Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000 Factions
Four launch races, two lore sub-factions each, and a custom warlord for the first time in Total War.
Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000 launches with four playable races under a Games Workshop licence: Space Marines, Astra Militarum, Orks, and Aeldari. Creative Assembly and SEGA announced the game at The Game Awards on 11 December 2025, with David Harbour appearing in a mysterious role, and they have been explicit about the roster. This hub is the roster as shown, not a 10th-edition codex dump. If a unit or faction is not named below, we have not invented it.
The four races are radically asymmetric. Each ships with two lore sub-factions at launch plus, for the first time in the series, a custom warlord you can name, paint, and trait. Traitor Guard currently exist as a custom reskin of the Astra Militarum, not as a fifth launch race. Chaos Space Marines are on the long-term plan and are not in the 2027 box. Game director Attila Mohacsi has described a single game that Creative Assembly will expand for years rather than numbered sequels.
Read the getting started guide before you lock a main, then use the faction picker if you only know you like elites, tanks, hordes, or hit-and-run. The early faction tier list is a preview read, labelled as such. Skeleton lists live under Builds. The campaign hub explains why your race also changes how you wage war between the stars.
Space Marines
Space Marines are the elite few. Hands-on footage and the Alpha Strike streams show small Strike Forces in power armour: Razorbacks, Dreadnoughts, Librarians, and Terminators rather than a human tide. Their campaign posture is orbital. You upgrade the fleet in the void, then drop a precision force onto a planet instead of industrialising the dirt. Ultramarines are the confirmed lore chapter; Creative Assembly has said a second chapter ships at launch without naming it in the same breath as Ultramarines.
Gamescom 2026 showed a four-unit Strike Force hunting a crashed ship while an Ork host fielded far more bodies. That is the teaching beat: elites do not auto-win. You win by refusing bad melee, using cover, and spending army-level tools such as orbital assets at the moment the enemy blobs. If you want few models and high power, start here.
Astra Militarum
Astra Militarum is the Imperial gunline. Confirmed tools include Cadian Shock Troops, Kasrkin, Ogryns, Commissars, Sentinels, Leman Russ and Rogal Dorn tanks, and the Baneblade. Cadians are the confirmed lore sub-faction. Commissar Yarrick is the Guard face of the Armageddon story, set against Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka on the road to Armageddon in the Era Indomitus.
Guard battles shown so far are about overlapping fields of fire, sentry mode, mixed models inside a single unit card, and tanks that can strafe and reverse while firing. If you want to hold a river crossing against a green tide, this is the race Creative Assembly has demonstrated most clearly after Space Marines. It is also the list that most rewards learning cover before you learn a lord.
Orks
Orks are the mob. Confirmed kits include Meganobz, Deff Dreads, and the Stompa, plus the WAAAGH! as a faction identity rather than a flavour line. Bad Moons are the confirmed lore clan. Where Space Marines upgrade in orbit, Orks industrialise the planets they take. That contrast is one of the few campaign economy facts Creative Assembly has put on stage.
Ghazghkull is the Ork face of the Armageddon narrative. The same Gamescom and Alpha Strike battles that teach Guard gunlines also teach why an Ork blob that arrives as one clump dies to bombardment, and why a WAAAGH! that reaches cover-to-cover still overruns a poorly placed Leman Russ. Play them if you want numbers, walkers, and a ground-up war economy.
Aeldari
Aeldari have had the least screen time of the four. What Creative Assembly has said, not what a Craftworlds codex implies: they are swift, psychic, and armed with elegant weapons, built to strike and vanish. We will not invent Aspect Warriors, named Craftworlds, or wraith constructs that have not appeared in Total War footage. Treat them as a fourth asymmetric race, not as High Elves with shuriken, and wait for more Alpha Strike or closed-beta footage before you copy a list.
That honesty is the point of this hub. The 2027 release and the closed beta later in 2026 will fill the Aeldari page. Until then, pick them because you want speed and psychic precision, not because a YouTuber already has a ranked Craftworld.
Custom warlords, Traitor Guard, and what is not at launch
Customisation is a launch pillar. Every race gets a custom warlord. Army colours, heraldry, traits, and mixed wargear have been shown as more than a paint job. Traitor Guard are a custom reskin of Guard lists, useful if you want a heretic gunline without waiting for Chaos as a full race. Chaos Space Marines are explicitly post-launch.
David Harbour’s role remains mysterious as of the December 2025 announcement. We will not pretend he has been confirmed as Yarrick, Ghazghkull, or a nameless Chapter Master. The setting is the Era Indomitus; the campaign destination CA has named is Armageddon; the engine is new because guns, cover, and a galactic map would not fit the fantasy trilogy’s bones.
How to choose a first race
- Pick Space Marines if you want few models, high power, and a campaign that lives in orbit.
- Pick Astra Militarum if you want gunlines, tanks, and the Yarrick side of Armageddon.
- Pick Orks if you want mobs, walkers, WAAAGH!, and industrialising planets.
- Pick Aeldari if you want speed and psychic precision and can live with less preview information.
Then steal a skeleton from Builds, practise the loop in the getting started guide, and remember this is one game Creative Assembly intends to grow for years. Wishlist it, register for the closed beta, and learn cover before you learn a meta.
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the most common Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000 questions.
Which factions launch with Total War: WARHAMMER 40,000?
Four races: Space Marines, Astra Militarum, Orks, and Aeldari. Each ships with two lore sub-factions plus a custom warlord.
Are Chaos Space Marines playable at launch?
No. Creative Assembly has placed Chaos Space Marines on the long-term plan, not in the 2027 box. Traitor Guard exist as a custom reskin of Astra Militarum, not as a fifth race.
Which sub-factions are confirmed by name?
Ultramarines for Space Marines, Cadians for Astra Militarum, and Bad Moons for Orks. Each race still gets two lore sub-factions; CA has not named every pair in public footage.
How should I pick a first faction?
Use the faction picker if you only know you like elites, tanks, hordes, or hit-and-run. Then read the matching faction page and a skeleton list from Builds.
Will more factions be added after launch?
Director Attila Mohacsi has described a single game expanded for years rather than numbered sequels. Chaos Space Marines are the post-launch race CA has named; nothing else is confirmed.