Plans to make a WH40K tv series

[Commodore]

Here they aren't called "Mekboyz" but "Oddboyz" ^_^

Yes, oddboy is the correct term with mekboy being a subtype of oddboy.

I need to brush up on my Ork lore it seems.

 

[Traitorfish]

Still sounds more like a cop-out than a well-planned concept

It's gaming fluff developed on an item-by-item basis by dozens if not hundreds of writers over thirty years. It's not supposed to be a well-planned concept.

I wish I could get excited about this news as I am a big fan of the 40K universe. (specifically the Horus Heresy timeframe)

Unfortunately I've been so demoralized by the abject destruction of two of my former favorite franchises by greedy corporate clueless idiots that I secretly wish they don't make a 40k tv series or movies. I can't go through another Star Wars or Game of Thrones let down with one of the only remaining franchises I still love passionately.

Sorry, just to clarify, you're worried that the reduction of the Warhammer 40,000 setting to a homogenous commercially-oriented sludge is... something that might happen in future?

 

[Kyriakos]

Just how much of WH40K was lifted from Dune?

Some similarities:

-Warp navigation (by psychically enhanced humans) needed for FTL travel
-Feudal society
-Tech cults
-Religious cults
and more crucially:
-tech downfall due to AI rebellion/genocide, directly leading to psych research

I like some of the ideas in WH40K, yet something which to me seems rather ridiculous is that the Emperor of Man is (prior to his state after the conclusion of the HH) apparently some kind of superhero. The resolution of the HH was very poor, imo.

Also, are all the dreadnoughs harboring remains of long-dead Astarte space-marines? And if so, how does that actually work? ^_^

The large battle logistics also seem to make no sense, given the Imperium could just nuke and destroy planets from orbit. Why don't they just nuke everything infested by xenoi that aren't into diplomacy?
Maybe they don't have enough ships. In which case it might be a good idea to not embellish each ship with gothic cathedral exterior

 

[Farm Boy]

You can probably drop the "some kind of" and go with "a."

I like the fantasy setting better myself than the gritty 80s techno reboot that allowed them to switch from pewter to plastic, but the ridiculous is a core creative principle.

 

[Traitorfish]

Just how much of WH40K was lifted from Dune?

Some similarities:

-Warp navigation (by psychically enhanced humans) needed for FTL travel
-Feudal society
-Tech cults
-Religious cults
and more crucially:
-tech downfall due to AI rebellion/genocide, directly leading to psych research

Originally, it was parodying the ubiquitous Dune-clone space operas of the 1970s and '80s as much as borrowing from Dune directly, so it's hard to say how much of this was lifted directly, and how much of this had simply become, or was perceived as being, generic by the time 40k arrived in 1987.

 

[Ajidica]

Originally, it was parodying the ubiquitous Dune-clone space operas of the 1970s and '80s as much as borrowing from Dune directly, so it's hard to say how much of this was lifted directly, and how much of this had simply become, or was perceived as being, generic by the time 40k arrived in 1987.

Also, if it didn't draw inspiration from Poul Anderson's Technic Civilization books published on-and-off since the early 50s (Nicholas van Rijn and Dominic Flandry, though mainly Flandry) I'll eat my copies of the books!
A Romanesque space-Empire collapsing as hordes of 'barbarians' who scarcely know how to use the technology they raided from the Empire threaten to bring about the Long Night of the Galactic Dark Age. A number of alien races, human planets cut off from civilization and developed along 'ethnic' lines such as the predominantly Mongoloid residents of Altair, or the Swahili seafarers of Nyanza.

 

[AmazonQueen]

Also, if it didn't draw inspiration from Poul Anderson's Technic Civilization books published on-and-off since the early 50s (Nicholas van Rijn and Dominic Flandry, though mainly Flandry) I'll eat my copies of the books!
A Romanesque space-Empire collapsing as hordes of 'barbarians' who scarcely know how to use the technology they raided from the Empire threaten to bring about the Long Night of the Galactic Dark Age. A number of alien races, human planets cut off from civilization and developed along 'ethnic' lines such as the predominantly Mongoloid residents of Altair, or the Swahili seafarers of Nyanza.

That's fantasy gaming for you.
Never acknowledge your sources and always stick elves, dwarves and orks in.

 

[Commodore]

-tech downfall due to AI rebellion/genocide, directly leading to psych research

This isn't an entirely accurate statement. The technological regression wasn't caused by the Iron Man Rebellion. The only thing that resulted from that was the outlawing of AI with AI being replaced by servitors (lobotomised criminals can who are turned into cyborg drones). The technological regression didn't happen until the birth of Slaanesh which caused Galaxy wide warp storms that cut human worlds off from one another.

And humans didn't do any research into psychic powers. It is just the next step of human evolution in 40k. However, due to the chance of daemonic possession, psykers are viewed with suspicion and are barely tolerated mutants. In fact, the only reason the Imperium doesn't just kill every psyker they come across, is because they need psykers for both navigation and interstellar communication. In fact, despite being a psyker himself, the Emperor banned the use of psychic powers beyond the required navigation and communication uses.

 

[Farm Boy]

In fact, despite being a psyker himself, the Emperor banned the use of psychic powers beyond the required navigation and communication uses.

I see they went all edgy with Malekith and male sorcerers. It fits.

 

[Kyriakos]

This isn't an entirely accurate statement. The technological regression wasn't caused by the Iron Man Rebellion. The only thing that resulted from that was the outlawing of AI with AI being replaced by servitors (lobotomised criminals can who are turned into cyborg drones). The technological regression didn't happen until the birth of Slaanesh which caused Galaxy wide warp storms that cut human worlds off from one another.

And humans didn't do any research into psychic powers. It is just the next step of human evolution in 40k. However, due to the chance of daemonic possession, psykers are viewed with suspicion and are barely tolerated mutants. In fact, the only reason the Imperium doesn't just kill every psyker they come across, is because they need psykers for both navigation and interstellar communication. In fact, despite being a psyker himself, the Emperor banned the use of psychic powers beyond the required navigation and communication uses.

It think it is a very damaging (for suspension of disbelief) element that while the Imperium relies largely on some tech (albeit not as good as in the golden/dark era) and armies, and there are some interesting psych elements there (cults on Mars), you still have a ridiculous superhero as the Emperor.
I am not sure what he became after he was nearly killed, but superheroes are always a sign that the plot is not serious.

One part I like is how the servitors are (apparently) sacrificed to the "god of the machine", along with semi-random full humans. I suppose it makes sense that the Emperor looks like an aztec, given he effectively fights as Tezcatipoca, with other space-monsters in the warp, needing to be strengthened by 1000 human sacrifices each day

 

[Commodore]

I am not sure what he became after he was nearly killed, but superheroes are always a sign that the plot is not serious.

He became a god. Seriously. He is now heavily implied to be another god in the Warp like the other Chaos gods. He even has his own (for lack of a better term) daemons. The Legion of the Damned are his lesser daemons (akin to Khorne's bloodletters) and his greater daemons are the Living Saints (akin to Khorne's bloodthirsters). But beyond that and some occasional acts of divine intervention, the Emperor is gone. He can no longer speak, and it is the twelve High Lords of Terra (and now Roboute Guilliman as well) that rule in his stead.

And of course the plot isn't serious because there is no plot. 40k is just a setting for you to make your own stories. If you play the tabletop game, then the stories you create are supposed to be about "your guys". As they fight other armies, win and lose battles, you grow attached to them, start naming some of the models, mark your tanks with kill marks, maybe add scars to your commander to represent wounds he/she has taken in battle.

40k is just a setting. It's up to you, as the player or author to make the plot.

I suppose it makes sense that the Emperor looks like an aztec,

Hmm, never saw him as an Aztec, but I see it now that you mention it. The lore says he was born in Anatolia around 8,000 BC, so I just saw him as being more of a Hittite or something.