Faction Guide
World Eaters
Pure fury. No restraint. No mercy. The World Eaters are Khorne's chosen — berserker warriors who live to kill, who feel nothing but rage, and who bring chainaxes to everything. The most aggressive army in the game.
Playstyle
All-In Melee
Painting
Medium
Rules
Medium
Starter Cost
~$170
Who are the World Eaters?
Ten thousand years ago, they were the XII Legion — the War Hounds. Elite warriors, ferocious but disciplined, loyal to the Emperor. Their primarch was Angron, a towering figure the Emperor found fighting as a gladiator slave on a distant world. Unlike other primarchs who welcomed the Emperor's arrival, Angron was furious. He had been fighting alongside a band of slave-rebels and the Emperor took him mid-battle — before Angron could die with them.
That wound never healed. Angron had also been fitted with neural implants called the Butcher's Nails — devices that suppressed the ability to feel calm or peace, leaving only aggression and pain. He forced them upon his entire legion. Over decades of war, the Nails consumed them all.
By the Horus Heresy, the World Eaters were already lost. They pledged themselves to Khorne, the Chaos god of war, blood, and slaughter — the one god who actually rewards the thing they could no longer stop doing. Now they are something worse than warriors. Angron himself was killed and reborn as a Daemon Primarch — a sixty-foot engine of destruction that the Imperium considers one of the most dangerous entities in the galaxy.
The World Eaters don't hold territory. They don't have plans. They crash into enemy lines with chainaxes and they kill until there's nothing left. Red armor soaked in blood, brass trim polished on corpses, screaming praise to the Blood God with every swing.
One important detail: Khorne hates magic. His followers are too busy killing to think about sorcery. The World Eaters have zero psychic powers — it's a core part of who they are, both in lore and on the table.
How they play on the table
World Eaters are a pure melee assault army. Their entire game plan is to cross the table as fast as possible and get into hand-to-hand combat, where they are devastating. They do not win shootouts. They win by making sure there is no shootout.
Khorne Berzerkers are the beating heart of the army — fearless melee infantry who become more dangerous the longer a fight goes on.Jakhals are cheaper cultist-type warriors who screen your advance and tie up enemy units. The Daemon Princeis a flying melee monster that can threaten almost anything on the table.
The challenge of World Eaters is the gap. You need to get across the table through enemy shooting before you can do what you're good at. Positioning your screens, knowing when to charge and what to charge first — that's the skill of the army. Once you're in combat, the game becomes much simpler.
Zero psychic abilities. Not a trade-off — it's the whole identity. You are not a subtle army. You are eight feet of screaming daemon-touched Space Marine with a chainaxe, and that's enough.
World Eaters are for you if...
- ✓ You want to charge across the table and smash things
- ✓ You love the red-and-brass Chaos aesthetic
- ✓ You want a focused, aggressive play style
- ✓ You like intimidating your opponent on the way in
- ✓ You want a smaller, elite-feeling force
Maybe look elsewhere if...
- ✗ You want to sit back and shoot
- ✗ You want psychic powers or magic
- ✗ You want a lot of tactical variety
- ✗ You don't like the idea of being punished for slow play
- ✗ You prefer horde armies with lots of cheap models
How to paint World Eaters
Red armor, brass trim, and as much blood as you want. The classic World Eaters scheme is medium difficulty — the red can be fiddly, but the overall look is forgiving and very striking on the table.
The main challenge with red is coverage — it's a notoriously thin pigment that can look patchy if you're not careful. The trick is a proper base coat first. Using a red spray primer like Mephiston Red gets you solid, even coverage before you touch a brush. From there, a wash into the recesses and a quick drybrush does most of the work.
The brass/gold trim is where World Eaters models really come alive. There's a lot of ornate detail — chains, horns, skulls, armor edging — and getting the brass right transforms a flat-looking model into something imposing.
The classic scheme — step by step
Spray with Mephiston Red
Citadel's red spray primer. Covers everything in one even pass and gives you a solid red base to build on. Let it dry fully before moving on.
Wash with Agrax Earthshade
Apply into all the recesses and panel lines. Adds instant depth and shadow to the armor. You can use Nuln Oil for a cooler, darker look — Agrax gives a warmer result that suits red well.
Layer Evil Sunz Scarlet on raised surfaces
A brighter red applied to the flat panels of the armor (not into recesses). Brings the red back to a vivid tone after the dark wash. Apply carefully to avoid the shadows you just created.
Paint all trim and detail with Brass Scorpion
Chains, horns, skull decorations, armor trim — everything metallic gets Brass Scorpion. This is the step where the model starts looking properly World Eaters.
Wash the brass with Agrax Earthshade
Apply into the recesses of all the brass/gold areas. Tones it down from bright to battle-worn and adds age. Wipe excess off flat surfaces if needed.
Paint chainaxe blades with Leadbelcher, wash Nuln Oil
Silver metallic on all the blades and chainsaw teeth. A wash of Nuln Oil darkens and dirties them. World Eaters weapons should look used.
Optional: Blood for the Blood God
Citadel's technical paint that creates convincing splattered blood. Dab it onto blades, knuckles, and armor. Very optional — but extremely on-brand, and it transforms the model.
Steps 1–6 give you a fully table-ready World Eaters model. Step 7 is the fun one.
What to buy first
In order. Don't buy anything else until you've finished step one.
Combat Patrol: World Eaters
Contains a Daemon Prince (your flying melee centrepiece), a Master of Executions (a character who buffs your melee output), 10 Khorne Berzerkers (your core infantry — the army's backbone), and 10 Jakhals (cheaper infantry who screen and charge first). 22 models total. A legal, playable army straight out of the box.
See price on Amazon →Khorne Berzerkers (box of 10)
More Berzerkers means more killing power in melee — which is the entire point. This is almost always the right second purchase for World Eaters. The models are excellent and you'll want more of them once you see what they do in a fight.
Search Amazon →Paints you need
Edition note: Warhammer 40,000 releases new editions periodically — specific rules, points costs, and detachment abilities change between them. The lore, models, and painting guides on this page are edition-agnostic. For current rules, check the World Eaters rules on Wahapedia.
Blood for the Blood God.
Not sure World Eaters are right for you? Take the quiz — it matches you to a faction based on how you actually want to play.