What is a Themed Army?
A themed army limits itself to certain units and figures so as to specialize in a particular look, background, or style of play. Themed armies typically take a lot of time, careful planning, and money. They are usually less flexible and more difficult to use in games, so they're better suited for the gamer who's more concerned with style than winning. In short, themed armies are definitely for experts looking for a challenge. 

In this section of the Jungle, you'll find some ideas for themed armies. Some of the army ideas are very general and allow for plenty of choice about wargear, troop sizes, tactics, paint schemes, conversions, etc. Some of them are more specific, and in these cases they're done deliberately to emphasize the army's character or to improve its chances on the battlefield. 

Bear in mind that these are just initial concepts: if you use one, you may find that you have to tweak it a little (or a lot) before you're happy with it, and it's perfectly okay to do so. Don't feel like you have to adhere to the letter of what you read here. 

Warhammer 40K is a constantly-evolving game, with Games Workshop publishing new rules and army books every few years. Many of the articles in this section were written using the core rules and army codices from the 3rd and 4th Editions. You may need to make adjustments from what was originally written to field game-legal forces using the current rules and army books.

Image by Scott Smith. Used with permission

Chaos Space Marines
Rai's Reavers:  From the Jungle's Eye of Terror tie-in

Daemonhunters
Inquisitor Varman Kumar: An ageless ally to the Fighting Tigers 

Dark Eldar
The Kabal of the Ozone Scorpions: Screaming for vengeance!
<> From Idea to Reality: Building the Ozone Scorpion army <>
The Sirens: Death from the water
The Wild Hunt: A Wych Cult that goes after the deadliest prey

Eldar
The Craftworld Alliance: "You will unite or you will fall"
Craftworld Mor-Seth: A new hope for the Eldar
The Shrine of the Black Scorpion: A new kind of Eldar army

Imperial Guard
Caledonian Highlanders:  Celtic Imperial Guard
The Ebon Leopards of Kente: So tough, they think tanks are for wimps 
Imperial Navy Drop Troops: Go easy on the navy jokes, dogface....
Vedic Tiger Warriors: Marines are not the only fighting tigers

Orks
Da Blood Orks Chapta: De're red and de're choppy...da perfect Marines! 
The Dvergar: Come a little closer and ask them if they're "Squats"...
Gangsta Orks: What happens when you take Orks to the big city?
The Greater Waauugh! Orks with guns...lots of guns
Ork Panzer Krenadiers: Orks get mechanized!
Orks uv da Blak Klaw: Albino Orks with attitude
Striped Ork-eaters of Auros IX: Grots of the Blood Deserts, UNITE!

Space Marines
Ferin Ironhammer: "To boldly go where no Wolf has gone before!"
<> Characters with Character: Converting Ferin Ironhammer <>
Fighting Tiger Black Ops:  Articles, photos and fiction about a "special forces" unit
Keric Quicbrand's Great Company:  In your face by Turn 2
The Sons of Eriu: "Fear not the Sidhe, but hunt them with cold iron..."
Storm Warriors: Great idea for an "all-Scout" army

Tau
The Shadow Warriors: Night fight specialists
Tau Air Cavalry: Experimental warfare

Tyranids
Hivefleet Ravana:  Not just "bugs" anymore...
The Kurindans:  Lizardmen in 40K

From Idea to Reality
Coming up with a themed army idea and actually making it work are two different things. If you'd like some examples of how to turn a Themed Army Idea into a real, usable force, check out these articles:

• From Idea to Reality:  Building a Dark Eldar force
• Jungle Juice:  Themed army ideas on demand

• Aquamarines  (Space Marines)
• Dvergar Steeljacks  (Orks)
• Fearful Symmetry (Chaos Space Marines)
• Hivefleet Azhdarcoid (Tyranids)
• Keric Quicbrand's Great Company  (Space Wolves)
• Kurindans  (Tyranids)
• Wolf Brothers (Chaos Space Marines)
• Yblis' Bzrkx (Necrons)

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