grimdank

To be entirely fair, the nature of 40k as a vehicle for selling miniatures (and thus changing with the tastes of the market, or what the execs think the market likes) has meant that its tone has changed radically over the years. But that's really the trouble with a long-running universe without a clear guiding vision. Everyone scrapes together bits and pieces from the era they got into it, and then looks at that as the 'truest' version of the universe.

For what it's worth, I'm generally in agreement that the grimdarkness of the grimdark future is what sets 40k most apart from other settings, and trying to shift that over to a more Warhammer Fantasy tone of "Things are BAD but there are still people Fighting The Good Fight" isn't the right direction to take it. Especially after trying to kill off Warhammer Fantasy. I love Ciaphias Cain, but his popularity is a contributor to this too.

I still remember my introductions to 40k - a demo disc with Dawn of War on it, and subsequently, when enthusing to a friend about it, being shown a hodgepodge of collectibles and a Tyranid rulebook which had BIG fucking Aliens vibes. Good shit. Remorseless fanatics, lost and brutalized worlds, warrior-monks of a religion of war (but not blind berserking rage), hardened conscripts against horrors they only dimly glanced? Fuck, that was such a new and novel aesthetic. I was entranced from the start.