We don't get into popularity contests here at Wargamer, we love all the armies in Warhammer 40k equally. But there's hard evidence that the fandom at large absolutely plays favorites. According to Games Workshop's half-year financial report, released on Tuesday, in 2025 the fans were in love with the Space Wolves, "which set a new record for army box sales" when their big box bundle dropped in May 2025.
While this doesn't prove that the Space Wolves are the most popular Warhammer 40k faction outright, if your game group is burdened with a player who somehow believes that the global popularity of their army is at all important, they've got some extra ammo.
If you can't beat them, you also can't join them, since the Space Wolves army set is thoroughly sold out at retail - unlike the Death Korps of Krieg set from January 2025, which still has stock lingering in a few places.
Army Sets are a contentious proposition. On one hand, they provide all the new releases for an army in one go, and at a bundle discount. On the other hand, this results in the general release of all those new kits - and the all-important new Codex for the army - being delayed, a bane for competitive players and anyone without the cash to grab the army set exactly when it drops.
On the third hand (it's okay, we're counting on a Genestealer), a bundle of the latest releases isn't always a coherent way to start or add to an army. And on the fourth, claw-tipped hand, as army sets are limited edition there's always a risk they'll sell out, whether organically or because they're targeted by scalpers.
The Space Wolves army set was a genuinely good box, a great collection of models that few collectors - old or new - could object to, which no doubt contributed to its success. It contained units of both Grey Hunters and Blood Claws, which are foundational to a Space Wolves collection, and though they replace existing models they're so much better than the old ones that long-time collectors were happy to upgrade.
The Wolf Guard Headtakers in the box are elite melee infantry with pet wolves - and if you're not into elite melee infantry and wolves, I don't know why you're playing Space Wolves. Then the new Wolf Guard Battle Leader and Wolf Priest character models were simply stunning kits.
If you think there's been a better army box set in recent years - either in sheer value, quality of models, or coherence as the starting point for an army - let us know in the Wargamer Discord community. In fact, if you've built and painted an army set, why not share it in our army showcase gallery? For a round up of all the best stories from Wargamer every week, make sure you sign up to our regular newsletter.