Warhammer 40,000

A bit of a weird combination given that 40K is not a setting where territory customarily changes hands for money.

Now, 40K Risk, I'm kind of surprised they haven't already done.

Does the Imperium even have a capitalist economy?

To the best of my knowledge, individual planets may have capitalist economies, but the Imperium as a whole generally doesn't encourage it, preferring feudal arrangements with stable hereditary aristocracies.

There are probably a wide variety of blends of different types of economies, too, from feudalism to early capitalism to Soviet-style communism. (Hive worlds, in particular, seem like they might be closer to looking like communism.)

Hive worlds tend to be feudal, to quote from the Necromunda rulebook (talking about society but it equally applies to the economy):

Edited by SebastianGray on Jun 30th 2018 at 1:12:08 PM

The Imperium's economy is essentially based on soldiers, weapons, and resources. Currency has nothing to do with it, for the most part.

Ah! Thanks for the info. I had gotten Hive Worlds mixed up with... Forge Worlds? The worlds that are just big factories, is that what they're called? They seem like they might be sovietish (a situation where all industry is owned by the state, though of course in the Imperium, they don't even pretend the workers own anything.)

Well, currency has everything to do with it-the economy is backed against Feudal tribute rather than precious material held in vaults. The standard unit, the Throne, is literally backed by the Administratum's Tithe enforced on most planets. While the bewildering array of economies and goods cause geometric complexities in the market, at the simplest level each unit of currency is basically an investment made by the Imperium to extract goods and services from its citizens above and beyond the Tithe; and safeguarded against the value of those same Tithes.

Theoretically, someone with enough cash can buy almost anything that could be Tithed by the Administratum, up to and including entire fleets and armies. Some things are beyond private ownership because of autocratic decree, or high level treaties like the pact with Mars, but you would be amazed what people in the fluff privately own. Now, there are plenty of practical obstacles, not least of which is proprietary interest in maintaining control over certain resources; but there is nothing legally stopping a private citizen from owning a fleet of battleships and their own pocket Empire run in the Imperium's name. Most private citizens who reach such heights tend to either go after a Warrant and become a Rogue Trader, or leverage their resources into command at the heart of the Imperium on Terra; but we have plenty of examples in the fluff of private citizens running merchant cartels or even personal empires within Imperial space, bought and paid for in hard currency.

Edited by ViperMagnum357 on Jun 30th 2018 at 12:29:36 PM

Yeah, the Rogue Traders are one of the bits of really old lore I'm glad that stuck around. I don't think if they hadn't been there at the beginning they would have been instituted by the direction the Imperium went in (both in universe and out) and they nicely balance out some of the more po-faced stuff in the lore with their flamboyance.

40k is truly the darkest timeline.

In the grim darkness of the far future, we still haven't gotten rid of capitalism.

Founder: The Elon of Muskkind.

I mean, I can't imagine any human society where capitalistic principles could ever be completely removed from an economy.

You lack vision. Or you haven't read enough Ian Banks.

I think that it's very possible for the world of the future to take on a shape that we can't imagine now - though who can say if it will be better or worse.

I feel Rogue Traders are mostly shoved under the rug and ignored, at least as far as codex lore goes. Then again, I imagine like 90% of the time life in the 40k galaxy is stable, if brutal. But it's a wargame, and so we see the war.

Talking of Rogue Traders there is a skirmish game coming out for them. The models◊ look cool◊.

And on the subject of skirmish-level games, Kill Team is supposedly confirmed for release this month.

GW Facebook video here.

Now I kind of want someone to make rewrites to 40k's intro description so that it mocks capitalism. And I say this as a capitalist.

Given how the Adminstratum is the Space IRS with actual fleets and armies to back up their inquests and reviews, you could plug that statement wholesale into the setting with nary an odd look. Everyone likes poking fun at the Administratum (behind their backs, anyway.)

<slow clap>

BTW, since this was brought up by the news of a 40k Monopoly game, I gotta ask...

Does anyone here actually enjoy playing Monopoly? For some weird reason I always keep forgetting that I don't actually like playing the game until I'm actually playing it.

Edited by M84 on Jul 2nd 2018 at 12:44:00 AM

It's worth remembering that Monopoly was originally created as a tool to demonstrate why rent sucks and common ownership of land is good. No, seriously; the stated agenda was that it was easier to show how rent keeps tenants poor and landlords rich in the form of a game than in lengthy explanations of economics. Then it got sold to a big company, who carefully erased that from the justification because it was the Thirties and big companies in the Thirties were not in the habit of distributing arguments against capitalism. (It would be another few decades before they truly cracked the secret of performative, content-free faux-rebellion as a marketing strategy.)

Monopoly is ultimately not supposed to be fun, which goes some way to explaining why it isn't.

It's ironic that Monopoly, originally anti-capitalist in nature, is more or less proof of the power of good marketing and nostalgia. Generations of people keep buying Monopoly in all of its various forms despite nobody genuinely enjoying the game.

Weirdly, both of my sisters seem to genuinely enjoy it. I have no idea what the appeal of it is for them.

I enjoy winning the game, or at least buying out and maxing one side of the board so people suffer if they land on it.