"fun" in the 40k universe

[geisthammer]

So, what would the people of the 40k universe do for fun. Does marbo play pingpong, is vect a connoisseur of wine and is old one eye the socialite of the tyranid race?
What do you guys think?

[Grailkeeper]

Perhaps the most well documente race for this is dark eldar- pretty sadistic stuff with an emphasis on gladitorial combat

Orks- WAAGH! nuff said

Humans, pretty much everything you can imagine- references to regicide (chess) and a game called scrumball, But pretty much every aspect of modern culture- music, plays, parades, games anything you can think of and more.

[eldargal]

Of course they had fun. There is a tendency to take the 'there is only war' stuff a bit too literally. Even people at constant war have to let off steam, and they always find ways to do so. What kind of fun they had is only vaguely alluded to. While I'm sure commissars didn't put on toppers and tell lewd jokes while riding a unicycle with a midget doing a handstand on the handlebaar, I'm sure the guardsmen were busy with a little illicit drinking, gambling, hitting on anything even vaguely female in the vicinity etc.

Space Marines, not so much obviously.

Tyranids, come on, how could they not have fun with that many orifices and appendages.

Dark Eldar, self evident.

Eldar, all very 'high brow' but they still had a good time (read PotW)

Orks, as mentioned already, war is their cocaine.

Necrons, well maybe not, though perhaps they appreciate a good oiling.

Tau, probably sit in circles singing songs and braiding flowers or whatever space bolsheviks do for fun.

SoB, like an all girls school with guns and vehicles with engine vibrations conveniently shaped like giant benches.

etc.

[JxKxR]

Oh damn Eldargal you have struck my funny bone with what you said about the tyranids and SoB. Bravo!:)

[BuFFo]

Despite what the fluff says, it only covers a small portion of the Imperium. Most of man probably do not even know there is any wars going on. Earth could be in the 40k universe and we wouldn't even know it. That means people could do anything for fun.

[DrLove42]

I know in Titanicus they go to a bar and get blind drunk...

[Unzuul the Lascivious]

Drinking, Lho sticks, gambling, shagging, gladiatorial games, art, pinball, hunting - basically they do all the shizz that we do.
Eldar take it to pretty new extremes - if they haven't cried their eyes out or haven't incandesced with rage or had some other extreme emotional response, the performance they've seen will probably be a damp squib. So that's Die Hard 3.0 out.
But who are the ultimate funsters? Is it Slaanesh or Dark Eldar? Sure as hell ain't the Blood Angels...what about Nurgle? He and his followers always seem pretty cheerful, and they have a broad hobby in spores, moulds and fungus, alongside virus, bacteria and other contagion. There are a few Khorne guys who collect skulls, like Kheradruakh the Mandrake.

[DrLove42]

But who are the ultimate funsters? Is it Slaanesh or Dark Eldar? .

Depends on your preferences. If you're harboring a secret desire for BDSM and Torture go with the pointy eared ones.

If you prefer just regular sodomy and buggery go with Slanesh...

[JxKxR]

Depends on your preferences. If you're harboring a secret desire for BDSM and Torture go with the pointy eared ones.

If you prefer just regular sodomy and buggery go with Slanesh...

hmmm... what to choose....

[MaltonNecromancer]

According to my mate John, who's ex-Army (and served a good ten years), the Ghurkhas like Volleyball. Like, really like Volleyball. Like Serious Business that-was-our-point-no-it-wasn't-you-fancy-a-knife-in-the-eye? like it. So IG probably Volleyball. That and war crimes. I can see the IG committing a lot of war crimes for fun. I could easily see the Commisarat running a "Joy Division" of "conscripted" local girls and women (because let's be fair; the Imperium is about as misogynistic a place as could be imagined). The IG would be a mix of the totally mundane (Volleyball, Football, Cards, EmperorBox 360) and everyday mixing with the abject worst of humanity; Chaos daemons have nothing on a group of drunken soldiers with a woman and everyone else on camp looking the other way.

A lot of the Ecclesiarchy probably have their sex-drives hardwired into the guilt part of the brain, so I imagine sadomasochism is pretty big in the Imperium (the number of people in gimp masks only confirms this). Lots of self-flagellation and self-harm, especially in the Sororitas.

I always saw marines as being like Samurai: artists on their off days, writing haiku poetry, flower arranging, and the like - some sort of ascetic art form that takes true gentleness to master - largely because they're monks more than squaddies. In the case of Blood Angels, sculpture. Space Wolves, drinking and swiving. Black Templars, bible studies. Dark Angels, simmering homoeroticism (as well as late night japery when "tired" battle-brothers "accidentally" get into the wrong bunk...)

Orks are never really off the battlefield, so I think their downtime constitutes a really thrilling bowel movement.

Eldar, probably like Marines, just with bigger hair.

Chaos, like orks, only Tzeench does it in bright purple and blue light; Khorne gushes out a torrent of foul-smeling blood; Nurgle does it, follows through, and accidentally pushes out their own intestines; while Slaanesh does it on someone else.

Dark Eldar like the Ecclesiarchy, just with bigger hair.

Tyranids nom nom nom nom nom...

[GrenAcid]

SoB, like an all girls school, probably sit in circles singing songs and braiding flowers


And there comes red rage:D

[JxKxR]

Well the space marines do like music right? I remember reading a Horus heresy book about the emperors’ children, I think, and they were watching an opera. You think any battle brothers have bands in their spare time? And I bet orks like some good old rock and roll. I also read somewhere that the Tau have a whole world dedicated to the arts and relaxation.

[fuzzbuket]

Tyranids, come on, how could they not have fun with that many orifices and appendages.

SoB, like an all girls school with guns and vehicles with engine vibrations conveniently shaped like giant benches.

etc.


you have scarred my (young ) mind

dear everyone on this thread (okay just eldargal,grenacid,maltonnecromancer,DrLove42)

FUN=/= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdS6HFQ_LUc (safe for work)

fun can be fun: remember there are a few 'minors' who exist on this fourm
now can we have a thread about DE,WH, slannesh and (dare i say it) female SPACE marines: without it getting a bit too 'sadistic'

-fuzz (now moar mentally scarred than b4)

p.s. emeperors box 360, painstationIII, and the W(II)aaAGH : the war rages on

[JxKxR]

you have scarred my (young ) mind

dear everyone on this thread (okay just eldargal,grenacid,maltonnecromancer,DrLove42)

FUN=/= http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdS6HFQ_LUc (safe for work)

fun can be fun: remember there are a few 'minors' who exist on this fourm
now can we have a thread about DE,WH, slannesh and (dare i say it) female SPACE marines: without it getting a bit too 'sadistic'

-fuzz (now moar mentally scarred than b4)

p.s. emeperors box 360, painstationIII, and the W(II)aaAGH : the war rages on

awww poor little fella. ;)

I wonder if anyone in the 40k universe plays table top wargames.

[phoenix01]

Hey, Space Marines also let their hair down (well those who haven't shaved it all off).

Blood Angels are well known for their works of art. Painting and sculpting and such.

Space Wolves love a good party (although the Blood Claw stuck with the bar tab isn't too happy).

Ultramarines like to look at their Primarch and spar while speaking about the effects of Chaos on men's souls.

Dark Angels love a good torture session.

Black Templars, well that'll take some thinking.

[darthrex354]

black templars: "THE PAIN GLOVE, YAAAY!"

[robertsjf]

I wonder if anyone in the 40k universe plays table top wargames.

They play historical games: The Horus Heresy, The Fall of Cardinal Tang, Seige of the Fang, stuff like that.

They're divided into two camps: HAAC and WAAC. The HAACs are all pendantic about the minutia of a model and it's markings (Which marks of armor were actually present at the Storming of the Outer Walls of the Imperial Palace, what was the OOB for the 57th Moldovian Regiment at the start of the Battle of Tallarn, what is the proper shade for Pre-Heresy World Eater blue, etc) and only play "proper scenarios" while the WAACs just try to bleed the efficiency out of a "points list" and tend to gravitate to the same lists (and don't care one bit about the fact that the Orks weren't at the Seige of Terra at the time, they just want to take a Nob Biker unit where everyone has a different peice of wargear).

[doom-kitten]

In on of the battle sisters books one of the sororitas commanders is an alcoholic, who's addicted to gambling and has a lover...yeah just wanted to point that out battle sisters though the vast majority are boring nuns with no down time there is the occassional one that defies convention.

[ggg]

Having just finished the Eisenhorn Omnibus (again!) they seem to spend an awful lot of time playing regicide in their down time.

[Duke]

Females in the 40k military is not the topic of this thread... Start a new thread if you want to talk about females in the 40k warmachine. This thread is about what people in the imperium do for fun! you have been appraised.

Duke

[wittdooley]

There's a ton of getting smashed in the Horus Heresy novels. Tons.

[geisthammer]

thanks duke, It did go off the subject quite a bit.

[Valkerie]

Looks like my original comment got moved to another thread. Fair enough, it had a lot of irrelevant bits in it.

The relevant bits: The Sisters of Battle, (along with the witchhunters in general), probably enjoy a good witch burning bonfire.

I imagine that they enjoy showing heretics the error of their ways and guiding them on the path to redemption in the Emperor's Light. (Of course, once they're redeemed, they'll be shot to keep them from backsliding.:))

When cleansing a town of heresy, they probably have sing-a-longs of hymnns to the Emperor to keep their spirits up and drown out the curses of the heretics.

And after that, they probably quaff ceremonial wine to soothe their sore throats. After all, destroying heresy is hard work, and promethium fumes are hard on the throat and lungs.:D

[Grailkeeper]

I should add there is mention in some of the Gaunts ghosts books, and ciaphas cain books of pornography being distributed between guardsmen

[darthrex354]

is that heresy?

[Fellend]

Anything that promotes the creation of more soldiers for the Emperor's Army must be good right?

[JxKxR]

Anything that promotes the creation of more soldiers for the Emperor's Army must be good right?

You can't procreate with a magazine... thank god.

[Fellend]

Well I promote as make commercial for it.
I'm sure that Imperial porn comes with suggestions for the best ways to make twins "Twice as many soldiers, half the wait!" and ...well for eventual childrens sake let's just say that they probably finish in a more "effective" way than in modern porn

[Kawauso]

Well I promote as make commercial for it.
I'm sure that Imperial porn comes with suggestions for the best ways to make twins "Twice as many soldiers, half the wait!" and ...well for eventual childrens sake let's just say that they probably finish in a more "effective" way than in modern porn

You don't need to encourage human beings to reproduce. It's something we're very good at doing. :P
I don't think the Imperium has to worry about campaigning people to start families in the interest of meeting planetary tithes for IG regiments.



Back on topic, though, I'd imagine that Imperial citizens would have access to pretty much any form of recreation we have now. And the vast majority of Imperial society is not at war, remember. The whole "there is only war thing" doesn't mean there is only war everywhere 100% of the time. Like people in this thread have mentioned previously, most Imperial planets are not exposed to conflict at any given time. The Imperium is just so damn big that, yes, there is always a war going on somewhere. It's a whole galaxy (mostly), for crying out loud!

Marines don't have a lot of downtime, it would seem (I think I remember seeing a mock-up of a fortress-monastery's daily schedule); they have about 1 hour of time to themselves per day. The rest of the time they're doing combat drills, prayers, briefings, debriefings, equipment maintenance, etc. Recreational time is viewed as potentially harmful; idle hands are the Dark Gods' workshop, after all. That and, due to their modifications and training, marines can actually afford to forgo leisure. When they do have spare time, as has been suggested, they do typical monk/ascetic things. Usually high art stuff like poetry or sculpting - the Blood Angels are renowned artists, etc. Marines represent, I think, the one example in the Imperium where a group of people are almost always fighting, though. Their whole existence is actually dedicated to war, and when they're not fighting they're usually practicing.

SoB I think would be similar to Marines, but with more downtime. They're only human, after all. Zealous religious militants have to have fun like everyone else.

The Mechanicum is kind of tricky...Most of the non-servitor Mechanicum personnel are probably menials or assistants...so they would more or less be like average people, I suppose. Actual members of the Priesthood...I think that would vary greatly, depending on how much of their humanity they retain. Obviously the more devoted/insanely augmented they are, I think the more time they would spend doing 'research' and prayer and other things that most normal people wouldn't consider 'downtime'.

Tau, I'm not sure really. Never fathom the xenos mind. Nah, I just don't know enough about their background to say. :P I'm sure they have games and whatnot, though. Plus they have a diverse, multi-ethnic empire that includes Kroot, Vespids, Humans and the like - all of whom probably have their own recreational activities. I'm sure Tau cities have very exotic and diverse forms of entertainment available to the masses. Even space communists have to have fun. :)

Tyranids...I dunno. I guess for the most part, they're like animals, right? I mean, aside from the highly-intelligent synapse creatures... I imagine they would play-fight, eat, sleep, procreate, etc. like any animal. Zoanthropes probably sleep a lot, as it's suggested they're couch potatoes both by their withered bodies and because they have to conserve their psychic energy. Maybe Warriors and Hive Tyrants (and some of the other synapse guys) play some sort of psychic mind-games when they have the chance? Or play tricks on the lesser sub-species for ****s and giggles? Not a lot of downtime though; if you're not swarming a world, you're probably being rendered down into biomass after -having- overwhelmed a planet's defenses. And when they're traveling between planets or systems they're dormant on the hive ships. Downtime is probably only really available to splinter fleet groups that are stranded. They're bred for war, after all.

Orks fight. And build. And probably do stupid stunts their friends talked them into. But mostly fight. Their physiology and psychology revolve around it.

Eldar I would imagine are somewhat like Marines; pretty high-brow for the most part. They obviously take art seriously, and I could see them watching plays or operas and the like; Harlequins put on crazy interpretive dances for everyone wherever they stay, after all. But yeah, I'd imagine Eldar of course have fun, just in a typically reserved fashion. :)

Dark Eldar...come on. We know what they do: whatever they want. They're the ultimate hedonists. If it feels good, they do it.
That being said, I think a lot of people view them as being a little too insane, cranked-to-11 all the time. :P Of course they do lots of terrible, insane things, but I bet the majority of their downtime is spent doing (relatively) mundane things; drinking/gambling with friends, playing games, watching Wyches do their thing in the arenas, etc. I bet Hellions and the like get up to a lot of vandalism, mugging and other shenanigans (they're street gangs, after all). Archons and their entourage are probably the ones doing most of the crazy perverse nonsense in their spare time most often. They can afford to, after all. Incubi are dedicated warriors, so I bet that they actually spend a lot of time like Marines doing things that focus their warrior spirit etc. etc. Haemonculae no doubt tinker with all manner of mad experiments in their labs most of the time. But yeah...I'm willing to bet the average citizen of Commoragh spends -most- of their downtime doing things that aren't as insane as the Dark Eldar's trademark depravity.

Followers of Chaos I imagine would behave largely like the Dark Eldar in their downtime. They can't be insane all the time; no society functions like that. And yes, though their alliances and organizations are usually mercurial and schizophrenic, they do function as a society most of the time. But yeah...I would imagine mostly like Dark Eldar in terms of it always being 'Do What You Feel Day'.

Necrons: I don't think these guys have much fun. :(
Most of them have lost their personalities, anyway...I bet the lords are pretty bored/lonely a lot of the time...I could see a number of them being driven insane. I guess we might have to wait for a new codex to see more of what makes these guys tick.

[imperialsavant]

:rolleyes: Well just a short list:

Joygirls :o, Jolliq, Amasac, Iho Sticks, Flecks--if you want to go on the Dark Side! :eek:, Regicide--sort of like 3D Chess or the game played in Star Trek.
Carnivals, Gladiator sports etc, Hunting & LOTs of Religious Festivals which often seem to get wildly out of hand. :confused: