They are enough Warhammer 40,000 books out in the world that you could easily fill a library. Mostly though, these are works of fiction or rulebooks, things that either whet your appetite for the game or tell you how to play it. Useful guides such as The Ultimate Guide or Character Encyclopedia aren’t that common and sometimes what you want is a good old fashioned beginners book that doesn’t worry too much about the rules and gives you a good overview; a book that does the job of the whole library.

It’s always nice when we get a book from GW in the post, so we were delighted when the Combat Patrol Companion turned up on our review desk. It’s exactly the starter book we were looking for; a large form paperback book that you can flip through during those quiet moments in order to get an good idea of what you want to do with all those plastic models you either own or are intending to own.

Combat Patrol is also the name of the starter boxes for each of Warhammer 40,000’s army sets. The idea here is that you pick up the book, read about the various factions (there are a lot) and then look to pick up another box of toy soldiers. (Really cool toy soldiers though.)

The writing is solid, detailed, and the book is crammed with pictures and art that will help you get an idea of what this very British but loved internationally game is all about. It also features a battle report, which is essentially a very flowery example of play. These are a bit of a fine art in Warhammer circles, and this book does it very well. It’s easy to read, concise and fun.

We get a nice overview of ‘recent events’ in the current storyline, as well as some useful setting material. The photos of painted models and the artwork are mostly the point here, though; it’s intended to be a guide for what to do with your lovely box of Warhammer toys, in case you’re not sure what to do next.

It’s not a must-have for old players (though it’s nice to have), but it is a good thing to pick up for that potential new 40k fan in your life.