Academic Archive

Welcome to our academic archive! Here you can find a list of academic book chapters and journal articles exploring the worlds of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000. We also include academic materials on the subject of Games Workshop (the business) and its history. To suggest items for this list, please email Dr Mike Ryder.

Journal articles

• Carter, M., Gibbs, M., & Harrop, M. (2014) Drafting an Army: The Playful Pastime of Warhammer 40,000, Games and Culture, 9(2), 122–147. https://doi.org/10.1177/1555412013513349
• Cova, B., Pace, S., & Park, D. J. (2007). Global Brand Communities Across Borders: The Warhammer Case. International Marketing Review, 24(3), 313-329. https://doi.org/10.1108/02651330710755311
• Meriläinen, M., Stenros, J., & Heljakka, K. (2020). More Than Wargaming: Exploring the Miniaturing Pastime. Simulation & Gaming, 104687812092905. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878120929052
• Ryder, M. (2021). Conscripts from birth: War and soldiery in the grim darkness of the far future. Fantastika Journal, 5(1), 47–60.
• Smith, T. B. M. (2025). Miniature Mindfulness: Finding Spiritual Flow with Warhammer 40,000 Models. Religions, 16(2), 121. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16020121
• Walliss, J. (2010). Girls Go Slash/Boys Go Bang: Gender, Canon and Creativity within Warhammer 40,000 Fanfiction. Popular Culture Review, 21, 49–62. https://doi.org/10.1002/j.2831-865X.2010.tb00381.x
• Wang, R., & Li, P. (2023). Warhammer fandom in China: A brief introduction. Transformative Works and Cultures, 41. https://doi.org/10.3983/twc.2023.2375
• Williams, I., & Tobin, S. (2022). The Practice of Oldhammer: Re-Membering a Past Through Craft and Play. Games and Culture, 17(4), 576-592. https://doi.org/10.1177/15554120211049577

Book chapters

• Carter, M., Harrop, M., & Gibbs, M. (2014). The Roll of the Dice in Warhammer 40,000. In F. Mäyrä, K. Heljakka, & A. Seisto (Eds.), Physical and Digital in Games and Play (pp. 191–218). ETC Press: Edinburgh.
• Crowe, N. (2011). “We Die for the Glory of the Emperor”: Young People, Warhammer, and Role-Playing War Online. In J. M. Beier (Ed.), The Militarization of Childhood: Thinking Beyond the Global South (pp. 153–173). Palgrave Macmillan US, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137002143_9
• McAuley, A. (2019). The Divine Emperor in Virgil’s Aeneid and the Warhammer 40k Universe. In B. M. Rogers and B. E. Stevens (Eds.) Once and Future Antiquities in Science Fiction and Fantasy (pp. 183–195). London: Bloomsbury Academic. https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350068971
• Meriläinen, M., Stenros, J., & Heljakka, K. (2022). The Pile of Shame: The Personal and Social Sustainability of Collecting and Hoarding Miniatures. In S. S. Muthu (Ed.), Toys and Sustainability (pp. 57-77). Singapore: Springer Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-9673-2_4
• Meriläinen, M., Heljakka, K., & Stenros, J. (2022). Lead Fantasies – The Making, Meaning and Materiality of Miniatures. In C. Germaine & P. Wake (Eds.) Material Game Studies (pp. 83-101). London: Bloomsbury Academic.
• Reichart, André. (2019) ‘Das Adeptus Sororitas. Die Heilige Jungfrau in der dystopischen Welt von ‚Warhammer 40.000‘’, in Technik und Gender. Technikzukünfte als geschlechtlich codierte Ordnungen in Literatur und Film, ed. Marie-Hélène Adam, Katrin Schneider-Özbek, and Andie Rothenhäusler (Karlsruhe: KIT Scientific Publishing), 223–42, https://doi.org/10.5445/KSP/1000051991.
• Sturrock, I., & Wallis, J. (2016) Total Global Domination: Games Workshop and Warhammer 40,000. In: P. Harrigan & M. G. Kirschenbaum (eds.) Zones of Control: Perspectives on Wargames. MIT Press. https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/10329.003.0062

Conference proceedings

• Harrop, M., Gibbs, M., & Carter, M. (2013) Everyone’s a Winner at Warhammer 40K (or, at least not a Loser). Proceedings of DiGRA 2013 Conference. https://dl.digra.org/index.php/dl/article/view/673
• Prax, P. (2022) Networked Participation sets the Game Free – Warhammer 40k on Tabletop Simulator. Proceedings of DiGRA 2022 Conference.
  https://dl.digra.org/index.php/dl/article/view/1347/1347

Websites and magazines

• Ryder, M. (2024) ‘Five reasons Warhammer 40,000 should be considered a great work of science fiction’, The Conversation, 28 October. Available at: https://theconversation.com/five-reasons-warhammer-40-000-should-be-considered-a-great-work-of-science-fiction-241040
• Ryder, M., Arnold, T., & Dunn, M. (2024) ‘Why Warhammer Matters’, Sci Phi Journal, 13 December. Available at: https://www.sciphijournal.org/index.php/2024/12/13/why-warhammer-matters/