SoMuchWarhammer 40K Glossary
Welcome to the grimdark world of Warhammer 40K! If you’re new, some of the jargon might sound like a mix of a sci-fi novel and an inside joke. Don’t worry—we’ve got you covered!
Whether you're an Adeptus Astartes veteran or a newbie rolling dice for the first time, this glossary will help you navigate the battlefield like a true Imperial Commander (or a sneaky Xenos).
A: Alpha Strikes, Armor Saves & Auto-Hits
Alpha Strike
💥 A tactic where you unleash maximum firepower on Turn 1 to cripple your opponent before they can react. If done right, your enemy’s best units are gone before they even blink.
Example: "My Chaos Knights just alpha-struck his entire army off the board in the first turn."
AP (Armor Penetration)
🔫 Determines how good your weapon is at punching through armor. The higher the AP (negative numbers), the harder it is for enemies to save against your attack.
AP 0? Pfft, might as well throw pebbles.
AP -3? Now we’re talking—Terminators start sweating.
Auto-Hit
🔥 A special rule where an attack automatically hits, no dice roll required. Flamers are a prime example—because let’s be honest, dodging a wall of fire is pretty unrealistic.
Example: "I torched his Orks with 10d6 auto-hits from my Flamers!"
B: Battle Forged, Buffs & Big Guns
Battle Forged
⚔️ A fancy way of saying your army follows the official list-building rules in Matched Play. If your army isn’t Battle Forged, expect some raised eyebrows at tournaments.
Blob
👥 A huge unit of infantry, usually 20+ models, grouped together. Often used to absorb enemy fire while slowly marching up the board.
Example: "My 30-man Guardsman blob is just here to hold objectives and get shot at."
Buff
✨ Any bonus effect that makes your units stronger, like re-rolls, extra attacks, or boosted defenses.
Buff a unit’s damage? They become a death machine.
Buff their saves? They become a walking fortress.
Example: "My Captain gives out a re-roll aura, so my Marines are always buffed."
Bullet Magnet
🎯 A unit that attracts a ridiculous amount of enemy fire. Could be because it’s powerful… or just really annoying.
Example: "My Land Raider is a bullet magnet—it never survives past turn two."
C: Chainswords, Chaff & Chaplains
CP (Command Points)
🔵 Your special resource for activating Stratagems—game-changing abilities that can turn the tide of battle.
Example: "I burned all my CP on re-rolls and now I regret my life choices."
Castling
🏰 Placing your units in a tight formation around characters that give aura buffs—like a fortress of doom.
Chaff
🛑 Cheap, expendable units that exist to absorb damage, block movement, or annoy the enemy.
Guardsmen, Termagants, and Grots? Classic chaff.
Is it disposable? Then it’s chaff.
D: Deep Strikes & Deathstars
Deep Strike
🚀 A special deployment where units drop onto the battlefield from reserves, usually 9” away from the enemy. Used for surprise attacks, sneaky plays, or just causing general mayhem.
Example: "I Deep Struck my Terminators behind his lines and ruined his whole plan."
Deathstar
💀 A single, insanely buffed unit that is nearly impossible to kill and crushes everything in its path.
Example: "That Custodes Deathstar just deleted half my army. GG."
F: Firepower, Fluff & Forge World
Fluff
📖 The rich lore and storytelling behind Warhammer 40K. Some players live for the fluff, others just want to roll dice.
Example: "I only play Black Templars because their fluff is pure metal."
Forge World (FW)
🛠️ Games Workshop’s specialist resin model range. Expensive, powerful, and sometimes borderline unfair.
Example: "I bought a Forge World Titan and now my wallet hates me."
M: Meta, Meltas & Mortal Wounds
Mathhammer
📊 The art of calculating probabilities to determine the most efficient weapons, units, and strategies.
Example: "Mathhammer says I should hit 7 times, but my dice had other plans."
Meta
🔥 The current competitive landscape—which armies, units, and strategies are dominating tournaments. The meta always changes, so don’t get too comfortable!
Mortal Wounds (MWs)
💀 Bypass all armor and invulnerable saves. These are the purest form of damage in the game.
Example: "Smite spam? You mean my army disappears without rolling saves?"
O: ObSec & Overwatch
ObSec (Objective Secured)
🚩 A critical rule for troops that lets them control objectives over non-troop units.
Example: "His tank was contesting, but my ObSec troops took the objective!"
Overwatch
🔥 A special reaction where a unit gets to shoot at charging enemies. Used to be terrifying—now it’s a shadow of its former self.
S: Stratagems & Soup Lists
Soup List
🥣 Mixing multiple factions in a single army for maximum cheese.
Example: "I run a Chaos Soup list with Daemons, Knights, and CSM."
Stratagems
⚡ Special abilities activated using CP. Some are clutch, some are broken, and some… you’ll never use.
T: Table, Tarpit & Terrain
Table (Tabling Someone)
💀 Destroying ALL of your opponent’s models before the game ends. The ultimate flex.
Tarpit
🛑 A cheap, durable unit meant to hold up enemy elites in melee combat. Think fearless blobs of Cultists or Plaguebearers.
U: Unaligned Units & Unique Wargear
Unaligned – A unit or ability that doesn’t belong to any specific faction.
Unique Wargear – Special weapons or relics only certain characters can take.
V: Vehicles & Volume of Fire
Vehicles – Units that operate with different rules than standard infantry, often having damage tables.
Volume of Fire – The concept of overwhelming the enemy with a high number of shots rather than high damage per shot.
W: Wounds, Warhammer Legends & WAAAGH!
WAAAGH!
💚 The Ork battle cry, usually shouted at maximum volume. Also a game mechanic that makes Orks hit like a freight train.
Warhammer Legends
📜 Old-school models that Games Workshop doesn’t support anymore in competitive play—but they’re still fun for casual games.
💀 Wounds – The amount of damage a model can take before being removed from the battlefield.
Z: Zerg Rush & Zone Control
Zerg Rush – A tactic where a player floods the battlefield with a large number of cheap, fast units.
Zone Control – Using units to block enemy movement or control board space.
