Overview

Warhammer 40,000 (informally known as Warhammer 40K, WH40K,) is a science fantasy game produced by Games Workshop. The game depicts combats between the armies of the 41st millennium using 28 mm scale (approximately 1:65) miniature figurines that represent futuristic soldiers, creatures and vehicles of war.The ethos is summed up by the game's subtitle slogan:

"In the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war."

Game world is most readily characterized as a gothic, science fantasy universe, set approximately 38,991 years from now (as the year 40,999 is nominally taken as the 'present' time), in the 41st millennium. Most of the major storylines that provide the backdrop and history span over millennia at a time (eg, a 5,000 year-long civil war, a 10,000 year-long crusade). Technology enables select humans to continue living well beyond centuries long, some for thousands of years, although the cost of this extended life typically involves some kind of assimilation with a machine, and thereby loss of much of "the human".Warhammer 40,000 has, over the years, inspired many spin-off games. he most popular of these include the miniature-based games Battlefleet Gothic, Epic Armageddon, Inquisitor and Necromunda. There are also computer games based WH40k: Dawn of War, Dawn of War: Winter Assault, Dawn of War: Dark Crusade, Fire Warrior, Chaos Gate, Space Hulk, Space Hulk: Vengeance of the Blood Angels, Final Liberation, Rites of War, Warhammer 40k Squad Command, Warhammer 40,000: Ultra Marines and an upcoming unnamed MMO from THQ