Which Setting Is Easiest To Explain?

TotalWar78 · May 11

When i explain lore and setting of Warhammer to someone who hasnt got a clue, but is interested to get into, reactions are usually like this:

1.Fantasy - Oh, so its like Lord Of Rings, but times 1000.

2.WH40K - Oh, so its like Dune, but times 1000000

3. AOS - This is complete nonsense....

Nikolabrac · May 11

Aos is honestly just fantasy but times 100 and more high fantasy

AxiosXiphos · May 11

Like Dune...? if anything Dune is more complex to explain then 40k.

DarthEnderX · May 11

AxiosXiphos said:
Like Dune...? if anything Dune is more complex to explain then 40k.

Yeah, but I think the idea is that the person's starting point has to be a movie they've seen.

Like, I would say Fantasy is "Like D&D but...it's like D&D." but they'd have to know what D&D is.

TotalWar78 · May 11

DarthEnderX said:

AxiosXiphos said:
Like Dune...? if anything Dune is more complex to explain then 40k.
Yeah, but I think the idea is that the person's starting point has to be a movie they've seen.

Like, I would say Fantasy is "Like D&D but...it's like D&D." but they'd have to know what D&D is.</blockquoteI

To clarify, i have read, all six Frenks novels, of course Dune is its own thing and very complex. When i said, times one million, i meant in shear scope of the setting, not narrative complexity.

TotalWar78 · May 11

Nikolabrac said:
Aos is honestly just fantasy but times 100 and more high fantasy

Sure, but when ever i try to explain AOS, every time reaction is....wait, what??

TotalWar78 · May 11

AxiosXiphos said:
Like Dune...? if anything Dune is more complex to explain then 40k.

Elements are taken directly from Dune, thats what i meant

SerPus · May 11

TotalWar78 said:
Fantasy - Oh, so its like Lord Of Rings, but times 1000.

I don't remember any space frogs in LotR.

DarthEnderX · May 11

TotalWar78 said:
Elements are taken directly from Dune, thats what i meant

I would say it's equal parts Dune, Starship Troopers, and also just "What if WH Fantasy was in space!"

TotalWar78 · May 11

SerPus said:

TotalWar78 said:
Fantasy - Oh, so its like Lord Of Rings, but times 1000.
I don't remember any space frogs in LotR.

Times 1000 is crucial point

Billybabel · May 11

Fantasy: "It's the game where WW1 rat ninjas fight ghost pirates, fight Aztec laser dinosaurs fight leonardo davinci holy roman empire, fight a race of dark souls bosses from a hell dimension in a standard fantasy world"

40K: "It's the game where future space marine romans wearing the hulls of skinned battleships fight a race of the robots from terminator, fight space elves, fight dinosaur bug swarms with **** guns, fight lovecraft hell demons from another dimension, fight cockney mad max space orcs in space."

AoS: "It's the game where magic space marines fight mermaid elves, fight bone mechas, fight most of the stuff from the fantasy games but with most of the names changed to make it a lot dumber, oh and also it takes place in a rip off of the Planescape realms, but the realms are a lot dumber because it has like an entire dimension for metal, the thing not the music, and an entire dimension for animals."

TotalWar78 · May 11

DarthEnderX said:

TotalWar78 said:
Elements are taken directly from Dune, thats what i meant
I would say it's equal parts Dune, Starship Troopers, and also just "What if WH Fantasy was in space!"

Exactly

SerPus · May 11

TotalWar78 said:
Times 1000 is crucial point

The core concepts are different. While the world of LotR is created by divine powers, the world of Warhammer is a result of technological progress. WHFB is much closer to Might and Magic in that aspect.

TeNoSkill · May 11

You can t explain Warhammer, you have to experience it since it takes so many things and puts them together.

The easiest to explain would probably be WH 40k, since it´s in our galaxy 40 000 years in the future and there are far more sci-fi universes out there to compare it to.

I´d compare WHFB to WoW, but with more direct inspiration from real life.

Cyresdog · May 11

Nikolabrac said:
Aos is honestly just fantasy but times 100 and more high fantasy

AoS is rather Sci-Fi than it is Fantasy. Atleast if you ask me.

Valkaar · May 11

The settings are equally easy to explain to a newcomer.

It's just a matter of, every person has a point where their eyes glaze over due to extraneous details. That point obviously varies from individual to individual. But it's important that when explaining these things to new people to just go over the basics, not go full 'Loremaster of Sotek'. Then only extrapolate on the points that they seem naturally curious about.

Also, you might be encountering the extra confusion towards AoS because of your own baggage and bias against it. Like, if you're either specifically mentioning that it was GW's clumsy attempt to supplant Fantasy after the End Times or how it simplified the TT battles, or whatever else your grievances are with it, they could very well be clouding your explanation of the setting.

I'm not saying that AoS grievances aren't valid. I'm saying they aren't necessary to delve into when explaining the setting to the uninitiated. Obviously the setting isn't THAT hard for new people to understand, as AoS has dramatically grown the setting in terms of the size of the playerbase and very specifically includes lots of new players who didn't play Fantasy previously.

It's kind of like asking which is easier to explain: the Luke Skywalker Star Wars Trilogy? Or the Rey Star Wars Trilogy? Both are equally easy to explain. That doesn't make both equally good 😆 One is a far superior trilogy of films. But just explaining the premise of the respective trilogies doesn't require you to get into that or compare their quality as films.

As far as what 'simple' analogy to make, just compare it to any High Fantasy setting with competing 'dimensions'/Realms instead of something being focused mostly on Kingdoms on a single plane.

So like: It's like Diablo x1000. Or Norse/Asgaard Lore x1000. Or *insert almost any Fantasy anime here* x1000 😆 You get the idea.

^anything to do with Champions, gods, demigods, avatars, and Realms competing for dominance.

ladymissfit · May 11

Fantasy started out as a supplement and took a lot of early inspiration from DnD and over time gradually turned into "DnD as run by monty python and there's actual **** everywhere"

Arsenic · May 11

Warhammer Fantasy?

"A group of Englishmen with a love of bad puns and innuendo took every fantasy trope going and made a setting out of it. Which became a bit awkward when they tried to make it a serious world with deep lore behind it decades later."

TotalWar78 · May 11

Arsenic said:
Warhammer Fantasy?

"A group of Englishmen with a love of bad puns and innuendo took every fantasy trope going and made a setting out of it. Which became a bit awkward when they tried to make it a serious world with deep lore behind it decades later."

Thats the beauty of it, it is completely unoriginal, and insane and silly, but at same time absolutely genius and great and interesting. WH40K is what would fantasy races be like in space, and again, its great.

Fingolfin_the-Golden · May 11

I explain it all by saying the story is a generic stereotype to sell toy soldiers to kids.

Nyxilis · May 11

Fantasy is the easiest because even though it gets into some high themes it's ultimately explainable through a lens of other popular fantasy. You don't have to get into a ton of background on High Elves, they at a glance have a similar appeal. Dark Elves while different still have a frame of reference for the average person in drow. Same with pretty much all the others. Some greater point to them but they all have similar standard themes you can easily explain without needing to.

40k comes close to this but there is more needed to get some of them into context.

AoS is just high fantasy insanity over old Fantasy layered on top.

boosykes · May 12

Age of sigmar sucks.

Mogwai_Man · May 12

Age of Sigmar is a lot like Planescape, but with less worlds.

40k is Heavy Metal Sci Fi with gothic elements.

WHFB is LoTR meets Michael Bay.

boosykes said:
Age of sigmar sucks.

You probably don't buy models anyway.

Vanilla_Gorilla · May 12

AoS - High Fantasy
WHFB - Fantasy
40K - Science Fiction.

It's really that easy. People can take it from there and get involved from there. Personally I'm a 40k fan first but each to their own.

As to the implied topic I think AoS is overall pretty meh. It's as broad as the ocean and as deep as a puddle.

Mogwai_Man · May 12

Vanilla_Gorilla said:
AoS - High Fantasy
WHFB - Fantasy
40K - Science Fiction.

It's really that easy. People can take it from there and get involved from there. Personally I'm a 40k fan first but each to their own.

As to the implied topic I think AoS is overall pretty meh. It's as broad as the ocean and as deep as a puddle.

You haven't kept up with the setting if you think it's shallow.

Vanilla_Gorilla · May 12

Mogwai_Man said:

Vanilla_Gorilla said:
AoS - High Fantasy
WHFB - Fantasy
40K - Science Fiction.

It's really that easy. People can take it from there and get involved from there. Personally I'm a 40k fan first but each to their own.

As to the implied topic I think AoS is overall pretty meh. It's as broad as the ocean and as deep as a puddle.
You haven't kept up with the setting if you think it's shallow.

I don't know why you're making a personal comment here and I feel zero need to defend my knowledge of the setting.

Mogwai_Man · May 12

Vanilla_Gorilla said:

Mogwai_Man said:

Vanilla_Gorilla said:
AoS - High Fantasy
WHFB - Fantasy
40K - Science Fiction.

It's really that easy. People can take it from there and get involved from there. Personally I'm a 40k fan first but each to their own.

As to the implied topic I think AoS is overall pretty meh. It's as broad as the ocean and as deep as a puddle.
You haven't kept up with the setting if you think it's shallow.
I don't know why you're making a personal comment here and I feel zero need to defend my knowledge of the setting.

You don't have much knowledge of the setting to begin with though. Back in 2015 it was definitely shallow but not anymore.

Vanilla_Gorilla · May 12

Mogwai_Man said:

Vanilla_Gorilla said:

Mogwai_Man said:

Vanilla_Gorilla said:
AoS - High Fantasy
WHFB - Fantasy
40K - Science Fiction.

It's really that easy. People can take it from there and get involved from there. Personally I'm a 40k fan first but each to their own.

As to the implied topic I think AoS is overall pretty meh. It's as broad as the ocean and as deep as a puddle.
You haven't kept up with the setting if you think it's shallow.
I don't know why you're making a personal comment here and I feel zero need to defend my knowledge of the setting.
You don't have much knowledge of the setting to begin with though. Back in 2015 it was definitely shallow but not anymore.

If you want to have a discussion that's perfectly fine. This isn't that. I have no interest in gatekeeping and personal remarks like being told what I do or don't know.

If you disagree that's great, make a counter point and lets go from there.

Mogwai_Man · May 12

Vanilla_Gorilla said:

Mogwai_Man said:

Vanilla_Gorilla said:

Mogwai_Man said:

Vanilla_Gorilla said:
AoS - High Fantasy
WHFB - Fantasy
40K - Science Fiction.

It's really that easy. People can take it from there and get involved from there. Personally I'm a 40k fan first but each to their own.

As to the implied topic I think AoS is overall pretty meh. It's as broad as the ocean and as deep as a puddle.
You haven't kept up with the setting if you think it's shallow.
I don't know why you're making a personal comment here and I feel zero need to defend my knowledge of the setting.
You don't have much knowledge of the setting to begin with though. Back in 2015 it was definitely shallow but not anymore.
If you want to have a discussion that's perfectly fine. This isn't that. I have no interest in gatekeeping and personal remarks like being told what I do or don't know.

If you disagree that's great, make a counter point and lets go from there.

This isn't gatekeeping, I'm not stopping you from reading the lore that was developed over the last seven years. You have chosen to do that.

Vanilla_Gorilla · May 12

Arsenic said:
Warhammer Fantasy?

"A group of Englishmen with a love of bad puns and innuendo took every fantasy trope going and made a setting out of it. Which became a bit awkward when they tried to make it a serious world with deep lore behind it decades later."

Honestly I just ignore the attempts to make WHFB grimdark in 8th.

Belisaurio · May 12

WHFB - Fantasy setting with a lot of historical "homage". There is some crazy stuff like ninja rats and dinosaurs riding dinosaurs to civilizations that are a mix of arthurian legends and medieval france. The main focus is that the world survived a lot of **** but is still doomed and we are waiting for Ragnarok/Apocalypse/End Times (Demon-legions will destroy everything). The setting ended in 2015.

40K - The galaxy is doomed, and every race/faction needs to survive. Super-humans are the last bulwark of the humanity (or so they thing) and at the same time, it's downfall. Rich and ongoing blockbuster story. It has an ongoing story.

AoS: Daemons/Bad guys already won. People survives in diferent planes/planets (something like The Witcher) and every civilzation is trying to take back some pieces of this chaotic lands (imagine Mad-Max but a bit more medieval). It has a design between WHFB and Magic the Gathering. Ongoing story.

Welcome

Quick Links

Categories

Which Setting Is Easiest To Explain?

Comments