Warhammer 40K : Finding a Light in the GrimDark

[@TheIconicHat]

You've done it Feral. You've won. You really are Warhammer 40k...

[@thedragondemands5186]

*”Where I fall ten more shall take my place! And a **_hundred_** each one of them! So strike me down, I am only the harbinger!!”*

[@3choblast3r4]

Kinda sounds like Ataturk's speech at Gallipoli, "I am not ordering you to attack today, I am ordering you to die. By the time we die reinforcements and other commanders will have come to take our place."

[@DrRushGaming]

in the name of our beloved god emperor - praise Feral. He has served Terra well

[@grimjoker5572]

Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

[@TheIconicHat]

Also I think Gaunt's Ghost book series (Imperial Guard) would be up your alley. Think Band of Brothers in 40k and Dick Winters in a Commisar Cap with a chainsword.

[@Tracer_Krieg]

It's pretty blatantly a take on the Sharpe novels, even right down to copying the gag of having the protagonists hair color be different on the covers and official artwork compared to how it's actually described in the novels themselves.

[@derekmcmanus8615]

Dan Abbett admitted himself he was ripping off Sharpe

[@CanadianPale]

Thanks for the upload. My own, meandering thoughts on 40K are broadly similar, and often in conflict with the more nihilistic perspectives prevalent in some quarters (Reddit in particular seems to be a hotbed of such), so it's heartening to see a more optimistic take on the universe discussed at length here for public edification. That said, there are a couple of quibbles I have with some of the points presented: First is the idea that the Imperium are not "the good guys," which I've always found curious. From our perspective here in the comparatively cozy 2nd Millennium, the Imperium of course appears horrifying, but while it may be "the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable," it's ultimately cruel to be kind, so to speak. Everything the Imperium does is dictated by the singular, all-consuming goal of preserving Mankind's existence in a universe stuffed to bursting with genocidal alien monsters and daemons thirsting for human souls, a universe where "we had to destroy the village to save it" is not Orwellian doublethink but a bald statement of fact that could mean the difference between a few souls being prematurely sent to the Emperor's Realm and the loss of an entire planet inhabited by billions (a recent Warhammer + animated short had a nice take on this in the context of a Genstealer cult and a Tyranid invasion). Second is the degree of corruption in the Imperium. While we definitely see corrupt officials in the fluff (and Imperial bureaucratic shenanigans _are_ often darkly humorous), I'm not convinced that the Imperium (as distinct from its constituent planetary governments) is _especially_ corrupt by any reasonable standard for a more-or-less feudal polity that has ruled over millions of planets for the better part of 10,000 years. Obviously, the system works, in-universe, and is robust enough to have kept working for almost 10 millennia, though it is true that the Administratum is inefficient. That, however, is in large part because it was designed to be so; after the Horus Heresy, and then again, after the reign of Goge Vandire, the apparatus of government was redesigned with the goal of making it as difficult as possible for a single person to quickly exercise absolute and unimpeded power throughout the Imperium. But again, thank you for articulating your thoughts on the oft-overlooked or downplayed optimism of 40K, the slender thread which, as you note, serves to strengthen the universe as a whole. Whether it be Space Marine Ragnar Blackmane getting snapped out of a Chaos-induced stupor by some indescribable force of goodness radiating directly from Holy Terra, Euphrati Keeler banishing daemons in the name of the Emperor, slain Imperial Guardsmen reuniting with their comrades in the afterlife, or the Primarchs gradually returning, in the grim darkness of the far future, there is still hope.

[@DefaultFlame]

There have been occasional hiccups in those 10,000 years though, like the Age of Apostasy, but yeah, broadly speaking the Imperium keeps trucking on, bumps in the road not withstanding.

[@TitusCastiglione1503]

I have to broadly agree. If the Imperium was as overwhelmingly incompetent as it’s often suggested by parts of the fan base, it would have collapsed millennia ago. Aldo Reddit being nihilistic is a major reason I don’t go there except for answers to technical questions. Place is a self-indulgent dumpster fire.

[@MrMortull]

You've absolutely found the correct metaphorical nail and slammed it home with the eponymous Warhammer: none of Games Workshop's settings, not a single one no matter how dark, is *completely* hopeless. They've made decades-long art of stacking the odds against everyone and refined it to near sublimity, such that no matter which game-world you read about or play, which faction you choose to champion and which characters you find most compelling, they're all fighting for *something worthwhile* against the kind of resistance that makes one despair of victory. But there is always that sliver of hope.

[@ShadowGJ]

Everything is always on the verge of collapse, but it's always on the edge, and the sacrifice and costly victories of millions every day push Mankind's extinction from tomorrow to the next day. Not completely hopeless, but with not a gram more hope than what's needed to sustain the endless fight.

[@Sara3346]

Excepting the skaven of course, as much as I love them they aren't fighting for anything worth having.

[@B007-r1w]

@@Sara3346 The Skaven just fight because its in their Nature, which could be seen as a reason technically. Theyre Fight is simply about surviving.... By creating horrible abominations. And cracking open the moon apparently.

[@MarkAndrewEdwards]

For those looking for more humanity and, yes, a light in the darkness of 40k...I highly endorse Dan Abnett's work, particularly the Gaunt's Ghosts series. He has a knack for making such a silly setting seem real, filled with real people. Sandy Mitchell's Ciaphas Cain books are flat out humorous and if you don't mind the wholesale theft of George MacDonald Fraser's 'Flashman' reskinned, they're good too.

[@LegendStormcrow]

I love Gaunt's Ghosts, but Cai, Cai Caiphus Cain is the hero of the Imperium!

[@zaphikel4578]

"In ancient times, men built wonders, laid claim to the stars and sought to better themselves for the good of all. But we are much wiser now." Archmagos Ultima Cryol - "Speculations On Pre-Imperial History"

[@gregorygreenwood-nimmo4954]

I think you would greatly enjoy the Gaunts Ghosts series of novels by Dan Abnett. It has a Band of Brothers meets Sharpe feel to it, expertly capturing the esprit de corps of fighting men and making combat in the insane setting of Warhammer 40K feel surprisingly believable and 'real' from the perspective of boots on the ground infantrymen.

[@feralhistorian]

Gaunt's Ghosts is definitely on my list now. I'll probably be alternating between Warhammer novels and everything else I want to read for quite a while.

[@gregorygreenwood-nimmo4954]

@@feralhistorian Careful - Games Workshop has its own in house publishing arm called Black Library that has been around for decades, and it has published huge numbers of books both for 40K and the Warhammer Fantasy setting. Once you start down that rabbit hole, you may never find your way out again. If you are prepared to brave that risk, and fancy dipping your toe into a pulp series of stories from the fantasy arm of Games Workshop's IP that are huge fun, may I also recommend the Gotrek and Felix novels, starting with Trollslayer by William King? Most of those novels are available as audiobooks on Audible now, voiced by the ever excellent Jonathan Keeble, and pretty much cover the journeys and adventures of the Old World's angriest doom seeking Dwarf and his human Rememberer, who is essentially a chronicler of his quest to find honourable death in battle to expunge a personal shame. The dynamic between the two characters varies from hilarious to at times actually rather poignant. Felix Jaeger may be the most relatable character from fantasy fiction I have ever read, and the older I get the more relatable I find him to be.

[@boobah5643]

@@feralhistorian For a lighter take, the Ciaphas Cain novels are more-or-less Flashman in 40k. All the grimdark is there, of course, but since the story is first person the narrator is rather blase about features of the setting that grate against modern sensibilities.

[@denismcmanus2566]

@@feralhistorian And also the Eisenhorn Trilogy by the same author is very good.

[@Man_Emperor_of_Mankind]

Nobody going to suggest that he reads the Horus Heresy series? 😂

[@briangilmore6804]

The irony and satire are still there, though its been covered over a bit through the years. One of my favorites is that in the end, humanity turned the Emperor into a Servitor. A cyborg zombie tasked with a function, regardless of the underlying subject's pain. Servitors are everywhere in the imperium, people broken down into nothing but tools. So of course, that is what the creator of the Imperium was transformed into. It's a beautiful kind of irony, and a statement about how bureaucracy so often ends up consuming its own purpose.

[@CanadianPale]

No, not really. The Emperor is both conscious and chose/endures the eternal torture of the Golden Throne willingly for the sake of Mankind's ultimate salvation from Chaos. It's much more reflective of Christian thematic imagery (something 40K tends to do quite blatantly at times) than anything else.

[@Dogman262]

@@CanadianPaleIf anything the servitors are a reflection of the GE's willingness to suffer tens of thousands of years holding the Imperium together, as the sentencing of servitude is one granted to "make amends" for ones wrong doings. Except its not a choice for the common criminal, heretic or political dissident

[@CanadianPale]

@@Dogman262 common criminals don't become servitors. It's normally only used as a punishment for really severe (i. e. _dangerous_ ) acts of tech-heresy, so the comparison falls apart again there.

[@Dogman262]

@@CanadianPale Yeah man whatever ig

[@CanadianPale]

@@Dogman262 go in peace, my son. The Emperor Protects.

[@KatanamasterV]

An open algorithm is like a fortress with it's gates unbarred and unguarded

[@MarkAndrewEdwards]

ISWYDT

[@KatanamasterV]

@@MarkAndrewEdwards did you hear it in the right voice too?

[@MarkAndrewEdwards]

@@KatanamasterV Aye, I do love me some Dawn of War.

[@KatanamasterV]

@@MarkAndrewEdwards nice

[@Dogman262]

Suffer not the like button unsmashed

[@vicnedel02]

You forgot to mention or perhaps purposefully omitted to mention all the humor that is baked into the setting's layers. Like a cake.

[@derekmcmanus8615]

Ever since the orginal Rogue Trader rulebook back in 80s

[@CanadianPale]

Kudos to Feral for observing that 40K is not satire, and explaining why. 🤜🤛

[@stephenwood6663]

On the subject of humanity's psychic evolution, there's a moment in the audio drama "Agent of the Throne: Truth and Dreams", which discusses this, although from a far more pessimistic point of view than the way you've described it. Our narrator is an Inquisitorial agent named Ianthe, and one of her duties is to track down rogue psykers. The line goes something like this: "Humanity is dead. The trigger's already been pulled, bullet coming down the barrel. It won't be the xenos. It won't even be the foul traitors. It'll be us." What Ianthe means by this is that even relatively weak psykers are hellishly difficult to track down and control, and can cause cataclysmic amounts of damage if allowed to operate unchecked. She can see enough of the big picture to recognise that there's more of them every year, that humanity's psychic evolution is likely to be its destruction. There's something bleakly poetic in that: that, despite a galaxy of horrors, we are our own worst enemy.

[@Churchmilitant67]

Your one of the few people who have run into who not only even heard of the Morganthou Plan, but are aware of it's ramifications. Great job! 👍

[@chasemaynard6318]

You really realize there was another totalitarian regime in WW2 when you learn about that.

[@liliththesolarexalted2206]

I'd recommend checking out the Ciaphas Cain books for some good humor in the setting, as well as the lore of the Salamanders for one of the best examples of the 'good guys' of the setting. Isyander and Coda have some great lore videos on 40K as well that really does work for the layman just getting into the series.

[@Deadjim17]

As a BIG fan of 40k I love your peel back of the veil in how you describe the world of Warhammer. And your deeper look into why people within the world keep going without giving up.

[@Philistine47]

As an outsider, the "Space Marine controversy" was very entertaining to watch. My familiarity, such as it is, with WH40K is solely what I've picked up from subcultural osmosis; even so, I know that the setting is intentionally, explicitly made to be as horrific as the writers can imagine. So I find it hilarious that anyone would want to "see themselves" in _that._

[@CanadianPale]

You'd be surprised...😉

[@Philistine47]

@@CanadianPale Sadly, I would not. But I still find it amusing.

[@doublep1980]

The whole controversy is, excuse my French, ret*rded af. Space Marines are not just super soldiers, they´re basically "warrior monks". And there are also "warrior nuns" in 40k, the Adepta Sororitas or "Sisters of Battle". They lack the genetic/cybernetic enhancements of the Astartes, but this is balanced out by their faith in the Emperor being so strong, that it enables them to perform superhuman feats. One could argue, that the Sororitas are even more "badass" than the Astartes, because they manage to go out and successfully fight all kinds of horrible Chaos Daemons, Traitor Marines, Xenos and heretics, WITHOUT having all genetic/cybernetic crap showed into their bodies. You want to "identify" with a faction? Well, 40k gives you plenty of options to choose. But that´s not what this is all about. This is just more cultural marxist BS, as we have seen it in various other hobbies and entertainment.

[@Rexini_Kobalt]

​@doublep1980 but, the question is, why do you care so much? how many models you own? how many rulebooks? if youve been playing for a long time, you know that the game never took itself as seriously as you are now... another thing, nothing is canon. every rulebook has retconned and changed loads of stuff. so again, the question is,, right noq, why do you care? why does it actually matter, if there can be female space marines? there are plenty of other brotherhoods and groups in 40k that _arnt_ space marines, still totally emasculated. yet only one female centered one... why cant there be some more stuff thats slightly more female oriented?

[@CanadianPale]

@@Rexini_Kobalt no, the question is why you think mere growth is a greater good than preserving the integrity of the lore. You're expressing the values of a cancer LOL. 😏

[@gregorygreenwood-nimmo4954]

Outside the more rigid tournament scene end of the 40K hobby, Game Workshop have repeatedly stated that the rules in more casual games should be treated as simply a broad framework, a general guide that you can modify and tweak in whatever way you like as you work with your opponent to set up the sort of enjoyable, memorable game you both want. If you fancy a last stand against the odds, a fighting retreat, a death or glory charge, holding the line until reinforcements arrive, or any other sort of game scenario, then it can be done simply by modifying the missions already in the rulebook a bit or by agreeing with your opponent ahead of time how you want to arrange things.

[@seand.g423]

I think we've _all_ seen what GW of all things mean by "a framework", tho...

[@gregorygreenwood-nimmo4954]

@@seand.g423 I don't see how any controlling tendencies of GW could apply to casual games. You can modify the rules any way you want to have the game you choose to have with your opponent. It is not as though GW's secret police are going to kick down your door at three in the morning and drag you off to slave in the Forgeworld resin mines for the crime of using house rules in a casual game between friends...

[@RolandoRatas]

Feral Historian is an agent of Chaos, I would say Tzeentch.

[@swissarmyknight4306]

"Warhammer 40k: Darktide" is what you're looking for. Its a horde shooter (with a fantastic melee and ranged system). As such, it is replete with last stands against unending hordes. My teams of four have routinely killed 900-2,500 Nurlge-worshipping heretics in a ~20 minute round. Pretty easy to get into if you have played a shooter before. Tip: Teamplay is overpowered. If you're getting overwhelmed, work as a team.

[@lafortya]

Well, the orks are having fun at least.

[@ashley-r-pollard]

Yeah, I'm not a player of WH40K as it doesn't scratch my itch, though I like what I think the original inspiration was Nemesis the Warlock from 2000AD. OTOH the Ciaphas Cain books by Sandy Mitchell are a homage to the Flashman series.

[@cypherian2]

Cool video as always! I was kind of hoping you'd cover this sooner or later, since it seems to be in your wheel house! Personally, I got turned off of 40K years ago when I attended a gaming convention and saw two grown men in 45 minute screaming match over who was in possession of a square inch. All the miniatures looked cool. But further got turned off by all the painting and expense involved. Oh, and not to mention all the rules and books you need to read. So I guess it boils down to Money, time, and patience which are all finite resources that I can't manage for shit! Oh well... At least the art is cool!

[@feralhistorian]

Yeah, some people take their gaming way too seriously and 40K makes it really easy to find things to argue about. Just recently I ran a small experimental game, using roughly 40K rules but I DMed it like a D&D campaign. There was a story to the mission, the objectives where actually things that made sense rather than arbitrary markers, and periodic "intel updates" that moved the story along. It was really bare-bones but I would absolutely do it again.

[@Deadjim17]

​@@feralhistorian I mean that is where Warhammer came from. GW originally were the European reseller for D&D and when they wrote Rogue Trader, it was heavily influenced by D&D and It required three people to play properly... the two opponents and a GM to set the game up and its rules.

[@j.c.vanhandel7907]

Holy smokes, I never would have thought this would be a video you'd ever make! This is awesome.

[@Nortonius_]

Male-strom More seriously, most any books by Abnett, Dembski-Bowden, and French are interesting stories in the setting with interesting takes on how it all works. Keep these up, so well done!

[@farisattva]

Happy reading! The books by Dan Abnett, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Graham McNeill, Chris Wraight, are all good stuff. Of course there are lots more other Warhammer writers worth checking out...

[@CanadianPale]

Chris Wraight? "Unaugmented human female effortlessly lifts and wields a Space Marine Chaplain's crozius" Chris Wraight? LMAO...

[@billturner6564]

We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are--- One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

[@Hypogean7]

... A Light Against the Darkness?

[@billturner6564]

@Hypogean7 Ulysses by Alfred Lord Tennyson

[@DefaultFlame]

"Somehow the slenderness of that thread makes it feel that much stronger." Though it has in no way been made greater, a candle shines brightest in complete darkness. Edit: If you want to just have fun, play against an Ork player. The Orks are the essence of "Random bullshit GO!" and there's no such thing as a salty Ork player.

[@ParameterGrenze]

It's the resonance of human history that made me develope an obsession with the 40K univerese lore only a few years ago. If you read history and refelct upon the the patterns of war, rise, war, fall and some war during and between all of that, you can easily see what kind of gestalt of mostly western history trauma the grand narrative of 40K is processing. I think the indoeuropean perspective on the human condition especially is one of constant, inavoidable war due to the nature of mens chaotic primodial demons.

[@BrendanSchmelter]

Warhammer 40k is ultimately a story about Hope. Mankind survived the Cybernetic Revolt and Old Night. It's currently fighting off multiple extinction level events. Though trillions may die... The species will survive.

[@itsmytoast666]

This is awesome. I have to agree - mostly; I've not finished the video, but felt the need to comment. The astarte battlecry: "I shall know no fear;" and the ponderance: "Is it better to live for yourself, or die for The Emperor?" both made me question how 40k is perceived. I feel like these, alone, show a positive, empowering piece of media. It's wholly better "to die for The Emperor" - as in: it's better to die for something greater, to do as Bukowski said: "Find what you love and let it kill you." This is, of course, versus the former half: "to live for yourself", to be a selfish, entitled jagweed who never gives back to society. I see the latter implying it's a much more fulfilling life to be invested in your community. Great video, definitely subbing and looking forward to the next essay.

[@simplygreen5832]

3rd Ed Rulebook had some great quotes. "An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded." "Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment"

[@VirtualHolocaust]

Dude what a good sense of what 40k is. Its not about the hyper male fantasy. Its about the sacrifice that men will do for the good of all. Sacrifice is what men are born to do. Its our duty. That is why we are now dropping out of society. If even our willing to sacrifice ourselves for the good of others cant even give us any credit. Then why do it? I will do chems and play games and enjoy my life.

[@VirtualHolocaust]

One of the most absurd things i have ever heard was when feminists say that Men were the ones that ruled a household with a iron fist. And women were oppressed. To me that is like saying your plow horse is the one that is actually in charge. As he works and breaks his back to plow the field. And even the plow horse would be looked upon more kindly. A man came home and maybe read the paper ate some dinner and went to sleep before waking up and going to work again. Sacrificing himself on the alter of his wife and children. And to these feminists that isnt enough. We should also come home and do all the work they dont wish to do.

[@davydatwood3158]

I've not played 40K since 3rd ed back in the 90s, but I still check in on the lore from time to time. I do think that the publisher has, over the last couple editions, been trying to slowly move away from "the Imperium is an awful place, there are no good guys, everyone sucks" to something with a more identifiable and sympathetic protagonist faction. Your quote fits into that trend, in my opinion. Still, the comparison to 1944/45 Germany is thought-provoking, in a good way. My formal history training is only a BA, but my 400 level coursers were split pretty evenly between Canadian Indigenious history and WW2 from an Axis perspective. (I even had the chance to study the rise of Mussolini and big-F Fascism *in* Italy, taught by an Italian.) So I've got a lot of context for that time period - well, as much as any Gen-Y sixth-generation Canadian can. Anyway, I've got thoughts tumbling through my head now, which is surely the goal of any video doing a historical/philsophical analysis of 40K.

[@LegendStormcrow]

The Imperium doesn't actually like psykers. If they cannot become sanctioned and cannot be shipped to Terra, they are delt with. As for Space Marines, a good number of loyalist factions have end time legends. 2 of these have come true so far.

[@jakeku2662]

The books "Scars" and "Warhawk" are favourites among the fandom, and for good reason.

[@modelermark172]

This is probably the best explanation of W40K that I've ever heard. Though I'm not a gamer - the rules for this game in particular would make the Federal Income Tax Codes look straightforward in comparison - I am a model builder, and I've built some Games Workshop kits as a 'break' from yet another Panzer IV or P-51. I find them to be highly detailed, with numerous options provided. The only real drawback is the price of these bespoke kits. About a year ago, I picked up a Rogal Dorn tank to be modified as the basis for a Draka Hond. That idea was abandoned when I saw your own - and much better - interpretation of S. M. Stirling's creation. Thanks for doing the research to make this for us! 775th Like.

[@NotsagF]

Im not from the US but I would more than welcome a duel of wits against you on a Warhammer table, it would inspire such an interesting exchange of ideas, I would love it, amazing video, take care.

[@Ghoulonoid]

If you can find the time, you should read through the original 1st Edition Rogue Trader manual. Maybe skip the game rules since they're irrelevant now anyway, though they do resemble your D&D experimental hybrid game in practice since the game was a lot smaller scale back then. Anyway, the setting used to be a lot more on the nose and satirical. It also shares heavy influence from Judge Dredd since GW had the license to produce the miniatures game and John Wagner worked on Warhammer Fantasy for awhile. Most of its been retconned but it explains a lot about how the modern grimdark 40k is often so silly at times.

[@Jagecage]

“They call me hero of helsreach. As if there was only one…”

[@chrisbolgiano27]

Seeing 40K as the subject of one of your videos is quite the gift you give us. Not to pile onto your reading list, but Helsreach by Aaron Dembski-Bowden does a fantastic job of conveying how dissimilar Astartes psychology is to baseline humans, and also that theme of fighting tooth and nail despite already knowing the outcome " 'Hero of Helsreach!' the crowd cheers. As if there is only one."

[@BenjaminWeimer]

I belive that the maker of event horison have said that he was a 40k fan. And i would recommend the gaunts ghost and cain books

[@Philistine47]

He's probably also a big fan of the Hellraiser movies.

[@cdfe3388]

“The rules are a bastard son of the tax code…” That’s putting it….**gently.**

[@The_Rage_Kage]

I recommend reading the Ciaphas Cain series, the Gaunts Ghosts series, Helsreach, Rynn's World the Eisenhorn Series and if you are willing to mire yourself in the clusterfuck of managing the book order the entirety of the Horus Heresy. But I implore you, if you see or hear the words "Daemonculaba" DO. NOT. CONTINUE.

[@thehammerofwrath]

"they all have their own lore, characters and special, bullshit moves" LOL 10/10 would chuckle again.

[@waterbears9874]

I do feel the Germany allegory could’ve been worded a tiny bit better, but as a long time 40k fan i never even knew about that passage and it’s given me a bit of a different perspective on the whole thing

[@chrisgenson2278]

Henry Cavill is a big Warhammer 40K player.

[@OldTexasRed]

it would be really cool if you looked at the Mechanicum of Mars specifically. Also the Ciaphas Cain series would be a good read, it's actually a bit more light hearted, but that grimdarkness of the setting always feels like it's hovering just out of sight in the background, it's still there, but the curtain of humanity hides it.

[@ZeroFoxtrotGolf]

2nd edition 40k is a hell of a good time and third edition still has some of the tongue on cheek of the earlier editions and self awareness to know where they stole their lore from and pay homage to it. I love the fact that they brought back Necromunda (my game of choice) and Kill Team is its own thing now. If you want some awesome quick skirmish gaming those are hard to beat.

[@death2all79zx]

If you are looking for a rule set that sheds all the 40k bloat, try Xenos Rampant.

[@redcrossreborn]

Haha! Chipmunks are definitely Chaos demons! That's a great line.

[@rosebeaufort6238]

Finally ! My man review 40k!

[@JanJansen985]

4:15 Yes their dingus work

[@hansthebeast9740]

I have always thought that the Orcs aren’t “good” but more innocent. They don’t understand why humans scream when being torn apart. They need to fight to grow and even reproduce. They were built for war. Built to be a near perfect living weapon.

[@SusCalvin]

They are cruel blokes who think it is fun to beat another blokes teeth in and do so with an absence of reflection.

[@hohenzollern6025]

They just wanna have fun is all. Play the funnest game with their frenz. And the umgies are there bestest frenz.

[@LookAwayMarkAtkins]

Ok Lord Feral, I have watched two of your videos. I may be hooked.

[@SirWilliamKidney]

I highly recommend the Night Lords trilogy of books by Aaron Dembsky Bowden, I really think it takes everything great about the 40k universe and turns it to 11. And it's beautifully written.

[@feralhistorian]

I recently read the first two books of the trilogy, and I see exactly what you mean. I'll come back for 3 after finishing Gaunt's Ghosts.

[@SirWilliamKidney]

@@feralhistorian Haha I just finished Blood Reaver last night! And I read Necropolis last month. If you're interested, the KZbin channel ArbitorIan has a good book club series which follow many of the most popular lore books, including Gaunt's Ghosts. I'm like you and have never played an actual game of Warhammer but I find its world incredibly engaging. I think the struggle to maintain one's humanity in the grim setting is particularly captivating. I really liked your essay, too!

[@Jack-0-lantern]

I hope that the next time you talk about warhammer 40k, you might consider talking about the realm of Ultramar, "The empire within an empire". I know some people might role their eyes given its connection to the poster boys of the setting, the Ultramarines, but i can't help but wonder if its very existence has something deeper to say about the larger story of this GrimDark setting. This last bastion of light in a galaxy of darkness, fighting not just to survive but trying to keep the foundings principles of the original dream of the Imperium alive, hoping the embers of hope from its core may one day spread a fire to the rest of the Imperium if they just hold on long enough.

[@icecoldrugby]

For more deep lore, I recommend viewing The Pontius channel. Be warned, his accent is 🤌🤌🤌🤌🤌/5 Italian. He's just getting started, but man he knows his facts.

[@douglashobden]

History for the History God! Tomes for the Tome Throne!

[@UNYEILDING]

A fun paradox of no one matters yet everyone is critical. Buying an extra second of life for a culture 10k years old. To be human in the most inhumane of times.

[@grimjoker5572]

I would strongly suggest you watch "If the Emperor Had a Text To Speech Device." It's a fan made series that sadly will more than likely never be finished due to legal issues; yet it explains 40k really well in an entertaining way. Its depiction of the Emperor and his views on the current Imperium are pretty lore accurate as well, personality and humor aside. It's what I suggest people watch when I want to show them the better (as in less grimdark) aspects of 40k because it shows what would happen if Big E actually did get off his throne.

[@CanadianPale]

Pretty lore-accurate if you're a Redditor whose main source of info is corpse-starch memes...😆

[@JackMyersPhotography]

I had never read or looked into Warhammer, but a recent space opera short story I wrote was compared to it. So I started looking into it a little and it seems to borrow extensively from SFs back catalogue and history, and with great results.

[@benjackson1454]

If heresy grows from idleness you have nothing to worry about.

[@bmhh123]

This is a setting that you should explor further for sure.

[@ee822]

If you want a good book from the perspective of one of the alien species of the franchise, one of the highest regarded books is "The Infinite and The Divine". Of note, one of the titular characters, Trazyn the Infinite, is a Necron Historian/Museum Curator. Admittedly, one that takes a more collector approach than that of on-site preservation.

[@feralhistorian]

I imagine a Necron historian would have some stories to tell. Added to the list.

[@JinKee]

6:39 Smells like Tzeentch Spirit

[@zeanamush]

My favorite Xenos are the Necrons because they are so intensely "human" in all there stories.

[@jriggan]

That. Was. Wicked!!!

[@M-M-D-C]

"Germans are people" Amazing how many forget this.

[@konst80hum]

Read Dan Abnett's Inquisition books. It makes the world seem livable. Good take.

[@Watcher-pt6uq]

Honestly, if the Imperium and several of the other xenos factions actually recognized that they all share a goal of survival (Eldar, Nectons, Tau) they could actually halt the advances of the more destructive factions. But that can never happen of course.

[@hohenzollern6025]

And if the skaven could stop stabbing each other in the back long enough to do anything, they could easily conquer the world. That is the point of it all, of course. If they just did something sensible, it could all be "fixed".

[@thequietman95]

You should check out Ciaphas Cain. Either it’s the adventures of Harry Flashman in the 41st millennium, or one man’s epic of greatness brought on by crippling impostor syndrome.

[@Reject-Demon]

i just found your channle and im loving these talks

[@rottenmeat5934]

Well said from the only literate man in media

[@aki4732]

Nice video. The game actually started with much more satire and was funny, for some reason it got way more serious in the last 20 years.

[@Culexus101]

The idea that more and more psykers were being born every year has been part of the lore for longer than 7th but it was generally presented as more of a problem than a boon. The issue being that the Imperium is a terrible place to raise anyone to have the kind of balanced outlook on life that is necessary to truly keep the lure of Chaos at bay. The only way to do that is by not giving into the base instincts that the 4 gods represent, so a psyker who is overly violent, or lustful, or manipulative, or even unambitious ends up inadvertently feeding the Chaos Gods and becoming a danger to those around them. Basically, extremism feeds the gods in 40k and the Imperium breeds extremists. For the record I think 5th was the peak of the grimdark for me, everything was failing and there weren't any answers on the horizon. I remember 6th having some lines about how the Imperium was producing more weapons, munitions, and war machines and whatnot than at any other point in it's history and it was a big wtf moment for me when in 3rd to 5th it was more of a "make do and mend" type of setting because they couldn't make enough new stuff to meet their needs, so they had to keep salvaging stuff.

[@CBfrmcardiff]

I think Rogue Trader may have had something about humanity transforming into a psychic species, and this being the Emperor's plan. So it seems like a revival of that early idea.

[@RD22TT]

Definitely checkout Huron Blackheart and Fool's Run by Mike Brooks. But stay away from any Salamander novels they're all terrible, which is unfortunate because the Salamanders represent mercy in the grimdark universe.

[@anarchyandempires5452]

Yes there are, there are good guys in this universe, there's Chiapas Kane and his valhallans, there are the Lamenters and The Salamnders and then of course there are the enclaves. All of those guys are objectively good

[@Hypogean7]

Ciaphas Cain still uses live bodies for commisar training though. And never forget that everyone treats servitors like normal.

[@anarchyandempires5452]

@Hypogean7 because they are normal, for humanity in that universe anyway, It's basically the equivalent of thinking using iPhones is weird, or that cars are wierd, servitors are just a thing that has existed for the past 20,000 years, humans don't really think much about them because it would be like us looking at light poles and being horrified by them, servitors are just Part of The Every day background that a human sees since birth It's literally impossible for a human to think they are weird since they don't have the concept of a world without them. On the other hand whenever any of the other races visit the imperium they Very much think it's absolutely horrifying, and usually get Traumatized by them.

[@MrCombatcarl]

I am once again Posting to gain attention to the starfist book series which is fantastic!

[@feralhistorian]

Added the first one to my ever-growing reading list.

[@D.M.S.]

Not hundreds. Ten thousand every day.

[@robertkalinic335]

The part about Germany reminds me of some old germans telling me about what they did during ww2...bombed cities reduced to dust, random air raids and running into forest for cover, burning corpse at the crossroad, kids serving in militia being engaged in actual combat. Just recently not far from where i work they found the airbomb while digging at some construction site which meant those disaster allerts to phones and evacuation of the small town. I did ask about you know what, but they didn't tell me much and i cant tell if thats intentional.

[@glenmurie]

One of the things I like is GWs official policy on the lore. Everything is canon, and every narrator is unreliable. Which means if someone wants girl Adeptus Custodes they exist, but the person who claims they exist might be lying or insane. Even if that was published in an official book.

[@benjaminstorace6699]

"the rules are the bastard son of the tax code" MANY people who are fans of the setting would agree

[@ethanmcfarland8240]

If everything sucks, then you can just have fun, and let go

[@BenjaminWeimer]

his shininess 😂

[@or_gluzman561Peace_IL_PS]

hey farel historian what do you think about maybe doing comparison between the A24 civil war 2024 and the 1997 The Second Civil War movies

[@feralhistorian]

That could happen. Several months ago I rewatched Second Civil War but never did anything with it. Haven't seen the A24 film yet, but eventually.

[@TheRealOfficialAmazingAdam]

@Feral Historian the only Space Marine Chapter that discovered their man parts work are The Space Wolves.

[@KamiRecca]

I like 40k. I tend Not to like some 40k fans. And they are always the fans yelling that Nothing can beat 40k, and then completely fail to argue their point beyond "Its 40k. 40k wins against everything." Aaand it does not There are some absolutely crazy stuff in 40k, stuff that beats Most things. But if we look at actual Sides in 40k, like the Imperium and what they Generally have access too (See Generally, because they Have other things, its just so rare that they are basicly never employed or would be useless in a Strategical sense dui to its rarity), they loose to pupular brands quite easily. For example: A Lasgun holds 19 Megathules. Most fans equate taht to Megajoules. A Lasgun can be completely drained to mimic a less effective Lascannon. So we can guetimate the Lascannon to sit at about 20-25Mj or so per shot. The Phaser of Star Trek vaporizes people in one hit. Completely gone. You need about 3 Gigajules of power to do that. So a Phaser sits at about 120 times the strength of a Lascannon. Conclussion: A Phaser can take down space marines, terminators, every vehicle in 40k, titans etc etc etc. the Lasercannon on an X-Wing in Star Wars sits at 126-500 Terajoules of power depending on setting. Thats 5-20 Million times the power of a Lascannon. Conclussion: X-Wings are threats to the Imperiums capital ships. A Single bolt have enough power to lower any void shield, since it has a high rate of fire, it can strip a multitude of shields in a short time, and then erase the Glorianna with ease. These are the numbers. These are from Lore. And so many 40k fans will not even argue agaisnt it, just conclude "40k is da best, you dont know anything". And i realy dislike such "arguments". From Sweden with Love - Kami

[@shadowandsunshinellc]

Feral, there are a number of computer games and board games, and roleplaying games set in the 40k universe. You don't have to buy a plastic army just to give it a try.

[@ThreeSeatStarboard]

Reject the meta. Embrace the Guard.

[@cdhrtsc]

If you want to read some horus heresy, i got the first 4 books. You are welcome to them, i have family in the area that can ship them to. Always appreciate your content.

[@feralhistorian]

Thanks for the offer, but that won't be necessary. Any more anything I read casually has to be on a backlit ereader, my eyes are finally starting to go. Horus Rising is in the queue with everything else I want to read in the next couple months.

[@SusCalvin]

GW got pretty good at microfiction, and tossing snippets of quotes, hymns, small scenes, short stories, history in between blocks of rules. Around 2nd and 3rd ed, they started to embrace the unreliable narrator. Someone in universe is the source, clouded by propaganda and incomplete information. Each snippet is an incomplete glimpse. My favourite is the side story where goblins cannibalize another goblin and claim they found him dead to a passing orc officer. Of course he claimed he was alive, but you know how that squad lies!

[@ahmedshaharyarejaz9886]

Interestingly all the powers in WW2 felt that they were fighting for their very lives. That is why the war was so vicious.

[@rick.d]

"The Imperium is already horrifying, but is anyone actually wanting a story about little girls being ripped open turned into genocidal War hulks through years of pain and hardship?" Can't say that I "wanted it", but Claymore turned out to be absolutely my favorite manga. It's not 1:1 what you're talking about of course, but you should check it out.

[@robertozee5024]

The planet broke before the Guard did.

[@DiathenEridani]

God damn that's good writing!

[@LukeBunyip]

Sysiphis with a Lasgun?

[@impcit5717]

You might be interested in the Age of Sigmar lore for that feel of waging an unending war against an onslaught of nightmarish enemies. The Stormcast Eternals faction are mortal champions plucked from their moment of death by Sigmar. They are given powerful armor, mighty weapons, and a functional immortality. When a Stormcast dies they return to Sigmar and are reforged to continue the fight. However, each reforging takes something away from the Stormcast, a curse by Nagash, the God of Death, for keeping souls that should rightfully be his. A memory of a loved one, your eyes appearing as a collection of glittering stars, your personality changing from joyous to dour are some of the costs of reforging. Stormcast will eventually become so radically transformed that they act almost like soulless automatons or their souls resist the reforgings and have to be caged for their own good. All Stormcast know this and they will continue to fight on, for they have been given the power to eternally protect their civilizations from monsters.