40K: GW Reminiscences About Genestealer Cults
Even the Web Team at GW gets a little misty-eyed remembering the humble beginnings of the Genestealer Cults.
It’s not often we get a peek behind the curtain of Games Workshop. I mean, sure we get a look at products and we get rumors – what I mean is we never really get a chance to hear about the people of Games Workshop. I know a lot of folks have a love-hate relationship with “Games Workshop the Company” but the people that work there seem like they truly enjoy the hobby. Honestly they seem like the type of folks I’d be happy to sit with, have a pint, and share “war stories” about the hobby we all love.
Well, this is one of those rare occasions that the Web Team opens up a little bit about a subject that not only topical but also something that only long time fans can really appreciated. It’s not that new players can’t understand why the return of the Genestealer Cults is such a huge deal. But they can’t empathize with vets who have been waiting for something for over 25 years.
An Excerpt via Games Workshop (Ian)
“How I learned to stop worrying and love the Four Armed Emperor”
“It is a sign of one’s mortality when your twentysomething colleagues (mentioning no names… Josh) project blank stares at your wistful reminisces of games like Adeptus Titanicus and other greats of the Grim Darkness of the late 80’s to early 90’s era of Games Workshop, when the rules were indecipherable and Chaos supplements came with the ‘suggested for mature readers’ tag.
‘Necromunda?’ I chance, hopefully. Another blank stare.‘I was just starting infant’s school, mate.’ Comes the response.”
…
Advertisement“First appearing in White Dwarf magazine, and then reprinted in 1991’s Warhammer 40,000 Compilation, the Genestealer Cult army was a handy way to cobble together models that came with these other Warhammer 40,000 related games and field them on in games of Rogue Trader. Safe to say that the range of troop types was a lot more limited, and the list featured the bizarre inclusion of limousines (where the obviously xenos Patriarch could hide away from prying eyes), No models were ever produced for these, leaving the more enterprising hobbyists to cobble together constructs from bits of plasticard, balsa wood and bitz scavenged from a multitude of plastic kits. I even remember one game where the player has attempted a Warhammer 40,000 makeover on a 1:48 scale die cast car, with limited aesthetic success, to this observer at least, But those, dear reader, were the times in which we lived.”
Now, this isn’t one of those “Back in my day” posts that Ian, the author of the article, writes. It’s really more of a history lesson but it’s done in such a way that it makes me want to hear more. I mean, I lived through that era and I remember parts of it, but hearing about it from his perspective is kind of fascinating to me.
I’ve always been interested in our shared history as Wargamers – it’s often told at game stores or around a table covered in terrain and miniatures. I’m sure we all have a friend or know that guy (or maybe you are that guy) that goes off on “tangents” (some call them rants) about how they remember when Terminators didn’t have an invulnerable save. And sure, sometimes they can be a little preachy about it, but in their “enthusiasm to explain” they are really trying to pass on some of the oral history of their time as a Wargamer. And that’s really important.
This being the internet era, we do have sites dedicated to collecting and storing a lot of that history. Those sites are great and we love using them as references but nothing compares to hearing about the history from someone who witnessed it first hand. Facts and dates can cause people’s eyes to glaze over but, when you start to hear someone’s story and how they witnessed history, then that’s when it becomes real.
If you get a chance, go and read the full article HERE. It’s not a terribly long read – which is really a shame. I hope it will at least get you to appreciate the history of the cults once you read about it from someone else who lived through the initial releases and how it’s been a LONG time coming. And Ian, if you’re reading this, thanks for sharing your story!
I was there when Horus killed the Four-Armed Emperor.
