Best Non-Warhammer Games For Warhammer Fans

Warhammer has captured imaginations everywhere since the 1980s. Boasting not one but two universes, Warhammer Fantasy/Age Of Sigmar, and the ever-popular Warhammer 40,000. Both universes boast a near-endless library of video games. From strategy titles such as Battlesector and Total War: Warhammer to action titles such as Vermintide and the incredibly successful Space Marine 2.

Related

Warhammer 40K: The 15 Most Expensive Miniatures You Can Buy

Warhammer 40K isn’t a cheap hobby, but these incredible figures take that to a new, expensive height.

But what about games for those dedicated Warhammer fans who have somehow powered through all the thousands of hours of gaming content set in both franchises? Or those who want more games with a similar feel or tone? Those Warhammer fanatics need to look no further.

10

Battlefield 1

Mud, Blood, and Iron.

Ever wanted to be an Imperial Guardsman? Of course not. But if any game really captures the inspiration for The Imperium’s unnumbered hordes, it’s Battlefield 1.

Related

Warhammer 40K: Strongest Space Marine Chapters

Warhammer 40K has featured a number of space marine chapters, but among them, which are the most powerful?

Set in the horror of World War One, Battlefield 1 might not be historically accurate, but it is authentic to the time period. Tanks and planes zoom overhead as two teams of thirty-two players duke it out with an arsenal of guns. Should a team start to lose too badly they’re reinforced with colossal vehicles such as zeppelins or armored trains. Coupled with a dirty, desaturated color palette that looks like the inspiration for every grimdark painting tutorial on YouTube and the option to completely lay waste to the landscape. It makes the perfect multiplayer romp for any Warhammer fan.

9

Doom

The Ultimate Power Fantasy

While Warhammer’s game library is expansive and covers an array of factions, we’ve yet to get a game that allows players to take up the role of a Primarch. The genetic templates for Space Marine implants. Each of the twenty Primarchs are, or were, demigods of war, able to lay waste to entire armies single-handedly.

Doom’s Doomguy, is probably the closest players can get to the extreme power fantasy of playing a Primarch. The brutal close-quarters fighting, feeling like a whirlwind of destruction, and the narrative of being the only thing between mankind and utter obliteration. Doom and Doom Eternal really capture the spirit of how loyalist Primarchs are depicted in the lore. And with the upcoming Doom: The Dark Ages now would be a great time for any Warhammer fan to try Doom.

8

Stellaris

Start A Great Crusade

Should Warhammer fans be in the mood to start off their own “Black Crusade” or “WAAAGH”, they’ll find Stellaris a blast. Providing players with an opportunity to create their own alien civilization and conquer or befriend the galaxy. The game even has flags and cultural traits referencing Warhammer 40,000.

Using the game’s civics, ethics, and governments, you can really just copy the culture and style of any faction from the Grimdark Future. The galaxy-consuming Tyranids are playable using the hive-mind government. Want the Mechanicus? Materialist ethics, oligarchy government—players really can recreate any faction, or make their own Warhammer-inspired empire to wage war upon the galaxy. Players can take their factions to combat other futuristic threats that’d be right at home in the grimdark future—be they automated warships, ancient empires fallen from power, or galaxy-ending threats.

7

Helldivers 2

Satirical Space Warfare

Your changes have been saved

My List

My Favorite Games
My Played Games
My Games Wishlist

Helldivers 2

Systems

Released

February 8, 2024

Developer(s)

Arrowhead Game Studios

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

Warhammer is intended as satire. So over the top that nobody takes it entirely seriously. Helldivers 2 leans heavily into its own parody of militarism and authoritarianism. While this parody is more openly humorous, it isn’t lacking in excessive action or fun sci-fi tropes.

The enemies of Helldivers 2 all feel straight out of Warhammer. The Terminids are similar to the Tyranids both visually and during gameplay. The Illuminate are an eldritch army of highly advanced aliens similar to the Aeldari and Necrons. The Automatons have several visual parallels to Chaos, such as spiked armor on certain units and leaving corpses as decoration. The game even features a weapon inspired by the iconic bolter used by Space Marines.

6

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

Zealots, Supersoldiers, And Eldritch Horrors

Systems

Released

November 11, 2014

Evil alien empires? Check. Lovecraftian horrors ready to tear the galaxy asunder? Check. Super soldiers the only thing between mankind and extinction? Check. Halo: The Master Chief Collection has it all.

Related

Henry Cavill’s Warhammer 40K TV Show Moves Forward at Amazon

Amazon has provided an update on the long-gestating Warhammer 40,000 adaptation starring Henry Cavill.

While tonally different from the Warhammer franchise. Halo’s magnificent megastructures and spacefaring theocracies will make fans feel right at home. The original trilogy takes place in what appears to be the waning days of mankind, hunted to extinction by the zealous alien empire known as the Covenant. Players take the role of a super soldier, and occasionally an alien, tasked with stopping the invading hordes who are mistakenly trying to activate colossal ancient super weapons. Warhammer fans can expect constant action, massive crazy set-pieces, and a collection that is still active to this day.

5

Tabletop Simulator

A Virtual Tabletop

Your changes have been saved

My List

My Favorite Games
My Played Games
My Games Wishlist

Tabletop Simulator

Systems

Released

April 18, 2014

ESRB

e

Tabletop Simulator is probably no stranger to any Warhammer fan with a Steam account. A framework designed to be modded, Tabletop Simulator is able to recreate any tabletop game you can think of and then play it remotely through online multiplayer or Steam’s remote play together.

For those getting into the hobby, Tabletop Simulator can be a great way to try Warhammer out, before committing large sums of money to buying an army. But there’s more here to entice even long-time Warhammer fans. It can be a way to try out Warhammer systems they’ve yet to play or even expand into other tabletop games such as Dungeons And Dragons or Trench Crusade.

4

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Killing Monsters

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is a dark fantasy, something familiar to fans of Warhammer Fantasy Battles. With CD Projekt Red developing a new Witcher game, now would be the perfect time to dive into the series.

The game’s world revolves around apocalyptic magic, ignorance among the general populace, and terrifying monsters. The antagonists, the ‘Wild Hunt’ are something Chaos players will especially love. Eredin’s warriors are evil, monstrous, and with a goal to destroy the world. This isn’t even touching on the eldritch shadow society of vampires or the mysterious god-like being that is Gaunter O’Dimm from the game’s expansions.

3

Total War: Attila

An Empire In Decline

Your changes have been saved

My List

My Favorite Games
My Played Games
My Games Wishlist

Total War: Attila

Systems

Released

February 17, 2015

OpenCritic Rating

Strong

The Total War: Warhammer series might still be getting updates, but if some fans want more dark, brooding strategy games, Total War: Attila might be worth a look.

Set during the early Dark Ages. The game depicts a world straight out of a dark fantasy novel, despite the fact it is real history. Political instability and wars were rife across Europe as the Western Roman Empire crumbled. Then from the east came Attila and his Huns, rampaging across the continent until finally being defeated. Much of this came to be an inspiration for Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Total War: Attila allows players to take the role of one of the Roman emperors, tribes such as the Saxons and Lombards, or even as Attila himself, laying waste to, or trying to save, the Roman Empire.

2

Call Of Duty: World At War

A World On Fire

The Call Of Duty franchise is still going strong today, with Black Ops 6 offering a variety of modes. But it also continues the universe established in Call Of Duty: World At War.

Related

Warhammer 40k: 8 Worst Fates in the Lore

Warhammer 40k’s oppressive, grimdark setting has plenty to be horrified about, but few fates are as terrible as the following ones in the lore.

A brutally dark game. World At War does not shy away from the grim realities of the Second World War, another major inspiration for the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Players can expect a far cry from the fun action-filled romps of more modern Call Of Duty titles and instead face a campaign filled with morally questionable actions, a world torn apart by war, and an atmosphere that rivals some of the greatest psychological horror games. If that seems a bit too much, fans of Call Of Duty’s Zombies mode can play the original version in World At War, employing a much more tongue-in-cheek tone, and complete with crazy over-the-top wonder weapons. Oddly enough, that all seems like something Warhammer fans would love.

1

Darkest Dungeon

Descend Into The Depths

The Darkest Dungeon franchise is unapologetically “grimdark” and full of brooding atmosphere. The games take place during an ongoing apocalypse, one that only our heroes have any hope of stopping.

The gameplay of the Darkest Dungeon series is thematically brilliant. Players are hiring heroes who will fight and die for them. Heroes can and almost certainly will die regularly. And outside of special events, they will not be coming back. Much like the Warhammer tabletop games, strategy and composition are key. Players have to be careful and make sure they’re well-rounded enough to deal with whatever might be lurking in the depths.

More

15 New Units In Total War Warhammer 3: Omens Of Destruction

The Omens of Destruction DLC for Warhammer 3 brings in a whole host of new units for players to try out. Here’s a breakdown of them all.