Header photo by Jacen. Model by Recusant.
One of the challenges with playing narratively is that there isn’t an agreed upon definition of Narrative Play. Matched Play, by comparison, has twice yearly (or more) updates setting out exactly what it is and how to play it, but for Narrative Play this is left up to the players.
Narrative Play in the Core Rules
In ninth edition 40k, Narrative Play was focussed on using a Crusade army. The hallmarks of Narrative Play in 9th edition were as follows:
- Build Battle-Forged armies using Power Level;
- Play missions from a Narrative Play mission pack (either the one in the Core Rulebook or a supplement); and
- Track army progression using Crusade Rules.
You can certainly use the above as a starting point, but you’ll likely add more to your games or ignore the above guidelines completely. Though the above is a broad outline for Narrative Play, it doesn’t get to the heart of the matter.
Why play narrative games?
Warhammer 40,000 has a huge catalogue of official lore, whether it be Black Library novels, Warhammer+ shows, or snippets in various rulebooks, which all contributes to a universe that has been built over decades. Even before reading or watching any of that, the models themselves are engrossing and narrative defining. Some players may approach 40k like chess–just seeing the miniatures as representations of stats and rules–but the vast majority of players are enthralled by the figures on the tabletop and the universe they represent.
Narrative games bring that universe to life. Simply put, it is the extension of the backstory of the game, allowing players to play through their favourite moments within the lore or create their own stories. Whatever evocative piece of art or story engaged you when you first got into the hobby can be transposed onto the tabletop through Narrative Play. And though the same narrative moments can certainly exist in a tournament game, Narrative Play puts those front and center and exists for the purpose of creating those epic duels, grueling sieges, and glorious last stands that you’ve either read about or even imagined while painting.
Enjoyment over Victory
More so than tournament play, in Narrative Play you should put having fun front and center: not just yourself, but your opponent. Whereas a tournament game is about winning and making top tables, Narrative Play is purely for the enjoyment of the game and therefore you need to ensure it is fun for all participants. (Personally, I think tournament play/competitive play/matched play should also encapsulate this, but I do not feel that it does to the same extent).
So what does this mean? From list creation to playing in-game, it means that you should be aiming not to win but that you and your opponent are having a great time. That’s not to say you can’t bring a hard list and try to win, but that you should be communicating the strength of your list to your opponent so that everyone can have a close game. Similarly, communicating any sort of skew in your list is important so your opponent doesn’t get caught out with the wrong weapons (i.e. bringing massed lasguns to face knights).
Even for just friendly matched play games, I’ve gotten into the habit of always sharing my list in advance so that my opponent isn’t caught out with any surprises and has the right tools so that they’re not left with units that can do little to nothing against my army. For Narrative Play, though, I think this is more important than a competitive setting: in the latter, you’ve both already agreed to bring the toughest lists you can by the very nature of the game you’re playing. In Narrative Play though, the breadth of the missions and viable armies is so much wider that having as much communication beforehand is important, not just about your lists but the mission you’re playing as well.
The story comes first
In all regards (except for having fun), the narrative you’re weaving must come first. This starts before the game: army construction and mission selection should be dictated by the narrative (and if your game is a one off that’s not part of a larger campaign or story, the narrative of the 40k setting should take center stage).
This continues into the game: how you play your army should be dictated by the narrative. Would your Khorne Beserkers fall back from combat to take an objective? Would your Drukhari Archon charge a carnifex unsupported?
Furthermore, the story can even overrule the game mechanics and dice rolls. If you and your opponent agree that failing a charge is lame, you can decide that the charge is successful and play out the fight. Carnifexes leaping off a cliff can’t technically charge an aircraft, but if you and your opponent both agree it would be cool, let them!
Why wouldn’t someone play narratively?
Some players simply won’t be interested in playing narrative games: the joy of the hobby for them may be crafting the perfect list and climbing the ladder to the top table at a tournament. But assuming you are interested in narrative games, why wouldn’t you play them?
The major hurdle to narrative games is simply that they are hard: they’re hard to set up, they’re hard to balance, and they can be hard to make evocative. Games Workshop has made enormous strides at making Narrative Play more accessible, but at the end of the day, more ink and bandwidth is dedicated to Matched Play. 9th Edition saw a dearth of narrative supplements and mission packs, but there are still barriers to Narrative Play.
The Golden Rule
Our distilled definition of narrative play (in case you skipped to the end) can be summarized as this:
You are responsible for your opponent’s fun. The story comes first in every instance, unless it makes the game unfun.
One of the main reasons we’ve started this blog is to dismantle those barriers and provide guides to Narrative Play to make it simpler than ever. We believe narrative games are the best way to play 40k: they are the most immersive, most engaging, and most fun. Building the story of your army and even your own sector of the Imperium is incredibly rewarding and we hope to provide the tools for you to do the same.
Further reading and listening
The Independent Characters, Episode 202 – Extreme Narrative Gaming https://open.spotify.com/episode/4lLaw4gl0p6YxQq3IlZhWt?si=1f285c9a85024d67
This episode of the ICs (and much of their catalogue) has a phenomenal discussion on narrative gaming (this episode was definitely a big inspiration for the above article).
Goonhammer, The Narrative Forge series https://www.goonhammer.com/the-narrative-forge/
Goonhammer has a large library of narrative articles, though it can skew towards a competitive lens.
Masters of the Forge podcast https://mastersoftheforge.com/
The Masters of the Forge podcast is dedicated to 40k lore and narrative play and their website has a library of homebrew rules.