There’s an introductory text on the first page of Warhammer 40,000’s first edition that’s been rewritten for various contexts since, with phrases like “there is no peace amongst the stars” and “the laughter of thirsting gods” becoming cheerful taglines for the series as a whole. Now it’s the trailer narration for the upcoming 11th edition, and it still goes as hard as it did in 1987.
It’s cool to see so many shots of The Emperor himself, in varying states of decay. Maybe they depict his mummifying over the course of the 10,000 years he’s spent sat on that thing, or maybe they’re different versions of the way he looks based on whether you’re a true believer in the God-Emperor, or a heretic who thinks he’s a false corpse-god on a throne of lies. He sure doesn’t look like he’s having a good time either way.
There’s a metal-as-anything glimpse into the Warp as well, with the Ruinous Powers and a couple of other gods showing up to the party. If I ever get around to running one of the Warhammer 40,000 tabletop RPGs, I’ll show this to the players to get them on the right page.
Where the previous trailer focused on conflict between orks and space marines of the Blood Angels chapter on the planet Armageddon, this one takes in the bigger picture. Framed with the story of a pilgrim traveling to the Golden Throne and then joining the Astra Militarum, it bounces around the galaxy to show various factions in conflict.
The Adeptus Mechanicus take on necrons, the Salamander marines fight tyranids, and the Astra Militarum make a doomed last stand against Night Lords. Amusingly, the aeldari aren’t shown at war with anyone. Instead we see one enjoying a rare moment of peace, in homage to a classic Jes Goodwin illustration of a dire avenger on the Biel-Tan craftworld from 40K’s second edition.
The poor old t’au and drukhari don’t get a look-in, though neither do the Leagues of Votann. I suppose since the genestealer cults are a separate army from tyranids again they technically don’t get depicted either. It’s a big galaxy, as they say, and there’s time for more trailers before the new edition’s out on June 20.
