One of the most common questions asked is what is the best way to get into the hobby. The truth is there are dozens of ways due to the sheer amount of content produced on almost every platform available from videogames to books.
In terms of general interest recently the hobby has exploded in popularity and in general interest due to the fan created content. As that is where the passion of the community shines the most. It was how I personally was made aware and gained interest as well.
Therefore I shall be going over the TOP 5 best fan created projects from the community. This list is based on my opinion and experience but if you had any other pieces of content that you felt should've been included leave them in the comments below.
5. Death of Hope
"Death of Hope" is a highly anticipated Warhammer 30K fan film created by Mark Louis Spark. Two parts have been created and both are held up very high regard by the community. This specific piece demonstrates the evils of the universe and does not shy away from gory or horrific aspects of the universe. In fact it zooms in on it. It shows the goings-on's of a Chaos Space marine ship which are considered to be one of the worst factions around.
4. Helsreach
Directed by Richard Boylan, the creator of the 'Guardsman 2018' short film, this two-hour animated masterpiece combines the voice narration of the 'Helsreach' audiobook from the Black Library. The story follows the journey of newly-promoted Black Templar Reclusiarch Merek Grimaldus and his squad as they defend the hive-city of Helsreach during the Second War of Armageddon against the massive Ork Waaagh!.
3. Last church
The last Church unlike most fan projects is not 3d animated it is 2d drawn. And is one of my personal favorites. This 1 hour movie is about The Emperor himself simply having a conversation with the last priest on earth in the last church. It portrays all the flaws and inhumanity of the Emperor through simple dialogue and amazing direction. And is one of the most human of the stories, as they discuss the aspects of religion.
2. Astartes
The legendary fan made 5 part series shows a space marine chapter as they raid a pirate ship. The entire project was done by 1 man and it was of such high quality that GW recognized the talent and hired the animator. For simple Mass appeal this should win but its only flaw I would say is its shortness. It was in the simple execution of it that it gained such popularity as many projects had tried before but never could capture the feeling of a space marine. I could not recommend this one enough!
1. TTS/if the emperor had a text-to-speech device
TTS is a YouTube series created by Bruva Alfabusa. It is held up by the community due to its high quality in writing, comedy and actually helping people understand the universe. Being one of the first Fan projects it's sheer impact on the community is unspeakable. And for this I hold it above Astartes. Many of its portrayals of characters and lore were so liked by the community they prefer it over the official ones.
Sadly GW seeing all these talented fans creating their own content for the community saw an opportunity to monetize. They started threatening these creators with lawsuits for using their IP. And instead created Warhammer+ offering exclusive Animations for a price. This action caused all the fan creators to stop and left a terrible taste in mouth of the community.
But falter not as these creative people have gained the full support of the community and have seen nothing but praise for their next projects such as Bruva Alfabusa's " Hunter: The Parenting" series. And many of the animators found stable work within GW now working for them officially.
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