Anyone else watching #secretlevel? What’s your favorite? So far mine is Warhammer. I don’t know much about that universe, but the whole idea of war as a religion / deity (am I understanding this right?), mixed with aliens, etc, is fascinating and makes me want to watch more. - ThreadSky

fixorbricks.bsky.social • 134 days ago

Anyone else watching #secretlevel? What’s your favorite? So far mine is Warhammer. I don’t know much about that universe, but the whole idea of war as a religion / deity (am I understanding this right?), mixed with aliens, etc, is fascinating and makes me want to watch more.

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thepaladinjournal.bsky.social•134 days ago

The main religion of the Imperium is a monotheistic amalgamation of various religions taken to an unimaginable super extreme. There are literal demons and monsters who want to claim your soul and the God-Emperor is all that stands in their way. War is simply the main profession of the galaxy.

thepaladinjournal.bsky.social•134 days ago

The realms of Mankind must be defended at every turn because every other faction out there wants complete domination over the galaxy for their own ends. The Space Marines are the Emperor's Angels of Death, forever apart from those they protect, but who will give their lives to defend the Imperium.

thepaladinjournal.bsky.social•134 days ago

Despite all that though, just be prepared to experience that Imperial bureaucracy is absolutely ruthless and its gargantuan nature causes more problems than it solves. It is nevertheless an uncaring machinery that *works* but just barely holds the tide against the heretic and the alien.

bestiel.bsky.social•134 days ago

Disregard most of this. Imperial Bureaucracy usually *doesn't work*. Entire planets can be exterminated because some grey faced admin worker made a rounding error on a piece of paperwork three centuries ago. And when I say paperwork, I mean literal paper, quill and ink.

thepaladinjournal.bsky.social•134 days ago

Just because something doesn't work 33% of the time doesn't mean it doesn't work at all. The Imperium has survived 10,000 years. It wouldn't have if the Administratum didn't work at all. Everything keeps cycling through. They hang on for another day.

bestiel.bsky.social•134 days ago

A large part of 40k is straight faced satire in the British ouvre of Judge Dredd, Watchmen, the Boys, Trench Crusade and so on. Everything sucks because everyone made the wrong choice at every turn. Irony and horror drench the setting like sea water onto the deck of a fishing boat.

bestiel.bsky.social•134 days ago

The Imperium worships the God Emperor, who was really an immortal atheist warlord who ardently rejected godhood (at one point literally turning away from divinity and genociding those who tried to worship him). Now he's powerless to stop the religion that formed around him.

fixorbricks.bsky.social•134 days ago

Sounds like I need to go read some books / comics / watch a show. Some recommendations on where to start?

thepaladinjournal.bsky.social•134 days ago

I most assurely do!

https://youtu.be/17ryUUmNSE4

commanderzander.bsky.social•134 days ago

For books, I like Horus Rising & Pariah, both by Dan Abnett. The 40k Core Rulebook is also fun (it's not dry, don't worry). For something quicker, see if you like Baldemort on Youtube.

thepaladinjournal.bsky.social•134 days ago

I personally wouldn't recommend either of those books as an introduction to 40k. They both depend on a lot of familiarization with the characters and the setting, especially Horus Rising because so much context is just going to miss you by.

commanderzander.bsky.social•133 days ago

I know what you mean but I disagree. They give you introductory glimpses into a great deal of context, without requiring you to understand that context.

thepaladinjournal.bsky.social•133 days ago

Reading Pariah as your first book is like watching Nemesis as your first Star Trek movie or watching The Rise of Skywalker as your first Star Wars movie.

fixorbricks.bsky.social•133 days ago

Oh wow, I didn’t expect such a passionate response from you all, thank you! I can’t believe this hasn’t been made into an epic tv show spanning like 20 seasons. Excited to dig into it.

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