Leveling Up Your Warhammer 40K Game With AI

As a long-time fan of Warhammer 40K, I've found that life often gets in the way of dedicating enough time to the hobby. However, I discovered that AI might be the perfect assistant to help bridge that gap.

For the past few months, I've used ChatGPT to refine my Warhammer army lists. With a small tournament on the horizon at my local club and little competitive experience, I decided to push the AI further. My goal was to see if ChatGPT could help me create a fresh and fun Ork army list from scratch. But why stop there? A great army needs more than just a solid list; it needs a story. So, I also tasked the AI with developing unique lore and a thematic paint scheme to match.

Crafting an Army List with AI

My first step was to generate a new list for my Orks, complete with the correct points costs and equipment. In Warhammer 40K, you build an army with a budget of points, and each unit has a specific value. The challenge is to create synergy between your troops and their rules to build a cohesive force.

My prompt to the AI was: “Create a competitive, but fluffy, 2K Ork War horde list for 40K 10th edition with no named character.”

The AI delivered a comprehensive list, but it had one significant flaw: some of the point values were wrong. This isn't entirely shocking, as ChatGPT draws from various sources, and Games Workshop frequently updates the game's points, making it difficult to keep up. Luckily, I could double-check the values with the official Warhammer 40k app and ask the AI to make adjustments.

Despite this, I was impressed. The list left a set amount of points open, allowing me to customize it to my liking. The AI also provided a breakdown of why the selected units were lore-friendly (or "fluffy") and offered tactical advice on how to use them on the battlefield. I realized I could even ask for a turn-by-turn battle plan.

Generating Custom Lore for Your Army

With the list drafted, it was time to create some lore. I decided to have some fun and asked ChatGPT to create a story for an Ork army based on Tom’s Guide, adding a few specific details for flavor.

ChatGPT did not disappoint. It created “Da Waaaagh! Of Da Techno-Reviewaz,” led by Warboss Tomskull da Reviewer, who is obsessed with finding and field-testing new technology. The lore was simple, easy to grasp, and filled with brilliant details, like war cries consisting of yelling about tech specs. It even established an army culture, where Deff Dreds are called “Prototype cases” used to gauge the “frames per chop” of their weapons. It also detailed how other factions might view the army, providing a great foundation for me to expand upon.

Designing a Paint Scheme Using AI

The final piece of the puzzle was a paint scheme. I asked ChatGPT to devise a color scheme using specific Games Workshop paints and to outline the painting process, starting with a guide for a novice painter.

Once again, the AI delivered an easy-to-follow guide with specific paints listed for each part of a model. It also provided tailored painting instructions for certain units in the army while staying true to the central theme. ChatGPT even offered beginner tips and a plan for painting a five-model test squad. However, as a more experienced painter, I wanted to see what it could suggest for a more advanced approach.

The advanced guide was exactly what I was hoping for. It built upon the original steps, adding extra detail with more layers and washes. These techniques are what I would consider relatively advanced, and I was again offered a test guide to try out the new scheme.

Final Thoughts on AI as a Hobby Assistant

After this experiment, I can definitely see myself using ChatGPT more in my hobby endeavors, far beyond just list suggestions. While it isn't perfect and has a few issues that need navigating, its potential as a creative partner and organizational tool is undeniable.

Have you been using AI to help with your tabletop games? Let me know how it went!