The Warhammer Universe – What You Need to Know

Warhammer today is more than just a game. Rather, it is a whole experience and an adventure spanning different timelines, stories and universes. There are actually two universes explored in it:

1) Fantasy – this universe is set in a realm where humans fight alongside elves and dwarves. The setting shows a lot of similarity with the settings of Dungeons and Dragons as well as Tolkien’s Middle-Earth.

There are a lot of stories that occur during the period where the fantasy games occur and each story involves the different races. However, a central and dominant story of this universe is the struggle of the human Empire against the forces of Chaos. Although man has established a solid civilization in this setting, his success is being corrupted by the forces of Chaos.

These forces are actually the various human flaws personified, and are thus very capable of corrupting people and turning them against order and civilization. These flaws include anger, hatred, lust, desire, change, stagnation and destruction. Although these flaws are normal in life, they can wreak havoc when truly corrupted and personified in deities.

2) Warhammer 40,000 – this stage is set 40,000 years into the future, where men once again struggle with the forces of chaos. In this setting, the greatest human civilization is the Imperium, united under the god-emperor.

Although this great civilization has ruled the galaxy for a long time, the forces of chaos have once again struck and caused a divide within the people. Despite surviving the internal conflict, the Imperium struggles to restore its former glory, conquer the galaxy and stave off the forces of chaos.

This setting can be described as science-fantasy. In this case, aliens and extra-galactic hordes replace the roles of fantasy races. Psychic powers and alien technology replace the use of magic and mechs battle with marines using guns and flamethrowers.

Today, the Warhammer universes are used as settings for tabletop games and online games, as well as several pieces of literature. These realms of imagination are fascinating in that they always seem to revolve around a constant cycle of conflict. In fact, one can surmise that the classic Warhammer story is all about man’s rise and inevitable corruption.