Now that 9th Edition is well and truly here, it was time to update this Astra Militarum Getting Started Series for Astra Militarum 9th Edition. This will be your one-stop shop for everything Astra Militarum related to 9th Edition Warhammer 40,000. It will cover a lot of topics in-depth to give you a good understanding of the Warhammer 40,000 hobby in relation to the fantastic forces of the Astra Militarum (Imperial Guard).

The series will start off geared towards players new to Warhammer 40K and new to the Astra Militarum. There is an Astra Militarum Glossary to accompany this series.

Astra Militarum 9th Edition Introduction

The scale of Warhammer 40,000 and all it has to offer is massive. From the available armies, regiments in those armies, the three ways to play and all the rules that govern how the game actually plays. Not to mention the 100s of books that contain numerous stories and acts of heroism. It’s massive.

When I say Astra Militarum 9th Edition I am referring to the current set of rules for Warhammer 40K. Which is currently in its 9th edition, they were just released on July 25th 2020.

Any rules, forum posts or blog articles you might find related to the 8th, 7th, 6th edition, etc won’t be relevant to the current version of the rules. They will only confuse you!

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To understand where you need to start your hobby you’ll need a little bit of context of how games are put together. Once you know that you can start to think about how you want to play and plan your first purchase.

This series aims to help you on your journey with the Astra Militarum and beyond.

If you have already taken the plunge in a Games Workshop store and bought a model and some paints – do not worry! Anything you bought is valid and can be used in a game. Worrying about if you made the right decision or a good decision is not worth the hassle. Get stuck in and enjoy your first model!

Astra Militarum 9th Edition Getting Started Summary

I have split this series up into several parts. This is for my sanity and yours. It also means each can focus on a specific topic.

Index of Getting Started Articles

• Part 1 – Introduction
• Part 2 – Summary of Astra Militarum Products
• Part 3 – Ways to Play 40K
• Part 4 – Ways to Play Astra Militarum
• Part 5 – Where to Play 40K
• Part 6 – First Purchase
• Part 7 – Playing your First Games
• Part 8 – Improving
• Part 9 – Astra Militarum Tips
• Part 10 – Painting Imperial Guard
• Part 11 – Start Collecting Box Breakdown
• Part 12 – Modelling Astra Militarum Special Weapons
• Part 13 – Astra Militarum Tactics Reset

For the New Players

If you are familiar with Warhammer 40,000 already you may find it useful to skip some parts.

I am starting out at the level of someone who is completely new to 40K. So apologies if you have an army already, you know 40K and you are wanting to be thrown in at the deep end. But we need to cater to the new players too – because there are new players to Warhammer 40K and that is a great thing!

Final Note

There is no wrong way to start Astra Militarum in 9th Edition and there is no right way.

Everyone’s journey into the 40K hobby is different. I bought a lot of infantry from eBay when I started. A lot still remains unpainted and unused.

That doesn’t mean I started incorrectly or I’m a moron. It just means I wasn’t equipped with the knowledge I have now to make better decisions back then. I regret nothing. It was the right decision at the time.

An excellent point to remember about this hobby, and this isn’t specific to Astra Militarum 9th Edition, is that if you buy 150 Guardsmen off eBay today. In five years time, they’ll still be 150 Guardsmen.

Compare that with, say, video games. Buy Call of Duty Covert Modern Ops Warfare 3 today for £50, in five years it’ll be worthless. Actually, in five weeks it’ll probably be worthless.

I say this with confidence, because this blog, as of Jan 2021 is over 7 years old!

Warhammer 40K is a long-term hobby. You can’t enter the hobby in January, buy, build and paint an army and then win a tournament in June. It takes time to build up a force and know how to play it well. And even then you don’t know how the other 12 or so other armies play at all. So you won’t know their weaknesses and strengths.

Easy to pick up, hard to master.

But don’t be discouraged! The journey is fun, it’s damn fun. 

And this is the start…

Get in touch

If you want something else covered in this Astra Militarum 9th Edition Getting Started series, have a question or just want to say hello then please do. You can do so via the comments below, Facebook, Instagram,Twitter, Reddit or email me at trooper@ the domain of this blog.

Finally, you can subscribe to get an email notification as soon as a new article is published.

Read Part 2 – Astra Militarum Products

Index of Getting Started Articles

• Part 1 – Introduction
• Part 2 – Summary of Astra Militarum Products
• Part 3 – Ways to Play 40K
• Part 4 – Ways to Play Astra Militarum
• Part 5 – Where to Play 40K
• Part 6 – First Purchase
• Part 7 – Playing your First Games
• Part 8 – Improving
• Part 9 – Astra Militarum Tips
• Part 10 – Painting Imperial Guard
• Part 11 – Start Collecting Box Breakdown
• Part 12 – Modelling Astra Militarum Special Weapons
• Part 13 – Astra Militarum Tactics Reset