten into mini painting or playing but this is all so interesting! Great video as someone who had literally no frame of reference this was very easy to follow!

[@ryansroad22]

Loved this video! great quick rundown guys, being honest I’m trying to figure out everything to play the game for myself, and also so I can make my own content on my own channel about how to play 😅🙌🙌🙌🙌

[@rextek5421]

This looks like so much fun. I def need to convince a friend of mine that we give this a try

[@Powaup]

Cool video I used to play back in the early 2000s but haven’t since despite keeping up with the lore. Always tempted to jump back in

[@fernandozavaletabustos205]

You guys deserve a lot more subs and views!!

[@mateodemicheli2420]

This is by far the funniest and the easiest tutorials of how to play warhammer, totally awesome and thanks to you for making this video so noob-friendly :D

[@TheJDough1]

I've never played Warhammer, or know anyone who does, but your video was awesome! I'm probably going to go buy a starter set because of it. Well done.

[@goreobsessed2308]

My cousin bought me this box gonna be fun actually being able to play the game..... poor James that's how my rolling tends to work

[@zakkwylde951]

What a gloriously nice video! Thanks for that. I just bought my starter set and I can't wait to paint my little guys and to expand them and then do a fight like these. :)

[@warp9988]

This is the clearest explanation I have seen.

[@zerocoolaow5122]

This video made me a subscriber. Keep up the great work gentlemen

[@Angel-zp8tf]

I had been watching video how to play and you explained better just actually playing 10min 😂 I’m jumping back to 40k used yo play when I was 16 now I’m 33 just bought the command edition 🔥I used to had the Chaos Space Marine

[@DoomsayerDesigns]

Well, I started watching this video not knowing how to play Warhammer, but I ended the video with all the knowledge I needed to eliminate some Xenos scum. Thank you so much for the very informative and very short "Hot to play" video! Subbed!

[@godzillarolls1613]

This was the best, short, breakdown I have seen yet! Can't wait to start playing now that I know how! 😁

[@r.l.steinfeld1448]

Watching this video as a refresher for the game and I gotta say, you are a sincerely talented teacher! Perfect video for a quick overview on the core systems. I feel like I'd be a pro at the game if all WH content was as succinct and efficient as this 😂

Great video. I wanted to know what to expect from Warhammer 40k, what the gameplay is like but not get too far into it. This video achieves just that in just 10 minutes. Amazing :)

[@raywaltdecuba5699]

Finnaly thank you! You cleared a lot of confusion out of the way playing straight out of the rule book. i finally have a clear idea how the game works and is moving on into buying the Indomitus commander box along with kill team. I will try to use factions of both games to play both games. Thank you sir

[@damonboyle2747]

Was given around £300 worth of warhammer 40k stuff by a grateful customer who works at GW Nottingham. I've now gone down the rabbit hole with my eldest son and just trying to learn to play. Great tutorial that.

[@sarenswiftfoot9811]

This is the first time it's made any sense so thank you!

[@isisnmagic1812]

Thanks for the video, I started painting the figures as a side hobby to my plane kits, now I have space marines , necrons, cadine marines and gretchen figures. You've made me want to play the game now, thanks lol

[@pupsicle5345]

Thanks for this, i had bwen interested in the game and this breakdown is great, i feel one would benefit making flasg cards of your favorite units or builds

[@MeatloafAnderson]

This was great, thanks. I played when I was a kid and looking to get back in.

[@heckinmemes6430]

Nice video! Good coverage of the basics to get people ready to krump some eadz.

[@NightsattheGameTable]

Heckin Memes thank you! That was the whole idea :)

[@Artvuka]

Wow! I did not know Warhammer 40 000 was such a vast universe! I'm more of a gamer so I'll try out the video games first but this was such an Amazing and informative watch!

[@jasonmileham]

Hi there, I noticed that you have painted your SM green, can we paint them any color that we wish? Not too keen on the Blue! Not played yet, hope to get a starter box soon :)

[@anguskoinberg6034]

Yes. You are paying for YOUR plastic little soldiers. The only person that dictates what they should look like is YOU. While they are 'meant' to look a certain way because of the lore nothing stops you from painting them any other color if that is what you prefer. Especially with Space Marines you will also find that there are a lot of different chapters(all allied to eachother so you can think of them as allied countries if you'd like) who all use a different color scheme. As long as you don't paint anything offensive on them it should never be a problem.

[@D3vious113]

This was lovely, very fast but concise and everything I needed to hear to get on the ground level. Thanks very much and well done. I'm just starting on a virtual set with some friends o7 gonna run me a Carcharodon army and see what kind of turbo stabbing I can get up to. Here's hoping that in ten years I'll have a physical army and people to play with!

[@brentongibbons2814]

Thanks so much, this was a great explanation. I'm new to playing and this helped a lot

[@Kitty_pAinting]

Perfect way to explain everything. Its not for me tho, I already think monopoly is too long lol but this is still cool I like it

[@krazykizza4437]

Great video! Love the enthusiasm, I am new to this game. Never used to play properly back when I was a kid, it always seemed so confusing and complicated. This has really helped!

[@Lucanoptek]

Wow i actually learned something, great video !

[@dorgoron]

Wow! Thank you. I never dared to play before, but after seeing this, I might give it a go.

[@Langey_Fitness]

This was fun to watch I got engrossed and felt I was at a game shop. Very good video!

[@bkoehler23]

It was cause of this video I got back into 40k

[@MACAshuGf]

I have about 30 space marines in my army thanks for teaching me how to play properly now I can play with my friends❤

[@simonrief1013]

Most pleasant tutorial I've ever seen 😁

[@larmustheghost]

This was incredibly well explained, fair play

[@kaizerreziak8297]

Great video. love how easy you made it look and understand :) Thank you for this.