"Games Workshop Community & Politics?" Topic

The popular tabletop game Warhammer 40,000 was a sanctuary during my high school years. But more recently, it has been embraced by Trump supporters and white supremacists…

CBC Radio One: link

That was a whole lotta nothing.

Sad that the Grim Dark is well too grim and dark.

I'm reminded of the quote "A tale told by an idiot".

That doesn't look like nothing to me. That is the thin end of the wedge. If one national broadcaster publishes this story, others will follow. This is what really concerns me about discussions that become so overtly politicised that they are really nothing to do with wargaming any more.

We all have our own view of the world, but wargaming brings us together. We should celebrate the fact that we all have a great hobby. Introducing politics really does us no favours.

The only thing worse than are 40k Nazis.

🙄

Who are the Nazis again? The left, centre or right? I'm not sure these days.

The 40K community became toxic 20+ years ago. I started playing it when Rogue Trader was first released, then left the hobby when I joined the Army and went to college. When I decided to rejoin the game (circa 1999), I was shocked at how abusive and vile so many fanboys were online. I opted out.

No one group has a monopoly on bad behavior.

Not the whole community, Javelin98. I belong to a few FB groups where everyone is pleasant and encouraging. No politics (hmmm…) and none of the nonsense mentioned above.

The sun rises, water is wet, birds fly, fish swim, and Games Workshop marches to the inexorable beat of doing whatever is necessary to keep people firmly ensorcelled in their Industrial Boutique.

Amongst the Waaagh and the thunder of artillery, in the distance, the soft hum of a 3d printer permeates the haze of dust and primer fumes.

Oh dear. Another thread takes a nose-dive.
Still, my own silly fault for clicking on it I suppose. Better not say anything in case my own opinion gets mistaken for an attempt at censorship or a wish to curtail others' freedom of speech.

Once the Karenwaffe get rid of WH40K, they'll redouble efforts to get rid of the ACW genre…

I suppose any hobby occasionally attracts fringe elements.

Any club or convention needs to decide what it will tolerate. That rapidly becomes a slippery slope. Prohibiting people from wearing caps promoting politicians is one thing, but what about flags and logos on our miniature battlefields? What about caps or shirts or other items supporting non-political but controversial causes, such as BLM or gun rights? Can you wear a Stalin shirt if you're playing Soviets in WWII?

"Can you wear a Stalin shirt if you're playing Soviets in WWII?"
Sure, why not? You could call it "method" gaming. :)

Ah good. The wholly inappropriate comment to which I referred to above has been deleted. Thread back on track.

"Our fantasy settings are grim and dark, but that is not a reflection of who we are or how we feel the real world should be. We will never accept nor condone any form of prejudice, hatred or abuse in our company or in the Warhammer hobby," it read in part.

"And if you feel the same way, wherever and whoever you are, we're glad you are part of the Warhammer community. If not, you will not be missed."

Good for you GW!

Nazi can best be categorized as extremely hardcore, militant centerists.

Joe Collins

My movie quote got snipped?

"Any club or convention needs to decide what it will tolerate. That rapidly becomes a slippery slope. Prohibiting people from wearing caps promoting politicians is one thing, but what about flags and logos on our miniature battlefields? What about caps or shirts or other items supporting non-political but controversial causes, such as BLM or gun rights? Can you wear a Stalin shirt if you're playing Soviets in WWII?"

My solution always has been simple. We only play games with family and friends. We're all on the same wavelength, more or less. No baloney stuff. Just a pleasant day or evening. That is our 'group'.

FWIW Later this week, I'm hosting a game night at our church, which now happens every few weeks depending. This time it's dad & sons/grandsons night. Invite only, so no one ghosts or flakes on us. Board games mostly, with light miniature games (aka Zombies and Star Wars) tossed in, and fire pit cookout.

Church is my sanctuary. Not a silly game.

There have been quite a lot of articles like this about gaming more generally, and inclusion, sloshing around the internet. This doesn't really add anything. I hadn't heard the Trump/God Emperor-thing but I'd be mildly surprised if original reference was actually anything to do with God Emperor (and nothing to do with Dune….)TM. Pretty much any hobby you care to mention attracts fringes it would probably like to do without.

I read about the Spanish tournament the anger mainly seemed to revolve around people refusing to play and defaulting under the tournament rules in tandem with some added complications around Spanish law and political freedom. Frankly the guy, who apparently entered under the name 'Austrian Painter' sounded SO over the top I wouldn't be surprised if they were having some kind of 'break'.

As for the under currents of the 40K background they've always been there, and as much as GW might like to really ret-con some of them for various reasons, they won't go away. But then one of my kid's is into Pokemon (2nd biggest media franchise in the world?) which is essentially about about capturing wild animals and forcing them to fight each other. And PETA whines about fur on miniatures!

GW will say whatever it feels necessary to keep the bulk of of its customers on-side – though the fringes of the hobby are hardly its fault.

By and large political discussion rarely featured in any of the gaming groups I was every involved with. Bitching, back biting, gossip, 'drama', drinking with occasional dancing, talking about gaming and alt-pop culture, and just occasionally actual gaming, yes.

Mmmm, I'm gonna say "nope". GW and their IPs have 99 problems but nurturing "trumpism" is not one of them.

When the Canadian media start whining about Trumpism in 40K…
Tells me more about the author than the 40K community!

The biggest "politics" I have seen in the 40k community are that BOLS are a pack of Stalinist thugs.

Editor in Chief Bill's comment would probably get him banned from BOLS, since it implies a belief that Stalin is evil.