It is the year 2522 of the Imperial Calendar, and Karl Franz is the ruling Emperor. More than two hundred years have passed since Magnus the Pious reunited a divided Empire during the Great War against Chaos. In these two centuries, the Empire has thrived in stability wealth and military might, becoming the largest and most powerful kingdom of Men in the Old World. Still, it is such a vast land that law cannot reach all the hidden recesses of its dark forests and impenetrable mountain ranges. Mutant monsters prowl its dark forests, malevolent ratmen plot beneath its cities and the living dead rise from its graveyards. Old enemies look enviously across its borders and Orcs raid its borders. The menace of Chaos is growing stronger in the far north, where Warlord Archaon is massing his armies in preparation for the Last War. These and other enemies, internal as well as external, have to be fought and defeated by the armies of the Emperor. Indeed, the Empire faces dire circumstance, and to survive, it is constantly at war.

And it has ever been thus. The Empire's very birth was forged in battle: the legendary warrior Sigmar united the primitive tribes of Men in order to drive off hordes of Orcs and Goblins. Since those ancient times, the Empire has grown into the prominence with which it dominates the Old World. These are the chronicles of the Empire's rise to power...