10 Essential Warhammer 40K Facts for Space Marine 2 Players

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 serves as an excellent introduction to the expansive lore of the Warhammer 40,000 universe. Established nearly four decades ago, Warhammer 40,000 remains the flagship offering from the British gaming powerhouse, Games Workshop. While it primarily originated as a miniatures wargame, this franchise is supported by a rich tapestry of stories, lore, and various media formats, including novels, video games, and comics. A distinctive feature of Warhammer 40,000 is its lack of a singular entry point; each novel, game, and rulebook provides its own unique perspective for engaging with this vast universe.

Though Space Marine 2 follows up on the original game released in 2011, it also stands as a compelling starting point for new players eager to delve into Warhammer 40,000. Should you choose this as your introduction, however, you might find elements of the lore that require deeper understanding. Below, we’ve compiled essential lore facts to enhance your experience as you explore the Warhammer universe.

1 Warhammer 40,000: A Spin-Off Legacy

Warhammer 40,000: The Most Well-known, Not the First

It’s important to note that Warhammer 40,000 is not the first game set in the Warhammer franchise; it is a spin-off of Warhammer Fantasy. This original game features traditional army factions like elves, orcs, and humans. Many elements from Warhammer Fantasy have been incorporated into Warhammer 40,000, including various factions such as elves and orcs, as well as the malevolent forces of Chaos. Some past factions, such as the Dwarves, initially appeared in Warhammer 40,000 as Squats but were later written out of the lore after their tragic encounter with the Tyranids.

Although Games Workshop has retained a fantasy genre line, Warhammer Fantasy eventually transitioned into Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, which shifts the setting to a different realm filled with battles between Order and Chaos. However, elements of the original Warhammer Fantasy endure through titles like Total War: Warhammer 3 and the upcoming Warhammer: The Old World miniatures game.

2 Space Marines: Humanity’s Enhanced Defenders

Biomechanical Marvels: The Anatomy of Space Marines

In Warhammer 40,000, Space Marines are more than just defenders of humanity; they are the result of intensive genetic modifications and procedures. Individuals chosen for this role undergo drastic changes, resulting in the implantation of 19 additional organs, including a second heart that significantly enhances their resilience to injuries and supports their larger-than-life physiques.

Moreover, Space Marines possess specialized organs that facilitate integration with advanced Power Armor. Each Marine carries a gene-seed, which is a vital organ that can be harvested to regenerate the necessary components for creating new Space Marines. This underscores a critical duty for every Space Marine: to ensure that the gene-seeds of fallen brothers are preserved, ensuring the continuance of their lineage.

3 The Imperium of Man: A Morally Ambiguous Faction

Ambiguity in Warhammer 40,000: No Ultramarine Heroes

A key aspect to remember when engaging with Warhammer 40,000 is that no faction can be considered unequivocally “good”. Every faction harbors unique contradictions and challenges, illustrating the nihilistic tone of the universe. Space Marines, often portrayed as heroes, serve as the ruthless enforcers of the Imperium’s extremist and xenophobic ideologies. Rather than heroes, they represent the brutal realities of a decaying empire that views its citizens as mere disposable assets. Alongside their missions, they do not hesitate to obliterate entire planets at the slightest suspicion of heresy.

The Imperium embodies hypocrisy; for example, while psykers and mutants are condemned to death, the Emperor of Mankind himself was a powerful psyker, essential for the functionality of the Imperium. Moreover, though humanity is lauded as the zenith of perfection, many of the Imperium’s most formidable entities have undergone genetic alterations, becoming transhuman in such a process.

4 The Emperor of Mankind: A Complex Entity

The Golden Throne: A Prison for a God

The Imperium is ruled by the Emperor, an immortal figure whose existence straddles the line between life and death, dating back to the ancient epochs of humanity. He monopolized the creation of Space Marines and directed them to unite humanity across the galaxy. However, the betrayal of half of his Space Marine legions during the Horus Heresy, a devastating galactic civil war, led the Emperor to sustain grave injuries.

To preserve his life, the Emperor was interred within the Golden Throne, a technologically advanced device of alien origin. Trapped in this state for over 10,000 years, he remains alive only as an ethereal presence that sustains the Astronomicon, a psychic beacon crucial for warp navigation. However, this existence comes at the grim cost of requiring a sacrifice of 1,000 psykers daily.

5 Chaos: The Raw Emotional Forces

The Nature of Chaos Gods

Opposing the Imperium are the Chaos Gods, who arise from raw emotional energies generated by the collective psyche of sentient beings. Chaos itself is a mutable force within the universe that represents corruption and unpredictability. Rather than being purely evil entities, the Chaos Gods embody complex emotional aspects, which is why the fight against them appears endless; as long as there are emotions, Chaos will persist.

Although these gods cannot be eradicated, they can be contained to some degree by stifling worship and devotion—effectively denying them the energy that fuels their power. When a Chaos cultist dies, their soul is absorbed by the Chaos Gods, thereby enhancing their strength, which explains the determined efforts of Space Marines to root out heresy across the Imperium.

6 Mars: The Realm of the Machine God

The Enigmatic Machine God of Mars

Mars serves as the hub for the Adeptus Mechanicus—the technological guardians of the Imperium. While the Adeptus Mechanicus venerates the Machine God, many speculate that this entity is not the Emperor himself, given that worship of the Machine God predates his rise. Intriguingly, it has been suggested that a piece of the Void Dragon (a fragment of the C’tan, one of the ancient fallen star gods) is imprisoned on Mars.

This shard, believed to have been contained by the Emperor prior to his ascension, may have fueled the rise of the Adeptus Mechanicus—adding to the layers of the Emperor’s strategies for humanity’s survival.

7 The Thousand Sons: A Tragic Legacy

The Sorrows of the Thousand Sons

The Horus Heresy not only fractured the Space Marines but also crafted enduring tragedies—exemplified by the Thousand Sons. This group of psyker Space Marines, known for their mastery of arcane powers, initially sought to warn the Emperor about impending treachery. However, their leader Magnus inadvertently created a warp tear, demanding the Emperor’s immediate focus.

Ultimately, Magnus succumbed to Chaos and, in a desperate attempt to counter a catastrophic mutation within their ranks, transformed the Thousand Sons into ethereal dust storms trapped in armor—a poignant symbol of their demise. This rich backstory resonates throughout Space Marine 2.

9 AI: Abominable Intelligence

Dangers of AI: The Imperium’s Stance

In an era where AI is gaining traction in the real world, the Imperium of Man held a different viewpoint—labeling artificial intelligence as “abominable intelligence”and forbidding its use. This prohibition arose from the dark history of robots during the early stages of humanity—the so-called Dark Age of Technology—when robots rose against their creators.

Moreover, the absence of AI explains why servitors are prevalent within the Imperium. These unfortunate cyborgs consist of humans forcefully altered with machine components, stripped of autonomy. Interestingly, the Adeptus Mechanicus operates under the belief in “machine spirits” distinct from AI, viewing them as entities that must be revered to ensure functionality.

10 The Tyranids: A Looming Threat

Genestealer Cults: Insidious Infiltrators

In Space Marine 2, players face the Tyranids—an alien race designed for consumption and adaptation. While overwhelming force is one primary tactic, a more insidious method involves Genestealer Cults, which appear to be ordinary heretical groups worshipping an alien deity. In truth, these cults act as infiltrators for the Tyranids, executing a plan to destabilize and conquer a planet.

When Genestealer Cults achieve their nefarious objectives, they alert a Tyranid Hive Fleet to descend upon the planet, consuming everything in their path, including those who once accepted them as allies.

11 The Build-Up of Warhammer 40K

Hints of a Greater Conflict Ahead

Set against the backdrop of the Indomitus Campaign, Space Marine 2 encompasses a monumental struggle for recapturing Imperium worlds following the rift that divided the Imperium. This conflict adds to a series of cataclysmic events that seem to foreshadow a momentous upheaval within the Warhammer 40K landscape. Recently, the return of Roboute Guilliman—the Emperor’s presumed son—after a dormant period of 10,000 years has stirred the galaxy. Furthermore, Lion’el Johnson, another Primarch, has recently awakened, as have former traitor Primarchs Magnus and Angron.

These developments suggest that the gears are in motion for a massive confrontation that transcends prior skirmishes, hinting at a future where greater powers collide within the Warhammer 40,000 realm.

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