What are THE SQUATS now? New Lore from Halls of the Ancients! | Warhammer 40k / Necromunda Lore

[@LordyT34]

I like that Votaan don't have some galaxy stretching goal, no centuries long plans or massive cataclysmic goals like Chaos or the Imperium. Just a race of Dwarves keeping their heads down, surviving, not too big, not too small. Feels very 40k to just have a race that just exists

[@Technoanima]

Love it that they just want to make money in peace. 😊

[@Ulfhednir9]

Their goals is the same as Mr Crabs 🦀 money

[@JackRabbit002]

They have the goal of exploration and exploitation! And in the name of enriching both Kin and the Votann. Simple goal but one I can get behind

[@DrakonPhD]

Well, "heads down" in 40k terms is still strip mining and harvesting entire planets lol.

[@cthulhluftagn3812]

I like how they didnt retconn the old lore, just made it so that what the empire belived to be the homeworld was just a single clan Hold. Everything this legue did is still cannon, land trains included, they just got chomped by the nids.

[@davydatwood3158]

So, basically the writing team has gone "nope, Tolkein-esque dwarves in space are totally what we want" and done a really very good job of reskinning classic fantasy dwarves to 40K, which some 21st century awareness of history and metaphor built in. Cool.

[@marjoe32]

Kool

[@vdate]

Honestly, given how many flavours of '(x)... in....SPAAAAACE!' 40k has, that just feels like the setting's premise working as intended.

[@gratuitouslurking8610]

I mean, the OG squats still leaned that way, but on the other hand they got more than happy to really go well, Rogue Tradery with things, leading to the dirtbiker Engineering Guild that seems to be the impetus for the Squats getting Squatted originally.

[@davydatwood3158]

@@vdate There are a few interviews out there - I suspect Jordan Sorcery has one - with ex-GW staff saying "we got rid of the Squats because we couldn't come up with anything for them beyond "Dwarves in SPaaaacE."" But the current team has apparently reversed course on that and is leaning into it instead. That's all I was saying.

[@readwatchlisten2863]

I like this. I've wanted Squats back since 2004. Had to wait a while, but they are back baby.

[@iapetusmccool]

I do like the way that GW has managed to take all the years of lore about Squats, Demiurge, Votan, etc, including stuff that had previously been retconned, and unify it into one consistent whole, where just about everything claimed before is true, and makes sense.

[@pavarottiaardvark3431]

Necromunda Squat players having a great time in the game room with their cool models, while Leagues of Votann players press their faces against the glass like street urchins

[@tinyfishhobby3138]

That was a really entertaining watch. Necromunda remains one of GW's best settings hands down.

[@EuanMilne]

I like how you've now got the L.O.V. as a fresher, more original take on science-fantasy dwarves? And fit well into the broader setting of 40k, and the ironheads, a microcosm of more classic dwarves, with a nice few homage to the O.G. squats in 40k

[@SarajevoKyoto]

Great video as always! I'm a T'au player so I mostly know them as the Demiurg, but I enjoy learning more about the LoV/Squats.

[@BlondLanfear]

Tapferkeit is the German word for ‘bravery’ and I don’t expect anybody to pronounce it the German way (hey it’s space dwarfs) but I had a little chuckle when I saw the word written out on screen and my brain did a very silly huuuh…ahhh screeching sound effect 😂

[@raveneye77]

well, you would pronounce the “keit” part like the English word kite. “ei” in German is not pronounced like the letter e in English but like the letter i.

[@nakenmil]

"What? RETCONS? IN WARHAMMER?!" - some very angry, very online people who got into the hobby in 2020.

[@Tymb19]

Who are you quoting?

[@Ryan30z]

I think you will definitely find that Henry Cavill is definitely leaving the Amazon 40k show, over being outraged over some US culture war issue. Definitely for sure this time! /s

[@Deletirium]

​​@@Ryan30zC'mon, what's not to be excited about? Primarch Shaniqua crusading across the galaxy to teach the emperor the value of inclusivity and intersectionality, whilst putting misogynistic astartes in their place with strong black girl magic? Fits in perfectly. People should be grateful for diversity.

[@gratuitouslurking8610]

Getting in around the time of Vigilus, imagine my amused delight for someone regailing me at how batshit insane the earliest tyranids were like. People talk about how Necrons evolve constantly over editions but tyranids probably was the most drastic pivot.

[@LollipopKnight2]

@@Tymb19 Everyone who got angry about woman Custodes.

[@jackrogers5712]

I absolutely love the Leagues of Votann. GW did an excellent job making them fit.

[@vinnythewebsurfer]

I can imagine that for a regular Hiver, dealing with a Kinsmen must be just as convoluted and unpredictable as their dealings with the Admech but far less unnerving. Like both can and will destroy you if they think you’ve got some good tech on your hands or just for committing an unknowable faux pas but at least the votann won’t turn your ass into a servitor afterwards for it.

[@andrewcook3983]

Squats, under the name Demiurg, appeared in Battlefleet Gothic as an auxiliary for the T'au Empire, once it had transferred to the Specialist Games range of GW. We never got to see any art of the Demiurg themselves, just their ships, which looked like the art Ian used is this video. I'm not sure how the Demiurg fit into current lore, if they do at all. For a while one could field human auxiliaries (or Gue'la) in a Tau 40K army, I think via an article in White Dwarf. If I remember correctly, the article included guides to convert these heretics from Cadian and Tau kits.

[@ArbitorIan]

The demiurg are now confirmed as the tau word for the Leagues of Votann

[@zdron07]

And that demiurg is just 1 league (basicly subfactions) that has ties to the tau and have a common gene mod to mke their skin stone like. Hence, the imperial thinking they are different race.

[@Flowers-l3d]

​​@@zdron07 Two of them, I think? The Votann kits do also have some heads with patterns of deep grooves in them looking like the one concept art of Demiurg we got. It's a pretty elegant solution to unify the quite distinct concepts!

[@jirojhasuo2ndgrandcompany745]

​@@ArbitorIanwow

[@Tulkash01]

@@ArbitorIanthey are a league the Tau identity by that name an erroneously think all Kyn belong to, much like the Imperium believes some leagues (including Demiurg) are xenos and some other (like the one that landed on Necromunda) are abhumans. What is interesting is the Leagues actively want to create these misconceptions, in order to fool their potential enemies (and sometimes business partners)

[@JamesConnorr]

Your intro music is truly iconic Ian.

[@Aberinkula9]

One of the best WH40k lore channels' intro of THE BEST WH40k loremaster! ❤

[@vegancam]

Yes, please don't ever change it.

[@GustavSvard]

The Svardhol are very clearly the very best squats ever. Nice to see that they keep the family name going; 40 000 years from now my grandfather's namesake is the Charter Lord. Damnit, I might have to start collecting Necromunda squats.

[@rp7155]

Dwarves in spaaaaaaaaaaaaace

[@qwellen7521]

ROCK AND STONE!

[@svenskhund3603]

ROCK AND STONE!

[@tokukeitaro]

For KAAAARL!

[@codemon1352]

We fight for Rock n' Stone

[@davestier6247]

It's like John Votann always said, the true gems weren't what we got out of the mines, it was the 40,000 warhammers we met along the way

[@garryame4008]

I love the world building of Necromunda. It might be the most interesting planet in Warhammer

[@_gelon]

It's weird to think it was one of the main races of 40K when I got into the second edition xD

[@disgruntleddude]

between the return of the squats and improving diplomatic relations with the eldar it's all getting very tolkienesque

[@JamesConnorr]

W

[@josephyoung2593]

I've often been sceptical about the value of the Squats to the mythos, but this is good stuff, partly of course tot he Arbitor's customary ability to take the material precisely as seriously as it deserves. One wonders what the Squats call humans - Gangles, perhaps.

[@richk2690]

I still have a squat army for Epic 40k. They are great fun to play.

[@dime4026]

you still have people to play epic with?

[@richk2690]

@ same small group of us have been playing for years. Although it’s been a while.

[@gratuitouslurking8610]

@@dime4026 Just because rules for a game stop printing, doesn't stop people playing em. Hell another good example of this is Battlefleet Gothic.

[@dime4026]

@@gratuitouslurking8610 Shout out to the 10 other people across the world who play epic 40k. Lets get it

[@natephoenix]

As someone making Imperial Miners for a small colony setting, these enterprises existing elsewhere across yhe Imperium is exactly my wheelhouse. Great video as always, Ian.

[@CAP198462]

congrats on the “guest star” role on the Wisecrack channel, and for introducing a new person to 40K.

[@zeog303]

Well my "Guard" army I play with is still Mjolnir Brotherhood colours on origional Squats regardless of retcons: ) Do love Necromunda btw

[@seano4977]

Does anyone know if there are Squat based 40K novels available? Great video as always Ian. 👍

[@ArbitorIan]

There is ONE leagues of votann novel so far and it's quite fun

[@JackRabbit002]

A High Kahls Oath was genuinely a good read It's based on the Leagues of Votann though

[@armintor2826]

I had no idea Necromunda had so much lore, i just thought it was like Kill Team Ganger Edition™. Cool to see GW actually doing something with the Leagues. I still love the modern Squat designs.

[@gratuitouslurking8610]

Oh no, Necromunda's easily the most fleshed-out hive world in the Imperium thanks to it's setting as a rather unique skirmish gang. The only thing close to this worldbuilding level would be the sector they quartered off for the Fantasy Flight Games RPG books.

[@talscorner3696]

Necromunda has been piling lore for at least 30 years ^^ The game is possibly older than me I made 30 years old in 2024

[@euansmith3699]

Regardless of the subject, Paul Bonner's artwork is always lively and engaging. Some of my favourite sci-fi images.

[@stuartnewman6968]

I would love to do an army of these guys. They look fun and completely different. I could imagine a squats and imperial guard army. Cool as

[@AlBakerDev]

Astor Sabathiel novel on Audible is pretty great and has a Squat as a main supporting character. Recommend it. Plus the voice actress is the same one from the Bequin series and absolutely crushes it.

[@pavelnadolski]

Epic was when Squats really came into their own. They were so much fun to play

[@danielhenderson8000]

This is delightful. I love all things dwarves and was curious what the difference between the rekindled Squats of Necromunda and the Leagues of Votaan were. Now I know and that just runs circles in my head thinking of fun lore and army setups!

[@Tulkash01]

So Necromunda holds 2 STCs? Or is the Van Saar one is the Squat one “repurposed”? It would be interesting if it were…

[@LarryoLuxus]

german here, Tapferkeit means bravery

[@warwolf88]

just read the newest dawn of fire novel and these guys were a big part of that they are really cool😊

[@JackRabbit002]

Do they feature much in that novel I haven't kept up with that series and assumed it was just going to be the usual Space Marine nonsense Lol

[@DanielGreen-j4c]

Cracking work. Subbed

[@SonofMagnus4765]

Thank you Ian this was really interesting. I enjoy your videos.

[@mistformsquirrel]

So nice to finally get some Squat/Votann lore

[@geologyjohnson7700]

I've been into 40k since Rogue Trader and I always liked the "viking heavy metal bike gang" version of the squats. These new takes are pretty cool though. And as a geologist, I'm always going to have a soft spot for a mining faction.

[@КонстантинИванов-д1д]

As a visual artist I always felt that the Arbitor Ian character in the beginning should be with a helmet literally the same way that Silvester Stalone should have kept his helmet on in Judge Dredd. However now that I got what I wanted, I feel its not Arbitor Ian-y enough somehow... I will have to live with it for a while to actually gage if that's a significant improvement ":D It is funny tho, to see that someone somewhere was "bothered" by the same thing as my brain :D

[@Philip271828]

So how long until Hashut, god of law, tyrand and industry crosses over so we can have Evil Lawful Squats. With big hats. And curly beards

[@BeckiMuttley]

Awesome! My WH fantasy RP character was a Dwarf engineer. I really like all the new squat lore. 😊 Great vid.

[@foxdavion6865]

I can confirm as I got this answer from Jes Goodwin himself and yes I asked him personally; The reason Squats were MIA for 20 years was because of, well, ownership. Games Workshop didn't have the rights to them. Store staff had no idea why they were gone and got so sick and tired of people asking that middle management made it a policy to tell Adults to piss off and kids that "Tyranids ate them" as a reason to get people to stop asking. Truth is, it was a copyright issue because before Games Workshop went public and corporate, everything was owned by their own individual creators. In 1989 when the company went public and corporate, in no uncertain terms Games Workshop told their design studio that if everyone there wanted to continue working there they will have to sign over all their creations to the company ownership, so that now Games Workshop as an entity owned all the products and creations of the studio team and they no longer individually owned what they made. Almost everyone agreed except the creator of the Squats, who was so pissed off about it, that he quit and he took the Squats rights with him. Truth is, GW was trying to get buy the rights back for about a decade, then gave up, after that it was more a case of them trying to figure out a way to get a replacement faction into WH40K for Squats and the reality is that they were just sitting on the idea for another decade because they did want to bring them back but didn't know how they got bring them back and make them fit into the setting in a smooth way which didn't feel out of place due to how dramatically WH40K had changed between the release of 2nd edition and 4th edition. *Another* decade would pass before we finally got the Squats back from the point in which I raised the question too.

[@mrspeigel3593]

Then how did GW sell new Squat models at the beginning of 2nd ed

[@foxdavion6865]

@@mrspeigel3593 Because the copyright dispute didn't come into legal effect until 1992. It took Games Workshop 3 years to make the legal handover officiate. So they were able to keep selling them right up until they were not allowed to anymore.

[@MrMysticphantom]

oh SHIT ... so the lost Ancestor Core of the Necromundan Squats is with the Van Saar clan.......... that STC those guys are hiding

[@keepcalmandre-roll5480]

Looking forward to getting the Squat Necromunda book (and hopefully playing some Necromunda) 😊

[@Chrispenoit]

This book gives me hope for an ash waste nomad book in the future. I would love to learn more about fremenunda

[@DerMannDerSeineMutterwar]

Weird theory (I don't expect it to be true since it would lead to some status quo changing events) What if the Van Saar STC is in truth the damaged Ancestor Core of the Squats?

[@terrydoyle4477]

I had similar thoughts on whether the Core was the Van Saar STC

[@shanethepain13]

Oh, i'm gonna need that book. Did you read the new Votann novel yet Ian? I'm about half way through it and it's been pretty good :)

[@denlo9009]

I'm reading it right now too, I've been enjoying it so far.

[@jakewu8268]

Hmmm okay, this might make me get the book. I was very worried it would not be great.

[@shanethepain13]

@@jakewu8268 Gav thorp has previously written some great dwarf novels in warhammer fantasy so they got the right guy to write the first book for them.

[@ArbitorIan]

I've almost finished it. It's lots of fun. As with all true squat stories it's suitably silly. The scene where they're trying to hide the holy pigeon thing is brilliant.

[@benwaardenburg]

@@ArbitorIanI’m sorry a holy pigeon? I have to read this book now.

[@fjLKA]

I want Squats/Votaan to have good lore... ...so they'll be more interesting foes for my Orks so smash and bash. WAAAAAAGH 12:25 Did you say Clanner? Forget how the Squats got to Necromunda, how did the Clanners travel from one franchise to another?

[@JackRabbit002]

Great Video It answered the one question I needed answering! Whether Kin could procreate the good old fashioned way! 😅 Now I'm curious to see how that way of creating new Kin is looked upon in Kin society Because one needs the real questions answered

[@TheMrFishnDucks]

Fantastic video. Knew nothing of the squats apart from space dwarfs for many years following warhammer. Thank you for filling gaps in my knowledge and making entertaining videos. Keep up the good work.

[@tokukeitaro]

Good vid Ian. Nice work.

[@ltcinsane]

I kind of like that even though they are mostly made via cloning & genetic manipulations that the Ancestor Cores & those who created them both left them with the ability to reproduce the good old fashion way if needed.

[@AndorianBlues]

I'm gonna take this to mean there absolutely could be a community of squats/kin on my homebrew feral world.

[@talscorner3696]

Absolutely!

[@PaulJohnson-mb8sf]

Well done I enjoyed this

[@deviantknight7009]

Leagues should be allowed to bring ironheads squats and necromunda mercs as auxiliary

[@YOGI-kb9tg]

So we finally got a sort of answer who the men of stone were. Now we just need the men of gold.

[@kaiser5910]

Let me by that one German: The -keit is pronounced like kite ^^

[@richardgrant2630]

Hi gang!

[@qwellen7521]

There contract with Deep Rock Galactic Mining Company expired.

[@unbreakablelag]

We’re rich.

[@jameshollins5659]

Sky Mining !! Are we getting Dwarf Airships in 40k!!! Please please please take my money!!

[@ArbitorIan]

kharadon legal in 40k confirmed!

[@jameshollins5659]

@ArbitorIan amazing !

[@DrMunns]

*cough* 13th clan became the Demiurg *cough*

[@ArbitorIan]

They're already covered in regular votann lore!

[@richardmiller1345]

Hexagear have a squat type culture

[@DerOrk]

@ 16:00 Adventurous pronounciation of 'Tapferkeit' ^^ 'ei' makes an 'aye' sound, think 'Einstein' for example. It's german, if it wasn't obvious, and means 'bravery'.

[@alanredmond88]

Wait, so the mining people lost their completely irreplaceable AI core tech cos it fell in a hole? That is some god tier lore

[@ArbitorIan]

Well you know dwarves. Always delving too deep...

[@Luizguilherme-iz9yl]

is the "retaking hive secundus" thing a reference to khazad-dum and eight peaks?

[@ArbitorIan]

Retaking the halls of jardlan and yeah, it's suspiciously similar!

[@MWH12085]

The Votaan....aka, the men of stone

[@rakino4418]

Stone men unofficially confirmed, right?

[@ArbitorIan]

EXACTLY

[@senrogas387]

Squatting I presume

[@CommissarDaru]

Shout out to my boi Unwerth!

[@teecefamilykent]

Squats rule!

[@stupidfrog2205]

Dropping a like and comment Appreciated this video thanks

[@MachJacob343]

Thirteenth clan missing, yes-yes?

[@mrmaster9801]

I never payed much attention to the Leagues of Votann, but from what I knew about them, they looked interesting and well developed. I'm glad this video confirmed that impression, but it went even beyond, providing a wealth of information by focusing on the Squats of Necromunda. It also reinforced the idea that, together with Tau, the Votann are the other only faction who truly represents the high-tech/looking forward part of the setting. Sure, the Necrons could be considered as such, but their "ancient Egyptians/undead in space" gives them a different vibe. And the Mechanicus looks more focused on the rituals/past, as far as I know. As usual, a really good video, thank you very much.

[@slightlybored]

Do the rights of the Squats to... well, *be* derive solely from the planetary governor or from the chapter master of the Imperial Fists? I can see both the Ecclesiarchy and the Admech just itching for a purge every hundred years or so. They would need pretty iron-clad protections to keep trucking on, or termiting on, as the case may be.

[@gratuitouslurking8610]

Reminder that AdMech envoys either JUST miss the tech marvels of House Van Saar (who secretly have a full STC) or conveniently go missing if they do find something. I imagine that any noble house worth their salt would be happy to make deals or bodies of anyone trying to cut into any good trade deals with a squat clan. And with House Helmawr likely benefiting the most from their existence, I'm sure they're not complaining about their existence out there.

[@earnestwanderer2471]

13th Clan? The lost tribe?

[@Hebuspm]

Tapferkeit = bravery in german

[@StrangeAre]

Bots loving 40k

[@thepizzarolls21]

?

[@thepizzarolls21]

??

[@mobilegamersunite]

Mwahahaha 😅 GW at its finest!

[@Donovaneagle2098]

Ive been getting into the Leagues of Votann lore more and more. Thank you for this. I study the Viking age a lot (im bi and the Vikings had an oddly nuanced view of queer people) and have a Wolfspear army since theyre probably the closest faction to the actual vikings, followed by the Votann

[@JayB9127]

comment for the comment god!

[@TheJadeJester]

Omg. So are Squats being rewritten into the rewritten First (Second) War of Armageddon? Or is it another retcon of a retcon in pursuit of profit (might as well steal Ferengi). Edit - yep. Retcon of a retcon. GW has really perfected that art. Disney take note.

[@jackwyattwyatt2220]

Quit bitching, they've been retconning lore since 2nd edition, if it pisses you off, fuck off.

[@DelaV3]

I need a squat Astartes!

[@Scufflegrit]

That’s… not how it works.

[@HighLordCrypto8951]

no

[@zenosAnalytic]

Gr8 Vid ^v^ I've gotta get this book |:T |:T It;s got me thinking it'd be fun to mod a squat imperial guard regiment, or maybe just a Necromundan one which includes some squats as well!

[@hutchy1k94]

tfw the actual fucking SQUATS have more lore than the Votann.

[@lukelloyd8976]

Are we Anti Spiral here?

[@JamesConnorr]

leave.

[@stephenshilling6058]

Worst 40k channel

[@iapetusmccool]

Worst comment.

[@jackwyattwyatt2220]

Why watch the video then?