Summary
Warhammer 40Kis an immensely popular franchise. WhileWarhammerhas its roots squarely in the war gameand board game space, video games contributed to the IP’s popularity. The last few years have been especially prolific for Warhammer 40K and Warhammer Fantasy, at least in terms of games released. Even that doesn’t seem to be enough, as fans keep modding Orks and Space Marines into their favorite video games.
Common wisdom says that mods exist to fill a hole in the hearts of fans, but that’s not always the case. Even if there are plenty ofWarhammer 40Kgames spanning (almost) any genre imaginable, modders are still hard at work. One has to conclude that they just like making games. Playing aWarhammergame, after all, is quite different from making one. Either way, this means that players have quite a lot of choice when looking for a greatWarhammer 40Kmod to play.
Updated on Jun 24, 2025, by Gerardo Molina:Modding isn’t always an easy task, as there have been many instances throughout the years when mod projects have been slowed to a crawl or completely stopped by the original IP owners, making modding a risky endeavor.
And even those mods who make it out onto the market for players to download and enjoy often stop getting updates and are left in oblivion, only to be remembered by those who once played them. Here are some of the most famous Warhammer 40K mods for classic strategy games that work very well with the concept and the various different elements around it.
Sins of a Solar Empirewas already set in the middle of a Sci-Fi setting during a futuristic war, so adding theWarhammer 40K: Time of Endingmod didn’t really change the atmosphere of the game too much.
That said, this mod did provide the base game with a refreshing feeling, adding Imperial Navy vessels, game mechanics that limit ammunition, and new and improved play styles that build upon thoseSins of a Solar Empire, which many players often felt were limited and a bit constraining.
As far as major game overhauls go,Warhammer 40K: Red Alertreally went above and beyond. Based mainly onCommand & Conquer 2’sexpansion,Yuri’s Revenge, this mod replaced all the sounds, graphics, and maps of the original expansion with those from theWarhammer 40Kuniverse.
Adding factions, such as Imperial Guards, Space Marines, and Chaos Space Marines, this clever and complete mod allowed fans of both franchises to get the best of both worlds and have hours of fun. Unfortunately, this mod hasn’t received any updates for over a decade, but the latest file can still be downloaded.
With The Total Conversion Mod ASV UMW 40K
Men of War: Assault Squad 2isn’t a game everyone remembers, being a 2014World War 2 strategy gamewith average review scores. Still, the game remained popular among some competitive players and even attracted the attention of modders. For our purposes, the fact thatMen of War: Assault Squad 2isn’t very popular means that it’s cheap enough to buy just to try out a mod.
If there’s oneWarhammer 40Kmod forMen of War: Assault Squad 2that fans of the series must try, it’sASV UMW 40k. What’s interesting about this mod is that it’s one of the most popular mods forMen of War: Assault Squad 2, but it was only published in 2018, years after the game’s release. What’s even more impressive is that it’s still receiving updates, and players (occasionally) populate the online servers.
Stellarisis probably themost popular strategy game set in space, a surprisingly popular setting among fans of the genre. It’s only natural that the mix of setting and genre would attractWarhammer 40Kmods. Even so, Warhammer 35M, a total conversion forStellaristhemed afterWarhammer 40K, is an impressive achievement.
Stellarisalso has plenty of regular mods that change the game to fit the setting or the tone ofWarhammer 40Kwithout completely changing the game the way a total conversion does. A compilation of smaller mods can serve some players better, especially those who don’t want to complicate their game with too much extra stuff.
5OpenXcom
With The Total Conversion Mod Rosigma
OpenXcomis an open-source clone of the originalXCOMgame,UFO: Enemy Unknown. Compared to the original,OpenXcomhas far fewer bugs, it’s easier to port to other platforms and new machines, and, most importantly, it’s easy to mod. Of the many total conversion mods available,Rosigmais one of the biggest.
Rosigmais a total conversion mod forOpenXcombased on theWarhammer 40Ksetting. It’s the union of two olderOpenXcommods, Rose and Igma. It features a plethora of fully realized factions, from Orks to the Imperial Guard and even some sub-factions like the Adepta Sororitas.
XCOM 2is the 2016 sequel toXCOM: Enemy Unknown, the game thatrebooted the classic seriesand gave it a new life. It’s also one of the most popular games in the series with modders, which says a lot, considering the popularity ofOpenXcommods. Mods like the ones found in ZoranTheBear’s Warhammer 40k Mod Collection, a project that unites manyWarhammer 40kmods under one banner.
While there is no massiveWarhammer 40Ktotal conversion mod forXCOM 2, the dystopic sci-fi series is very popular among the game’s modding community. Keen players can browse the game’s Steam Workshop page and select whichWarhammer 40K-themed mods they want. Alternatively, they can select a trusty mod collection.
7Ravenfield
With Warhammer 40K: Overhaul Collection
Ravenfieldis an early access game that emulates large-scale conflicts in a modern war setting, not unlike the much more popularBattlefieldseries. Even though it entered early access way back in 2017,Ravenfieldis stillbeing regularly updatedand has since added better vehicle combat and improved modding tools.
Those modding tools are what make things like the Warhammer 40K: Overhaul Collectionpossible. This collection includes a staggering number of smaller mods, mostly created by just two fan developers. The mods range from character models to weapons and vehicles and even some maps inspired by theWarhammer 40Kuniverse.
There’s something aboutRimWorldthat makes it a magnet for modders. It might be the low-fidelity assets, making it quick to prototype a cool mod idea, or the extensive mod support rolled out through the years. Whichever it is, fans of the top-down colony simulator know that somewhere, there’s a mod made just to their tastes.
This includesWarhammer 40Kfans: a franchise so popular, especially one so ubiquitous in the modding scene, couldn’t be absent. The most belovedWarhammer 40Kmod forRimWorldseems to be Phonicmas’Warhammer 40.000. This mod is divided into modules, and players don’t have to install the entire thing if they don’t want the base game to be completely unrecognizable.
Arma 3is the latest installment of one of the most popular multiplayer tactical shooter series. This “military simulator,” as the game is usually called, puts a lot of emphasis on cooperation and teamwork. This might not seem like the best foundation to build aWarhammer 40Kmod, but the game is extremely popular with fans of the series.
One of the most popularWarhammer 40Kmods forArma 3isImperial Conquest, also called ICP. This is not quite a total conversion mod, but it attempts to switch every item and character model in the game with aWarhammer 40Kequivalent. Other popular mods include Kullervo’s Warhammer 40.000 Factions, which adds a lot of new armies to the game, and Departmento Munitorum, which adds new sub-factions to ICP.
