Marty's adventure into Warhammer 40K

I first saw Warhammer years ago. The editor/publisher of a local zine I was trying to get on board with was a player. Our initial meetings would take place in a gaming shop called The Dagger’s Sheath. I’m not much of a gamer myself. Nothing against it, but I lack the time and resources for it. So here I am, walking into a store and seeing the tables lined up and covered in green with little bit of landscape and architecture scattered about and what was likely a thousand miniatures strategically placed all about. Players on both sides hunched over it the miniature battlefield, feverishly devising stratagems to try to take out the other guy. I located my possible future employer, already locked in mock battle. He took the submission pieces I had for him and chatted a bit as I watched the game.

It all seemed simple enough. They were throwing die and the person who rolled higher won, eventually “destroying” the opposing piece and removing it from play. At this point, in my struggle for understanding what I was witnessing I cried out:

“Ah HA! It’s like Risk, ain’t it!” This of course drew a few sidelong glances.

“No. This is what Risk wants to be when it grows up.”

So that was my first encounter with Warhammer. Fast forward a few years and I’m only a little more familiar with the game. Don’t get me wrong, it looks like a blast, but I like I said, I don’t have the time nor the money for it. Besides which, I can see one of my doggone kids getting a hold of one of the miniatures used to play the game and ingesting it. I don’t relish the thought of sifting through the contents of a diaper in a rescue effort to save said piece. It wouldn’t be fair to the piece really, because it would have to carry that stigma with it into battle.

“You survived my kid’s digestive tract, but you can’t beat a damn Orc? Dammit soldier! What the hell kind of Ultra Marine are you?”

Obviously, I’m not a gamer. I’m a reader. I recently discovered that BOOM! Studios publishes the Warhammer 40000 series of comics. Initially I was wondering exactly how much of a story could be culled from a game like this. Well, it turns out there’s a lot. A whole lot. Games Workshop the creators of the game branched out into publishing under the label of The Black Library. They published both comics and prose novels. There’s a freakin’ ton of continuity here. It’s a gigantic gothic space opera all concocted around these miniatures that you can buy three to a pack.

This is a very popular game, so I had to figure that BOOM! was reaping the benefits. This had me curious so I started asking gamers online what they though about the comics. The majority of them didn’t even know the comics existed. Somewhere there’s a disconnect, and I determined to figure out where.

Around here if you want to find Warhammer players you go to Atlantis Comics. I walked in with a smile on my face and a song in my heart and set about asking some questions. I told them I wasn’t player and knew little about the game itself.

At that point they all rose up and attacked me, hurling small painted miniatures and attempting to beat me senseless with their skillfully crafted homemade battle terrains! I was holding my own until a Tau miniature got me in the eye. I was forced to flee, crying all the way to my car.

I’m kidding of course.

I chatted with Elliott Rosenblum and Harvey Brown first and asked them if they read any of the comics. Brown had not, but Rosenblum was familiar with the old stuff from Black Library. He told me the old comics did a great job in capturing the feel of the game. Of course, there’s a major difference in telling a narrative and playing a game. In the game there’s rules and a balance to things. That way you can play as whatever faction you like and still have chance.

“In real life, a sniper is going to kill you. In the game, you have a chance.” Makes sense. You can’t plan a story around the role of the dice. So, the writers do what they can with what they have. It seems that it worked out well, but neither Rosenblum nor Brown were readers of the comics from BOOM!.

“I don’t want to jump into the middle of story and be lost.” They both agreed on that. It’s the double-edged sword of continuity. It’s awesome when you’re immersed in it, but getting in or getting back in after time away can be a very daunting task.

From there I headed over to another table where Warhammer wasn’t being played, but another table-top game involving flying saucers battling dinosaurs in the middle of a city. Eric Langendrfer took some time away from some hardcore probing to chat with me.

“I love 40K Fluff.” He told me. He read the old Black Library stuff, both the comics and novels. However his love of Warhammer 40K got squashed by his car being stolen and much of his 40K paraphernalia with it. That would be enough to leave a sour taste in anyone’s mouth.

The fellow across the table from Langenderfer was Nathan Bond who had only recently gotten into playing the game. He seemed pretty enthusiastic about the game, but I have to wonder if they enthusiasm would translate into him purchasing the comics. For the record, Atlantis Comics does indeed carry the comics. One of the managers had informed me that there were a few guys who pick it up regularly, and maybe a few more who just happen to grab it off the wall.

So I had to ask, “What would make you want to pick up the comics from BOOM!?" The answers varied a bit, but one thing they all agreed on: Space Wolves. This is a group within the game, which I can best describe as Vikings with a serious weapons upgrade. This group got covered quite a bit in the old Black Library works apparently.


So after doing my leg work and getting a notion of what I was looking at I dove into the WARHAMMER 40000: FIRE AND HONOUR trade from BOOM! Speaking as a guy who is next to clueless about the game, the story is a really solid read. The art is great from top to bottom. It’s well written and a genuinely engaging story. It’s got plenty of explosions, shooting and general mayhem all tied around the battle for one city and the betrayal of a high-ranking official.

The story follows the 71st Unit, a group of Cadians who are battle hardened and ready to face damn near anything. The betrayal pulls the rug right out from under them forcing them into a race to reveal the traitor all the while the enemy forces of the Tau are looking to obliterate them. It’s a pretty straightforward tale but there were a couple of twists right at the end that made it memorable.

I felt very comfortable reading it despite never playing 40K or reading any of the novels or other comics.

It book is good stuff. Good enough to have me looking for the previous trades for more. So, why isn’t it hooking these gamers? BOOM! has done quite a bit of cross promotion with the 40K online game offering exclusive virtual items. Well, the tabletop gamers aren’t warming up to the online game. It’s something I fully understand. Online gaming is great, but there’s an entirely different feel to sitting across the table from a guy and having it out. It is harder of course to offer actual items for promotions as opposed to virtual ones. Perhaps offering trades as prizes for tournaments would be a way to help hook new readers.

There we have it. There’s a product out there that fans would like, however they either don’t know it exists or are leery about checking it out. So, I’d have to say to the Warhammer gamers out there: see if you spot the comics, and give them a shot. I think you’ll like what you find.