# The 23 Best Warhammer 40,000 Factions

> The grimdark universe of Warhammer 40,000 is packed with iconic factions — from the noble Space Marines to the ancient Necrons and the all-devouring Tyranids. Which faction reigns supreme?

*By YPB Team · Published June 14, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-23-best-warhammer-40000-factions*

---

## Current results (3 votes)

1. **Space Marines** — 33.33% (1 votes · score 1000/1000)
   The iconic poster boys of the 41st millennium — genetically enhanced supersoldiers in power armor who stand as humanity's ultimate defenders.
2. **Chaos Daemons** — 33.33% (1 votes · score 880/1000)
   The daemonic legions of the four Chaos Gods given physical form in realspace, each embodying a pure aspect of the Warp's corruption.
3. **Drukhari** — 33.33% (1 votes · score 789/1000)
   The sadistic Dark Eldar who inhabit the webway city of Commorragh, raiding realspace to harvest souls and stave off Slaanesh's hunger.
4. **Necrons** — 0% (0 votes · score 789/1000)
   The ancient undying machine-race who slumbered in their tombs for sixty million years and are now awakening to reclaim their galaxy.
5. **Blood Angels** — 0% (0 votes · score 710/1000)
   The tragic vampire-aesthetic Space Marine chapter cursed by the Red Thirst and Black Rage, known for their devastating assault tactics.
6. **Chaos Space Marines** — 0% (0 votes · score 710/1000)
   Fallen Astartes consumed by the Ruinous Powers, spending ten thousand years of bitter vengeance against the Imperium that cast them out.
7. **Leagues of Votann** — 0% (0 votes · score 609/1000)
   The stocky, no-nonsense kin of the Squats — an ancient human offshoot culture who mine the galactic core and fight with ancestor-blessed tech.
8. **Adeptus Custodes** — 0% (0 votes · score 609/1000)
   The golden-armored guardian demigods of the Emperor himself, each one worth a hundred Space Marines and rarely leaving Terra.
9. **World Eaters** — 0% (0 votes · score 474/1000)
   Khorne's berserker legion of Angron, who lobotomized themselves with Butcher's Nails implants and know only endless slaughter and war.
10. **T'au Empire** — 0% (0 votes · score 474/1000)
   The young, technologically advanced alien civilization united under the philosophy of the Greater Good, fielding battlesuits and firewarriors.
11. **Death Guard** — 0% (0 votes · score 474/1000)
   The bloated, plague-ridden traitor legion of Mortarion, spreading Nurgle's blessings of disease and decay across the galaxy.
12. **Emperor's Children** — 0% (0 votes · score 473/1000)
   The decadent traitor legion of Fulgrim devoted to Slaanesh, pursuing sensation and excess to monstrous extremes in search of perfection.
13. **Orks** — 0% (0 votes · score 473/1000)
   The rampaging fungal alien warmongers whose WAAAGH! psychic field makes their ramshackle technology work through sheer belief and brutality.
14. **Tyranids** — 0% (0 votes · score 284/1000)
   The all-consuming alien swarm from outside the galaxy that strips worlds to bare rock, guided by the universal psychic Hive Mind.
15. **Dark Angels** — 0% (0 votes · score 284/1000)
   The secretive first Space Marine Legion harboring a hidden shame, hunting their Fallen brothers across the galaxy in robed Deathwing armor.
16. **Thousand Sons** — 0% (0 votes · score 284/1000)
   The sorcerous traitor legion of Magnus the Red, reduced to animated suits of armor containing only dust and psychic residue.
17. **Adepta Sororitas** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   The Sisters of Battle — fanatical female warriors of the Ecclesiarchy whose faith literally manifests as miraculous Acts of Faith in combat.
18. **Grey Knights** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   The secretive psychic Space Marines who serve as the Imperium's last line of defense against daemonic incursion, armored in blessed silver.
19. **Astra Militarum** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   The vast Imperial Guard — countless regiments of ordinary humans holding the line against existential horrors through sheer firepower and sacrifice.
20. **Adeptus Mechanicus** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   The tech-priest servants of the Omnissiah who replace flesh with machine and safeguard the Imperium's dwindling technological secrets.
21. **Aeldari** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   The ancient, dying race of psychic elves whose fall birthed a Chaos God and who now fight desperately to avoid total extinction.
22. **Space Wolves** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   The Viking-inspired Space Marines of Fenris who ride giant wolves, drink mead, and fight with savage ferocity in the name of Russ.
23. **Genestealer Cults** — 0% (0 votes · score 1/1000)
   The insidious xenos fifth columnists who infiltrate and subvert human populations from within while waiting for the Tyranid fleet to arrive.

Tags: fantasy, games, art, sci-fi, rpg, characters