Just thought I'd get the opinions of Warhammer fans on this one:
Anyone who's delved into Warhammer lore can't help but run across many suspicious similarities between its Fantasy and 40k iterations. Both feature humans fighting for their very survival against a myriad of foes. Both contain the daemonic followers of Chaos, who worship Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh and Tzeentch. Both have some form of orks and elves, and so on.
The implied connections are even more pronounced when you explore the history of the respective franchises. For example, early editions of Warhammer 40k had Squats, which were essentially space dwarves. Earlier versions of Warhammer Fantasy seemed to indicate more of a sci-fi influence, with "magic" relics and treasure that were highly reminiscent of 40k weapons and gear, such as lascannons and power fists. Heck, Fantasy used to have a rule that allowed Chaos armies to summon a warrior that was a Chaos Space Marine in everything but name.
In more recent years however, Games Workshop has backpedaled significantly and removed many previous references connecting the two. The "official" stance now is that Fantasy and 40k are their own separate entities, but that hasn't stopped fans from speculating and forming their own theories.
I personally tend to think that they are connected somehow. The way I see it, the world Fantasy takes place in is a planet located near or in the Eye of Terror, isolated by the Warp and unable to contact the rest of the galaxy. The humans, elves, orks, Chaos forces etc. are the descendants of the survivors of ships that broke up in fierce Warp storms over the world. Races like Skaven and Lizardmen on the other hand are native to the world and have simply never reached spacefaring status. As for why certain 40k races like Tyranids and the Tau aren't there, well they haven't sent any ships into the region yet, so no battered survivors to carve their own little empires (though I suspect the Tyranids would quickly consume the entire world).
Of course my knowledge of Warhammer Fantasy is admittedly sketchy, so feel free to point out any problems with my theory.
What are your thoughts? Do you think Warhammer Fantasy and 40k are connected, or do you keep them separated?
Anyone who's delved into Warhammer lore can't help but run across many suspicious similarities between its Fantasy and 40k iterations. Both feature humans fighting for their very survival against a myriad of foes. Both contain the daemonic followers of Chaos, who worship Khorne, Nurgle, Slaanesh and Tzeentch. Both have some form of orks and elves, and so on.
The implied connections are even more pronounced when you explore the history of the respective franchises. For example, early editions of Warhammer 40k had Squats, which were essentially space dwarves. Earlier versions of Warhammer Fantasy seemed to indicate more of a sci-fi influence, with "magic" relics and treasure that were highly reminiscent of 40k weapons and gear, such as lascannons and power fists. Heck, Fantasy used to have a rule that allowed Chaos armies to summon a warrior that was a Chaos Space Marine in everything but name.
In more recent years however, Games Workshop has backpedaled significantly and removed many previous references connecting the two. The "official" stance now is that Fantasy and 40k are their own separate entities, but that hasn't stopped fans from speculating and forming their own theories.
I personally tend to think that they are connected somehow. The way I see it, the world Fantasy takes place in is a planet located near or in the Eye of Terror, isolated by the Warp and unable to contact the rest of the galaxy. The humans, elves, orks, Chaos forces etc. are the descendants of the survivors of ships that broke up in fierce Warp storms over the world. Races like Skaven and Lizardmen on the other hand are native to the world and have simply never reached spacefaring status. As for why certain 40k races like Tyranids and the Tau aren't there, well they haven't sent any ships into the region yet, so no battered survivors to carve their own little empires (though I suspect the Tyranids would quickly consume the entire world).
Of course my knowledge of Warhammer Fantasy is admittedly sketchy, so feel free to point out any problems with my theory.
What are your thoughts? Do you think Warhammer Fantasy and 40k are connected, or do you keep them separated?
