Wargame fans will likely have Warhammer 40K as a household name. After all, its grimdark galaxy serves as the perfect setting for brutal skirmishes between the Imperium of Man and other civilizations scattered throughout the universe. Moreover, the abundance of these civilizations - which also serve as playable factions - make Warhammer 40K quite the thrilling experience.
After all, players can now play as the vicious Orks, the elegant Eldar, the undying Necron, or even the terrifying Tyranids. Moreover, all these factions have their fair share of unique units, heroes, and even extremely powerful weapons. For players building their perfect army, just what are the most brutal Warhammer 40K weapons the galaxy has to offer?
10 Tyranid Hive Ship
While by all means a battleship, a Hive Ship serves as the organic "carries" of Tyranids whenever they travel the galaxy. Similar to other gigantic ships in WH40K, the Tyranid Hive Ship has the capabilities of both the production and transportation of Tyranids into the battlefield. Aside from extremely strong outer shells, they have bio-factories that constantly create Tyranid troops and serve as "nodes" that connect entire sections of the Tyranid fleet.
As such, Tyranid Hive Ships remain as terrifying vehicles of war on the battlefield. They may not be superweapons themselves, but their ability to produce millions of Tyranids can pose enough of a threat to any enemy.
9 Exterminatus
Fans of WH40KÂ know that Exterminatus isn't a weapon, but rather an order that comes from the Imperium of Man. Soldiers who hear this call will prepare Cyclonic Torpedoes, weapons of mass destruction capable of annihilating all life on a planet. After all, Cyclonic Torpedoes possess enough energy to destabilize a planet's biosphere and convert the planet into a Dead World incapable of supporting life.
Given the sheer magnitude of this command, it's not something given willy-nilly against threats. The Imperium only orders Exterminatus as a last resort, often against worlds where threats are spreading far too greater than the Imperium's capacity to contain it.
8 Fireheart
The Dark Eldar had the Fireheart as one of their most powerful weapons. As an ancient relic of the past, the Fireheart remains sacred to the Dark Eldar. Unfortunately, as it's psychically charged, the Dark Eldar would need the power of Warp-sensitive individuals in order to activate it. However, despite the sheer effort needed to activate the device makes way for a worthy reward.
When activated, Fireheart strikes not through the planet and its defenses. Rather, Fireheart strikes the planet's core, destabilizing the planet from the inside out. Despite its location today being unknown, anyone who possesses the Fireheart will be a force to be reckoned with.
7 Aeonic Orb
Despite the ancient and mysterious nature of the Necron, the Aeonic Orb remains even a mystery to those studying Necrons and their technology. The Necrons created the Aeonic Orb during the War in Heaven. This time when the ancient C'tan helped them against the Old Ones. As such, it's rumored that only a C'tan would be able to give the Aeonic Orb the necessary energy it needs to be activated.
After all, the Aeonic Orb contains the power of an entire star in itself. When deployed, the Aeonic Orb can be positioned near integral points, and its shields would be lowered enough for the Necron to choose their desired targets. Unfortunately, enough damage to its defenses will cause the Aeonic Orb to stabilize. Afterwards, the Orb will unleash the full power of its star - destroying everything around it, both friend and foe.
6 Black Cubes
The Black Cubes remain as one of the most mysterious ancient weapons procured by the Imperium of Man. According to scholars, the Black Cubes came to existence millions of years ago, although no one has yet to deduce their true origins. However, what's known is that Black Cubes are affiliated with Chaos energy and can only be triggered with a blood ritual.
Users can activate a Black Cube via a blood ritual within a day. Unfortunately, they no longer can deactivate the device once triggered. When activated, a Black Cube will amass Warp energies in its core. Moreover, when unleashed, the Black Cube is capable of transforming the biosphere of a planet - potentially making it inhospitable extremely quickly.
5 Planet Killer
Planet Killer serves as the flagship of Abaddon the Despoiler during the Gothic War. Interestingly, despite being a Chaos Marine warship, the Planet Killer doesn't resemble any known starship design. In fact, it was through an ancient shipyard that Abaddon saw the half-completed Planet Killer.
However, what makes the Planet Killer so terrifying isn't the ship itself, but rather its primary asset - the Armageddon Gun. This gigantic weapon lies at the center of the starship. Its primary energy composition remains unknown. Moreover, any directed energy strike from the Armageddon Gun can annihilate any planet.
4 World Engine
The World Engine is a planet-sized structure, housing a massive Gauss Weapon on its equator that can eliminate ships in a single blast. Moreover, hundreds of Night Scythes and Doom Scythes protect the ship from outside forces. Lastly, it possesses a defensive screen that interferes with both remote and electronic devices, as well as powerful energy shields.
While it does resemble another popular planet-killing weapon, the World Engine doesn't have an exposed part of its core that's vulnerable to a blast from a small ship. Rather, its defenses remained too strong that an actual warship had to ram itself into the World Engine just to destabilize its engines.
3 Blackstone Fortress
The Blackstone Fortresses remain as one of the most mysterious starforts ever discovered in the Milky Way Galaxy. Albeit being used by both Chaos and the Imperium of Mankind, there's little known about their origins. However, what people do know is that they may have been used in the war between the Necrons and the Old Ones. There are seven known Blackstone Fortresses, with the power of one already enough to decimate armies.
Two Blackstone Fortresses that work in unison have enough power to destroy a planet. However, three Blackstone Fortresses that pool their energy together can destabilize a star, causing it to go supernova.
2 C'tan Shards
Lore states that the C'tan or Star Gods roamed the early universe as the oldest intelligent beings. However, unlike other species, C'tan don't have physical forms. Rather, they're beings of pure energy that absorb the essences of stars. It's only through the necrodermis, living metal created by the Necrontyr, that the C'tan got their physical forms. Moreover, they manipulated the Necrontyr, ancestors of modern-day Necrons, into rebelling against the Old Ones that subdued the latter. Unfortunately, the C'tan, in turn, would subjugate the Necrontyr as their servants.
However, the Necrontyr would eventually prevail against the C'tan. Moreover, they've placed surviving C'tan into special necrodermis shards. In turn, these Shards have special programming that will force the C'tan to follow the Shard's user. As such, those in possession of the Shard can force the C'tan inside it to use its energies to do its bidding. These abilities range from blasts of energy to eliminating entire star systems outright.
1 Celestial Orrery
Of all the brutal weapons in WH40K, it's perhaps the Celestial Orrery that's the deadliest. However, the Celestial Orrery remains a terror not because of its sheer might. Interestingly, it's not exactly a "weapon," too. Rather, the Celestial Orrery takes the form of a device sealed in the Necron crownworld Thanatos. Moreover, it doesn't even look remotely like a weapon, as the Celestial Orrery is a representation of the Milky Way Galaxy.
What makes the Celestial Orrery isn't its accurate display of all the stars in the galaxy. Rather, it's because the Celestial Orrery is a manifestation of the Milky Way Galaxy itself. As such, users can easily rearrange any star in the Orrery, and its real-world counterpart will follow suit. What's more terrifying is that the Orrery will also reflect all the consequences of these actions - move a star too far or too close and it will react with everything else around it.