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Warhammer Survivors Glossary
Last updated 2026-10-24 · Demo build
🚧 Demo-era build: Warhammer Survivors launches November 10, 2026. A demo is playable now on Steam and Xbox PC — pages are seeded from demo-era sources and completed at launch.
New to Warhammer? These are the factions, units and nouns that appear in Warhammer Survivors and its official announcements, explained in one line each. “Official post” links show where the term appears in the game’s own news; Lexicanum (a fan-run Warhammer wiki) has the deeper lore. Official Warhammer news and setting articles live on Warhammer Community.
Game terms
| Term | Meaning | Links |
|---|---|---|
| Keywords | Tags on every character, weapon and some items that decide who can wield what. Off-Keyword weapons bring a follower. | Guide · Official post |
| Follower | An ally who wields a weapon for your champion. Cannot take damage or collect items. | Guide · Official post |
| Status effect | Temporary effects such as Burning, Poisoned and Oiled. | Guide · Official post |
| Faction Traits | Tabletop-inspired mechanics unique to each enemy faction, e.g. Synapse and Waaagh!. | Official post |
| Extremis Boss | Each enemy faction’s signature boss, such as Ghazghkull or the Great Unclean One. | Official post |
| Evolution | Combining a weapon with the right power-up to transform it — sometimes summoning a hero. | Guide · Official post |
| Pick-up | Temporary items found around faction-themed light sources, mostly unique to each universe. | Guide · Official post |
| Cross-universe weapon | A weapon usable in both universes, such as the D6 Dice and Nuln Oil. | Official post |
| Nuln Oil | A real Citadel shade paint; in-game a cross-universe weapon that applies Oiled. | Guide · Official post |
| Paint pots | Collectibles on the battlefield that unlock new character forms and secrets. | Steam |
| Hobby Table | A stage set on a hobbyist’s desk where several enemy factions attack at once. | Guide · Official post |
Warhammer 40,000
| Term | Meaning | Links |
|---|---|---|
| Imperium | The vast human empire ruled in the name of the God-Emperor; every 40K champion in the demo fights for it. | Lexicanum · Steam page |
| Space Marines (Adeptus Astartes) | Genetically enhanced super-soldiers in power armour. Malum Caedo and Brother Luca are Space Marines. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Ultramarines | The Space Marine Chapter of Malum Caedo, Brother Luca and Chapter Master Marneus Calgar. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Sternguard Veteran | A veteran Space Marine skilled with many weapons — Malum Caedo’s rank. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Intercessor | A front-line Space Marine armed with a bolt rifle; Brother Luca is one, starting with a Boltgun. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Black Templars | A crusading Space Marine Chapter. Their Castellan grows stronger with every follower gained. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Astra Militarum | The Imperial Guard: the Imperium’s mass army of ordinary human soldiers. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Cadian Shock Troops | Disciplined Astra Militarum regiments from Cadia. Trooper Kozlowski is one; his Lasgun brings more Shocktroopers as it upgrades. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Catachan | A jungle death-world whose regiments excel at guerrilla warfare — home of the Legend of Catachan. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Commissar | An Imperial officer who enforces discipline. Commissar Sebastian Yarrick is named as playable on the Steam page. | Lexicanum · Steam page |
| Leman Russ | The Imperial Guard’s main battle tank, commanded in-game by Knight-Commander Pask. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Tyranids | An alien swarm that devours whole planets for biomass. A 40K enemy faction. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Hive Mind / Synapse | The Tyranid collective will. In-game, Synapse creatures such as the Hive Tyrant drive nearby swarms Berserk; kill them to stun the swarm. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Orks | Brutal, war-loving green-skinned aliens. Led in-game by Ghazghkull Mag Uruk Thraka, an Extremis Boss. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Waaagh! | An Ork war-surge. In-game the screen turns red, more Orks spawn and they become frenzied. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Death Guard | Chaos Space Marines devoted to Nurgle, god of decay. A 40K enemy faction that poisons the player. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Nurgle | The Chaos god of plague, decay and despair, worshipped by the Death Guard. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Space Hulk | A drifting mass of fused, derelict starships. The Gallowdark stage is one. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Recaff | The Imperium’s caffeinated drink, a running joke in the developer’s posts. | Lexicanum · Official post |
Age of Sigmar
| Term | Meaning | Links |
|---|---|---|
| Mortal Realms | The eight magical realms where Age of Sigmar takes place. | Lexicanum · Steam page |
| Sigmar | The God-King who leads the forces of Order. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Stormcast Eternals | Sigmar’s lightning-forged immortal warriors. Neave Blacktalon and Sharynn Azurwrath are Stormcast. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Realmgate | A magical portal between realms. Hammerhal’s Stormrift Realmgate lets you switch biomes mid-stage. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Hammerhal | The grandest of the Free Cities, spanning Aqshy and Ghyran; an in-game stage besieged by Skaven and Blades of Khorne. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Aqshy / Ghyran / Shyish | The Realms of Fire, Life and Death. The Steam page mentions battles on the ashen plains of Aqshy; Shyish gives the Purple Sun pick-up its name. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Fyreslayers | Duardin (dwarf) warrior-cults hunting ur-gold. Ulgromthier is an Auric Runemaster; the Fyrestorm Greataxe is a Fyreslayer weapon. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Duardin | The dwarf peoples of the Mortal Realms. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Gotrek Gurnisson | The legendary Slayer. Playable, and summoned by evolving the Fyrestorm Greataxe into Zangrom-Thaz. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Skaven | Scheming rat-men who serve the Great Horned Rat. An Age of Sigmar enemy faction. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Warpstone | Raw, corrupting magical rock that the Skaven hoard and build weapons from. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Rat Ogor | A hulking Skaven brute; in-game it unleashes Warp Fury at low health. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Blades of Khorne | Daemons and mortals devoted to Khorne, the Blood God. Includes Flesh Hounds, Bloodcrushers and Skull Cannons. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Gloomspite Gitz | Moon-worshipping grots with Squigs and Troggoths. Revealed as an enemy faction on October 6. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Squig | Bouncing, mostly-mouth creatures bred by grots; “ravenous Squigs” back the Gloomspite Gitz. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Troggoth | Huge, regenerating, dim-witted brutes that fight alongside the Gloomspite Gitz. | Lexicanum · Official post |
| Endless Spell | A summoned spell that persists on the battlefield. In-game, Endless Spells are AoS pick-ups such as the Purple Sun of Shyish. | Lexicanum · Official post |
Related: status effects · squad system · characters.
Sources
- Auroch Digital — First Survivors Revealed (Steam, Nov 19, 2025)
- Auroch Digital — Enemies sighted! (Steam, Nov 26, 2025)
- Auroch Digital — Play the Steam Demo now / Skulls recap (Steam, May 21, 2026)
- Auroch Digital — Feature Focus: Faction Traits (Steam, Sept 17, 2026)
- Auroch Digital — Feature Focus: Squad System (Steam, Oct 21, 2026)
- Lexicanum — Warhammer 40k wiki
- Lexicanum — Age of Sigmar wiki