I’m very new to the Warhammer 40K universe. I found a group that plays role games and I wanted to join that I felt I needed to learn the lore first.

I’ve been binge-watching lore videos on Youtube and BTH im hooked, I can see how similar it is to franchises that came after and were inspired by it, but at the same time is like nothing I’ve seen before. I actually love that there is not such a thing as a “good ending”.

I wanted to ask people who know more about this universe than me, what is the worst thing that has ever happened in the universe? The most tragic event? The most disturbing one? I really want to know and read about it.

I wanna read some books but seems like ebooks are not available on my country, on Kindle it seems like they were purged and on Kobo maybe I could by them with a VPN or something.

  • FaceDeer
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    3310 months ago

    I’d say it’s how the Imperium swallowed up and destroyed a number of civilizations that had separated from them that had been developing in much more progressive, prosperous ways. The Olamic Quietude and the Interex come to mind as examples. They showed that humanity didn’t have to go down the terrible path they’ve ended up on.

    Or, going farther back to look for a single “worst thing” that’s had the greatest awful knock-on effects, I’d say that’d be the Old Ones’ refusal to grant any aid to the Necrontyr when they asked for it. That one selfish act sparked off the War in Heaven, created the Chaos Gods, and everything that followed.

    If you can’t find the books available through legal channels in your country, you might want to consider looking for them on the high seas. !piracy is a good resource for that sort of thing.

    • CommunityLinkFixerBotB
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      510 months ago

      Hi there! Looks like you linked to a Lemmy community using a URL instead of its name, which doesn’t work well for people on different instances. Try fixing it like this: [email protected]

  • @A_Union_of_Kobolds
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    2610 months ago

    Worst thing overall was probably the fall of the Eldar. They created the 4th Chaos God and tore a hole in reality straight to Hell across half the galaxy. Screwed things up bad for everyone.

    Most tragic, my vote gets the fall of the Thousand Sons. They would’ve been the most potent anti-Chaos tool the Imperium had by far, and seemed to genuinely care about the humans around them and their cultures. Magnus was extremely prideful but well-meaning, which led to him making deals with Tzeentch that doomed everyone.

    Most disturbing, I go with the child who’s favorite toy was a servitor dressed like a clown. He was a psychotic murderer who was turned into a lobotomized cyborg toy-slave, and the kid thinks of it like a teddy bear. Servitors in general are messed up.

    • @whenigrowup356
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      210 months ago

      I had heard the servitor story before but forgot where it was sourced. Do you happen to remember which book it came from?

  • @[email protected]
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    2210 months ago

    When you buy your first model. That event represents your transition from “I’m interested in Warhammer” to “I collect Warhammer.”

  • Xariphon
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    1510 months ago

    The Horus Heresy. When you see what the Emperor’s vision actually was, and really get to compare it to the galaxy they got, it’s just… so much worse. And the galaxy is pretty goddamn bad to begin with. But you know there’s a special place at the very bottom of hell for Erebus.

  • @[email protected]
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    10 months ago

    Of all the people that could be blamed for how bad things are, I think Erebus is the one who deserves it the most because he knew what he was doing and acted out of malice in a way that others didn’t. Magnus and the Emperor did a lot of bad shit, but they did it for “good” reasons.

    Keep in mind that even “good” is extremely subjective. The imperium’s goal before the heresy was to eradicate any and all Xenos, which is definitely not good. However, just before the heresy began, there was a glimmer of hope that maybe the IOM would take a less hardline approach toward Xenos if they could establish diplomatic relations. Any hope of that was ruined though once the HH began.

    Edit: Also, if you are looking for ways to access the books, I’d recommend sailing the high seas

    • @Sir_Fridge
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      310 months ago

      If you want want a fun lighthearted way you could listen/watch adeptus rediculous. It’s one guy who knows a lot explaining warhammer to another guy who knows basically nothing.

    • @[email protected]B
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      110 months ago

      Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

      Astrates

      Piped is a privacy-respecting open-source alternative frontend to YouTube.

      I’m open-source; check me out at GitHub.

  • @greedytacothief
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    410 months ago

    I mean, the war in heaven was the most cataclysmic event. It’s sort of the first galactic scale apocalyptic event in the lore. Gods were fighting gods, some races rose in power, while others ceiced to exist. It’s speculated that at some point the nature of the warp changed, and was later distanced from baseline reality.

    But this is all background to the lore, and none of it ever happens in the books, so I’m not sure it really counts. I think the same could be said for the fall of the eldar.

    So probably the horus heresy or the 13th black crusade. My money’s on the latter as it caused the great rift.