Navigate the grimdark future with confidence - here’s exactly which books you need to start your Wrath & Glory campaign
The Warhammer 40,000 universe offers two active tabletop RPG experiences, and Wrath & Glory stands out as the high-octane option where players embody the most legendary heroes of the 41st millennium. Whether you’re considering diving into this system or looking to expand your collection, understanding which books are essential versus optional can save both time and money.
The Core Experience: Where Every Campaign Begins
The Wrath & Glory Core Rulebook serves as your gateway into the system, and surprisingly, it’s nearly sufficient on its own. This beautifully illustrated tome includes complete game mechanics, numerous character archetypes (essentially classes), extensive equipment lists, psychic powers, and talents. The bestiary, while not exhaustive, provides enough variety to run multiple campaigns - offering different versions of cultists, imperial guards, and representatives from major factions.
What sets this core book apart is its approach to the notoriously complex 40K lore. Rather than overwhelming newcomers with decades of accumulated narrative, it introduces Gilead - an isolated star system that serves as a perfect sandbox. This focused setting provides immediate playability while remaining familiar to veterans who can easily incorporate their existing knowledge.
The isolated Gilead system allows exploration of different factions and concepts on a smaller scale, making it easier to follow if you’re new and immediately familiar if you already know the setting
The Essential Expansion: Forsaken System Player’s Guide
While technically optional, the Forsaken System Player’s Guide elevates the game from good to exceptional. This supplement adds approximately 20 new character archetypes, additional species options, and expanded background creation tools. The endeavors system it introduces gives structure to downtime activities, adding depth between missions.
Critics sometimes point out that roughly half the book consists of lore content, potentially irrelevant if you’re not using the Gilead setting. However, this criticism misses the mark - the patron descriptions, location details, and adventure hooks are designed as modular elements easily transplanted into any corner of the galaxy. Even campaigns set in entirely different sectors benefit from these narrative building blocks.
Expanding Your Arsenal: Specialized Supplements
Threat Assessment: Xenos
The recently released Threat Assessment: Xenos fills a crucial gap in the core book’s bestiary. This focused supplement delivers comprehensive coverage of alien threats including Aeldari, Drukhari, Necrons, Orks, Genestealers, and T’au Empire forces. Each entry comes complete with behavioral patterns, motivations, and adventure hooks that transform stat blocks into narrative opportunities.
The book’s Battle Zones section introduces d100 tables for randomizing environmental hazards and complications, adding unpredictability to combat encounters. While not strictly necessary for play, it significantly expands tactical options and narrative possibilities.
Church of Steel: Vehicles and Technology
Church of Steel focuses on vehicular combat and transportation, providing detailed rules for everything from bikes to Battle Titans. The travel mechanics and random encounter tables prove particularly useful for campaigns featuring significant planetary or system-wide movement.
However, the vehicle profiles frustrate with their reference-heavy approach - weapon stats aren’t included inline, forcing constant page-flipping between profiles and weapon tables. The lore sections, while comprehensive, feel less immediately applicable than those in other supplements.
Redacted Records: Space Hulk Adventures
At just 80 pages, Redacted Records delivers concentrated value for anyone planning space hulk scenarios. The space hulk generator alone justifies the purchase, while event tables, threat profiles, and cult descriptions provide everything needed for claustrophobic corridor combat. An evening’s reading yields enough material for an entire campaign arc.
Adventures and Starter Sets
Litanies of the Lost compiles four substantial adventures, each capable of spanning multiple sessions. These Tier 1 and Tier 2 scenarios provide solid frameworks for game masters preferring structured narratives, though they’re equally valuable as inspiration for improvisational campaigns.
The Wrath & Glory Starter Set, currently digital-only, includes a 48-page adventure, setting details, basic rules, and pre-generated characters. Physical copies promise tokens for tracking Wrath and Glory points, special dice, and quick reference guides.
The Game Master’s Secret Weapon
The GM Screen deserves special mention not just for its stunning artwork but for the accompanying booklet that rivals some full supplements in utility. Its collection of short adventures with complete hooks and threats provides perfect session starters, while the surprise inclusion of a Word Bearers Chaos Terminator profile adds high-level threat options.
Choosing Your Path: Wrath & Glory vs. Imperium Maladictum
Understanding the distinction between Cubicle 7’s two 40K RPGs helps inform purchasing decisions. Wrath & Glory embraces bombastic action - playing a Battle Sister means being the most legendary Battle Sister, capable of single-handedly decimating cultist squads. Characters leap from Valkyries onto tanks while wrestling Tyranid monstrosities.
Imperium Maladictum operates at street level, where a bolt pistol represents lethal danger rather than standard equipment. Players portray relatively normal citizens navigating the Imperium’s bureaucratic nightmare, connected to greater events through patrons but fundamentally vulnerable.
Key Takeaways
- The Core Rulebook alone provides a complete gaming experience
- The Forsaken System Player’s Guide should be your first supplement purchase
- Threat Assessment: Xenos significantly expands combat options
- Specialized books (vehicles, space hulks) enhance specific campaign styles
- Physical products include PDFs, but digital Foundry versions don’t
- The GM Screen booklet punches above its weight class
- Start simple with just the core book, then expand based on your campaign’s needs
Building Your Collection
For newcomers, begin with the Core Rulebook and run several sessions before investing further. Add the Forsaken System Player’s Guide once players desire expanded character options. From there, let your campaign’s direction guide purchases - Threat Assessment: Xenos for varied combat, Church of Steel for vehicle-heavy games, or Redacted Records for space hulk horror.
Veterans of previous 40K RPGs will find Wrath & Glory’s streamlined approach refreshing while maintaining the setting’s signature gothic atmosphere. The modular nature of supplements means you’re never required to own everything, just what enhances your particular vision of the 41st millennium.
Related Topics
- Warhammer 40K tabletop wargaming
- Foundry Virtual Tabletop integration
- Dark Heresy and older 40K RPG systems
- Narrative dice mechanics in modern RPGs
- Science fiction horror campaign settings
- Cubicle 7’s other licensed properties
- Digital vs physical TTRPG products
- Solo play options for Wrath & Glory
- Conversion guides from other 40K RPGs
- Community-created Wrath & Glory content