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What do you think is the best way to do so?

Any novel you might recommend?

I realised that GW has never published a comprehensive 40K omnibus that covers all of the main topics in the 40K universe. That would certainly make things a lot easier for beginners.

Gaunt's Ghosts, in my experience recruiting new people. The first book is a good start. So is the Ultramarines series by Graham McNeil.

Eisenhorn and Ravenor. Maybe the new ones... Haven't read them yet.

Depends on the person. Eisenhorn/Ravenor is a great start for the atmosphere (and are great novels, just in general), but may give a skewed picture of the overall thing, Dawn of War gives a great overview of faction dynamics but is a bit simplistic. I'd say Dawn of War (the games, the novelizations are legendarily terrible) is probably as close as you're going to get to an overview of everything stuck together in one place, the setting is big enough that pretty much everything else is an in-depth look at a tiny bit of it.

 AnomanderRake wrote:
Depends on the person. Eisenhorn/Ravenor is a great start for the atmosphere (and are great novels, just in general), but may give a skewed picture of the overall thing, Dawn of War gives a great overview of faction dynamics but is a bit simplistic. I'd say Dawn of War (the games, the novelizations are legendarily terrible) is probably as close as you're going to get to an overview of everything stuck together in one place, the setting is big enough that pretty much everything else is an in-depth look at a tiny bit of it.

too bad DoW graphics arent good

Codex Imperalis from the second edition starter set! Now that's a source book if ever there was one.

 Bottle wrote:
Codex Imperalis from the second edition starter set! Now that's a source book if ever there was one.

yup! too bad its outdated and has crappy art. its a shame that GW is so wildly inconsistent

I started with DoW, its worth it. However, it might not hurt to mention a few inaccuracies (100 Baneblades, SM rarity- DoW is the reason I always think SM's are less powerful than stated). Gaunts Ghosts is also very good.

Maximus Bitch wrote:

 AnomanderRake wrote:
Depends on the person. Eisenhorn/Ravenor is a great start for the atmosphere (and are great novels, just in general), but may give a skewed picture of the overall thing, Dawn of War gives a great overview of faction dynamics but is a bit simplistic. I'd say Dawn of War (the games, the novelizations are legendarily terrible) is probably as close as you're going to get to an overview of everything stuck together in one place, the setting is big enough that pretty much everything else is an in-depth look at a tiny bit of it.

too bad DoW graphics arent good

The gameplay makes up for it imo.

I would say either "Space marine", DoW, or Space hulk

Buy some old codices off eBay and let them check them out.

To the eye with this easing them into things lark, if your gonna do it, do it properly. Your gonna need a projector, a pointing stick, detailed hand outs, lots of snacks and a spare weekend

GoatboyBeta wrote:
To the eye with this easing them into things lark, if your gonna do it, do it properly. Your gonna need a projector, a pointing stick, detailed hand outs, lots of snacks and a spare weekend

Ok, now I want to get a degree in The History of the Imperium of Man and its Enemies - The tutor has to wear Commissar Robes and cap

icn1982 wrote:

GoatboyBeta wrote:
To the eye with this easing them into things lark, if your gonna do it, do it properly. Your gonna need a projector, a pointing stick, detailed hand outs, lots of snacks and a spare weekend

Ok, now I want to get a degree in The History of the Imperium of Man and its Enemies - The tutor has to wear Commissar Robes and cap

I'll take my 'vocational' degree in Mechanicus Chanting, with a minor in Application of Holy Oils.

Better job prospects than a history degree

 Ynneadwraith wrote:

icn1982 wrote:

GoatboyBeta wrote:
To the eye with this easing them into things lark, if your gonna do it, do it properly. Your gonna need a projector, a pointing stick, detailed hand outs, lots of snacks and a spare weekend

Ok, now I want to get a degree in The History of the Imperium of Man and its Enemies - The tutor has to wear Commissar Robes and cap

I'll take my 'vocational' degree in Mechanicus Chanting, with a minor in Application of Holy Oils.

Better job prospects than a history degree

IOM Politics 101 - Is it human, if not, kill it. Not sure, kill it just in case.

Dark Millennium, which was released alongside the BRB seemed to be a pretty good introduction. Pretty much covered the massive organization that is Imperial government, as well as many of their motivations and interactions with xenos and chaos.

I think 2nd Edition had some of the nicest fluff. It left a lot to the player and didn't have the huge amounts of background already around, so it gave you more of a 'feel' more than specifics

The original HH trilogy of books. They're a good read anyway, but they introduce the reader to what a space marine is from the perspective of real humans, what the imperium is (or at least was), the great crusade, interactions with xenos elements, chaos and the warp, the primarchs and the emperor and so on.

It might seem strange to show 30k to introduce someone to 40k, but the HH story is the central mythology the setting is based on. It's a bit like teaching Newton's laws in physics before moving onto Einstein's relativity and more modern concepts, or teaching evolution to a biology student before progressing to genetic engineering etc.

And again, they're good books anyway.

 Snake Tortoise wrote:
The original HH trilogy of books. They're a good read anyway, but they introduce the reader to what a space marine is from the perspective of real humans, what the imperium is (or at least was), the great crusade, interactions with xenos elements, chaos and the warp, the primarchs and the emperor and so on.

It might seem strange to show 30k to introduce someone to 40k, but the HH story is the central mythology the setting is based on. It's a bit like teaching Newton's laws in physics before moving onto Einstein's relativity and more modern concepts, or teaching evolution to a biology student before progressing to genetic engineering etc.

And again, they're good books anyway.

that's a great idea

Have them snort coke off a hooker's ass while listening to Steel Panther. You'll have a devout follower of Slaanesh shortly.

 timetowaste85 wrote:
Have them snort coke off a hooker's ass while listening to Steel Panther. You'll have a devout follower of Slaanesh shortly.

50 shades of grey, the uninitiated's guide to Slaanesh

Have them play DoW Dark Crusade/Soulstorm to give them the gyst of each of the factions and then point them towards 1D4Chan/Lexicanum/WH40k Wiki and let them go wild.

That's how I did it and therefore it's the objectively superior way.

Eisenhorn.

Maximus Bitch wrote:
What do you think is the best way to do so?

Any novel you might recommend?

I realised that GW has never published a comprehensive 40K omnibus that covers all of the main topics in the 40K universe. That would certainly make things a lot easier for beginners.

They kinda did with the 7th Edition Rules - it was first published as a collection of 3 hard-cover books. One book was the 7th Edition rules themselves, another was a book of painted miniatures of each faction and the third was the fluff book covering the setting. Give them the fluff book to read over.

Give them this: Imperial Primer

It's fan-made, but I think it's quite excellent.

Show them how stupid the setting is.
https://goo.gl/images/4ddbix
That's what got my attention.

 Dakka Wolf wrote:
Show them how stupid the setting is.
https://goo.gl/images/4ddbix
That's what got my attention.

ahah neat


in terms of having all the fluff in one place, is there any book better than the 5th Ed Rulebook?

Duct tape them to a chair in front of Lexicanum and go through it article by article until they fully understand the lore.

I personally got into it with 40k lore Youtube videos.

I'd recommend the one I started with, a recommendation from a good friend: The Flight of the Eisenstein.

A bit of chaos lore, a bit of warp, a bit of heresy and a bit of overall info about the world. Then, I'd suggest him to read the first 3 books (Horus Rising, False gods and Galaxy in flames) that actually tell you how all the "big stuff" started. And from that, you can choose books depending on the factions you've started to like from those books.

How has everyone forgotten this gem?

40k lore in a minute:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MeVxKZBOfM