When it comes to the worst-selling armies for Warhammer 40k and AoS, what factions would be your guess?
Sometimes an army takes a long time to catch on, other times they just don’t really create a fanbase regardless of how cool the minis are.
While this doesn’t mean much in the way of how good they are, it does give some insight into what players are drawn to. Plus, if your army is on the list, it can either be a good or bad thing. It’s good because you probably always have products in stock and people don’t know how to play against you.
The bad side is Games Workshop probably won’t give the faction a ton of support in the future (which compared to things like Space Marines getting constant wallet grabbing updates probably isn’t a bad thing per se) Or, it could go the other way and GW may give them a huge revamp to bring their sales back up…
Either way, let’s check out the armies!
Players Don’t Want These Worst Selling 40k & AoS Armies
According to an industry insider, these are the two worst-selling armies for AoS and Warhammer 40k.
Don’t worry it’s not Space Marines… Obviously
Before we go any further, this is in no way saying these armies are bad or should not be collected. If you are drawn to the fluff, play style, and minis don’t let this stop you.
If anything, it will make you the cool kid on the block.
40k Worst Selling Army: Genestealer Cults
This was a little surprising just because they have so many cool and relatively new minis. Therein lies the problem though, they are a newer faction with relatively newish lore. People haven’t had the same amount of time to fall in love with them.
Another issue may be that they also have an asymmetric playstyle which can lead to issues for players on the tabletop who may be more used to a Space Marine type playstyle.
With a long wave of releases, we would have thought more people would scoop them up but it just doesn’t seem to be the case. Let’s hope more people fall in love with the faction soon, but it may take a change in their playstyle to give them a bigger fanbase.
AoS Worst Selling Army: Idoneth Deepkin
On the AoS side of things, the Deepkin are rumored to have the sad crown of being the worst-selling army. That seems to make sense actually as they have many of the same issues as GSC.
They are a newer faction, the lore is a little too fresh, and they have an asymmetric play style. We feel like they have some really cool minis, their own identity, and are pretty interesting overall.
It might just take time for newer players to come in and see them as an established army before the lore doesn’t seem so fresh and more people start collecting them.
Still, it seems the newer factions have a hard time taking off. It isn’t just these two armies.
It Takes Time to Build a Fan Base
Tau, while now are quite popular with fans, took a long time to get off the ground. When they were first introduced in 2001 some people picked them up- but not that many. It wasn’t until the late 2000’s that they really took off in popularity. When you look at GSC or Deepkin, they are probably just still a little too new.
This could also be a reason why GW is hesitant to add new factions, if they don’t double-dip the release waves it can take a long time before they reach the sales of the other armies.
Even a rework and revamp can take time. Just look at when Drukhari was redone.
They have been around the game forever, but in 2011 when the rework happened, it took till about 2018 to see more people playing them. Obviously, the hardcore fans stuck with them, but they really fell off and it just seems with the latest codex that they have really taken off.
So who knows, maybe if GSC or Deepkin get a good enough book, they might go up in the popularity leaderboard pretty quick!
Do you play either of these supposed worst selling 40k and AoS armies? Do you think it will just take time before they take off?
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
