Vice Labels Critics of Proposed Warhammer 40k Direction As “Alt-Right Minority”
Spencer Baculi
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A recent VICE article described Warhammer 40k fans who have taken issue with the direction the game is being taken by Games Workshop as both an “alt-right minority” and a “far-right faction.”
On August 12th, VICE author Paulie Doyle published an article titled “The Warhammer 40k Community Is Trying to Weed Out Its Far-Right Faction.”
In the article, Doyle claims that the creation of a meme depicting then-Presidential candidate Donald Trump as The God-Emperor of Mankind led to “closed 40k Facebook groups” becoming “a repository of racism and far-right content, filled with Warhammer-themed memes mocking everything from specific ethnic minorities to gender equality.”
Doyle proceeds to promote the feminist No More Damsels charity, which seeks to create “a more inclusive atmosphere in the London wargaming scene.”
The charity had previously penned a letter to Games Workshop that demanded the company further elaborate on their plans to make Warhammer “for everyone.”
The discussion then turns to Arch Warhammer and his ongoing campaign to push back against Games Workshops’ divisive statement.
Related: Warhammer Fan Pens Open Letter Criticizing Games Workshop’s Divisive Diversity Statement
While Doyle notes that “Arch says he does not identify as a member of the far-right,” this is narratively undercut by the immediate attempt that follows to hold Arch responsible for the behavior of people in his Discord server.
Doyle writes, “Two months ago, screenshots from Arch’s Discord server were posted on /r/Sigmarxism, a left-wing Warhammer subreddit. Multiple people had used racial slurs, while Arch himself referred to Sámi people (an indigenous people of northern Scandinavia) as “gypsy but worse”. ”
He added, “Another poster used the term “field exercises” – a term understood in far-right circles as referring to the activities of the Nazi Einsatzgruppen, which murdered thousands of Romani people, Jewish people and communists in German-occupied territories during the Second World War – as a suggested way of dealing with the group.”
Doyle also notes that “Arch had made a video in which he referred to the fictional Gnoblar race from the Warhammer fantasy series as “house n*****s”, and another in which he defended the use of the term “White Lives Matter.”
When asked for comment, Arch responded that “he doesn’t really concern himself with how “extremists” interpret his speech, and that he will continue to allow “jokes”.”
Related: Warhammer Creator Games Workshop Accused Of Being “Vicariously Racist To Community Members”
“If you are the most extreme tankie, or even the most extreme fascist, if you simply want to play a game of 40k, not talk about your politics, simply collect the miniatures – I do not view that as Games Workshop’s duty to stop it,” Arch explains.
“I view that as the rest of society’s duty to debate against these people and to prevent them via public discourse, and the public opinion.”
Related: Marvel Comics Reveals Details On Their Upcoming Warhammer 40,000 Comic
Arch recently claimed that sources inside Games Workshop have informed him that the campaign’s message had been received and asserted that ““We did everything we wanted to do. We have achieved our goals. And now we can sit back a bit and observe. If GW just continues doing what we wanted them to do in the first place which is just keep making miniatures, preferably something other than Primaris Marines.”
“If they just continue making miniatures, they continue making the lore, the hobby that we all enjoy, then we can get back to whinging about ludicrous prices or too many Primaris Marines, you know, hobby related stuff. And we can all be happy,” he stated.
Arch responded in full to Doyle’s article in a recent video, wherein the dedicated Warhammer fan breaks down each of Doyle’s statements in great deal:
What do you make of Vice’s labeling of Warhammer 40k fans? What about Arch’s response to their article?
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