A wooly mix of Dune, Foundation, Catholicism somehow, and a uniquely British voice, the universe that underpins Warhammer 40k is something I can't really pretend to be a neutral observer on. My arc in the space is the same as a cautionary after-school special; I tried some at a party in 1993 and I have had a fever for the flavor ever since. Licensed excursions into the setting have a dodgy reputation; there's a lot of big ideas here and a unique voice that requires sort of a deft hand to execute. Games like Gladius, Mechanicus, and surprisingly the mobile game Tacticus all prove it can be done - basically, if it ends with -us it seems like we're in the clear. Shockingly, I never played the original Space Marine; I was nervous. I get this way sometimes about things I like. Space Marine 2, though? This is legit. I can understand why you might not want to take my word for it. But there's an inverse here, too - if it passes my test? Frankly, the game goes so fucking hard, so dense with real lore and crazy words, I don't know if it will mint new fans or repel them! That's how true it is.
Warhammer 40k is a story about an immortal being who tries to found an atheist empire, is mortally wounded, and becomes venerated as a God in direct opposition to his wishes. This is some incredibly old-school science fiction realness. There is a dimension parallel to ours, it goes by names like "The Warp" or "The Immaterium," and it's essentially a realm where all of our big feelings go. Some of our feelings are SO big that they become a food source for monsters who glut themselves on our lust and horror and treachery until they become something you would have to call a God. They're always trying to get into our universe and they often do. Ever played Dragon Age? It's like Dragon Age. Or The Witcher. A lot of people have read this stuff - especially writers.
This immortal being I mentioned before - let's just call him The Emperor - has a huge plan to free humanity entire from the predations of these creatures. But it's hard, because everyone has big feelings all the time, and the universe is so big that you have to use The Warp to go places. So part of his plan to free everybody from the Warp and the monsters that live there involves, uh… stealing a bunch of their Warp power and using it. Want to know more? No? Okay. You're sure? Alright.
I didn't even get into the Space Marines, which is the thing most people know about it. A lot of my favorite stories are just about people trying to live in this terrible place. There's also a wargame! You might have heard about it. Warhammer is about eight different hobbies in a buffet line and everybody's plate looks a little different. There are people who paint models, and then don't play. Just try to get into the mind of a fiend like this!
(CW)TB out.
