Warhammer Adventures

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/05/21/21st-may-warhammer-adventures-tales-for-younger-readersgw-homepage-post-1/

WH40K stories for kids.
Really ?
Like, REALLY ?
Like, is this a real thing ?
Like, is this possible ?

I can't believe my eyes. The base concept behind Warhammer 40 000 is that it's one of the most violent and 'grimdark' dystopia ever. How can someone think for a mere second that making kids stories out of it could work in any way ?

To be quite fair, in my years working at a game store and selling Warhammer, impulse purchases from kids dragging their parents in the store are a big thing. The kids don't immediately see the background, they see the cool models and artwork.

The games are 12+ after all. I've seen 10 year olds reach for Chaos Daemons codex and purchasing it. It is the appeal of clearly more adult themes in the eyes of a kid, so used to everything aimed for them being round and colourful and here's this dark universe where people fight an endless war. Yeah, they probably won't immediately get the nuances behind Prince of Pleasure (though everyone is of legal age on the internet, don't you remember?), but it's still this game that a lot of grownups play and obsess over. It's a pretty good way for a kid to show his maturity to his peers that isn't the usual ways of doing it like smoking, alcochol and drugs. So whole the initial reaction is bizarre, many kids play 40k already, they are in the game stores. This is just something to point them at when they want to read into the background.

Really, this is just GW giving something to a demographic that has existed for years upon years. 40k players have children too. They have grown up watching their parent(s) play these games.

Yes, I totally understand your point here, this is clearly meant to be way to seduce all the kids going in a store and leaving with a tactical squad in hands.
I am fully aware that a lot of teenagers are into WH40K and that this period of life is often a starting point to enter this hobby. I myself was a teenager when I first discovered it.

... But still ! Even from a marketing perspective, it's so strange and I think it doesn't fit !
One can't soften WH40K to make it appropriate for kids, it goes against what makes WH40K appealing to teenagers (war, violence ... all drawing towards this idea of not being seen as children)
Even if most teenagers at first don't understand all the atrocity of the WH40K universe, they still have at least a kind of vague picture of it.

From a marketing perspective, I think the main trouble I see is that none of the characters featured on the front of the books shown (at least those on the cover) are available as miniatures.
And the art style does not match the more realistic aesthetic GW usually go for because it accurately demonstrates the models.

These don;t look like "I want" buys to me. They look more like "Timmy likes Warhammer, that'll do" stocking fillers for people buying presents.

I love reading stories to my kids (5 and 3) and when they're a little older I'm going to gently steer them in the direction of stuff that has captivated me so maybe this will help. They're already enjoying painting up some old models I gave them to experiment on. If I can draw them into 40K and fantasy/sci-fi through these stories then great!

Friend: "So... you play with little action figures?"
You: "No! It is a strategy game where tactics, army construction and modeling all come into play!"
Friend: "Isn't it for kids?"
You: "Of course not! they hold tournaments where adults from all over the world converge to battle it out"
friend: "What about this then?"


You: .....
Friend: "thought so"


Yeah GW.. this, well this is stupid beyond words. From Dark Eldar flaying people alive to feast on their souls and wear their skin to : "And johnny the space marine gave Nate the Necron a stern talking to. Nate admitted he was wrong, and they became fast friends"

Most of GW's consumer base are adolescents, but many are only 12-13 when they started, i know i was back then. It makes perfect sense to try to appeal to wargamer parents, and to pre-recruit children in order to prepare them for the drug that is plastic crack.

Just a thought - the Imperium is quite literally a theocratic fascist state.

Couldn't the 40k book be seen as promoting that, if the heroes are part of the Imperium?
I'm suddenly extremely interested into how what is effectively a children's book will be able to justify such phrases as "For the Emperor!".

"Daddy, why is the Emperor stuck in that throne? Why doesn;t he stand up?"
"Well son/daughter, He in his divine might is basically dead. He's a corpse. Basically a zombie. But he's also God, and the Imperium have to kill ALL non-Humans in His name."
"But.....aren't they the heroes of this story?"

Anyone concerned over how the 40K grimdark could possibly be translated into children's stories should go take a look through a book of nursery rhymes or fairy tales. The original versions of most of these are frankly disturbing and even the cleaner, more sanitised versions still bring up some pretty nasty ideas.

There's many ways to portray an Emperor sitting on a throne of gold. There's many dressings to use in order to hide the less... savoury parts of the Imperium of Man (the most bloody and terrible regime imaginable, prefaced in every 40k piece of fiction). So instead you just present the Imperial Truth. It's all how you spin it.

I think it's easily doable. I mean, we're doing it every day when it comes to kids, after all, glossing over the dark and disturbing parts of our own universe while still giving a decent enough explanation of the world. 40k is really just a satire of the human experience, so the way we do it in our world applies to that world as well.

I was going to use an analogy saying "you dont turn dark or scary things into childrens books. You don't see an Aliens kids book, do you?!"
but I googled it to make sure...

yup

Spoiler:

So... I think it is all just a money grab, and i wont let it bother me anymore.

edit- i lost it at:

Quote :

From facehuggers to feather dusters

The vast majority of fairy tales are quite grim and dark in their original versions, slowly getting softer, with brighter colours and rounder edges as time goes on. The classic Red Riding Hood could very well be not too out of place in the depths of Commorragh, what with the devouring of a granny and a child, then the wolf hunted down and split open so that the granny and the child can get out of the wolf's stomach and live. Take the story literally, and it's quite a gruesome tale, yet each child at an early reading age knows a version of the story. Go through the list of Brothers Grimm fairy tales, just the names alone conjure up some bizarre imagery, and yet they're considered children's tales.

The fairy tales really are like any other story. Their purpose is to explain the world to children in a way that they understand, while weaving in metaphors that might seem one thing to a child, but a serious matter to the adult. These stories serve as a bridge, giving the child a mythologic explanation that works for them with their frame of reference well enough to serve as the truth for a time, and as they grow older, they themselves find out what the myth really alludes to. So the concept itself is nothing too unusual. It's the execution of the whole project that matters.

Here is my take how the first of 40k adventure story goes story: The Ultramarine Gaius Gentelus gathers three samples of human offspring in order to observe and understand the common citizen better. They meet in a spartan smaller conference room. The Ultramarine enters the room, sees the three human offspring seated on one side of the table. A noticeable lack of military decorum, but a deficiency that can be rectified. Gaius seats HImself acroos the Human offspring and Introduces himself.
"I am Gaius Gentelus, and I am to be your instructor."
"You child, what do you do?"
First child answer in high spirits:
"Me and mommy collect xenos artefacts. Also I hate guns..."
Under the table Gaius' hand falls instinctively unto his boltpistol.
"... But my mommy is Rogue trader, so we get to discover soooo many artefacts. It's so cool."
Gaius sighs deep and removes his hand from the boltpistol. He asks:
"Very well... And you, child what do you do?"
The second child pouts but answers defiantely:
"I'm in a hive clan because I did not want to go to military academy..."
Gaius' eyes grow cold and his hand falls once more unto his boltpistol.
"...but that's just because Dad wanted me to be like guard officer like he is. So what if he is a a tempestus captain or whatever."
With a even deeper sigh Gaius resolves to have the child reeducated, at least he can be redeemed. Turning to the last human offspring he asks:
"And you child, what do you do?"
The last human offspring answers:
"I'm from the Adeptus Mechanicus...
Gaius sighs in relief.
"... I invent things..."
Gaius holds back his sigh this time, thinking another reeducation is in order.
"... like this autonomous little spider like robots, with nifty green lights on them!"
[BLAM]
[BLAM]
[BLAM]

Gaius sends out an request for three more interns...

On a more serious note. I mean I thinks this could prove entertaining, trying to see how they will try to suppress the carnal nature of 40k Universe. The effort involved would seem to be herculean. Altough I do hope they really do leave the more grimdark elements in place and just ad the more child-friendly stuff as sidecannon. Also that sarcastic take of mine is based on the three example portfolois of the 3 child protagonist they gave. they certainly would not live long in the Imperium I know.

I suppose yes, it could be very interesting.

I guess maybe my brain can't get past this image....

"Daddy, whats that?"
"Thats a Necron son. We have to kill it."
"But why? Can;t we be friends with it?"
"No son. Its an alien. Its different to us, so it has to die."

Granted, it could be very interesting and entertaining to see how the concept can be spun into something kid friendly, and I'll certainly not go campaigning to shut it down forever and burn the heretics and whatnot.
I guess I need to see their effort before I can get the unsavory nature of the entire universe out of my head (not that thats a bad thing) and see a more light hearted tone. Judgement shall be suspended.

G.I Joe and army are sold to kids and we all know people are shooting each other
Jurassic park was sold to kids with dinosaurs and people that had deadly wounds
Toy Guns are sold to kids
Star Wars are sold to kids, lots of killing in that
Barbie is sold to kids, much sex/image in that
Have you seen some Dr Seuss stuff? lmfao
Fairy Tales, some are really bad

When do you want me to stop? Comics, Aliens/Predator, Pirates, Ninja's, etc.. many kids toys has death, sex appeal, even just bad values or violence. 40k isnt anything different.

Oh don't get me wrong, its not the violence I'm thinking of. Violence has long been a part of comics and cartoons and I'm completely on board with that.

Squidmaster wrote:

Oh don't get me wrong, its not the violence I'm thinking of. Violence has long been a part of comics and cartoons and I'm completely on board with that.

Honestly, i'm the type that believes you need to expose some of these things to all people, we are developed to hand them after seeing, i dont think it changes judgement if you are no longer scared of them. Take hunting for an example, i know some people that were shelter extremely and they wouldnt be able to hunt even if their live was in danger. And knowing its there you can create an understanding, talking about it and help grow empathy.

So i dont see anything wrong with it at all.



EDIT: PS Is it just me or is just the Rumor part of Thedarkcity all messed up? its extra wide

The extra wideness is just due to the supremely long link posted in this thread.

Spoiler that lol!