The world's first academic conference dedicated to all things Warhammer
The Universes Beyond Necron Dynasties deck for the trading card game Magic: The Gathering and its Commander game format, which is sometimes played with a role-playing component, depicts the Necrons of the grimdark future. What does it mean to be Necron? What narratives and themes are invoked in Necron-centric books and by the Necron characters …
The principle that Right Individual + Proper Place = Lasting Effect manifests powerfully within Games Workshop’s Warhammer 40,000 universe, particularly through Dan Abnett’s Inquisition narratives. This analysis examines strategic talent placement through the Eisenhorn and Ravenor trilogies, revealing how placement decisions determine whether organizations combat corruption or succumb to it.
Warhammer manifests in various forms, such as tabletop wargames, books, and video games. At its core, however, Warhammer is a range of miniatures. Miniatures are Games Workshop’s primary source of income, and all other manifestations of Warhammer stem from these miniatures. The essence of Warhammer is thus fundamentally visual. In this visual universe, colours play …
“There is no glory in prevention” – but Konrad Curze and his Night Lords beg to differ. Their ruthless understanding of justice and judgement embodies all of the principles of the negative general prevention: hard, cruel and swift punishment, even for small crimes, to ensure the obedience of his subjects and to prevent further criminal …
In the hypermasculinized, asexual world of 40k, the feminine seems to lack a place except as a mode of masculinity that adds a pair of breasts. Human factions such as the Sisters of Battle are exceptions that prove the rule. The presence of the feminine, however, can act as a defining thematic trait for inhumanity. …
In the Horus Heresy series, the Edict of Nikaea looms large as one of the setting’s most pivotal narrative events. With the Edict, the Emperor proscribed the use of Warp-derived psyker powers by the Legiones Astartes and nominally disbanded the psychically-gifted Librarius orders—at great cost both to the individual Astartes of the Librarius and to …
Superficially, the Imperium of Man within Games Workshop’s ‘Warhammer 40,000’ fictional universe is presented as a pastiche theocratic autocracy. Its sprawling territory is ruled by the Lord Commander of the Imperium and the Council of the High Lords of Terra on behalf of the God Emperor of Mankind. At a mundane level, Imperial authority is …
The Imperial Records, an extensive compendium documenting over 40,000 years of human history across the galaxy, embody a complex narrative of knowledge preservation amidst censorship and loss. This study delves into the multifaceted nature of these records, which oscillate between being apocryphal, incomplete, censored, or heretical, yet stand as the primary source of historical knowledge …