The Imperium is an entity of unimaginable size, a mass of humanity living on innumerable worlds scattered throughout the stars. To keep its vast machinery moving, a monstrous bureaucracy demands offerings from all its constituent worlds, citizens and soldiers of all levels working tirelessly to keep vital resources flowing between planets.
The Tithes is a three-part Warhammer animation anthology, in the same style and fidelity as Pariah Nexus. It’s composed of three self-contained stories that each shine a different light on an interesting and little-explored slice of this vast, dystopian setting.
Planetary tithes are a fact of life in the Imperium. They are the price that each world must pay to keep the Imperial war machine churning, and the gaze of punitive fleets kept far from their orbit. Every planet's tithe is different, based (in theory) on their own particular output and capabilities, as defined by the vast and uncaring logistical bureaucracy of the Administratum. Ore, ammunition, weapons, vehicles, food, manpower – all (and more) are demanded and fed into the unending meatgrinder of humanity’s innumerable wars. Woe betide any world that fails to deliver its tithe, for whatever the reason – planetary governors know well that their life depends on their continued payment, and whole worlds have burned for the crime of a missed delivery.
The tithe is a unique part of the setting which we seldom get to see directly. After all, the nature of tax systems, no matter how tyrannical, don’t come up very often in the midst of battle, and so don’t appear in games of Warhammer 40,000 or on the miniatures themselves. The uncaring pressures they create for the overstretched servants of the Imperium, however, are ripe fodder for some great stories.
It is these stories that The Tithes anthology explores across its three episodes: Sacrifice, Harvest, and Bullets.
The series begins with Sacrifice, which follows a pair of Space Marines on a vital mission. Space Marines are exempt from the majority of Imperial tithes (left to govern their own worlds independently in line with the ancestral oaths of their Chapter), but even the mighty Adeptus Astartes must make their own sacrifices in the name of loyalty, and to ensure the futures of their Chapters. This episode also sees a battle-worn warrior from a previous animation making a welcome return to screen.
The first episode of The Tithes will be released next month. Stay tuned for more details right here on Warhammer Community.
This week on Warhammer+, meanwhile, Citadel Colour Masterclass has a treat in store, with a tutorial on complementary colours. Planning schemes for your armies and miniatures is one of the most enjoyable parts of painting, and if you’re wondering how all of the miniatures you see in your Codexes and Battletomes look so incredible, it’s because the ’Eavy Metal team are masters of colour theory.*
Masterclass presenter Ed breaks down how and why complementary colour schemes – which often pick their colours from opposite sides of the colour wheel – work. This episode is a perfect companion to the previous one on analogous colour schemes, which was all about colours close in proximity. These episodes are both excellent resources for people who want to come up with their own schemes or work out how others work so well.
In this week’s Loremasters we’re heating things up in Aqshy, in another instalment in the State of the Realms series. A veritable hotbed of activity, the Realm of Fire is one of the primary focus points in Warhammer Age of Sigmar – from early battles between Stormcast Eternals and the Goretide of Khorne In the Great Parch, right up until the explosive impact of the Vermindoom.
Alex is covering the history of the realm right from its earliest days up to the current moment, as part of an ongoing series which is the ideal way to get up to speed with the narrative of the new edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar.
Watch all of this and plenty more right now as part of a Warhammer+ subscription. Subscribe and you’ll get access to hundreds of episodes of Battle Report, Citadel Colour Masterclass, Loremasters, and numerous animations. If you subscribe for a year, you will also get the choice of one of two awesome free miniatures.
* They’re also so good at painting. So good.