Beginner's 40k
Guide contents (2 of 10)
  1. What you need before you start
  2. Building a legal list
  3. How to read a datasheet
  4. Setup: terrain, missions, deployment
  5. The battle round and every phase
  6. Resolving an attack
  7. Scoring and winning
  8. Ten mistakes new players make
  9. What to do after game one
  10. Glossary

Building a legal list

"Legal" just means your army fits the points budget and any per-unit or per-detachment limits for the size of game you've agreed to play.

Points levels

Games Workshop publishes three official army sizes: Incursion (1,000 points), Strike Force (2,000 points), and Onslaught (3,000 points). 500 and 1,500 points are common things to see played, but they are not official sizes — there's no published Detachment Point budget, board size, or mission set for them from Games Workshop. Treat them as "whatever you and your opponent agree", not as having the same official backing as 1,000 or 2,000.

[VERIFY] The specific numbers in the table below for Detachment Points, enhancement limits, board size, and game length haven't been confirmed yet — that detail lives in the Munitorum Field Manual, which publishes it per faction rather than as a single fixed table, and this site hasn't read it in full. Figures marked "reported" come from community coverage of the 11th Edition launch, not from Games Workshop's own documents directly — treat them as a starting point to check, not as settled. Battle round count is confirmed from the Core Rules: a battle usually lasts five, regardless of points level, but your mission has the final say.

Points levels compared
Points Status Detachment Points Enhancements Board size Battle rounds Expected length
500 Convention VERIFY No official budget exists at this size. A common approach is to agree a smaller Detachment Point budget with your opponent before you start.
1,000 Official — Incursion Official VERIFY reported: 2 DP VERIFY VERIFY reported: 44"×60" Usually 5 (your mission has the final say) VERIFY
1,500 Convention VERIFY No official budget exists at this size. Many players simply split the difference between the 1,000 and 2,000pt figures once those are confirmed.
2,000 Official — Strike Force Official VERIFY reported: 3 DP VERIFY VERIFY reported: 44"×60" Usually 5 (your mission has the final say) VERIFY

Play your first real game at 1,000 points (Incursion) rather than 500 or 2,000. It's small enough that a first game finishes in a reasonable evening while you're both still checking rules, but it's an official size — so the mission set, the app's army builder, and most new-player content you'll find elsewhere all assume you're playing at a size Games Workshop actually supports. Starting at an unofficial size like 500 points means you're learning the game and inventing house rules for the gaps at the same time, which is a lot to do at once.

Detachment Points and how detachments combine

11th Edition uses a Detachment Points budget rather than "pick exactly one detachment rule for your whole army": each detachment you take costs some of that budget depending on how narrow or powerful it is, and you can combine more than one within the same list as long as you stay under the budget for your points level.

[VERIFY] The exact cost of each detachment type, and the Detachment Point budget at each points level, need confirming against the Munitorum Field Manual, which now publishes this per faction rather than as a single fixed table.

Where to get current points and detachment rules