Warhammer 40K

Warhammer 40K is a different beast than Warhammer Fantasy. It bears many resemblances to its fantasy counterpart, yet, it is remarkably different. The main theme from Warhammer Fantasy is still there. The universe is about to be obliterated by chaos, and a few races are desperately trying to survive.

The games

Thank the Emperor they build large chairs here

I admit that my only play experience with W40K comes from the many computer games released in its setting. When i was young i collected a few of the W40K miniatures, but as with Warhammer fantasy it never became a fulltime hobby for me. Funnily enough, i do own the Warhammer 40K roleplaying game, and the W40K battle rulebook, but i just haven’t had the chance to play any of them. Sometimes i wish i had a lot more time on my hands. But that doesn’t change the fact that i am still very much into the W40K setting. What makes the W40K setting stand out in comparison to its Fantasy counterpart is that, where the fantasy version aims at making you feel small, W40K aims at making you feel like a terminator. Everything is based around extreme masculinity, big guns, big bodies, big monsters, big vehicles, and huge swords… with guns in them. In that regards Warhammer 40K is perfect for many of the established computer game genres – and i guess that is why we see them having success time and time again.

Inspiring game design

I think that the Warhammer 40K setting has done something that has managed to inspire many games. We see clear inspirations from W40K in games such as Gears of War, Army of Two, and parts of Halo. The extreme masculinity is just one part of it, the other is the special way of combining technology and weapons. Weapons are not just weapons, they are huge contraptions that look like they run on steam and were definitely not built in the future. But its more than the visual style that has been inspiring. The sense of loss and destruction has also been passed over into other settings. Facing an overwhelming force can best be described as a sort of master narrative that is part of the human condition, but W40K builds on that and adds a layer – chaos always wins.

Franchising

So one has to think about how many other franchises would be able to port their existing franchise into a setting that takes place 40.000 years later than the original franchise? Barbie? Lord of the Rings? Marvel super heroes? – okay Marvel Super heroes have been travelling to and back from the future for several years, but you get my point. The fact that the franchise can be ported to different settings and mediums while still keeping its base qualities shows that Games Workshop has indeed managed to hammer away at something basic and innate in us players. I wish i had the formula they are using…

And finally, i think you should watch this video – I’m pretty psyched about this game and the amount of destruction it will let me dish out!