Warhammer 40Khas been exploring a wealth of different genres lately, from boomer shooter to cRPG to horde survival, but, for all its breadth, there’s something missing from every single one.
The series began life in 1983with Warhammer: First Edition, developed by Citadel Miniatures designers Bryan Ansell, Richard Halliwell, and Rick Priestly. Following the gargantuan success Games Workshop had in distributingDungeons & Dragonsin the UK, the trio put together their own game by blending D&D with classic tabletop war games, and Warhammer was born.
Three years later, the iconic Space Marine miniature was created.
It wasn’t until 1987, when Priestly gave it a sci-fi spin with Rogue Trader: Warhammer 40,000, that the grim darkness of the far future was introduced, cementing 40K as an icon among icons.
41 years later, this tabletop giant prevails — there are 135 Games Workshop stores across the UK alone, new Warhammer video games every year, andtalks of a new movie adaptation. This striking mix of gothic sci-fi and medieval crusade is thriving, so it’s a shame that the games do little to pay homage to where it all began.
At the very root of Warhammer are its miniatures. Go into any Game Workshop and you’ll see vast tables with beautifully intricate soldiers and tanks amidst meticulously designed battlefields waiting for players to craft their own interpretations of skirmishes and engagements. It’s an incredibly creative tabletop game, using the act of physically crafting your own worlds to stand out fromthe more improv-based, imagination-driven D&D.
But before these miniatures can be placed on a table in these gorgeous scenes, players must paint them. At first, they’re textureless, grey figures. Acrylic paint and glue not only add colour, but metallic sheen, wear and tear, and minor blemishes, mud, or even blood splatters are lovingly applied to them.
It’s such a pivotal part of Warhammer, the foundation of every game, and for lots of people the core part of the hobby. It all starts with players carefully painting each figure. So, it would be an amazing homage if Warhammer games allowed you to peel back the polish and see the world as it would bebeforeall of this effort, back to the barest of bones, fresh from the box.
It would be similar to a black-and-white mode, albeit with a few more noticeable changes. For instance, you’d lack any added texture to models, making characters and even the environment look more like their polystyrene and epoxy resin than flesh and blood and porcelain.
Think of it like the Akira Kurosawa mode inGhost of Tsushimathat not only strips the game of colour, but completely overhauls the sound and display quality to match that of a ‘50s samurai film, honouring the game’s roots.
Seeing giant, hulking Space Marines with photorealistic designs suddenly stripped back to their model foundations would be a great way to do the same for Warhammer’s rich, four decades of history. There’s long been a disconnect between 40K’s video games and its tabletop offerings, but it’s always been the source of so much of the iconic imagery that put Warhammer on the map. So, what better way to celebrate the series’ continuing cultural footprint than to uplift what got us here in the first place?
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II
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Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 again sees you battling for the Emperor, against armies of Tyranid aliens. You must fight to ensure the Imperium’s survival in the face of extinction.
