Week 7 [26-02.12.18] A hobby review – Warhammer 40000

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war. This is the motto of the enormously huge universe of the Warhammer 40000, and it perfectly describes what’s going on here. The miniature wargame Warhammer 40000 was created in 1987 by Games Workshop as a sci-fi variation of already existing at that moment Warhammer Fantasy Battles. Warhammer 40000, or simply WH40k, has changed a lot since the first appearance – multiple wargames within this universe and the whole library part have been emerging for almost 30 years of its existence, and the era of videogames has also influenced this universe.

            For almost 30 years of the existence of the universe, two main parts of the community have been formed. The first one are the board game players. First of all, it is important to understand that Warhammer 40000 board game is an expensive hobby. Learning the rules, creating an army, decoration of the battlefield require a lot of dedication and as much money from the player. The other big part of the community are theorists. They enjoy reading books about the universe, discuss different topics on the forums, but they are far away from the board game itself. Of course, there are a lot of people, who do both since it all depends on how strong your dedication to the Warhammer 40k is, like, for example, me. This week I want to describe these huge parts of the hobby individually and tell about how to get familiar with the Grim and Dark Universe of the Eternal War.

Board Game

This is where everything started. The Warhammer 40000 board game remains the main product in this product series from the moment it was created.

From time to time, rules changed, new factions or playable models were introduced, new editions were written. Now we are at the 8^th edition and this is the best time to start with WH40k board game. The simplified rules in comparison to previous editions (which frustrates me a little) and the introduction of “Start collecting…” kits make it easier to rush into the battlefield in the short term. The army assembly looks as follows. Each unit costs some points, based on its power and equipment. Also, each unit has its own battlefield role – if your army is built to one of the so-called “battle-forged” army templates, you will receive some tactical and strategic advantage. Basically, the choice of adding the specific unit in your army is based on these two things. In “Start collecting…” kits you will usually receive a battlefield-ready army with around 250 points of cost. From here you can expand your army to match 500, 1000, 2000 or other game formats.

The battle between Imperial Knights and Necrons

Source: Personal archives

The other side of the board game is collecting and personalizing. WH40k board game provides almost infinite possibilities for self-expression. In terms of appearance, you can create a unique army, with its own name and unique colour scheme and the game even encourages you to do so. You can create your own Space Marines chapter, your own Ork warband, your own warband of Chaos, etc.  And if you are not satisfied with the official models by Games Workshop, you can always convert some of them into something new.

Squats - dwarf models from Warhammer Fantasy Battles converted into a faction from the old lore of WH40k

Source: http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2015/08/showcase-squats-40k-duardin-mashup.html

Forgeworld miniature of Horus the Warmaster, Primarch of the Sons of Horus
Source: https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-FI/Horus-the-Warmaster-Primarch-of-the-Sons-of-Horus

If you are a lazy person, but still you are not satisfied with official models, you can try the ones produced by the Forge world, the subsidiary of the Games Workshop. Most of the models from there have their own rules and can be used on the battlefield. Here you can also buy miniatures and rules for them that are based on the biggest book series of the WH40k universe called “The Horus Heresy”.

Death Korps of Krieg Subterranean Assault Squad from Forge WorldSource: https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-FI/FW-Home

The artistic part of the board game is not limited by miniatures. To fight a war, you need a battlefield. Here you can also go crazy. Games Workshop provides a range of props for assembling battlefields, but here is much easier to come up with something unique than with miniatures. Here some examples:

Different Battlefields
Source:  https://www.dakkadakka.com/gallery/20410-Game%20Table%2C%20Junkyard%2C%20Orks%2C%20Warhammer%2040%2C000.html

Each game is the trial of your strategic and tactical skills. Moving your units on the battlefield, coming up with tactical solutions, achieving victories from small, like achieving tactical task, to big, like winning a game make you feel like:

Imperial Comissar
Source: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/347410558731673364/?lp=true

Or like:

Ork Warboss
Source: https://pl.pinterest.com/pin/404690716505288318/?lp=true

Or in even more different way, depending on the faction and playing style of your choice. 

Apart from the basic WH40k board game, there are a couple of games in the same setting but with specific rules:

• Blackstone fortress – the newest release. It tells the story about the Explorers looking for the old technologies in the ancient space station, corrupted by the Chaos.
• Kill Team – skirmish wargame about the elite units.
• Necromunda – skirmish wargame about gangs in the abandoned hive city.
• Speed Freeks – a game about Orks roaming around in the Mad Max-like cars (probably an updated variation of the Gorkamorka).
• Battlefleet Gothic – a wargame about battles between spaceships.
• Aeronautica Imperialis – a wargame about battles in the skies.
• Space Hulk – a wargame about the unit of Space Marines in terminator armor cleaning the corridors of the giant spaceship infected by genestealers (in some way it was inspired by Alien franchise).
• Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay – a series of roleplay games in WH40k universe, which includes “Dark Heresy” (about the agents of Inquisition), “Rogue Trader” (about space traders and xeno-races) and “Deathwatch” (about Space Marines).

Books

The course of events in the Warhammer 40000 universe goes on the galactic scale, where hundreds of unique characters, from regular soldiers to gods themselves, fight for their own causes. The universe wouldn’t even exist without detailed and versatile lore. It is a dark, grim and violent world, where each day the faith and strength of one is tested, where millions die on the battlefields in a couple of hours, where every day brings humanity closer to the darkness. Nowadays, there exist an enormous number of books, combined in different series, published by another Games Workshop subsidiary called Black Library. Some of them concentrate on the story around an event that shaped the whole universe, like “The Horus Heresy”, some of them tell about the fate of one specific character, like “Eisenhorn”. Most of them also include brilliant official artworks.

The duel between the Emperor and Horus on the bridge of “Vengeful Spirit” – main event of “The Horus Heresy”

Source: https://coub.com/view/15bh38 (this is epic!!!)

Book series, where story is concentrated around one specific character: Ultramarine Uriel Ventris, Comissar Ciaphas Cain, Inquisitor Eisenhorn (from top to bottom)
Source: https://www.blacklibrary.com

Warhammer 40000 universe’s lore is oriented on the one big faction, Imperium of Mankind and its antagonist, the Chaos. It doesn’t mean that all other factions are forgotten or not elaborated enough, it just means that the lion's share of all books and stories are built around the Imperium. In accordance with this fact, I’ve decided to start with “The Horus Heresy” book series……Started in 2006, this ongoing book series created by cooperation of Black Library’s writers now includes more than 50 books, small sub-series called “Primarchs” and a series of audiobooks. The events in this series take place at the end of 31^st millennium, 10000 years before what we have now. This series describes, how and by who the universe of WH40k was shaped and introduces the basic lore terminology.

It is a time of legend. Mighty heroes battle for the right to rule the galaxy. The vast armies of the Emperor of Earth have conquered the galaxy in a Great Crusade - the myriad alien races have been smashed by the Emperor's elite warriors and wiped from the face of history. The dawn of a new age of supremacy for humanity beckons. Gleaming citadels of marble and gold celebrate the many victories of the Emperor. Triumphs are raised on a million worlds to record the epic deeds of his most powerful and deadly warriors. First and foremost amongst these are the primarchs, superheroic beings who have led the Emperor's armies of Space Marines in victory after victory. They are unstoppable and magnificent, the pinnacle of the Emperor's genetic experimentation. The Space Marines are the mightiest human warriors the galaxy has ever known, each capable of besting a hundred normal men or more in combat. Organised into vast armies of tens of thousands called Legions, the Space Marines and their primarch leaders conquer the galaxy in the name of the Emperor. Chief amongst the primarchs is Horus, called the Glorious, the Brightest Star, favourite of the Emperor, and like a son unto him. He is the Warmaster, the commander-in-chief of the Emperor's military might, subjugator of a thousand worlds and conqueror of the galaxy. He is a warrior without peer, a diplomat supreme. As the flames of war spread through the Imperium, mankind's champions will all be put to the ultimate test.

Introduction from the books from "The Horus Heresy"

Important note: Black Library books should not be seen as 100% consistent with lore. Of course, the general story, events, main characters and their destiny correspond to the official lore, I’m talking about some small details, secondary characters, stuff like that. The truly lore-consistent material would be faction’s codex (the newest ones) and fluff-bibles. 

Fanart

A couple of words about fanart before the end.

What is the good fiction universe without fanart? WH40k universe provides an enormous number of possibilities to express your vision of it or its separate elements. Here, as in everywhere, you can find music, art and fanfiction created by the fans. And of course, the model conversion also belongs here. I want to show you one of the examples. This video includes the examples of musical and artistic fanart of WH40k. 

Sources

1. http://www.lexicanum.com/
2. https://www.games-workshop.com/en-CA/Warhammer-40-000
3. https://www.forgeworld.co.uk/en-FI/FW-Home
4. https://www.blacklibrary.com/
5. My own experience gained from played games and read books.

Questions

1. If you were familiar with Warhammer 40k universe before, please, share your experience. If you weren’t, please tell us, does such kind of the hobby suits you? What would you prefer - the board game, the books or both?
2. As you can see, I am a huge fan of the WH40k. Please share what you are a fan of.
3. Do you know some other not so popular fictional universes that exist in many kinds of media products? Please, tell us about them.
4. If you have any questions regarding the presented hobby, I’d be glad to answer them.