Wich game to buy as a total new player

[Degekstuh87]

Hey community,

Im looking for a game to dump hours in. I have read about these types of games and honestly, it scares me abit. These games are extremely in depth and would be so difficult to get into. I have noticed that there are ALOT of total warhammer games, each with their own DLC's and whatnot. Im currently trying to play crusader kings 3. But I cant seem to get into it.

Can you as a community help me a bit further?

Thank you in advance :)

[Jade Vølken]

Dawn of war

[Upright]

Dawn of War 1 is the best Warhammer game by far. One the the best games ever made probably.

Im not sure about the campaign though. Really depends on whether or not you like RTS games, i know i dont.

[Pyromaiden]

Dawn of War, easily. The first one is really good and Winter Assault was also great but DoW really peaked with Dark Crusade. Soulstorm was more of a downgrade, sadly.

These are all standalone DLCs so I recommend just the basic Dawn of War. Great strategy game and great 40k game.

[astgdzfgdsg]

Really depends on what your taste in games is. If you don't like RTS games then you probably wont get on with Dawn of War for example.

If you are interested in action shooters like Space Marine 2 then I would play Space Marine 1, Boltgun, and Darktide. They are by far the best for that.

[Grimerek]

For 40k, I raccomend both the Dawn of War series, the first Space Marine, or if you like horde games, try Darktide. For Fantasy, both Vermintide 2 (similiar to Darktide, just set in Warhammer Fantasy) and Total War Warhammer 3. For Age of Sigmar, there are no big games yet, but the development of a PvE MMORPG was announced a while ago, but no new announcements have been made since then, it is assumed that the game is still in the early stages. From how it has been described, it should be something similar to Final Fantasy XIV, therefore more story driven, but we will see more when there is new news.

[Tyr_One_Operator]

Originally posted by Degekstuh87:

Can you as a community help me a bit further?

It really depends on the type of game you like.

As others have mentioned Dawn of War is a great game. It focuses more on large scale encounters. However, it is showing its age.

Dawn of War 2 is a bit more 'intimate' with a tactical squad. So if the DoW1 RTS thing isn't your style - this is a bit less daunting.

An overlooked gem is Battlesector. It is a turn based strategy game - with a great campaign and story.

If that style of game doesn't float your goat - Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters is legit a lot of fun if you like XCom type games. You get to level your characters and it's pretty fun. It can get a bit repetitive, but never grew old for me.

For horde shooters - Darktide is pretty legit. Started out pretty rough, but is arguably one of the better options out there now. Great graphics and it's just fun to rofl-stomp some chaos filth.

Then for old-school Doom-style FPS - give Boltgun a try. It's silly fun.

Finally, you have Space Marine 1. Give it a shot. It's not too long and it'll prep you for Space Marine 2.

A lot of people love Mechanicus - and it's a solid game - but I think it's overly praised. If you enjoy Warhammer - then it's something to waste some time on. Otherwise, I think it would have gone without much notice.

[Captain Vredesbooty]

Big +1 for Dark Crusade. I was really sad they never expanded on the format and made more games like Dark Crusade. Still install it and give it a playthrough every couple of years. A few things haven't aged well but the game still scratches an itch for me.

The first Space Marine is still worth a play, especially if you set it to easy and just revel in being a superhuman.

If you happen to have GamePass you have no reason not to give Darktide a go. It is basically Vermintide with guns and a lot earlier in the content cycle.

If you like Roguelike games Mechanicus is decent - I generally hate Rogues but I managed to look past that with Mechanicus for the most part. The difficulty scaling is frustrating for me, but ymmv.


You should be able to get all but Darktide for next to nothing these days from Steam sales and CDKeys.

[RasaNova]

Originally posted by Jade Vølken:

Dawn of war

Winning answer, as far as I'm concerned. Especially the standalone expansion Dark Crusade. which not only is a better game imo but also holds up a little better today.

[Silhouette]

I highly recommend the First Space Marine for singleplayer, and Darktide for co-op multiplayer.

The co-op in Space Marine is great as well, but it can be difficult finding lobbies with the game’s low population.

Dawn of War’s great, but it’s a completely different type of game (Base/Army Building RTS).

[~ Fabulous ~]

Warhammer 40k Gladius

[Eidrog]

+1 Space Marine (one) and Darktide. They're good introductions into the 40k universe.

Dawn of war 1 is good. . . but the graphics are pretty hurting nowadays. If you can look past that though, the Dawn of War series is great, as are the expansions.

Dawn of War 2 Retribution is probably, hands down, my favourite 40k game. The depiction of the Orcs and Imperium is fantastic.

Dawn of War 3 is worth a skip, unfortunately.