Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has the oppressive ambiance of 40K lifeless to rights, with its darkish metropolis overwhelmed by a baleful sense of coming doom. We have spent hours and hours being tormented within the tunnels of Tertium Hive and but for some purpose nonetheless need extra of that specific gloomy vibe in all its kinds, so we have been on much more of a 40K kick than regular. We have been plowing by way of the 40K books (in textual content and audio type) and watching the reveals, in addition to branching out into different works of science fiction that give us the identical sense that all the pieces may be very unsuitable with the universe.
Meaning Astartes (opens in new tab), films like Aliens and Occasion Horizon, and likewise that one episode of Cowboy Bebop with the factor on board their ship (episode 11, Toys within the Attic). It additionally means some stuff you won’t have watched or learn but. Be part of us in a descent into unhealthily baroque cityscapes and battlefields with these solutions for issues to learn and watch after taking part in Darktide.
Learn: Gaunt’s Ghosts – Necropolis
The place to get: Amazon (opens in new tab), Black Library (opens in new tab), Audible (opens in new tab)
Sean Martin, Guides Author: If spending time in Hive Tertium has piqued your curiosity in 40K’s planet-sized mega cities, why not learn a few of the finest hive-related fiction from the person who created Tertium itself? Necropolis is one in every of my favourite Dan Abnett novels, and appears like the purpose the place the Gaunt’s Ghosts sequence hit its stride.
Colonel-Commissar Gaunt is tasked with defending town of Vervunhive towards a cultist invasion (sounds acquainted), however what Necropolis does finest is to discover characters at each strata of town, from manufacturing facility employees to the planetary protection drive to the ruling class itself. Because the battle rages, you get to see how their lives are modified, and it helps set up this concept of hives as dwelling entities which are nothing with out their individuals
Learn: Titanicus
The place to get: Amazon (opens in new tab), Black Library (opens in new tab), Audible (opens in new tab)
Sean: When you’d want your hive novel with a splash of massive robots capturing one another, then Titanicus is one other stable choose. In an identical vein to Necropolis, it follows a lot of hive-dwellers on the forge world of Orestes and reveals how the arrival of a titan battle fairly actually shakes their lives.
It is also a enjoyable exploration of the ideological fractures between the Imperium and the Adeptus Mechanicus, and the political scheming that goes on behind the scenes. All instructed, simply an excellent e book about how cool titan warfare is.
Learn: Ravenor
The place to get: Amazon (opens in new tab), Black Library (opens in new tab), Audible (opens in new tab)
Jody Macgregor, Weekend/AU Editor: Inquisitors get a lot leeway in how they pursue their targets it is arduous to make generalizations about them, however it appears fairly uncommon for one to resolve an issue the way in which Inquisitor Grendyl does in Darkide: by assembling a military you may most likely invade Belgium with. Normally they work with a smaller warband of trusted acolytes. Abnett’s written a number of sequence of interconnected novels about Inquisitors and acolytes, starting with the Eisenhorn sequence (opens in new tab), however for a take a look at how an Inquisitor’s retinue features I like to recommend the Ravenor books, which comply with on from them however work effectively sufficient as a place to begin.
Inquisitor Ravenor does his inquiring by way of brokers just like the knife-throwing psyker Persistence and bounty hunter Harlon. Ravenor’s a psyker himself, and coordinates his crew from the 40K equal of a wheelchair like he is Professor X. His crew spends a number of time in grubby cyberpunk cities, investigating daemonic medication and getting within the type of fights that lead to arterial spray as a result of that is 40K in any case. Wolverine would match proper in, truthfully. In Ravenor’s brokers you possibly can see the archetypes of Grendyl’s warband. Inquisitors want pilots, medicaes, and individuals who look good in a bodyglove.
When you’re an audiobook listener then the audio variations of each the Ravenor and Eisenhorn sequence are learn by Toby Longworth, who does a wonderful job. All of the Warhammer audiobooks I’ve listened to are high quality recordings, however Longworth particularly provides each voice a character, and generally a enjoyable accent.
Learn: Fifteen Hours
The place to get: Amazon (opens in new tab), Black Library (opens in new tab)
Jody: If I can sneak in a single final 40K e book when you’re right here, Fifteen Hours follows an peculiar soldier of the Imperial Guard as he tries to not die on a war-torn world the place the typical lifespan for a guard is, yep, 15 hours. Half the precise hazard comes from bureaucratic stuff-ups and officers who do not know what they’re doing. It is principally Catch-22 within the forty first millennium.
Watch: Dredd
The place to observe: 4K HDR Blu-ray (opens in new tab) or streaming (opens in new tab)
Wes Fenlon, Senior Editor: Exterior of different Warhammer enterprise, that is most likely the obvious suggestion I may make, however I do not care. This grungy, dirty masterpiece set in a single house block in Mega-Metropolis One is an ideal chaser to a weekend spent exploring the bowels of Tertium. There appears to always be information tales a few sequel doubtlessly arriving, and I am holding out hope for it—Karl City was born for this function.
When you’ve seen Dredd 5 instances already, watch it once more anyway. And in case you’ve by no means seen it in 4K HDR, belief me, it is well worth the Blu-ray buy or the high-quality rental from Apple or Amazon. The slo-mo drug scenes are dazzling, and you’ve got by no means seen chin performing this good in such excessive definition.
Watch: Interrogator and Cadia Stands
The place to observe: Warhammer TV (opens in new tab)
Jody: Among the best animations made by Warhammer TV is Interrogator (opens in new tab), a narrative about what occurs to an Inquisitor’s warband when that Inquisitor falls. Reduce free on a squalid hiveworld and turning to drink, their seek for absolution or revenge is instructed totally in black-and-white, stuffed with movie noir touches and lots of people dying within the rain.
Whereas we’re on Warhammer TV, the anthology sequence Hammer and Bolter has an episode that gamers of Veteran Sharpshooters will admire. Hammer and Bolter 8: Cadia Stands (opens in new tab) follows a messenger and a soldier as they race by way of the trenches to ship a communique whereas alien tyranids hurl themselves towards the defenses. It is actual “battle is hell” stuff.
Watch: {Hardware}
The place to observe: DVD (opens in new tab), Blu-ray (opens in new tab)
Wes: This cult sci-fi horror B-movie is a few mighty advantageous cyberpunk. Born for the fuzziness of a VHS tape, {Hardware} is a few post-apocalyptic scavenger (performed by prettyboy Dylan McDermott earlier than his TV run on The Apply) who brings residence a busted-up robotic head as a Christmas current. The robotic seems to be a high-end army homicide machine, and naturally it is out to kill whoever it sees. It is a messier, nastier tackle The Terminator however set nearly totally in a single house—a cat-and-mouse recreation if Itchy & Scratchy was “oh fuck” violent as an alternative of “ha ha” violent.
{Hardware} is a pulpy B-movie—it is shallow and never significantly authentic, clearly made on a tiny funds. Regardless of that, it may possibly actually get beneath your pores and skin; there is a rawness to it that you just simply do not get in additional polished films. Aesthetically I can not consider a greater companion to Darktide, the place each character is scarred, imply, and surrounded by darkish and imposing equipment.
Learn extra: The very best Warhammer 40,000 novels
