Adeptus Astartes · Angels of Death
Space Marines
Forged from the Emperor's own gene-craft, the Space Marines are humanity's ultimate warriors — fearless, transhuman and clad in ceramite. Choose your Chapter, or browse every Astartes kit we stock.
Know Your Astartes
Each Space Marine is a genetically re-engineered super-soldier — faster, stronger and utterly without fear, clad in ceramite power armour and armed with the finest wargear in the Imperium.
The Adeptus Astartes fight in Chapters of a thousand, each with its own colours, home world, battle-cult and way of war — from Ultramarine discipline to Space Wolf savagery.
More kits, more paint guides and more lore than any other faction in Warhammer 40,000. If you're founding your first army, start it here.
The Lore
The Space Marines — the Adeptus Astartes — are the Emperor's angels of death. Each begins as a mortal aspirant and is remade: nineteen gene-wrought organs, a lifetime of hypno-indoctrination and the finest wargear humanity can forge, all bound to the genetic legacy of one of the twenty Primarchs. The result is a warrior who knows no fear — stronger, faster and far harder to kill than any baseline human.
Since the Horus Heresy tore the Imperium in half, the Astartes have fought in roughly a thousand Chapters of a thousand battle-brothers, each with its own home world, colours and battle-cult, most following the Codex Astartes of Roboute Guilliman. From Ultramar's disciplined legions to the savage packs of Fenris, they are humanity's sharpest blade — too few to hold the line everywhere, and far too proud to stop trying.
On the Tabletop
On the tabletop, Space Marines are the great all-rounders of Warhammer 40,000: a tough, forgiving statline, excellent leaders, and an answer to every problem — shooting, melee, armour, speed. Their rules reward combined arms, and their detachments let the same collection play as anything from a patient gunline to an all-in assault force.
That flexibility makes them the classic first army: easy to learn, deep to master, and the stars of the 11th Edition Armageddon box. Pick a Chapter below to see how each one bends the Codex to its own way of war — every Chapter has its own page with lore, a playstyle guide and its full kit list.
More about the Space Marines range
The Emperor’s finest — genetically-enhanced super-soldiers clad in power armour, and the most popular place to start in Warhammer 40,000. New to the hobby? Any Space Marines box is a brilliant first army. Choose your Chapter below.
Every Chapter, One Brotherhood
Choose Your Chapter
Same transhuman fury, very different flavours. Pick a Chapter to filter the armoury — or stay with the full muster.
Your Crusade Begins
New to the Adeptus Astartes?
Start with a boxed set — miniatures, rules and dice in one go. Free UK delivery over £65, same-day dispatch by 3pm on weekdays.
Shop 40K Starter SetsFrequently Asked Questions
Officially there are 1,000 Chapters in the lore, though only a fraction — mostly First Founding Chapters like the Ultramarines, Blood Angels and Dark Angels, plus a handful of well-known successors — get their own dedicated model ranges and rules. Most other Chapters use the generic Space Marines Codex with custom colours.
Ultramarines are the easiest starting point — they're the "textbook" Chapter, so most tutorials, paint guides and army-building advice default to them. If you want a specific playstyle instead, Blood Angels and Black Templars push aggressive melee, while Iron Hands and Imperial Fists play tougher and more defensive.
11th Edition launched in June 2026 with the Armageddon boxed set, the biggest 40K launch box yet, putting fresh Space Marine and Ork plastic in players' hands alongside a new rules system built around modular Detachments.
A simple, forgiving approach is a full basecoat in your Chapter's main colour, a wash to bring out the panel lines, then edge highlights on the raised armour trim. Power armour's flat plates are one of the easiest surfaces in the hobby to practise on.
A Legion refers to the original Space Marine armies from the Horus Heresy era, before the Emperor split them into the roughly 1,000-strong Chapters used today. Modern Chapters like the Ultramarines and Blood Angels descend from those original Legions.
Yes — Core Units and every Chapter range we carry, in stock at our shop in Barry, South Wales, with fast UK delivery on everything ordered online.