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A year and a half ago, Games Workshop put out the statement that “Warhammer is for Everyone”, including the warning that if people wanted to continue to hate and discriminate they could leave and “you will not be missed.”
Today, Games Workshop doubled down on that statement by releasing the statement “The Imperium Is Driven by Hate. Warhammer Is Not.” This appears to be a direct reference to the recent events in Spain where a man, who is clearly playing the Nazi, was not removed from a Warhammer tournament.
A full explanation of the situation can be found by watching this excellent video by Discourse Miniatures (which includes astute historical commentary by Modeling For Advantage).
If you don’t want to watch the video, the basics are these: a man entered the Warhammer tournament under the name “Austrian Painter” (I wonder what that’s a reference to) and sported three symbols on his shirt, one of which was an elaborate swastika, one which was a symbol of a Panzer division, and the third was a symbol of Spanish fascism. Not only was he not removed from the tournament, but when people refused to play against him, the tournament organizers gave the win to him as though the others forfeited.
Now Games Workshop has come out with a statement that makes no bones about the fact that hate groups have no place in Warhammer:
“If you come to a Games Workshop event or store and behave to the contrary, including wearing the symbols of real-world hate groups, you will be asked to leave.”
The main argument of the article is shining a light on the fact that the Warhammer universe is satirical. People have been saying this for years in response to hate groups and fanatics, but it doesn’t seem to sink in very well. People seem to idolize their Warhammer army of choice, elevating them to an aspirational level. But, as this new statement from Games Workshop on the Warhammer Community page points out: “There are no goodies in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. None. Especially not the Imperium of Man.”
“The Imperium of Man stands as a cautionary tale of what could happen should the very worst of Humanity’s lust for power and extreme, unyielding xenophobia set in. Like so many aspects of Warhammer 40,000, the Imperium of Man is satirical.
“For clarity: satire is the use of humour, irony, or exaggeration, displaying people’s vices or a system’s flaws for scorn, derision, and ridicule. Something doesn’t have to be wacky or laugh-out-loud funny to be satire. The derision is in the setting’s amplification of a tyrannical, genocidal regime, turned up to 11. The Imperium is not an aspirational state, outside of the in-universe perspectives of those who are slaves to its systems. It’s a monstrous civilisation, and its monstrousness is plain for all to see.“
After this point in the message, Games Workshop gets to the meat, saying that hate groups are not welcome.
“That said, certain real-world hate groups – and adherents of historical ideologies better left in the past – sometimes seek to claim intellectual properties for their own enjoyment, and to co-opt them for their own agendas.
“We’ve said it before, but a reminder about what we believe in:
‘“We believe in and support a community united by shared values of mutual kindness and respect. Our fantasy settings are grim and dark, but that is not a reflection of who we are or how we feel the real world should be. We will never accept nor condone any form of prejudice, hatred, or abuse in our company, or in the Warhammer hobby.”’
And they end with this kicker: “We won’t let you participate. We don’t want your money. We don’t want you in the Warhammer community.”
This, of course, echoes the now famous statement from a year and a half ago where Games Workshop said that Warhammer was for everyone, wherever and whoever they were, and for those who did not agree with them: “You will not be missed.”
Some people wonder if there’s any point to statements like this if they don’t have teeth, and that’s certainly been a criticism leveled at Games Workshop since their earlier statement. People have said “what good are your strong words if you don’t back them up with action?” And it appears that Games Workshop is doing that by laying out new rules for their Warhammer tournaments, offering help to tournament organizers, and offering help to schools, scouts and youth groups.
I have to imagine that Games Workshop feels a bit like an annoyed babysitter watching over kids who continue to bully others. They say “Stop that” and then they wait for a while while the kid acts up, and then repeat “stop that” and wait some more. Eventually they have to grab the kid by the arm and take him home and put him in his room. I get how that’s got to be annoying for Games Workshop.
On the other hand, this is their job. While they don’t have parental rights over the community, they have a very loud voice in the hobby, and that voice needs to be used. Moreover, they have a responsibility to make sure that they control EVERYTHING that they are in power to control, and that starts with tournaments. They have seen–we all have seen–what happens when Games Workshop has tried to appeal to our better natures: we get people like this Spanish neo-Nazi, and other racists, fascists and misogynists. If the community is out of control, it is the absolute responsibility of Games Workshop to reign in everything that they have control over.
The world is growing more and more militantly fascist, and it’s frightening. And I’m not talking about one party in one country. All across the world, there is a rise in fascism, extremism, and hate groups. And something needs to be done about it.
It begins with laying out a moral foundation. And it should absolutely not be the job of a large capitalist organization like Games Workshop to lay out moral principles, but they’re the ones who own the IP so it falls at their feet.
But it doesn’t fall at their feet solely. It falls at the feet of everyone in the hobby to control what it is that they can control, to exert whatever personal influence that they have to encourage people to do the right thing. If you have a YouTube channel, use your YouTube channel to encourage people to do the right thing. If you have a blog, use your blog. If you have a large Instagram following, use that following. Twitter, use Twitter. Facebook, Facebook.
For now, I will make the statement that if you come to The Wargame Explorer you will always find content that is welcoming of all, regardless of race, creed, language, gender, orientation, or ability. I hope to make my space an inviting space for people who may not have a voice elsewhere.
With that, I leave my open invitation: we at The Wargame Explorer are always open to anyone who wants to write an open letter, a letter to the editor, or an editorial. If you are the victim of discrimination, write to us and we’ll feature your story. If you are highlighting a problem in the community, write to us and we’ll work with you. If you are raising an important issue about wargaming and fascism, racism, misogyny, or any other pernicious and evil ideology, write to us.
Because at The Wargame Explorer, we’re going to put our money where our mouth is. We fully intend to stand with the disadvantaged, to not tolerate the crass and vile ideologies of hate. We don’t have much influence in the world, but what little we have, we will use it to spread inclusion.
We invite you to join us.