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During my downtime at work, someones I'll check out my picassa to survey recent work I've done on my miniatures, or I might be reading a pdf I've created of a codex. And occassionally one of my co-workers, or perhaps a friend on facebook who see's a 40k status may ask the inevitable!

What is Warhammer 40,000? or What is that?

How do you accurately summarize in a few sentences or less what warhammer 40k is to your friends/family/ and or co-workers so that you don't come off as a HUGE nerd?

(I place myself in the huge nerd category, I don't know how many of you are in denial)

I usually just say "Its a war game, It is about two forces fighting a battle" and leave it at that

I typically say that it's about 40,000 Warhammers that fight eachother

I worked at a very very pro relegion place (had to pray before meetings, and they wanted everyone to go to some sort of church once a year) and when they see the evil deamons on the books, I just tell them I like to model and paint, it helps bring me peace, and it's a war sim game on a table top, like the WWII games, but you fight and kill evil deamons...they then look at the minis and the pictures of the paint job and call it art.

Vladsimpaler wrote:I typically say that it's about 40,000 Warhammers that fight eachother

lol...

It's funny... right after I posted this my co-worker came up to me and said "what were you painting" (referring to a facebook status).

I tell them it's a wargame, like Risk but with a lot more complicatd. The setting is too large and complex for me to feel like I can encapsulate it accurately in a single one sentence answer.

Show them this video




or this one which has more grimdark pictures

Those are fantastic! haha

It depends on my audience...

If it's people who don't game I usually liken it to Chess - "It's like chess only you get to choose which pieces you use and the board is much larger." Depending on how they receive that, I go into more depth.

If it's someone who games then I liken it to playing army men with rules or, as was mentioned earlier, Risk. That's usually enough to get them thinking on the 40k level.

Me: "It's like chess."
Them: "OH! I know chess."
Me: "But with demons."
Them: "Uh...What?"
Me: "And a galaxy spanning religion who's center of worship is an corpse."
Them: "..."
Me: "Did I mention that there are Elves and Orks and...Hey, where are you going?"

"Hey, Felsi, what's that?"

"It's my hobby."

Personally I keep 40k and other table top games away from my social/work/school life. College aged girls, roomates/friends, and even a lot of the adults I know can be overly judgemental with this kind of stuff. So they just see me as a well-read soccer playing english major and know nothing about my vast Tau army and budding obsession with warmachine.

It does give the hobby a guilty pleasure feel though, which is kind of nice. My FLGS feels kind of like a neverland or alternate reality- thankfully it's far off campus so I never have to worry about being spotted.

@Frankenberry - LOL! I usually leave the lore out of it until the time is right.

Here's a short of how I introduced my current GF of 5ish years to the hobby...

Cutie at Work: "Hi there, dashingly handsome man of a man, whatcha looking at?"
Me: "Warhammer!"
C@W: "What's that?"
Me: "It's like chess only blah blah..." [her eyes start to glaze] "You play chess?"
C@W: "Oooh, I like chess, lets play sometime?"
Me: "Sure, but we should have dinner and drinks first."
C@W: "Sounds good!"

6 Months Later, after we're living together:
Me: "Check out my minis I just unpacked! These are space skeletons who fight space elves!"
C@W: "Was that the chess game? They look neat!"
Me: "Yeah, take a look at my OSL and wet blending techniques! This guy is..." [her eyes start to glaze] "I'm getting kinda hungry, how about you?"
C@W: "I could eat, sushi sounds good, can you clean that gak up and so we can go to dinner?"
Me: "Yup, you're buying!"

Ok so that last part about her buying dinner is a bit of a stretch but, you see... Timing is everything. I generally let other people talk more, only giving up enough to keep the conversation going. If you see their eyes glazing over, you've probably said too much!

Warhammer 40,000, what's that?

Its a sci-fi miniature wargame where you collect, assemble, and paint the game pieces yourself as a hobby.

Its about guys amed with lazors who figths walking mushrooms and S&M Elfs

Jimsolo wrote:I tell them it's a wargame, like Risk but with a lot more complicatd. The setting is too large and complex for me to feel like I can encapsulate it accurately in a single one sentence answer.

I say the exact same thing.

"Hey, isn't that a video game?"
"No, it's toy soldiers."
"What?"
"TOY. SOLDIERS."

Shut up and keep playing!

"It's like chess on steroids, with tanks and aliens and stuff.' is usually my first attempt at explanation. If that doesn't work, I tend to give up.

@OP: I'd like to know their reactions when you tell them.

"What is Warhammer?"
"Like chess, but 1000x nerdier."
"...What, nerdier than chess?"

Is usually how the conversation goes.

Nowoo wrote:@Frankenberry - LOL! I usually leave the lore out of it until the time is right.

Here's a short of how I introduced my current GF of 5ish years to the hobby...

Cutie at Work: "Hi there, dashingly handsome man of a man, whatcha looking at?"
Me: "Warhammer!"
C@W: "What's that?"
Me: "It's like chess only blah blah..." [her eyes start to glaze] "You play chess?"
C@W: "Oooh, I like chess, lets play sometime?"
Me: "Sure, but we should have dinner and drinks first."
C@W: "Sounds good!"

6 Months Later, after we're living together:
Me: "Check out my minis I just unpacked! These are space skeletons who fight space elves!"
C@W: "Was that the chess game? They look neat!"
Me: "Yeah, take a look at my OSL and wet blending techniques! This guy is..." [her eyes start to glaze] "I'm getting kinda hungry, how about you?"
C@W: "I could eat, sushi sounds good, can you clean that gak up and so we can go to dinner?"
Me: "Yup, you're buying!"

Ok so that last part about her buying dinner is a bit of a stretch but, you see... Timing is everything. I generally let other people talk more, only giving up enough to keep the conversation going. If you see their eyes glazing over, you've probably said too much!

Am I the only one that thought he started calling his girlfriend a COW five lines in?

I think chess is a more similar game than Risk. I'll usually just tell people that it's a hobby similar to chess but on a massive board where two players with custom, unique armies play against each other. I try to avoid certain more violent terms and grimdarkness, lest I'd be labeled a outcast.... LOL

I like the version that goes "It's like chess, with a BIG rulebook." Brevity is wit !
You may mention science-fiction depending on the tolerance to nerdiness of the other party.

Oppressor wrote:Am I the only one that thought he started calling his girlfriend a COW five lines in?

Nope !
Nice story at that. I'm picturing a servo-skull Cupid hovering above the scene

It's like a boardgame, but cooler.

Warhammer 40,000, what's that?

Depends on the person.
Most people: It's just a hobby I have, like chess but you paint your own figures.
Fair Maiden/Damsel in Distress/Cute Girl: It's my brother's stuff.

I actually showed a cute girl the 40k lore in about a minute video, because she seemed interested enough (so I let the internet handle it) She actually seemed to enjoy the video (or was taking pity on my own nerdilyness.)

I always go with "Risk for big kids"

I once described it as "model trains with attitude" to my professor.

Just think of it as Halo the board game.