The world's first academic conference dedicated to all things Warhammer
For many Warhammer fans, Bob Naismith is one of ‘founding fathers’ of the hobby we love so much, shaping as he did many of the designs that have gone on to become synonymous with the hobby. Working for Citadel in the 1980s, and later Games Workshop, Bob was responsible for the original Space Marine design, …
The British literary critic and author M. John Harrison defines Worldbuilding as an ‘attempt to exhaustively survey a place that isn’t there’. Worldbuilding is one of the most important aspects of genre fiction and is an undeniable factor in the success of the 40K universe, which is appropriately recognised for the scope, depth and detail …
Oi! Why is it that when more boyz get in a mob, they become more killy? Or, to put the question in a more academic parlance, what is the connection between crowds and power? Elias Canetti’s Crowds and Power (Masse und Macht, 1960) presents an enduring theory of mass behaviour, examining how crowds form, move, …
This presentation explores the ironic tensions between the Emperor of Mankind and Lion El’Johnson’s respective aversions to deification and their eventual embodiment of divine roles within the Warhammer universe. Drawing on the events of *Son of the Forest* , as well as other texts, we examine how the Emperor performs the role of a “Divine …
This talk is a diachronic analysis of the Mechanicus. We will examine recent and historical cultural attitudes relevant to the Adeptus Mechanicus, in accordance with our practice of using Warhammer 40k itself as a framework to explore critical theory and historical concepts, rather than exploring Warhammer 40k through these frameworks, a reversal of the lens …
The Imperium of Mankind perpetuates itself through the mechanical reproduction of a vast number of social fantasies, the most universal being belief in the omniscience of the God-Emperor. To be an Imperial subject, one must, often under pain of death, publicly profess an obvious falsehood: that humanity is led by an all-powerful protector, whose will …
The Immaterium or Warp in Warhammer 40,000 functions as a chaotic, psychic realm that embodies both cosmic threat and metaphysical possibility. By looking at various external philosophical and religious sources, this paper seeks to approach 40k’s Immaterium as a liminal metaphysical space – and its internal lore applications of a collective unconscious realm shaped by …
The Warhammer universe, in its totality, has exploded in popularity in the twenty-first century, crossing the boundary from niche tabletop wargame to vast multimedia franchise, spanning novels, video games, and television. Yet with this increasing cultural cachet comes a significant question – why, in this particular historical moment, has this famously “grimdark” setting gained significant …
There are, to date, close to four hundred books in the Black Library catalogue set in the Warhammer 40,000 setting. The vast majority of these books remain valid canon, as do the bulk of supplemental material, faction codexes, rule books, video games, and the models themselves. Unlike many other fictional settings, Warhammer 40,000 has the …
Warhammer miniatures have the distinction of being able to transcend from mere objects to meaningful “things” by their multifaceted nature. Supported by their rich contextual background, they are objects of meticulous craft, enablers of complex gameplay, and manifestations of rich intangible characters and enduring identities. As physical artefacts, they are products of effort and expressions …
Terrain kits play a crucial role in shaping the spatial experience and narrative atmosphere of Warhammer 40,000 and its sister games. The setting’s distinctive aesthetics, intimidating gothic megastructures fused with brutal, inhumane technological functionality, is widely recognized as one of its defining features (Wenskus 2021). This architectural style is translated to the tabletop through a …
The Unforgiven—the Legio Dark Angels and their successor chapters—hold the secret of Luther’s betrayal of the Lion and Caliban at the heart of their identity as a chapter; even to the point of prosecuting friendly forces for stumbling upon the shameful secret. While this is not unique to the Dark Angels—with the Blood Angels and …
This presentation builds on previous research relating to narrative state transitions and nemein-seeking behaviour by applying this context to the various narratives present within Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 fictional universe. By reference to Tzvetan Todorov’s theory of the minimum complete plot this presentation identifies and explores how narrative state transitions are managed within the 40k …
Alternately revered and reviled for their suicidal devotion to duty, the Death Korps of Krieg constitute an indisputable paragon of rampant nationalistic fervor—so much so that, in order to restore collective honor after their planetary governor betrays the God Emperor of Mankind, the Korps progenitor (the infamous Colonel Jurten) reduces their home planet to a …
In the grimdark universe of Warhammer 40,000, the Adeptus Mechanicus worships the Machine Spirit, a divine essence said to inhabit all technology. Though cloaked in ritual and superstition, the Cult Mechanicus enforces a deeply conservative system of knowledge management, system diagnostics, and behavioural control over complex, often poorly understood machinery. This paper argues that such …