Sfdebris.net

https://warhammeradventures.com/

Life in the 41st Millennium is hard. Ruled by the Emperor of Mankind from his Golden Throne on Terra, humans have spread across the galaxy, inhabiting millions of planets. They have achieved so much, from space travel to robotics, and yet billions live in fear. The universe seems a dangerous place, teeming with alien horrors and dark powers. But it is also a place bristling with adventure and wonder, where battles are won and heroes are forged.

.....apparently this is some kind of alternate universe that I've never heard of....since the Main 40K timeline works like this.

It is the 41st Millennium. For more than a hundred centuries The Emperor has sat immobile on the Golden Throne of Earth. He is the Master of Mankind by the will of the gods, and master of a million worlds by the might of his inexhaustible armies. He is a rotting carcass writhing invisibly with power from the Dark Age of Technology. He is the Carrion Lord of the Imperium for whom a thousand souls are sacrificed every day, so that he may never truly die.

Yet even in his deathless state, the Emperor continues his eternal vigilance. Mighty battlefleets cross the daemon-infested miasma of the Warp, the only route between distant stars, their way lit by the Astronomican, the psychic manifestation of the Emperor's will. Vast armies give battle in his name on uncounted worlds. Greatest amongst his soldiers are the Adeptus Astartes, the Space Marines, bio-engineered super-warriors. Their comrades in arms are legion: the Imperial Guard and countless planetary defence forces, the ever vigilant Inquisition and the tech-priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus to name only a few. But for all their multitudes, they are barely enough to hold off the ever-present threat from aliens, heretics, mutants - and worse.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be re-learned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

Wonder gets a Guardsman killed, either by what he was distracted by, something that took advantage of the distraction, or by the heresy he spewed talking about it later.

Its an attempt to get kids into the hobby earlier without the parents having a coronary when they see the stickershock it costs for the minis. the last few years for 40K have seen a decline in the writing and the annual price increases have driven me out and a lot of other players. honestly I'm surprised it hadn't happened earlier, hell D&D had kiddie books at one point.

Ordo wrote: ↑Sun May 27, 2018 10:20 pm

But it is also a place bristling with adventure and wonder, where battles are won and heroes are forged.

.....apparently this is some kind of alternate universe that I've never heard of....

I think they might have mixed it up with Brighthammer 40k.

You can get away with a lot with YA, it's a forgiving audience. Plus, why not give the gift of an obscure fandom to someone at an early age?

I mean if we're being honest 40k has never really been mature to begin with, so this is more of a sideways move than anything.

And there's nothing technically wrong with the revised blurb. Battles are won all the time, insofar as the side doing the killing is winning, I'm sure the Dark Eldar describe what they do as 'adventure and wonder' at least until the body stops twitching, and Ciaphas Cain would be the first to admit his heroism is forged.

"Mature" is a relative term.

40K Literature has a broad depth to it. From over the top combat, black comedy with the Orks, to complex character sci-fi with the Eisenhorn series.

What makes the marketed for children aspect so bizarre is that the 40K Universe is a Heavy Metal album cover given life.

It is a horror universe. The anti-Star Trek. 40k is where humanity is in control of a vast interstellar Empire which persists on xenophobia, fear, hatred and ignorance on a massive scale. However it is so entrenched and and its enemies so much more horrific in comparison that any attempt to reform it may doom all mankind and turn the galaxy into a literal hell.

You have weapons and demonic powers which bring body horror to new limits. Necron flayer weapons which House Bolton people on a grand scale. Tyranid devourer fire creatures that burrow into the flesh, eating their way through the victim's nervous system towards the brain. The agony caused by this process is enough to drive the victim insane. Not to mention chaos sorcery, the nightmare of Nurgle's Rot. Soldiers trapped as screaming faces on the armor of The Dark Eldar who have perfected torture to such a degree so they can drink their victims souls at the height of their torment.

The mainstream 40K universe is not a place where these kids would survive long. It's one where their antics would be declared as heresy, then they would be burned at the stake and the peasantry would applaud the foaming mouth preacher condemning them for his diligence and fervour. Assuming their naivety didn't get them killed first.

It has spawned some hilarious memes.


If the Warhammer Adventures books are their own separate universe it's fine. 40k Is generally separated into its three different aspects of hobby, tabletop and lore. Games Workshop stores are usually filled with teenage boys but the private gaming clubs outside of those I've been a member of were generally 20-50 year olds.

The big concern is that GW's trying to kidify the main universe when 40k's over the top and Grim Dark approach is what make it fun, unique and interesting. It's already had to suffer Matt Ward's terrible fluff. The nonsense with how the Primaris marines were improved over the Emperor's own and how they would even get along with all the established first foundings various quirks and dark secrets.