The world's first academic conference dedicated to all things Warhammer
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 …
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 …
The works of the medieval Arabic philosopher Al-Farabi (c. 872-950) reconstruct the thinking of Plato and Aristotle in a world forever changed by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In the Attainment of Happiness and The Philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, Al-Farabi quietly presents a radical political program. Al-Farabi’s ponderous opening meditation on epistemology turns out to …
Warhammer 40,000 has drawn significant inspiration from American author H.P. Lovecraft and the genre of cosmic horror more broadly. Lovecraft stands as an icon of pulp and horror literature who has inspired countless contemporary works of science fiction and pioneered the genre of Lovecraftian, or cosmic horror. The alien nature and design of the Tyranids …
The Warhammer Fantasy setting is rife with cultural and geographical comparisons. The map of the world roughly follows that of our own planet Earth. The continents roughly line up and the main human races that an enjoyer, reader, or player of the setting should find ‘good’ are roughly based on German, British, and French culture. …
This paper examines the relationship between the Adeptus Mechanicus, a highly tech-zealous faction in the popular Games Workshop IP Warhammer 40K, and contemporary techonarratives concerning the development, operation, and utility of modern technological systems. Through the combined examination of both official Adeptus Mechanicus lore (e.g., Warhammer 40K codex) and community engagement (e.g., posts/memes on sites …
The 41st Millenium is swarming with transhuman imaginings. It is littered with thought experiments pushing the recognisable bounds of The Human into fantastical images. From the cyborged Mechanicus priest to the specifically “transhuman physiology” of the Space Marine 40k is fascinated with methods of expanding human capacity to incredibly limits. But are these representations merely …
As the most contemporary of Games Workshop’s world-building efforts, the Mortal Realms of Age of Sigmar tend to echo themes and anxieties relevant to its own time. Much like Warhammer 40,000 reflected the politics of the 1980s, in the global world of the 2010s and 2020s, Age of Sigmar reflects the polycrisis (Morin, 1993, Lähde, …
Warhammer has become a major UK-born pop-culture phenomena with its soon-to-be Hollywood ascension and millions of plays and fans worldwide. Dr Tomas Rawlings, currently writing a book on the early history of Warhammer 40,000, how it managed to create a world/setting/game that has drawn so many in and what lessons designers/creatives can learn from it …
The Orkish language in Warhammer 40K is a stylized linguistic construct designed to reflect the cultural and social traits of its fictional speakers. While not a fully developed conlang, Orkish is characterized by phonetic distortions, syntactic simplifications, and a lexicon heavily influenced by Cockney speech patterns, particularly those associated with football hooligan subcultures. This study …
This paper offers a depth-psychological reading of Warhammer 40,000, in which the setting is interpreted as a modern myth that dramatises and literalises the central tension of the Western tradition, stretching back to its Grecian origins. I use Camille Paglia’s discussion of the Apollonian and chthonic to argue that Warhammer 40,000 symbolically represents the Western …
The presentation addresses the connection between political power and somatic modifications using the example of the monarchy (Imperium of Man) from the grimdark Warhammer 40k universe, which raises the question of the nature and extent of political control over the human body and its use for the purpose of power projection which corresponds to term …