Showing: 1 - 15 of 35 RESULTS
2024OnlinePanel 21Saturday 28th SeptemberWarhammer 40k

Clinical Use of Warhammer 40K for Treatment of PTSD in Veterans

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among combat veterans presents a complex challenge for mental health professionals. Traditional therapeutic approaches often fall short in addressing the intricate layers of trauma experienced during military service. However, emerging research suggests that unconventional methods, such as utilizing immersive and narrative-driven activities, could offer novel avenues for therapeutic intervention. This abstract …

2024OnlinePanel 20Saturday 28th SeptemberWarhammer 40k

The incomplete reformations of Warhammer 40,000 – influences from the sixteenth-century on the theology and iconography of the Imperial Cult

Warhammer 40,000 draws its influences from across history; notably the in-universe history, theology, and iconography of the Imperial Cult and the Adeptus Ministorum are inspired by the medieval and early modern Roman Catholic Church. One instance of the history of the Adeptus Ministorum paralleling the history of Catholicism can be seen in origin of one …

2024OnlinePanel 21Saturday 28th SeptemberWarhammer 40k

In the grim darkness of the far future there is only war… And gorgeous women

Warhammer 40,000 is the world’s largest and most significant miniature wargame, with some of the highest-quality models produced in the industry. It is a hobby beloved by many fans of all ages and genders. In addition to the game, Warhammer 40,000 enjoys a wealth of novels released by the Black Library – a company dedicated …

2024OnlinePanel 15Saturday 28th SeptemberWarhammer 40k

Who is the enemy? Genestealer Cults and the Diverging Political Paradigm of Warhammer 40,000

We examine how class issues, domestic terrorism, extremism, and insurrection play out in Warhammer 40,000’s Genestealer Cults, against changing British political paradigms between 1989 and 2021. Genestealer Cults are human-alien hybrid guerilla insurrectionists, concealed among the civilian population. Introduced in 1989 and rebooted in 2016, the Cults are both part of the native population and …

2024OnlinePanel 12Saturday 28th SeptemberWarhammer 40k

Warhammer Lore as Apocalyptic Literature: Finding Purpose in the Grim Dark

Jaques Derrida is quoted as saying, “The end approaches, but the apocalypse is long lived.” The lore of Warhammer 40K is an apocalyptic myth created explicitly in the image of the Roman Empire. But the obvious connections to Imperium Romanum are only part of the picture. WH40K portrays an extension of the cycle of apocalypse …

2024Friday 27th SeptemberOnlinePanel 8Warhammer 40k

Warhammer 40k as safe place for neurodiverse community

As neurodiverse person and anthropologist I observe that Warhammer became more and more common place for neurodiverse people to gather. Using both questionnaires and interviews with neurodiverse people we can see why grimdark became place for them to freely share ideas and thrive. What is so compelling that people, what usually have problems with social …

2024OnlinePanel 18Saturday 28th SeptemberWarhammer 40k

The Future of Animated Fear: Grimdark as a Genre Framework for Speculative Horror in Animation

Abstract Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40K (WH40K) is widely regarded as the progenitor of the Grimdark genre: a simple tagline in a magazine advertisement that read ‘In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war’ spawned a universe of hopeless, superstitious and terrifying visions of mankind’s future. It was a black mirror that …

2024Friday 27th SeptemberOnlinePanel 8Warhammer 40k

Occult Infrastructures: Venerate the Machine

Within the grimdark future of 41st millennium technology is a relatively occult force, often operating in ways that both pervert physics and subvert expectations. While the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus may have a relatively nuanced understanding of technology when compared to the Imperial laity, the praxis of the red-robed priests goes beyond the quotidian …

2024OnlinePanel 15Saturday 28th SeptemberWarhammer 40k

Tyranid xenobiology compared to real-life eusocial insects

The Tyranids are a biological species that do not rely on technological or mechanical devices, utilizing biotechnological alternatives instead. Despite the significant amount of available xenobiological information, there are still several areas that require further investigation. A comprehensive examination of the Tyranid race poses certain challenges. Therefore, drawing comparisons with entomological concepts, particularly those related …

2024OnlinePanel 12Saturday 28th SeptemberWarhammer 40k

In Praise of Depth: WH40K Minis as Borgmannian Things

In his 1984 study Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life—published shortly before the first edition of WH40K—philosopher Albert Borgmann provided an analysis of modern technology centered on the dichotomy between things and devices. For Borgmann, a device is an object that provides a commodity (energy, information, entertainment, etc.) while making the mechanism of that …

2024OnlineWarhammer 40k

Beyond the Human: Exploring Non-Spatial Becomings in Warhammer 40k

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 …

2024Friday 27th SeptemberOnlinePanel 6Warhammer 40k

The Return of Reckoning: Warhammer Online and Successful Fan-Directed Preservation of Videogames

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 …

2024Friday 27th SeptemberOnlinePanel 3Warhammer 40k

In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only Warhammer

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 …

2024Friday 27th SeptemberOnlinePanel 6Warhammer 40k

Miniature Mindfulness: Finding Spiritual Flow with Warhammer 40,000 Figurines

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 …