Laying Down The Lore: 40K

In this episode we follow the fate of those legions that fell to Chaos during the Horus Heresy. We briefly describe the events of 10,000 years for all nine before turning our attention to their evolving organisation and their Daemon Primarchs and the Arch-Warlord, Abaddon the Despoiler. We summarise the campaigns of the despoiler, the Black Crusades. We then pivot to explore the fates of a series...

In this episode we explore the concepts and manifestations of Chaos, the Primordial Truth. In turn we examine the four malevolent warp entities that plague all of the races in the galaxy, the Gods of Chaos; Slaanesh, Nurgle, Khorne, and Tzeentch. We detail their purviews, powers, and pantheons as well as their capacity to influence the galaxy.   We look into the Lost and the Damned, the cults and...

What is life like on an Imperium World? To answer this question we focus on the storied world of Necromunda. We take a look at the planet as a whole before concentrating on the “capital” of the Palatine Hive. We look at the social hierarchy and the lives of the planet’s rulering power, House Helmwar. We then descend through the hive exploring the lives of the citizens be they from the Great Houses...

In this episode we take a look at the history and structure of the Adeptus Custodes, the elite cadre of genetically-engineered transhuman warriors who serve as the bodyguards of the Emperor of Mankind. We look at their use through the time of the Imperium and their new role as part of the Indomitus crusade. Next, we very carefully approach the Sisters of Silence, an all-female force of Pariahs cha...

In our second episode on the Adeptus Astartes we look at the more ‘specialist’ forces of the Adeptus Astartes. We first look at more specific foundings, and their confusing order, and their requirements changed to fit a new darker imperium, such as the Exorcists, and examine the motivations in their creation. We pause briefly to discuss awful sounding words before looking towards the Inquisitors o...

In our first episode on the Adeptus Astartes we start with a look at birth of the modern Space marine chapter; The Codex Astartes and the Second Founding. We dig into what is involved in founding a Space Marine Chapter and what organisational structure each Codex Chapter and its companies. We examine the iconic arms, armour, and vehicles of the Astartes. We then turn from creation to maintenance a...

In this episode we look at the kingdom within the Imperium, the techno-feudal sociopaths of the Adeptus Mechanicus. We delve into their origins, their motivations, their love for the knee-healing Emperor, and their fall from grace during the heresy. We look at their political status with the Imperium and their hate/hate relationship with the Ecclesiarchy. We briefly examine their hierarchy and the...

The Imperium Part #3 - The Military. We take a broad and expansive peek at the the Imperial Guard AKA the Astra Militarum AKA cannon fodder. We look at the composition and formation of the Regiments and briefly discuss some of the more famous units and regiments, all under the watchful eyes of a Commissar. We look askew at the noble yet filthy abhumans that serve alongside the true human warriors...

The Imperium Part #2 - The Faithful. In this episode we look at the perfectly reasonable and not at all fascist faithful of the Imperium of Man. Starting with the Ecclesiarchy, AKA Space Church, we look at the history and structure of the Cult Imperialis and just how many imperial institutions it has tendrils in.  We turn to the Ecclesiarchy’s  militant arm the Adepta Soroitas. We delve into the h...

The unbridled excitement of the Imperial Bureaucracy. In this episode, the first of an 8 part look at the contemporary Imperium, we look at the unsung heroes and objectively horrific villains that keep the Imperium ticking. We dissect this bureaucracy into 5 parts;  The Adeptus Terra, the Astronomican, The Navigators, The Rogue Traders and the Adeptus Arbites. We look at how each is formed, what t...

The second part of our extreme summary of the Horus heresy looks at three major conflicts that defined, in part at least, the course of the war. The Battle of Molech sees a knight house turn traitor at the best (or worst) moment and Horus is re-re-born… again… The battle of Tallarn, where Peter Barro, Primarch of the Iron Warriors seeks the Black Occulous and destroys a world. The battle of Beta-G...

In this episode … TREACHERY! The Horus Heresy begins in earnest as we look at the events that lead to it, if your name is Davin we don’t like you. We look at the destructive warning of Magnus, who may or may not have done anything wrong, and the subsequent purging of Prospero by the Space Wolves. We explore the background for and the events of both the Isstvan III atrocity and the dropsite massacr...

In this episode we look at the main players between the Unification War and the end of the Great Crusade. We discuss the origins and actions of the Emperor from his birth to the conquering of Terra and his understandable, but objectionable, culling of the warriors that got him there. We explore the role that Primarchs play, even after their disappearance, and the birth of the Legiones astartes, th...

In this episode, we take a summarising stroll through thirty thousand years of human history. Starting with the Age of Terra we discuss the diaspora of humanity and the generational ships they used. The Age of Technology sees the advent of warp travel, the "coincidental" birth of Navigators and the ultimate collapse of the interstellar human empire thanks, in part, to the AI-fuelled pogr...

In this episode we look at the Galaxy within which 40K is set, our own Milky Way A.K.A Gerald. We explore the 3 “realities” that share the space and discuss the importance of psychic lighthouses. We next discuss the administrative area of the Imperium of Man, the 5 Segmentae and their locations. Finally, we look at the classifications of planets and their biomes, civilisation level, and use. Despi...

This episode has two goals. The first is to detail the expansive change in the game since the mid 90s, from 3rd to 9th edition. We examine each edition in turn and look at the arrival of new factions and races together with game-play innovations. Dhar discusses how the inconsistencies and gaps within the setting have been weaved together to form a holistically, though perhaps subjectively, perfect...

In this, our second episode we look at the first two editions of Warhammer 40K. The setting launched with Rogue Trader where the setting was very much “of its time”, mid to high sci-fi with a comic book feel and the most convoluted, perhaps even fractured, ruleset which Dhar still loves. We explore the many ways in which the game evolved and look at the key releases and books. Second edition broug...

Welcome to this, our first episode! What is this? What are we trying to do? Dhar begins with trying to encapsulate the past 40(ish) years of Warhammer 40,000. We look at the explosion of content from the first, comedy named including, edition to the apocalyptic levels of lore that have been used to populate the setting. What inspired the universe, *cough* Dune *cough* Hawkmoon *cough*, and what or...

Whether you're taking your first steps into the grim darkness of the far future or you've been collecting and reading Warhammer 40,000 for decades, Laying Down The Lore is your guide to the rich history, iconic factions, legendary characters and galaxy-spanning wars of the 41st Millennium. Join 40k veteran Dhar, alongside his brother Ben and friend Cral, two Warhammer newbies, as they explore the...