Calling something an ‘Ultimate Guide’ for anything is always a bit of a bold claim. Given that the world of Warhammer 40,000 is at least 10,000 years long and galaxy-wide, calling something Warhammer 40000 The Ultimate Guide is a bold claim.
Luckily for us, DK Books is no stranger to producing big books for big topics. Warhammer 40,000: The Ultimate Guide does exactly what it claims to be on the cover; it’s a big book that covers the world of Warhammer 40,000, detailing as many elements of that fictional world as possible. It is not a book about the game’s designers or the company behind it. Rather, it’s a way for those new to the franchise to find out what the difference is between an Ultramarine and a Blood Angel or what an Ork, Aeldari or Tau is. (Or indeed, why a Chaos Space Marine and Chaos Knight are different things.)
This is a well-produced, heavy, glossy coffee-table, encyclopaedia-style reference book, and it’s a lot more friendly and easy to navigate than a typical Warhammer rulebook. (Those things are full of cool setting material, but they’re also packed with rules, etc.) At 330+ pages, it explains why this bizarre franchise is so popular while allowing casual fans to find out who Abbadon The Despoiler is and why he’s so angry.
Most of the illustrations are full-colour photographs of beautifully painted models, working very much as a visual reference as well as inspiration for painting models. Every chance to show some of the most recent, nicest pieces you can get from Games Workshop is on display here, making the whole thing very pretty. It’s comprehensive and well considered, and very easy to navigate.
The voice throughout this guidebook is friendly and accessible. Co-author Guy Hayley is a former editor for Games Workshop’s magazine White Dwarf and has a library of Warhammer-related books with his name on it. The other co-author, Gav Thorpe, is so ubiquitous within Warhammer circles that there is a drinking game associated with his name.
Given the size of the Warhammer 40,000 franchise, this feels like a near-essential tool to navigate Games Workshop’s famous grim, dark future. There are so many books, video games, toys, animated shorts. We can see this easily becoming a ‘working manual’ of sorts for anyone looking to tell their own stories in the world of Warhammer 40,000, be they casual hobbyists or dedicated game designers. If you’re going to own one Warhammer 40,000 book, then it needs to be Dan Abnett’s Legion, but if you’re going to own two, then you should also get Warhammer 40,000: The Ultimate Guide.
