The world's first academic conference dedicated to all things Warhammer
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, …
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 …
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 …
Miniaturing, with its roots in other historically men-dominated spheres such as military history and tabletop role-playing, is largely a men’s pastime in terms of demographics (e.g. Körner & Schütz, 2021), making it an intriguing phenomenon to study from the perspective of men’s studies. This is doubly true with Warhammer 40,000: as a game it features …