In the grimdark future of the Warhammer 40K universe, there is only war. Entire worlds and sectors have been engulfed in flames or have become new battlegrounds for factions to decimate. However, which of these factions are the strongest?
Great debates continue on forums and discussions between fans on which factions are the most powerful, yet disagreements abound. Many factors and indicators go into deciding which of these sides is the best either via the tabletop game itself, the lore, and recent events or updates that may have empowered certain factions. Some fans have even deduced that the Warhammer factions can be separated into two main categories, those that appear to be growing or evolving and those that are in decline or are regressing. One thing seems for certain, neither side appears to be stepping down.
8 Tau Empire
The Tau are a young empire that appears to be experiencing growth compared to many of the other sentient factions in the Warhammer 40K universe. Their mission to spread the ‘Greater Good’ has propelled them on a campaign to dominate the universe and ‘invite’ others to join their philosophy.
The Tau are experts in mid-to-ranged combat and are highly adaptive with their technology, their beliefs have also allowed them to ‘befriend’ other races and members of the galaxy, an occurrence that rarely happens in 40K. Organized into castes and determined to spread their cause, the Tau and their respective allies are also unfortunate to be present in such a universe. Beset by Ork raids and Tyranid splinter fleets, the Tau have suffered much. The loss of their Ethereal supreme leader has also dealt a blow to the immensely proud and emboldened race.
7 Asuryan/Eldar
An exceptionally proud race, the Eldar represent the remnants of the once-great Aeldari empire that was shattered when their continued decadence birthed the chaos god Slaanesh. Those Eldar that saw the coming storm, or who managed to escape the cataclysms via craftworlds would be the modern Eldar that fans recognize.
Highly mobile and mysterious, the Eldar are experts at manipulation and guerilla warfare and are highly capable of instigating other armies to do the dirty work for them. Making use of their webway gates, the Eldar can move about quickly to accomplish their goals. However, they are a shell of their former glory and cannot win in wars that depend on numbers and deal with attrition.
6 Necrons
A mysterious and humanoid Xenos ‘undead’ faction, The Necrons are a race that has been dormant for millions of years until recently. Pockets of Necron factions began awakening from their tomb worlds to resume the restoration of the Necron empire. Ruthless and unrelenting, the Necrons have zero empathy and compassion and are driven only to restore their former glory.
The Necrons possess powerful old technology and were even able to subvert and imprison their old and terrible masters, the C’Tan, powerful ancient beings that would consume entire stars for energy. United in their will, impervious to the effects of Chaos, and disdained by Tyranids as they have no biomass, The Necrons may be a little late to the party, but should they all wake up, they would pose a great threat to any who would stand in their way.
5 Imperium Of Man
Ahhh, legions of Imperial Guard, Adeptus Mechanicus, Space Marines, the Inquisition, and more. The Imperium of Man can qualify as one of the strongest factions in the Warhammer 40K universe. Able to repel many threats such as the Tyranids, Orks, and Chaos incursions, The Imperium of Man stands on a shaky threshold between survival and complete annihilation.
With the Emperor of Mankind weakened, the Imperium of Man has slowly regressed as it has come under repeated assault by its many adversaries. Yet with the recent return of Roboute Guilliman, the Primaris space marines, and the beginnings of a new crusade, things are certainly looking up for mankind. Yet all these entries are technologies that aren’t new and are things that have been restored from the pre-heresy era of mankind. Time will determine whether this second wind of mankind will be a hurricane or a mere momentary breeze.
4 Chaos
Considered to be one of the greatest threats to the Imperium of Man, the Chaos gods, and their servants continue to wreak havoc on countless worlds and minds. Powerful and seductive, the forces of chaos always have willing recruits and admirers which makes them a difficult and high threat. Even the strongest of wills can find themselves tested by the lures of chaos.
Yet chaos is prone to infighting, as each of the four chaos gods seeks to undermine one another. Chaos is also dependent on the souls of beings with emotion, namely Man and Eldar, which are races that are at the moment, still in overall decline. Should that source of emotions be snuffed out, one can imagine that the effect and power of chaos diminishes.
3 C’Tan
Not the Settlers of Catan, but the C’Tan (aka Star Gods) that devours entire suns and systems to replenish energy levels. Considered to be one of the oldest races in the galaxy, the C’Tan were thought to have been around when the universe came into being. Yes, they’re that old.
The C’Tan were also known to have defeated the other great old race simply known as the ‘Old Ones’ and created the Necrons to do their bidding. It is said that the C’Tan hated the psychic energies of the warp and were on the cusp of separating it from the universe entirely. Well, until the Necrons rebelled. Now as shards of their former selves, the C’Tan are deployed in battle by Necrons as ‘ace cards’. Should the C’Tan ever escape their condition, it would mean absolute horror for anything that lives in the galaxy.
2 Orks
Barbaric, chaotic, and ever hungry for conflict and battle, the Greenskins are perhaps the most warlike faction in the galaxy. The Orks can also be considered to be the most successful and powerful in Warhammer 40K due to their partial immunity to chaos, ability to reproduce quickly, and ever-growing strength when facing powerful threats.
However, like chaos, Orks sate their bloodlust by turning against their own as well. Most WAAAGHS! (Ork crusades) typically end with Orks attacking one another as the number of enemies dwindles. However, should the Orks truly unite as one, no other faction in the galaxy can hope to stand against the unstoppable green tide.
1 Tyranids
The Tyranids are perhaps the most terrifying faction in all of Warhammer 40K. Brutal, efficient, intelligent, and ever-evolving, the Tyranids are perhaps the most ‘perfect’ faction. Tyranids seek to devour worlds and universes (and have done so to others) to harness the absorbed biomass to evolve.
When the only option to stop Tyranids from infesting and devouring a planet is to effectively nuke the entire planet, that’s when one knows that you’ve got an unrelenting adversary. Tyranids don’t need sleep, don’t tire, and evolve their tactics against enemies to get the upper hand. They are even capable of infesting species and using them (as genestealers) to infiltrate and use their psychic abilities to alert the larger hive fleets to invade.
