#star wars versus warhammer 40k

[triggerblaze345]

#sw #40k #star wars #warhammer 40k #imperium of man #galactic empire #versus battle

[dinosly]

The King of Many Crowns (Warhammer 40K Fanfic)

Today I was truly blessed. On this, the day of our ascension, the hive city finally felt the wrath of the Hydra. Our Magii sang hymns and the Primus rallied the underminers to finally take this ball of filth called Ferrotrax for the Great Cult Hydraic.

We sprang, executing the governor by the hands of her own personal bodyguards, and rushed the streets with the tools they gave us so long ago. These tools, the tools we toiled with for years, the ones we mastered for this very day. To strike down the unfaithful in His name.

The uprising became the usual war of attrition, not unlike what we hear from other star systems. It was our brethren literally versus the world. Ferrotrax's army was still strong, but our Patriarch knew it was time. Even from the depths of his lair in sewers, he knew They would save us.

We were not alone.

The sky darkened, our voxes crackled and The Angels fell down upon the enemy like drop pods. But these weren't the oppressor's angels. No, they had our teeth, they had our claws, they had our drive. The Star Gods had arrived.

The battle raged on so many fronts, I was in a trench near our Mining camp when They came. Their ships splattered on the ground, opening up and spilling out army after army of our saviors. And then, out of the vessel, He emerged. I couldn't mistake him for anything else. I was in the presence of The King of Many Crowns. He ordered the armies to rush the gunline, and his subordinates as well as my brothers ran without flinching into the lasgun fire. I was compelled as well, overwhelmingly so, but I was just so transfixed to be on the same battlefield as such royalty! No larger than his peers, yet he commands such a Godlike aura. I bite my tongue as I write, for He is a God! The one who will save us, the one in all our hearts and minds, the one who will guide us across the cosmos. There I was, standing here, realizing how much of a privilege it is just to be on the same planet as someone such as He, when The King of Many Crowns turned His gaze. HE TURNED HIS GAZE TO ME.

HE SAW ME! BY THE STAR GODS, HE SAW ME! I WAS BLESSED AT THAT MOMENT. HE SAW ME. HE KNEW ME. HE WAS ME.

I am still shaking, for I know not what overcame me. The shock, the joy, the Holy Spirit of the void between worlds, no words can describe what brought me to do such actions. I do feel pity for the non-believers, for they did not live long in the Kings great light. They fell by my hands, my deeds witnessed by the gods themselves. Tonight I sleep under bolter fire and frag grenade blasts in the damp mines of Ferrotrax, and tonight I sleep sound.

I cannot wait to fight for Him again tomorrow.

This has been a quick short story/fanfic I made about some of the Warhammer 40k armies I have, specifically Tyranids and Genestealer Cults. I will probably show more of what I painted in the future, but until then, hope you Enjoy!

#tyranids #warhammer40k #warhammer 40000 #warhammer #genestealer cults #hive fleet #art #illustration #short story #minipainting #cult hydraic #Hive fleet hydra #mini painting #warhammer fanart #warhammer fanfic

[lightdancer1]

One of the funnier elements in the risk of applying reality to fantasy is that when you do it, you end up with 40K more optimistic than Star Wars

And there is a very simple reason for that. In 40K it's possible (though vanishingly unlikely and relying on 'central named character, especially Space Marine but not always' tier plot armor) for a random schmuck to banish a shard of an eldritch abomination by sheer average Joe/Jane/Jinx determination. 40K, like the blend of religious and elements of cosmic horror it is, applies this with a merry abandon to Chaos and the C'Tan, the big divine figures. And even to the Emperor, as he wouldn't be a rotting corpse on a throne if this was a setting that fawned over its deities.

In Star Wars, OTOH, you are Jedi or Sith or Force-Sensitive and thus the universe hubs around you and your relationship to the Force....or you're SOL. And that's the entire nature of the setting. Too much of a reality-based view here would turn the Force into an inferior ripoff of Chaos minus the cool space demons and the blanket set of cool Psyker powers (of which the bargain basement version are the extreme Force powers of Star Wars and the really powerful are straight up physical gods).

So for all that 40K is more gloriously wretched and terrible at its various levels, it's a setting that allows for a paradoxical kind of optimism relative to the Star Wars universe.

#lightdancer comments on fiction #star wars versus warhammer 40k #star wars #warhammer 40k #yes the setting with space Hell like a bloodshot eye in space is more optimistic #because even the big bads get it in the neck #in Star Wars you're either Force Sensitive or a supporting character #so for 99.999% of the Galaxy they're SOL

[ameasureofpower]

For the mun: What is your opinion on AUs? How would Walton be in a Futuristic AU? Historical AU? Modern day AU?

(I love them regardless of whom I am rping, though my OC characters are typically created for one original or one fandom verse only. Really, any fandom rp is an AU, but to take that extra step and remove them further from their canon verse is like having tea and cake for dessert. Delicious.

...

Upon reflection, I've surmised a trend in how I approach interpreting Walton Simons in timeline AUs. There are always staples to his character that I will try to follow: engrossed with achieving physical excellence, battling some sort of chronic pain, emotionally stunted, cold-calculating-collected, stoic, corrupted prick, but there is one major difference in his motives/agency. The further away from his canon time period (2000s-2100s C.E. ...modern era-ish) the more I shift his attitude towards the concept of power from one that wishes to obtain power to assert it over others to one that wishes to obtain power to assert it over himself. For instance...

Prehistoric AU (yes, I have one) - tribal warrior who wishes to overcome his environment. Not politically power hungry at all.

General Space-Futuristic AU (Mass Effect, Star Wars, Warhammer 40k) - some breed of rebellious admin/militant mix with a desire to be autonomous. Power hungry only to free himself or keep himself free. ...Bonus: I really enjoy the thought of him being a slaver, drug addict and an occasional man toy for some older matron, in the ME AU

Versus...

Classical AU / Medieval AU - admin/militant mix with desire to obtain more resources (land, money, people, prestige etc) to rise in authority

Western AU / Industrial Rev AU / Colonies (any location) AU - business/admin with desire to obtain more resources to better his cause and rise in wealth

WW2 AU / (WW1 was a stupid tragedy and I won't insult any side by placing WS with them) / Cold War Era AU - specific actions and politics will depend on what nationality I make him, but as an admin/militant he will use power to subjugate others. Extrapolate as you will.

Modern Era AUs - business/admin who uses power to subjugate others for mostly monetary gain

Bonus: Post Apoc AU - militant looking to control his environment AND people so he can survive

...

Overall, he will be an embodiment of some sort of hideous corruption of power, which sports some sort of prejudice or line of thinking that generally earns 0/10 stars on a "this is fine" scale.

Thank you for the ask!)

#not unlike himself

[hermanwatts]

Sensor Sweep: Poul Anderson and D&D, Gollum, Castle of Llyr, Insanity’s Children

RPG (Goodman Games): Although most fans of fantasy fiction and RPGs assume that the classic “old school” alignments of Law, Neutrality, and Chaos are derived from Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion series of stories, some will be shocked to discover that Moorcock openly borrowed that concept from Anderson. In his novel, Three Hearts and Three Lions (a book that, as we’ll see, had a huge impact on D&D), Anderson tells of a battle between the forces of Law and Chaos. Law is represented by humanity and the medieval Church.

Comic Books (Paint Monk): Conan and the Kushite queen Tananda are at a stand-off. The queen is determined to torture Diana, who she suspects of being a political tool and a spy of the cunning Tuthmes. But Conan, her new captain-of-the-guard, isn’t having it. He barks at her, telling her to put down the whip. The political climate in Tananda’s city is tense, and punishing Diana will only rile up rival nobles.

Art (Dark Worlds Quarterly): If you are like just about every person on the planet you have this great sculpture in your office or den. We all got them when we bought the first set of DVDs for The Fellowship of the Ring. Anyway, this got me thinking of all the versions of the “nasty little stinker” before the film. Unfortunately, JRR never drew him first. Tolkien was a good self-taught artist but he preferred the landscapes of his world to the characters.

Black Friday Picks (DMR Books): The three sword and sorcery anthologies that DMR released in the last few months must take precedence. S&S started out at the short story/sub-novel length and that is—arguably—still the sweet spot when it comes to tales of bloody mayhem and dark magic. The two-fisted release of Death Dealers & Diabolists—with Warlords, Warlocks & Witches following close upon its blood-stained heels—is possibly the most devastating one-two punch in the history of S&S anthologies. If I had to pick one to buy, it would be DD&D, but don’t short yourself. Buy both.

Warhammer Fiction (Track of Words): Reading Nate Crowley’s fantastic 40k novella Severed I was reminded that Warhammer fiction isn’t generally known for its humour. The clue is in the title, really (WARhammer), and certainly Warhammer 40,000 is renowned for being properly dark. The commonly-used term grimdark comes from a core tenet of 40k, after all – “in the grim darkness of the far future there is only war”. In amongst the grim, the dark and the downright nasty, however, I think there’s room for a bit of humour now and then, and certain authors – Nate included – seem to have the knack for adding a little (or a lot, in some cases) of levity into some ot their Warhammer stories.

History (Karavansara): Yes, say it aloud… The Women’s Black Hussars of Death. Why they never taught me this sort of stuff when I was in school? The Women’s Battalions of Death were all-female units formed in 1917 by volunteers serving on the side of the Russian Provisional Government, after the February Revolution. The woman who had dreamed up this brilliant idea – with the purpose of upholding the revolution and shaming men into action – was Maria ‘Yashka’ Leontevna Botchkareva, by all means a formidable woman.

Fiction (Matthew Constantine): The third book in Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain, The Castle of Llyr finds Taran and Eilonwy about to set off on a journey.  It seems that Eilonwy is to be taught how to be a proper princess and eventually be married off.  Taran is conflicted, which by the previous book seems to be his wont. We meet some new characters and familiar characters make their return. One of the things I like about this book is how Alexander flips the script on Taran’s relationship with a potential romantic rival.

Fiction (Mewsings): George MacDonald is a key figure in the development of modern fantasy. A friend of Lewis Carroll (whose Alice in Wonderland he read to his children in manuscript, and encouraged the Reverend Dodgson to publish), and an influence on the Inklings (C S Lewis first read Phantastes in 1916 and went on to champion MacDonald’s writings; Tolkien’s Smith of Wootton Major was the result of his trying, and failing, to write an introduction to MacDonald’s The Golden Key).

Fiction (DMR Books): It has been noted over and over and over that Brackett was a lifelong fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs. That’s cool. I can say the same about my ownself. Proud of it. However, we know that Leigh was also a fan of one A. Merritt, an author who loomed just as large over the SFF scene of the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s of Brackett’s youth as ERB. In fact, it can definitely be argued that Merritt was the stronger horse in that scene during the ‘30s and ‘40s when Leigh was finding herself as a writer.

Awards (Kairos): we’ve now gained enough distance from the Sad/Rabid Puppies campaigns to do a proper postmortem on the Hugos. To recap, author Larry Correia started the Campaign to End Puppy-Related Sadness when he smelled something rotten among the oldpub clique that hands out the Hugo Awards. He set out to prove that winning a Hugo has less to do with literary merit and almost everything to do with scratching the right backs while having the right politics.

RPG (Pits Perilous): Sorcery.  The Dark Arts.  These words conjure up images of occult knowledge wrestled from forgotten old tomes and worked in guilty secrecy.  Magic is sinister.  Evil.  It comes with a whiff of brimstone at great personal cost; but such is its price.  Magic is a deal with the devil, a Faustian bargain that underscores the sometimes corrupting force of ambition.  But D&D has turned magic into a neutral energy to be manipulated, an undiscovered science exploited by studious and charming magicians to fight evil.  Quasi-Christian clerics work cheerily alongside wizened spell casters despite the adversarial nature of their occupations, and there’s nothing wrong with this except that magic loses some of its edge and, shall we say, much of its danger.

Book Review (Men of the West): One thing about which every single one of us agrees is that Rolf Nelson’s books are fantastic. His The Stars Came Back  is one of the finest stories ever written. Yes, it is written in screenplay format, but that does not matter. It takes a couple of pages to get used to it, and then – BOOM. You are whisked away into one of the most intriguing sci-fi stories penned in the past 50 years He followed that up with a prequel of sorts, The Heretics of St. Possenti, which is less sci-fi, and more foundational to the overall world that these stories inhabit. Though not really a sci-fi book, it is fantastic,and should be read by everyone.

Greyhawk (Grodog’s AD&D blog): The first question* to ask about this topic may be, “How does Allan (or anyone else) know what constitutes a rare item in the world of Greyhawk publishing?”  Well, Ant “Echohawk” Brooks maintains a Greyhawk Collector’s Guide on ENWorld, and it’s amazingly comprehensive.  I link to it on my Greyhawk Links page, and while there are still bits and pieces of info that trickle in with new discoveries, new versions or editions of books, additional Living Greyhawk tourney scenarios catalogued, and new titles written by and for Greyhawk fans being published each year, Echohawk’s work is my go-to guide whenever

Cinema (Jon Mollison): Every once in a while Hollywood accidentally does something great on purpose. It’s basically cowboys versus cannibals with the sensibility of a Cormac McCarthy film.  The basic plot of a townswoman kidnapped and dragged back to the cave of the wild west CHUDS doesn’t do this thing justice.  The meat of the film is the story of four civilized men who step up to the plate to fight for civilization and push back against the ravenous hordes.  To do so, they must set aside petty differences, lift up the weaker members of their little posse, and trust to good sense, gunpowder, and cold steel.

Sensor Sweep: Poul Anderson and D&D, Gollum, Castle of Llyr, Insanity’s Children published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

[ginnyzero]

Mash Up Genre: Science Fantasy

So, what is the big deal? What type of mash up is this? Science Fiction and Fantasy share the same bookshelves in the bookstore. They sit side by side looking innocent and friendly. Until you realize that they rarely cross their strict lines of what is science fiction and what is fantasy and woe betide to you if you try to say they’re remotely the same. That’s a duel at dawn statement right there. There is science fiction and there is fantasy and they have their own little camps and publishing corners.

But there is a little secret, science fiction fantasy does exist. It sits there on the shelves quietly hiding what it truly is behind covers of pure fantasy written by authors you probably know. Or it is in the hand of those who play with miniatures and enjoy role playing. And occasionally, very occasionally it shows up on the silver screen out of Hollywood. It’s like this secret genre that is occasionally flirted with but never really talked about. The science fiction versus fantasy camps are so established. The fact that some agents will look at one but not the other. It makes it extremely difficult to cross lines and tell stories that blend these two genres with burying the fact they are a mash up.

You see, currently the science fiction fantasy swings two ways. It is either blatantly fantasy with hints of science fiction that aren’t purely stated until the second or third book. Or, it is blatantly science fiction with all fantasy elements being explained by science! (Of course, by science, what else?) Which is how the movies does it. There is very little in between.

The classic example of science fiction buried in a fantasy story is Anne McCaffery’s Pern. Ah, Pern. Time traveling dragons that flame spores that come from the heavens to eat a feudal society level planet. It wasn’t until book two or three that you found out, ‘oh, this isn’t a purely fantasy world, these are settlers from Earth!’ It took half a dozen books to explore ‘dragons in space’ and genetic engineering and artificial intelligence and talking dolphins. So what started as a pure fantasy world ended up really being a cleverly disguised science fiction story about dragons and colonization. (McCaffery had this thing about being able to tie all of her books together, some were cleverer tie-ins than others.)

Most of the time it is even more obscure than that and you have to read between the lines to know what is going on. Mercedes Lackey’s Free Bard books are this way. On the surface, they’re a pure fantasy story about bards who make magic through music and their adventures and misadventures. They encounter elves and other fantasy style races as they travel across the world of Alanda. Once again, the first book mostly ignores the other races in favor of setting up the bards who make magic through music plot. It isn’t until the second book that you learn if you read between the lines, that this is some sort of fantasy world that has been part of a war that started in space. And that the people on this world originated from space. Nothing is ever really done with this plot line in that series of books. It just sits there as forgotten background information. Everything else with elves and/or bards were either pure fantasy or straight up urban fantasy.

In parody though, anything goes, so if you want to read something that pokes fun at the whole genre, try Robert Asprin’s Myth Inc. series. Demons are dimensional travelers and the science fiction elements aren’t hidden at all, it just depends which dimension you’re in! (Having laser technology in a medieval dimension is considered a bad thing and punishable by law.)

However, if you want pure straight up ‘elves in space’, you need to look no further than Warhammer 40K. The miniature role playing take off expansion of Warhammer. It is a war game, not necessarily played for story. The races of the original Warhammer which was a pure fantasy universe are tossed 38,000 years in the future and given a science fiction spin. Jack Emmert sells it as both alien and familiar, the strangeness of space and war with the familiar actors of the fantasy setting players already enjoyed. They, of course, have created plenty of spin offs from the original war game including card games, board games, computer games and yes, role playing games. There are also some books and graphic novels.

Hollywood has done science fantasy. The biggest franchise of science fantasy would be Star Wars. In a galaxy far far away, the Jedi Knights wield powers akin to magic and duel with laser swords. It was revealed in Episode One that the power of the Jedi was in their blood, small creatures that lived in symbionts with all life forms and the more of these little creatures a person had, the more ‘in tune’ with the Force they would be. Hollywood has also dabbled in science fantasy horror. In Ultraviolet, vampirism is a disease transmitted through bodily fluids, including a single tear and those who are infected are sought out and exterminated. There were gravity changing devices, hair and clothes that changed color, guns that could fit into bracelets. It’s a dystopian future vaguely reminiscent of Aeon Flux. The other example is Priest, a dystopian future where humans live in huge protected cities and vampires have their own reservations and are fought by martial artist wielding priests. Priest wasn’t as obvious science fiction as Ultraviolet and held more of a western setting than a science fiction one.

Basically, there hasn’t been a lot of playing around with this genre. Urban Fantasy (fantasy creatures in the modern world) could be considered a bridge between them. Otherwise, science fiction and fantasy are still two boxers in a corner ready to duke it out with very little common ground. Which is really kind of sad, we can’t leave dragons in space to just Anne McCaffery.