What Is Warhammer 40,000 About?
War! Well, that’s the big picture at least. Given that it’s primarily to fuel a physical game about vast armies smashing up against each other, 40K’s setting is primarily to push endless conflict across its galaxy. The Imperium of Man is home to multiple factions fighting in the name of its leader—both zealously rooting out anything that could be perceived as heretical betrayal within humanity’s ranks, and defending its exterior from the major alien races that also vie for control of the universe.
It also extrapolates this conflict to astronomically heighted proportions: everything in 40K is over the top, from giant, hulking, genetically enhanced soldiers in a tank’s worth of body armor, to ridiculous feats of blood-soaked badassery, the Warhammer 40,000 universe is rarely a place for nuance and subtlety. People are dying all the time, everything and everyone is mostly horrifying, and in general, it’s a miserable place to exist. Ever heard of the term “grimdark” in fiction? Well, Warhammer pioneered it in the name of an attempt at satirical commentary, for better or worse.
