Narrative Warhammer is awesome! In some ways, it’s the most immersive and complex version of Warhammer, and a great way to build a story in and around your regular gaming experiences at clubs, and with friends and family. So for the next few months, Warhammer Community will be exploring narrative play ahead of this year’s epic Grand Narrative event in Atlanta, Georgia.
This year’s story has been written by the Warhammer Design Studio and added to the official 41st Millennium canon – and it’s set in no other location than the Kessandras System which we’ve been covering with the build up to Operation Hivestorm. Throughout this series, we’ll cover numerous topics: setting and character creation, how to play cinematic missions, and how to integrate Kill Team with Warhammer 40,000 to tell complex and multi-layered stories.
We’ll also share tips, tricks, and insights from the guys running the Grand Narrative* which they’ve learned, implemented, and evolved over the past few years of running the world’s biggest in-person Warhammer narrative event!
The Grand Narrative is an in-person, ticketed event in November – but it’s also so much more than that. The Events Team partnered with the Warhammer Studio to create an enormous trove of content for a truly immersive, “in-universe” event. It involves new characters, new worlds, and new missions to play for both Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team.
The event will tell an immersive story from the Kessandras System, using a diverse array of newly canonised characters known as the Lords of War and Vox Localum.
The former are the three point-of-view characters and loose leaders of the three broad factions: the Forces of the Imperium, the Forces of Chaos, and the Interlopers. Each one has numerous possible outcomes, and the tale they individually tell will be entirely driven by how the players who have joined their faction perform in battle and engage with the story on the day. A beloved leader may inspire their faction to glory, while a villainous fool may face a cataclysmic downfall. Last year, one Lord of War found themselves ascended to Daemonhood, another was executed by a heroic Valhallan Colonel, while a third met a less certain end, pleading with the Arkifane for a fate beyond death…
The Vox Localum are the organisers, overseeing activities and questions within the various Conflict Zones. They are more than simple staff, however; they’re fully costumed and with their own stories, backgrounds, and opportunities. Some may find their way through the campaign as little more than attendants to a given warzone, while others may find their own route to glory through the manner in which they engage with the Field Commanders – the attendees.
In future articles we’ll look at how our characters were conceived, how their behaviours and choices are governed, and tips on how you can incorporate individual arcs into your own campaigns and events to tell a player-driven story.
How to get involved
Narrative Warhammer is some of the most fun you can have in the hobby, from painting miniatures to building scenic battlefields and fighting in thematic missions.
We’re excited to spend the next couple of months sharing our tales in this Road to Kessandras series, and hope you’ll join along and share your own progress – whether it’s a casual night with a good friend, or a follow-on campaign to tell the tale of Kessandras your way.
You might also want to break open your bits box and recreate one of the Lords of War or Vox Localum who will be appearing at the Grand Narrative. To get you inspired, our shadow operatives have managed to acquire a dossier on the new characters and their backstories, which you can find at the links below.
You can share your hobby and gaming exploits from the Kessandras System on Facebook, X, and Instagram using the hashtags #WarhammerGrandNarrative and #RoadToKessandras. We’ll keep an eye out, and might even share a few in a future Warhammer Community article.
The Grand Narrative will be held in Atlanta, GA, between the 21st and 24th of November. There will be a live blog on Warhammer Community during the event, in which each mission will be unveiled to the global audience at the same time as the field commanders on site. You’ll be able to report on the outcomes and experiences of your own battles, adding your side to the story.
Next time we’ll be looking at creating lead characters for narrative campaigns, and how they can impact and direct an ongoing story.
* The Warhammer Global Events Team.
