Who will last the longest in this universe of war? To which army have you pledged your allegiance? Where can you get the most bang per army point?
These questions and more you must ask yourself while answering the question "which is the greatest race in the WH40K universe"?!
The final installment in my WH40K series. Vote on your favorite, add missing races or create your own version via ReRanking. Text and images from the awesome 40k Wiki.
Also be sure to check out the child lists;
The Best Warhammer 40k Space Marine Chapters
The Best Warhammer 40k Chaos Space Marine Chapters
The Best Warhammer 40k Eldar Craftworlds
The Best Warhammer 40k Ork Clans
The Best Warhammer 40k Tyranid Hives
http://www.ranker.com/list/the-greatest-warhammer-40k-race/designergamergeek,
Ogryn
The Ogryn (Homo sapiens gigantus) are a huge and physically powerful Abhuman mutant subspecies of humans, often employed as shock troopers in the Imperial Guard by the Imperium of Man. Ogryns possess many traits prized by the Imperium; they are brutally strong and completely loyal, although extremely limited intellectually, which limits their battlefield role to simple and direct assaults. They come from cold and barren planets in the galaxy with high gravity, such as Anark Zeta, which is why they appear larger, heavier and bulkier compared to baseline humans. An Ogryn's speech is much the same as an Ork's.
Ratling
A Ratling (Homo sapiens minimus) is a member of a small, loud, hungry and lecherous Abhuman species. Ratlings are granted full Imperial citizenship despite their mutant status and in the past have often served in the Regiments of the Imperial Guard. However, they are still distrusted by the more Puritanical members of the Inquisition.
Tyranids
The Tyranids are a species of terrible xenos that is actually a space-faring ecosystem dedicated solely to its own propagation and evolutionary advancement. The Tyranids collectively form a monstrous superorganism that travels the universe in their great Hive Fleets of biomechanical Hive Ships, systematically consuming all other biomatter to enable its own rapid evolution and reproduction. All Tyranid organisms are Synaptic (psychically-reactive), and each Tyranid creature within a Hive Fleet shares in a communal Hive Mind, granting the ability for trillions of beings to communicate and organize instantaneously on a staggering scale.
Necrons
The Necrons are a mysterious race of robotic skeletal warriors that have lain dormant in their stasis-tombs for more than 60 million Terran years and who are the soulless creations and former servants of the ancient C'tan, the terrible Star Gods of Eldar myth. The Necrons are ancient beyond reckoning, predating even the birth of the Eldar. At long last, however, they are beginning to awaken from their Tomb Worlds, for the galaxy is ripe for the greatest harvest of sentient beings to feed the eternal hunger of the C'tan since the disappearance of the Old Ones 65 million standard years ago. The Necrons are a completely cybernetic humanoid species whose technological prowess is probably unmatched by any of the other intelligent races of the galaxy. Yet out of a desire for vengeance against the more fortunate long-lived ancient xenos race called the Old Ones, and the trickery of the godlike intelligences known as the C'tan, the Necrons shed their organic forms and lost all forms of compassion and empathy, becoming ruthless, undying killing machines who feed their endless appetite for the life energy of organic beings and whose different dynasties are determined to exert their mastery over the galaxy once more.
Orks
The Orks, also called Greenskins, are a savage, warlike, green-skinned race of humanoids who are spread all across the Milky Way Galaxy. They share many features with Warhammer Fantasy Orcs (and were initially called Space Orcs to distinguish them). They are seen by their enemies (pretty much everyone else in the galaxy) as savage, warlike, and crude, but they are the most successful species in the whole galaxy, outnumbering possibly every other intelligent race, even Mankind (with the very plausible exception of the Tyranids, who are split between thousands of subspecies genetically engineered for specific purposes). However, this massive population of Orks is split into hundreds of tiny empires, often warring between themselves. It has been speculated that were the Orks ever to unite as a single racial entity, they would undoubtedly crush any opposition that would dare to stand against such a tsunami of green muscle. Luckily, the Orks enjoy killing each other every bit as much as they savour shedding the blood of the galaxy's other peoples.
Dark Eldar
The Dark Eldar or Eldarith Ynneas in the Eldar Lexicon are the forsaken and corrupt kindred of the Eldar, an ancient and highly advanced alien race of fey humanoids. Their armies, like their Eldar counterparts, usually have the advantages of mobility and advanced technology, though they are often lacking in resilience and numbers. The Dark Eldar revel in piracy, enslavement and torture, and are sadistic in the extreme. Dark Eldar armies make use of various anti-gravity skimmers such as Raiders and Ravagers to launch high speed attacks. They strike with little or no warning, using an interdimensional labyrinth known as the Webway to traverse the galaxy safely and far more quickly than most advanced races are able to with their Warp jumps.
Eldar
The Eldar are a race of fey-like humanoids similar in appearance and culture to the sylvan elves of ancient Terran mythology and literature, and they are the most ancient and technologically advanced of all the intelligent races of the Milky Way Galaxy, with the exception of the Old Ones, and their ancient enemies the Necrons. Their armies usually have the advantages of great mobility, potent psychic abilities and technology that is more advanced than that deployed by the human Imperium. In the sense that Warhammer 40,000 races are generally derived from the earlier Warhammer Fantasy universe, the Eldar are derived from the High Elves of the Warhammer World, except for the Eldar faction known as the Exodites who are the equivalent of the Wood Elves.
Chaos Space Marines
A Chaos Space Marine, also sometimes called a Traitor Marine or a Renegade Marine, is a former Loyalist Space Marine of the Imperium of Man who has chosen to betray the service of the Emperor of Mankind and dedicate his soul to the service of Chaos and its foul deities. Such corrupt Astartes normally belong to one of the 9 Traitor Legions that betrayed the Emperor during the ancient civil war called the Horus Heresy more than 10,000 standard years ago, while others come from Space Marine Chapters created long after the Heresy ended that have turned Renegade. Chaos can corrupt Astartes of any time and place just as its siren call leads many lesser men to their damnation.
Imperial Guard
The Imperial Guard is the largest military force of the Imperium of Man and also serves as the Imperium's first line of defence from the myriad threats which threaten the existence of the human race in the late 41st Millennium. It is comprised of countless billions of men and women -- hundreds of thousands of different regiments, supported by a vast array of light and heavy armoured vehicles that provide the Guard's primary offensive punch. They are usually the first Imperial force to respond to a threat if a planet's Planetary Defence Force (PDF) fails to suppress it. They also garrison major locations of strategic or cultural interest to the Imperium and are often found in defensive roles. The Imperial Guard is often referred to as the "Sledgehammer of the Emperor";
Space Marines
The Space Marines or Adeptus Astartes are foremost amongst the defenders of humanity, the greatest of the Emperor of Mankind's warriors. They are barely human at all, but superhuman; having been made superior in all respects to a normal man by a harsh regime of genetic modification, psycho-conditioning and rigorous training. Space Marines are untouched by plague or any natural disease and can suffer wounds that would kill a lesser being several times over, and live to fight again. Clad in ancient Power Armour and wielding the most potent weapons known to Man, the Space Marines are terrifying foes and their devotion to the Emperor and the Imperium of Man is unyielding. They are the God-Emperor's Angels of Death, and they know no fear.
