I've never been a Warhammer video game fan, but after experimenting with fantasy games...

... I picked up Mordheim.

I played a bit and walked away (even stating here on GOG that I thought the experience was probably far better in MP than SP)...

... but...

... the world intrigued me -- so much that I bought the novel Warblade (book 3 of the Konrad trilogy). From there I started to look at Mordheim again... and then even at games in the 40,000 line (Space Hulk, Tactics, etc.).

But there are so many!

Where does one even start?

Here? https://www.pcgamer.com/warhammer-40k-starter-set/

Fantasy:
Dark Omen
Total war Warhammer 2

40k:
Chaos Gate but that is not good on win 10 :(
Dawn of War
skip the space hulks those are not good imho
oh and this old gem :
Final Liberation: Warhammer Epic 40,000 :P

Read the gotrek and felix novels if you like the fantasy side, that will give you a nice introduction to war hammer. In terms of games, I would suggest there are a lot more and better games for forgotten realms. War hammer games tend to be hit and miss at best.

''
orks

Painting/modeling difficulty: Easy''


Astra Militarum - Painting/modeling difficulty: Moderate.


wut

When it comes to 40k, either Dawn of War or Space Marine.

Dawn of War is responsible for me getting into the 40k universe.

I would tell that for 40K nice start (in video games) is Gladius and/or Rites of War (amongst those available on GOG). Gladius has one great advantage - not only interesting game, but also (at this point) plenty of playable sides of conflict (3 or them via DLCs though) and a great source of knowledge about 40k lore (the descriptions of units/abilities/features are IMO really good in this aspect).

For fantasy - recently released Mark of Chaos is a nice place to start, accessible game and showing a bit overview of sides of conflict and their characteristic.

Thanks! Yeah, I'd looked at those but they're kinda picey. Thanks. Yes, Mark of Chaos looks great. Dawn of War seems to be the Warhammer gateway for many videogamers.

Well, if you're willing to spend a ludicrous amount of cash, you could get into tabletop games.
https://thehardtimes.net/harddrive/warhammer-40000-tournament-just-eight-guys-throwing-cash-at-each-other/

Don’t know about US, but I picked up the individual ones years ago, and then saw the compilation ones in a charity shop.
They do seem pricey, but:
https://www.ebay.com/p/51259047?iid=113848632802&rt=nc

They really hit the nail on the head with that one. It is one of the most atmospheric RTS games that I've played to date. The music, the unit animations, voice lines, basically everything. As I dove deeper into the 40k lore, it made me appreciate the game even more over time.

DoW 2 was fun too, but I vastly prefer the first one.

If you want Warhammer fantasy I would play Warhammer Total War 2. Only on steam sadly.

Yeah, I've picked up a few Warhammer books at library sales and thrift stores in the past for .50 - 1.00. Never paid too much mind to them, much like the Dragonlance books... but now do want to read some of them. When life turns back to a shade of normal, I'll definitely take a look.

Thanks!
It looks nice, but Steam...

After the recommendation here, think I'll try Warhammer Mark of Chaos first. Watched some videos on it and IMHO it looks and sounds amazing for an older game.

If you are looking for a starting point in reading Warhammer then you can start with any of these ,depending on what interests you more:

Warhammer 30k: The first 4-5 novels of the Horus Heresy. "Horus Rising" -> "False Gods" -> "Galaxy in Flames" -> "The Flight of the Eisenstein" -> "Fulgrim". After that point the series gets more and more diluted, but this beginning makes a for a very well constructed storyline.

Warhammer 40k: The Eisenhorn series, is an amazing standalone starting point. The "Eisenhorn" omnibus, has been out of print for a while now, but you can find the "Xenos" -> "Malleus" -> "Hereticus", as individual novels. Recently, "The Magos" has joined the series, and these four novels form the gold standard.

Warhammer 40k: The "Gaunt's Ghosts" series, makes for and excellent starting point. I haven't read any of them, but they are universally recommended.

Warhammer Fantasy: The "Gotrek and Felix" omnibuses are an amazing starting point for Warhammer Fantasy. The first and second omnibuses(and the first novel of the third omnibus), were written/conceived by William King, and they are the gold standard! Unfortunately, William King died, and the series was taken over by another writer. I heard that his novels started up disappointing, but he does get better. By the way, the forth omnibus will come out in about five months.

These recommendations are excellent starting points because they don't require any previous knowledge of the series, and slowly introduce world building elements. After you read these, should you be interested in more, it's easy to go about. You just pick a race/faction that you liked, and read more about it. The novels are basically set up, so that if you like Ultramarines, you can just read the series about the Ultramarines. If you like eldar/dark eldar then you can read exclusively about them.

For example recently, I was interested in reading about the Adepta Sororitas, so I started looking for the "Sisters of Battle: The Omnibus", but unfortunately I discovered that this has gone out of print.:(

Oh, @madelinestroes post just triggered a memory. Keep an eye on humble bundles and possibly groupees. I got a load of the Horus heresy books in a bundle some months back for not much. They often do batches of these things, so you may be lucky.