A Journey into the War-Torn Universe of Warhammer 40K Club
Story by Amber McCain, Photos by David McCain
Club members, Ross Filbin and Ian Royce discuss characters and figure building.
One of the newest additions to UAF club life is the Warhammer 40K Club. Founded in Fall 2024, it gives students a space to explore the universe of “Warhammer 40,000” — a sci-fi setting packed with alien battles and grim lore. The tabletop game behind it blends strategy, storytelling, and creativity, as players collect, build, and paint miniature armies before fighting tactical matches with dice, rulebooks, and terrain.
The Sun Star got to sit in on a Warhammer 40K Club biweekly meeting, held every other Saturday from 5 to 7 p.m. in Conference Room C/D on the sixth floor of the Rasmuson Library. Club president, John Bohanan, welcomed me into a world of tiny warriors. As a newcomer, I was invited to clip plastic models from their frames — a task that made me quite nervous at first, but Bohanan reassured me it was hard to mess up. “As long as you don’t cut yourself, you’re doing fine,” he joked. Most members have a story or two involving an X-acto knife and minor injuries.
I then got to try painting figures, a very detailed and time-consuming process, but another fun addition to the night. The effort players put into hand-painting these characters is admirable. The club provides paints, tools, and models for members to use, allowing students to try the hobby without the financial commitment. The campus club currently has four combat patrol sets (each set is like a mini army of figurines): two Space Marines and two Tyranid factions. Warhammer has it all: books, gaming, painting, and competitions. It really is a bunch of micro-hobbies in one.
The conversation flowed easily as members swapped stories, laughed, and talked about some of Warhammer’s darker lore as the night continued. At one point, Ross Filbin flipped open a novel and read the franchise’s iconic opening line.
“Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim, dark future of the 41st millennium, there is only war,” read Filbin. He added, “That’s pretty much the vibe. Everything is terrible. It sucks.” Warhammer is this mix of tragedy and dark humor and that’s what sets it apart from other universes like “Star Wars” and “Halo” that lean into hope and heroism, 40K embraces the bleakness.
Game length varies based on player experience, typically lasting between one and three hours.
Whether you’re into painting, strategy, storytelling, or just meeting fellow Warhammer lovers, the Warhammer 40K Club offers an incredibly welcoming place to jump in.
And remember, Knowledge is power. Guard it well.
