In the Grim Dark Future there is Only War:

Problematizing the Morality of War Itself in the Science Fiction Fantasy Table Top War Game, ‘Warhammer 40 000’

By: William Hamilton, PhD Student at Concordia University

[The rebels] begged for clemency from the vengeful [Iron Hands], but [they] were without pity for such callow folk. In a year of bloodshed, the Iron Hands executed one in ever three citizens of Contqual. The message was clear - to court damnation was to invite only destruction. Not one of the survivors doubted that the Iron Hands stood ready to mete out punishment once more, should need arise.1

This quote is not taken from an ancient text recounting the subjugation of a village that

challenged the official religion of the Roman Empire. The Iron Hands were not a branch

of the Spanish Inquisition or an elite military unit that ensured conformity within any

totalitarian state in the history of the world. Instead, this quote is taken from the

background literature of the popular table top war game, Warhammer 40 000. The Iron

Hands are a unit of Space Marines, elite warriors who serve ‘the Emperor’, the ruler of all

humanity. Despite being fanatical killers draped in the tapestries of fascism, the Emperor

and his Space Marines are the closest things to ‘good guys’ in this imaginary science

fiction world of demon worship, mass genocide and ideological intolerance.

Scholars such as English professor Steffen Hantke and inter-disciplinarian

Christopher Hables Gray have examined science fiction and fantasy in television series,

films, magazines and books.2 However, these intimately connected genres have also

found expression in video, board and table top games. While videogames have begun to

attract scholarly attention, board and table top games appear to be overwhelmingly

ignored.3 This is problematic because, as historian Leonard David notes, war is being 1 Mathew Ward, Codex Space Marines, 5th edition (Nottingham: Games Workshop, 2008), pp. 452 It is difficult to associate Gray with a single discipline since he has taught History, Informatics, Computer Science and Cultural

Studies of Science & Technology at the University level and currently teaches in the University of East London’s Interdisciplinary Studies department. Chris Hables Gray, “‘There Will Be War!’: Future War Fantasies and Militaristic Science Fiction in the 1980s,” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 21, no. 3 (November 1994), pp. 315-336. Steffen Hantke, “Surgical Strikes and Prosthetic Warriors: The Soldiers Body in Contemporary Science Fiction,” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 25, no. 3 (November 1998), pp. 495-509.

3 Examples include: Leonard David, “Unsettling the military entertainment complex: Video games and a pedagogy of peace,”

Simile, vol. 4, no. 4 (2004). Craig A. Anderson and Brad J. Bushman, “Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal, and Prosocial Behavior: A meta-Analytic Review of the Scientific Literature,” Psychological Science, vol. 12, no. 5 (2002), pp. 353-359. Nipissing University’s English professor Rhiannon Don’s unpublished conference paper “Crisis in Orkientalism” which examines the issue of race in the online role playing game ‘World of Warcraft’.

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marketed in a politically loaded manor on an increasingly massive scale through war

games.4 While David’s discussion is centered upon video games, his observation also

holds true for board and table top games such as the futuristic, science-fiction-fantasy war

game Warhammer 40 000.

The first edition of Warhammer 40 000 was released by the British company

Games Workshop in 1987. Available exclusively for a domestic audience, it was

marketed towards a fridge group of adult consumers who sought an alternative to the

clear cut good vs. evil morality that dominated post WWII British fantasy and science

fiction.5 In 1993 the seconded edition of Warhammer 40 000 simplified the game

mechanics in an attempt to appeal to younger gamers. The third, fourth and fifth editions,

released in 1998, 2004 and 2008 respectively, alerted the game’s background as part of

Games Workshop’s campaign to achieve mainstream status and an international

consumer base.

In traditional war games such as ‘Axis and Allies’ players purchases a box that

contains the pieces, rules and background required to play all of the game’s factions.

However in Warhammer 40 000, players first familiarize themselves with the games’

background literature from which they choose a faction from it to play as. Players then

purchase and paint models that represent characters from their faction’s army and serve

as the game’s pieces. 6 In a game of Warhammer 40 000 players take on the role of a

4 David, pp. 1-2.5 This can be seen in the letters players wrote to Games Workshop’s monthly magazine, White Dwarf. In addition to applauding Warhammer 40 000’s moral ambiguity, they were also repelled by games that had a clear ‘good vs. evil’ paradigm and promoted militarism. One game that received particular criticism was the US Civil War game The Price of Freedom. The back of this game’s box reads: “The Union built by your grandfathers is the only functioning republic in a world dominated by aggressive imperial monarchies. But now the "city on a hill", the nation chosen by God to lead mankind into a new age of freedom, stands divided and vulnerable - and the world is watching. It falls to YOU to save the Union, and republicanism itself. Can you conquer and subjugate an area the size of Western Europe before a war-weary public forces you to make peace?” “letters” White Dwarf Magazine, issues 85-113, (1987-1989).6 As personalized war models, these figures clearly have a relationship to war fandom that is in need of exploration, especially considering that an important element of every Warhammer and Warhammer 40 000 tournament is the painting competition. The controversial use of fascist iconography in painting schemes also needs to be investigated and players have discussed this topic at length in online forums such as ‘Heretic’, ‘Giant in the Playground’ or ‘Warseer’. While these issues are very important, they will not

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general and command their army in battle against those of other players. The results of

combat between game pieces is determined rolling dice.7 Players earn Victory Points

during a game by capturing objectives on the battlefield and destroying their opponent’s

army. The player with the most Victory Points at the end of a randomized number of

turns is declared the winner.

I argue that this game problematizes the morality of war itself by placing it within

an ambiguous moral context, emphasizing the violence of war in any time period, and

presenting a post colonial reflection of British imperialism and Western history.

Warhammer 40 000’s game designers conscientiously obscured the morality of war in

order to make players grapple with moral dilemmas. This approach was taken in

deliberate opposition to post WWII British fantasy literature that romanticized premodern

war as a struggle of ‘good versus evil’ and was inspired by the ‘New Wave’ science

fiction that emerged in Britain during the 1960s. Abandoning the binary of ‘good versus

evil’ enables Warhammer 40 000 to deliver a sophisticated critique of war itself because

it is simply never fashioned into something that can be celebrated.

The first and second editions of Warhammer 40 000 present a counter argument

to science fiction writer Robert Heinlein’s vision of a militarist utopia, most notably

expressed in his Hugo award winning book Starship Troopers. Heinlein’s Mobile

Infantry, the military caste he presents as having the civic and moral virtue required to

bear the franchise, are reinvented as the Space Marines: fanatical killers and mechanisms

of Imperial rule who are associated with Nazism. Simultaneously, the Space Marines are

be examined here because the central thrust of this paper is to demonstrate the pressing need for academics to study board and table top war games by using Warhammer 40 000 as a case study. Warhammer 40 000 background literature is extensive and has even inspired novel length fictions such as: Dan Abnett, Ghost Maker (London: Black Library, 2000). Mitchel Scanlon, Descent of Angeles: Loyalty and Honor (London: Black Library, 2007). Graham McNeil, Fulgrim (London: Black Library, 2007).7 Warhammer 40 000 is a ‘table top’ game and therefore spatial relations among game pieces are measured in inches instead of using

a board that is divided into squares or hexagons that a ‘board game’, such as chess, would utilize.

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connected with the Roman Empire in order to emphasize the violence of premodern war

and question its romanization. By revisiting Western history in this discomforting

manner, the first and second editions of Warhammer 40 000 represent a post colonial

rethinking of Western history. In fact, this game delivers a critique of British imperialism

during the 1980s and 1990s when the English market it was restricted to was revaluating

their nation’s imperial legacy. However, as a war game, Warhammer 40 000 is faced with

an eternal contradiction between critiquing war and moulding it into a sellable form.

After a management buy-out in 1991, Games Workshop revised Warhammer 40 000’s

background in a way that reduced its moral ambiguity to heighten its popularity.

However, an examination of contemporary online commentary and discussion among

gamers suggests that, at least some, continue to engage with the game with as a discourse

about the morality of war and a cynical evaluation of militarism.

Reading the Critique Presented by Warhammer 40 000

The social and political messages of war games and toys has been studied by

historians, political scientists and media studies professors in historical contexts ranging

from Victorian England to the contemporary United States.8 These studies appear to

employ a ‘cause and effect’ methodology that seeks to explain a historical phenomena,

such as high British enrolment in WWI, through war consumption. They predictably

conclude that the toy or game in question contributes to the militarization of society.

Specifically, they suggest that war consumption has “helped to reinforce a particular view

8 In addition to Davis, historians include Kenneth Brown. Political scientists include Patrick Regan and Jeffrey H. Goldstein while Media professors include David Machin, Theo Van Leeuwen and David Machin. Kenneth Brown, The British toy business: a history since 1700 (London: Continuum International Publishing Group 1996). Kenneth Brown, “Modeling for War: Toy soldiers in Late Victorian and Edwardian Britain,” Journal of Social History, vol. 24 (1995), pp. 237-54. Patrick Regan, “War Toys, War Movies and the Militarization of the United States, 1900-85,” Journal of Peace Research, vol. 31, no. 1 (1994), pp. 45-58. Jeffrey H. Goldstein, Why we watch the attractions of violent entertainment, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), pp. 57. David Machin, Theo Van Leeuwen and David Machin, “Toys as discourse: children's war toys and the war on terror,” Critical Discourse Studies, vol. 6, no. 1 (February 2009), pp. 51-63.

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of the nature of war” as a romantic conflict of heroicized violence.9 This is

unquestionably true in cases such as G.I. Joe action figures. However, these studies do

not appear to consider the background literature that can accompany war games like

Warhammer 40 000. This is a critical oversight because this literature can actually create

an ambiguous moral context that allows for the presentation of sophisticated arguments

about war. Further, not all war gamers are passive consumers as the ‘cause and effect’

approach implies and an analysis of the discourse produced by contemporary

Warhammer 40 000 players illustrates that at least some appreciate the game’s critiques.

It appears that recognizing the messages that some forms of war consumption

present also requires a paradigm shift in terms of how the genres of science fiction and

fantasy are understood. Despite their similarities, and the fact that many works such as

Star Wars or Warhammer 40 000 combine elements of both, science fiction has

monopolized scholarly attention.10 Interestingly, some academics who study science

fiction as a vehicle of social commentary attempt to establish the credibility of this genre,

and their work, by defining it in opposition to the ‘trivial’ realm of fantasy. For example,

English professor and literary critic Carl Freedman argues that science fiction presents an

alternative to reality, “thus sharply distinguishing science fiction from the irrationalist

estrangement of fantasy or Gothic literature (which may secretly work to ratify the

mundane status quo by presenting no alternative to the latter)”.11

9 Ibid.10 In general, science fiction tends to explain the ‘fantastic’ as a result of advanced technology while fantasy relies upon magic or divine intervention. Some academics, such as Donald L. Lawler or English professor Anthony Wolk state that fantasy can be a critical genre when framing their articles. However, the bodies of their works focus almost exclusively upon science fiction. Alternatively, scholars such as American philosopher Richard L Purtill avoid fantasy by appropriate literature, such as the Lord of the Rings, into science fiction. Donald L. Lawler, “Certain Assistances: The Utilities of Science Fiction and Fantasy in Shaping the Future,” US Department of Health Education and Welfare, (1975). Anthony Wolk, “Challenge the Boundaries: An overview of Science Fiction and Fantasy,” The English Journal, no. 79, vol. 3 (March 1990), pp. 26-31. Richard L. Purtill, J. R. R. Tolkien, (Fort Collins: Ignatius Press, 2003).11 Carl Howard Freedman, Critical Theory and Science Fiction, (New England: Wesleyan University Press, 2000), pp. xvi-xvii.

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Freedman comes to this conclusion because his understanding of critical discourse

is grounded in the “unswervingly oppositional [italics in original]” nature of critical

theory. Therefore, his theoretically informed approach conceptualizes the existence of

social commentary in purely dialectic terms, that is, through the presentation of an

alternative.12 However, as a narrative technique, a strict reliance on binaries can actually

prevent war itself from being questioned because it demands that conflict is presented as

a struggle between an opposing ‘good’ and ‘evil’. In fact, it even risks glorifying conflict

since it demands a heroic, romanticized side in war.

Restricting the possibility of critical engagement to the presentation of an

alternative possibility is also inherently limiting. This is because it means that scholars

like Freedman miss the sophisticated type of critique that Warhammer 40 000 presents;

one that enables it to question war itself. As we shall see, far from ‘ratifying the mundane

status quo’, this game sought to destabilize the trend of romanticizing war that dominated

post WWII British fantasy literature and is best exemplified by J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S.

Lewis. An examination of interviews with Warhammer 40 000’s game designers and

their designers’ notes demonstrates that they consciously rejected a simplistic dichotomy

of ‘good vs. evil’ in favour of moral ambiguity. The way that this approach allows

Warhammer 40 000 to question war itself will be showcased through a case study of the

‘Inquisition’ faction of the game.

The Methods and Dark World of Warhammer 40 000

Historian Paul Fussell has demonstrated that WWI represented a “twentieth-

century shock to European culture”.13 The traditional romantic language, based upon

12 Freedman, pp. 7. 13 Paul Fussell, interviewed by Sheldon Hackney, The Initial Shock: A Conversation with Paul Fussell, National Endowment for the Humanities, 1996. http://net.lib.byu.edu/estu/wwi/comment/fussell.htm

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Roman and Arthurian legends, that the British populace had used conceptualize war as a

heroic quest and glorious struggle had been thrown into disarray.14 As Fussell explains,

WWI could “not be understood in traditional terms: the machine gun alone makes it so

special and unexampled that it simply can’t be talked about as it if were one of the

conventional wars of history.”15 Part of the reaction to this “immense intellectual and

cultural and social shock” was a collective longing for the glories and romance of

premodern war.16 This hunger was satisfied by two of the most influential, popular and

studied fantasy writes of all time, J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis.

The extent to which Tolkien and Lewis were interested in romanticizing war has

been debated. American theologian Fleming Rutledge argues that “Tolkien’s work is not

meant to glamorize or romanticize or even support war.”17 Like Lewis, Tolkien was

inspired by the exact body of literature that informed the pre-WWI romantic language of

war. 18 Tolkien began to seriously write The Lord of the Rings during WWII, while his

son was serving in the British Air Force. Referring to WWII as the “War of the

Machine”, he published these books in the 1950s when the cultural meaning of war had

been degraded even further.19 As philosopher Peter Kreeft convincingly illustrates, in this

context Tolkien succeeded in “restoring the sense of the glory of a just war. It is not just a

dirty job, or an unfortunate duty, it is a glorious thing.”20 In fact, Tolkienist Richard West

14 Paul Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1975), pp. 21-25, 147 154, 145-147.15 Ibid, 153.16 Bernard A. Cook, Europe Since 1945 (London: Taylor & Francis, 2001), pp. 1068-1070. Jay Winter, Sites of Memory: The Great War in European Cultural History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 7.17 Fleming Rutledge, The Battle for Middle Earth (The Netherlands: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing 2004), pp. 344.

18 Poets Alfred Lord Tennyson and William Morris were particular important. Fussell, The Great War and Modern Memory, pp. 21.

Robert Eaglestone, Reading The Lord of The Rings (New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2006), pp. 4.

19 The three Lord of the Rings books were printed between 1954-1955. Jane Chance Chism, Tolkien the medievalist (New York:

Routledge, 2003), pp. 66.20 Peter Kreeft, The Philosophy of Tolkien (Fort Collins: Ignatius Press, 2005), pp. 168.

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found that Tolkien became very popular in the 1950-1960s because he was able to “bring

medieval romance into the modern world.”21

Even Tolkien himself saw The Lord of the Rings as an opportunity to encourage

“good morals” as he presented a mythology of the ‘good agrarian Englishmen’ uniting

with his Western allies against a vile Eastern foe.22 Re-establishing this binary was

important because WWII had sparked a re-evaluation of Western history and the notions

of Euro-Western superiority that had formerly legitimated British imperialism. As West

explains, “The Lord of the Rings is a defence of Western civilisation.”23 In their effort to

maintain the romanticization of premodern war and defend western history, Tolkien and

Lewis both portray war as a glorified struggle between a Western-Christian-virtuous

good and Eastern-pagan-oppressive evil, in which good unites to defeat evil. 24

Tolkien and Lewis were more popular than ever in the 1960s. 25 However, their

celebration of war as a struggle between a clearly defined good and evil was being

challenged by the newly emerging ‘New Wave’ of British science fiction-fantasy. To

these fringe writers like Michael Moorecock, Theodore Sturgeon and Ray Bradbury, war

was not something heroic to be glorified.26 They possessed an alternative post WWII

mentality, and instead of longing for a return to premodern romance, sought to produce

literature that reflected the complexities of the present.27 Moorecock explains that he was

“appalled” by Tolkien’s “belief in absolute morality that blurs moral and political

21 Richard West, Celebrating Middle-Earth (Seattle: Inkling Books, 2002 ), pp. 16.22 Ibid, pp. 59.23 Ibid, pp. 16.24 Ibid, pp. 66. Bruce L. Edwards, C. S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy, (London: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007), pp. 106.25

Michael Nelson, “C.S. Lewis and His Critics,” The Virginia Quarterly Review, vol. 74, no. 4 (Winter 1988).26 The British science fiction magazine New Worlds, edited by Moorcock, was the “ideological center” of New Wave. A. E. Levin and Yuri Prizel, “English-Language SF as a Socio-Cultural Phenomenon,” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 4, no. 3 (November 1977), pp. 254-255. Theodore Sturgeon, More Than Human (New York: Random House, 1978). Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451(New York: Random House, 1953).27 Ibid, pp. 254.

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complexity.”28 In fact, Moorecock remained “scathingly critical of Tolkien” and even

went so far as to compare The Lord of the Rings to Winnie the Pooh on account of what

he saw as its ‘escapist’ qualities.29

The New Wave remained influential during the mid 1980s and significantly

impacted Warhammer and Warhammer 40 000’s creators and founders, Rick Priestley

and Richard Halliwell. In fact, they dedicated the first edition of War Hammer Fantasy

Battle (the precursor to Warhammer) “to Michael Moorcock… whose fault it all is”.30 In

direct opposition to the heroic tales of Tolkien or Lewis, Warhammer was advertised as

“A Grim World of Perilous Adventure”.31 In fact, in an interview with The Warpstone,

Graham Davis, one of Warhammer Fantasy Role Play’s original game designers who

later became a central mastermind of Warhammer 40 000, was asked

The Warpstone: What is the best part of W[arhammer] F[antasy] R[ole] P[lay]?Graham Davis: To me, the tone of the world.  It seems odd to say it now, but at the time there simply wasn't anything like it. Fantasy games were always very clean and heroic; every character had gleaming armor, a bodybuilder physique, perfect teeth and masses of backcombed blonde hair. Moral questions were always black and white, with no real dilemmas. It was very shallow, and I found it unsatisfying.  I still love the way W[ar Hammer] F[antasy] R[ole] P[lay] blends horror and humor, and challenges players to deal with complex situations and choices of evils.32

Clearly, Warhammer’s game designers consciously avoided the binary of good vs. evil in

order to make their players face complex moral dilemmas in a dark world. In fact, they

28 Donald M. Hassler, New Boundaries in Political Science Fiction (South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2008), pp. 272.29 Ibid. 272. Michael Moorecock, “Epic Pooh,” British Science Fiction Association, 1978. Michael Moorcock, Wizard and Wild Romance: A Study of Epic Fantasy (Austin: MonkeyBrain Books, 1989). Michael Moorcock, interviewed by Ken Mondschein, The Corporate Mofo Interview, January 1, 2002. Daniel Timmons, J.R.R. Tolkien and his Literary Resonances (London: Greenwood

Publishing Group, 2000), pp. 1. Ralph Willet, “Moorcock’s Achievement and Promise in the Jerry Cornelius Books,” Science Fiction Studies, vol. 3, no. 1 (March 1976), pp. 77.30 Robert E. Howard and his anti-hero, Conan the Barbarian, are also cited as inspiration. Rick Priestley, Graeme Davis, Gavin

Thorpe and Dan Abnett, Warhammer Fantasy Role Play, 1st edition (London: Black Industries, 1986), pp. 1. 31 James Wallis was a writer involved with Warhammer Fantasy Role Play. James Wallis, Interviewed by Magnus Seter, The Altdorf Correspondent August 21, 2008.32 The exact same mentality is expressed in James Wallis’ interview with The Altdorf Correspondent. Graham Davis, interviewed by John Foody. The Warpstone: The independent magazine For Warhammer Fantasy Role Play Undated.

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tell their players that their game represents a break from traditional, clear cut morality in

the rule book’s opening story. In this tale a visitor who is new to their imaginary kingdom

watches what she believes to be a fight between two rival gangs. However, her local

guide informs her that it was actually between two royal princes and laughingly

concludes by asking: “New to the Border lands, aren’t you?”33

This commitment to dealing with war in a morally ambiguous way is also a core

concept in Priestley and Halliwell’s second game, Warhammer 40 000.34 This game’s

dark background is portrayed by its maxim: “In The Grim Dark Future There Is Only

War”. In this game humanity controls a galactic Empire that is beset on all sides by

vicious aliens. It is also threatened from within by the ‘Chaos gods’, bloodthirsty

divinities that attempt to corrupt or seduce people into rebelling against humanity’s

Empire. In this state of perpetual war, the human race is ruled by an oppressive,

totalitarian regime led by a dictator known only as ‘the Emperor’. This warlord seized

power in the game’s ancient history after the Chaos induced ‘warp storms’ prevented

space travel. This was disastrous for Earth which relied on food imported from its

colonies. Anarchy reigned until the Emperor conquered Earth and then seized control

over the Empire that had fragmented during the warp storms.

Incapacitated during a rebellion, the Emperor is kept alive in a state of suspended

animation as the Imperium’s ruling figure head. As the first page of every edition of the

Warhammer 40 000 rule book, the gamers’ first introduction to this world, explains:

He is the master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass withering invisible with power from the Dark Age of technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom blood is drunk and flesh eaten. Human blood and human flesh – the stuff of which the Imperium is

33 Priestley et al, Warhammer Fantasy Role Play, pp. 3.34 John Blanche, “Interview with John Blanche,” The Goblin (April, 2009).

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made. To be a man in such times is to be one among untold billions. It is to live in the cruellest and most bloody regime imaginable. This is a tale of those times. It is a universe you can live in today - if you dare - for this is a dark and terrible era where you will find little comfort or hope. If you want to take part in the adventure then prepare yourself now. Forget the power of technology, science and common humanity. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for there is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter and the laugher of the thirsting gods. But the universe is a big place, what ever happens, you will not be missed.35

Like Warhammer’s opening story, this introduction tells the reader that there is no clear

distinction between the forces of good and evil in this world. Even the government that

safeguards humanity against invading aliens and evil gods maintains power through

draconian military rule. The overwhelming reason that the masses do not revolt against

the Emperor who oppresses them is because it is slightly better for them to live until they

are worked to death producing munitions for the Imperium than to be killed immediately

by aliens, Chaos or as punishment for insubordination by the Imperial army.36

Loyalty to the Imperium is also galvanized through the ‘Imperial Cult’ which

reveres the Emperor as a living deity and preaches that aliens and non-believers must be

destroyed because they “threaten[sic] the future of humanity”37. The responsibility for

ensuring that the emperor’s citizens are sufficiently devoted to the “god-emperor of

humanity” falls upon the Inquisition, the ‘secrete police’ of the Empire. 38 The military

arm of the Inquisition is the Adeptus Sororitas, more commonly known as the ‘Sisters of

35 In the same way that the opening story of Warhammer Fantasy Role Play tells gamers to dismiss any romanticized notions of premodern war, Warhammer 40 000’s opening story tell gamers to should dismiss notions of a utopian future. In both cases the game designers are attempting to establish that their worlds will be differing from traditional fantasy worlds. Rick Priestley and Andy Chambers, Warhammer 40 000: Codex Imperialis, 2nd Edition, (Nottingham: Games Workshop, 1993), pp. 1. Rick Priestley, Warhammer 40 000: Rouge Trader (London: Hazell Books, 1987), pp. 1. Andy Chambers, Rick Priestley, Gavin Thorpe, Ian Pickstock and Jervis Johnson, Warhammer 40 000, 3rd Edition. (Nottingham: Games Workshop, 1998), pp. 1. Andy Chambers, Rick Priestley and Pete Hains, Warhammer 40 000, 4th Edition. (Nottingham: Games Workshop, 2004). Rick Priestley and Andy Chambers, Warhammer 40 000 5th Edition. (London: Games Workshop, 2008).36 Ibid, 10-13.37 Priestley and Chambers, Warhammer 40 000: Codex Imperialis, 2nd Edition, pp. 38.38 Andy Chambers, Jervis Johnson, Gavin Thorpe, Pete Hains and Matt Sprange, Astronomican (Nottingham: Games Workshop, 2001), pp. 4.

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Battle’. This faction first appeared as a playable army in the 2nd edition of Warhammer 40

000 and their original description, which has remained unchanged, explains that:

The Sisters of Battle are trained to the highest levels with an unshakeable faith in the divinity of the Emperor. Their fanatical devotion and unwavering purity is a bastion against corruption, heresy and alien attack. Countless enemies of the Imperium have fallen before the righteous fury of the Adeptus Sororitas as they engage in Wars of Faith, bringing the Emperor’s light to the dark recesses of the galaxy that have turned from the path of righteousness.39

These ‘Wars of Faith’ are crusades against the Emperor’s own citizens.40 In fact, the

primary purpose of the Sisters of Battle is to wage war within the Imperium, to find and

kill any who are not devout enough to the Emperor or might be Chaos operatives.

Existing outside the Imperial cult, these figures are known as ‘heretics’ or ‘witches’ and

thus Inquisitorial armies are also known as the ‘Witch Hunters’ or the ‘Ordo Hereticus’.

While the Witch Hunters and the Warhammer 40 000 universe exists in a fictional

setting, they are not the product of disconnected imagination. Instead in an interview

Warhammer and Warhammer 40 000’s art director John Blanche “explains that Games

Workshop’s worlds are inspired a lot by the real world. Further, he maintains that the

Games Workshop’s game worlds are extensions of Northern European culture.”41 Yet the

game’s relationship with the past involves more than simply displacing historical icons

by incorporating them into the Warhammer 40 000 universe. It is interpretive and this

background literature is conceptualized as “alternative histories” by its creators.42 Far

from detached, this dark literature is historically and geographically situated.

The process by which Warhammer 40 000’s game designers create and envision

the character of a faction, such as the Inquisition, is heavily intertwined with the creation

39 Ibid, 4.40 Andy Hoare and Graham McNeil, Codex Witch Hunters (Nottingham: Games Workshop, 2003), pp. 7, 47.41 John Blanche, “Interview with John Blanche,” The Goblin (April, 2009).42 Gavin Thorpe interviewed by Rodger Webb, Ragnarok, issue 35 2001. John Blanche, “Interview with John Blanche,” The Goblin

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of visual images by the artists, lead by Blanche, that Games Workshop employs. 43 The

designers share their ideas with the artists who use them to create imagery that both

reflects and grounds the former’s vision.44 The centrality of this imagery suggests that it

is instructive to pay special attention to the discourse between designers and artists when

considering the conceptual foundations of a faction. Graham McNeill co-wrote the Witch

Hunter’s first Codex with Andy Hoare and explains in his design notes that:

We wanted the book to reflect the malevolent nature of the Ordo Hereticus, and in our discussions with the artists, we emphasized this point above all others. Early on in this process, [Art Director] John Blanche gave us a copy of the ‘Malleus Maleficarum,’ the tome dealing with the persecution of witches that was written by two real-life inquisitors back in the 15th century. This book provided oodles of character for Codex: Witch Hunters. We wanted the book to look and feel like a [Warhammer] 40 000 version of the ‘Malleus Maleficarum,’ like a tome an Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus would have sitting on his desk and that he'd refer to whenever he needed to contemplate the machinations of his foe. So our book was to be dark, very Gothic, and replete with sinister imagery.45

In addition to using a historical document in the conceptual process, McNeill’s reflection

illustrates that when the game’s designers write its background, their intention is to create

‘historical documents’ from the Warhammer 40 000 world. The Witch Hunters are not an

isolated case. The background is always written from the point of view of someone in this

imaginary world, never from the perspective of an omnipotent third party.46

Appreciating that it is the intention of Warhammer 40 000’s game designers to

present the game world from the perspective of someone in their universe is important

43 In fact, every interview or designers’ notes that discusses the process of creating a faction’s background speaks to the central role of this imagery. For example: Andy Chambers, Pete Hains, Phill Kelly, Graham McNeill and Andy Hoare, Necrons Designer Notes, http:oz.games-workshop.com, Phil Kelly, Jess Goodwin and Roberto Cirrilo, Tyranids Designer Notes, http:oz.games-workshop.com, Graham McNeill and Pete Hains, Space Marines Designer Notes, http:oz.games-workshop.com, Pete Haines, Imperial Guard Designer Notes, http:oz.games-workshop.com Graham McNeill, Witch Hunters Designer Notes, http:oz.games-workshop.com. Graham McNeill, Black Templar Designer Notes, http:oz.games-workshop.com.44 Ibdi.45

Artist John Blanche is a very important figure because he has created Warhammer 40 000’s imagery since the 1st edition of the game.46 This is achieved thought a first person account of a battle or event. The large scale history is predominately presented from the perspective of an imperial historian. We are reminded that our storyteller is a character from the Warhammer 40 000 world by being told that important sources are unavailable (the insinuation is that they were destroyed) and presented with gaps in the history (ie. We don’t know the details of how the Emperor rose to power because that time has been ‘lost to history’).

13

because it alters how we approach the literature they create. It is essential that the

background is studied in this manor because the distance separating the gamer from the

literature is central to how the morality of is war complicated. As Hoare explains:

On one hand, the Sisters [of Battle] provide an example to Humanity of the very best a person can aspire to. On the other, the Sisters [of Battle] must take necessarily harsh actions in order to protect Humanity's future (as dictated by the Inquisition). By the standards of the 21st century, these girls are fanatical zealots, but in the context of the 41st millennium, they're paragons of virtue, whose every action is a manifestation of Mankind. It's all a matter of perspective, you see.47

Clearly, Warhammer 40 000’s game designers realize that they are presenting absurd

perspectives through their characters. They expect the morality of these claims and

justifications for mass violence to be questioned by their 21st century reader. In fact,

Davis concludes his recounting of the centrality of philosophical and moral issues in the

creation of the Witch Hunter’s background by stating “And you thought this was all

about toy soldiers and rolling dice!”48

With these issues and expectations in mind, Warhammer 40 000’s background

literature presents the consumer with first person accounts of mass violence. For

example, the gleeful recounting of when the Witch Hunters

descended upon the Saint Garrat Scriptorium, dragging hundreds of Adeptus Terra scribes [the bureaucratic workers who run the Imperial government] screaming to the excruciation chambers of Nemesis Tessera and burned down the scriptorium. The Adepts lodged formal complaints with the very highest authorities on Terra, but were silenced when Inquisitor Tannenburg produced three hundred specimen jars. Each contained the preserved remains of a scribe, his previously hidden mutations [which signify that they were Chaos operatives] uncovered for all to witness.49

Through stories like this Warhammer 40 000 casts war into moral ambiguity. Maybe it’s

good that the Sisters of Battle destroyed Chaos minions before they could start an

47 Andy Chambers, Witch Hunters Designer Notes, http:oz.games-workshop.com.48 Andy Hoare and Graham McNeil, Codex Witch Hunters, pp. 7.49 Ibid.

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uprising that would have caused daemons to appear and slaughter millions. Yet, they did

kill ‘hundreds’ to find only 300 traitors. In fact, the reader is never guaranteed that the

300 specimens that Tannenburg presented were from the Saint Garrat Scriptorium. They

could have been from any number of his previous raids. Clearly, a moral high ground is

conspicuously absent from this, and all, accounts of violence in Warhammer 40 000.

This type of morally ambiguous stories that comprise Warhammer 40 000’s

background literature allows the game to problematize the morality of war itself because

war never exists in a celebratory state. Without a ‘good guy’ moral alternative that would

serve to legitimate mass violence, players cannot help but focus upon the paradox of war:

it allows the oppressive Imperial regime to exist, but without its ability to wage war on an

incredible scale humanity would be extinct. A state of war justifies the daily atrocities

propagated by the Sisters of Battle, but without them the Imperium would be overthrown

by Chaos. Now that Warhammer 40 000’s methods for complicating the morality of war

have been established, the first and second editions’ critique of Heinlein’s militarist

utopia, the romanticization of premodern warfare, and British imperialism will be

examined.

The First and Second Editions of Warhammer 40 000

American author Robert Heinlein is widely praised as one of the most influential

science fiction writers of all time.50 His most controversial work is his 1959 novel

Starship Troopers in which “Heinlein postulates how a society based on military service

would work”.51 In this society only veterans who have completed a term of service to the

state are eligible to vote. The fact that only this military caste, the Mobile Infantry, is

50 James Gifford, “The Nature of ‘Federal Service’ in Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers”, Heinlein Journal vol. 1, July (1997).

51 “ Derek M. Buker, The Science Fiction and Fantasy Readers' Advisory : The Librarian's Guide to Cyborgs, Aliens, and

Sorcerers (Chicago, ALA Editions: 2002), pp. 11.

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presented as having the moral and civic authority to bear the responsibility of the

franchise has led some, such as Moorecock or author Luc Sante, to accuse Heinlein of

supporting fascism.52 However, this interpretation overlooks the fact that military service

is voluntary and anyone is eligible regardless of race, gender or creed.53

Yet, it would also be a mistake to see Heinlein’s work as the “ultimate embrace

of both military and democratic ideals within a single state” as Military Studies Professor

Everett Dolman has argued.54 This overlooks the fact that Heinlein rejects democracy in

his overt celebration of the militarism. Speaking through a high school History and Moral

Philosophy teacher, he explains that in his fictional world the democracies of the 20thC

fell because of their moral weakness. They “glorified their mythology of ‘rights’” to the

extent that they “lost track of their duties.”55 This is important because Heinlein’s society

is predicated upon the beliefs that “the basis of all morality is duty” and that it can only

be cultivated through state service.56 As political scientist Anthony Coates argues,

“militarism establishes a predisposition to war or a moral bias in favour of war.”57 This is

clearly the case in Heinlein’s society which rewards military service with citizenship and

understands war as the “noblest fate that a man can endure” as well as an acceptable form

of diplomacy.58

52 In chapter suggestively titled “Starship Stormtroopers” Moorecock wrote: “If I were sitting in a tube train and all the people opposite me were reading Mein Kampf with obvious enjoyment and approval it probably wouldn't disturb me much more than if they were reading Heinlein, Tolkein or Richard Adams.” Michael Moorecock, The Opium General (Toronto: Harrap/Collins, 1986). Luc Sante, “‘The Temple of Boredom’: Science Fiction, No Future,” Harper’s, (October 1985), pp. 69.53 Scott Rosenberg, “Melrose vs. the Monsters,” Salon, (November 1997). 54 Everett Carl Dolman, “Military, Democracy, and the State in Robert A. Heinlein’s Starship Troopers,” in Donald M. Hassler and Clyde Wilcox, ed., Political Science Fiction (South Carolina: University of South Carolian Press, 1997), pp. 197.55, Robert Heinlein, Starship Troopres (New York: Berkley Publishing Group, 1959), pp. 92-96, 120.56 Heinlein, pp. 115.57 Anthony Coates, The Ethics of War (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997), pp. 45.58

For example, during a debate in History and Philosophy class the teacher soundly defeats a pacifist student by asserting that “Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms.” Heinlein, Starship Troopers, pp. 26.

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Heinlein’s work has been highly influential and Gray argues that “Starship

Troopers lays out the basic aspects of the cyborg infantryman in terms that have hardly

changed in military ideals or s[cience] f[iction] since.”59. While the superficial qualities

of his cyborg infantry may remain consistent, the meaning of this trope has drastically

changed. In fact, Warhammer 40 000 reinvents Heinlein’s Mobile Infantry into the Space

Marines in order to critique his notion of a militarist utopia.

Both Heinlein’s Mobile Infantry and Warhammer 40 000’s Space Marines endure

intensive training that includes hypnotherapy and psychological conditioning. In addition

to being portrayed as aggressive armies that are delivered into battle from orbiting space

ships, both warrior castes employ technological power suits that enhance their already

superior physical abilities and allow them to employ advanced weaponry. However,

Space Marines appear to take the concept of the futuristic super warrior even further as

eight foot tall genetically enhanced super humans who undergo “fanatical surgery” that

provides them with extra hearts and lungs.60

The Mobile Infantry and the Space Marines each represent the societies they fight

for. The Space Marines are the “champions of the Emperor” and physical manifestation

of his will.61 As the privileged and praised voting demographic, the Mobile Infantry

symbolize their society and its values. However, if Heinlein’s warriors embody civic

virtues and represent all that humanity could hope to become, then the Space Marines are

their antithesis. While the Mobile Infantry recruits civilly minded volunteers, Space

Marines

59 Gray, pp. 320.60 Rick Priestley, “The Origin of Legiones Astartes” White Dwarf, vol. 98, (1988).61 Ibid.

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are recruited from the [Empire’s] feral planets, where traditional warrior castes compete for the honour of becoming a ‘warrior of the gods’ [a Space Marine]. Because the feral planets are rough, primitive and untamed, their inhabitants make excellent fighting material. For true aggression and psychotic killer-instinct, however, few recruits can best the murderous followers of the city-scum that roam the darkest pits of the hive-worlds. Driven to extremes of insanity by the colossal pressures of hive-world living, these merciless killers are usually ignored by the authorities (indeed their warrens are so vast it would be impractical to eradicate them completely). They make ideal Space Marines, and whole gangs of city-scum are sometimes hunted and captured for this purpose. 62

Instead of learning civic virtues in their training like the Mobile Infantry, the most violent

members of the Imperium who become the Space Marines are indoctrinated into the

Imperial Cult. They are taught and brainwashed to become racist, xenophobic, religious

fanatics who unquestioningly carry out their Emperor’s will.63

The very idea of a racist, militant, fascist cult invokes notions of Nazism, and the

Space Marines’ association with this regime has been made clear from their initial

background literature. The narrative plot line of the original Space Marine literature

centers upon secret meetings between the Emperor and scientists whose “work was

conducted in the superbly equipped laboratories built deep inside the planet Earth. The

objective of the program was to create a caste of warrior elites, characterised by super-

human strength and unflinching loyalty.”64 A cross sectional examination of post WWII

Anglo-American popular culture suggests that this plot line of ‘engineering a master race

in secret laboratories’ was prevalent and culturally loaded in its association with Nazi

eugenics and programs to create of an Ubermensch super warrior.65

62 Rick Priestley, Warhammer 40 000: Rouge Trader, 153.63 Ibid. 64 Rick Priestley, “The Origin of Legiones Astartes.” White Dwarf, vol. 98 (1988).65 Sources used in the cross sectional examination include: Harry Essex, Sid Schwartz and Len Golos, Man Made Monster. Film, George Waggner 1941. Christopher Wood, Moonraker. Film, Lewis Gilbert 1979. Gene Roddenberry and Harve Bennett, Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan. Film. Nicholas Meyer,1982. Ira Levin and Heywood Gould, The Boys From Brazil. Film. Franklin J. Schaffner, 1978. Michael Wilson and Rod Serling, Planet of the Apes. Film. Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968. Martha Craven Nussbaum and Cass R. Sunstein, Clones and Clones: facts and fantasies about human cloning (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999), pp. 13.

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The association between Space Marines, and the Imperium they represent, with

Nazism is also made clear in their iconography. The ‘Imperial eagle’, a “prominent

symbol of fascist ideology” in post WWII popular culture, is the emblem of the Imperium

and its Space Marines. 66 Figure 1 depicts Marneus Augusts Calgar, who is the archetype

and foremost leader of the Space Marines, proudly displaying the Imperial eagle. While

not all Space Marines have the eagle on their shoulder, legs or arms like Calgar does,

they all have it prominently displayed on their chests.

Embroidering Nazi imagery upon these fanatical killers is clearly a way to

critique the 20th century warfare driven by Nazism. Yet the Space Marines’ association

with Nazism is also part of Warhammer 40 000’s critique of Heinlein’s militaristic

utopia. His virtuous warrior caste becomes fanatical killers as Warhammer 40 000

presents a counter vision of what a militaristic society would look like that leads us to

question whether the society that the Space Marines embody is desirable? The games’

literature glorifies Space Marines as “humanity’s greatest warriors” who “represent man-

kind’s greatest hope for victory in the unending wars for survival.”67 According to the

game’s characters, the Space Marines may deserve to be celebrated for defending the

Imperium. However, from the vantage point of the gamer, we are repelled by this military

caste that has massacred an incalculable number in the name of their brutal Empire.

Ultimately, the game presents us with a paradox. While the annihilation of humanity at

the hands of Chaos or aliens is surely not desirable, the militaristic society that generates,

in fact celebrates, these warriors is also not an attractive option. Thus, by not approaching

war in a good vs. evil binary, Warhammer 40 000 is able to critique Heinlein’s military

66 Martin M. Winkler, “The Roman Empire in American Cinema after 1945,” The Classical Journal, vol. 93, no. 2 (December 1997), pp. 176. 67 Rick Priestley and Jervis Johnson, Codex Ultramarines, 2nd edition. (Nottingham: Games Workshop, 1995), pp. 21.

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utopia without presenting an alternative that would celebrate war. Once again, war itself

is presented as the problem.

The strong link that is made between Space Marines and Nazi Germany also

serves to ground them in human history and they are also linked with the Roman Empire,

which used the imperial eagle. This association is reinforced by the Space Marine’s

material culture which borrows a variety of Roman war gear, such as the skirt that Calgar

is wearing or his Roman style standard (see figure 1). Latin is the language of the

Imperial government and Space Marines have Latin names such as Octavian, Cassius or

Marneus Augustus Calgar.68 Interestingly, this connection was being made at a time when

historian Martin Winkler notes that Hollywood was using Imperial “Rome as an analogy

for Nazi Germany”.69 This suggests that the link between the Roman Empire and Nazism

would have been familiar to gamers since it was also being made in mainstream Anglo-

American popular culture.

While the films Winkler examines use Imperial Rome to critique Nazi Germany,

Warhammer 40 000’s commentary is directed towards how the conquests of the Roman

Empire, and pre-modern warfare in general, are understood. Simultaneously associating

the Space Marines with the Roman Empire and Nazi Germany reduces the distance

between the wars propagated by each. Consequently, the Space Marines become a

platform upon which the conquests of the Roman Empire and Nazism are equated to each

other and seen as the same. That is, as violent campaigns that result in massive death.

Warhammer 40 000 also effectively emphasizes the violence of premodern

warfare through the game’s visual imagery. For example, laurels, a symbol of Roman

68 Ibid, pp. 70-74.69 The only exception Winkler notes is The Fall of The Roman Empire (1962). Winkler, pp. 167-168.

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military success, are utilized by the Space Marines to signify outstanding service to the

Imperium. However, their laurels are incorporated with skulls, (which as can be seen on

Calgar’s left leg in Figure 1). Mixing the laurel, a symbol of imperial achievement, with a

skull, a symbol of death, draws attention to the violence that built Rome’s ‘successes’.

Emphasizing the violence of premodern warfare presents a powerful reversal of the

romanticization of premodern war that was partly expressed using the language of post

WWII popular culture. In clear opposition to Tolkien and Lewis who celebrated

premodern war as a romantic struggle, Warhammer 40 000 repackages it by closing the

gap between it and modern warfare and reinventing the meaning of Roman iconography.

The concept of imperialism is reworked in the same way. The violence of

imperialism is emphasised by the fact that ‘The Great Crusade’, the period after the

Emperor had conquered Earth and was establishing control over the human empire that

had fragmented during the ‘Warp Storms’, is also known as the period of ‘Pax

Imperialis’. As the name suggests, this is a reflection of Pax Romana, the era of ‘Roman

Peace’ when Rome’s factions did not fight amongst themselves and Pax Britannica, the

period of British hegemony from the end of the Napoleonic wars to late 1900s.70

Although ‘Pax’ implies a time of relative peace and prosperity, Warhammer 40 000

associates this term with death and warfare. The literature explains that “some of the

bloodiest fighting” in history occurred during Pax Imperialis.71 The Space Marines

massacred “countless” alien species into “extinction” and committed “innumerable”

atrocities against formerly established human settlements that resisted Imperial rule, such

70 Ali Parchami Hegemonic Peace and Empire: The Pax Romana, Britannica and Americana (Taylor & Francis, 2009), pp. 7, 169.

71 Rick Priestley and Andy Chambers, Codex Imperialis, 2nd Edition, pp. 28.

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as viral bombs and concentration camps.72 Like the laurels, the concept of Pax Imperialis

is reinvented by its association with skulls as seen in Figure 2.

Warhammer 40 000’s critique of imperialism also extends to highlighting the

violence committed domestically to maintain an empire. The needs of the Imperium are

so great that they constantly require the mobilization of military resources beyond the

Space Marines or the Sisters of Battle. Therefore, despite being segregated from power or

wealth, average citizens are forced to fight as part of the ‘Imperial Guard’. In fact, while

far less iconic than the Space Marines, the Imperial Guard are the mainstay of the

Emperor’s fighting forces.73 Yet, unlike the Space Marines or Sisters of Battle, “the

Imperial Guard, however, is less certain in its utter devotion to the Emperor”74. For this

reason they require a special core of officers to “impose authority and maintain

discipline. These duties are carried out by the Commissars of the Imperial Guard, who

instil loyalty and motivation into the troops in their care.”75 The Commissars achieve this

by employing the

powers of summary discipline. With the power to execute those found wanting, the Commissar can, by fear alone, instil new vigour and devotion in the troops under his care. On more than one occasion broken Guard units, in ignominious flight from the battle, have been rallied by the prompt action of their Commissar. Similarly, weak and inadequate officers, or those who have simply lost the will to win, have been summarily chastised by Imperial Guard Commissars.76

The ‘Commissar’ is clearly a critique of 20th century warfare and the brutality of the

Soviet and Nazi regimes they inspired that force their citizens to fight.77 However, this

trope also draws attention to the domestic violence of imperialism since they force the 72 Rick Priestley and Jervis Johnson, Codex Ultramarines, 2nd Edition, pp. 7, 17.73 Ibid, 15.74 Pete Hains, Imperial Guard Design Notes, http:oz.games-workshop.com.” Rick Priestley, “Chaplains and Commissars,” White Dwarf vol. 108 (1988).75 Commissars are central to the character of the Imperial Guard faction, as Pete Hains including Commissars is, “Putting the Imperial in the Imperial Guard.” Ibid.76 Rick Priestley, “Chaplains and Commissars.” 77 John Blanche, “Firstborn Sons of Vostroya,” White Dwarf vol. 317 (June 2006), pp. 49.

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Emperor’s citizens to die in droves on planets far away from their homes for a state that

cares nothing for them. In short, Warhammer 40 000 critiques imperialism by suggesting

that empires are made and maintained by incredible violence that includes a willingness

to massacre even your own people. Far from legitimizing imperialism, it suggests that the

life span of an Empire is measured by its ability to commit violence on a massive scale.

It is important to note that this critique was being delivered during the 1980s-

1990s. At this time Games Workshop was still a small company without a large degree of

international appeal. Therefore its consumer market was a domestic British audience.

Historians such as Raphaël Ingelbien argue that the loss of the British Empire after WWII

threw English identity into a crisis that spanned all social and economic classes.78

Coupled with the horrendous loss of life and destruction of WWII, it lead the British

demos to critically reflect upon the morality of their imperial history.79 In fact, British

citizens were questioning the very assumptions of Euro-supremacy and moral authority

that had been used to justify and normalize the British Empire.80 The fact that

Warhammer 40 000’s audience was questioning its Imperial history makes it difficult not

to see this game’s repackaging of imperialism as a refection upon Britain’s own past.

Especially since historians such as Virginia Hoselitz, Duncan Bell and Graham Dawson

have written extensively about the ways in which the Roman Empire was employed as an

analogy to understand the British Empire within England. 81 Therefore, it appears that

Warhammer 40 000 delivered a critique of British Imperialism at a time when its English 78 Ingelbien makes this argument after examining, poetry and other popular discourse in his exploration of Englishness and national identity. Raphaël Ingelbien, Misreading England Poetry and Nationhood Since the Second World War (New York: Rodopi, 2002), pp. 2-3.79 Ibid. 80 Carlos Alberto Torres, Democracy, Education, and Multiculturalism (Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield, 1998), pp. 121.81 Virginia Hoselitz, Imagining Roman Britain: Victorian responses to a Roman past (Michigan: University of Michigan, 2007). Duncan Bell Victorian, Visions of Global Order (Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 2007), pp. 96. Graham Dawson, Soldier heroes British adventure, empire, and the imagining of masculinities (New York: Routledge, 1994), pp. 234.

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consumers were questioning their own imperial legacy. Far from normalizing or

justifying imperialism, this game does the exact opposite. In fact, it even appears to go so

far as to equate the brutality of British Imperialism with Nazism.

In addition to imperialism, Warhammer 40 000 also represents a post colonial re-

evaluation of Western history in general. All of the tropes that are used to complicate the

morality of the Imperium, (the Spanish Inquisition, Nazism, the Roman Empire and

British Imperialism) are Western. Instead of a dichotomy of the evil East fighting against

a righteous West, this game represents a critical self refection of Western history. It

emphasizes the violence that permeates Western history from the Roman Empire to Nazi

Germany, and presents the West’s own elites as oppressors of foreigners and their own

people who were forced to fight and die in Imperial wars. Instead of simply reversing the

evil East-West dichotomy, Warhammer 40 000 dismisses this type of good versus evil

binary. It is this narrative achievement that allows this game to present a cynical re-

evaluation of Western history that does not demonize the East or undermine the game

designers’ intention of questioning of the morality of war itself. While these messages

were strongly presented in the 1st and 2nd editions of the game, their potency was reduced

in the mid-late 1990s when Games Workshop revised Warhammer 40 000’s background

as it attempted to widen its domestic and international appeal.

Warhammer 40 000: Third – Fifth Editions

Warhammer 40 000 is faced with a haunting contradiction. It must balance the

game designers’ desire to critique war with the need to package it in a consumable

manor. Games Workshop was founded in 1975 by John Peake, Ian Livingstone, and

Steve Jackson. These people were game designers who focused on games other than

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Warhammer or Warhammer 40 000. However, their finically unsuccessful games were

discontinued in 1991 after a management buyout that saw business people move into

Games Workshop’s upper echelons.82

The new management first attempted to broaden Warhammer 40 000’s appeal

with the release of the 2nd edition of the game which consolidated, but did not change, the

game’s background. However, it appears that 2nd edition actually alienated older gamers

who accused Games Workshop of oversimplifying the rules in order to appeal to a

younger demographic.83 Having grasped the attention of younger audience, but also lost

its older gamers, the company attempted to satisfy both and expand internationally in

1998 with the release of the 3rd edition of Warhammer 40 000.84 This edition did increase

Warhammer 40 000’s popularity and was an instrumental first step in transforming

Games Workshop from a fringe company into the multimillion dollar, international

commercial entity it is now. 85

This international success was purchased by softening Warhammer 40 000’s core

background story in 3rd edition to make the game more marketable. For example, the

Emperor is no longer referred to as a ‘warlord’ as he was in 1st and 2nd edition. Instead, in

the 3rd and subsequent editions, he is called “a mighty leader” who arose when “humanity

was on the brink of annihilation and never more were great heroes needed to stave off the

hordes of darkness.”86 The character of his Space Marines has also changed. Unlike their

82 Tom Kirby, Games Workshop Year End Financial Statement, 2008, pp. 3. Tom Kirby, Game Workshop Finical Highlights, 2001, pp. 3. 83 The 2nd edition also reduced the games popularity among older gamers because the popular ‘Squats’ faction was removed. Graham Davis, John Foody The Warpstone: The independent magazine For Warhammer Fantasy Role Play. Rodger Webb interview Gavin Thorpe, Ragnarok, vol. 35 2001.84 This is discussed at length in: Gavin Thorpe interviewed by Rodger Webb, Ragnarok, vol. 35 (2001).85 Jonathon Guthrie, “Games Workshop runs rings around its rivals,” Financial Times, (July 13, 2002), pp. 20. In 2002 was Games Workshop’s reported a 20% increase in direct sales and 22% in retail sales. Tom Kirby, Games Workshop Year End Financial Statement, 2008, pp. 3. Tom Kirby, Game Workshop Finical Highlights, 2001, pp. 1.86 Mathew Ward, Codex Space Marines, 5th Edition, pp. 6.

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predecessors, beginning in 3rd edition, the Space Marines are presented as the stalwart

defenders of humanity. As the lead visionary of the 3rd edition Space Marines book,

Graham McNeill explains in his designer notes that he finds

Space Marine characters to be exceptionally noble, and I think therein lies a large part of their appeal. Space Marines are beyond Humanity, elevated through ritualised science to become something else entirely. They undergo their enhancements willingly and sacrifice their humanity to become the guardians of their race – though they can never be part of it again. That sacrifice was what ennobled them to me and gave them a real depth of character that I found appealing. The idea of a monastic warrior Chapter that maintained its traditions and fought an endless war against the enemies of Mankind was what made Space Marines such a characterful army to play and read about.87

Clearly, the tone of ‘breeding an Ubermensch in secret laboratory’ is almost

nonexistent.88 Allowing Space Marines to be ‘good guys’ by shifting their conceptual

base from ‘fanatical killers’ to ‘noble defenders’ helped to make them a more appealing

army for gamers to play. It also meant that Games Workshop can offset these defenders

of humanity against vicious aliens who want to destroy man kind in their advertising.89

With its focus upon marketing, Games Workshop sifted through popular culture

for inspiration. For example, 3rd edition saw the release of the Catachan subgroup of the

Imperial Guard, humans who reside on the dangerous jungle planet of Catachan, were

released. Reflecting upon this group game designer and artist Bryan Barnes recalls that

“The Catachans models of yesteryear were clearly based on the regular forces from the

early Vietnam War (and their popular portrayal in movies).”90 In fact, they bear a striking

87 Graham McNeill, Space Marines Design Notes, http:oz.games-workshop.com88 In the 1st and 2nd editions the genetic alterations that Space Marines underwent was very risky and “those unfortunates that do not die almost invariably suffer mental damage, degenerating into homicidal maniacs or gibbering idiots. However, when a chapter is at full strength these misfits may be put out of their misery. If the chapter is short of Marines they are often allowed to live, and may be placed within their own special units. Those who display uncontrollably psychotic tendencies can be recruited into suicide assault squads, or as suicide bombers. Some chapters deliberately foster such creatures, even going so far as to implant deformed zygotes into some initiates. This is very dangerous, and the practice is discouraged by Imperial edict. But old traditions die hard.” However, this type of detail is simply not part of newer literature. Rick Priestley, “The Origin of Legiones Astartes,” White Dwarf, vol. 98 (1988).89 The Space Marines were presented this way with the release of 3rd edition of the game, offset against the insect like Tyranids that were “the ideal adversary, the exact opposite of the noble Space Marines against whom the Tyranids are pitched.’”. Phil Kelly, Jes Goodwin and Roberto Cirrilo, Tyranids Designer Notes, http:oz.games-workshop.com90 Bryan Barnes, Modeling Imperial Guard Snipers: A Note on Jungle Warfare, http:oz.games-workshop.com.

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visual resemblance to the jungle warrior imagery presented in films such as Platoon or

Rambo, as can be seen in figure 3.91 They also closely resemble the lead character from

the video game Contra, which is a science fiction interpretation of the Vietnam War.

Taken together, this suggests that the game designers were incorporating Vietnam War

imaginary that already proven its market value into the 3rd edition of Warhammer 40 000.

While this was undeniably a prudent marketing strategy, taking the lead from sellable war

imagery, instead of responding it to, appears to have curbed the possibility for creative

interpretations and the desire to for critical analysis.

The moral ambiguity of war has certainly weakened since 2nd edition, but it has

not disappeared entirely. The Imperium remains an oppressive state that is maintained by

military power. The Space Marines are still religious fanatics who unquestionably serve

the Emperor and crush any rebellion. The Catachans, for example, only enlist in the

Imperial Guard to secure technology that their families require for survival and the

Imperium only maintains a colony on that planet because it produces superior warriors

who can be easily extorted into enlisting.92 The fact that Warhammer 40 000 has become

less moral ambiguity since 1st and 2nd editions raises the question of whether

contemporary players are receptive to the games’ commentary upon the morality of war?

Contemporary Reception: 2008-2009

Warhammer 40 000 is prolifically discussed by gamers in online magazines and

internet forms. These are reflective spaces were gamers discuss the game’s meaning,

influences and messages and thus provide excellent insight into how the game is being

received by those who currently play it. Despite the enormous amount of discourse that

91 Other examples of game designers drawing upon popular culture includes the Necron’s ‘scarab unit’ which Pete Haines explains was inspired by “the movie 'The Mummy'” (pp. 3). Pete Hains, Necrons Design Notes, http:oz.games-workshop.com. 92 Jervis Johnson, Andy Chambers and Gavin Thorpe, Codex Catachans (Nottingham: Games Workshop 2002), pp. 1.

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has been generated, I can only consider two highly publicized examples produced from

2008-2009. This will not cover every single gamer, but should illuminate the dominant

trends.

Despite the ‘war-junkie’ stereotype of uneducated, uncritical, right wing, males

who revel in war, not everyone who plays games like Warhammer 40 000 fit this mould.

For example, Cerise is an online gamers’ magazine primarily directed towards women.

Almost all if its international cast of contributors have competed, or are enrolled in,

bachelors or graduate degrees.93 This politically aware, left leaning publication often

examines the ethics of games.94 In August 2008, the 5th edition of Warhammer 40 000

was released and reviewed by Cerise writer Richard Pilbeam. He explains that writing

Warhammer 40 000’s background literature as ‘historical documents’ helps insert the

player into this imaginary world. However, he also criticizes this technique writing that:

Portraying the universe largely from these characters’ perspective, though, is not without its problems. These characters are backward, superstitious, fanatical and intolerant, and without sufficiently distancing the player from them, it risks justifying their views. We’re told by these characters that all aliens are inherently unholy and it is therefore humanity’s imperative to commit xenocide, and even though we aren’t actually meant to agree with them, there’s no hint of counter-argument. Similarly, the attempts to satirize holy wars don’t quite come off, because in this universe the people involved actually are getting visions telling them to blow up foreigners. Instead of the powerful using religion as a justification to go to war for purely selfish reasons, these guys are doing it for real. In one sense it’s laudable that the game portrays everybody as equally corrupt, rather than giving us a strawman fascist empire and a group of sexy anti-hero rebels, but it can also be quite unpleasant and distancing. In a game that prioritizes narrative over pure competition, do you really want to get involved in the struggle of somebody who believes in pogroms as a method of social control?95

93 Graduate studies are being pursued in disciplines including gender studies, history, telecommunications and law. Interestingly, some writes such as Lindsey Galloway, Rachel Turner and K. Tempest Bradford have published their work.94 For example: Oliver Saenz, “Killing Grannies, Slaughtering Monsters and Leveling the F*** Up,” Cerise, (Winter 2009) http://cerise.theirisnetwork.org. Casey Fiesler, “This is Our World Too: Preventing Real Victims of Virtual Rape,” Cerise, (Winter 2009). http://cerise.theirisnetwork.org.95 Richard Pilbeam, “Warhammer 40,000 Fifth Edition,” Cerise, (August 2008), http://cerise.theirisnetwork.org.

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This review clearly illustrates that not all gamers are not passive consumers. Instead, they

recognize that the background is presented from the point of view of characters within the

game and that it is supposed to be repulsive and critically read. The fact that Pilbeam

questions if he would want to support any faction suggests that sufficient moral

ambiguity remains to prevent a binary of good versus evil.

Cerise probably represents a unique segment of gamers and the politics of its

contributors likely predisposes them to appreciate Warhammer 40 000’s critiques.

However, online forums that are accessible to anyone with an internet connection should

provide a better perspective upon the views of the wider Warhammer 40 000 gaming

community. In 2008, a player by the screen name SolkaTruesilver started a discussion on

‘Giant In The Playground’ called ‘the best Warhammer description ever made’. This

posting has elicited over 150 responses and has been reproduced as a definition of the

game on other websites.96 Aside from this repore, the fact that it is a ‘definition’ is very

significant because it suggests that SolkaTruesilver will be distilling the essential

characteristics of this game. Instead of focusing on the mechanics of game play, he/she

focuses upon the world created by the background, writing that:

Warhammer 40,000 is not a happy place. Rather than just being Darker And Edgier, it paints itself black and hurls itself over the edge. The Imperium of Man is an oppressive, stark, and downright miserable place to live in where, for far too many people, living isn't something to do until you die, but something to do until something comes around and kills you in an unbelievably horrible way - quite probably someone on your own side. The Messiah [the Emperor] has been locked up on life support for the past ten millennia, laid low by his most beloved son, and an incomprehensibly vast Church Militant [the Sisters of Battle] commits hourly atrocities in his name. The problem is, as bad as the Imperium is, the other forces in the galaxy are generally far, far worse. Death is about the best you can hope for against the vast majority of the other major players in the battlefields of the 41st Millennium. The basic premise of 40k is as a constant, impossibly vast conflict

96Examples include: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/Warhammer40000, http://www.urbandictionary.com, http://bbs.stardestroyer.net and ttp://www.warhammer40000.net/

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between genocidal, xenocidal and in one case omnicidal civilisations, with every single weapon, ideology and creative piece of nastiness turned up to eleven.97

Instead of heroicizing violence SolkaTruesilver is repelled by the actions of the

characters who are presented as the defenders of humanity. Instead of longing for a

militaristic society, his definition emphasizes that the only reason the nightmarish

Imperium is still in existence is because humanity is in a state of war. Clearly, instead of

promoting militarism, contemporary gamers appreciate the moral ambiguity of war.

Interestingly, all responses agree with this assessment of the morality of war.98

An examination of the online discourse suggests that at least some gamers are

critical consumers and receptive to the messages of Warhammer 40 000, even if they are

now less potent. The majority of Warhammer 40 000 discussion threads focus on game

tactics instead of morality. However, there probably are some Warhammer 40 000 fans

who use the game as a vehicle to celebrate war, but these appear be the minority.

Conclusion

The table top, science fiction-fantasy game Warhammer 40 000 presents complex

arguments about western history as it questions the morality of war itself. Despite being a

war game, it does not promote the militarization of society by romanticizing violence as

the existing literature would suggest. Exactly the opposite, it emphasizes the violence of

war and even challenges Heinlein’s presentation of militarism. It even challenges

conceptualizing war as a struggle between a clearly defined good and evil as it presents a

strong post colonial re-evaluation of Western and British history. In doing so

Warhammer 40 000 took on some of the most influential fiction writers in history,

97 http://www.giantitp.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-76357.html98 In fact, they often added their own views, stating that: “They'd [the Imperium] be the villains in most campaigns” (screen name: Rouge 7) “Does the world ‘fair’ even exist in WH40K?” (screen name: Tengu) or “Ayup. My summary of 40K to someone was "An example is the best way to explain it. There's a god of hope, and the god of freaking hope is evil.” (screen name: SurlySeraph).

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Tolkien and Lewis, at the height of their power. The fact that this game has, and still

does, provide a space for repackaging imperialism and presenting an alternative

interpretation of war that is consumed by popular culture on a massive scale clearly

demonstrates the need for academics who are interested in war and war memory to

examine video, board and table top games. Although these games can successfully

question the morality of war itself and even promote critical thinking, scholars need to

adopt a new approach to war consumption that is sympathetic to the ways that fiction and

fantasy can present complex arguments aside from employing a simplistic ‘good’

alternative to ‘evil’ position, the approach science-fiction favours.

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Figures

Figure 1: The Space Marine leader Marneus Augusts Calgar appears to be sadistically enjoying battle dead as the dead enemies pile up at his feet. Rick Priestley and Jervis Johnson, Codex Ultramaries, 2nd edition, 47

Figure 2: This image accompanies the discussion of Pax Imperialis in Rick Priestley and Andy Chambers, Codex Imperialis, 2nd ed, 28.

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Figure 3: Borrowing uniforms and the red head bands from the film Platoon and drawing upon the muscular jungle warrior imagery from the movie Rambo, the Catachans are clearly a product of Vietnam war popular culture that celebrates war. This image is taken from: wh40k.lexicanum.com

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http://bbs.stardestroyer.net/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=121493

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