The world's first academic conference dedicated to all things Warhammer
The Warhammer 40k universe presents a unique and fascinating depiction of faster-than-light travel through the concept of the Warp, a parallel dimension of chaotic energy and psychic phenomena. This abstract explores the theoretical underpinnings of Warp space from the standpoint of modern physics, aiming to bridge the gap between fictional constructs and real scientific principles. …
The grim darkness of the far future harbors an ontological abyss – the Warhammer 40k universe unfurls as a delirious cosmology of hyperspatial paradoxes and spectral becomings that undermine all conventional spatio-temporality. My contribution plunges into the vertiginous “non-spaces” permeating this dystopian cosmos – rifts, folds, and lines of deterritorialization that deconstruct rigid human constructs …
This research presentation explores how videogame communities mobilise to save their favourite games from becoming lost to history using the example of The Return of Reckoning (Return of Reckoning, 2014) as a case study. The key aims are to position live-service games in current games preservation theory and then unpack how the ‘fan-developers’ preserved Return …
Abstract In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only Warhammer. Games Workshop has waged a constant battle to protect humanity from other miniature games. On the fringes of the Imperium, other games lurk and putter on, unseen by YouTube algorithms and academics. In our present age, the tabletop hobby is dominated by …
This paper investigates the complex assemblage that is the rule system of Warhammer 40k matched play with a focus on participation and materiality based on the auto-ethnographic experiences of a competitive players. Before the first dice are rolled in a game of 40k, a lot of work needs to be done. Armies need to be …
The Warhammer 40k universe, set roughly 38,000 years in the future, presents an intriguing opportunity to explore the potential trajectory of technological advancement. This abstract proposes a comparative analysis of historical technological development with speculative projections for the next 38 millennia, drawing on the rich technological landscape depicted in Warhammer 40k. Technological progress over the …
Viewers usually expect long-lasting transmedia worlds and crossovers between various media to be internally harmonious. In contrast, Warhammer 40,000 provides prospective viewers, players and readers with a universe far less concerned with clarity and consistency. To the audiences of Warhammer 40,000, significant variance in the depictions of characters, places and factions depending on the medium, …
Warhammer 40,000 (40K) is the most popular miniature wargame. While gameplay is a large part of engaging with Warhammer 40,000, the miniatures are often bought and painted. These painters spend hours painting the models in deep concentration. Drawing on interviews and journal entries of a participant study of 14 painters over a six-month period, this …
Much like the techpriests of the Cult Mechanicus, Western societies in the second millennium are consumed by technological advancement, techno-positivistic ontologies, and the sustainability of mankind. During the mid-1900s, there was a shift in biomedical research and theorization that since has brought us new conceptualization of the body: what it can and cannot do and …
Customizable analog games, such as miniature games or table top role-playing games (TTRPG), rely on active engagement by consumers. Their value creation is immediately tied to not only an engaged customer base but to prosumers, who make the game “their own”. This means that business models for miniature games and TTRPGs deviate quite strongly from …
Everyone who’s interested in 40K lore knows that the Emperor of Mankind gene-crafted 20 “sons” to be his superhuman generals in the Great Crusade to reunite humanity. Equally well known is that two of these Primarchs – the second and the eleventh – were “lost”: everything about them was intentionally deleted from Imperial records. But …
Julia Kristeva’s poststructuralist concept of intertextuality applies to the creation of all genres and formats of texts, but when it comes to working within an existing universe such as Warhammer, the relationship with what has come before and, challengingly from wider narrative and character arc perspectives, what may come in the future, takes on a …
As the setting of Warhammer 40, 000 has matured it has presented the threat from within as its most insidious threat. Cross-media stories have been told about the Inquisitions work against such threats. Given the quasi-religious setting the insurgencies that are featured in the game and lore are primarily based around cults, either ‘chaos’ or …
The name Warhammer 40,000, with its aesthetics and, above all, the incredibly detailed background, is now a fixture in pop culture. This epic, supposedly monolithic narrative is actually a piece of work by different artists, designers and authors. The unifying element of these different media and narrative styles is the depiction of war and all …
Abstract Warhammer 40k shows humanity in a complex, yet simple situation. Surrounded by multiple hostile species, war changed from a project to unite all humanity under the guide of the emperor to a eternal necessity, no matter what the cost of ‘xenos’ or even human lives. This raises questions about legitimate self-defense, imperial conquest, genocide …