Warhammer 40K’s new Arks of Omen lore, explained

Warhammer 40,000 The launch of a tabletop gaming type centered around board parties, Citadel miniatures and other game types, has been announced in January. Boarding actions is a game mode that awards 500 points. It comes with a book filled with legends explaining why the miniatures are fighting. Arks Of Omen is a new and compact method to have your miniatures fight. However, Arks has four additional books. Only one book was released. This is the first book. Abaddon: Arks of OmenIt looks as though the 40K Universe is getting even more spicier.

Boarding Actions takes place in smaller groups of boarding party members who fight through hostile environments like those of the Balefleet, instead of fighting on large scale battlefields. Boarding Actions are explained in the Arks of Omen plot and there is tons of legend surrounding this mode. This new storm of enemy ships is due to an unlikely buddy-cop-style team-up between two of the setting’s baddies. The one is a veteran and terrifying Chaos Space Marine. The other is an interesting new Daemon Demigod.

Abaddon the Despoiler, the Warmaster of every corrupted and disloyal Space Marine, wants to take down the Imperium of Man and become a new, better Emperor — with anarchism and feats of strength! To do this, Abaddon the Despoiler competes for favor with all four Chaos Gods and never pledges himself to any of them. In Warhammer 40K, the Chaos Gods all play the Great Game of vying for constant dominance, and they’re as likely to betray each other as fight an enemy together. It’s like the world’s worst Thanksgiving dinner.

Games Workshop

Vashtorr is the Arkifane. If you’ve ever played DoomYou might be wondering: How come all these skeletons are able to get guns and jetpacks? In 40K, that’s Vashtorr’s job — he’s the demonic arms dealer who peddles to the big four Gods, and he wants a seat at the table for himself. Each Chaos God is fueled by extreme emotions. Khorne is about blood and skulls. Slaanesh loves excesses and the pursuit to perfection. Nurgle prefers disease and decay. Tzeentch enjoys nothing more than 5D Chess. Vashtorr is all about obsession, creation and invention.

Warhammer 40K boasts a rich history that spans video games, sourcebooks and tabletop gaming, as well novels, animations, short stories, and more. Even though the big picture lore has been largely stagnant, it paints a picture of an ever-changing galaxy. It is under the immensely corrupted, and now decayed Imperium of Man that rules over the stars. The Imperium WillFailure can be caused by civil war, or from one of many hungry alien threats that wait at your door.

It’s intriguing to see Games Workshop move the setting forward in recent years, first with the Dark Imperium plot — which saw the Imperium split in two between a massive rift in reality — and now the Arks of Omen. Things certainly seem as grim and dark as ever, but new characters like Vashtorr show that despite the massive setting, there’s always room for a surprise reveal or mysterious plot twist.