Warhammer 40K, Little Thoughts: Hard to explain...


There are times when, as the teacher in charge, you're asked to explain what your club is all about.

I imagine this is easier for other teachers; "Oh we play tennis and sometimes get into tournaments." Or, "Model UN. We talk about current issues. It's very empowering for the kids." Or, "Literature club!" and leave it at that.

Even chess somewhat unfairly gets a free pass.

And then it's your turn, and you're in the staff room explaining about how it's about little plastic super-soldiers in massively pauldroned armour screaming "For the Emperor!" at little green monsters, who look like movie Mongols after crashing through the Mad Max wardrobe, screaming "Waaaghhh!!!" back.

And it is hard to explain. At it's core, 40K is just an excuse for grown men to collect plastic models. The Primarchs of table top gaming just put rules to using World War 2 tanks, and it all went a bit too far. But from such humble beginnings (or truly epic beard levels), you get development of nearly everything:

The models themselves.
The painting.
The story behind the models.
The game.
The story behind the rules of the game.
The paints.
The tools for modelling.
The wit and banter of shared story.
Orks.
The wailing over codices (wildly swinging between too strong or too weak).
The competitive scene
The fluffy scene
The School's Alliance
And so on...

You could spend a full afternoon explaining what orks are, and still only have gotten as far as the fungus part, not get anywhere near how their technology works because they want it to work. There's just so much to talk about, and so much to experience. And this is just one company and one game system. Imagine the sheer monstrosity of knowledge you'd need to convey to explain why Age of Sigmar was so contentious!

So when they ask me what we do in the club, I simply have to tell them the truth: It's about guiding students through an all-encompassing hobby. And occasionally asking them to stop shouting WAAAGGGHH!!

Just a little thought.

 Thanks for reading.

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