I'm not really into 40k, but my group to played the Dark Heresy ttrpg for a bit and I could never figure out how this kind of satire supposed to work. Like the book took pains to make Inquisition or Space Marines or whatever seem as cool as possible, not ridicule them. Novels and faction (?) books might be different, I dunno.
People on twitter are angry and calling GWS a "nazi bar". Then again I know leftists who swear by the setting...
I think the problem is that little kids who played warhammer grew up to be writers who write warhammer and they've forgotten that the nazi genocidal space empire is supposed to be tongue in cheek.
Yeah they have a real problem with the space marine fan boys, every fascist I've ever encountered who was into 40K played space marines because they obviously salivate over being "inherently superior" to the masses.
Playing Guard against them is very fun because exploding from a mortar round fired by some acne scarred teenage conscript is just about the funniest and least dignified end possible for their beloved immortal uber-soldiers.
Mfs out here playing Buzz Lightyear while I'm playing Stalingrad.
guard is great you get to be like those historically incorrect descriptions of the Soviet Union, sending unarmed masses to soak up the bullets with their cheap bodies while your commissars shoot everyone who even thinks of running away. Great fun.
I love that the Catachan have an officer fragging mechanic
For non 40K-Knowers, the Catachan are a Guard subfaction very obviously styled after US troops in Vietnam. If your army includes any commissars, you have to roll a die during deployment to see if they even make it to the battlefield. The rule is called Oops, sorry sir!
Your Commisars can execute their own troops for in game bonuses. They have awesome tanks. There are penal battalions. It's like if Enemy at the Gates wasn't just American propaganda.
I could never figure out how this kind of satire supposed to work.
Judging by the letter, it doesn't. But then people think I'm ridiculous for suggesting that maybe dressing up kids as storm troopers or Darth Vader isn't the greatest idea. So what do I know?
Yeah it's like read the fucking subtext, guys. I get that it's fiction but you're dressing up as very literal space Nazis. What kind of person would want to dress up as a stormtrooper when you could be a Jedi, or even a Clone Trooper?