My Origin story starts as a 9,10, or 11yr old me is travelling home on an interstate bus at the end of the school holidays (15hr, overnight ride), travelling unaccompanied with my younger brother.  We were sat with another unaccompanied kid, maybe 15ish, he was reading White Dwarf, I was reading MAD Magazine, we traded once we'd finished. I don't recall the issue I read on the bus, but I do recall the first issue I bought for myself when I got back to Brissie, 212, that classic Sisters of Battle art on the front.

It was with the next issue however, that had me hooked for life. 213 with the Dark Angels and the Priscina campaign. I've been with the Dark Angels ever since.

 

My Origin story starts as a 9,10, or 11yr old me is travelling home on an interstate bus at the end of the school holidays (15hr, overnight ride), travelling unaccompanied with my younger brother.  We were sat with another unaccompanied kid, maybe 15ish, he was reading White Dwarf, I was reading MAD Magazine, we traded once we'd finished. I don't recall the issue I read on the bus, but I do recall the first issue I bought for myself when I got back to Brissie, 212, that classic Sisters of Battle art on the front.

It was with the next issue however, that had me hooked for life. 213 with the Dark Angels and the Priscina campaign. I've been with the Dark Angels ever since.

This is a fantastic origin story thanks so much for sharing it! I love it and was thinking about this on my train to work this morning! 

It goes to show the value of print even in this digital age!

I was a bit older but not by much. I found out about Warhammer 40k when I met my friend @The_Oni_of_Hindsight in HS (1996-1997). He has been playing for a while and I had some Pewter Chaos models I got a plastic model hobby shop. I eventually bought the starter set for 2nd Edition playing the Space Marines, then I saw the army that would be my favorite army of all time, Sisters of Battle. I was engaged with my HS Sweetheart during this time and as we were young and immature, there was lots of issues that resulted in us breaking up. One issue was my gaming with my friend, while she was working.

Over the years I have built multiple armies, but usually had a space marine army and sisters of battle. During Covid I really started working on my Grey Knights and now that is my largest painted army I have ever owned, I blame @Grotsmasha and his 12 Months of Hobby Challenge, such a great motivator.

Last year my Long time GF and I broke up and I received a friend request from my HS Sweetheart.  We started reconnecting as we missed each others friendship as we knew each other since we were 11 years old. As we reconnected we realized we were still in love with each other. She asked me if I was still gaming and I told her yes, and she said that was good, and she should never have used it as a reason for us to break up. I told her it helped me with the break up. Now we are engaged again, getting married in November of this year, and some her adopted kids are going to be starting on their own armies (Death Guard, Genestealer Cult, and Blood Angels), our "Office" is half her area and half my Hobby area.

PS for our honeymoon in April 2025, we are going to be Traveling through Ireland, Scotland, and England, including going to Bovington Tank Museum and going to hit a little bar in Nottingham called Bugman's. 

I stepped into it at the age of 13, through middle school role playing club - 2 hours lunch pause every day gave quite a lot of time to kill.

It all started with hexagon maps and a few (lead based) models on it with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay first Ed. and Talisman as main GW games (although as years passed, DD, Car wars, battle tech and cyberpunk were added as well as Historic Charge! and of course Space Crusade, Space hulk, Space Marine-Epic and WFB).

Then a french fanzine published some rules to adapt 40000 Rogue Trader (ie 1st Ed) into a roleplay using WFRP system. Et voila!  Three space wolves boxedset away, 2nd Ed was published and I never stopped being into it, although I had a serious gaming hiatus between 2011 and 2022 - yet I kept on collecting and modelling. 

 

PS for our honeymoon in April 2025, we are going to be Traveling through Ireland, Scotland, and England, including going to Bovington Tank Museum and going to hit a little bar in Nottingham called Bugman's. 

This is such a great story, I love happy endings and it's great to see how the hobby is such a pillar of your life like it has also been mine! 

This part in particular made me really smile, God bless you! Enjoy Bugman's!

 

Then a french fanzine published some rules to adapt 40000 Rogue Trader (ie 1st Ed) into a roleplay using WFRP system. Et voila!  Three space wolves boxedset away, 2nd Ed was published and I never stopped being into it, although I had a serious gaming hiatus between 2011 and 2022 - yet I kept on collecting and modelling. 

 This is great! Love the fact you started on the real OG games!

There was a GW next to the theater in the Annapolis Harbour center (USA, MD). Dad had just taken me to see Starship Troopers and the GW store had rightly made a display of IG fighting nids. I was like cool lets take a look inside.

Now in my early childhood I was very much the geek and introvert. With the usual trappings there of. So after a test game and talking with the staff I did want to get into this game. Sci-fi was always my jam, but dad wanted to pass it by mom cause of the cost.

Told mom about what happened and two things perked her interest. 1) This was a game I HAD to play with others and 2) modeling and painting would work on my creative side. 

She took me back up the store, had a chat with the staff and we grabbed the starter game, SW codex, a box of SW Terminators and some paints. The rest they say is history.

Bonus: So the choice of Space Wolves wasn't entirely random. While looking at the shelves of marines as I looked at the SW terminator box I swore I heard a howl in the distance. Granted I wasn't a full blown furry yet either (that happened 2 summers later), but there were signs. 

 

There was a GW next to the theater in the Annapolis Harbour center (USA, MD). Dad had just taken me to see Starship Troopers and the GW store had rightly made a display of IG fighting nids. I was like cool lets take a look inside.

 

Now in my early childhood I was very much the geek and introvert. With the usual trappings there of. So after a test game and talking with the staff I did want to get into this game. Sci-fi was always my jam, but dad wanted to pass it by mom cause of the cost.

 

Told mom about what happened and two things perked her interest. 1) This was a game I HAD to play with others and 2) modeling and painting would work on my creative side. 

 

She took me back up the store, had a chat with the staff and we grabbed the starter game, SW codex, a box of SW Terminators and some paints. The rest they say is history.

 

Bonus: So the choice of Space Wolves wasn't entirely random. While looking at the shelves of marines as I looked at the SW terminator box I swore I heard a howl in the distance. Granted I wasn't a full blown furry yet either (that happened 2 summers later), but there were signs. 

It's great to hear a story about parents being supportive of the hobby! And I must say, GW taking full advantage of the screening sounds aboooout right for old James Workshop haha!

Honestly they still do to this day. Christmas since then has been like 50% GW product. Now a days they other 50% is anime. 

I love all these stories. So great to hear how people got the bug!

My story starts in 1996. When I was younger than that, my dad and I used to build WWII model planes, and when the local bobby started a modelling club in my village I went along with some of my friends.

Somehow, after we’d been there for a few weeks, a copy of the 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000 starter box mysteriously turned up at the club. We put together all the figures and played a series of games in which we pretty much ignored the rule book. The space marines always won because we hid both armies behind the cardboard buildings and had decided the missile launchers could fire over them. Not really sure what we were doing but we had a ton of fun!

My first army was purchased on my birthday in May that year. I still remember the excited feeling 12-year old me had walking up Friar Lane to enter the Nottingham Games Workshop store for the first time. I came away with Eldar Guardians, Striking Scorpions, Dire Avengers and Fire Dragons, along with the Eldar paint set. Hawk Turquoise and Warlock Purple, among other great and weird colours. 
 

Warhammer became a huge part of my life from then on. The only friend I’ve kept in contact with from my childhood is the one friend I used to game with all the time, usually his World Eaters charging madly and getting blown to bits, with the occasional salt pot Bloodthirster proxy in tow.
 

I’ve now introduced all my kids to 40K over the years and my middle son is so nuts on the hobby he has just joined this forum and entered the Call to Arms!

Edit: so many silly auto-correct errors!

 

I love all these stories. So great to hear how people got the bug!

 

My story starts in 1996. When I was younger than that, my dad and I used to build WWII model planes, and when the local bobby started a modelling club in my village I went along with some of my friends.

 

Somehow, after we’d been there for a few weeks, a copy of the 2nd edition Warhammer 40,000 starter box mysteriously turned up at the club. We put together all the figures and played a series of games in which we pretty much ignored the rule book. The space marines always won because we hid both armies behind the cardboard buildings and had decided the missile launchers could fire over them. Not really sure what we were doing but we had a ton of fun!

 

My first army was purchased on my birthday in May that year. I still remember the excited feeling 12-year old me had walking up Friar Lane to enter the Nottingham Games Workshop store for the first time. I came away with Eldar guardians, Stirling scorpions, fire avengers and fire dragons, along with the Eldar paint set. Hawk Turquoise and Warlock Purple, among other great and weird colours. 
 

Warhammer became a huge part of my life from then on. The only friend I’ve kept in contact with from my childhood is the one friend I used to game with all the time, usually his World Eaters charging madly and getting blown to bits, with the occasional salt pot Bloddthirster proxy in tow.
 

I’ve now introduced all my kids to 40K over the years and my middle son is so nuts on the hobby he has just joined this forum and entered the Call to Arms!

I love this, this is such a fantastic origin story and I think really captures the sentiment of this hobby in our lives. This put a real smile on my face, thanks so much for sharing!

Oh can’t believe I didn’t mention this White Dwarf: issue 196 with the Eldar Civil War battle report! That is so crucial to my intro to the hobby. First WD I ever bought and so inspirational for my love of the Eldar.

It all started when I got given Hero Quest one Christmas. 

I enjoyed the game, saw the "Games Workshop" logo on the box, and visited my local Games Workshop store. That lead to me picking up some of the old metal skeletons, and my dad getting some orcs, which eventually turned into armies (WHFB 4th Ed). A couple of school friends got Necromunda, so I started with that, and then moved on to 40K 2nd & 3rd Ed. These days, I find myself more enjoying the Specialist Games line (and also 2nd Ed).

I was aware of 40k via the internet, and drew a number of (in hindsight, probably disturbing to my teachers and peers) 40k-themed drawings in middle-high school. My first 'proper' models were from the Know No Fear box they put out in 8th during my early college years, I think. A bachelor's degree in writing and many models later, here I am.

I got into the hobby through 1st edition necromunda (though I had been painting minis for about a decade prior, first D&D and then battletech) - a friend of mine had it, and I played it with him a few times.  I had previously played other GW games (a little Space Marine [the original epic] and I translated a high school mate's heroquest into Spanish at one point for him) and had eyed games like Dark Future and the rogue trader marines (too expensive for me as a teenager), but wasn't really involved in the hobby until I started playing Necromunda in university.  My Necromunda introducing friend then bought me the 2nd ed. sister's of battle codex, as one of my main RPG characters in high school had been a religious nutter (in the post-apocalyptic RIFTS RPG by Palladium).  Not sure if he bought me any of the minis - in any case, I started buying and painting them, but not yet playing. 

Then, my best friend and I each bought a box to play, then bought the 3rd ed. box set together - I discuss this in my in memoriam thread to my best friend.  Incidentally, the friend who I first played necromunda with was the one who piloted my late friend's army in my recently posted battle report.

Sisters of Battle were my first army (you can see most of my models here) and I played them a lot in 3rd and 4th ed., first with the rules in the back of the 3rd ed ruleset (which were horrible, horrible, horrible), the Chapter Approved ruleset (which were pretty good, but some players didn't like them because they required attached priests to sisters units to allow sisters to benefit from their faith rules, and the redemptionist rabble was usually a better choice than sisters units), and the 4th ed. Demonhunters codex (which was... okay - it addressed the priests issue, but the acts of faith were clunky and definitely less powerful).  Played them a bit in 5th and 6th as well, but by then I had shifted to imperial guard as my main army.

And now I play chaos. 

I saw the display for this new game called "Rogue Trader" when I was moseying through my local comic and games store as a teenager and the rulebook cover and miniatures immediately drew my eye. My previous wargaming experiences (not counting Chess and the like) had been chit and hex wargames from Avalon Hill and something not unlike H.G. Wells' Little Wars where my brother and I painted our army men, set them up, and then sat back and shot rubber bands until only one of us had figures still standing. I had seen some historical tabletop miniature wargames played and I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle of armies of well-painted miniatures engaged in battle, but my love of science fiction was drawn to the weirdness of the Rogue Trader setting. Unfortunately, my living situation didn't allow me to actually collect armies with which to play the game in those years, so my hobby participation during the 1st and 2nd editions of the game was mostly painting miniatures and reading lore (lots of White Dwarf and a few codices/army books). My living situation changed around the time the 3rd edition of the game was published, allowing me the time and space to actually paint an army and play games. Space Elves (as they were called at the time) were my first love, with Space Marines coming in a close second.

Disclaimer: I would never shoot rubber bands at my WH40K minis (or anyone else's, for that matter).

 

I got into the hobby through 1st edition necromunda (though I had been painting minis for about a decade prior, first D&D and then battletech) - a friend of mine had it, and I played it with him a few times.  I had previously played other GW games (a little Space Marine [the original epic] and I translated a high school mate's heroquest into Spanish at one point for him) and had eyed games like Dark Future and the rogue trader marines (too expensive for me as a teenager), but wasn't really involved in the hobby until I started playing Necromunda in university.  My Necromunda introducing friend then bought me the 2nd ed. sister's of battle codex, as one of my main RPG characters in high school had been a religious nutter (in the post-apocalyptic RIFTS RPG by Palladium).  Not sure if he bought me any of the minis - in any case, I started buying and painting them, but not yet playing. 

 

Then, my best friend and I each bought a box to play, then bought the 3rd ed. box set together - I discuss this in my in memoriam thread to my best friend.  Incidentally, the friend who I first played necromunda with was the one who piloted my late friend's army in my recently posted battle report.

 

Sisters of Battle were my first army (you can see most of my models here) and I played them a lot in 3rd and 4th ed., first with the rules in the back of the 3rd ed ruleset (which were horrible, horrible, horrible), the Chapter Approved ruleset (which were pretty good, but some players didn't like them because they required attached priests to sisters units to allow sisters to benefit from their faith rules, and the redemptionist rabble was usually a better choice than sisters units), and the 4th ed. Demonhunters codex (which was... okay - it addressed the priests issue, but the acts of faith were clunky and definitely less powerful).  Played them a bit in 5th and 6th as well, but by then I had shifted to imperial guard as my main army.

 

And now I play chaos. 

 

 

 

This is a really profound story and thank you so much for taking the time to share it. This really shows how acutely the hobby can touche on our lives. 

 

I saw the display for this new game called "Rogue Trader" when I was moseying through my local comic and games store as a teenager and the rulebook cover and miniatures immediately drew my eye. My previous wargaming experiences (not counting Chess and the like) had been chit and hex wargames from Avalon Hill and something not unlike H.G. Wells' Little Wars where my brother and I painted our army men, set them up, and then sat back and shot rubber bands until only one of us had figures still standing. I had seen some historical tabletop miniature wargames played and I thoroughly enjoyed the spectacle of armies of well-painted miniatures engaged in battle, but my love of science fiction was drawn to the weirdness of the Rogue Trader setting. Unfortunately, my living situation didn't allow me to actually collect armies with which to play the game in those years, so my hobby participation during the 1st and 2nd editions of the game was mostly painting miniatures and reading lore (lots of White Dwarf and a few codices/army books). My living situation changed around the time the 3rd edition of the game was published, allowing me the time and space to actually paint an army and play games. Space Elves (as they were called at the time) were my first love, with Space Marines coming in a close second.

 

Disclaimer: I would never shoot rubber bands at my WH40K minis (or anyone else's, for that matter).

It's crazy how the history of the game grows with us and becomes intertwined to points in our lives.

Similarly for me, my participation in the hobby adapted to my situations and as a constant it was always there!