What Do You Need to Start Warhammer 40,000? (2026)
Thinking about getting into Warhammer 40,000, but feeling a little overwhelmed by everything you think you need?
You aren't alone.
When you first look at Warhammer 40,000, it can seem like you need an army, a rulebook, a Codex, dozens of paints, expensive brushes, special tools, terrain, dice, a gaming table, and years of experience just to understand what you're looking at.
You don't.
In 2026, getting started with Warhammer 40,000 is more accessible than it has ever been.
You can start with a small force, use free rules and apps, learn as you go, and find a community of people who are happy to help.
And perhaps most importantly:
You don't have to know how to play Warhammer before you start playing Warhammer.
Let's break down what you actually need.
The Short Answer: Start Small
If you want the simplest possible answer, here's what we'd recommend:
To start the hobby:
One Combat Patrol
Plastic glue
Clippers
A couple of brushes
A small selection of paints
A place to paint
Free Warhammer 40,000 rules and resources
That's it.
You don't need a 2,000-point army.
You don't need every paint in the Citadel range.
You don't need an airbrush.
You don't need a massive collection of tools.
And you absolutely don't need to understand all of the rules before you buy your first miniature.
In fact, we recommend that you don't try to learn everything at once.
Start With Combat Patrol
If you're brand new to Warhammer 40,000, Combat Patrol is probably the easiest place to begin.
Combat Patrol gives you a small, ready-to-use force belonging to one of the game's factions. The forces are designed to play against one another without requiring you to build a complicated army list or calculate points for every unit.
Games are smaller and faster than a full-sized Warhammer 40,000 game, and the format is specifically designed to make getting onto the table easier.
In 2026, the Warhammer 40,000 app also has full Combat Patrol support, including the rules you need to play. Games Workshop describes Combat Patrol as an ideal way for newcomers to try Warhammer because of its preset armies and low model counts.
That makes Combat Patrol a wonderful first milestone:
Buy one box. Build it. Paint it. Play it.
You can worry about building a larger army later.
What Does a Beginner Actually Need?
Let's separate the hobby into three parts:
Building → Painting → Playing
You can start each one very simply.
1. Building Your Miniatures
Most Warhammer miniatures come on plastic sprues.
You'll need:
Plastic Clippers
These let you remove the pieces from the sprue.
You don't need an enormous professional tool collection. A decent pair of hobby clippers is enough to get started.
Plastic Glue
For most Citadel plastic miniatures, plastic cement is the appropriate choice.
You'll use it to assemble the pieces of your models.
Hobby Knife — Optional
A hobby knife can help clean up small imperfections left from the manufacturing process.
But it isn't something you need to make your first models.
If you're starting with a child, this is also something an adult should handle.
That's really all you need to start building.
2. Painting Your First Army
This is where beginners sometimes get scared.
You look at beautifully painted armies online and think:
"I could never make mine look like that."
Here's the secret:
You don't have to.
Your first miniature isn't supposed to look like someone's 15th army.
You're learning.
And the first time you put paint on a miniature, the goal isn't perfection.
The goal is:
You painted a miniature.
That's an accomplishment.
What do you need?
A beginner painting setup can be surprisingly small:
Primer
A few basic colors
One or two decent brushes
Water
Something to use as a palette
A place where you can sit comfortably and paint
That's enough.
You don't need 30 paints.
You don't need an airbrush.
You don't need special lighting.
You don't need an expensive miniature painting station.
You can add those things later if you discover that painting is the part of the hobby you love.
And if you do?
There's an entire hobby waiting for you.
How Many Paints Do You Really Need?
This is one of the easiest places to accidentally overspend.
Don't buy every color at once.
Start with the colors your army actually needs.
For many armies, that might mean:
A primary armor or clothing color
A secondary color
A dark color
A metallic
A skin color
A wash
A color for details
A base color
That's enough to get surprisingly far.
You can always buy another color when you discover you need it.
In fact, we think there's something fun about building your paint collection alongside your army.
Your hobby grows because you're having fun—not because a checklist told you to buy everything on day one.
3. What Do You Need to Actually Play?
Here's some good news:
Much of the information you need to learn Warhammer 40,000 is available for free.
The 2026 edition has free Core Rules available from Games Workshop, and the Warhammer 40,000 app has been updated for the new edition. The app provides the Core Rules and additional tools for playing, while Combat Patrol rules are available without requiring a Codex or subscription.
That means your phone or tablet can do a lot of the heavy lifting.
You'll want:
Your miniatures
Dice
A measuring tool
The appropriate rules
A playing surface
Terrain
Another player
But here's another secret:
You don't necessarily need to own all of those things.
You Don't Need a Gaming Table
A kitchen table works.
A dining room table works.
A folding table works.
A piece of plywood works.
The important thing is having a reasonably flat surface large enough for the game you're playing.
Terrain is important because it makes the battlefield interesting, but your first game doesn't require a professionally designed gaming table covered in hundreds of dollars of scenery.
Books, boxes, household objects, cardboard terrain, or inexpensive scenery can all help you create a battlefield.
Eventually, you might fall in love with building elaborate gaming tables.
That's awesome.
But that's a hobby expansion, not a requirement for entry.
You Don't Need to Buy the Rulebook First
This surprises a lot of people.
Games Workshop provides the Core Rules digitally, and the Warhammer 40,000 app is designed to help players reference rules and manage their games.
A physical rulebook can be beautiful.
It can be fun to own.
And if you're the sort of person who loves flipping through a giant book full of lore and artwork, you'll probably eventually want one.
But you don't have to buy one before you can decide whether you like the game.
Try the game first.
Then decide what you want to own.
Do You Need a Codex?
Eventually, probably.
Immediately?
Not necessarily.
Your faction's Codex is much more than just a rulebook. It's full of background, artwork, army rules, unit information, and everything that makes your faction feel like your faction.
But if you're starting with Combat Patrol, you can get the rules you need for that format through the Warhammer 40,000 app without buying a Codex or subscription.
That gives you another opportunity to make a smart decision:
Find out which part of the hobby you love before investing further.
Maybe you love playing.
Maybe you love painting.
Maybe you become fascinated by the lore.
Maybe you discover that you absolutely need to own every miniature from your favorite faction.
That's okay too.
What Is the Minimum Buy-In?
This is the question we really want to answer.
Because saying “Warhammer can be expensive” isn't particularly helpful.
Neither is pretending that you can build an entire army for $20.
The realistic answer is:
Your first meaningful investment is a Combat Patrol plus basic hobby supplies.
Depending on the faction and exactly what supplies you already own, a realistic beginner budget is roughly:
$150–$200 to start the hobby comfortably.
That gives you a small playable force and the basic equipment to build and begin painting it.
Could you spend less?
Absolutely.
If someone gives you some supplies, you already have brushes, or you're sharing equipment with a friend, your initial cost can be lower.
Could you spend much more?
Absolutely.
Warhammer can become a deep collecting, modeling, painting, and gaming hobby.
But you don't need to spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars before you get to find out whether you enjoy it.
That's the important part.
The Cheapest Way to Try Warhammer
There's an even better option.
Don't start by buying an army.
Start by finding someone who already plays.
Ask if you can watch a game.
Ask if you can try a game.
Many experienced players have extra miniatures sitting around and are more than happy to introduce somebody to the hobby.
Combat Patrol is particularly well suited to this.
One experienced player can introduce someone new to the game without asking that new player to understand army construction, points, or dozens of different units first.
Games Workshop has also produced free introductory and tutorial material through Warhammer Community and Warhammer Academy.
So if you're curious but hesitant:
Try before you buy.
That's not cheating.
That's smart.
What You Should NOT Buy on Day One
This might be our favorite part of the entire article.
If you're new to Warhammer, please don't let the internet convince you that you need everything immediately.
You don't.
You probably don't need:
❌ An airbrush
❌ 50 different paints
❌ An expensive lighted painting station
❌ A massive terrain collection
❌ A 2,000-point army
❌ Multiple characters
❌ Every supplement
❌ Every tool in the hobby aisle
❌ Three armies
❌ A perfectly optimized competitive army
You need one thing you think is cool.
Start there.
What If I Don't Know Which Army to Choose?
That's actually a great question.
If you're not sure, we recently put together:
The right army isn't necessarily the one with the strongest rules.
It's the army whose:
Models you love
Lore interests you
Painting sounds enjoyable
Playstyle sounds fun
You're going to spend time looking at these miniatures.
Pick something you want to look at.
That's a much better starting point than trying to predict which army will be strongest six months from now.
What If I'm Terrible at Painting?
Welcome to the club.
Seriously.
Nobody starts out good at painting miniatures.
Your first Space Marine might have a little too much paint on his shoulder.
Your first Ork might look like he lost a fight with the brush.
Your first attempt at eyes might make your miniature look permanently surprised.
That's okay.
Paint another one.
Then another.
You'll get better.
And you'll be amazed how quickly a miniature goes from “I have no idea what I'm doing” to “Wait… I made that?”
That's one of the most rewarding parts of the hobby.
What If I Don't Know Anyone Who Plays?
This is where community matters.
One of the hardest parts of starting a hobby isn't learning the rules.
It's walking into a room where everybody else seems to already know one another.
You don't have to do that alone.
At Monkey Llama Games, we'd much rather help you find your first game than watch you stand on the sidelines wondering whether you're ready.
Come talk to us.
Ask questions.
Tell us what models you think look cool.
Tell us what kind of games you enjoy.
We'll help you figure out where to start.
And if you'd rather start online, you can join the Monkey Llama Games Discord and meet people before you ever sit down at the table:
You don't need to already be a Warhammer player to belong there.
Warhammer Is for Everyone
This is probably the most important thing we can tell you.
You don't have to be a competitive player.
You don't have to know the lore.
You don't have to paint beautifully.
You don't have to own a giant army.
You don't have to be young.
You don't have to be old.
You don't have to know all the rules.
You don't have to be good at strategy.
You don't have to walk into your first game knowing anybody.
You just have to be interested.
Warhammer 40,000 is a game, but it's also a painting hobby, a modeling hobby, a storytelling hobby, a collecting hobby, and—perhaps most importantly—a way to spend time with other people.
You might discover that you love painting.
You might discover that you're a tactical genius.
You might become obsessed with the lore.
Or you might just enjoy spending Saturday afternoon rolling dice with some people you wouldn't otherwise have met.
All of those are valid reasons to play.
So, What Do You Actually Need?
If you're standing in the store wondering where to begin, we'd boil it down to this:
To try Warhammer
Find someone who plays and ask for a game.
To start building
Get a Combat Patrol, clippers, and plastic glue.
To start painting
Add primer, a few paints, and a couple of brushes.
To start playing
Use the free rules and resources available through Games Workshop and the Warhammer 40,000 app.
To find people
Come see us, join our Discord, or ask someone in the community for help.
To build a full army
Do that later.
You don't need to buy your entire future hobby today.
Start with one box.
Build one miniature.
Paint one miniature.
Play one game.
Then decide where you want to go next.
That's how most hobbies begin.
And if you're standing there thinking, “I still have no idea what I'm doing,”
that's okay.
Neither did any of us the first time.
Come see us. We'll help you get started.
Welcome to Warhammer.
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