Love your videos, I've been into warhammer both fantasy and 40k for a while now but the way that you describe things and the directions you go and speculations you make always make your videos truly interesting. Keep up the good work!
Skaven leader: Take me-me closer to the planet!!! So we harvest Warp Stone in the clouds! Skaven Pilot: Yes-yes! "Ship gets captured to the planets gravitational pull" Skaven leader: Oh f**k me-me!
I am 90% convinced that the world of Orn probably has a core made out of accursed warpstone or something else horrible that's responsible for the degradation phenomenon. *"Remember there's some things even far older than even the Necrons still around, eldritch nightmares that have been slumbering for billions of years..."*
@@cnut7383 there is also the the golden throne lure theory for the nids. And also maybe the nids where small fish compared to some things out there. The nids know when a fight is not worth it when they are losing more than gaining
@@Hallowoct313 almost there was a beacon the lion was supposed to protect but he decided to something else instead and that is what attracted the 'nids
The thumbnail reminds of my rogue trader game where the dm put skaven on a space station and the priest invited them on our ship to make them worship the God emperor, but we also had a techpriest on board so he made some of them worship the omnisiah and it started a war in the underdeck of the ship as they infested it. Nothing much come of that war because our ship suffered a catastrophic gellerfield failure.
@@empryme the Great horned rat is a unaligned minor chaos god, he even has a man-thing follower a bumbling fool that makes great plans that fail then says "no I succeeded, cause my real plan was this minor side objective I somehow accomplished" and on the great horned rat's sacred number (13) of these overambitious plans that misuse his resources he had one of the hard won battle stations break and crash into a planet of man-things and accidently ripped a bigger hole in the warp. I'm sure we all know who I mean.
I really love how expansive this universe is, hearing about minor xenos species is hella interesting. Your videos eventually led me into a podcast called Lorehammer, you have been a true gateway to the grimdark future and for that I thank you. I've even started my own library, even though it's just a Core Rulebook and Codex's for both The Thousand Sons and The Death Guard for now!
I love the Death Guard I don’t want them to win but I stay true to the emperor but some people TRULY hate all of chaos but I mean come on the death guard are cool. Except for maaaaybe cry baby Morty when he met the emporia and let pride kill his men. All about Typhus I hope he fully takes over and maybe Morty can get another lone story with a few loyal death guard members.
Hey Wes I just wanted to say thank you for bringing me into the Warhammer 40k universe. Your amazing story telling especially in the shorts have inspired me to write a Warhammer 40k fanfiction and it got enough of a following and people commissioning more content that I was able to pay for my rent this month! In any case thank you for bringing me into this glorious universe.
@@jamesfreeman3617 man I'd love to see what the horned rat and big E think of each other since both act as the one true God of both species while ruling massive empires and having their own personal daemon princes with fancy names.
Skaven are easily my favourite Warhammer race so I'd be delighted if we found out more about this race or if GW developed them further into fully transforming into something we could recognise as skaven.
Tyranids are to Lizardmen as Genestealer Cults are to Skaven in 40k. Introducing Skaven-style space rats would be stepping on the toes of GSC... if anything they may develop the Hrud, who were originally depicted like rats, but do a lot of warp-teleporting shenanigans and use irradiated, warp-tainted weapons... these would be different enough in game terms to the way GSC play. The full redesign of Squats to be much _less_ "space-dwarves" leads me to believe they will *never* do a direct port of Skaven, *ever.*
Yeah, comical relief of orks, really require similarly comedic relief but with horrid outset of Skaven bullshit along with it. Just think Nids VS Skaven... and nids get sick, keeling over from eating filthy Skaven, adapt but now Skaven has warp stone weapons.
@@lazerhosen I mean the skaven in fantasy were already stepping on the toes of Chaos, especially with Nurgle's disease and rot schtick, especially with clan pestlins. (real "subtle" naming right?) And even on the toes with Tzeentch, what with all the scheming and backstabbing going on to the point that you'd think the blue squid nerd would be infinitely fascinated with the rat men.
@@navilluscire2567 I don't know how familiar you are with Warhammer's Old-World lore, but I know it better than I know AoS... and the Skaven pantheon has always been a "rat-ification" of the Chaos pantheon. It was never subtle to the point that GW meant for it to be that way; like... they're into warpstone, which is less uranium, more chaos-magic infused meteorite fragments, so it has a corrupting/mutagenic influence on their minds and bodies. Skaven being aligned with Chaos is nothing new, it just came to the forefront during the "End Times" (hence both Skaven and Chaos being the enemies you fight in Vermintide).
@@lazerhosen Right, but how does that subtract from my point about how stepping on each other's thematic and aesthetic toes is nothing new to Warhammer in any of its settings? There has always been overlap with ideas and concepts because believe it or not things are rarely if every so clear cut, some people just try to put groups into little boxes unto themselves as if they existed in a creative vacuum and then tactfully ignore the overlaps between factions hoping others won't notice. But to be honest I don't see the problem with this, if anything that makes any of the settings feel more believable, that these themes, concepts, and aesthetics didn't come about from the aether, no there's webs of relationships and influences between all the different cultures and religions and beliefs various individuals or groups subscribe to. (and often take stuff from multiple sources and mix and meld them together) Me saying that the skaven are very similar in themes or aesthetics to Chaos and particularly with Nurgle (atleast with clan pestlins) isn't a point against them. If anything it's impressive that the rat men despite sharing conceptual heritage with the Ruinous Powers still managed to claw out their own unique spins (atleast in the sense of different means, similar results) on similar concepts is commendable. *It shows that a concept or theme or aesthetic inspirations aren't redundant just from repeated use so long as you use such things in different, interesting ways* and there's alot to be done to help make things seem new and fresh when you view them from different angles. (a crazed, warpstone snuffing man-rat's perspective vs a "neverborn" anthromophised amalgamation of concepts i.e. a god of Chaos' view) Like take all the factions from every Warhammer faction from every setting. Pretty much ALL of them are hierarchies of some form, they ALL have ridiculously overpowered characters, do they all feel redundant? No, because while they are ALL hierarchical, the difference is who gets to be at the top of these power structures, most ruthless, the strongest fighters, nepotism, whomever can blow up the most stuff with their minds, and pretty much everything in between.
So a Skaven warp gate sent some into space, they learned to fly around in space, then landed on a planet with a warp stone core that reverted them back to their original states.
What's so interesting about 40k and SCP is the use of "real world unexplained ultimate horror" nothing in mass media entertainment could be so dark and hopeless. The idea of the last ship of an entire civilization filled with people frantically smashing buttons they don't understand to escape the planet even though it's too late, and then they slide into centuries of mindless mimicry is WAY too dark for the wider public....
I’ve always wished that GW would go into more depth with these obscure xenos species. They don’t have to turn them into playable factions or anything, but give us a book about the Barghesi, or the slaugth. Or even some new completely alien monstrosity that shows us why the Imperium’s Xenophobia is so strong
Skaven did actually exist in 40k in the early editions, infesting the sewers beneath many Imperial hive cities. The issue was that the Imperium had scanners powerful enough to easily detect their colonies, and toxins specially engineered to wipe the Skaven out wholesale. GW then decided to move away from the 'Warhammer Fantasy in space' trope that early 40k demonstrated, getting rid of the Squats, the Skaven, Zoats, etc.; reducing the roles of Ratlings, and making the Orks and Eldar more unique compared to the Orcs and Elves. In 3rd edition, there was a piece of artwork in the core rulebook of a creature that looked almost identical to a Skaven. They named it a Hrud, though as time has gone on, the Hrud have developed into their own unique species as well (a picture of one came up in this video).
I'm actually making my chaos space marines worshippers of the great horned rat and I'm using plague monks as my chaos cultist :> 40k skavens needs to be a thing
It really make me wish GW would develop more the lesser known Xenos Races!! More stuff like that would help make 40k more than just « Warhammer Fantasy but in Space «
Don't get me wrong I absolutely LOVE the concept of taking usally terrestrial bound fantasy races and well...letting them be SPACEfaring explorers and pirates, that's always going to be awesome in my book. But yeah I agree, more orginal or atleast less Tolkien-esque/any derivative fantasy every inspired races or civilizations would be great! Though I do hope they'd keep adding and expanding more traditional fantasy races but in SPACE, bringing more abhumans back into relevancy would be a great way to 'justify' this! (as if you'd even need any other reason besides, because cool as hell!)
@@navilluscire2567 the skaven are their most unique fantasy race. Squats - space dwarf. Eldar - space elf, dark eldar - space dark elf, Ork - space orc, Rattling - space Hobbit
@@archonfett Yes, so why would putting them in SPACE make them any more unique? They would basically be copying their own stuff. That is why context matters, just placing a race from one setting into another isn't usally enough, you most contextualize these creatures. Why are they here? Where do they come from? Why should we care besides the novelty of it? (and besides the coolness factor?)
@@navilluscire2567 hence why one of my favorite science fantasy settings is Starfinder. Why are there so many normal fantasy races in this science fiction setting? Because it's literally the far future of an existing fantasy setting! Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Dragons, (space) Goblins, Kobolds, Angels, Demons, Elementals, Genies, Gods, it's all here! Bonus points, in the fantasy setting Pathfinder, Elves were from another planet, and just before the planet Pathfinder took place on mysteriously disappeared, the Elves just fucked off back to their homeworld. People will say that Warhammer 40K is just Warhammer fantasy in space, but Starfinder is literally just the far future of Pathfinder. Starfinder doesn't beat around the bush about this shit.
taking the idea of lore exploration to a whole new level. this story seems insignificant compared to what is happening to the entire W40K universe but still it impacts the readers. I hope more vids like this in the future wes. Great work as always!
I had a chat about this with GW designers way back in 2012, they said that a lot of stuff from Fantasy used to be in WH40K in the early days - on paper, but never actually made it into the actual table top game itself (they didn't get models). The idea was played around with in Inquisitor I was told, so around 2003, but since the game wasn't very popular, the production of it ceased before they could bring out more models, "space skaven" was on the table too back then (simply because corporate pushed it I was told, they knew Skaven was one of the best sellers for fantasy, so they pushed the idea of having them as a WH40K faction to replace the unusable at the time Squats (which btw GW couldn't use because of a copyright dispute, one of which has since 2012 been resolved, which is why they are back)). This was also around the time the creators were exploring into more types of Xenos races which were not big players contesting the galaxy and had full armies, but instead were just entities which existed within the galaxy which were random threats, so neutral enemies which would add colour to table top games. What ended up happening was instead of getting Space Skaven they decided to do a major update to Necrons instead at the time, which released around 2009 and represents the modern Necrons we now have. Most of these ideas were like I said, tabled. Because the whole concept of neutral xenos being a wild card in table top games was thrown out after the end of 5th edition, it never saw much interest from players as it only ever got a few articles in White Dwarf; The community for the most part appeared to be non-responsive to it, it wasn't particularly popular at the office, so with 6th edition it was gone. The idea however lived on in both the table top and subsequent video game for Gladius, the WH40K 4X game. (can't remember the name of the board game, not sure if it was Gladius as well).
Skaven infestation of Tau Empire based on naivete of the Tau thinking they could assimilate them and Skaven playing along just to backstab would be peak lore.
Plot twist, this is the remnants of the fantasy skaven's first attempt at warpstone travel that were trapped on the planet and over the millenia devolved, but only after building their own spaceship, that subsequently crashed during launch.
yes-yes warp-flamers and warp-lightning rifles, maybe we will get the non-feral-corrupted version of the race. also barely understanding the technology they are using, so just like the Mechanicus, yes-yes.
i know very little about warhammer 40k, found it interesting but never took time to dive into it. Your videos make me want to play Warhammer and understand its lore
This was a really cool story Wes. Thanks for telling us about it, was pretty sad but still really great. Also just wanted to say how great of a story teller you are.
In Xenology, there is a giant snake like thing flying in space. That thing is so fucking big the illustration shows a bloody Battleship, yeah, those 8-15km ships, can easily fit in its mouth. Lovecratian AF
Yeah, there's plenty of other scary, but unique (sadly one off) stuff in the galaxy of Warhammer 40K that has NOTHING to do with any of the regular or common monstrous threats. Not EVERTHING is tyranids or even orcs or even necron related!
Honestly in fantasy the skaven were one of the most iconic of the fantasy factions. One of my original favorites other than chaos and greenskins that I learned about.
I love the idea of Skaven in 40K, I can see them as a Chaos army that has a mix of high tech and mid evil magic technology. They travel not by ships but through the warp in tunnels. I can see them still implementing ideas of the different mayor clans in Skaven
They actually do have an analogue, in terms of gameplay... Genestealer Cults fulfil distinctly similar themes. Just as Tyranids (who are not bugs) fulfil distinctly similar themes to OG lizardmen, and their name is even a nod to "Tyrannosaurus"
@@karamelapple8007 elaborate? What specifically do you think I am wrong about? Both of those statements are true for multiple reasons... for one, the "space lizardmen" thing comes from a white dwarf article (designer interview) during 3rd edition when Tyranids were getting a visual overhaul and common aesthetic, and the Genestealer cult statements should go without saying: uprising from below, hidden threat gnawing at your civilization, striking from the shadows, mutated critters... many of the tropes and themes of skaven are present with the GSC. Mechanically the GSC operate much like the Skaven as well. If you are going to tell someone they are "wrong" then you should back up your claim with a solid argument to add validity to your claim... like I just did by backing up my argument even more. Can you refute these statements?
What if Warhammer Fantasy is in a pocket dimension created by the last living Great Old One in the Warhammer 40K Multiverse. I got this theory from some random poster comment on a Major kill video about if a space marine legion could destroy Age of Sigmar World
Lets just assume that the single ship wasn't carrying literally their entire species. If they breed like rats, they definitely have a homeworld somewhere, which means 40k Skaven can happen whenever GW thinks the time is right to pull the trigger and release them.
Well dwarves are coming (back) So yeah I would imagine space lizardmen and space skaven being possible in the future. At the speed GW moves though probably not a while though.
So the degenerated descendents of the crew of this ship that seem eerily like skaven. Also I'm guessing the biosphere didn't help their minds over the centuries or however long that ships been stuck there.
Hi Wes, I only recently started getting into 40K and your videos have been a great jumping off point for getting into lore. At this point I’d say 90% of my 40k knowledge comes from your essays. I was wondering what novels you would recommend for a beginner like me.
Ciaphas Cain hero of the imperium is a great starting point. Very quintessential 40k and a bit more light hearted which is a rarity in this universe. It stars a commissar that only ever wanted to work a cushy desk job. But due to his tendency to run and hide when things get rough, he keeps ending up as the lone survivor. And every time, a series of convenient coincidences keep making him look like some great hero. so he keeps getting promoted and sent into ever more dangerous situations. He's a great character and I don't think you can go wrong with it as an introduction to the universe.
I think that this kind of video and storytelling is one of the best versions of the channel. Stay true to yourself and take advantage of your strengths. 👏👏👏
It would be interesting to see Skaven come back in a big way. Imagine their tenacity to destroy, plague, populate, and create times however that would look in a galactic setting. They would certainly give the other races a run for their money.
My friend actually tried to make a space Skaven IG army once. He kept asking all our friends who had Space Marines for their beaky heads so he could put them on some Warhammer Fantasy Skaven and he kitbashed a small squad of them.
That's an odd report I hope it expands. Because that doesn't sound very imperium of them. I'm surprised they didn't request for full scale invasion of the planet to recover what ever could be recovered.
I don't separate 40k fantasy from normal 40k. It is very easy to imagine the fantasy world is simply one of the hundreds of thousands of planets founded in the early empire only to he lost for whatever horrible reason and never found. I can totally see member of the various races being trapped on a planet so long they forgot about the space empires and all high tech was lost to time.
By this impression of them before their downfall these rat-like-people seemed to be actually 'good' or atleast no more 'bad' than many other peoples throughout the galaxy. It is sad what happened to them, even if they were (or weren't) actually, orginally evil space pirates or not or whatever, a grim fate to be sure!
I remember a local gaming store had a space hulk group that had rules for running all kinds of different army’s. I remember seeing skaven being used as cult.
I very much adore the idea of a skaven faction in 40k, just that they're treated as a nuisance by everyone else than as a serious threat (unless you're a civilian vessel getting raided)
Not to mention that warpstone can just be reflavored super easily as them knocking a bunch of super-radiated space rocks together to create contraptions, sorta like ork tech more more flashy explosions Plasma cannons, scrapyard mechs, pox-launchers. Hell, even the idea that they use warp-tech to travel planet to planet (with a 23% success rate on teleporting at the right coordinates)
Sounds like easy problem to solve if you ask me.. Just get few servitors with heavy weapons to keep them at bay, constantly retreat in organized manner away from the ship and then open up with capital ship weapons on target area. Then send servitors to deal the rest. Alternatively few floating platforms to keep gunners safe and couple baits to draw Skaven in to killing field. If similar malfunction happens, ou well it was just two servitors, the platforms should be fine. Also how those things keep replenishing their numbers in state like that, or where they find food? There isint that many rogue traders travelling to this world to feed so many Skaven. Littlebit logistical nightmare on its own.
I hope The Great Horned Rat comes from the realms of deep space to stun the galaxy with their evil warp stone technology. Their tech is so grim dark and fitting for the 40K universe.
Congrats on the sub count glad to see you already in the top 10 subs for Warhammer channels in less than a year, it's inspiring to others who don't have channels as well as those that do to learn from you 😀
So, out there, in the unknown, there is a Skaven empire, and these crashlanded fellas were a expedition. If true, that means 40k skaven are out there and their technology is advanced.
I love "indicative of worship" as a conclusion. David Macaulay's Motel of the Mysteries is a humorous jab at the fact that anthropologists' conclusion that anything is of religious significance is basically admitting that they have absolutely no idea what an artifact was for.
But just think of it skaven tech with the 40k treatment. Stormvermin with warp powerglaives,rattling sidecart bikers, cyberslave rats that are basically a horde of servitors...they could be glorious
I sometimes imagine I'm Dr. Manhattan, exploring the 40k Universe, descending to planets to explore or retrieve objects, immune to all harm. Sometimes helping, sometimes destroying. But immune to everything, a god amongst the stars. The only vestige of entertainment that keeps me sane as I work to unlock the last secrets of reality. I bow my head to the Emperor, but even he knows he pales in comparison.
Gods of Chaos may be able to wrestle with Dr. Manhattan. They are after all “universally corruptive”, so their effects are always the same, no matter the power level.
@@MrVlad12340 Yeah, and Dr. Manhattan is still just a human, or was. So he's limited in his knowledge of how the universe works. That gives him a big disadvantage as well.
space skaven had models , they moved around on chunks of warpstone with rockets on them or just floating cities and there are rules but they pulled the plugg on them at the last minute for unknown reasons
Or it's a planet owned by the 40k Skaven equivalent of clan moulder and it's like Hell Pit where slaves and subjects are turned into mindless feral weapons.
Bruhhh I love these Warhammer lore videos. I'm not super well-versed in the universe. When I was but a yung lad I grew up watching older boyscouts play Warhammer 40k on camping trips. I could never afford to play the tabletop game but my love for the universe was always apparent (loved the Tau, never knew much about any faction besides them and the Tyranids - oddly i knew little about Space Marines). I've only ever read one book, and given that there are 600 I REALLY appreciate the work all of the various Warhamner historians do to bring the world to life.
Honestly I would weirdly adore if this species was found out later to turn out to be Skaven in some way. Still crazy and yes-yes…y as before but with a change of tactics. Nuclear power in place of warpstone, weapons that focus more on eroding and melting enemies into goo, teleportation tech that can only be used in complete darkness. The clan mentality changed to that of a very loose government with 13 leaders that all control part of the population
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Am I crazy or is the volume really low on the video? Great video still!
EDIT: Yep, my computers borken lmao, nvm
@@Ryukushin He's talking a species called the Thule. Just saying.🥸
Love your videos, I've been into warhammer both fantasy and 40k for a while now but the way that you describe things and the directions you go and speculations you make always make your videos truly interesting. Keep up the good work!
you said we aren't getting a view for free is that a onlyfans i smell a brewing (joke)
You gotta talk about the west side of the Galaxy **"the Eldritch Border lands"**
Skaven leader: Take me-me closer to the planet!!! So we harvest Warp Stone in the clouds!
Skaven Pilot: Yes-yes!
"Ship gets captured to the planets gravitational pull"
Skaven leader: Oh f**k me-me!
I am 90% convinced that the world of Orn probably has a core made out of accursed warpstone or something else horrible that's responsible for the degradation phenomenon.
*"Remember there's some things even far older than even the Necrons still around, eldritch nightmares that have been slumbering for billions of years..."*
The outer ring of the Milky Way is one of my favourite parts of the 40k universe. Even more eldritch than the chaos gods
You would think the "eldritch" would have dealt with the Tyranids before they had entered the Milky Way space
@@ryanadams0922 these things keep to themselves until disturbed
@@cnut7383 there is also the the golden throne lure theory for the nids. And also maybe the nids where small fish compared to some things out there. The nids know when a fight is not worth it when they are losing more than gaining
@@Hallowoct313 almost there was a beacon the lion was supposed to protect but he decided to something else instead and that is what attracted the 'nids
@@archonfett thanks for the correction. With so much lore it’s hard keeping track of it all
imagine skaven living inside the capital world of humans in secret, just like old days
They replaced the Skaven with Gene Stealers
Rat men under the imperial palace? Nonsense
@Democrats Lie bruh, Terra has genestealer and chaos cults, Skaven wouldn't be too wild
@@mr.nutcracker8957
And they wouldn't be a threat either.
Alert citizens of the imperium: there are no ratmen in the underhive.
The thumbnail reminds of my rogue trader game where the dm put skaven on a space station and the priest invited them on our ship to make them worship the God emperor, but we also had a techpriest on board so he made some of them worship the omnisiah and it started a war in the underdeck of the ship as they infested it. Nothing much come of that war because our ship suffered a catastrophic gellerfield failure.
Skaven the worship the Omnisiah. so clan Skryre
that story setup is so cool :D
rip crew
So in the end warp rats?
It’s funny cause the omniisiah and the god emp emperor is the same person
I love the idea that the Skaven existed in the 40k. That would be just amazing if they are out there building there own empire.
So Space Skaven.
And the Great Horned One being a demonic entity (chaos unaligned) becomes some deranged guiding light to the feral beasts
The Imperium is the 40K Sksven faction. Full on.
@@empryme the Great horned rat is a unaligned minor chaos god, he even has a man-thing follower a bumbling fool that makes great plans that fail then says "no I succeeded, cause my real plan was this minor side objective I somehow accomplished" and on the great horned rat's sacred number (13) of these overambitious plans that misuse his resources he had one of the hard won battle stations break and crash into a planet of man-things and accidently ripped a bigger hole in the warp. I'm sure we all know who I mean.
Skavens vs tyranids..... bring it on
would play the hell out of space skaven
I really love how expansive this universe is, hearing about minor xenos species is hella interesting. Your videos eventually led me into a podcast called Lorehammer, you have been a true gateway to the grimdark future and for that I thank you. I've even started my own library, even though it's just a Core Rulebook and Codex's for both The Thousand Sons and The Death Guard for now!
Adeptus Ridiculous is another good but less serious podcast. Very funny dudes to listen to, and their editor is hilarious too.
@@hernehaugen6878 agreed. I listen to them as I drive to work and back
@@hernehaugen6878
I'll give it a listen, I'd love to hear this guy have his own Podcast
I love the Death Guard I don’t want them to win but I stay true to the emperor but some people TRULY hate all of chaos but I mean come on the death guard are cool. Except for maaaaybe cry baby Morty when he met the emporia and let pride kill his men. All about Typhus I hope he fully takes over and maybe Morty can get another lone story with a few loyal death guard members.
Hey Wes I just wanted to say thank you for bringing me into the Warhammer 40k universe. Your amazing story telling especially in the shorts have inspired me to write a Warhammer 40k fanfiction and it got enough of a following and people commissioning more content that I was able to pay for my rent this month!
In any case thank you for bringing me into this glorious universe.
Sweet. Can I read it too?
@@Atokukau Go ahead its called A light in the Darkness
God I want skaven to be in 40k. Imagine the living saints throwing hands with Verminlords, would be cool as fuck.
Or quick headtaker facing a temple assassin
@@jamesfreeman3617 man I'd love to see what the horned rat and big E think of each other since both act as the one true God of both species while ruling massive empires and having their own personal daemon princes with fancy names.
you ever see a kreiger without their gas mask? and they sure love digging? hmmm just squeak-sayin'
@@ConceptsCool4993 Imps are Skaven.
@@cegesh1459 but are they skaven skaven? Me think not-not man thing!
Skaven are easily my favourite Warhammer race so I'd be delighted if we found out more about this race or if GW developed them further into fully transforming into something we could recognise as skaven.
Skaven in 40K would be a massive hit both for the fanbase as well as for GW's pockets. I would pay for a Skaven Codex and buy the miniatures.
Tyranids are to Lizardmen as Genestealer Cults are to Skaven in 40k. Introducing Skaven-style space rats would be stepping on the toes of GSC... if anything they may develop the Hrud, who were originally depicted like rats, but do a lot of warp-teleporting shenanigans and use irradiated, warp-tainted weapons... these would be different enough in game terms to the way GSC play. The full redesign of Squats to be much _less_ "space-dwarves" leads me to believe they will *never* do a direct port of Skaven, *ever.*
Yeah, comical relief of orks, really require similarly comedic relief but with horrid outset of Skaven bullshit along with it. Just think Nids VS Skaven... and nids get sick, keeling over from eating filthy Skaven, adapt but now Skaven has warp stone weapons.
@@lazerhosen
I mean the skaven in fantasy were already stepping on the toes of Chaos, especially with Nurgle's disease and rot schtick, especially with clan pestlins. (real "subtle" naming right?) And even on the toes with Tzeentch, what with all the scheming and backstabbing going on to the point that you'd think the blue squid nerd would be infinitely fascinated with the rat men.
@@navilluscire2567 I don't know how familiar you are with Warhammer's Old-World lore, but I know it better than I know AoS... and the Skaven pantheon has always been a "rat-ification" of the Chaos pantheon.
It was never subtle to the point that GW meant for it to be that way; like... they're into warpstone, which is less uranium, more chaos-magic infused meteorite fragments, so it has a corrupting/mutagenic influence on their minds and bodies.
Skaven being aligned with Chaos is nothing new, it just came to the forefront during the "End Times" (hence both Skaven and Chaos being the enemies you fight in Vermintide).
@@lazerhosen
Right, but how does that subtract from my point about how stepping on each other's thematic and aesthetic toes is nothing new to Warhammer in any of its settings? There has always been overlap with ideas and concepts because believe it or not things are rarely if every so clear cut, some people just try to put groups into little boxes unto themselves as if they existed in a creative vacuum and then tactfully ignore the overlaps between factions hoping others won't notice. But to be honest I don't see the problem with this, if anything that makes any of the settings feel more believable, that these themes, concepts, and aesthetics didn't come about from the aether, no there's webs of relationships and influences between all the different cultures and religions and beliefs various individuals or groups subscribe to. (and often take stuff from multiple sources and mix and meld them together)
Me saying that the skaven are very similar in themes or aesthetics to Chaos and particularly with Nurgle (atleast with clan pestlins) isn't a point against them. If anything it's impressive that the rat men despite sharing conceptual heritage with the Ruinous Powers still managed to claw out their own unique spins (atleast in the sense of different means, similar results) on similar concepts is commendable. *It shows that a concept or theme or aesthetic inspirations aren't redundant just from repeated use so long as you use such things in different, interesting ways* and there's alot to be done to help make things seem new and fresh when you view them from different angles. (a crazed, warpstone snuffing man-rat's perspective vs a "neverborn" anthromophised amalgamation of concepts i.e. a god of Chaos' view)
Like take all the factions from every Warhammer faction from every setting. Pretty much ALL of them are hierarchies of some form, they ALL have ridiculously overpowered characters, do they all feel redundant? No, because while they are ALL hierarchical, the difference is who gets to be at the top of these power structures, most ruthless, the strongest fighters, nepotism, whomever can blow up the most stuff with their minds, and pretty much everything in between.
So a Skaven warp gate sent some into space, they learned to fly around in space, then landed on a planet with a warp stone core that reverted them back to their original states.
What's so interesting about 40k and SCP is the use of "real world unexplained ultimate horror" nothing in mass media entertainment could be so dark and hopeless. The idea of the last ship of an entire civilization filled with people frantically smashing buttons they don't understand to escape the planet even though it's too late, and then they slide into centuries of mindless mimicry is WAY too dark for the wider public....
The SCP universe used to be cooler. It feels like high fantasy to me anymore. I want my scientists clinical an calculated not silly an whimsical
the scp community has a thing with shutting down scp youtubers though
I’ve always wished that GW would go into more depth with these obscure xenos species. They don’t have to turn them into playable factions or anything, but give us a book about the Barghesi, or the slaugth. Or even some new completely alien monstrosity that shows us why the Imperium’s Xenophobia is so strong
That and several species that shows how irrational *universal* xenophobia is too.
@@navilluscire2567 the Empire allows for xeno flora and fauna, doesn't it?
@@inthefade
They also tolerate at least two alien species.
@@inthefade They had beastmen auxiliaries and cat people but they dont let other species, very wonky on what they like and don't
I think those are abhuman, as in human mutants. This makes them distrusted and often purged. But sometimes they are sanctioned.
Skaven did actually exist in 40k in the early editions, infesting the sewers beneath many Imperial hive cities.
The issue was that the Imperium had scanners powerful enough to easily detect their colonies, and toxins specially engineered to wipe the Skaven out wholesale.
GW then decided to move away from the 'Warhammer Fantasy in space' trope that early 40k demonstrated, getting rid of the Squats, the Skaven, Zoats, etc.; reducing the roles of Ratlings, and making the Orks and Eldar more unique compared to the Orcs and Elves. In 3rd edition, there was a piece of artwork in the core rulebook of a creature that looked almost identical to a Skaven. They named it a Hrud, though as time has gone on, the Hrud have developed into their own unique species as well (a picture of one came up in this video).
My head cannon is that the orn species are Warhammer Fantasy Skaven that made their way to 40k through some magic fuckery. It didn't go well.
Your head can fire projectiles? (It's *Canon* with one N, as in "canonical," a word used a lot by the Catholic Church)
@@lazerhosen with enough warpstone everything is possible.
@@Milenos Yeah, I hear if you snort warpstone, the snot rocket you fire afterwards is actually incendiary.
I mean didn’t one of the skaven farsqueekers contact the 40k Eldar?
I'm actually making my chaos space marines worshippers of the great horned rat and I'm using plague monks as my chaos cultist :> 40k skavens needs to be a thing
1 deer, many deer. 1 Skaven, many Skaven. Skaven is the plural of Skaven.
wow this is one of the most interesting 40k things i heard in a while, keep up the good work!
It really make me wish GW would develop more the lesser known Xenos Races!!
More stuff like that would help make 40k more than just « Warhammer Fantasy but in Space «
yes-yes like the squats there is nothing...what? the dwarf-things got new stuff now.....grumbles (/s)
Don't get me wrong I absolutely LOVE the concept of taking usally terrestrial bound fantasy races and well...letting them be SPACEfaring explorers and pirates, that's always going to be awesome in my book. But yeah I agree, more orginal or atleast less Tolkien-esque/any derivative fantasy every inspired races or civilizations would be great! Though I do hope they'd keep adding and expanding more traditional fantasy races but in SPACE, bringing more abhumans back into relevancy would be a great way to 'justify' this! (as if you'd even need any other reason besides, because cool as hell!)
@@navilluscire2567 the skaven are their most unique fantasy race. Squats - space dwarf. Eldar - space elf, dark eldar - space dark elf, Ork - space orc, Rattling - space Hobbit
@@archonfett
Yes, so why would putting them in SPACE make them any more unique? They would basically be copying their own stuff. That is why context matters, just placing a race from one setting into another isn't usally enough, you most contextualize these creatures. Why are they here? Where do they come from? Why should we care besides the novelty of it? (and besides the coolness factor?)
@@navilluscire2567 hence why one of my favorite science fantasy settings is Starfinder.
Why are there so many normal fantasy races in this science fiction setting? Because it's literally the far future of an existing fantasy setting! Elves, Dwarves, Orcs, Dragons, (space) Goblins, Kobolds, Angels, Demons, Elementals, Genies, Gods, it's all here!
Bonus points, in the fantasy setting Pathfinder, Elves were from another planet, and just before the planet Pathfinder took place on mysteriously disappeared, the Elves just fucked off back to their homeworld.
People will say that Warhammer 40K is just Warhammer fantasy in space, but Starfinder is literally just the far future of Pathfinder. Starfinder doesn't beat around the bush about this shit.
taking the idea of lore exploration to a whole new level. this story seems insignificant compared to what is happening to the entire W40K universe but still it impacts the readers. I hope more vids like this in the future wes. Great work as always!
*"It doesn't have to be galaxy shaking in order to be personally shaking, riveting tales come at all scales".*
I had a chat about this with GW designers way back in 2012, they said that a lot of stuff from Fantasy used to be in WH40K in the early days - on paper, but never actually made it into the actual table top game itself (they didn't get models). The idea was played around with in Inquisitor I was told, so around 2003, but since the game wasn't very popular, the production of it ceased before they could bring out more models, "space skaven" was on the table too back then (simply because corporate pushed it I was told, they knew Skaven was one of the best sellers for fantasy, so they pushed the idea of having them as a WH40K faction to replace the unusable at the time Squats (which btw GW couldn't use because of a copyright dispute, one of which has since 2012 been resolved, which is why they are back)). This was also around the time the creators were exploring into more types of Xenos races which were not big players contesting the galaxy and had full armies, but instead were just entities which existed within the galaxy which were random threats, so neutral enemies which would add colour to table top games. What ended up happening was instead of getting Space Skaven they decided to do a major update to Necrons instead at the time, which released around 2009 and represents the modern Necrons we now have.
Most of these ideas were like I said, tabled. Because the whole concept of neutral xenos being a wild card in table top games was thrown out after the end of 5th edition, it never saw much interest from players as it only ever got a few articles in White Dwarf; The community for the most part appeared to be non-responsive to it, it wasn't particularly popular at the office, so with 6th edition it was gone.
The idea however lived on in both the table top and subsequent video game for Gladius, the WH40K 4X game. (can't remember the name of the board game, not sure if it was Gladius as well).
Skaven infestation of Tau Empire based on naivete of the Tau thinking they could assimilate them and Skaven playing along just to backstab would be peak lore.
Plot twist, this is the remnants of the fantasy skaven's first attempt at warpstone travel that were trapped on the planet and over the millenia devolved, but only after building their own spaceship, that subsequently crashed during launch.
All I want is for the Rangdan Xenocide to be explained and some of the nastier xenos from the Halo Stars to be fleshed out.
My man I’m really glad this channels doing well, keep it up
yes-yes warp-flamers and warp-lightning rifles, maybe we will get the non-feral-corrupted version of the race. also barely understanding the technology they are using, so just like the Mechanicus, yes-yes.
Shhh brother Fett. You must not give them ideas. The Mechanicus is totally fine yes-yes.
I would LOVE to see my Skaven boys in 40k. All hail the Great Horned Rat.
The horned rat has joined the pantheon of official chaos gods. Theres 0 reason why skaven can't/shouldn't appear soon in 40k.
If they managed to get out we could get 40k skaven and I want it sooooooo bad
This video is awesome!! That poor crew... a truly horrifying story. I hope we get some expanded lore on them some decade!
This makes my Tau fan senses go off like Spider Mans Spidey sense
The Koronus expanse is where the upcoming Rogue Trader cRPG by OwlCat Games is set to take place. I'm hoping these guys show up at some point.
i know very little about warhammer 40k, found it interesting but never took time to dive into it. Your videos make me want to play Warhammer and understand its lore
This was a really cool story Wes. Thanks for telling us about it, was pretty sad but still really great.
Also just wanted to say how great of a story teller you are.
"Moons haunted" "excuse me?" Loads bolter "moons haunted"
Best video on your channel so far! You're going to get a bunch of subscribers trust!! Such a good video!
I'm new to Warhammer... But I'm learning that dinner and the grim dark don't mix
You're a huge inspiration I love to see how fast you grew and how much it helps.
In Xenology, there is a giant snake like thing flying in space.
That thing is so fucking big the illustration shows a bloody Battleship, yeah, those 8-15km ships, can easily fit in its mouth.
Lovecratian AF
Yeah, there's plenty of other scary, but unique (sadly one off) stuff in the galaxy of Warhammer 40K that has NOTHING to do with any of the regular or common monstrous threats. Not EVERTHING is tyranids or even orcs or even necron related!
Honestly in fantasy the skaven were one of the most iconic of the fantasy factions. One of my original favorites other than chaos and greenskins that I learned about.
Honestly love your content.
Makes me so happy seeing new uploads. Even more so with the long deep dive videos. 💖
I love the idea of Skaven in 40K, I can see them as a Chaos army that has a mix of high tech and mid evil magic technology. They travel not by ships but through the warp in tunnels. I can see them still implementing ideas of the different mayor clans in Skaven
Totally, I could also imagine the Space Skaven getting along with Dark Eldar also since Skaven do like to experiment :P
@@mr.mammuthusafricanavus8299 I can see them experimenting on each other lol
Yes, plus both secretly kidnapping and experimenting on each other and they are all scheming against each other
This is way cool. Had no idea the Skaven might have had an analog in 40k.
They actually do have an analogue, in terms of gameplay... Genestealer Cults fulfil distinctly similar themes. Just as Tyranids (who are not bugs) fulfil distinctly similar themes to OG lizardmen, and their name is even a nod to "Tyrannosaurus"
@@lazerhosennope. Wrong
@@karamelapple8007 elaborate? What specifically do you think I am wrong about? Both of those statements are true for multiple reasons... for one, the "space lizardmen" thing comes from a white dwarf article (designer interview) during 3rd edition when Tyranids were getting a visual overhaul and common aesthetic, and the Genestealer cult statements should go without saying: uprising from below, hidden threat gnawing at your civilization, striking from the shadows, mutated critters... many of the tropes and themes of skaven are present with the GSC. Mechanically the GSC operate much like the Skaven as well.
If you are going to tell someone they are "wrong" then you should back up your claim with a solid argument to add validity to your claim... like I just did by backing up my argument even more.
Can you refute these statements?
if this world is a warhammer fantasy setting, then that explains the skaven and their idea of getting off the planet
What if Warhammer Fantasy is in a pocket dimension created by the last living Great Old One in the Warhammer 40K Multiverse.
I got this theory from some random poster comment on a Major kill video about if a space marine legion could destroy Age of Sigmar World
Lets just assume that the single ship wasn't carrying literally their entire species. If they breed like rats, they definitely have a homeworld somewhere, which means 40k Skaven can happen whenever GW thinks the time is right to pull the trigger and release them.
Well dwarves are coming (back)
So yeah I would imagine space lizardmen and space skaven being possible in the future.
At the speed GW moves though probably not a while though.
@kingofsauce1319 maybe they will make the skaven the opposite of their fantasy counterparts being closer to real rats.
Now, would they play as Orks, or would they play as a chaos faction?
So the degenerated descendents of the crew of this ship that seem eerily like skaven. Also I'm guessing the biosphere didn't help their minds over the centuries or however long that ships been stuck there.
Hi Wes, I only recently started getting into 40K and your videos have been a great jumping off point for getting into lore. At this point I’d say 90% of my 40k knowledge comes from your essays. I was wondering what novels you would recommend for a beginner like me.
Ciaphas Cain hero of the imperium is a great starting point. Very quintessential 40k and a bit more light hearted which is a rarity in this universe. It stars a commissar that only ever wanted to work a cushy desk job. But due to his tendency to run and hide when things get rough, he keeps ending up as the lone survivor. And every time, a series of convenient coincidences keep making him look like some great hero. so he keeps getting promoted and sent into ever more dangerous situations. He's a great character and I don't think you can go wrong with it as an introduction to the universe.
Great video as always, I really like the structure of your story telling, I hope you keep doing this as long as it gives you joy :)
The last of the Skaven, escaped their world gone, now trapped here forever. Poor Skaven :(
I'm really enjoying these longer videos! new to the hobby, and you get me so pumped haha
If Skaven (or Vyr-Men, as I like to call them) we’re in the tabletop, I’d think they would be the Imperial Shadow, so to speak. Or, Chaos Imperium.
we need space Skaven! make-make games workshop plenty warp tokens and ratty adventures in space! yes-yes?
Since they added the space marine dwarves, let’s keep hope alive
You made me love 40k and i dont even play or own any....but the lore is SOOOOOO good!!!!!
you don't own any...the money you must save...plastic-crack is more addictive than warp-stone
@@archonfett lolol love that name plastic crack
Yes! Finally! We need more info on less known Alien Species!
I really like this; it would be killer if you could do some more weird filthy Xeno stories like this. I love finding out new species and info in 40k
So glad you came over to YT. Keep up the good work.
I think that this kind of video and storytelling is one of the best versions of the channel. Stay true to yourself and take advantage of your strengths. 👏👏👏
Personal head canon: In the galactic turmoil created by the Men of Stone, the stone men calculated they had to exterminate the space skaven first?
You call skaven beast-thing! You die-DIE!
It would be interesting to see Skaven come back in a big way. Imagine their tenacity to destroy, plague, populate, and create times however that would look in a galactic setting. They would certainly give the other races a run for their money.
My friend actually tried to make a space Skaven IG army once. He kept asking all our friends who had Space Marines for their beaky heads so he could put them on some Warhammer Fantasy Skaven and he kitbashed a small squad of them.
well, this could be an opening to have the Skaven race be in 40k.
yes-yes radioactive green rocks powering ship-warren
Yaasss
Man sized Rats? Impossible!
If this is the warp doing this, I wonder if a blank would be immune to the planets effect
Any one else see the rat in the nebula at 9:15?
That's an odd report I hope it expands. Because that doesn't sound very imperium of them. I'm surprised they didn't request for full scale invasion of the planet to recover what ever could be recovered.
Came for the 40k Space Skaven lore, left with super useful beard shaving advice.
Wow that manscape commercial was so wholesome! Wes is awesome!
I don't separate 40k fantasy from normal 40k. It is very easy to imagine the fantasy world is simply one of the hundreds of thousands of planets founded in the early empire only to he lost for whatever horrible reason and never found. I can totally see member of the various races being trapped on a planet so long they forgot about the space empires and all high tech was lost to time.
I wouldn't be surprised if the Orn world was tainted with Warp Stones. It would account for the devolution of the species at such an accelerated pace.
Please do more on obscure races and incidents like this.
By this impression of them before their downfall these rat-like-people seemed to be actually 'good' or atleast no more 'bad' than many other peoples throughout the galaxy. It is sad what happened to them, even if they were (or weren't) actually, orginally evil space pirates or not or whatever, a grim fate to be sure!
Great stuff as always! You should do a video on the Saruthi from the Eisenhorn series. Keep up the good work buddy
I remember a local gaming store had a space hulk group that had rules for running all kinds of different army’s. I remember seeing skaven being used as cult.
Poor rat people :(
I very much adore the idea of a skaven faction in 40k, just that they're treated as a nuisance by everyone else than as a serious threat (unless you're a civilian vessel getting raided)
Not to mention that warpstone can just be reflavored super easily as them knocking a bunch of super-radiated space rocks together to create contraptions, sorta like ork tech more more flashy explosions
Plasma cannons, scrapyard mechs, pox-launchers. Hell, even the idea that they use warp-tech to travel planet to planet (with a 23% success rate on teleporting at the right coordinates)
Sounds like easy problem to solve if you ask me.. Just get few servitors with heavy weapons to keep them at bay, constantly retreat in organized manner away from the ship and then open up with capital ship weapons on target area. Then send servitors to deal the rest. Alternatively few floating platforms to keep gunners safe and couple baits to draw Skaven in to killing field. If similar malfunction happens, ou well it was just two servitors, the platforms should be fine. Also how those things keep replenishing their numbers in state like that, or where they find food? There isint that many rogue traders travelling to this world to feed so many Skaven. Littlebit logistical nightmare on its own.
This'll definitely play a part in the 40k ttrpg campaign that I want to make/play.
I hope The Great Horned Rat comes from the realms of deep space to stun the galaxy with their evil warp stone technology. Their tech is so grim dark and fitting for the 40K universe.
So..Kreig are unaffected by Orn's atmosphere?
Congrats on the sub count glad to see you already in the top 10 subs for Warhammer channels in less than a year, it's inspiring to others who don't have channels as well as those that do to learn from you 😀
this might have already been said but love your vids man. any thoughts on putting the audio in podcast form?
I want to see Space Skaven now
So, out there, in the unknown, there is a Skaven empire, and these crashlanded fellas were a expedition. If true, that means 40k skaven are out there and their technology is advanced.
I love "indicative of worship" as a conclusion. David Macaulay's Motel of the Mysteries is a humorous jab at the fact that anthropologists' conclusion that anything is of religious significance is basically admitting that they have absolutely no idea what an artifact was for.
But just think of it skaven tech with the 40k treatment. Stormvermin with warp powerglaives,rattling sidecart bikers, cyberslave rats that are basically a horde of servitors...they could be glorious
Scaven in space, space scaven! Glorious! Yes-yes
The skaven would be bandit-mercs having fun with the grim-dark's drug-drugs. Being with them would be a nonstop party!
I sometimes imagine I'm Dr. Manhattan, exploring the 40k Universe, descending to planets to explore or retrieve objects, immune to all harm. Sometimes helping, sometimes destroying. But immune to everything, a god amongst the stars. The only vestige of entertainment that keeps me sane as I work to unlock the last secrets of reality. I bow my head to the Emperor, but even he knows he pales in comparison.
Gods of Chaos may be able to wrestle with Dr. Manhattan. They are after all “universally corruptive”, so their effects are always the same, no matter the power level.
@@MrVlad12340 Yeah, and Dr. Manhattan is still just a human, or was. So he's limited in his knowledge of how the universe works. That gives him a big disadvantage as well.
space skaven had models , they moved around on chunks of warpstone with rockets on them or just floating cities and there are rules but they pulled the plugg on them at the last minute for unknown reasons
*muffled voice in wall* “I’m not not here-real… Ignore me me!”
-The not-Great-Horned-Rat, probably.
Once again you have entertained me! You're my fav channel for 40k content
You know a place is terrifying when a section of the mechanicus devoted to exploring visits it once and is like "Hmm yea nope fuck that we out."
I thought the Nocturnal Warrior of Hrud were space Skaven. I think that image was in the 3rd edition rule book.
Yeah along with the necrons
Weshammer : "i ain't doing that for free"
Majorkill : *start undressing
Baldemort : ??
So they are reverse Skeven in fantasy they are the most technological race but also cowards, here they lost the technology but are somewhat brave?
Or it's a planet owned by the 40k Skaven equivalent of clan moulder and it's like Hell Pit where slaves and subjects are turned into mindless feral weapons.
Bruhhh I love these Warhammer lore videos. I'm not super well-versed in the universe. When I was but a yung lad I grew up watching older boyscouts play Warhammer 40k on camping trips. I could never afford to play the tabletop game but my love for the universe was always apparent (loved the Tau, never knew much about any faction besides them and the Tyranids - oddly i knew little about Space Marines). I've only ever read one book, and given that there are 600 I REALLY appreciate the work all of the various Warhamner historians do to bring the world to life.
Honestly I would weirdly adore if this species was found out later to turn out to be Skaven in some way. Still crazy and yes-yes…y as before but with a change of tactics.
Nuclear power in place of warpstone, weapons that focus more on eroding and melting enemies into goo, teleportation tech that can only be used in complete darkness.
The clan mentality changed to that of a very loose government with 13 leaders that all control part of the population
I have a question
Is there a limit to this mind corruption thing
Like I’d there a point were your just a chaos spawn