14 ms·
Warhammer is a historic gaming institution which has had ripple effects throughout so many places: Starcraft having the Zerg based on Tyranniads, the lore text
by er4hn 3y ago
Warhammer is a historic gaming institution which has had ripple effects throughout so many places: Starcraft having the Zerg based on Tyranniads, the lore text and novels leading to "grimdark" sci-fi as a genre, even other games like Gears of War have a lot of inspirations from this.
With all that said it is very amusing to see the British govt create a series of stamps that commemorate a game setting that could be summed up as "religious facism with roman empire themes".
- n1b0m 3y agoFor most of its history, the Royal Mail was a public service, operating as a government department or public corporation. Following the Postal Services Act 2011, a majority of the shares in Royal Mail were floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2013. The UK government initially retained a 30% stake in Royal Mail, but sold its remaining shares in 2015, ending 499 years of state ownership [1] [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mail https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Mail
- rvense 3y ago> With all that said it is very amusing to see the British govt create a series of stamps that commemorate a game setting that could be summed up as "religious facism with roman empire themes". While I don't at all doubt that it goes over the head of some of the fanbase, I don't get the sense that the existence of a religious fascist empire in the game is really an endorsement of that as a political philosophy...
- mustacheemperor 3y agoIt certainly isn't, and that's especially obvious considering the origin of some of the lore figures like the "Dark Angels" led by "Lion El Johnson," or the heroic stronghold planet of "Caliban" being named after a gay club located down the street from the pub where the setting's original creators would hang out. Part of the point of 40k (which certainly DOES go over the head of some of the fanbase) is that the humans really are the bad guys. I mean, so are lots of other factions, but that's the dark future of the 41st millenium for you.
- justrealist 3y ago> is that the humans really are the bad guys Ehhh... maybe that was the satirical intent in the 80s, but it's pretty clearly not true anymore. The Imperium as a whole kinda sucks, but Roboute Guilliman is simply a protagonist, there's no subtlety that the fanbase is missing.
- bart_spoon 3y agoWhat's your point? Just because not every individual member of the faction is not evil doesn't make the faction not evil.
- justrealist 3y ago"humans are the bad guys" is not accurate? But as a stronger statement, I don't think the Imperium is even presented as an evil faction anymore. The Inquisition is the darkest traditional faction, but look at their presentation in something new like Darktide. It's at worst morally comparable to a "grey" protagonist like the Punisher in other media.
- LanceH 3y agoThe empire of man is cruel in its indifference to individuals and humanity's future is certainly grim. But the work is ostensibly being done to preserve the existence of man.
- mrguyorama 3y agoHumanity is "benevolent oppressive facism" (the "oppressive" part is NOT redundant) AT BEST
- kergonath 3y agoIt is not benevolent at all. The rulers have no qualm sacrificing entire stellar systems. There are strong “kill them all, God will know his own” vibes, and the Inquisition is nobody’s idea of the good guys.
- colonelpopcorn 3y agoSort of like how the second half of The Wall album by Pink Floyd isn't supposed to endorse national socialism, but Roger Waters was recently investigated for inciting hatred, so...ya know.
- mrguyorama 3y agoSome people actually get pretty invested in fictional facism and real Facists sometimes get invested in fictional facism because of the Facism. There are people for example on /empiredidnothingwrong that take it seriously. Artists can put significant effort into showing an ideology or something as "clearly the bad guys" and people will choose to ignore that. See for example, all the people yelling that Tom Morello is "getting political" and how the original star wars film was intentionally an anti-vietnam film.
- ilyt 3y agoAs every satire someone will take it as something genuine... Most are probably just roleplaying bad guys for fun but there is always someone that doesn't...
- babypuncher 3y agoIt's a Starship Troopers problem. Most people recognize it as satire and have fun with it. A few loud people don't, and end up occasionally making the whole fanbase look bad as a result.
- Vecr 3y agoI think the humans in Starship Troopers (even in the (first) movie) are the good guys. What do you expect a humanity fighting an existential war to look like exactly? Current-day Ukraine under what is pretty much martial law is not exactly a liberal utopia.
- babypuncher 3y agoMy reading of the film was that the aliens did not pose an existential threat to humanity, UCF propaganda just made it seem that way. Verhoeven draws clear parallels between Earth's military government and Nazi Germany throughout the movie.
- Barrin92 3y agoEndorsement always happens at the aesthetic level, there's never anything explicitly political about fascist work. Take Fight Club which you're 'supposed to' take as criticism of explosive violence but it still basks in it. Or superficially anti-war movies like Black Hawk Down which are basically war porn aesthetically. The Young Pope is another good recent example. Superficially it's satire but on every other level obviously sympathetic to what it portrays.
- slickrick216 3y agoIn the grim darkness of the present no one gets the context.
- EamonnMR 3y agoStarCraft owes more than just the zerg to 40k, the marine design is very space Marine and the protoss are very Eldar. One thing StarCraft did was turn away from the grimdark outlook and tell a very human (if operatic) story.
- SSLy 3y agoAnd the legend is that Warcraft was supposed to be digital Warhammer but they couldn't secure a license.
- EamonnMR 3y agoThat's not a legend, it's well attested: https://kotaku.com/how-warcraft-was-almost-a-warhammer-game-and-how-that-5929161 https://kotaku.com/how-warcraft-was-almost-a-warhammer-game-...
- Reason077 3y ago> “Starcraft having the Zerg based on Tyranniads” Oh, I always assumed they were based on the arachnids from Starship Troopers? And likewise, the Terran marines in StarCraft are clearly very similar to the Mobile Infantry in Starship Troopers…
- simonjgreen 3y agoI think the timeline is the other way round there :)
- Reason077 3y agoWell, Starship Troopers (the novel) came out in 1959. Warhammer didn't arrive till 1983. But I guess it's plausible that the depiction of the Arachnids in the 1990s film adaptation took some inspiration from the Tyranids. Which, in turn, might have been inspired by the novel's Arachnids...
- kergonath 3y agoYes, they clearly are tyranids in the film (which is really not that faithful to the book; both are quite different stories).
- pigeons 3y agoStarship Troopers came out in 1959.
- YeGoblynQueenne 3y agoTyranids are based on the arachnids from Starship Troopers [1]. Space Marines are based on Star Wars Stormtroopers. Not to say Darth Vader himself. Have a gander at their helmets! _____________ [1] My source for that is the first novel in the Horus Heresy series. In one episode, some marines are on a far-away planet fighting a race of "megarachnids" which are very clearly some kind of forward force of the Tyranids. "Very clearly" given that the Marines are basically slaughtered. They get better. The internet tells me the planet was called Murder. The internet also is categorical that the megarachnid are a different species than the tyranids, but far as I can tell nobody has any real reason to say that, they all seem to just state it as a fact without further justification. So I says they were early 'nids.
- simonjgreen 3y agoRoyal Mail is not a government organisation any more, it's a public listed company
- ilyt 3y ago> religious facism That's just theocracy lmao
- climb_stealth 3y agoIf one wanted to dip their toes into Warhammer books, where would they get started? I always liked the sound of the universe when I see it discussed but was never sure where to even start.
- pas 3y agoassuming you mean 40K, I recommend starting with the Ian Watson novels (Inquisitor, Harlequin, Chaos Child, Space Marine), then the longer series like Horus Heresy, then Dan Abnett's Gaunt's Ghosts, etc.
- climb_stealth 3y agoYes, the 40K universe. I will seek those out and give it a try. Thank you!