The Leagues of Votann faction are hardy, independent, and avaricious asteroid miners from a long-isolated strain of humanity. Though their bodies are short and squat, adapted to the high gravity environments of the galactic core that is their home, they have sharp wits and technology far in advance of anything the Imperium of Man can muster. This guide explains the Leagues of Votann lore, as well as their rules in the latest version of Warhammer 40k.
Though descended from humans, the Votann are not part of the Imperium of Man, and they often find common cause with the more diplomatic Xenos races. Wargamer has many other guides to the Warhammer 40k factions if you want to explore their lore as well.
Warhammer 40k Leagues of Votann:
Leagues of Votann lore
Leagues of Votann lore is hard to come by in the Imperium. The civilization of the Kin is centered in the dense galactic core, a region that – thanks to its extremes of gravity – has always been dangerous to traverse, in both realspace and the warp.
What’s more, the core is now largely engulfed by the Cicatrix Maledictum. And even when humans do encounter the Kin, they find a people that is often taciturn, brusque, and insular.
Origins
The Leagues of Votann’s origins can be traced to the earliest days of human space exploration, and the first great period of human stellar expansion. Early pioneers made it to the mineral rich galactic core. This region is rich in minerals but lacked much else, and travel to and from the core was difficult. Over time, the settlers of this region became a culture unto themselves, self-sufficient, resilient, and hard-minded.
Biology
Though they resemble squat, sturdy humans, the Votann culture and even their genetic code has long since diverged from humankind. Partly this is the result of genetic drift due to their isolation from the rest of the species, and partly it has been shepherded by the mysterious influence of their ancient Votann Ancestor Core computers.
The Kin who make up the Leagues are a cloned race. All the Kin are genetically engineered to be stronger, hardier and shorter than the human baseline, and generally to be resistant to the effects of the warp.
The race is divided into specialised Cloneskeins: stable mutations with traits for radiation resistance, fast reactions, or the psychic sensitivity to operate trans-Warp technology. The Kin’s genome must have been reworked at around the same time human culture created the Navigator houses, but the Cloneskeins are far more stable than their Imperial equivalent.
Society
The basic unit of Kin society is a Hold, a self-governing settlement somewhere between a town, a company, and a fortress. Leagues are alliances of many Holds that provide mutual aid in the form of defense, trade, and expertise. Each League is governed by a Votann Ancestor Core, a monumentally powerful artificial intelligence.
Cutting across the lines of Hold and League are the Guilds. These professional organisations of technicians, merchants and engineers maintain their own structures and secrets, but serve to unite the many Kindreds.
The Leagues and Guilds guard many secrets fiercely, but they’re nowhere near as xenophobic as the Imperium. Indeed, the Seran-Tok Mercantile Leagues have made a fortune trading with the T’au.
Leagues of Votann Technology
Leagues of Votann technology is more advanced than anything in the Imperium. Because their society developed to be entirely self-sufficient from the rest of humankind, when the great warpstorms of the Age of Strife destroyed the first human galactic civilization, the Kin were relatively unaffected.
Not only do they have working Standard Template Construct (STC) systems from the first pre-human galactic civilization, they have added centuries of actual research and development on top of it. They’re not above sharing this tech, either – the Ion weaponry that the T’au Empire uses originated with the Leagues.
The visual design of Leagues of Votann models reflects motifs from other models that we know, in the lore, make use of pre-Imperial technology.
The Hearthkyn’s Etacarn Plasma Beamer has a lot in common with Belisarius Cawl’s ‘new’ range of Plasma weaponry, and the curvy panels and circular joint-covers of Hearthguard Exo Armour look at lot like Cawl’s ‘innovations’ in the Mk X Power Armour worn by Primaris Space Marines.
Meanwhile, the modular design of Kin weaponry, and the layered armour plates of Exo Armour, resemble technology we’ve seen on House Van Saar models. The Necromundan gangers use a secret, functioning STC system, albeit one that continuously irradiates them… Votann tech is a lot more stable.
Ironkin
The Kin aren’t just flesh and blood. Ironkin are fully integrated and autonomous members of the Leagues. The history of the Leagues have been lost to the mists of time, but they know that Ironkin have always been with them.
The domed heads of the Ironkin are extremely similar to the model UR-025, a sentient ‘Man of Iron’ who predates the Imperium and can be found in the Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress board game. The Imperium is extremely prejudiced against ‘Abominable Intelligences’, perhaps owing
Votann Ancestor Core
At the heart of every League is a Votann Ancestor Core, an immeasurably powerful and ancient artificial intelligence system that contains millennia of accumulated lore and knowledge. These cores are at the centre of the Leagues’ society, the sum total of their culture and science – they’re even what the culture is named after.
To one of the Kin, no sacrifice is too great if it will protect the Votann. But all is not well. After 10,000 years of continued operation they are becoming slower and more erratic. If they ever finally do crash, it will be the biggest blue screen of death in the galaxy.
Hernkyn
The Leagues have always been an industrial civilization, and their fleetbound Oathbands and Prospects are ever on the prowl for new resources to exploit. At the forefront of Votann exploration are the Hernkyn. They are rugged survivalists, used to operating far away from the (comparative) comforts of hearth and home.
Cthonian Mining Guilds
When Kin prospectors have uncovered a new bounty of mineral wealth, it falls to the Cthonian Mining Guilds to extract it. Their Cloneskeins are adapted for extreme conditions, whether that be heat, cold, or radiation, and their bodies are further adapted with bionic augmentations.
Leagues of Votann units
Games Workshop spent much of Summer 2022 previewing shiny new Leagues of Votann units – starting in April, when it first announced the new faction was on the way, through to November, when the Votann’s standalone model kits started rolling out into stores.
We first set eyes on the entirety of the new model range during GW’s Nova Open preview live stream on August 31, 2022 – and since then the Leagues of Votann army has entered the 40k mainstream. Here’s a handy table of all the Leagues of Votann units currently available:
Ûthar the Destined
So far the only named character in the Leagues of Votann army, Ûthar the Destined is a storied Kâhl (leader) and a noted hero of the Greater Thurian League. He wields the Blade of the Ancestors, a potent relic weapon.
Kâhl
Built from the same kit as Ûthar, but with a few varying weapon and bits choices, the Kâhl is your main Leader unit, somewhat equivalent to a Space Marine captain. They’re the nominated war leader of a given Kindred, trusted to lead their forces into battle.
Hearthkyn Warriors
Hearthkyn Warriors – the first Leagues of Votann models ever to be shown off – form the core of their armies. Squads of up 20 hardy warriors are led into battle by their Theyns. Their void armour is tough, and their weaponry is better than the finest creations of the disciples of Mars. Though they are adapted and trained for war, unlike Space Marines, the Hearthkyn have lives outside of battle.
Sagitaur
Hearthkyn squads can be transported into battle on Sagitaur all-terrain-vehicles. Acting in pairs, they pack heavy armaments that can support passenger infantry squads with anti-tank or anti-personnel fire once they disembark.
Hernkyn Pioneers
The Leagues’ key outriders, the Hernkyn Pioneers ride to war on hovering motor-trikes, toting shotguns, saddlebags and sweet dustcoats. They deploy in squads of three, with one vehicle usually sporting a mid-weight support weapon.
Hernkyn Yaegirs
Hernkyn Yaegirs are scouting, infiltration, and special operations troops, deployed from Hernkyn vessels to stake a claim on a world that is valuable, but which the Leagues aren’t yet in a position to fully exploit. They are highly self-sufficient, and operate for long periods unsupported to maintain a Votann presence on worlds that already have the attention of other races.
Cthonian Beserks
Cthonian Beserks are drawn from the Cthonian mining clans, their bodies already heavily modified for subterranean or asteroid-bound minins operations. They wield high-tech mining equipment like heavy plasma axes and concussion mauls, which they use to destructive effect in close combat.
The Beserks also field Ironkin-aided sapper teams armed with ‘Mole Grenade Launchers’ that fire grenades under the ground.
Einhyr Hearthguard
In the heavyweight category, Einhyr Hearthguard wear Exo-Armor suits that make Space Marine Terminators look like they’re wearing no more than a light windcheater. The Einhyr are the elite warriors of a League, tasked with defending both the rulers, its stronghold, and particularly the Votann themselves.
Einhyr Champion
Described by GW as “living battering rams” clad in “modified exo-armour fitted with mass-drivers”, the fearsome Einhyr Champion leads the equally heavily armed Einhyr into battle.
Brôkhyr Thunderkyn
Expert forge workers kitted out for war in awesome exo-frames, the Brôkhyr Thunderkyn are dedicated heavy gunners. Their commonplace weaponry includes powerful devices that the Imperium is all but incapable of constructing, including lethal Conversion Beam weaponry.
Brôkhyr Iron-master
Every good dwarf faction needs a master of the forge, with a big ole hammer – in the Leagues of Votann, this role falls to the Brôkhyr Iron-master, who comes to war accompanied by an Ironkin Assistant and a flock of ECOG repair drones. Though they don’t share the body layout of other Ironkin, the ECOG aren’t mindless – they’ve simply adopted a body layout better suited to their task.
Grimnyr
The Grimnyr is a very unusual kind of 40k Psyker – they’re (almost) safe to be around. Their unique Cloneskein lets them interact with the warp, but they also use ‘barrier technology’ (including special AI drones called CORVs) to do it more safely. Each League’s Grimnyr is also the one who interfaces with its Votann Ancestor Core, using arcane technology.
Hekaton Land Fortress
A modern reimagining of the Squats’ trademark Land Train of old (check that bad boy out below), the Hekaton Land Fortress is a chonky void-armoured heavy tank with one big high-tech gun, several extra weapon turrets, and the ability to transport troops into combat. Its wheeled design and cockpit shows its origins, derived from the space exploration vehicles used by the Votann’s ancient forebears.
Warhammer 40k Squats
The oldest, wrinkliest wargamers will remember the Warhammer 40k Squats‘ origins in the game’s very first edition: Rogue Trader. Rogue Trader took every trope from Warhammer Fantasy Battles and launched it all into the far future.
Orcs became Space Orks; Ogres became Ogryn; Elves became Eldar; and Dwarfs became… well, the first box of plastic models was just called Space Dwarfs! These short spacefarers were quickly renamed the Squats.
The Squats were descendants of early human colony ships that had settled in the galactic core. Life on the mineral rich, high-gravity, barely habitable planets at the centre of the galaxy made them hardy, self-sufficient, and short.
Their society was based around their underground mining Strongholds which allied together for trade and mutual defence into the 700 Leagues. Binding this society together were ‘Guilds’ of scientists and technicians, whose understanding of technology outstripped the Adeptus Mechanicus. Long-lived, the oldest squats developed a psychic connection with the spirits of their forebears, becoming wise and puissant Ancestor Lords.
The Squat model line contained infantry, elite warriors in egg-shaped Exo-Armour, heavy weapons teams, and squat bikers on motorbikes and trikes. In 6mm scale Epic they had a range of unusual vehicles, including the massive Goliath mega-cannon artillery piece, Cyclops super-heavy tank, a Land Train with an armoured engine hauling heavy gun carriages, Gyrocopters, and even a battle Zeppelin.
Rules for squats made the transition to the Codex Imperialis booklet in the 2nd edition Warhammer 40k box set, but they never again received a Codex or new models. Jervis Johnson wrote on the Specialist Games Forums that the design team simply weren’t fired up enough by the narrative behind the Squats to design a new Codex or new models. Soon enough, the squats were cut from the lore. Their fate was rather ignominious – their homeworlds were eaten by Tyranids.
There was a hint of what the next Dwarves in Space might be in the spaceship wargame Battlefleet Gothic. The T’au faction in Battlefleet Gothic made use of alien auxiliary forces, including the Demiurg: a short, stocky, humanoid race of traders and asteroid miners who piloted hammerheaded ships. But, when support for Battlefleet Gothic ended in 2013, all mentions of the Demiurg disappeared.
The Squats subtly returned to the setting in 2012. Appendix 1 of the Warhammer 40k 6th edition rulebook contained an Imperial treatise on Abhumans. This describes the Squats, a.k.a. Homo Sapiens Rotundus, as one of fifteen abhuman strains still alive and sanctioned by the Adeptus Terra.
It wasn’t until 2018 that we finally saw what a modern squat looks like. Grendl Grendlsen is a Squat bounty hunter for the skirmish wargame Necromunda. With a padded jacket and mirror shade helmet, Grendl channels the same energy as his Rogue Trader ancestors, updated with modern sculpting techniques.
GW first announced the return of Squats as a brand new 40k army on April 1, 2022 in an apparent April Fool’s joke. But, in a magnificent double bluff, it revealed the following day that it was all real after all, the space dwarfs were returning to the game – and so we met the Leagues of Votann.
Much of the history of the old-school Squats (more on them below) has made it into Warhammer 40k’s brand new, refreshed Leagues of Votann lore. Just like the Squats, the Leagues are the descendants of early human space colonists and prospectors who settled in the hazardous, mineral-rich galactic core – though there are differences.
The new Leagues of Votann models reference many classic squat models. The Hernkyn Pioneers and their hoverbikes reference Squat Trike riders. The mirror shades and earrings on some Hearthkyn heads give them an old school ‘hairy biker’ look, while the rounded carapace of Hearthkyn Void armour that recalls egg-shaped Squat Exo-Armour.
Since then, the Iron Head Prospectors Squat gang has been released for Necromunda, and we’ve learnt more about their history. Necromunda’s Squat population are the descendents of Votann technicians who helped to rebuild Necromunda in the aftermath of the Horus Heresy. Some settled and adapted to Imperial life, but their relatives are still out there in the void…
Leagues of Votann rules in 10th edition
The Warhammer 40k 10th edition Leagues of Votann rules – as laid out in the free, 10th edition Leagues of Votann index cards – are pretty close to how the army functioned at the end of 9th edition, after nerfs cut back on some of their more overpowered core abilities.
Click here to download your free Leagues of Votann 10th Edition Index Cards PDF.
You should also grab the latest balance dataslate and official core rules errata. The Leagues of Votann Index rules are underpowered for competitive play, and the balance dataslate adjusts them to balance this out.
Leagues of Votann army rule – Eye of the Ancestors.
When an enemy unit destroys a Votann unit, they acquire a a Judgment token. They can have up to two.
Votann units get +1 to hit enemy units with one Judgment token, and an additional +1 to wound targets with two tokens. While those are good buffs, they don’t have an effect until after you’ve lost some models. The Leagues of Votann Oathband detachment lets you put some tokens onto enemy units when the game begins.
Leagues of Votann detachments
Like the other 40k factions still without a 10th edition codex, there’s only one Leagues of Votann detachment on offer: Oathband.
| Detachment # | Detachment name | Detachment rule |
| 1 | Oathband | Ruthless |
| 2 | Unknown | Unknown |
| 3 | Unknown | Unknown |
| 4 | Unknown | Unknown |
| 5 | Unknown | Unknown |
| 6 | Unknown | Unknown |
The first Leagues of Votann detachment, Oathband, allows you to select an enemy unit at the start of the game and give it two Judgment tokens.
In matched play games, the June 20 Balance Dataslate buffs this so that you get to put two tokens onto two units in an incursion game, four units in a strike force game, and six units in an Onslaught game.
You’ll earn a bounty in Command Points for destroying that target (or any one target, under the Balance Dataslate rules), earning more points the sooner in the battle you annihilate it.
Leagues of Votann Stratagems
As per the other factions, the Oathband Index detachment has six stratagems to play with, as follows:
| Name | Type | Cost | Phase | Effect |
| Warrior Pride | Battle Tactic | 1CP | Fight phase | Improve your unit’s melee attacks’ AP by 1 for each Judgement Token on the target unit |
| Ancestral Sentence | Battle Tactic | 1CP | Your Shooting phase | Give one unit’s shots [SUSTAINED HITS 1] for the phase – or [SUSTAINED HITS 2] if the target unit has any Judgement Tokens |
| Reactive Reprisal | Battle Tactic | 2CP | Their Shooting phase, after an enemy unit with Judgement Tokens shoots at one of your units | The unit that was just shot at can immediately shoot back at the same unit with Judgement Tokens that shot at it (as long as it’s eligible) |
| Ordered Retreat | Strategic Ploy | 1CP | Your Movement phase, after falling back | Until end of turn, target unit can shoot and declare a charge even though it fell back |
| Newfound Nemesis | Strategic Ploy | 1CP | Their shooting phase, or Fight phase after an enemy unit finishes attacking | If target enemy unit just reduced one of your units to below Half-strength with its attacks, put a Judgement Token on it. If your damaged unit includes your Warlord, place 2 tokens instead |
| Void Armour | Wargear | 1CP | Their shooting phase, or Fight phase after an enemy unit selects targets | Pick one of your units that’s being targeted – worsen the AP of all attacks against it by 1 until end of phase |
The 2CP Reactive Reprisal stratagem is a particular stand-out winner, allowing a Votann unit to return fire after it’s shot at by any enemy unit with Judgment tokens on it. Watch out for this being used on big blobs of Einhyr Hearthguard, with their dual-wielding plasma guns and shoulder-mounted grenade launchers; the resulting retaliatory barrage can be devastating.
Void Armour might worsens incoming attacks’ AP is crucial to protect your elite infantry (and even your tanks, in a pinch), so you’ll find this 1CP is a regular staple.
Powerful ranged weapons still feature heavily in the Votann armoury. The dreaded Heavy Magna-Rail Cannon remains lethal, with S18, AP-4, dealing D6+6 wounds, and ignoring armour saves on to-wound rolls of six.
This datasheet, as well as the weapon stats for the dwarf-portable SP Conversion Beamer, also reveal the new ‘Conversion’ Weapon Ability. Weapons with this key-word will inflict Critical Hits on a to-hit roll of 4+ against targets 12” or more away.
Critical Hits are used to trigger other weapon abilities, which in the case of the SP Conversion Beamer is an additional D3 hits from its Sustained Hits D3 ability.
The Votann’s basic Hearthkyn Warriors have a swiss-army knife of special weapons and T5, as well as some twists to their toolbox of gear: the Comms Array now gives them a chance to refund one CP when they use a Stratagem, and the Medipack grants the unit a 6+ Feel No Pain.
Objectives that the unit claims remain claimed even after they move off it, useful for holding ground.
Leagues of Votann codex
Games Workshop hasn’t revealed the Leagues of Votann 10th edition Codex release date yet – and we don’t currently know what to expect next.
For more details, read our full, up-to-date guide to 10th edition Warhammer 40k codex release dates.
Mind you, if you want, you can still buy the 9th edition Leagues of Votann codex from some retailers.
It’s full of great lore and artwork for the Votann, but doesn’t contain any of the current, valid rules.
Source: Wargamer
