Major Assignments
Project 1
For a long time, I have been a part of the Warhammer community. Ever since that faithful day when my cousin to me to the local Games Workshop and let me paint my first Space Marine, I have been hooked. For those who do not know, Warhammer is a tabletop war game where players build, paint, and play with an army made up of highly detailed and personally customized miniatures. For this essay, I want to work on looking at the community that has formed on online platforms like Reedit. I would love to include the local game store and the like; however, each one is its own microcosm, and exploring all of them would become a mess faster than a Genestealer can rip your face off. So, what moves the community? Why do we do the things we do? That is what I am going to help illuminate using activity theory.
If you don’t know, activity theory is a tool that aids us in finding and understanding the many factors, such as tools, subject, and rules, that influence why a group does a thing and the outcome they are looking for. This principle of how people interact will be key to understanding the chaos-filled mess that can be the 40k Community. So, before a new edition comes out and makes everything in the community screwier, let us begin.
For this essay, I will go through the Activity system triangle in counterclockwise order, starting with tools to better understand how writing is used in the community. I will go through the Triangle, giving examples of what would be in the section and showing how they either use writing or aid in the goals of the community. That will make up the bulk of the essay, and after that I will state what I and others in the community think the overall goal is and how all the points help that.
You may ask, how will you get your sources if you are using Reedit, and I am glad you asked. I have four ideas on how I will do primary research. My first idea is to just scroll subreddits like R/warhammer40k and R/necrontyr for threads that may help. This with show me the general ways in which people use writing to communicate in these groups. My next idea is to post about a topic I am looking to cover; this will let me see how community members respond to specific things like understanding game rules and lore. My third thought was to use GW’s own words to aid me in looking at their property's community. This will help me better understand the role Games Workshop plays in the community that sorrowed their game. My last idea is to talk to some community members close to me, like those at my game store. This will give me a more personal look at a small-scale community to better understand what I see. So that is what I am going to do, so let us hope it works out, unlike Abaddon's first 12 black crusades.
Work Cited:
Kain, Donna and Elizabeth Wardle. “Activity Theory: An Introduction for the Writing Classroom.” Writing about Writing, edited by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs, Bedford St. Martin’s, 2017, pp. 395-406.
“Start Warhammer | How to Get Started in the Hobby.” Start-Warhammer.com, 2024, start-warhammer.com/.
Project 2
Introduction
Warhammer is a game that has many parts to its whole. For the last few weeks, I have been researching one of these parts (the online Warhammer 40k community) and its concessions to activity theory. In this introduction to my bibliography, I will be showing how my sources connect to each other and my main topic. To complete my goal of better understanding Activity theory and its connection to the Warhammer community, I have looked at multiple secondary sources relating to activity theory, tabletop wargames, and Warhammer 40k. The online Warhammer community has many parts to it, from chatting about new models to game recaps and rules lawyering; many things happen in communities like the ones I’m talking about. To help achieve this I have four main secondary sources, “Global Brand Communities across Borders: The Warhammer Case.” a paper on how parts of the brands identity changes internationally, “An Activity Theory-Based Model for Serious Games Analysis and Conceptual Design” which talks about a method of analyzing games using activity theory, “Activity Theory: An Introduction to the Writing Classroom.” which introduces the concept of activity theory, and finally, “Hobby Wargames: A Preliminary Survey.” which goes through a survey on different mechanics and aspects of hobby wargaming.
The focus of my research is to understand how the principles of activity theory relate to the online Warhammer 40k community. These sources will help me do that by combining answering questions and guiding my research, which is the key to the project. When I come to Warhammer and tabletop wargames in general, not much has been done to analyze them using activity theory. What has been done is research on similar forms or activities, such as video games and conventional board games. Two of my sources, “An Activity Theory-Based Model for Serious Games Analysis and Conceptual Design” and “Activity Theory: An Introduction to the Writing Classroom.” I have to do with activity theory use, and they will work together to help me fill in the Warhammer-shaped gap. The main idea in both of these articles is the use of activity theory to analyze a topic. They differ in what that topic is, and, in some ways, the exact methods used to do so. Similarly, the article, “Global Brand Communities across Borders: The Warhammer Case.” This gives me further process in which to complete and better understand my research. The article discusses the use of “brand community” to show how the communities in the USA and France compare and contrast from a business lens. However, instead of focusing on my main methodology, this article gives me a way to further answer why and not just how. This article has parts that relate to my final recourses, the article, “Hobby Wargames: A Preliminary Survey.” both articles discuss wargames in some way, additionally “Global Brand Communities across Borders: The Warhammer Case.” dose mention the way and in some ways the how, “Hobby Wargames: A Preliminary Survey.” is all about the how for multiple game systems, including Warhammer 40k. For similar reasons, I can use both the article and hobby wargaming and the article on using activity theory to analyze games to help analyze Warhammer 40k and its community.
I have explained why I chose these articles and how they work together, but what can I add to their conversation? What I can add is the prospect of an active participant and observer of the Warhammer game and its community online. Additionally, I can add the use of activity theory to analyze the Warhammer hobby, the conversations about activity theory and its use. Well activity theory has been studied from many angles; I have yet to see it used in the context of miniature wargaming, let alone its online community. That is the main reason I chose my research topic of activity theory in the online Warhammer community.
Primary sources
Citation 1: “R/ Necrontyr” Reddit.com, 2025, www.reddit.com/r/Necrontyr/. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
Annotation
This subreddit is a space designed to give those who play the Necron faction in the tabletop board game Warhammer 40k. People in this group typically post about things such as the models they have painted, armies they have planned or just finished, and the ever-ongoing announcement of new models and rule updates. I have personally posted a lot on this subreddit; I mostly post photos of my freshly painted model and occasionally army ideas. Looking at the comments, most of them are consistently positive, with the occasional rude post reacting to a paint job they do not like. To conclude, the group is a focused place for those who play or are interested in Necrons to chat and share.
I am going to use this subreddit as an example of an online Warhammer group. I want to use R/Necronyr because I play Necrons on the tabletop and in any game, they are in. The community around the faction is one I know well and that lets me quickly explain how it can connect back to my research topic. Additionally, this subreddit gives me a way to explain a specific faction intricates with community examples of conversations and stand along posts
This subreddit is a space desighn
Citation 2: “R/Warhammer40k.” Reddit, www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer40k/. Accessed 23 Sep. 2025.
Annotation
R/Warhammer40kis is a subreddit that gives players and those interested in the world of 40k a place to chat and post about the hobby they love. In the subreddit, people post mostly about the newly painted models, non-model art pieces, and the Warhammer news of the week. Unlike some of the more faction-specific Reddit threads, I have not posted on R/warhammer40k. Another difference between this group and the others I am looking at is the general nature of it. R/Warhammer40k is about the hobby as a whole, which is especially useful for me.
I am going to use this subreddit as my main example of an online Warhammer community, and many of my observations will come from here and be elaborated using faction-specific groups like R/Necrontyr. My main way of using this resource will be to go on it every day to see what type of interactions are occurring. Additionally, I will check things such as the most popular past and least and most like posts to see what the community was like in the past and the present. The final way R/Warhammer40k will be useful is as a hub to find other groups. Often, people will repost things from other Warhammer-related communities and give links to the original. This will aid me in broadening the information I have at my disposal
Citation 3: “Start Warhammer | How to Get Started in the Hobby.” Start-Warhammer.com, 2024, start-warhammer.com/. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025.
Annotation
On the official Warhammer community website, there is a page on getting started in the Warhammer hobby. This page is designed to help inexperienced players and those who are just getting interested in any part of the hobby to understand and navigate the sometimes-complicated world of Warhammer. The page has sections on the buying, painting, playing, and reading parts of the hobby. It additionally has links to further resources about the two main Warhammer games, Warhammer 40k and Age of Sigmar. This page, and the Warhammer community website as a whole, is a wonderful place for new and expected players alike to get news and information about this great hobby that many people share
I am planning on using this resource as a way to give quotes and cited information about what the hobby is. Well, I can explain it in my own words, and I likely will, through the paper. Having a site like this is particularly important to me. Additionally, the section on the reading side of the hobby gives me something to jump off because, well, I have read one or two Warhammer novels in the past, I am not as familiarized with it compared to the gaming and painting parts.
Citation 4: “r/TheAstraMilitarum.” Reddit.com, 2019, www.reddit.com/r/TheAstraMilitarum/. Accessed 14 Oct. 2025.
Annotation
R/TheAstraMilitarum is a subreddit made so that those who play or are interested in the Astra Militarum faction in the tabletop war game Warhammer 40k have a place to share and chat about their side of the hobby. Like many other Warhammer-related subreddits, r/TheAstraMilitarum contains people showing off their newly painted miniatures or whole armies and chatting about new announcements and old memories. One thing that this Reddit page seems to have more compared to other ones I have looked at is pictures of interesting kit bashes. Well, it is not exclusive out of the 4 or 5 faction-based subreddits I have looked at, r/TheAstraMilitarum has the most.
I am planning on using r/TheAstraMilitarum in an equivalent way to most of the other subreddits I have looked at. This Reddit page will be an online space for me to observe and to better understand how the Warhammer community works in the context of a discourse community. Additionally, I will use it as a way to understand the specific faction of the Astra Militarum, because it is one of the two factions I am interested in observing in this study and playing outside of it. The final reason r//TheAstraMilitarum is useful as it can help elaborate on things observed in the main r/Warhammer40k page when they relate to this faction.
Secondary sources
Citation 1:
Cova, Bernard, et al. “Global Brand Communities across Borders: The Warhammer Case.” International Marketing Review, vol. 24, no. 3, 5 June 2007, pp. 313–329, https://doi.org/10.1108/02651330710755311.
Annotation
The article “Global Brand Communities across Borders: The Warhammer Case” is about the “brand community” that surrounds the Warhammer 40k brand. The article defines a brand community as a “concept that believes that the meaning of the brand transcends national boundaries.” (Cova, Pace, and Park 313). The text’s goal is to bring light to the homogeneity and heterogeneity that exist within the brand’s meaning across the countries used, in this case, the USA and France. The text begins by explaining the history and core concepts behind the ideas of “brand community,” “sub-cultures of consumption,” and “consumer tribes.” From there, it moves to displaying the concepts in action. One example it gives is the Star Trak community. From there, the journey moves to highlighting the methodologies used and the results of their use in the world of the Warhammer brand community.
I can use this article to help give me prospectives on the community in areas I cannot research. Along with this, the article gives me a perspective on my selected community in the past, so I can contrast it with how it is today. Finally, the section on methodologies gives me an example of methodologies that I can use to conduct my own research at my local game stores.
Citation 2:
Carvalho, Maira B., et al. “An Activity Theory-Based Model for Serious Games Analysis and Conceptual Design.” Computers and Education, vol. 87, 2015, pp. 166–81, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.03.023.
Annotation
This article is about using activity theory to create a methodology for analyzing “serious games.” The methodology devised is called the Activity Theory-based Model of Serious Games (ATMSG). In this case, serious games are games made for educational purposes; however, I can use the methodology as a basis to analyze my topic of Warhammer 40k and its community. To come up with the methodology used, the authors analyzed five different games that help teach different learning disciplines and have unique styles, which allows them to “understand the context of use of educational serious games, by identifying the relevant network of activities.” (Carvalho, Maira B., et al 169). The authors give multiple processes of how to apply the methodology to analyze a work. These steps are: Describe the activities using Table 10 on page 174, Represent the game sequence, identify actions, tools, and goals using Table 11, and Description of the implementation. The article concludes that “The ATMSG model provides a comprehensive way to investigate, in detail, how a serious game is structured, using activity theory as the theoretical background.” (Carvalho, Maira B., et al 180).
This article is useful to me because it gives me a methodology to build my research around. Well, the ATMSG methodology may not one hundred presents apply to me research topic of Warhammer 40k, this Resorces will help give me a stronger skeleton to build my project around.
Citation 3:
Kain, Donna, and Elizabeth Wardle. “Activity Theory: An Introduction to the Writing Classroom.” Writing about Writing, edited by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs, Bedford St. Martin’s, 2017, pp. 395-406
Annotation
“Activity Theory: An Introduction to the Writing Classroom” is an informative writing piece that introduces the core concepts behind Activity Theory. The article argues that activity theory "gives us a helpful lens for understanding how people in different communities carry out their activities” (Kain and Wardle 1). The article uses many terms, such as activity systems, conditioned, historically, object-directed, tool-mediated, and more, to give us the vocabulary needed to understand its concepts. The main conclusion of the article is that Activity Theory helps researchers better understand the relationship between social forces in an activity shape and the people it shapes.
This article is useful to my work because it helps me understand the concept of activity theory and how it shapes the group I am discussing. Having a more in-depth understanding of the relationship between the players of Warhammer 40k and the rules, tools, and more that shape the game will let me direct my research in the right direction. In addition, the article gives me the tools needed to explain these key systems to my readers in a way that I could not do without it.
Citation 4:
Polimeno, Edoardo, et al. “Hobby Wargames: A Preliminary Survey.” Multimedia Tools and Applications, vol. 84, no. 20, 2025, pp. 23085–110, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-024-19408-0.
Annotation
“Hobby Wargames: A Preliminary Survey” is an article that aims to “study the current trends of hobby Wargaming, focusing on prevalent game mechanics, their design, the distinctions between them, and their potential exploration in a hybrid context.” (Polimeno, Catalano, Scalera 1). The writers do this by identifying 56 game mechanics in 30 wargames using the Boardgame Geek database as a primary source. The article concludes with a rundown of the information found in the survey, such as what game mechanics are most common and uncommon.
This article is useful to me because it lets me understand where Warhammer 40k is in comparison to similar hobbies out there. I can use this info to help illustrate how mechanics in the game, tool, history, etc., affect the overall player base by using examples of other properties. In addition, this piece gives me a more in-depth understanding of hobby wargaming instead of just my chosen love, Warhammer 40k and Kill Team.
How the Revolution Affected Black Americans
The American Revolution affected every group in and around the fledgling nation of the United States. During this important period in history, one group tried their best to pick themselves up through the revolutionary spirit. In this essay, I want to discuss how African Americans tried to use the words and rhetoric of the revolution to pull themselves out of slavery and into a better future. To do this, I will refer to multiple documents created by slaves or created due to their petition.
For many of the 13 colonies during the era of the revolution slaves knowing how to read and write was a no go, yet they still did learn. Weather due to a master who wanted their laborers to be more knowledgeable or by the slaves own will, may African American learned to read and understand the words of those who kept them in chains. Some of those who learned to write began to compose poetry. Many of these poets struggled to understand their condition in the context of their Christian beliefs and the contrasting revolutionary spirit (Holton 4). In some of their works, such as the Phillis Wheatly poem “On Being Brought from Africa to America,” the writer seems content in their enslavement, even thankful. However, some of this might have been their masters influence on their writings, and their true thoughts are often imposable to truly know for certain (Holton 4) However, in the case of Wheatly’s poem we are given a clue, she ends is by saying, “Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain, May be refin’d, and join the’ angelic train.” (Wheatly 50) which interpreted as implying that thought she and her fellow blacks may be enslaved now, they will as join God in the someplace as equals.
Another example of Phillis Wheatly’s writing is a letter Samson Occom, a “Mohegan Indian who had become a Presbyterian minister and missionary” (Holton 50). This letter, which was published in a dozen newspapers and was never intended to be a private statement in any way, contains a condemnation of slavery more powerful than any of her other poems. (Holton 50). In the letter, Wheatly refers to the Israelites, of which God freed from Egyptian Slavery as told in the bible. She continuous by say that “ ...in every human Breast, God has implanted a Principle, which we call Love of Freedom; it is impatient of Oppression, and pants for Deliverance; and by the leave of our modern Egyptians1 I will assert, that the same Principle lives in us.” (Wheatly 51). What Wheatly is saying in this letter is that just like the Israelites, and anyone else who believes in good, the those in slavery have the right to freedom given to the by their holy father, and God while given it in time. Yet, she states she “This I desire not for their Hurt, but to convince them of the strange Absurdity of their Conduct whose Words and Actions are so diametrically opposite.” (Wheatly 51), meaning she does not wish violence as a solution she wishes they see their hypocrisy themselves.
Moving away from poetry, another way that African Americans of the revolutionary period used the word and tools of the time was to petition for their freedom of the abolishment of slavery. An example of this was a 1773 Petition to the Governor, Council, and House of Representatives of Massachusetts signed by just Felix. Felix is considered to be Felix Holbrook by many historians and was an African American who signed a late antislavery letter to the Massachusetts legislature (Holton 42). In this petition Felix asks the Governor, Council, and Representatives if they “would be pleased to take their unhappy State and Condition under your wise and just Consideration.” (Felix 42) They attempt to persuade the Massachusetts legislature by appealing to their religion and humanity. They do this by pointing out many injustices and falsehoods that hold up slavery. An example of this is that it says “Although some of the Negroes are vicious, (who doubtless may be punished and restrained by the same Laws which are in Force against other of the King’s Subjects) there are many others of a quite different Character, and who, if made free, would soon be able as well as willing to bear a Part in the Public Charges” (Felix 43). Additionally, the author notes well the freedom of the slaves would do no good to their owners however uses the analogy that it would “but to us will be as Life from the dead.” (Felix 43).
A further example of a slave petition is the Aforementioned document signed by Felix Holbrook in April 1773. This document is another petition that uses both religious and natural rights arguments in an attempt to persuade revolutionaries in the colonel legislature of Massachusetts to add in granting them their freedom. A key part to note in this document is the fact that the writer Peter Bestes and those signed wish to return to their homeland of Africa (Holton 46). This wish is stated in the letter, “WE are willing to submit to such regulations and laws, as may be made relative to us, until we leave the province, which we determine to do as soon as we can from our joynt labours procure money to transport ourselves to some part of the coast of Africa, where we propose a settlement.” (Bestes 47). Another thing the authors note is that the only thing slaves owe to their master is the money they spend in purchasing them and in many other people, such as the Spanish, who “... have not those sublime ideas of freedom that English men have,” (Bestes 47) let their slave work for themselves one day a week and buy out of slavery if they are demanded to have done enough (Bestes 47). The caparison between the Spanish mindset towards African slave and to that of the British, and the aspect revolutionary hypocrisy it shows in addition to the wish to go bad to their homeland makes this document different compared to the other petition I looked at.
The most extreme example of an African slave petition to colonial authority was those sent to Lord Dunmore, the governor of Virgina. Soon after hostilities broke out in the colonies many African slaves in Virgina send letters to Dunmore interested in aiding British forces against the rebels in return for their freedom (Holton 53). Well Dunmore initially denied these requests, being as slave owner himself, however as the period of hostility drew own Donmore eventually relented and drafted a proclamation that “offered freedom to any Patriot’s slave who would fight for the king.” (Holton 53) This proclamation let African slaves join in on a key piece of revolutionary rhetoric, fighting for your freedom. In the document it is stated “And I do hereby further declare all indented Servants, Negroes, or others, (appertaining to Rebels,) free that are able and willing to bear Arms, they joining His MAJESTY’s Troops as soon as may be, for the more speedily reducing this Colony to a proper Sense of their Duty, to His MAJESTY’s Crown and Dignity.” (Dunmore 55). Well, this document was not drafted by an African American slave like the others I have looked at, this part of the proclamation (which also declared martial law and pauses taxes) was added do the petition and protest of those who were enslaved.
In the end, the revolution left most black slaves in the sum, if not worse, situation as before. However, what the revolution did do as give them the tools and spirit to whittle away at the institution of slavery that held them for so long. From poetry to armed uprising, the words and rhetoric of the revolution effect more than just the white folks who started it. The vision that the founding fathers had trickled down into every walk of life, from rich landowning Southerns to the slaves they made work their fields, and hopefully one day every can truly equally share in the ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness
Activity Theory in the Warhammer and its Community
Introduction
The world of Warhammer 40k is one that can be experienced in many ways. For the simple task of reading a book, to the complexities of making and painting an army. I have been engaged in the world of Warhammer in one way or another for many years now, yet I have never taken the time to think about how the community functions. In the words of the Warhammer community website “There are loads of ways you can engage with the Warhammer hobby. From collecting, building, and painting your favorite miniatures, to playing thrilling tabletop games and reading fantastic fiction – the choice is yours!” (Warhammer 1). The question I want to answer in this article is what drives the many different parts of the community to a common goal of enjoying the hobby.
To achieve the goal of finding what drives the Warhammer community, I will be using activity theory. In Kain and Wardle's article on the subject, they explain activity theory as a tool to aid us in finding and understanding the many factors that change influence how the tool of writing is used in a specific context (1). Activity theory have been used to analyze similar forms of media such as video games, such as in the article “An Activity Theory-Based Model for Serious Games Analysis and Conceptual Design.” written by Carvalho, Maira B., etc. From my knowledge it has not been used to investigate tabletop war gaming, let alone Warhammer 40k in particular. That hole is what I am going to fill; I want to analyze both the community and the tabletop games that surround it.
Section 1: The Tabletop Game
Intro to The Tabletop Game
Before looking at the Warhammer community, I want to analyze the tabletop game that is at the core of the community so that people who have not heard of it are not in the dark. Warhammer 40k is a tabletop wargame where two players take control of opposing armies and take turns moving, shooting, and changing their models with the goal of killing the enemy and taking objectives in endless war. The genre of tabletop wargames has a long history and many main stay mechanics. In Edoardo Polimeno, Christian Catalano, Michele Scalera & Marco Biagini article “Hobby wargames: a preliminary survey”, they identify ten such classes of mechanics, those being “1. Game Structure: the fundamental structure of the game, that is which modes of play will define it and its temporal and narrative design. 2. Turn Order and Structure: the role of time in games, how players take actions and make decisions. 3. Actions and Worker Placement: how players interact with each other and the game system. 4. Resolution: ways of determining the outcomes of actions. 5. Game End and Victory: game goals and end-game points. 6. Uncertainty: the role of randomness and lack of information in games. 7. Economics: ways to exchange or convert one resource with another. 8. Movement: how game pieces can be moved on the game board. 9. Area Control: how players control point of interests or project their influence beyond their immediate surroundings. 10.Card Mechanisms: the role of cards in the information loop between players and the game system, and in the resolution of player actions and game events.” (23089- 23090). From my time playing Warhammer, I have used each of these in some form or another. Warhammer 40k has many ways to play, and not all the mechanics classes are used in each game mode. For this analysis I will be using the current tournament play as my example. I will also be relating these classes of mechanics to their rule in activity theory.
The Mechanics
1. Game Structure: Warhammer 40k is structured around the capturing of objectives and completion of secondary objectives. This is a common game mode in many tabletop wargames and contributes to the rules as defined in activity theory.
2. Turn Order and Structure: Warhammer uses a turn-based structure often called the “you go, I go” system by the community. In this system, each player takes turns doing each of the stages in their turn before ending it. This is different from other games like Warhammer 40k: Kill Team which uses a system of activation where players take turns activating individual units of models until everyone has been activated. The game's structure is one of the rules that helps move the players towards enjoying the game.
3. Actions and Worker Placement: The main action that a play takes in a turn are moving, shooting, charging, fighting, and using stratagems. These tools of the game let the player simulate things solders would do on the field of battle. Placement of models is another valuable tool for the game. This is done at the start of the game during the first-round deployment phase and when a unit uses an ability like deep strike which the core book states is “ During the Declare Battle Formations step, if every model in a unit has this ability, you can set it up in Reserves instead of setting it up on the battlefield. If you do, in the Reinforcements step of one of your Movement phases you can set up this unit anywhere on the battlefield that is more than 9" horizontally away from all enemy models.” (39)
4. Resolution: Individual actions in a round like shooting at a target are resolved by rolling D6s and using a table as shown each model's datasheets. Resolution of individual actions is one of the short goals of the game, and the datasheet used is another example of roles.
5. Game End and Victory: A game of Warhammer is resolved at the end of the 5th battle round. The winner is determend based on which player has the most victory points at the end of the game. Thes victory points are gained by killing enemy units, capturing, and holding main objectives and the completion of secondary objects. Finishing and winning a game of Warhammer 40k is the long-term objective of playing.
6. Uncertainty: the uncertainty in a round of Warhammer 40k comes from the randomness of the dice and not knowing what your opponent is planning. Uncertainty plays the role as a tool to keep players on their toes.
7. Economics: Warhammer 40k doesn't have economic mechanics in the literal sense; however, it does have a point system when creating an army. Each unit in an army costs a certain number of points, and players can only spend up to 2000 points on an army in a tournament style game. This point system is a role that keeps armies balanced and games fare.
8. Movement: The movement mechanics used in Warhammer uses inches as standard and are based on the movement state on a model's datasheet and can be modified in multiple ways. Movement is a clear example of a key tool that works towards the goals of the activity.
9. Area Control: Area control is, as stated previously, one of the main ways to gain victory points. Control of an area is determined by having more operational control over an objective at the end of a player's command phase. The area control mechanics in Warhammer and most other Tabletop war games is an important rule to the resolution of the game.
10.Card Mechanisms: While Warhammer does not use cards as liberally as other games like Star Wars legion; it does use them as a tool to determine objectives.
These classes of mechanics as defined by “Hobby wargaming: a primary survey” make up the rules, tool, and short/long term objectives of the tabletop Warhammer experiences. Other aspects like division of labor, community, and subjects will have to be tackled differently. Labor for the tabletop game is divided between the players and the rules maker. The players are the ones who play, paint, and enjoy the aspects of tabletop experiences. Games Workshop or the rules makers are the ones who craft that experience and make sure it stays balanced and enjoyable. The community is comprised of everyone who plays a part in making Warhammer what it is; this includes the players, influencers, GW, and other companies that create Warhammer compatible materials. Finally, the subject of the activity is the two people actively playing a particular game of Warhammer 40k. All these factors combine to create the warhammer experience I and many others love.
Section 2: The Community
Intro to The Community Online
Due to the many ways in which people enjoy the warhammer hobby there are many places where they communicate. In the case of the section I am looking at (the online communities) a common place is platforms such as reddit. To help understand and analyze the online 40K community, I want to look at three reddit groups in particular, r/Warhammer40k, r/necrontry, and r/theastramilitarum. These three will give a perspective on how the general community, and two faction specific communities. The many factions of Warhammer 40k give players many varied visual styles and ways of playing. Each faction and sub faction have different communities with separate motives from the main Warhammer community. In this case I chose the Necrons, a race of living metal skeletons, because I play these on the tabletop: and the Astra Militaria, the Imperium of Man's main army, because I want to play them and I love their overall visual and game play style.
Before looking at these sources separately, I want to analyze what they have in common. One of the main things they all share is their function in the overall Warhammer community. In Activity theory one of the key things in its function is human interaction. As Kain & Wardle state, “Activity theory is concerned with how people work together, using tools,
toward outcomes.” (2). Groups like r/Warhammer40k facilitate this interaction and help spread knowledge on the communities' functions. An example of this is posts such as one from r/theastramilitarum with the title “How to even build a list now” and the caption “I want to build an astra militarum list, but I left at the beginning of 10th edition, and it makes no sense to me. Like where are relics?? Help me please” (CaptainBigBalls1). Posts like these and those where people help new and returning players alike are a way for people to share the communities' Rules and Tools. Another thing, each of these groups shares a similar motive. In activity theory, everything serves to work towards a motive, or a reason for doing the activity. In the case of the sub reedits I am looking at that goal simply to enjoy and share the parts of the hobby people love. In the broader case of the Warhammer community, the motivation is to paint, play, and enjoy the world surrounding the Warhammer 40K.The Three Community Examples
While each of my examples share many similarities, they are separate and must be analyzed individually. The first subreddit I want to look at is r/warhammer40k. R/Warhammer40k is a place for “...anything and everything related to Warhammer 40k.” (r/Warhammer40k). It functions as an unofficial place for anyone interested in their hobby to post and chat. Every aspect of the hobby is featured, from news on new miniatures to stunning cosplays of important characters and random soldiers alike. As stated earlier, the group's overall motive is to share the parts of the hobby people love. To achieve this goal, r/Warhammer40k uses many parts of Activity Theory, tools, subject, rules, community, and division of labor. The group uses the basic tools of an online group, the ability to post, comment, and the upvote and down vote system. The rules of the group are the usual ones for a group like this; talk about Warhammer, be respectful, etc. One thing that makes r/Warhammer40k different from some of the others I will be looking at is that there are no memes allowed in the subreddit. This keeps the conversations and posts on the platform more serious than other similar groups. The last point I want to bring up for this group is division of labor, which is split between the roles of moderation, done by a select group of moderators, and posting which is evenly divided between everyone in the group. All this works together to create a place for people to enjoy their hobby and share their work with the world.
The next subreddit I want to discuss is r/necrontyr. This group is focused on the necron faction and mostly contains posts about their models, lore, and memes related to them. R/necrontyr is similar to r/Warhammer40k in many ways. They both are related to Warhammer and they often both discuss new releases. Yet it differs in two keyways, the memes and the goals of the community. Starting with the community’s motivation and goals, unlike the previous example, r/necrontyr’s goal is much more focused and therefore changes how the group actives it. One of these changes is the use of memes in the group. From my observations, r/necrontyr had much more memes than either of the other sources I looked at. This means that unlike some other groups, r/necrontry uses memes as one of the main tools when analyzing it with Activity Theory. Other ways that r/necrontyr achieves its goals differently are through subject and community. The subject as defined in Activity Theory of the group is the Necron faction, and the community is anyone and everyone who is interested or plays the Necron faction in 40k.
The final online community I have chosen to use as an example is r/TheAstraMilitarum. This subreddit combines aspects from the previous two groups. The community’s motives are most like those of r/necrontry, where it is to discuss and share things about the astra militarum faction in the warhammer universe. The group achieves this goal through similar methods to others as well. Community members post about their new models, news, and memes about the faction. Additionally, the group's subject and community are like that of r/necrontyr, that being a specific faction in the world of warhammer and the people who and interested in that faction in many forms.
Combining the information gained by analyzing all three groups, you get a fairly good look into how the online Warhammer community operates and why they do what they do. The overall motivation of the online Warhammer community is to share the enjoyment of the hobby with others. This is demonstrated through the mountain of posts on all three subreddits showing off painted minis, art, games, and more. The community as a whole does this by following a set of rules and what to post and where to post it. Photos of models, whether painted or not, are typically posted in either the faction’s group, general 40k groups, or both. Materials based on a specific faction, like questions on army lists, will be posted in groups made to discuss those armies. Another key factor in how the online community operates is the wider division of labor. In the online community, no one person does more than anyone else when it comes to sharing the enjoyment of the hobby. Some might post more, some might post better content, but no one person's posts contribute more than someone else's. So, we know the motive, and how the motive is achieved, but what are the short- and long-term goals of the group? My thought, after observing these groups, is that the short-term goal is to keep people interested in the hobby, and the long-term goal is to introduce new people and have the hobby in which I and many others love to grow and stay relevant for years to come.
Section 3: Conclusions
The Warhammer community and the tabletop game that surrounds it are perfect candidates for analysis using Activity Theory and similar methodologies. While I was able to start analyzing them in this paper, I know it could be more thorough. I hope that in the future more people will conduct research on the Warhammer community looking at aspects like physical community, discord groups, and even more subreddits. When it comes to the tabletopgames, I believe that wargames are a great tool to learn math, history, and strategy. More study should be done to find the many factors that make wargames so fun and effective. I hope my research inspires you to look at wargaming or your own hobby through the lines of Activity Theory.
Work Cited.
Cova, Bernard, et al. “Global Brand Communities across Borders: The Warhammer Case.” International Marketing Review, vol. 24, no. 3, 5 June 2007, pp. 313–329, https://doi.org/10.1108/02651330710755311.
Carvalho, Maira B., et al. “An Activity Theory-Based Model for Serious Games Analysis and Conceptual Design.” Computers and Education, vol. 87, 2015, pp. 166–81, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2015.03.023.
Kain, Donna, and Elizabeth Wardle. “Activity Theory: An Introduction to the Writing Classroom.” Writing about Writing, edited by Elizabeth Wardle and Doug Downs, Bedford St. Martin’s, 2017, pp. 395-406 (Kain & Wardle)
Polimeno, Edoardo, et al. “Hobby Wargames: A Preliminary Survey.” Multimedia Tools and Applications, vol. 84, no. 20, 2025, pp. 23085–110, https://doi.org/10.1007/s11042-024-19408-0.
“R/ Necrontyr” Reddit.com, 2025, www.reddit.com/r/Necrontyr/. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
“R/Warhammer40k.” Reddit, www.reddit.com/r/Warhammer40k/. Accessed 23 Sep. 2025.
“r/TheAstraMilitarum.” Reddit.com, 2019, www.reddit.com/r/TheAstraMilitarum/. Accessed 14 Oct. 2025.
“Start Warhammer | How to Get Started in the Hobby.” Start-Warhammer.com, 2024, start-warhammer.com/. Accessed 14 Sep. 2025. (Warhammer 1)
Warhammer 40000 Core Book. 10th Edition ed., Games Workshop, June 2023, pp. 1–50
Reflection on my Work:
Throughout this Semester, I was working towards creating a research paper based on a group I am interested in. In my case, I chose to write about the Warhammer hobby and the online groups that surround it. Well doing this, I feel that I did many things right, but at the same time thought wrong. One of the main things I feel I did right was talking about both the tabletop game and the community. By talking about the game first, I gave my readers, who might have had no previous experience with the hobby, an introduction and explanation of Warhammer 40k. Something I feel I did wrong, however, was neglecting many of the ideas I had in the early stages of the creation process (major assignments 1 and 2) until deep into my physical writing. This made some parts of the paper, in my opinion, feel rushed and all over the place. Despite this, the Paper overall came out great, and I hope that shows in it and the other Major assignment on this page.