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Nazi

2022-01-08T02:21:27Z

2A01:CB00:62F:3000:96B:3F4:A4A2:2870: /* Overview */

{{Topquote|I have in this War a burning private grudge—which would probably make me a better soldier at 49 than I was at 22: against that ruddy little ignoramus Adolf Hitler (for the odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will). Ruining, perverting, misapplying, and making for ever accursed, that noble northern spirit, a supreme contribution to Europe, which I have ever loved, and tried to present in its true light.|[[J.R.R. Tolkien]], being a boss}}
{{Topquote|1=[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHFtbSZ3KRE YOU UTTER FOOL! GERMAN SCIENCE IS THE FINEST IN ZE WORLD!!!]|2=[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure|Stroheim, an over the top Nazi and the first Guile]]}}

[[File:Nazi.png|frameless|center]]

[[Image:Nazi uniforms.gif|thumb|right|150px|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L21dPTqSjpQ God''damn'' it, Nazis! Why are you so fashionable, you ''evil fucking bastards''?!]]]
'''Nazi''' is the commonly used shorthand version of ''Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (National Socialist German Workers' Party), a political party which took over Germany <s>for 1,000 years</s> from 1933 to 1945. It also refers to people who belonged to said party, their ideology, and their regime in Germany during said period of time. Led by Adolf Hitler, the Nazi Party emerged from the uncertainty and political upheaval due to the Red Scare, the end of the German Empire after the Great War, myths, promoted by the army, that the military had been on the cusp of victory before being "stabbed in the back" by the civil government, resentment at unfair conditions imposed by Treaty of Versailles, economic uncertainties due to the Stock Market crash of 1929, German ethnic nationalism, a desire to blame things on scapegoats, and a belief in militarism popular among many returning veterans. They were also aided by their invention of modern campaigning and propaganda, wide-spread dissatisfaction with the status quo, the strategic seizure of the political positions that controlled the police force, the intimidation or murder of political opponents and journalists using glorified street thugs, and more dumb luck than anyone has any right to have, let alone a bunch of genocidal [[Racial Holy War|loons]].

==Overview==
[[File:German_Bratwurst.gif|right|thumb|Historically Accurate]]
The Nazis' initial success can be attributed to the image of glorious economic recovery, part of which they accomplished by keeping Germany's economy running during The Great Depression. They presented this to the rest of the world, making many people believe the little mustachioed guy couldn't be that crazy since he'd made his country recover brilliantly in very little time. And while Germany did indeed recover, the whole thing was helped and held upright by [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mefo_bills MEFO bills]: basically a Ponzi scheme that allowed the government to loan money on the sly through a front company about metallurgy research (the ''Metallurgische Forschungsgesellschaft'', or MEFO in short). This allowed them to work at a much higher level of debt flotation than allowed by international regulation, and the idea was to pay back the loans with seized gold and valuables from Jews at first, and then directly from conquered nations after the war went on, since even [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_bond state created debt bonds] are exactly that: debt, credit, which is trust. Eventually the creditor will want something in exchange (or at the very least get his investment back) or the debtor's credibility will be shattered, stopping the money flow.

To give you a clearer idea of what happened: You are defeated and poor, but are fuming for revenge. To keep you down, your victorious neighbors don't lend you a dime to produce guns and make sure your already meager income is only spent on debt and basic necessities. So what do you do? You decide to spend money in the form of credit, raise the debt higher and higher (making the rest of the world believe you are rich), and keep the charade until the debt becomes irrelevant(who needs to pay the creditor he will declare war on?). So you make up a credit card called Mefocard ("MEtallurgische FOrschungsgesellschaft" - Metallurgy R&D sounds civilian and peaceful, so the world markets play along), borrow even more wildly to look opulent, and to create weapons on the sly promise that you'll pay the debt back... Then attempt to kill the lenders and subjugate their families to share the debt you have. It was simply a continent wide, all-or-nothing robbery attempt even wilder than WW1's trench-fighting Imperial duel.

The Ponzi schemes weren't limited to national/corporate level shenanigans, but extended to the German people as well. The famous Beetle was developed to be a cheap family car (hence “volkswagen”, or “people’s car”), and a part of selling the German public on the idea of an idyllic, cheap-but-cheerful family life, along with things like state-sponsored vacation villages. An elaborate layaway scheme allowed average German families to give the government a few Reichsmark a day in exchange for the promise of a new Beetle and a seaside vacation package. However, all that money actually went into rebuilding the German military, and war began before any of the promises had to be delivered on. Because the [[Tzeentch|illusion of a better future and hope is always easier]] than just taxing the population directly. And, lastly, the Holocaust itself was also an important pillar of the German economy, especially when the war started in earnest; Jewish(and other undesirables', particularly Slavic intelligentsia) property and land was being confiscated on a scale never before seen or even thought of in how vast it was, not even their dead bodies were safe. Glasses were taken apart and reused for scopes or similar, hair being used as fabrics for the textile industry, gold teeth molten down by the millions. Massive amounts of gold, hard currency and other valuable things like works of art stolen from Jewish museums, synagogues, households and bank accounts(hence keeping up the Mefo bill's token payments to creditors). They even had to pay for their own transit into the death camps, which would almost be hilarious, if it wasn't so unbelievably evil.

They were also fantastic proponents of lies and propaganda, ranging from race theory (fake archeology was a particular favorite), to manufactured pretexts for war (the trigger for invading Poland was an obvious false-flag operation- something Japan used 2 years previously), to simply overstating their successes. For example, the old line that goes "say what you want about them, but the Nazis/Hitler did make the trains run on time"? They didn't. Train service was as bad or worse under fascist leadership as it had been immediately before their rise to power. But they realized that they only had to ''say'' the trains were running on time, and strongarm anyone inside Germany who dared to publicly disagree. Doubly funny is that it was ''Mussolini'''s Italy that had trains running on time, and even then, it was because of pre-fascism era personnel improving it.

Needless to say, this situation was the reason why the scenario of not waging war (like in Hearts of Iron or some alternate reality stories) simply wasn't a realistic option. Despite their multiple annexations of territory, the Nazis couldn't sustain their charade without the influx of riches, heavy machinery (they stripped Poland to the bone, even grabbing civilian factories' machinery, bolts, nuts and even metallic building materials like Dothraki on meth, of which the latter was true) and material from other conquered territories to pay the MEFO bills. So they soon mobilized their armies and launched a war of expansion on the rest of the world, starting with Poland. (The question is still open among historians as whether they annexed and plundered enough reserves with Czechoslovakia to keep the charade up "peacefully" long enough to let their Red "ally" make the opening move instead, but that's a discussion for another place and time.)

Their goal (next to getting gold and industrial materials to pay the enormous gambling debt of an empire) was to impose their militaristic Social Darwinist ideology across Europe, outlaw any dissenting school of thought, enslave all the "sub-human" Slavs (after starving to death more than half of them to make room for German settlers in accordance to Generalplan Ost and re-branding the young ones with German names), and exterminate any "undesirables" (Jews, Roma, homosexuals, etc) on which they blamed all their problems because they felt that they were superhumans without any flaws. Any problem which they suffered had to be the fault of some subversive "other" from outside who tried to cause the Master Race misery according to a Nazi philosophy of believing all ethnicities are a hivemind loyal to themselves and they all collectively fight over resources, therefore "weaker" races resort to social corruption(LGBT, Porn, discouraging women from reproducing) of the glorious German master race to get ahead of them. But due to some severe strategic fuck ups from Hitler <s>who often overruled his military leadership</s> and his generals (the situation is nuanced; basically there was mutual mistrust and both sides fucked up, but after the war the generals used Hitler as a scapegoat; the history is written by the living), Germany ended up in a three-way war with the Soviet Union (who provided blood), Great Britain (military intelligence, enough naval force projection to strangle all Axis naval trade and pure fucking grit) & the United States (more armaments than you can possibly dream of with an extra helping on top), while their only nearby allies such as Romania (The dudes keeping the European oil fields), Hungary (some light tanks and cavalry) & Italy (...more of a liability than bonus,so...) surrendered during the middle years of the war, and resource-starved Japan could do little more than be a distraction.

While Germany may have had some areas of technological/industrial advantage (at least initially, and this is often overstated), by the end of the war they struggled with the lack of many strategic resources and dislocation of production lines and reverted to some crude and/or outlandish solutions like using potato alcohol for V-2 rockets and meth-filled chocolate bars for Eastern Front troopers (when they decided to use the logistic volume for ammo rather than thick clothes which they '''had''' but decided to workaround with untested drugs-typical Hitlerite solution-). Severely wrong decisions in material designs like "flying wing" aircrafts sans fuselage, multi-charge megacannons and retardedly big tanks that wasted more engineering effort than several divisions of tanks and infantry, along with a chronic shortage of secure oil other than a trickle from Romania, there was no hope of repulsing both the Western Allies and the Soviet Union at the same time; thus the Nazi regime finally met its end when the allies marched into Berlin and Hitler {{*BLAM*}}med himself along with his mad-as-a-hatter common-law wife. While their hate-wagon managed to go far and temporarily overrun most of Europe, it simply had too much war to fight on multiple fronts, a lack of effective strategic planning in the form of Hitler and his cronies, and the fact that most powerful nations of the time opposed them either because they cherished their political freedoms, saw their economies fail, or simply were on the Nazi "to-exterminate" list.

So with all that baggage, how the hell did they manage to conquer most of Europe?

Two words: operational flexibility. Or "knockout artistry", whichever you prefer. In early half of the war, the German military operated on a principle they called "mission tactics" (auftragstaktik). The field commanders were given clear end state goals (such as: secure this location by such and such time), and then given free rein in HOW they accomplished the goal. Left to their own devices, the German commanders in the field were creative and flexible, using everything they had at their disposal and making high risk, high reward maneuvers. They also entered the war with radios in every tank and the best close air support in the world (at the time).

The French and British had stronger tanks, excellent defensive positions, and equivalent numbers, but it didn't matter. The allies were expecting a war where both sides show up and shoot at each other, while the Germans decided that moving fast and causing lines to simply collapse was much easier than actually engaging forces and destroying them. One French general famously spent several days celebrating his promotion to the role of leading the defense, only to finally arrive at his command center and find the Germans one river away from Paris.

The German army did its best work when their commanders were allowed to make the most out of their situation and assets, and only started to suffer when they were micromanaged and squandered in operations that didn't play to their advantages in mobility.

===Wunderkind===

Hate them as much as you like, the Nazis were still Germans, which means they were wicked smart; in essence they min-maxed, putting all their culture points into "pure evil" and "mad genius", with nothing left for common sense. Under the Nazis, German industry developed and produced the first practical axial flow turbine engines and with them the first jets. They built rockets to (then) unheard of sizes able to throw useful masses up to high suborbital altitude; if they'd wanted to, they could have put a man in space almost twenty years before the Russians did. Engineers such as Kurt Tank, Wernher von Braun, Kurt Diebner, and Konrad Zuse were given generous backing to their projects; most German scientists had long careers in their fields after the Reich fell. The industry minister who oversaw these projects was Albert Speer. Speer was an architect and a bit of a futurist mastermind; he was basically a darker version of Walt Disney, willing to overlook the moral failings of Nazism as long as it let him build magnificent, efficient cities.

==Nazi Portrayals in Fiction==

Nazis are portrayed as an over the top wacky military who like leading extermination wars against the Jews (and other people) and build secret bases on the moon, under water, or some other silly place. Their technology is frequently exaggerated with [[Dieselpunk|laser weapons, armored suits, giant robots, walking tanks, and/or Robo-Hitler]]. Some vidya portrayals even goes so far as to put it all together in a big ball of [[LOLWUT]] and add a touch of magical [[Lovecraft]]ian shit because Nazi propaganda had a weird love for the occult.

Varying opinions on the perceived Nazi character allows them to be looked at from varying points of view, developing their character all the more. Take the [[Imperium of Man]], for example, which tends to blend German-fascist iconography with Soviet politics and a Roman-Catholic aesthetic sense. Some will say that the Imperium's a nuthouse since they're willing to allow an Inquisitor to turn an entire hive spire into a towering inferno if he so happens to find a single heretic in{{*BLAM*}} {{BLAM|SPEAKING ILL OF THE IMPERIUM IS EXTRA HERESY.}}

Others will say that the Imperium's just being pragmatic, and such an action is justifiable as the Imperium is constantly beset by merciless foes who will not think twice to bring them down, making their methods for survival cruel but necessary. Which, given the fact that daemons really do exist and can corrupt entire planets in a short amount of time and rape every corrupted soul forever and ever, is pretty justifiable. Even the Imperium's xenophobia is justifiable given how nearly [[Orks|all]] the [[Necrons|major]] [[Tyranids|races]] pretty much want to wipe everyone else out or [[Dark Eldar|enslave them to be tortured to death as sustenance]].

But that doesn't change the fact that these reasons are often just used as an excuse to torture and kill anyone who's even s{{BLAM}}

Funnily enough the idea of Nazi Germany being an advanced, sophisticated war machine has been re-evaluated in recent years to be considered a fictional version of the German army spoken as truth. Closer examination of the war has shown that while advanced tactics and technology were used the actual moment by moment commanding (WITH exceptions of course) wasn't especially fantastic, but relied on one-trick, all or nothing ponies like demoralizing the target country into surrender; it's one thing to knock out France on the brink of communist civil war or roughshod into Poland, taking over Russia another. Plus the same logistic issue that ended up as the Wehrmacht's undoing during the Russian campaign had been happening since day one, the Third Reich thinking that once the Russians were beaten back to Arkangelsk-Astrakhan line they'd roll over and collapse, emphasis on THINKING, PRESUMING which should spell "Doom" by day one. It just wasn't readily apparent previously because campaigns were often over fast enough that it didn't really matter. We're talking about a Army that refused to upgrade their paratroopers with steerable parachutes (which is WAY more important for a paratrooper then you would think)! Plus one can't ignore the fact most countries successfully invaded were either very minor powers or horribly horribly mismanaged or technologically stunted as far as the military was concerned. The view of the Wehrmacht as a mechanized force has also been reevaluated in recent years. We think of the German military as a mechanized juggernaut, but a lot of that was those same biographies mentioned above and below. About 20% of the German army was mechanized. The majority of the army that invaded the USSR during operation Barbarossa walked in, and their supplies were pulled by horses. They didn't have anything like the insane levels of mechanization found in some of their enemies. Even the USSR, with American aid at first, and panic-driven manufacturing later, outproduced the Wehrmacht around 43 in supply trucks.

This view of German as this massive intimidating force was mostly put in place by German general biographies (Maybe you've heard of this before. "If Hitler just listened to his generals...") and the fact perpetuating the myths benefited both Germany and America. Germany gets to feel like the war was a fair fight and all failings can be blamed on that funny Austrian guy (not in small part due to Nazi officials wanting to clear their names after the war, most of which continued to work in the West German government way into the 60s and 70s, with one of them, Kurt Georg Kiesinger, even rising to the office of Chancellor in 1966. And that's just the civilian side. The first generation of Generals of the Bundeswehr were exclusively recruited from Wehrmacht and SS officiers, many of them War Criminals, where the allies just looked the other way because they thought they were assets), while America convinces the public that Germany could be a impressive threat. Even against a certain group of communists over the border...

===Impact on Fantasy===

In terms of military personnel, the Germans had hands down one of the best armies of the time, well disciplined and well trained with experienced mid-level officers; this combined with borderline insane levels of morale at the start of the war due to years of giving the middle finger to the war-weary western nations which capitulated to their demands combined with revanchism of WW1, and turned the German into an unholy Juggernaut. The Germans were known to have some of the best armored tanks in the war, their small arms far outstripped the guns Europe had at the time, and they were pioneers in many advanced technologies during their time that have become well known today, like jet engines, cruise missile systems, fully automatic rifles (even with battery-run night scopes around '44), stealth craft, and many others. Tactics-wise, their eagerness to experiment with encirclement and mobile warfare whereas the Allies stagnated in Great War formations of firing lines gave them an incredible headstart and utterly broke the back of French armies and shocking the whole world; even Hitler expected a million Germans to die in the French war, yet France capitulated in weeks.

This, combined with their infamous cruelty have spawned the Nazi-esque villain template where the villains are both powerful and [[Eldrad|gigantic dicks]] to everyone else, making them completely despicable. This is because if the villain is significantly weaker than the protagonist of the setting, most people will still feel a few grains of sympathy towards the former or make them a laughing stock. But, when you make the villain both an enormous asshole and just as or more powerful than the protagonist, all bets are off and he's fair game.

Of course, the weaknesses of Nazism also need to be taken into account, in that a lot of their supposedly superior technology turned out to be highly unstable or otherwise impractical (such as behemoth tank designs that would have wasted immense resources better spent on dozens of more reasonable tanks), and would frequently be outclassed and definitely outnumbered by Allied designs once the latter got their shit together. This was even true at the start of the war: British Matilda II's were all but immune to German tank fire (from the early Panzers, before the later Tigers), and a column of them almost stopped Rommel at the Battle of Arras. Add poorly managed industry and the fact that supplies at times were delivered by horse (which was not actually that atypical, since only America and early war Britain were that ridiculously mechanized), and you have a faction that is the epitome of [[Chaos Space Marines|style over substance]]. This really bit them in the ass later when the Allies, [[Imperial Guard|focusing on production and strategy over science fiction and "tactics"]], managed to get a leg up the Third Reich, and battle-hardened Allied soldiers became the top dogs without question. To illustrate, by 1945 the typical American INFANTRY division could expect to have as many tanks as a Nazi armored division, and an American armored division could simply zerg-rush their Nazi counterpart (and hell, the Panzer divisions frequently operated at less than half strength, even since the beginning of Barbarossa, let alone after having the country incinerated by firebombing and supply lines fucked by pissed off partisans who understandably did not want to leave the mass murder unanswered).

In fiction, expect the Nazi villains to eventually have their technology and logistics outclassed (FPS and RTS games like Call of Duty, Warfront: Turning Point or Company of Heroes), made irrelevant via gimmicks (Sniper Elite, Commandos, Velvet Assassin) or at least stolen and turned against them (Wolfenstein), and the hardened heroes to turn Nazi soldiers into cannon fodder.

Nazis are the progenitors of all acceptable targets where human bad guys are concerned. Be it in vidya games or movies, nobody has a problem with Nazis getting gunned down by the hundreds by the heroes, and they don't even have to resort to the dehumanizing full helmets that most other villain goons have to wear to make slaughtering them okay.

A more comedic take on Nazis in fiction owes to wartime cartoons, where the soldiers and Nazi command are all bumbling idiots, with comedy brought to you by Walt Disney and Warner Bros. Hitler today has essentially been turned into a punchline with all the gags centered around him, which is kinda awesome when you think about it, as dictators that wish to be feared would never want to be remembered as a joke, just watch any Downfall movie parody (Bruno Ganz's excellent performance in particular has become memetic for having Hitler rant about random things or meta rants about how he was reduced to a joke). The one exception would be Göring, who was on drugs since the Beer Hall Putsch and was so narcissistic that people making jokes about him sitting on his belly for dinner and taking baths in admirals uniforms were considered signs of popularity by him. Every other high level Nazi, especially Himmler (A failed chicken farmer who spent his last resort field command in 1944 sleeping until noon, eating, drinking jacking off and getting massages from a man) a secluded wagon and Goebbels (who basically created all the modern populist tactics of dictators and was born crippled on account of a deformed leg, making him the most obviously hypocritical big name Nazi), took jokes at their expense only slightly better than Hitler did. So joke away and spit in the memory of fools who bled the world dry.

===Examples===
*The [[Skaven]] from [[Warhammer Fantasy]] and later [[Age of Sigmar]] borrow many Nazi-esque elements, which in turn makes them the most vile and evil race in the World That Was... Only it's taken to its logical extreme, as with many things Warhammer. Nazis had a hatred for what they believed was untermenschen and believed the "Aryan" race was most pure, while the Skaven hate all other living things, including their own race, with each individual believing only themselves to be worth anything. Pack in some advanced Wunderwaffen, magical nuclear power in the form of Warpstone and chemical weapons as well and you have a solid, if over-the-top, Nazi fantasy faction.

*The [[Imperium]], to the point where they're commonly described as "Catholic '''Space-Nazis'''". Complete with gratuitous use of Nazi imagery, a doctine of racial purity and absolute hatred for the "untermenschen" (mutants, psykers, and xenos), rising to power as part of a miraculous socio-economic recovery in the wake of a catastrophe ([[Age of Strife]]/[[Great Crusade]]), a "glorious rebirth" myth harkening back to a lost golden age [[Dark Age of Technology]], numerous military structures with parallel chains of command that are all at each other's throat due to a culture-wide policy of social Darwinism, an army run by absolute fanatics with horrendously inefficient war machines they barely understand, an SS analogue in the form of the [[Adepta Sororitas]] (who coincidentally tend to be depicted as fair-haired, though skin color varies and not all orders dye their hair white). Not to mention the Imperium's justification for xenocide is almost word-for-word the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stab-in-the-back_myth| stab-in-the-back-myth]] the Nazis used to try and justify their treatment of Jews and the Holocaust, only replace "Aryan" with "human" and "Jew" with "xenos".

*Thalmor from the Elder Scrolls: Skyrim is a fantasy equivalent of NSDAP, with robes completely ripping off SS uniforms, racism, genocide of "impure elves" and religious persecution of an enemy people in a conquered realm.

*The most extensive take on the theme of Space Nazis would be the Helghast from ''Killzone'', where the people of Helgan see the ISA as Imperialist gits who forced them out of their planet for refusing their rule. Although by Shadow Fall, they become akin to Communist East Germans, being filled with political radicals and separated by a wall and all.

*If you have a fantasy/sci-fi world, it will almost certainly have some sort of Nazi analogue floating around. At the same time, Nazis also figure into a lot of [[Alternate History|alternate history]] fiction: Nazis invading England, Nazis invading America, Nazis successfully conquering the USSR, Nazis getting the Bomb first, Nazis creating an army of mutant uber-troopers, Nazis on the Moon, Nazis using occult powers to summon demons to aid them, Nazi zombies, all of these have been done. The Nazi obsession in alternate history is largely due to the fact that we consider them evil (for the right reasons), and our modern world is the result of an Allied victory. A Nazi victory, to us, is just unthinkable.

==Nazis and [[/tg/]]==
Long ago, /tg/ realized something that most competent GMs have: Nazis represent a great liberating force for any GM, for they represent a force that any player need not feel any remorse over resorting to violence against, because Nazis are the textbook template for villains in most settings. They desire world domination, see themselves as the apex species and view most others with utter contempt, wanton disregard for common life, have an industry primarily geared towards war, are the most powerful warmongers, and they have that evil-yet-sublime aesthetic to their armies. Nazis are a modern setting variant of using [[slavery|slavers]] as your enemy in a fantasy game: they have little to no redeeming values, so they're great enemy fodder.

The association gives the players a motivation and creates the understanding that these people are Completely Evil™, allowing the GM to focus on other aspects of the story. Indeed, one can get similar results by simply providing details that lead us to conclude that any group you are facing off against are this universe's version of Nazis. That said, that same context makes using Nazis a double-edged sword, and a lazy GM (or author, script writer, or whatever; this is hardly unique to roleplaying) can royally screw up if one uses them incorrectly. Used incorrectly, Nazis become a kitten-eating one-dimensional caricature of villains descended into self-parody, which ''can'' work if the world is built for it. Kitten-eating Nazis work best in "goofy" settings where it's fully possible, and indeed expected for the final boss to be Hitler himself riding a cyborg dinosaur, but in a setting trying to take itself seriously, such flat villains do just that - fall flat and fail to incite the proper emotional reaction. Remember that the '''key''' to successful Nazi use is that emotional reaction. That exportation of real world baggage is the point, perhaps the sole point to use Nazis over some other villain. Nazis have the additional problem of not even needing to be exaggerated that much to make the worst of them into something like this. So care must be taken when one plays the Nazi card, or it will come off as trite.

Entire stretches of [[d20 Modern|d20 Past]] are shown various ways to implement ''Indiana Jones''-style Nazis into any campaign during the early 1900s, and [[Savage Worlds]] has an entire supplement devoted to thwarting Nazi super-soldier plans during WWII. More clever GMs can do even more interesting things with it, such as backing up the savagery of the Nazis with [[Fist of the North Star|a humanizing element to make them more understandable, even if antagonists]], whilst another interesting setting, proposed for [[GURPS]], starts the players off ''as'' Nazis and has them turn against their former comrades as the movement becomes harder and harder to justify. It's also worth remembering that Nazis can be used for comedy as well; they ''ARE'' Germans after all, and when they're not conquering the world they're prancing around in lederhosen, drinking beer from steins and boots, and churning out hardcore bdsm pornography. All of these lead to some pretty great storytelling, just so long as the GM knows how to play them correctly and prevent them from becoming a wackier version of an [[Ork]].

...And then you have [[Racial Holy War|this bullshit]], which misses the point entirely and renders us all stupider for the knowledge of its existence.

==Nazi Gear, Weapons, and Vehicles==
If you decide to use Nazis as your bad guys at tonight's game, the link below is a brief run down of basic information on Nazi equipment. If you're planning to play them as protagonists, either make sure it's either just a historically neutral such as a combat oriented Axis and Allies game, or [[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure|well written with an enemy that rivals or]] [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Domination ''surpasses'' their evil], or you're likely playing [[Racial Holy War]] and should thoroughly reconsider your life choices.

''Main Article: [[Nazi Equipment]]''

== See Also ==
* [[/pol/]]: Having fanatical adherents who would ironically be the first to be exterminated for being physically frail weebs or obese neckbeards.
* The [[Skaven]], who play straight some of the Nazi tropes like the concept of the Master Race and seeing all the other races as inferior "things".

[[Category:History]][[Category:Not related]][[Category:Pure Evil]]

The World Wars

2022-01-08T01:23:48Z

2A01:CB00:62F:3000:96B:3F4:A4A2:2870: Undo revision 804071 by 2A01:CB00:62F:3000:96B:3F4:A4A2:2870 (talk)

[[File:MAC52_SIDEBAR_TANKS01-810x445.jpg|thumb|right|War has changed...]]
{{topquote|War will become rare, but more terrible. [...] That's my horoscope|Arthur Conan Doyle, 1883}}
{{topquote|This is not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years|General Ferdinand Foch}}
During the [[Industrial Revolution]], Europe was comparatively peaceful for the most part. The 19th century started with the Napoleonic Wars when industrialization was building up steam in England and afterwards there were a series of colonial conflicts and small to middling wars between the various industrial powers*. The Civil War was on the upper end of conflicts in this era but was limited to the comparatively sparsely populated US, was still fought with muskets and saw about 600-750,000 people dead. The Franco Prussian war was won in six months (GOTT MIT UNS!), but in a chilling prelude to things to come killed some 180,000 combatants. Now you may say, "What the hell! The factory accidents and all other horrible abuses and war deaths were horrific!", but you ain't seen nothing yet. Things changed in 1914 when Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, starting the Great War, also known as the ''First World War''. This would be followed up by the ''Second World War'' in 1939-45, which largely stemmed from the consequences of the Great War, to the point that some call the period a Second Thirty Years War (accounting for post World War 1 conflicts and World War 2 prelude wars in the Spanish Civil War and Japan invading China, this is technically correct). '''The World Wars''' would spread across the world and saw conflict and destruction beyond anything that was ever seen before or since.

There are two important factors in the World Wars: ''Technology'' and ''Nationalism''. Technology is the easier of the two to understand. In the Napoleonic War the average soldier had a flintlock musket that could shoot 2-4 bullets a minute with an effective range of 100 meters, was supported by muzzle loading cannons that could shoot accurately to about 1km and was supplied by ox carts while steam engines were just beginning to propel boats and move loads of coal around mines in England. In 1914 the average soldier had a rifle that could shoot 15-30 bullets a minute (which could go through three men and still be deadly) at ranges of over a kilometer and was backed up by cannons that could fire shells six kilometers or more on ballistic courses which exploded in the air raining a spray of balls over a wide area and machine guns which could shoot 450 bullets a minute and airplanes. By the end of the Great War tanks, Submachine Guns and Poison Gas had been added to the arsenal. Tactics devised based on 19th century ideas of fighting were useless on this new battlefield and the book needed to be re-written from page one. Other technologies such as mass production, mechanized farming, railways and automobiles, mass education, telecommunications and modern bureaucracies meant that an Industrial Nation could turn more of its population into soldiers than any medieval nation could ever hope to do (Rome was hard pressed to keep up a standing army of about 1% of it's population, Germany mobilized nearly 20% during the Great War). Through bloody experience generals gradually put together some idea of how to operate in this new battlefield near the end of the Great War and between the wars they'd continue to build on it with experience in small scale wars. Even so people were still making it up as they went in WWII.

Nationalism is more abstract but just as important. In the Middle Ages, people generally identified themselves as being "a Christian Journeyman Blacksmith from London whose dad is English" or "a Jewish Master Cobbler from Munich whose mom is Sephardic" and so forth (their job, class, religion and hometown, things which they dealt with face to face day to day). If a civil war happened and ended up with a new noble house in charge while they and their family and friends got through unharmed, they would not care too much as long as the new lord upheld his feudal duties and was not a huge dick. There was a king and he ruled a bunch of land and tried to keep the peace, which was all good but the specifics of this was not a fact which defined them. This began to change with the Protestant Reformation and had a bit of build up through the Age of Enlightenment as propaganda for the masses took form, leading to the birth of nationalism with the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. People began to see their country as more than just where they lived and the guy in a funny hat who ruled them, but rather as a community of people united by common ideas, languages, beliefs, customs, ideals, and (often) ancestry, people who need to band together and set aside their differences to defend what's theirs against those stinking foreigners with their differences. Public education caught on during the Industrial Revolution, which made it possible to give these ideals to everyone from the richest businessman to the lowliest beggar. When you have two nations which have nationalistic populations and governments and other groups fond of egging nationalism on together it does not take much to get them at each others throats and keep them there.

Intertwined with Nationalism is the issue of "Balance of Power"; since the end of the Thirty Years War, the various European powers had been very conscious about preventing any one nation from becoming too powerful and exerting their authority over everyone else. This is one of the motivating factors behind such actions as the race to colonize Africa, the "Great Game" between Russia & Britain over India, the War of Spanish Succession where Britain and the Holy Roman Empre fought to prevent the union of France & Spain, or the clusterfuck that was the Crimean War where a dispute over Churches in the Ottoman Empire lead to Britain and France declaring war with Russia, only for neither side to gain anything and lose a lot of men and respect. And since Napoleon had gotten really close to completely dominating Europe, the alliance system played a major role in ensuring no one would get too sabre-rattly... up until Germany unified and changed the whole playing field, leaving politicians desperate and uncertain as to how far Kaiser Wilhem was willing to go to prove Germany's prestige as a rising power. The result was an arms race that helped build the powder keg, which would inevitably explode with the right spark.

Footnote * The Taiping Rebellion (Not to be confused with the Boxer Rebellion.) in China killed some 20-30 million people, but neither side in it was industrialized beyond buying some foreign weapons to equip some of their troops.

== The First World War ==
[[File:Trench warfare great war.jpg|thumb|left|Over the Top Lads (sorry, no joke on this one)]]
Also known as the Great War and the [[derp|War to End All Wars]] (SPOILER ALERT, It wasn't)
.

To understand the beginning of the major, globe-shaking clusterfuck known as the First World War, we must first look at several key issues that preceded it.

The first and probably one of the biggest contributing factors was the race for Empire. During the preceding centuries, imperialism and expansionism became extremely popular among the industrializing and booming nations of western Europe. Entire swathes of Africa and Asia were carved out by global powerhouses such as Great Britain and France, in order to fuel their industry and economy back home, often at the expense of the natives (the treatment of which varied on which European power dominated that particular region, with those under Belgium's sway being the worst off)(though at least that stopped chattel slavery that was endemic to the region until the colonization). For a while, the competition was 'merely' a case of rivalry, as each generally avoided the other's territories in order not to repeat disasters like the Seven Years' War or the Napoleonic Wars. Everything was going more or less splendidly (barring some wars of independence in the Balkans against the increasingly corrupt and stagnating Ottoman Empire), until one key event forever shattered the balance of power so carefully put into place by the Congress of Vienna: the unification of Germany by Otto von Bismark (a political genius so astute that he coined the modern term 'realpolitik').

With Germany now unified, it presented a major threat to the established powers of Europe. Not helping matters was the new Kaiser, Wilhelm II, looking at Britain with barely restrained jealousy (and a huge trove of mommy and daddy issues further complicated by a deformed arm being shorter than the other due to a difficult birth causing nerve damage) and thus deciding that Germany deserved its own overseas empire and place as top dog. Complicating matters further is the fact that the royalty and nobility of Europe were all largely related to one another. In some ways, this made the coming shitstorm seem more like the biggest family feud in centuries. The race for who controlled the biggest slice of the planet was kicked into overdrive, with factories pumping out new, relatively untested weapons such as the machine gun, the repeating rifle, and the howitzer, while shipyards around Europe churned out awe-inspiring steel battleships and cruisers, complete with the largest cannons mankind had ever seen up to that point.

To counterbalance each other, the great powers formed increasingly complex and entangling military alliances, which coalesced into two pacts- the Triple Entente (France, Britain (Kind Of), and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, and Austria)

Meanwhile, various nationalist and liberal revolutionary movements were sweeping the continent like a new disease from the Plaguefather. Some of their demands were met, particularly in Britain where the House of Commons gained more power. Other revolutions were violently crushed or flat-out ignored, while still others were successful in their goals through sheer force of arms (Like true comrades). The hardest hit, however, were not the more liberalized and industrious Western nations. Instead, the hardest hit by these successive waves of revolution was none other than the two oldest empires in Europe at that time- Austria and the Ottomans, both of whom were weary, tired states in dire need of reform. While some in both powers saw granting people increasing amounts of autonomy as the way to keep their state from collapsing (such as the formation of the dual monarchy and the recognition of Hungary as an equal partner, transforming the Austrian Empire into Austria-Hungary and the failed Tanzimat reforms of the Ottoman Empire and the Young Turks coup following the Tanzimat's abolition establishing what was intended to be a constitutional monarch but really was a military dictatorship under the delusionally idealistic and, as would be proven in a few years, seriously incompetent Enver and his fellows in high command), others insisted on a more hardline approach, trying to keep the state afloat by using terror. All of this bred resentment, particularly in the Balkans, which increasingly became a powder keg that was waiting for the right spark.

That spark came in the form of the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the Young Bosnia movement which was itself under the influence of the infamous serbian nationalist organization, the Black Hand. Austria-Hungary gave an ultimatum to Serbia (biggest independent slavic country), which included some frankly ridiculous and cruel terms. When [[Just as Planned|the Serbs rejected a few of these terms, the Austrians took it as a casus belli]] and declared war on Serbia. In response, [[Not as planned|Russia declared war on Austria, to which Germany declared war on Russia, to which France declared war on Germany]]. Germany would then invade the neutral Belgium in an attempt to avoid French fortifications on the border, bringing the British into the conflict. The internationalization of the conflict and the various ethnics that the colonial empires of Europe press ganged into service had some downright comical results, like an Indian battalion fighting in East Africa against German-led Askari tribesmen, all because because a Serbian shot an Austrian in Bosnia.

Thus began a conflict that would last for four bloody long years, see eleven million deaths as the result of horrific industrial warfare in the trenches and bombed-out fields, diseases such as the Spanish flu, and the breakup of several empires to form new nations. Truly, an entire generation of Europe's men was destroyed as a result (and is commonly known as the [[Grimdark|Lost Generation]] today) and gave rise to later extremist philosophies, the proponents of whom were all too eager to amass power for themselves by blaming their nation's misfortunes on the subversive "other." And while the civilian losses were nowhere near that of the Second World War, they were significant on both fronts, especially in Belgium where the Imperial German Army exercised collective punishment against villages suspected of harboring partisans.

While the average citizen didn't give much of a damn about the alliance system and the bickering of a bunch of politicians over some dispute halfway across the continent, the government of each country knew they had to sell the "necessity" of the war to their citizens. Propaganda from both sides painted the enemy nations as barbaric, inhuman war criminals who had to be stopped to prevent the devastation that would follow if they were allowed to go unopposed. They also reassured the public that, with their obvious technological superiority/superior fighting spirit, the war would be quick and soldiers would return home by Christmas. While this illusion could be maintained with the civilians population, the soldiers sent to the front lines were quickly disillusioned by the horrors that they saw. Morale was so bad that the Russians overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and eventually came to be led by the [[Communism|Bolsheviks]] under Vladimir Lenin, and the French nearly did the same as mass mutinies broke out in the French army. Had the Americans not joined on the Allies' side to swing the war in their favor, it's likely that even more revolutions could have taken place.

Terrifying new weapons of war earned their fearsome reputation in this conflict. Machine guns and air-burst artillery shells rendered the old tactics of Napoleonic warfare suicidal, while mustard gas and the like created a new age of massive destruction. Tanks made their first debut in this war, slowly rumbling forth like invincible metal monsters, shrugging off most resistance and dealing punishing firepower themselves, only to breakdown in the middle of the battle due to being rudimentary designs. The airplane, as well, saw use in a combat role, and it would swiftly become an invaluable strategic and tactical tool, for he who dominated the skies dominated the flow of battle.

The bloodiest war in human history up to that point ended with Germany's surrender at 11:00 A.M, on November 11th, 1918, after being exhausted, starving, and dangerously close to collapse in the face of a communist uprising. The irony is that despite the announced end of the conflict, soldiers continued to fight tooth and nail to the last minute, desperately hoping that whatever few yards they could seize would somehow bring the negotiations in their countries' favor, as in the fighting continued until literally seconds before 11 AM where an American soldier who was demoted made a suicide charge on a machine gun and a Canadian guy got sniped.

The consequences of WW1 cannot be understated; this four-year-long international bloodletting completely destroyed the Eurocentric world order that has persisted since the 1500s, pushed all European powers except Russia from being superpowers in their own right to second-rank states and ended the age of (overt) Imperialism for good. The scale of the money spent for this war was enormous; Britain went from the biggest lender of the world to the biggest debtor, having spent the entire wealth accumulated over the course of 300 years of colonial British and English history in just four years. France saw its industrial and agricultural heartlands in the northeast reduced into nothing but poisonous wasteland that is ''to this day'' unusable and dangerous from all the unexploded ordinance. Germany had replaced its state form from the Prussian semi-feudal social order to a constitutional republic with nothing to fill the social void that was left when the old Imperial elites just fucked off elsewhere and left it to the Social Democrats and Liberals to clean up the mess they had created. (They failed.) Russia was transformed into the Soviet Union and could only compensate the extreme loss of people and infrastructure by installing a tyrannical regime and wasting away millions of its own people in forced labour camps and famines. And that's just in Europe. In the middle east, the haphazardly drawn borders (Sykes-Picot Agreement) created by Britain and France with no regard ([[Marines Malevolent|or intentional disregard]]) to the cultural mixup of the lands they took from the Ottomans ended up creating some of the most vicious and long-lasting ethnic conflicts, most of which last to this very day, with the Iraq-Iran, Israeli-Palestinian and in general Sunni-Shi'a conflict and the Turkish-Kurdish war (of which the latter's first uprising explicitly aided by the British) being particularly noteworthy examples.

=== The Punitive Expedition ===
While the United States of America sat the early part of the war out, it was not without armed conflict of its own. In 1916 failed Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa launched an unprovoked attack on US settlement of Columbus, New Mexico that killed 26 Americans. The actual reasons are unclear, but seizing supplies, and/or a ploy to get the US Government to involve themselves in the revolution and wreck everything are common guesses. In response, the US sent troops into Mexico to retaliate against Villa. While the conflict was small scale, it ensured the US didn't enter the Great War totally blind to modern warfare as everyone else had. In fact, it was in this conflict that future superstar General Patton got a taste of the new vehicle-based warfare that he would become famous for.

=== The Warlord Era===
Around the same time, after the Boxer Rebellion failed to remove the Europeans from China, it became clear that Imperial China's days were over. After the forced abdication of the Qing Emperor, attempts to create a modern Chinese Republic quickly collapsed as regional Warlords split the country among themselves, intent on unifying China with themselves as its leader. Much like the Three Kingdoms period way back in Early China, much of the military and political conflict was characterized by long, drawn-out border skirmishes with the occasional big battle, massive conscript armies, backstabbing, and leaders who were able to hold onto power so long as they had their army's loyalty. Due to an arms embargo and limited domestic manufacturing, industrialized warfare played a very limited role in the early part of the Warlord era; cavalry and bayonet charges were still viable, as very few warlords could afford the artillery and machine guns needed to make them obsolete. However, the eventual intervention of the Japanese eventually shifted the conflict away from a domestic dispute over who ruled into a fight for China's survival against a technologically superior force, as covered in more detail below.

=== The Empire of the Rising Sun ===
Japan alongside the US began emerging as something of the world power a few years before the war. The Russo-Japanese war of 1905 shocked the dominant European powers as the Japanese managed to defeat the supposedly superior Russians (though the fact of the matter was that both sides were blundering hard and the weebs won because the other side was MUCH more incompetent - Russian navy sent from the Black Sea to Japan fired on a British fishing fleet thinking it was the Japanese thus almost starting a war with the UK). Japan was a member of the Triple Entente and as such seized some German islands in Asia, sent a small fleet into the Mediterranean to escort naval convoys and participated in an expedition alongside the US and European countries in Siberia after the revolution in Russia, but the main political activity was focused on exerting an ever increasing influence on China. After the war, Japan was awarded a permanent seat in the League of Nations and recognized as a 'great power' but their proposal to be recognized as equals race-wise was rejected which caused alienation from the western powers which in turn would partially contribute to increased nationalism and militarism down the line.

== The Interwar Period ==
{{topquote|This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.|Ferdinand Foch, 1919}}
Knowing that the world could not endure another such war, US president Woodrow Wilson made it his mission to set the groundwork for long-term peace (between whites at least); he set fourth what he called the Fourteen Points, a set of foreign policy doctrines that would address many of the underlying issues behind WWI and promote better diplomacy and cooperation between nations, with its biggest selling point being the League of Nations. The Germans thought that this was actually a pretty neat idea, and were hoping to agree to these terms during the upcoming peace conference. Unfortunately, none of Wilson's allies bought into his vague ideas, and slowly he was forced to compromise on all his policies just so he could get the League of Nations established (even shittier proto-United Nations, in that at least the UN specialist agencies do important global coordination work). Ironically, Wilson failed to convince the US to join the League of Nations, partly due to alienating his Republican opponents in Congress, as they weren't convinced that this League wasn't completely useless, or worse, just another military alliance that would suck them into another European War. Without the US to back it, and with little power to enforce peace resolutions, the League pretty quickly collapsed in the lead-up to WWII, as the pissed off Germans had been assigned full blame for the war and wanted revenge.

Near the end of the first World War, the world was thrown into yet another cataclysm. The Spanish Flu, named such because neutral Spain was the only place that paid much attention to it over the ongoing war/didn't actively suppress the news of the epidemic, spread rapidly and killed many thanks to the conditions caused by the war (overcrowding, especially in transport ships for returning soldiers, malnourishment, etc.). The death toll was horrendous, with the minimum estimate of 50 million being over double the entire war's death toll. After this, Europe needed decades to recover from the horrible destruction the war and flu had caused. Various post war conflicts continued in the regional level, most famously the Anatolian conflict between Greece, Armenia, French Colonial Forces, Islamists loyal to the Ottoman Government and the nationalist wings of the Ottoman military that revolted under Mustafa Kemal's regime. The latter won after deals with Armenia (which was not ratified as the Soviets nommed them, the new regime made another treaty which was officially ratified and guaranteed by the Soviets) and France, while Greece was rather soundly defeated. After another peace treaty with the Allies at Lausanne and the nationalist regime reforming into a Republic and abolishing the monarchy and the caliphate a year after the end of the monarchy and the Treaty of Lausanne, the local wars pretty much ended barring minor border disputes and posturing, with the only real big scare being the Bosphorus Straits affair with the Soviet's, that was resolved through the Montreaux Convention in the 30's. The rest of the world wasn't so lucky.

America, however, was having its best years ever. The Washington Naval Treaty had Britain officially cede the position of Earth’s mightiest navy, which the Royal Navy held for centuries, by recognizing the US Navy’s power as at least equal to it. The so called "Roaring Twenties" saw a rapid increase in the standard of living. President Harding managed to do the impossible and eliminate the deficit, though some of his appointees trying to sell [[Wikipedia:Teapot Rock|some government owned rock in the middle of nowhere]] marred his legacy (looking back historians realize there's a lack of evidence suggesting he had any knowledge or involvement though that isn't really a compliment, you do need to pay attention when you are damn head of state). The American economy of the time was doing well; unlike the other powers of Europe, it had not been strained extensively by being in a war economy for four years that strained productivity, had prime farmland turned into no man's land like France, its economy pushed to the breaking point like Germany, broken up into squabbling states like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or had all of that happen and was taken over by communists after a civil war like Russia (with some like Turkey as aforementioned getting lucky and successfully reforming), while having basically everyone in Europe owe American bankers to pay for the war.

After Harding's death during the scandal, his Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, took over. This was rather sudden and Coolidge was sworn in during the middle of the night by his father on the family Bible, with his first act was to pray to God to bless the American people and give him the strength to lead them. Unlike Harding, Coolidge proved wildly popular despite (or because of) his quiet nature. His economic policies really kicked off the Roaring Twenties and he was popular enough he was elected by a landslide in an election ''he didn't campaign for'' (this was common in American politics at the time, it was considered undignified to campaign for yourself). Coolidge continued Harding's deficit free budgets to the point the US was able to repay most of the national debt. Despite his wild popularity, Coolidge shocked the world with his announcement that [[Wikipedia:I do not choose to run|"I do not choose to run"]] for reelection and, true to his nature, did not really explain why (he would later elaborate in his autobiography that he did not wish to break the (then unofficial) rule set by Washington of a max of two terms among other issues). He would be followed by Herbert Hoover, who largely rode on his success (justifiably though; Hoover had been Commerce Secretary for 8 years). This would change in October of 1929 when the stock market crashed and ushered in the Great Depression.

There had been a series of stock market crashes through the the 19th century in the US every decade or so, each with increasing severity and effects in the US as more people moved into cities and were more dependent on wages. The 1920s saw a rise in consumer culture, payment plans, investment by common people, loans for buying stock with, and a lot of scams which culminated in the biggest crash yet. Moreover, since the US was now linked to a bunch of other countries thanks to improved communications, trade, transportation, and so forth, the crash not only tanked the US economy, but that of basically every other developed country save for the USSR under Stalin (which had its own Stalin-related problems, and boy were they big problems), which further hindered recovery. It also didn't help that large swaths of Europe were still battle scarred wastelands useless for agriculture, an entire generation of young working men had been killed or crippled, and that the formerly super-productive Germany was now teetering with an ineffectual government and crippling reparations to pay (Take the claim of the Reparations being crippling with a huge grain of salt: Modern historians have come to the conclusion that the effect of the reparations was much lesser than the German governments and later Hitler liked to claim. They liked to overstate the burden to create a welcome excuse for their own failure to stabilize the deteriorating value of the Reichsmark for the vengeful German masses, which culminated in one of the worst hyperinflations of the 20th century and also the temporary occupation of the Ruhr Valley by French troops) Throw in a crushing multi-year drought in the United States that ruined harvests across wholes states and the stage is set for chaos.

The old ways of dealing with things did not work and people turned to new ideas. In the US, this was various public works projects and assistance programs, collectively called the New Deal, to get people back working and build confidence in the economy and financial regulations. Similar ideas were tried in England, Australia and the UK. It should be noted that afterwards there was no major economic setbacks until 2008 after New Deal era financial regulations were pulled. In Germany, the response was more severe and was seen as a failure of democracy, which contributed to the rise of authoritarian parties on the left like the Communist KPD, which in turn led to the Nazi (National Socialists German Workers Party) party to counter them (possibly with help from western powers seeking a wall against communism) <s>with a newfound hate of the Allies thanks to the colossal reparations to the rest of Europe that Germany had been forced to pay in the Treaty of Versailles</s>, except that the rise of the Nazis to power was far more complicated than just that. Much more important in that question was the fact that Germany was blamed for the war to create to legal and moral justification for said reparations (as elaborated above, the actual economic effects of the reparations were questionable) and the Stab-And-The-Back-Myth that was set into the world by Imperial German Marshals (and defacto military oligarchs from 1916 on) Ludendorff and Hindenburg in order to shift the blame for the Germany's defeat to the Social Democrats and the Jews. The concurrent deeply authoritarian political culture of many German institutions as well as reactionary and monarchist Industrialists like Krupp, who all backed Hitler and Nationalist and Antisemitic Parties similar to the NSDAP (like the DNVP) and the lack of people actually willing to give a damn about the Republic itself lead to the erosion of the few democratic principles left at this point. From 1930 onward, Hindenburg, who was elected as the candidate of a coalition of Nationalist and conservative parties to the office of President reigned Germany in a dictatorial manner and named Hitler as Chancellor and head of government in January 1933, after two governments under the centrist-conservative Party Zentrum and the Nationalist DNVP failed to stabilize the economy. Responding to the collapse gave the Nazis the political currency to get into power, stimulate the economy by gearing it up to war and made the UK less willing to intervene to stop them while they were rising due to nobody wanting to be the one to start another war. And ideals of peace and disarmament certainly somewhat popular in the UK and France.

To their credit, in the mid 30's the Nazis did appear to be doing good things, even if there was a clear air of racial supremacy about the whole affair. Europe was collectively terrified of Marxism, and a nation that was forcefully rebuilding and modernizing itself without resorting to collectivization was tolerated by the French and British out of fear of the alternative. Between completing the Autobahn, hosting the Olympics, and achieving a number of engineering feats such as the first practical helicopter, Germany appeared to be getting shit done. When the communists tried to launch a revolution in Spain, Germany sent weapons and eventually troops to keep keep the nationalists in control, while Britain looked the other way and pretended not to notice that Germany suddenly had hundreds of tanks (and that France and the Soviets were providing aid to communist revolutionaries). So nobody was too concerned when Germany started making noises about reunifying some Germanic peoples in border regions they'd ceded in the Treaty...

== The Second World War ==

=== The War in the West ===
See also [[Nazi]]s

With Poland unwilling to roll over before the Nazis, the Nazis securing a ceasefire with Soviet Russia and with Britain and France finally stirred to the defense of Poland, it was clear that war was inevitable and so, on September 1st 1939, after creating a false-flag incident to offer the thinnest fig leaf of legality (and also dispose of a few dissenting Germans on the Nazis' hitlist) Germany struck at Poland. Two days later on September 3rd Britain and France declared war on Germany. Contrary to the popular imagination, Poland did not simply crumble before the German onslaught, and the myth of Polish cavalry trying to charge German tanks was yet another piece of propaganda. But after a month of hard fighting, with the Soviets entering the war on the German side and striking Poland in the rear, Poland finally gave in to the inevitable.

=== The War in the East ===
Since at least 1853, when Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Harbor, the Japanese feared the day when the powers of Europe would stomp all over them like they did China. In response they began building up their industrial base, importing guns, ships, factory machinery, engineers, textbooks, and professors. Some Japanese people came to the idea that the best way to fend off imperialism was to become imperialists themselves, and they began gobbling up their neighbors from the late 19th century onward (at first, in the name of liberating them and creating a "Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", but with more brutality and for more obviously selfish reasons as time went on). They kept this going into the 20th century (when this sort of behavior was finally falling out of fashion among the Western powers, especially after WWI), by which time the military had become central to Japanese politics. In 1931, they invaded Manchuria, and invaded China in 1937, killing millions as they went(four times the death toll of the Holocaust to be precise, something that is largely ignored in light of Holocaust itself and Japan's contemporary PR effort). The rest of the world was outraged and cut Japan off from trade, which caused them to dig their heels in and keep it up, lest they be perceived as paper tigers. Tensions built until eventually the US threatened to cut off the oil Japan needed to keep their massive fleet running, and the overconfident Army managed to push the Imperial Japanese Navy into launching an attack on the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor (timed to hit approximately 30 minutes after delivering the declaration of war, thus [[Rules lawyer|effectively being a surprise attack without technically being a surprise attack]]).

The idea was that if everything went right, the fickle American public would be dismayed by the prospect of a hard fight over distant lands (especially while contemplating joining the war in Europe), the IJN could seize control of the Pacific while the crippled US fleet was out of action, and the US would be left with no choice but negotiation. However, while the Pearl Harbor attack did work pretty well and they did overrun a lot of Allied holdings around Asia, they missed all but one of the US carriers which only suffered minor damaged, enraged an American public that was previously tepid on war (especially since mistakes delayed even the planned token warning), and the fact was that the US had more than 10 times the Industry that Japan did as well as plenty of fuel. They also aligned themselves with the Nazis, based on shared enemies and ultra-Imperialist/Nationalist ideologies, but thus reinforcing the narrative of them being a part of the barbaric Forces of Evil who needed to be completely defeated for the sake of the civilized world.

Despite the US' obvious industrial advantage, the US Navy was seriously lacking in experience and numbers compared to the IJN at the start of the war; with the Japanese carriers outnumbering Americans (who had to split their fleets to protect against German U-Boat attacks), there was a very real threat that the IJN would return to finish the job and start raiding the US Mainland before replacement ships could be built. The early stages of the War in the Pacific were very much touch-and-go, but that all changed after the Battle of Midway, when [[Tactical genius|Admiral Nimitz]] intercepted the IJN's plans to attack Midway Island and lured them into a trap, destroying half of the IJN's total carrier capacity. This permanently halted Japanese aggression and put them on the defensive, buying the American war machine valuable time to rearm and retrain.

As time went on, and with some shaky starts, the Allies quickly learned how to rely on carriers instead of traditional battleship tactics, a lucky and devastating win at the Battle of Midway put the IJN on the back foot, now finding themselves as the proverbial one legged man in an ass kicking contest with the cream of Japanese carrier aviation at the bottom of the Pacific. Ferocious naval engagements gave way as the star of the show to even more brutal amphibious warfare as the Marines began their island hopping campaign across the Pacific, painfully prying each strategically important Japanese occupied island from their well dug in defenders — and crucially, skipping the islands that weren't important, leaving lots of Japanese units deployed in spots they could do fuck-all. The jungle, cave and amphibious warfare of this stage of the campaign was especially horrific even by World War 2 standards, not helped by racism against the Japanese on the part of Americans and the racism against everyone crossed with the suicidal fanaticism of the Japanese further exacerbating this. The IJN also set up various military units for holding prisoners and scientific experiments - best exemplified by Unit 731 - which gave Auschwitz a run for their money on crimes against humanity, the only difference being the lack of a genocidal goal.

One often overlooked (at least in popular history from the western perspective) event in the war in China was the last big Japanese Offensive of 1944, named Operation Ichi-Go, where the Japanese threw their last reserves together to break through Republican Chinese lines under Chiang Kai-shek with astounding success. Although the Japanese were beaten back very quickly as were they in no position to hold their gains against the following allied counter-offensive, the Republican Chinese failure to stop it lead to the US taking control over the Nationalist forces after an ultimatum that greatly damaged the previously good relations between Kai-shek and the US government. It also lead to the disillusion of a lot of Nationalist Chinese officiers and soldiers with their cause, prompting them to switch sides to the Communists under Mao Zedong. Mao on the other hand quickly utilized this momentum and influx of experienced soldiers (along with Soviet aid) to seize control of China from the Nationalists, push them out of the main land off to Taiwan and found the Chinese Peoples Republic in 1949.

One major note from a wargaming perspective in this theater is Operation Ten-Go, the last sortie of the IJN against the US military forces invading Okinawa. The largest battleship made by human hands, the Yamato, and her support fleet, sortied... and were promptly destroyed by massed American air power. Thus proving the change in the IRL meta of naval warfare to carrier dominance, which has endured to this day.

=== The Manhattan Project ===
At the tail end of the 19th century, scientists began to work out some odd properties of matter, which eventually got them to realize that splitting atomic nuclei after processing Uranium in a cyclotron releases millions of times more energy than an equivalent mass of a chemical reaction. Naturally, instead of using it as cheap energy first, people thought "How can we weaponize this?" Such a weapon would be a game changer for warfare (less for the raw destruction it would cause, since firebombing cities was already horrifyingly effective, but because it would only take one bomber getting through air defenses to do the job instead of dozens or hundreds), and the Nazis getting it first would be an intolerable state of affairs. As such the Brits and the Americans pooled their scientific and industrial resources at Los Alamos to work out how to build a bomb. 20000 '''tons''' of silver wiring were built to enrich the Uranium into something that will recreate a small sun for a brief moment.

They were not ready in time to use it against the Nazis, but the first two were dropped on Japan to convince them that they wouldn't be able to fight to the stalemate they were now aiming for, thus ending the war quickly at the cost of a few hundred thousand Japanese civilians, rather than a long and costly slog that would potentially result in millions dead if the fanatical Japanese military forced it through to completion (including both the Japanese civilians who would be mobilized into militias and untold American service members). Some accounts also say it was intended to intimidate the Soviet Union, but since the Russians ended up nicking the research data (supposedly, Stalin knew that the Manhattan Project succeeded before Truman), this just paved the way for the nuclear stalemate known as [[the Cold War]].

After the war, the United Nations was organized in a significantly more effective manner than the League of Nations through the veto power and the binding requirements at the Security Council at least nominally giving the world a way to forcibly stop wars. The embarrassment that was the League of Nations formally dissolved itself and handed over all its assets to the UN in it's last meeting in 18 April 1946 (the Resolution went in to effect the next day on the 19th) with the sole exception of a 9 man committee transferring assets, records and administrations of specialist agencies to the UN. With the self-dissolution of the committee on 31 July 1947, legally ending the League of Nations as an entity. The Cold War technically started the day the Japanese surrendered, though the Berlin Blockade and the ending of the Chinese Civil War, reignited after Japan's defeat, were the public display.

== The appeal of the World Wars ==
These are the biggest armed conflicts of world history, rolling across continents using modern weapons, from tanks to planes to automatic weapons. Modern War was born in the trenches of the Somme, in the skies above London and over the fields of Poland during the Blitzkrieg, the flanking in France, the naval bombardment and air bombing in the Pacific, the hell in the Eastern front cities, in the bombing of Europe from the air, in the atomic fire of Hiroshima and Japan. We entered the century and went 14 years thinking everything was right and as great as it could be. Thirty years, a war, a pandemic, an economic crash, another war and several genocides later the man who was born into the first large scale factories witnessed the power of the atom burn the hopes and dreams of two cities.

Of the two wars, World War One gets relatively little media attention and what little it does get is somber. Part of that is because it's hard to craft a heroic action-packed adventure out of the hopeless horror of trench warfare, the other part is that the morality of the war is very, very grey. There was no clear right side, with both the Central and Allied powers equally chomping at the bit for a fight (at least to start with), and ready to start shooting for ''any'' convenient reason. When some angry Illyrians in the Balkans finally set everything off, the ''only'' motivation the common people had (besides being drafted and having no choice anyway) to go fight was the extensive propaganda campaigns telling them how totally awful for realsies the enemy was, and anyone asking questions or doubting was shut down ''hard''. As a result, it's hard to make easily dehumanized rank-and file villains for a narrative when the soldiers of neither side actually want to be fighting at all.

When it was all over the country blamed and punished for the whole mess wasn't even the one that started it (in fact, the country that actually started it made bank off the entire thing. Germany was still the one to go to war with Belgium and get the British involved so they could certainly take some blame.) All told, the First World War is largely seen as a great tragedy, and is widely considered a wasteful war as winnings were slim on the Allied side. If Russia didn't get involved or if the Axis didn't go for Belgium or if Italy either started under the allies or stayed in the axis or if Italy was the cause of WW1 as it likely would have been depending on how things would have continued in AH if the either the Duke dying didn't result in a war or if the Duke was never assassinated a war with one side getting a much greater victory could have transpired.

Probably one of the only noble (and almost certainly the cleanest) aspects of WW1 was the war in the air, where fighter pilots were effectively chivalric knights of the sky. One famous example was Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), easily the most famous Ace fighter of the war, with 80 victories to his name in his distinctive red tri-plane (which only accounted for his last 17). He was so well respected among his adversaries that when he was finally shot down, the Allied officers who recovered his body buried him with full honors, including an honor guard and gun salute. This didn't stop the ruthless pragmatism, a few pilots even publicly boasted of shooting down parachuting airmen to prevent them from returning to the fight.

Another event stands out known as the Christmas Truce; early on in the war, troops on the Western Front pretty quickly realized that the guys they were shooting at didn’t want to be there any more than they did, and agreed to a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas. When the truce looked like it was going to last, commanders put a kibosh on the whole thing and told them to start fighting again and even cracked down on small mutinies arising. Another such truce would never happen as the fighting became more destructive, as poison gas attacks and tank assaults made each side far more wary of the other.

The Second World War is a much more palatable conflict of more or less Good vs Evil, with both the Nazis and Imperial Japan going out to conquer their respective hemispheres of the world and exterminating millions as key objectives and Italy playing the incompetent sidekick/comic relief which isn't too far off the truth in a series of spectacular displays of military incompetence on the part of Mussolini and his generals. The Axis Powers provided a clear and easy villain for the rest of the world to rally against (as well as providing easy media villains for the rest of the century and into the next millennium). The far more mobile and urban warfare of WW2 also allowed for more personal initiative and heroism, and stories of the extraordinary accomplishments of individual squads, or even individual soldiers, are far more commonplace here than they were back in WW1, when individual men or units had no real hope of making a difference, no matter what they did (mind, it was still industrial weight and technology that won the war, but it is far easier to remember Simo Häyhä than say, Alvin York (They both have Sabaton songs though!)).

As a result, a solid majority of [[Alternate History]] fiction is set in WWII one way or another. Even if WWI (or any of the many, many 19th Century to 1913 events and trends that lead to it) is the point of divergence, the story is likely to be in the late interwar to WWII periods.

== World War inspired Games, Factions and Settings ==
* A lot of stuff from the [[Imperium of Man]], especially the Death Korps of Krieg.
* [[Dieselpunk]] is the WWII equivalent of Steampunk. If you like the general aesthetics and mood of the time period but don’t want to be limited by the period’s technology, or perhaps want to see what would happen if the Nazi “Wunderwaffen” had been fully realized, this is the setting for you.
* [[Bolt Action]], [[Flames of War]], and other similar military tabletop games are set in WWII.
* [[Star Wars]] takes a great deal of inspiration from this time period, and in regards to the prequels, it especially takes a lot of inspiration from the transformation of the democratic-but-ineffectual Weimar Republic into the nightmarishly totalitarian Third Reich (though it was also influenced by the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire).
* Indiana Jones. Do we need to explain this?
* The 1920+ universe, inspired by the art of Jakub Rozalski, envisions an alternate Europe where Nikola Tesla’s super science lead to the development of Mechs as the dominant war machine. Best known for the RTS game “Iron Harvest” that pits Imperial Germany, Imperial Russia, and Poland in a version of WWI with WWII elements mixed in. Even Rasputin makes an appearance as the leader of a shadowy cabal looking to seize power by fomenting revolution in all three factions and take over Tesla’s super-advanced city-state.

{{Skub}}
{{Time Periods}}
[[Category: History]]

The World Wars

2022-01-08T01:23:13Z

2A01:CB00:62F:3000:96B:3F4:A4A2:2870: /* The appeal of the World Wars */

[[File:MAC52_SIDEBAR_TANKS01-810x445.jpg|thumb|right|War has changed...]]
{{topquote|War will become rare, but more terrible. [...] That's my horoscope|Arthur Conan Doyle, 1883}}
{{topquote|This is not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years|General Ferdinand Foch}}
During the [[Industrial Revolution]], Europe was comparatively peaceful for the most part. The 19th century started with the Napoleonic Wars when industrialization was building up steam in England and afterwards there were a series of colonial conflicts and small to middling wars between the various industrial powers*. The Civil War was on the upper end of conflicts in this era but was limited to the comparatively sparsely populated US, was still fought with muskets and saw about 600-750,000 people dead. The Franco Prussian war was won in six months (GOTT MIT UNS!), but in a chilling prelude to things to come killed some 180,000 combatants. Now you may say, "What the hell! The factory accidents and all other horrible abuses and war deaths were horrific!", but you ain't seen nothing yet. Things changed in 1914 when Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, starting the Great War, also known as the ''First World War''. This would be followed up by the ''Second World War'' in 1939-45, which largely stemmed from the consequences of the Great War, to the point that some call the period a Second Thirty Years War (accounting for post World War 1 conflicts and World War 2 prelude wars in the Spanish Civil War and Japan invading China, this is technically correct). '''The World Wars''' would spread across the world and saw conflict and destruction beyond anything that was ever seen before or since.

There are two important factors in the World Wars: ''Technology'' and ''Nationalism''. Technology is the easier of the two to understand. In the Napoleonic War the average soldier had a flintlock musket that could shoot 2-4 bullets a minute with an effective range of 100 meters, was supported by muzzle loading cannons that could shoot accurately to about 1km and was supplied by ox carts while steam engines were just beginning to propel boats and move loads of coal around mines in England. In 1914 the average soldier had a rifle that could shoot 15-30 bullets a minute (which could go through three men and still be deadly) at ranges of over a kilometer and was backed up by cannons that could fire shells six kilometers or more on ballistic courses which exploded in the air raining a spray of balls over a wide area and machine guns which could shoot 450 bullets a minute and airplanes. By the end of the Great War tanks, Submachine Guns and Poison Gas had been added to the arsenal. Tactics devised based on 19th century ideas of fighting were useless on this new battlefield and the book needed to be re-written from page one. Other technologies such as mass production, mechanized farming, railways and automobiles, mass education, telecommunications and modern bureaucracies meant that an Industrial Nation could turn more of its population into soldiers than any medieval nation could ever hope to do (Rome was hard pressed to keep up a standing army of about 1% of it's population, Germany mobilized nearly 20% during the Great War). Through bloody experience generals gradually put together some idea of how to operate in this new battlefield near the end of the Great War and between the wars they'd continue to build on it with experience in small scale wars. Even so people were still making it up as they went in WWII.

Nationalism is more abstract but just as important. In the Middle Ages, people generally identified themselves as being "a Christian Journeyman Blacksmith from London whose dad is English" or "a Jewish Master Cobbler from Munich whose mom is Sephardic" and so forth (their job, class, religion and hometown, things which they dealt with face to face day to day). If a civil war happened and ended up with a new noble house in charge while they and their family and friends got through unharmed, they would not care too much as long as the new lord upheld his feudal duties and was not a huge dick. There was a king and he ruled a bunch of land and tried to keep the peace, which was all good but the specifics of this was not a fact which defined them. This began to change with the Protestant Reformation and had a bit of build up through the Age of Enlightenment as propaganda for the masses took form, leading to the birth of nationalism with the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. People began to see their country as more than just where they lived and the guy in a funny hat who ruled them, but rather as a community of people united by common ideas, languages, beliefs, customs, ideals, and (often) ancestry, people who need to band together and set aside their differences to defend what's theirs against those stinking foreigners with their differences. Public education caught on during the Industrial Revolution, which made it possible to give these ideals to everyone from the richest businessman to the lowliest beggar. When you have two nations which have nationalistic populations and governments and other groups fond of egging nationalism on together it does not take much to get them at each others throats and keep them there.

Intertwined with Nationalism is the issue of "Balance of Power"; since the end of the Thirty Years War, the various European powers had been very conscious about preventing any one nation from becoming too powerful and exerting their authority over everyone else. This is one of the motivating factors behind such actions as the race to colonize Africa, the "Great Game" between Russia & Britain over India, the War of Spanish Succession where Britain and the Holy Roman Empre fought to prevent the union of France & Spain, or the clusterfuck that was the Crimean War where a dispute over Churches in the Ottoman Empire lead to Britain and France declaring war with Russia, only for neither side to gain anything and lose a lot of men and respect. And since Napoleon had gotten really close to completely dominating Europe, the alliance system played a major role in ensuring no one would get too sabre-rattly... up until Germany unified and changed the whole playing field, leaving politicians desperate and uncertain as to how far Kaiser Wilhem was willing to go to prove Germany's prestige as a rising power. The result was an arms race that helped build the powder keg, which would inevitably explode with the right spark.

Footnote * The Taiping Rebellion (Not to be confused with the Boxer Rebellion.) in China killed some 20-30 million people, but neither side in it was industrialized beyond buying some foreign weapons to equip some of their troops.

== The First World War ==
[[File:Trench warfare great war.jpg|thumb|left|Over the Top Lads (sorry, no joke on this one)]]
Also known as the Great War and the [[derp|War to End All Wars]] (SPOILER ALERT, It wasn't)
.

To understand the beginning of the major, globe-shaking clusterfuck known as the First World War, we must first look at several key issues that preceded it.

The first and probably one of the biggest contributing factors was the race for Empire. During the preceding centuries, imperialism and expansionism became extremely popular among the industrializing and booming nations of western Europe. Entire swathes of Africa and Asia were carved out by global powerhouses such as Great Britain and France, in order to fuel their industry and economy back home, often at the expense of the natives (the treatment of which varied on which European power dominated that particular region, with those under Belgium's sway being the worst off)(though at least that stopped chattel slavery that was endemic to the region until the colonization). For a while, the competition was 'merely' a case of rivalry, as each generally avoided the other's territories in order not to repeat disasters like the Seven Years' War or the Napoleonic Wars. Everything was going more or less splendidly (barring some wars of independence in the Balkans against the increasingly corrupt and stagnating Ottoman Empire), until one key event forever shattered the balance of power so carefully put into place by the Congress of Vienna: the unification of Germany by Otto von Bismark (a political genius so astute that he coined the modern term 'realpolitik').

With Germany now unified, it presented a major threat to the established powers of Europe. Not helping matters was the new Kaiser, Wilhelm II, looking at Britain with barely restrained jealousy (and a huge trove of mommy and daddy issues further complicated by a deformed arm being shorter than the other due to a difficult birth causing nerve damage) and thus deciding that Germany deserved its own overseas empire and place as top dog. Complicating matters further is the fact that the royalty and nobility of Europe were all largely related to one another. In some ways, this made the coming shitstorm seem more like the biggest family feud in centuries. The race for who controlled the biggest slice of the planet was kicked into overdrive, with factories pumping out new, relatively untested weapons such as the machine gun, the repeating rifle, and the howitzer, while shipyards around Europe churned out awe-inspiring steel battleships and cruisers, complete with the largest cannons mankind had ever seen up to that point.

To counterbalance each other, the great powers formed increasingly complex and entangling military alliances, which coalesced into two pacts- the Triple Entente (France, Britain (Kind Of), and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, and Austria)

Meanwhile, various nationalist and liberal revolutionary movements were sweeping the continent like a new disease from the Plaguefather. Some of their demands were met, particularly in Britain where the House of Commons gained more power. Other revolutions were violently crushed or flat-out ignored, while still others were successful in their goals through sheer force of arms (Like true comrades). The hardest hit, however, were not the more liberalized and industrious Western nations. Instead, the hardest hit by these successive waves of revolution was none other than the two oldest empires in Europe at that time- Austria and the Ottomans, both of whom were weary, tired states in dire need of reform. While some in both powers saw granting people increasing amounts of autonomy as the way to keep their state from collapsing (such as the formation of the dual monarchy and the recognition of Hungary as an equal partner, transforming the Austrian Empire into Austria-Hungary and the failed Tanzimat reforms of the Ottoman Empire and the Young Turks coup following the Tanzimat's abolition establishing what was intended to be a constitutional monarch but really was a military dictatorship under the delusionally idealistic and, as would be proven in a few years, seriously incompetent Enver and his fellows in high command), others insisted on a more hardline approach, trying to keep the state afloat by using terror. All of this bred resentment, particularly in the Balkans, which increasingly became a powder keg that was waiting for the right spark.

That spark came in the form of the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the Young Bosnia movement which was itself under the influence of the infamous serbian nationalist organization, the Black Hand. Austria-Hungary gave an ultimatum to Serbia (biggest independent slavic country), which included some frankly ridiculous and cruel terms. When [[Just as Planned|the Serbs rejected a few of these terms, the Austrians took it as a casus belli]] and declared war on Serbia. In response, [[Not as planned|Russia declared war on Austria, to which Germany declared war on Russia, to which France declared war on Germany]]. Germany would then invade the neutral Belgium in an attempt to avoid French fortifications on the border, bringing the British into the conflict. The internationalization of the conflict and the various ethnics that the colonial empires of Europe press ganged into service had some downright comical results, like an Indian battalion fighting in East Africa against German-led Askari tribesmen, all because because a Serbian shot an Austrian in Bosnia.

Thus began a conflict that would last for four bloody long years, see eleven million deaths as the result of horrific industrial warfare in the trenches and bombed-out fields, diseases such as the Spanish flu, and the breakup of several empires to form new nations. Truly, an entire generation of Europe's men was destroyed as a result (and is commonly known as the [[Grimdark|Lost Generation]] today) and gave rise to later extremist philosophies, the proponents of whom were all too eager to amass power for themselves by blaming their nation's misfortunes on the subversive "other." And while the civilian losses were nowhere near that of the Second World War, they were significant on both fronts, especially in Belgium where the Imperial German Army exercised collective punishment against villages suspected of harboring partisans.

While the average citizen didn't give much of a damn about the alliance system and the bickering of a bunch of politicians over some dispute halfway across the continent, the government of each country knew they had to sell the "necessity" of the war to their citizens. Propaganda from both sides painted the enemy nations as barbaric, inhuman war criminals who had to be stopped to prevent the devastation that would follow if they were allowed to go unopposed. They also reassured the public that, with their obvious technological superiority/superior fighting spirit, the war would be quick and soldiers would return home by Christmas. While this illusion could be maintained with the civilians population, the soldiers sent to the front lines were quickly disillusioned by the horrors that they saw. Morale was so bad that the Russians overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and eventually came to be led by the [[Communism|Bolsheviks]] under Vladimir Lenin, and the French nearly did the same as mass mutinies broke out in the French army. Had the Americans not joined on the Allies' side to swing the war in their favor, it's likely that even more revolutions could have taken place.

Terrifying new weapons of war earned their fearsome reputation in this conflict. Machine guns and air-burst artillery shells rendered the old tactics of Napoleonic warfare suicidal, while mustard gas and the like created a new age of massive destruction. Tanks made their first debut in this war, slowly rumbling forth like invincible metal monsters, shrugging off most resistance and dealing punishing firepower themselves, only to breakdown in the middle of the battle due to being rudimentary designs. The airplane, as well, saw use in a combat role, and it would swiftly become an invaluable strategic and tactical tool, for he who dominated the skies dominated the flow of battle.

The bloodiest war in human history up to that point ended with Germany's surrender at 11:00 A.M, on November 11th, 1918, after being exhausted, starving, and dangerously close to collapse in the face of a communist uprising. The irony is that despite the announced end of the conflict, soldiers continued to fight tooth and nail to the last minute, desperately hoping that whatever few yards they could seize would somehow bring the negotiations in their countries' favor, as in the fighting continued until literally seconds before 11 AM where an American soldier who was demoted made a suicide charge on a machine gun and a Canadian guy got sniped.

The consequences of WW1 cannot be understated; this four-year-long international bloodletting completely destroyed the Eurocentric world order that has persisted since the 1500s, pushed all European powers except Russia from being superpowers in their own right to second-rank states and ended the age of (overt) Imperialism for good. The scale of the money spent for this war was enormous; Britain went from the biggest lender of the world to the biggest debtor, having spent the entire wealth accumulated over the course of 300 years of colonial British and English history in just four years. France saw its industrial and agricultural heartlands in the northeast reduced into nothing but poisonous wasteland that is ''to this day'' unusable and dangerous from all the unexploded ordinance. Germany had replaced its state form from the Prussian semi-feudal social order to a constitutional republic with nothing to fill the social void that was left when the old Imperial elites just fucked off elsewhere and left it to the Social Democrats and Liberals to clean up the mess they had created. (They failed.) Russia was transformed into the Soviet Union and could only compensate the extreme loss of people and infrastructure by installing a tyrannical regime and wasting away millions of its own people in forced labour camps and famines. And that's just in Europe. In the middle east, the haphazardly drawn borders (Sykes-Picot Agreement) created by Britain and France with no regard ([[Marines Malevolent|or intentional disregard]]) to the cultural mixup of the lands they took from the Ottomans ended up creating some of the most vicious and long-lasting ethnic conflicts, most of which last to this very day, with the Iraq-Iran, Israeli-Palestinian and in general Sunni-Shi'a conflict and the Turkish-Kurdish war (of which the latter's first uprising explicitly aided by the British) being particularly noteworthy examples.

=== The Punitive Expedition ===
While the United States of America sat the early part of the war out, it was not without armed conflict of its own. In 1916 failed Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa launched an unprovoked attack on US settlement of Columbus, New Mexico that killed 26 Americans. The actual reasons are unclear, but seizing supplies, and/or a ploy to get the US Government to involve themselves in the revolution and wreck everything are common guesses. In response, the US sent troops into Mexico to retaliate against Villa. While the conflict was small scale, it ensured the US didn't enter the Great War totally blind to modern warfare as everyone else had. In fact, it was in this conflict that future superstar General Patton got a taste of the new vehicle-based warfare that he would become famous for.

=== The Warlord Era===
Around the same time, after the Boxer Rebellion failed to remove the Europeans from China, it became clear that Imperial China's days were over. After the forced abdication of the Qing Emperor, attempts to create a modern Chinese Republic quickly collapsed as regional Warlords split the country among themselves, intent on unifying China with themselves as its leader. Much like the Three Kingdoms period way back in Early China, much of the military and political conflict was characterized by long, drawn-out border skirmishes with the occasional big battle, massive conscript armies, backstabbing, and leaders who were able to hold onto power so long as they had their army's loyalty. Due to an arms embargo and limited domestic manufacturing, industrialized warfare played a very limited role in the early part of the Warlord era; cavalry and bayonet charges were still viable, as very few warlords could afford the artillery and machine guns needed to make them obsolete. However, the eventual intervention of the Japanese eventually shifted the conflict away from a domestic dispute over who ruled into a fight for China's survival against a technologically superior force, as covered in more detail below.

=== The Empire of the Rising Sun ===
Japan alongside the US began emerging as something of the world power a few years before the war. The Russo-Japanese war of 1905 shocked the dominant European powers as the Japanese managed to defeat the supposedly superior Russians (though the fact of the matter was that both sides were blundering hard and the weebs won because the other side was MUCH more incompetent - Russian navy sent from the Black Sea to Japan fired on a British fishing fleet thinking it was the Japanese thus almost starting a war with the UK). Japan was a member of the Triple Entente and as such seized some German islands in Asia, sent a small fleet into the Mediterranean to escort naval convoys and participated in an expedition alongside the US and European countries in Siberia after the revolution in Russia, but the main political activity was focused on exerting an ever increasing influence on China. After the war, Japan was awarded a permanent seat in the League of Nations and recognized as a 'great power' but their proposal to be recognized as equals race-wise was rejected which caused alienation from the western powers which in turn would partially contribute to increased nationalism and militarism down the line.

== The Interwar Period ==
{{topquote|This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.|Ferdinand Foch, 1919}}
Knowing that the world could not endure another such war, US president Woodrow Wilson made it his mission to set the groundwork for long-term peace (between whites at least); he set fourth what he called the Fourteen Points, a set of foreign policy doctrines that would address many of the underlying issues behind WWI and promote better diplomacy and cooperation between nations, with its biggest selling point being the League of Nations. The Germans thought that this was actually a pretty neat idea, and were hoping to agree to these terms during the upcoming peace conference. Unfortunately, none of Wilson's allies bought into his vague ideas, and slowly he was forced to compromise on all his policies just so he could get the League of Nations established (even shittier proto-United Nations, in that at least the UN specialist agencies do important global coordination work). Ironically, Wilson failed to convince the US to join the League of Nations, partly due to alienating his Republican opponents in Congress, as they weren't convinced that this League wasn't completely useless, or worse, just another military alliance that would suck them into another European War. Without the US to back it, and with little power to enforce peace resolutions, the League pretty quickly collapsed in the lead-up to WWII, as the pissed off Germans had been assigned full blame for the war and wanted revenge.

Near the end of the first World War, the world was thrown into yet another cataclysm. The Spanish Flu, named such because neutral Spain was the only place that paid much attention to it over the ongoing war/didn't actively suppress the news of the epidemic, spread rapidly and killed many thanks to the conditions caused by the war (overcrowding, especially in transport ships for returning soldiers, malnourishment, etc.). The death toll was horrendous, with the minimum estimate of 50 million being over double the entire war's death toll. After this, Europe needed decades to recover from the horrible destruction the war and flu had caused. Various post war conflicts continued in the regional level, most famously the Anatolian conflict between Greece, Armenia, French Colonial Forces, Islamists loyal to the Ottoman Government and the nationalist wings of the Ottoman military that revolted under Mustafa Kemal's regime. The latter won after deals with Armenia (which was not ratified as the Soviets nommed them, the new regime made another treaty which was officially ratified and guaranteed by the Soviets) and France, while Greece was rather soundly defeated. After another peace treaty with the Allies at Lausanne and the nationalist regime reforming into a Republic and abolishing the monarchy and the caliphate a year after the end of the monarchy and the Treaty of Lausanne, the local wars pretty much ended barring minor border disputes and posturing, with the only real big scare being the Bosphorus Straits affair with the Soviet's, that was resolved through the Montreaux Convention in the 30's. The rest of the world wasn't so lucky.

America, however, was having its best years ever. The Washington Naval Treaty had Britain officially cede the position of Earth’s mightiest navy, which the Royal Navy held for centuries, by recognizing the US Navy’s power as at least equal to it. The so called "Roaring Twenties" saw a rapid increase in the standard of living. President Harding managed to do the impossible and eliminate the deficit, though some of his appointees trying to sell [[Wikipedia:Teapot Rock|some government owned rock in the middle of nowhere]] marred his legacy (looking back historians realize there's a lack of evidence suggesting he had any knowledge or involvement though that isn't really a compliment, you do need to pay attention when you are damn head of state). The American economy of the time was doing well; unlike the other powers of Europe, it had not been strained extensively by being in a war economy for four years that strained productivity, had prime farmland turned into no man's land like France, its economy pushed to the breaking point like Germany, broken up into squabbling states like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or had all of that happen and was taken over by communists after a civil war like Russia (with some like Turkey as aforementioned getting lucky and successfully reforming), while having basically everyone in Europe owe American bankers to pay for the war.

After Harding's death during the scandal, his Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, took over. This was rather sudden and Coolidge was sworn in during the middle of the night by his father on the family Bible, with his first act was to pray to God to bless the American people and give him the strength to lead them. Unlike Harding, Coolidge proved wildly popular despite (or because of) his quiet nature. His economic policies really kicked off the Roaring Twenties and he was popular enough he was elected by a landslide in an election ''he didn't campaign for'' (this was common in American politics at the time, it was considered undignified to campaign for yourself). Coolidge continued Harding's deficit free budgets to the point the US was able to repay most of the national debt. Despite his wild popularity, Coolidge shocked the world with his announcement that [[Wikipedia:I do not choose to run|"I do not choose to run"]] for reelection and, true to his nature, did not really explain why (he would later elaborate in his autobiography that he did not wish to break the (then unofficial) rule set by Washington of a max of two terms among other issues). He would be followed by Herbert Hoover, who largely rode on his success (justifiably though; Hoover had been Commerce Secretary for 8 years). This would change in October of 1929 when the stock market crashed and ushered in the Great Depression.

There had been a series of stock market crashes through the the 19th century in the US every decade or so, each with increasing severity and effects in the US as more people moved into cities and were more dependent on wages. The 1920s saw a rise in consumer culture, payment plans, investment by common people, loans for buying stock with, and a lot of scams which culminated in the biggest crash yet. Moreover, since the US was now linked to a bunch of other countries thanks to improved communications, trade, transportation, and so forth, the crash not only tanked the US economy, but that of basically every other developed country save for the USSR under Stalin (which had its own Stalin-related problems, and boy were they big problems), which further hindered recovery. It also didn't help that large swaths of Europe were still battle scarred wastelands useless for agriculture, an entire generation of young working men had been killed or crippled, and that the formerly super-productive Germany was now teetering with an ineffectual government and crippling reparations to pay (Take the claim of the Reparations being crippling with a huge grain of salt: Modern historians have come to the conclusion that the effect of the reparations was much lesser than the German governments and later Hitler liked to claim. They liked to overstate the burden to create a welcome excuse for their own failure to stabilize the deteriorating value of the Reichsmark for the vengeful German masses, which culminated in one of the worst hyperinflations of the 20th century and also the temporary occupation of the Ruhr Valley by French troops) Throw in a crushing multi-year drought in the United States that ruined harvests across wholes states and the stage is set for chaos.

The old ways of dealing with things did not work and people turned to new ideas. In the US, this was various public works projects and assistance programs, collectively called the New Deal, to get people back working and build confidence in the economy and financial regulations. Similar ideas were tried in England, Australia and the UK. It should be noted that afterwards there was no major economic setbacks until 2008 after New Deal era financial regulations were pulled. In Germany, the response was more severe and was seen as a failure of democracy, which contributed to the rise of authoritarian parties on the left like the Communist KPD, which in turn led to the Nazi (National Socialists German Workers Party) party to counter them (possibly with help from western powers seeking a wall against communism) <s>with a newfound hate of the Allies thanks to the colossal reparations to the rest of Europe that Germany had been forced to pay in the Treaty of Versailles</s>, except that the rise of the Nazis to power was far more complicated than just that. Much more important in that question was the fact that Germany was blamed for the war to create to legal and moral justification for said reparations (as elaborated above, the actual economic effects of the reparations were questionable) and the Stab-And-The-Back-Myth that was set into the world by Imperial German Marshals (and defacto military oligarchs from 1916 on) Ludendorff and Hindenburg in order to shift the blame for the Germany's defeat to the Social Democrats and the Jews. The concurrent deeply authoritarian political culture of many German institutions as well as reactionary and monarchist Industrialists like Krupp, who all backed Hitler and Nationalist and Antisemitic Parties similar to the NSDAP (like the DNVP) and the lack of people actually willing to give a damn about the Republic itself lead to the erosion of the few democratic principles left at this point. From 1930 onward, Hindenburg, who was elected as the candidate of a coalition of Nationalist and conservative parties to the office of President reigned Germany in a dictatorial manner and named Hitler as Chancellor and head of government in January 1933, after two governments under the centrist-conservative Party Zentrum and the Nationalist DNVP failed to stabilize the economy. Responding to the collapse gave the Nazis the political currency to get into power, stimulate the economy by gearing it up to war and made the UK less willing to intervene to stop them while they were rising due to nobody wanting to be the one to start another war. And ideals of peace and disarmament certainly somewhat popular in the UK and France.

To their credit, in the mid 30's the Nazis did appear to be doing good things, even if there was a clear air of racial supremacy about the whole affair. Europe was collectively terrified of Marxism, and a nation that was forcefully rebuilding and modernizing itself without resorting to collectivization was tolerated by the French and British out of fear of the alternative. Between completing the Autobahn, hosting the Olympics, and achieving a number of engineering feats such as the first practical helicopter, Germany appeared to be getting shit done. When the communists tried to launch a revolution in Spain, Germany sent weapons and eventually troops to keep keep the nationalists in control, while Britain looked the other way and pretended not to notice that Germany suddenly had hundreds of tanks (and that France and the Soviets were providing aid to communist revolutionaries). So nobody was too concerned when Germany started making noises about reunifying some Germanic peoples in border regions they'd ceded in the Treaty...

== The Second World War ==

=== The War in the West ===
See also [[Nazi]]s

With Poland unwilling to roll over before the Nazis, the Nazis securing a ceasefire with Soviet Russia and with Britain and France finally stirred to the defense of Poland, it was clear that war was inevitable and so, on September 1st 1939, after creating a false-flag incident to offer the thinnest fig leaf of legality (and also dispose of a few dissenting Germans on the Nazis' hitlist) Germany struck at Poland. Two days later on September 3rd Britain and France declared war on Germany. Contrary to the popular imagination, Poland did not simply crumble before the German onslaught, and the myth of Polish cavalry trying to charge German tanks was yet another piece of propaganda. But after a month of hard fighting, with the Soviets entering the war on the German side and striking Poland in the rear, Poland finally gave in to the inevitable.

=== The War in the East ===
Since at least 1853, when Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Harbor, the Japanese feared the day when the powers of Europe would stomp all over them like they did China. In response they began building up their industrial base, importing guns, ships, factory machinery, engineers, textbooks, and professors. Some Japanese people came to the idea that the best way to fend off imperialism was to become imperialists themselves, and they began gobbling up their neighbors from the late 19th century onward (at first, in the name of liberating them and creating a "Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", but with more brutality and for more obviously selfish reasons as time went on). They kept this going into the 20th century (when this sort of behavior was finally falling out of fashion among the Western powers, especially after WWI), by which time the military had become central to Japanese politics. In 1931, they invaded Manchuria, and invaded China in 1937, killing millions as they went(four times the death toll of the Holocaust to be precise, something that is largely ignored in light of Holocaust itself and Japan's contemporary PR effort). The rest of the world was outraged and cut Japan off from trade, which caused them to dig their heels in and keep it up, lest they be perceived as paper tigers. Tensions built until eventually the US threatened to cut off the oil Japan needed to keep their massive fleet running, and the overconfident Army managed to push the Imperial Japanese Navy into launching an attack on the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor (timed to hit approximately 30 minutes after delivering the declaration of war, thus [[Rules lawyer|effectively being a surprise attack without technically being a surprise attack]]).

The idea was that if everything went right, the fickle American public would be dismayed by the prospect of a hard fight over distant lands (especially while contemplating joining the war in Europe), the IJN could seize control of the Pacific while the crippled US fleet was out of action, and the US would be left with no choice but negotiation. However, while the Pearl Harbor attack did work pretty well and they did overrun a lot of Allied holdings around Asia, they missed all but one of the US carriers which only suffered minor damaged, enraged an American public that was previously tepid on war (especially since mistakes delayed even the planned token warning), and the fact was that the US had more than 10 times the Industry that Japan did as well as plenty of fuel. They also aligned themselves with the Nazis, based on shared enemies and ultra-Imperialist/Nationalist ideologies, but thus reinforcing the narrative of them being a part of the barbaric Forces of Evil who needed to be completely defeated for the sake of the civilized world.

Despite the US' obvious industrial advantage, the US Navy was seriously lacking in experience and numbers compared to the IJN at the start of the war; with the Japanese carriers outnumbering Americans (who had to split their fleets to protect against German U-Boat attacks), there was a very real threat that the IJN would return to finish the job and start raiding the US Mainland before replacement ships could be built. The early stages of the War in the Pacific were very much touch-and-go, but that all changed after the Battle of Midway, when [[Tactical genius|Admiral Nimitz]] intercepted the IJN's plans to attack Midway Island and lured them into a trap, destroying half of the IJN's total carrier capacity. This permanently halted Japanese aggression and put them on the defensive, buying the American war machine valuable time to rearm and retrain.

As time went on, and with some shaky starts, the Allies quickly learned how to rely on carriers instead of traditional battleship tactics, a lucky and devastating win at the Battle of Midway put the IJN on the back foot, now finding themselves as the proverbial one legged man in an ass kicking contest with the cream of Japanese carrier aviation at the bottom of the Pacific. Ferocious naval engagements gave way as the star of the show to even more brutal amphibious warfare as the Marines began their island hopping campaign across the Pacific, painfully prying each strategically important Japanese occupied island from their well dug in defenders — and crucially, skipping the islands that weren't important, leaving lots of Japanese units deployed in spots they could do fuck-all. The jungle, cave and amphibious warfare of this stage of the campaign was especially horrific even by World War 2 standards, not helped by racism against the Japanese on the part of Americans and the racism against everyone crossed with the suicidal fanaticism of the Japanese further exacerbating this. The IJN also set up various military units for holding prisoners and scientific experiments - best exemplified by Unit 731 - which gave Auschwitz a run for their money on crimes against humanity, the only difference being the lack of a genocidal goal.

One often overlooked (at least in popular history from the western perspective) event in the war in China was the last big Japanese Offensive of 1944, named Operation Ichi-Go, where the Japanese threw their last reserves together to break through Republican Chinese lines under Chiang Kai-shek with astounding success. Although the Japanese were beaten back very quickly as were they in no position to hold their gains against the following allied counter-offensive, the Republican Chinese failure to stop it lead to the US taking control over the Nationalist forces after an ultimatum that greatly damaged the previously good relations between Kai-shek and the US government. It also lead to the disillusion of a lot of Nationalist Chinese officiers and soldiers with their cause, prompting them to switch sides to the Communists under Mao Zedong. Mao on the other hand quickly utilized this momentum and influx of experienced soldiers (along with Soviet aid) to seize control of China from the Nationalists, push them out of the main land off to Taiwan and found the Chinese Peoples Republic in 1949.

One major note from a wargaming perspective in this theater is Operation Ten-Go, the last sortie of the IJN against the US military forces invading Okinawa. The largest battleship made by human hands, the Yamato, and her support fleet, sortied... and were promptly destroyed by massed American air power. Thus proving the change in the IRL meta of naval warfare to carrier dominance, which has endured to this day.

=== The Manhattan Project ===
At the tail end of the 19th century, scientists began to work out some odd properties of matter, which eventually got them to realize that splitting atomic nuclei after processing Uranium in a cyclotron releases millions of times more energy than an equivalent mass of a chemical reaction. Naturally, instead of using it as cheap energy first, people thought "How can we weaponize this?" Such a weapon would be a game changer for warfare (less for the raw destruction it would cause, since firebombing cities was already horrifyingly effective, but because it would only take one bomber getting through air defenses to do the job instead of dozens or hundreds), and the Nazis getting it first would be an intolerable state of affairs. As such the Brits and the Americans pooled their scientific and industrial resources at Los Alamos to work out how to build a bomb. 20000 '''tons''' of silver wiring were built to enrich the Uranium into something that will recreate a small sun for a brief moment.

They were not ready in time to use it against the Nazis, but the first two were dropped on Japan to convince them that they wouldn't be able to fight to the stalemate they were now aiming for, thus ending the war quickly at the cost of a few hundred thousand Japanese civilians, rather than a long and costly slog that would potentially result in millions dead if the fanatical Japanese military forced it through to completion (including both the Japanese civilians who would be mobilized into militias and untold American service members). Some accounts also say it was intended to intimidate the Soviet Union, but since the Russians ended up nicking the research data (supposedly, Stalin knew that the Manhattan Project succeeded before Truman), this just paved the way for the nuclear stalemate known as [[the Cold War]].

After the war, the United Nations was organized in a significantly more effective manner than the League of Nations through the veto power and the binding requirements at the Security Council at least nominally giving the world a way to forcibly stop wars. The embarrassment that was the League of Nations formally dissolved itself and handed over all its assets to the UN in it's last meeting in 18 April 1946 (the Resolution went in to effect the next day on the 19th) with the sole exception of a 9 man committee transferring assets, records and administrations of specialist agencies to the UN. With the self-dissolution of the committee on 31 July 1947, legally ending the League of Nations as an entity. The Cold War technically started the day the Japanese surrendered, though the Berlin Blockade and the ending of the Chinese Civil War, reignited after Japan's defeat, were the public display.

== The appeal of the World Wars ==
These are the biggest armed conflicts of world history, rolling across continents using modern weapons, from tanks to planes to automatic weapons. Modern War was born in the trenches of the Somme, in the skies above London and over the fields of Poland during the Blitzkrieg, the flanking in France, the naval bombardment and air bombing in the Pacific, the hell in the Eastern front cities, in the bombing of Europe from the air, in the atomic fire of Hiroshima and Japan. We entered the century and went 14 years thinking everything was right and as great as it could be. Thirty years, a war, a pandemic, an economic crash, another war and several genocides later the man who was born into the first large scale factories witnessed the power of the atom burn the hopes and dreams of two cities.

Of the two wars, World War One gets relatively little media attention and what little it does get is somber. Part of that is because it's hard to craft a heroic action-packed adventure out of the hopeless horror of trench warfare, the other part is that the morality of the war is very, very grey. There was no clear right side, with both the Central and Allied powers equally chomping at the bit for a fight (at least to start with), and ready to start shooting for ''any'' convenient reason. When some angry Illyrians in the Balkans finally set everything off, the ''only'' motivation the common people had (besides being drafted and having no choice anyway) to go fight was the extensive propaganda campaigns telling them how totally awful for realsies the enemy was, and anyone asking questions or doubting was shut down ''hard''. As a result, it's hard to make easily dehumanized rank-and file villains for a narrative when the soldiers of neither side actually want to be fighting at all.

When it was all over the country blamed and punished for the whole mess wasn't even the one that started it (in fact, the country that actually started it made bank off the entire thing. Germany was still the one to go to war with Belgium and get the British involved so they could certainly take some blame.) All told, the First World War is largely seen as a great tragedy, and is widely considered a wasteful war as winnings were slim on the Allied side. If Russia didn't get involved or if the Axis didn't go for Belgium or if Italy either started under the allies or stayed in the axis or if Italy was the cause of WW1 as it likely would have been depending on how things would have continued in AH if the either the Duke dying didn't result in a war or if the Duke was never assassinated a war with one side getting a much greater victory could have transpired.

Probably one of the only noble (and almost certainly the cleanest) aspects of WW1 was the war in the air, where fighter pilots were effectively chivalric knights of the sky. One famous example was Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), easily the most famous Ace fighter of the war, with 80 victories to his name in his distinctive red tri-plane (which only accounted for his last 17). He was so well respected among his adversaries that when he was finally shot down, the Allied officers who recovered his body buried him with full honors, including an honor guard and gun salute. This didn't stop the ruthless pragmatism, a few pilots even publicly boasted of shooting down parachuting airmen to prevent them from returning to the fight and the

Another event stands out known as the Christmas Truce; early on in the war, troops on the Western Front pretty quickly realized that the guys they were shooting at didn’t want to be there any more than they did, and agreed to a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas. When the truce looked like it was going to last, commanders put a kibosh on the whole thing and told them to start fighting again and even cracked down on small mutinies arising. Another such truce would never happen as the fighting became more destructive, as poison gas attacks and tank assaults made each side far more wary of the other.

The Second World War is a much more palatable conflict of more or less Good vs Evil, with both the Nazis and Imperial Japan going out to conquer their respective hemispheres of the world and exterminating millions as key objectives and Italy playing the incompetent sidekick/comic relief which isn't too far off the truth in a series of spectacular displays of military incompetence on the part of Mussolini and his generals. The Axis Powers provided a clear and easy villain for the rest of the world to rally against (as well as providing easy media villains for the rest of the century and into the next millennium). The far more mobile and urban warfare of WW2 also allowed for more personal initiative and heroism, and stories of the extraordinary accomplishments of individual squads, or even individual soldiers, are far more commonplace here than they were back in WW1, when individual men or units had no real hope of making a difference, no matter what they did (mind, it was still industrial weight and technology that won the war, but it is far easier to remember Simo Häyhä than say, Alvin York (They both have Sabaton songs though!)).

As a result, a solid majority of [[Alternate History]] fiction is set in WWII one way or another. Even if WWI (or any of the many, many 19th Century to 1913 events and trends that lead to it) is the point of divergence, the story is likely to be in the late interwar to WWII periods.

== World War inspired Games, Factions and Settings ==
* A lot of stuff from the [[Imperium of Man]], especially the Death Korps of Krieg.
* [[Dieselpunk]] is the WWII equivalent of Steampunk. If you like the general aesthetics and mood of the time period but don’t want to be limited by the period’s technology, or perhaps want to see what would happen if the Nazi “Wunderwaffen” had been fully realized, this is the setting for you.
* [[Bolt Action]], [[Flames of War]], and other similar military tabletop games are set in WWII.
* [[Star Wars]] takes a great deal of inspiration from this time period, and in regards to the prequels, it especially takes a lot of inspiration from the transformation of the democratic-but-ineffectual Weimar Republic into the nightmarishly totalitarian Third Reich (though it was also influenced by the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire).
* Indiana Jones. Do we need to explain this?
* The 1920+ universe, inspired by the art of Jakub Rozalski, envisions an alternate Europe where Nikola Tesla’s super science lead to the development of Mechs as the dominant war machine. Best known for the RTS game “Iron Harvest” that pits Imperial Germany, Imperial Russia, and Poland in a version of WWI with WWII elements mixed in. Even Rasputin makes an appearance as the leader of a shadowy cabal looking to seize power by fomenting revolution in all three factions and take over Tesla’s super-advanced city-state.

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{{Time Periods}}
[[Category: History]]

The World Wars

2022-01-08T01:16:11Z

2A01:CB00:62F:3000:96B:3F4:A4A2:2870: /* The Interwar Period */

The World Wars

2022-01-08T01:05:32Z

2A01:CB00:62F:3000:96B:3F4:A4A2:2870: /* The First World War */

[[File:MAC52_SIDEBAR_TANKS01-810x445.jpg|thumb|right|War has changed...]]
{{topquote|War will become rare, but more terrible. [...] That's my horoscope|Arthur Conan Doyle, 1883}}
{{topquote|This is not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years|General Ferdinand Foch}}
During the [[Industrial Revolution]], Europe was comparatively peaceful for the most part. The 19th century started with the Napoleonic Wars when industrialization was building up steam in England and afterwards there were a series of colonial conflicts and small to middling wars between the various industrial powers*. The Civil War was on the upper end of conflicts in this era but was limited to the comparatively sparsely populated US, was still fought with muskets and saw about 600-750,000 people dead. The Franco Prussian war was won in six months (GOTT MIT UNS!), but in a chilling prelude to things to come killed some 180,000 combatants. Now you may say, "What the hell! The factory accidents and all other horrible abuses and war deaths were horrific!", but you ain't seen nothing yet. Things changed in 1914 when Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, starting the Great War, also known as the ''First World War''. This would be followed up by the ''Second World War'' in 1939-45, which largely stemmed from the consequences of the Great War, to the point that some call the period a Second Thirty Years War (accounting for post World War 1 conflicts and World War 2 prelude wars in the Spanish Civil War and Japan invading China, this is technically correct). '''The World Wars''' would spread across the world and saw conflict and destruction beyond anything that was ever seen before or since.

There are two important factors in the World Wars: ''Technology'' and ''Nationalism''. Technology is the easier of the two to understand. In the Napoleonic War the average soldier had a flintlock musket that could shoot 2-4 bullets a minute with an effective range of 100 meters, was supported by muzzle loading cannons that could shoot accurately to about 1km and was supplied by ox carts while steam engines were just beginning to propel boats and move loads of coal around mines in England. In 1914 the average soldier had a rifle that could shoot 15-30 bullets a minute (which could go through three men and still be deadly) at ranges of over a kilometer and was backed up by cannons that could fire shells six kilometers or more on ballistic courses which exploded in the air raining a spray of balls over a wide area and machine guns which could shoot 450 bullets a minute and airplanes. By the end of the Great War tanks, Submachine Guns and Poison Gas had been added to the arsenal. Tactics devised based on 19th century ideas of fighting were useless on this new battlefield and the book needed to be re-written from page one. Other technologies such as mass production, mechanized farming, railways and automobiles, mass education, telecommunications and modern bureaucracies meant that an Industrial Nation could turn more of its population into soldiers than any medieval nation could ever hope to do (Rome was hard pressed to keep up a standing army of about 1% of it's population, Germany mobilized nearly 20% during the Great War). Through bloody experience generals gradually put together some idea of how to operate in this new battlefield near the end of the Great War and between the wars they'd continue to build on it with experience in small scale wars. Even so people were still making it up as they went in WWII.

Nationalism is more abstract but just as important. In the Middle Ages, people generally identified themselves as being "a Christian Journeyman Blacksmith from London whose dad is English" or "a Jewish Master Cobbler from Munich whose mom is Sephardic" and so forth (their job, class, religion and hometown, things which they dealt with face to face day to day). If a civil war happened and ended up with a new noble house in charge while they and their family and friends got through unharmed, they would not care too much as long as the new lord upheld his feudal duties and was not a huge dick. There was a king and he ruled a bunch of land and tried to keep the peace, which was all good but the specifics of this was not a fact which defined them. This began to change with the Protestant Reformation and had a bit of build up through the Age of Enlightenment as propaganda for the masses took form, leading to the birth of nationalism with the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. People began to see their country as more than just where they lived and the guy in a funny hat who ruled them, but rather as a community of people united by common ideas, languages, beliefs, customs, ideals, and (often) ancestry, people who need to band together and set aside their differences to defend what's theirs against those stinking foreigners with their differences. Public education caught on during the Industrial Revolution, which made it possible to give these ideals to everyone from the richest businessman to the lowliest beggar. When you have two nations which have nationalistic populations and governments and other groups fond of egging nationalism on together it does not take much to get them at each others throats and keep them there.

Intertwined with Nationalism is the issue of "Balance of Power"; since the end of the Thirty Years War, the various European powers had been very conscious about preventing any one nation from becoming too powerful and exerting their authority over everyone else. This is one of the motivating factors behind such actions as the race to colonize Africa, the "Great Game" between Russia & Britain over India, the War of Spanish Succession where Britain and the Holy Roman Empre fought to prevent the union of France & Spain, or the clusterfuck that was the Crimean War where a dispute over Churches in the Ottoman Empire lead to Britain and France declaring war with Russia, only for neither side to gain anything and lose a lot of men and respect. And since Napoleon had gotten really close to completely dominating Europe, the alliance system played a major role in ensuring no one would get too sabre-rattly... up until Germany unified and changed the whole playing field, leaving politicians desperate and uncertain as to how far Kaiser Wilhem was willing to go to prove Germany's prestige as a rising power. The result was an arms race that helped build the powder keg, which would inevitably explode with the right spark.

Footnote * The Taiping Rebellion (Not to be confused with the Boxer Rebellion.) in China killed some 20-30 million people, but neither side in it was industrialized beyond buying some foreign weapons to equip some of their troops.

== The First World War ==
[[File:Trench warfare great war.jpg|thumb|left|Over the Top Lads (sorry, no joke on this one)]]
Also known as the Great War and the [[derp|War to End All Wars]] (SPOILER ALERT, It wasn't)
.

To understand the beginning of the major, globe-shaking clusterfuck known as the First World War, we must first look at several key issues that preceded it.

The first and probably one of the biggest contributing factors was the race for Empire. During the preceding centuries, imperialism and expansionism became extremely popular among the industrializing and booming nations of western Europe. Entire swathes of Africa and Asia were carved out by global powerhouses such as Great Britain and France, in order to fuel their industry and economy back home, often at the expense of the natives (the treatment of which varied on which European power dominated that particular region, with those under Belgium's sway being the worst off)(though at least that stopped chattel slavery that was endemic to the region until the colonization). For a while, the competition was 'merely' a case of rivalry, as each generally avoided the other's territories in order not to repeat disasters like the Seven Years' War or the Napoleonic Wars. Everything was going more or less splendidly (barring some wars of independence in the Balkans against the increasingly corrupt and stagnating Ottoman Empire), until one key event forever shattered the balance of power so carefully put into place by the Congress of Vienna: the unification of Germany by Otto von Bismark (a political genius so astute that he coined the modern term 'realpolitik').

With Germany now unified, it presented a major threat to the established powers of Europe. Not helping matters was the new Kaiser, Wilhelm II, looking at Britain with barely restrained jealousy (and a huge trove of mommy and daddy issues further complicated by a deformed arm being shorter than the other due to a difficult birth causing nerve damage) and thus deciding that Germany deserved its own overseas empire and place as top dog. Complicating matters further is the fact that the royalty and nobility of Europe were all largely related to one another. In some ways, this made the coming shitstorm seem more like the biggest family feud in centuries. The race for who controlled the biggest slice of the planet was kicked into overdrive, with factories pumping out new, relatively untested weapons such as the machine gun, the repeating rifle, and the howitzer, while shipyards around Europe churned out awe-inspiring steel battleships and cruisers, complete with the largest cannons mankind had ever seen up to that point.

To counterbalance each other, the great powers formed increasingly complex and entangling military alliances, which coalesced into two pacts- the Triple Entente (France, Britain (Kind Of), and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, and Austria)

Meanwhile, various nationalist and liberal revolutionary movements were sweeping the continent like a new disease from the Plaguefather. Some of their demands were met, particularly in Britain where the House of Commons gained more power. Other revolutions were violently crushed or flat-out ignored, while still others were successful in their goals through sheer force of arms (Like true comrades). The hardest hit, however, were not the more liberalized and industrious Western nations. Instead, the hardest hit by these successive waves of revolution was none other than the two oldest empires in Europe at that time- Austria and the Ottomans, both of whom were weary, tired states in dire need of reform. While some in both powers saw granting people increasing amounts of autonomy as the way to keep their state from collapsing (such as the formation of the dual monarchy and the recognition of Hungary as an equal partner, transforming the Austrian Empire into Austria-Hungary and the failed Tanzimat reforms of the Ottoman Empire and the Young Turks coup following the Tanzimat's abolition establishing what was intended to be a constitutional monarch but really was a military dictatorship under the delusionally idealistic and, as would be proven in a few years, seriously incompetent Enver and his fellows in high command), others insisted on a more hardline approach, trying to keep the state afloat by using terror. All of this bred resentment, particularly in the Balkans, which increasingly became a powder keg that was waiting for the right spark.

That spark came in the form of the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the Young Bosnia movement which was itself under the influence of the infamous serbian nationalist organization, the Black Hand. Austria-Hungary gave an ultimatum to Serbia (biggest independent slavic country), which included some frankly ridiculous and cruel terms. When [[Just as Planned|the Serbs rejected a few of these terms, the Austrians took it as a casus belli]] and declared war on Serbia. In response, [[Not as planned|Russia declared war on Austria, to which Germany declared war on Russia, to which France declared war on Germany]]. Germany would then invade the neutral Belgium in an attempt to avoid French fortifications on the border, bringing the British into the conflict. The internationalization of the conflict and the various ethnics that the colonial empires of Europe press ganged into service had some downright comical results, like an Indian battalion fighting in East Africa against German-led Askari tribesmen, all because because a Serbian shot an Austrian in Bosnia.

Thus began a conflict that would last for four bloody long years, see eleven million deaths as the result of horrific industrial warfare in the trenches and bombed-out fields, diseases such as the Spanish flu, and the breakup of several empires to form new nations. Truly, an entire generation of Europe's men was destroyed as a result (and is commonly known as the [[Grimdark|Lost Generation]] today) and gave rise to later extremist philosophies, the proponents of whom were all too eager to amass power for themselves by blaming their nation's misfortunes on the subversive "other." And while the civilian losses were nowhere near that of the Second World War, they were significant on both fronts, especially in Belgium where the Imperial German Army exercised collective punishment against villages suspected of harboring partisans.

While the average citizen didn't give much of a damn about the alliance system and the bickering of a bunch of politicians over some dispute halfway across the continent, the government of each country knew they had to sell the "necessity" of the war to their citizens. Propaganda from both sides painted the enemy nations as barbaric, inhuman war criminals who had to be stopped to prevent the devastation that would follow if they were allowed to go unopposed. They also reassured the public that, with their obvious technological superiority/superior fighting spirit, the war would be quick and soldiers would return home by Christmas. While this illusion could be maintained with the civilians population, the soldiers sent to the front lines were quickly disillusioned by the horrors that they saw. Morale was so bad that the Russians overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and eventually came to be led by the [[Communism|Bolsheviks]] under Vladimir Lenin, and the French nearly did the same as mass mutinies broke out in the French army. Had the Americans not joined on the Allies' side to swing the war in their favor, it's likely that even more revolutions could have taken place.

Terrifying new weapons of war earned their fearsome reputation in this conflict. Machine guns and air-burst artillery shells rendered the old tactics of Napoleonic warfare suicidal, while mustard gas and the like created a new age of massive destruction. Tanks made their first debut in this war, slowly rumbling forth like invincible metal monsters, shrugging off most resistance and dealing punishing firepower themselves, only to breakdown in the middle of the battle due to being rudimentary designs. The airplane, as well, saw use in a combat role, and it would swiftly become an invaluable strategic and tactical tool, for he who dominated the skies dominated the flow of battle.

The bloodiest war in human history up to that point ended with Germany's surrender at 11:00 A.M, on November 11th, 1918, after being exhausted, starving, and dangerously close to collapse in the face of a communist uprising. The irony is that despite the announced end of the conflict, soldiers continued to fight tooth and nail to the last minute, desperately hoping that whatever few yards they could seize would somehow bring the negotiations in their countries' favor, as in the fighting continued until literally seconds before 11 AM where an American soldier who was demoted made a suicide charge on a machine gun and a Canadian guy got sniped.

The consequences of WW1 cannot be understated; this four-year-long international bloodletting completely destroyed the Eurocentric world order that has persisted since the 1500s, pushed all European powers except Russia from being superpowers in their own right to second-rank states and ended the age of (overt) Imperialism for good. The scale of the money spent for this war was enormous; Britain went from the biggest lender of the world to the biggest debtor, having spent the entire wealth accumulated over the course of 300 years of colonial British and English history in just four years. France saw its industrial and agricultural heartlands in the northeast reduced into nothing but poisonous wasteland that is ''to this day'' unusable and dangerous from all the unexploded ordinance. Germany had replaced its state form from the Prussian semi-feudal social order to a constitutional republic with nothing to fill the social void that was left when the old Imperial elites just fucked off elsewhere and left it to the Social Democrats and Liberals to clean up the mess they had created. (They failed.) Russia was transformed into the Soviet Union and could only compensate the extreme loss of people and infrastructure by installing a tyrannical regime and wasting away millions of its own people in forced labour camps and famines. And that's just in Europe. In the middle east, the haphazardly drawn borders (Sykes-Picot Agreement) created by Britain and France with no regard ([[Marines Malevolent|or intentional disregard]]) to the cultural mixup of the lands they took from the Ottomans ended up creating some of the most vicious and long-lasting ethnic conflicts, most of which last to this very day, with the Iraq-Iran, Israeli-Palestinian and in general Sunni-Shi'a conflict and the Turkish-Kurdish war (of which the latter's first uprising explicitly aided by the British) being particularly noteworthy examples.

=== The Punitive Expedition ===
While the United States of America sat the early part of the war out, it was not without armed conflict of its own. In 1916 failed Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa launched an unprovoked attack on US settlement of Columbus, New Mexico that killed 26 Americans. The actual reasons are unclear, but seizing supplies, and/or a ploy to get the US Government to involve themselves in the revolution and wreck everything are common guesses. In response, the US sent troops into Mexico to retaliate against Villa. While the conflict was small scale, it ensured the US didn't enter the Great War totally blind to modern warfare as everyone else had. In fact, it was in this conflict that future superstar General Patton got a taste of the new vehicle-based warfare that he would become famous for.

=== The Warlord Era===
Around the same time, after the Boxer Rebellion failed to remove the Europeans from China, it became clear that Imperial China's days were over. After the forced abdication of the Qing Emperor, attempts to create a modern Chinese Republic quickly collapsed as regional Warlords split the country among themselves, intent on unifying China with themselves as its leader. Much like the Three Kingdoms period way back in Early China, much of the military and political conflict was characterized by long, drawn-out border skirmishes with the occasional big battle, massive conscript armies, backstabbing, and leaders who were able to hold onto power so long as they had their army's loyalty. Due to an arms embargo and limited domestic manufacturing, industrialized warfare played a very limited role in the early part of the Warlord era; cavalry and bayonet charges were still viable, as very few warlords could afford the artillery and machine guns needed to make them obsolete. However, the eventual intervention of the Japanese eventually shifted the conflict away from a domestic dispute over who ruled into a fight for China's survival against a technologically superior force, as covered in more detail below.

=== The Empire of the Rising Sun ===
Japan alongside the US began emerging as something of the world power a few years before the war. The Russo-Japanese war of 1905 shocked the dominant European powers as the Japanese managed to defeat the supposedly superior Russians (though the fact of the matter was that both sides were blundering hard and the weebs won because the other side was MUCH more incompetent - Russian navy sent from the Black Sea to Japan fired on a British fishing fleet thinking it was the Japanese thus almost starting a war with the UK). Japan was a member of the Triple Entente and as such seized some German islands in Asia, sent a small fleet into the Mediterranean to escort naval convoys and participated in an expedition alongside the US and European countries in Siberia after the revolution in Russia, but the main political activity was focused on exerting an ever increasing influence on China. After the war, Japan was awarded a permanent seat in the League of Nations and recognized as a 'great power' but their proposal to be recognized as equals race-wise was rejected which caused alienation from the western powers which in turn would partially contribute to increased nationalism and militarism down the line.

== The Interwar Period ==
{{topquote|This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.|Ferdinand Foch, 1919}}
Knowing that the world could not endure another such war, US president Woodrow Wilson made it his mission to set the groundwork for long-term peace (between whites at least); he set fourth what he called the Fourteen Points, a set of foreign policy doctrines that would address many of the underlying issues behind WWI and promote better diplomacy and cooperation between nations, with its biggest selling point being the League of Nations. The Germans thought that this was actually a pretty neat idea, and were hoping to agree to these terms during the upcoming peace conference. Unfortunately, none of Wilson's allies bought into his vague ideas, and slowly he was forced to compromise on all his policies just so he could get the League of Nations established (even shittier proto-United Nations, in that at least the UN specialist agencies do important global coordination work). Ironically, Wilson failed to convince the US to join the League of Nations, partly due to alienating his Republican opponents in Congress, as they weren't convinced that this League wasn't completely useless, or worse, just another military alliance that would suck them into another European War. Without the US to back it, and with little power to enforce peace resolutions, the League pretty quickly collapsed in the lead-up to WWII, as the pissed off Germans had been assigned full blame for the war and wanted revenge.

Near the end of the first World War, the world was thrown into yet another cataclysm. The Spanish Flu, named such because neutral Spain was the only place that paid much attention to it over the ongoing war, spread rapidly and killed many thanks to the conditions caused by the war (overcrowding, especially in transport ships for returning soldiers, malnourishment, etc.). The death toll was horrendous, with the minimum estimate of 50 million being over double the entire war's death toll. After this, Europe needed decades to recover from the horrible destruction the war and flu had caused. Various post war conflicts continued in the regional level, most famously the Anatolian conflict between Greece, Armenia, French Colonial Forces, Islamists loyal to the Ottoman Government and the nationalist wings of the Ottoman military that revolted under Mustafa Kemal's regime. The latter won after deals with Armenia (which was not ratified as the Soviets nommed them, the new regime made another treaty which was officially ratified and guaranteed by the Soviets) and France, while Greece was rather soundly defeated. After another peace treaty with the Allies at Lausanne and the nationalist regime reforming into a Republic and abolishing the monarchy and the caliphate a year after the end of the monarchy and the Treaty of Lausanne, the local wars pretty much ended barring minor border disputes and posturing, with the only real big scare being the Bosphorus Straits affair with the Soviet's, that was resolved through the Montreaux Convention in the 30's. The rest of the world wasn't so lucky.

America, however, was having its best years ever. The Washington Naval Treaty had Britain officially cede the position of Earth’s mightiest navy, which the Royal Navy held for centuries, by recognizing the US Navy’s power as at least equal to it. The so called "Roaring Twenties" saw a rapid increase in the standard of living. President Harding managed to do the impossible and eliminate the deficit, though some of his appointees trying to sell [[Wikipedia:Teapot Rock|some government owned rock in the middle of nowhere]] marred his legacy (looking back historians realize there's a lack of evidence suggesting he had any knowledge or involvement though that isn't really a compliment, you do need to pay attention when you are damn head of state). The American economy of the time was doing well; unlike the other powers of Europe, it had not been strained extensively by being in a war economy for four years that strained productivity, had prime farmland turned into no man's land like France, its economy pushed to the breaking point like Germany, broken up into squabbling states like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or had all of that happen and was taken over by communists after a civil war like Russia (with some like Turkey as aforementioned getting lucky and successfully reforming), while having basically everyone in Europe owe American bankers to pay for the war.

After Harding's death during the scandal, his Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, took over. This was rather sudden and Coolidge was sworn in during the middle of the night by his father on the family Bible, with his first act was to pray to God to bless the American people and give him the strength to lead them. Unlike Harding, Coolidge proved wildly popular despite (or because of) his quiet nature. His economic policies really kicked off the Roaring Twenties and he was popular enough he was elected by a landslide in an election ''he didn't campaign for'' (this was common in American politics at the time, it was considered undignified to campaign for yourself). Coolidge continued Harding's deficit free budgets to the point the US was able to repay most of the national debt. Despite his wild popularity, Coolidge shocked the world with his announcement that [[Wikipedia:I do not choose to run|"I do not choose to run"]] for reelection and, true to his nature, did not really explain why (he would later elaborate in his autobiography that he did not wish to break the (then unofficial) rule set by Washington of a max of two terms among other issues). He would be followed by Herbert Hoover, who largely rode on his success (justifiably though; Hoover had been Commerce Secretary for 8 years). This would change in October of 1929 when the stock market crashed and ushered in the Great Depression.

There had been a series of stock market crashes through the the 19th century in the US every decade or so, each with increasing severity and effects in the US as more people moved into cities and were more dependent on wages. The 1920s saw a rise in consumer culture, payment plans, investment by common people, loans for buying stock with, and a lot of scams which culminated in the biggest crash yet. Moreover, since the US was now linked to a bunch of other countries thanks to improved communications, trade, transportation, and so forth, the crash not only tanked the US economy, but that of basically every other developed country save for the USSR under Stalin (which had its own Stalin-related problems, and boy were they big problems), which further hindered recovery. It also didn't help that large swaths of Europe were still battle scarred wastelands useless for agriculture, an entire generation of young working men had been killed or crippled, and that the formerly super-productive Germany was now teetering with an ineffectual government and crippling reparations to pay (Take the claim of the Reparations being crippling with a huge grain of salt: Modern historians have come to the conclusion that the effect of the reparations was much lesser than the German governments and later Hitler liked to claim. They liked to overstate the burden to create a welcome excuse for their own failure to stabilize the deteriorating value of the Reichsmark for the vengeful German masses, which culminated in one of the worst hyperinflations of the 20th century and also the temporary occupation of the Ruhr Valley by French troops) Throw in a crushing multi-year drought in the United States that ruined harvests across wholes states and the stage is set for chaos.

The old ways of dealing with things did not work and people turned to new ideas. In the US, this was various public works projects and assistance programs, collectively called the New Deal, to get people back working and build confidence in the economy and financial regulations. Similar ideas were tried in England, Australia and the UK. It should be noted that afterwards there was no major economic setbacks until 2008 after New Deal era financial regulations were pulled. In Germany, the response was more severe and was seen as a failure of democracy, which contributed to the rise of authoritarian parties on the left like the Communist KPD, which in turn led to the Nazi (National Socialists German Workers Party) party to counter them (possibly with help from western powers seeking a wall against communism) <s>with a newfound hate of the Allies thanks to the colossal reparations to the rest of Europe that Germany had been forced to pay in the Treaty of Versailles</s>, except that the rise of the Nazis to power was far more complicated than just that. Much more important in that question was the fact that Germany was blamed for the war to create to legal and moral justification for said reparations (as elaborated above, the actual econonomic effects of the reparations were questionable) and the Stab-And-The-Back-Myth that was set into the world by Imperial German Marshals (and defacto military oligarchs from 1916 on) Ludendorff and Hindenburg in order to shift the blame for the Germanys defeat to the Social Democrats and the Jews. The concurrent deeply authoritarian political culture of many German institutions as well as reactionary and monarchist Industrialists like Krupp, who all backed Hitler and Nationalist and Antisemitic Parties similar to the NSDAP (like the DNVP) and the lack of people actually willing to give a damn about the Republic itself lead to the erosion of the few democratic principles left at this point. From 1930 onwards, Hindenburg, who was elected as the candidate of a coalition of Nationalist and conservative parties to the office of President reigned Germany in a dictatorial manner and named Hitler as Chancellor and head of government in January 1933, after two governments under the centrist-conservative Party Zentrum and the Nationalist DNVP failed to stabilize the economy. Responding to the collapse gave the Nazis the political currency to get into power, stimulate the economy by gearing it up to war and made the UK less willing to intervene to stop them while they were rising due to nobody wanting to be the one to start another war. And ideals of peace and disarmamemt certainly somewhat popular in the UK and France.

To their credit, in the mid 30's the Nazis did appear to be doing good things, even if there was a clear air of racial supremacy about the whole affair. Europe was collectively terrified of Marxism, and a nation that was forcefully rebuilding and modernizing itself without resorting to collectivization was tolerated by the French and British out of fear of the alternative. Between completing the Autobahn, hosting the Olympics, and achieving a number of engineering feats such as the first practical helicopter, Germany appeared to be getting shit done. When the communists tried to launch a revolution in Spain, Germany sent weapons and eventually troops to keep keep the nationalists in control, while Britain looked the other way and pretended not to notice that Germany suddenly had hundreds of tanks (and that France was providing aid to communist revolutionaries). So nobody was too concerned when Germany started making noises about reunifying some Germanic peoples in border regions they'd ceded in the Treaty...

== The Second World War ==

=== The War in the West ===
See also [[Nazi]]s

With Poland unwilling to roll over before the Nazis, the Nazis securing a ceasefire with Soviet Russia and with Britain and France finally stirred to the defense of Poland, it was clear that war was inevitable and so, on September 1st 1939, after creating a false-flag incident to offer the thinnest fig leaf of legality (and also dispose of a few dissenting Germans on the Nazis' hitlist) Germany struck at Poland. Two days later on September 3rd Britain and France declared war on Germany. Contrary to the popular imagination, Poland did not simply crumble before the German onslaught, and the myth of Polish cavalry trying to charge German tanks was yet another piece of propaganda. But after a month of hard fighting, with the Soviets entering the war on the German side and striking Poland in the rear, Poland finally gave in to the inevitable.

=== The War in the East ===
Since at least 1853, when Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Harbor, the Japanese feared the day when the powers of Europe would stomp all over them like they did China. In response they began building up their industrial base, importing guns, ships, factory machinery, engineers, textbooks, and professors. Some Japanese people came to the idea that the best way to fend off imperialism was to become imperialists themselves, and they began gobbling up their neighbors from the late 19th century onward (at first, in the name of liberating them and creating a "Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", but with more brutality and for more obviously selfish reasons as time went on). They kept this going into the 20th century (when this sort of behavior was finally falling out of fashion among the Western powers, especially after WWI), by which time the military had become central to Japanese politics. In 1931, they invaded Manchuria, and invaded China in 1937, killing millions as they went(four times the death toll of the Holocaust to be precise, something that is largely ignored in light of Holocaust itself and Japan's contemporary PR effort). The rest of the world was outraged and cut Japan off from trade, which caused them to dig their heels in and keep it up, lest they be perceived as paper tigers. Tensions built until eventually the US threatened to cut off the oil Japan needed to keep their massive fleet running, and the overconfident Army managed to push the Imperial Japanese Navy into launching an attack on the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor (timed to hit approximately 30 minutes after delivering the declaration of war, thus [[Rules lawyer|effectively being a surprise attack without technically being a surprise attack]]).

The idea was that if everything went right, the fickle American public would be dismayed by the prospect of a hard fight over distant lands (especially while contemplating joining the war in Europe), the IJN could seize control of the Pacific while the crippled US fleet was out of action, and the US would be left with no choice but negotiation. However, while the Pearl Harbor attack did work pretty well and they did overrun a lot of Allied holdings around Asia, they missed all but one of the US carriers which only suffered minor damaged, enraged an American public that was previously tepid on war (especially since mistakes delayed even the planned token warning), and the fact was that the US had more than 10 times the Industry that Japan did as well as plenty of fuel. They also aligned themselves with the Nazis, based on shared enemies and ultra-Imperialist/Nationalist ideologies, but thus reinforcing the narrative of them being a part of the barbaric Forces of Evil who needed to be completely defeated for the sake of the civilized world.

Despite the US' obvious industrial advantage, the US Navy was seriously lacking in experience and numbers compared to the IJN at the start of the war; with the Japanese carriers outnumbering Americans (who had to split their fleets to protect against German U-Boat attacks), there was a very real threat that the IJN would return to finish the job and start raiding the US Mainland before replacement ships could be built. The early stages of the War in the Pacific were very much touch-and-go, but that all changed after the Battle of Midway, when [[Tactical genius|Admiral Nimitz]] intercepted the IJN's plans to attack Midway Island and lured them into a trap, destroying half of the IJN's total carrier capacity. This permanently halted Japanese aggression and put them on the defensive, buying the American war machine valuable time to rearm and retrain.

As time went on, and with some shaky starts, the Allies quickly learned how to rely on carriers instead of traditional battleship tactics, a lucky and devastating win at the Battle of Midway put the IJN on the back foot, now finding themselves as the proverbial one legged man in an ass kicking contest with the cream of Japanese carrier aviation at the bottom of the Pacific. Ferocious naval engagements gave way as the star of the show to even more brutal amphibious warfare as the Marines began their island hopping campaign across the Pacific, painfully prying each strategically important Japanese occupied island from their well dug in defenders — and crucially, skipping the islands that weren't important, leaving lots of Japanese units deployed in spots they could do fuck-all. The jungle, cave and amphibious warfare of this stage of the campaign was especially horrific even by World War 2 standards, not helped by racism against the Japanese on the part of Americans and the racism against everyone crossed with the suicidal fanaticism of the Japanese further exacerbating this. The IJN also set up various military units for holding prisoners and scientific experiments - best exemplified by Unit 731 - which gave Auschwitz a run for their money on crimes against humanity, the only difference being the lack of a genocidal goal.

One often overlooked (at least in popular history from the western perspective) event in the war in China was the last big Japanese Offensive of 1944, named Operation Ichi-Go, where the Japanese threw their last reserves together to break through Republican Chinese lines under Chiang Kai-shek with astounding success. Although the Japanese were beaten back very quickly as were they in no position to hold their gains against the following allied counter-offensive, the Republican Chinese failure to stop it lead to the US taking control over the Nationalist forces after an ultimatum that greatly damaged the previously good relations between Kai-shek and the US government. It also lead to the disillusion of a lot of Nationalist Chinese officiers and soldiers with their cause, prompting them to switch sides to the Communists under Mao Zedong. Mao on the other hand quickly utilized this momentum and influx of experienced soldiers (along with Soviet aid) to seize control of China from the Nationalists, push them out of the main land off to Taiwan and found the Chinese Peoples Republic in 1949.

One major note from a wargaming perspective in this theater is Operation Ten-Go, the last sortie of the IJN against the US military forces invading Okinawa. The largest battleship made by human hands, the Yamato, and her support fleet, sortied... and were promptly destroyed by massed American air power. Thus proving the change in the IRL meta of naval warfare to carrier dominance, which has endured to this day.

=== The Manhattan Project ===
At the tail end of the 19th century, scientists began to work out some odd properties of matter, which eventually got them to realize that splitting atomic nuclei after processing Uranium in a cyclotron releases millions of times more energy than an equivalent mass of a chemical reaction. Naturally, instead of using it as cheap energy first, people thought "How can we weaponize this?" Such a weapon would be a game changer for warfare (less for the raw destruction it would cause, since firebombing cities was already horrifyingly effective, but because it would only take one bomber getting through air defenses to do the job instead of dozens or hundreds), and the Nazis getting it first would be an intolerable state of affairs. As such the Brits and the Americans pooled their scientific and industrial resources at Los Alamos to work out how to build a bomb. 20000 '''tons''' of silver wiring were built to enrich the Uranium into something that will recreate a small sun for a brief moment.

They were not ready in time to use it against the Nazis, but the first two were dropped on Japan to convince them that they wouldn't be able to fight to the stalemate they were now aiming for, thus ending the war quickly at the cost of a few hundred thousand Japanese civilians, rather than a long and costly slog that would potentially result in millions dead if the fanatical Japanese military forced it through to completion (including both the Japanese civilians who would be mobilized into militias and untold American service members). Some accounts also say it was intended to intimidate the Soviet Union, but since the Russians ended up nicking the research data (supposedly, Stalin knew that the Manhattan Project succeeded before Truman), this just paved the way for the nuclear stalemate known as [[the Cold War]].

After the war, the United Nations was organized in a significantly more effective manner than the League of Nations through the veto power and the binding requirements at the Security Council at least nominally giving the world a way to forcibly stop wars. The embarrassment that was the League of Nations formally dissolved itself and handed over all its assets to the UN in it's last meeting in 18 April 1946 (the Resolution went in to effect the next day on the 19th) with the sole exception of a 9 man committee transferring assets, records and administrations of specialist agencies to the UN. With the self-dissolution of the committee on 31 July 1947, legally ending the League of Nations as an entity. The Cold War technically started the day the Japanese surrendered, though the Berlin Blockade and the ending of the Chinese Civil War, reignited after Japan's defeat, were the public display.

== The appeal of the World Wars ==
These are the biggest armed conflicts of world history, rolling across continents using modern weapons, from tanks to planes to automatic weapons. Modern War was born in the trenches of the Somme, in the skies above London and over the fields of Poland during the Blitzkrieg, the flanking in France, the naval bombardment and air bombing in the Pacific, the hell in the Eastern front cities, in the bombing of Europe from the air, in the atomic fire of Hiroshima and Japan. We entered the century and went 14 years thinking everything was right and as great as it could be. Thirty years, a war, a pandemic, an economic crash, another war and several genocides later the man who was born into the first large scale factories witnessed the power of the atom burn the hopes and dreams of two cities.

Of the two wars, World War One gets relatively little media attention and what little it does get is somber. Part of that is because it's hard to craft a heroic action-packed adventure out of the hopeless horror of trench warfare, the other part is that the morality of the war is very, very grey. There was no clear right side, with both the Central and Allied powers equally chomping at the bit for a fight (at least to start with), and ready to start shooting for ''any'' convenient reason. When some angry Illyrians in the Balkans finally set everything off, the ''only'' motivation the common people had (besides being drafted and having no choice anyway) to go fight was the extensive propaganda campaigns telling them how totally awful for realsies the enemy was, and anyone asking questions or doubting was shut down ''hard''. As a result, it's hard to make easily dehumanized rank-and file villains for a narrative when the soldiers of neither side actually want to be fighting at all.

When it was all over the country blamed and punished for the whole mess wasn't even the one that started it (in fact, the country that actually started it made bank off the entire thing. Germany was still the one to go to war with Belgium and get the British involved so they could certainly take some blame.) All told, the First World War is largely seen as a great tragedy, and is widely considered a wasteful war as winnings were slim on the Allied side. If Russia didn't get involved or if the Axis didn't go for Belgium or if Italy either started under the allies or stayed in the axis or if Italy was the cause of WW1 as it likely would have been depending on how things would have continued in AH if the either the Duke dying didn't result in a war or if the Duke was never assassinated a war with one side getting a much greater victory could have transpired.

Probably one of the only noble (and almost certainly the cleanest) aspects of WW1 was the war in the air, where fighter pilots were effectively chivalric knights of the sky. One famous example was Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), easily the most famous Ace fighter of the war, with 80 victories to his name in his distinctive red tri-plane (which only accounted for his last 17). He was so well respected among his adversaries that when he was finally shot down, the Allied officers who recovered his body buried him with full honors, including an honor guard and gun salute. This didn't stop the ruthless pragmatism, a few pilots even publicly boasted of shooting down parachuting airmen to prevent them from returning to the fight.

Another event stands out known as the Christmas Truce; early on in the war, troops on the Western Front pretty quickly realized that the guys they were shooting at didn’t want to be there any more than they did, and agreed to a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas. When the truce looked like it was going to last, commanders put a kibosh on the whole thing and told them to start fighting again and even cracked down on small mutinies arising. Another such truce would never happen as the fighting became more destructive, as poison gas attacks and tank assaults made each side far more wary of the other.

The Second World War is a much more palatable conflict of more or less Good vs Evil, with both the Nazis and Imperial Japan going out to conquer their respective hemispheres of the world and exterminating millions as key objectives and Italy playing the incompetent sidekick/comic relief which isn't too far off the truth in a series of spectacular displays of military incompetence on the part of Mussolini and his generals. The Axis Powers provided a clear and easy villain for the rest of the world to rally against (as well as providing easy media villains for the rest of the century and into the next millennium). The far more mobile and urban warfare of WW2 also allowed for more personal initiative and heroism, and stories of the extraordinary accomplishments of individual squads, or even individual soldiers, are far more commonplace here than they were back in WW1, when individual men or units had no real hope of making a difference, no matter what they did (mind, it was still industrial weight and technology that won the war, but it is far easier to remember Simo Häyhä than say, Alvin York (They both have Sabaton songs though!)).

As a result, a solid majority of [[Alternate History]] fiction is set in WWII one way or another. Even if WWI (or any of the many, many 19th Century to 1913 events and trends that lead to it) is the point of divergence, the story is likely to be in the late interwar to WWII periods.

== World War inspired Games, Factions and Settings ==
* A lot of stuff from the [[Imperium of Man]], especially the Death Korps of Krieg.
* [[Dieselpunk]] is the WWII equivalent of Steampunk. If you like the general aesthetics and mood of the time period but don’t want to be limited by the period’s technology, or perhaps want to see what would happen if the Nazi “Wunderwaffen” had been fully realized, this is the setting for you.
* [[Bolt Action]], [[Flames of War]], and other similar military tabletop games are set in WWII.
* [[Star Wars]] takes a great deal of inspiration from this time period, and in regards to the prequels, it especially takes a lot of inspiration from the transformation of the democratic-but-ineffectual Weimar Republic into the nightmarishly totalitarian Third Reich (though it was also influenced by the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire).
* Indiana Jones. Do we need to explain this?
* The 1920+ universe, inspired by the art of Jakub Rozalski, envisions an alternate Europe where Nikola Tesla’s super science lead to the development of Mechs as the dominant war machine. Best known for the RTS game “Iron Harvest” that pits Imperial Germany, Imperial Russia, and Poland in a version of WWI with WWII elements mixed in. Even Rasputin makes an appearance as the leader of a shadowy cabal looking to seize power by fomenting revolution in all three factions and take over Tesla’s super-advanced city-state.

{{Skub}}
{{Time Periods}}
[[Category: History]]

The World Wars

2022-01-08T01:00:08Z

2A01:CB00:62F:3000:96B:3F4:A4A2:2870: /* The First World War */

[[File:MAC52_SIDEBAR_TANKS01-810x445.jpg|thumb|right|War has changed...]]
{{topquote|War will become rare, but more terrible. [...] That's my horoscope|Arthur Conan Doyle, 1883}}
{{topquote|This is not peace. It is an armistice for twenty years|General Ferdinand Foch}}
During the [[Industrial Revolution]], Europe was comparatively peaceful for the most part. The 19th century started with the Napoleonic Wars when industrialization was building up steam in England and afterwards there were a series of colonial conflicts and small to middling wars between the various industrial powers*. The Civil War was on the upper end of conflicts in this era but was limited to the comparatively sparsely populated US, was still fought with muskets and saw about 600-750,000 people dead. The Franco Prussian war was won in six months (GOTT MIT UNS!), but in a chilling prelude to things to come killed some 180,000 combatants. Now you may say, "What the hell! The factory accidents and all other horrible abuses and war deaths were horrific!", but you ain't seen nothing yet. Things changed in 1914 when Archduke Ferdinand was assassinated, starting the Great War, also known as the ''First World War''. This would be followed up by the ''Second World War'' in 1939-45, which largely stemmed from the consequences of the Great War, to the point that some call the period a Second Thirty Years War (accounting for post World War 1 conflicts and World War 2 prelude wars in the Spanish Civil War and Japan invading China, this is technically correct). '''The World Wars''' would spread across the world and saw conflict and destruction beyond anything that was ever seen before or since.

There are two important factors in the World Wars: ''Technology'' and ''Nationalism''. Technology is the easier of the two to understand. In the Napoleonic War the average soldier had a flintlock musket that could shoot 2-4 bullets a minute with an effective range of 100 meters, was supported by muzzle loading cannons that could shoot accurately to about 1km and was supplied by ox carts while steam engines were just beginning to propel boats and move loads of coal around mines in England. In 1914 the average soldier had a rifle that could shoot 15-30 bullets a minute (which could go through three men and still be deadly) at ranges of over a kilometer and was backed up by cannons that could fire shells six kilometers or more on ballistic courses which exploded in the air raining a spray of balls over a wide area and machine guns which could shoot 450 bullets a minute and airplanes. By the end of the Great War tanks, Submachine Guns and Poison Gas had been added to the arsenal. Tactics devised based on 19th century ideas of fighting were useless on this new battlefield and the book needed to be re-written from page one. Other technologies such as mass production, mechanized farming, railways and automobiles, mass education, telecommunications and modern bureaucracies meant that an Industrial Nation could turn more of its population into soldiers than any medieval nation could ever hope to do (Rome was hard pressed to keep up a standing army of about 1% of it's population, Germany mobilized nearly 20% during the Great War). Through bloody experience generals gradually put together some idea of how to operate in this new battlefield near the end of the Great War and between the wars they'd continue to build on it with experience in small scale wars. Even so people were still making it up as they went in WWII.

Nationalism is more abstract but just as important. In the Middle Ages, people generally identified themselves as being "a Christian Journeyman Blacksmith from London whose dad is English" or "a Jewish Master Cobbler from Munich whose mom is Sephardic" and so forth (their job, class, religion and hometown, things which they dealt with face to face day to day). If a civil war happened and ended up with a new noble house in charge while they and their family and friends got through unharmed, they would not care too much as long as the new lord upheld his feudal duties and was not a huge dick. There was a king and he ruled a bunch of land and tried to keep the peace, which was all good but the specifics of this was not a fact which defined them. This began to change with the Protestant Reformation and had a bit of build up through the Age of Enlightenment as propaganda for the masses took form, leading to the birth of nationalism with the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars. People began to see their country as more than just where they lived and the guy in a funny hat who ruled them, but rather as a community of people united by common ideas, languages, beliefs, customs, ideals, and (often) ancestry, people who need to band together and set aside their differences to defend what's theirs against those stinking foreigners with their differences. Public education caught on during the Industrial Revolution, which made it possible to give these ideals to everyone from the richest businessman to the lowliest beggar. When you have two nations which have nationalistic populations and governments and other groups fond of egging nationalism on together it does not take much to get them at each others throats and keep them there.

Intertwined with Nationalism is the issue of "Balance of Power"; since the end of the Thirty Years War, the various European powers had been very conscious about preventing any one nation from becoming too powerful and exerting their authority over everyone else. This is one of the motivating factors behind such actions as the race to colonize Africa, the "Great Game" between Russia & Britain over India, the War of Spanish Succession where Britain and the Holy Roman Empre fought to prevent the union of France & Spain, or the clusterfuck that was the Crimean War where a dispute over Churches in the Ottoman Empire lead to Britain and France declaring war with Russia, only for neither side to gain anything and lose a lot of men and respect. And since Napoleon had gotten really close to completely dominating Europe, the alliance system played a major role in ensuring no one would get too sabre-rattly... up until Germany unified and changed the whole playing field, leaving politicians desperate and uncertain as to how far Kaiser Wilhem was willing to go to prove Germany's prestige as a rising power. The result was an arms race that helped build the powder keg, which would inevitably explode with the right spark.

Footnote * The Taiping Rebellion (Not to be confused with the Boxer Rebellion.) in China killed some 20-30 million people, but neither side in it was industrialized beyond buying some foreign weapons to equip some of their troops.

== The First World War ==
[[File:Trench warfare great war.jpg|thumb|left|Over the Top Lads (sorry, no joke on this one)]]
Also known as the Great War and the [[derp|War to End All Wars]] (SPOILER ALERT, It wasn't)
.

To understand the beginning of the major, globe-shaking clusterfuck known as the First World War, we must first look at several key issues that preceded it.

The first and probably one of the biggest contributing factors was the race for Empire. During the preceding centuries, imperialism and expansionism became extremely popular among the industrializing and booming nations of western Europe. Entire swathes of Africa and Asia were carved out by global powerhouses such as Great Britain and France, in order to fuel their industry and economy back home, often at the expense of the natives (the treatment of which varied on which European power dominated that particular region, with those under Belgium's sway being the worst off)(though at least that stopped chattel slavery that was endemic to the region until the colonization). For a while, the competition was 'merely' a case of rivalry, as each generally avoided the other's territories in order not to repeat disasters like the Seven Years' War or the Napoleonic Wars. Everything was going more or less splendidly (barring some wars of independence in the Balkans against the increasingly corrupt and stagnating Ottoman Empire), until one key event forever shattered the balance of power so carefully put into place by the Congress of Vienna: the unification of Germany by Otto von Bismark (a political genius so astute that he coined the modern term 'realpolitik').

With Germany now unified, it presented a major threat to the established powers of Europe. Not helping matters was the new Kaiser, Wilhelm II, looking at Britain with barely restrained jealousy (and a huge trove of mommy and daddy issues further complicated by a deformed arm being shorter than the other due to a difficult birth causing nerve damage) and thus deciding that Germany deserved its own overseas empire and place as top dog. Complicating matters further is the fact that the royalty and nobility of Europe were all largely related to one another. In some ways, this made the coming shitstorm seem more like the biggest family feud in centuries. The race for who controlled the biggest slice of the planet was kicked into overdrive, with factories pumping out new, relatively untested weapons such as the machine gun, the repeating rifle, and the howitzer, while shipyards around Europe churned out awe-inspiring steel battleships and cruisers, complete with the largest cannons mankind had ever seen up to that point.

To counterbalance each other, the great powers formed increasingly complex and entangling military alliances, which coalesced into two pacts- the Triple Entente (France, Britain (Kind Of), and Russia) and the Triple Alliance (Germany, Italy, and Austria)

Meanwhile, various nationalist and liberal revolutionary movements were sweeping the continent like a new disease from the Plaguefather. Some of their demands were met, particularly in Britain where the House of Commons gained more power. Other revolutions were violently crushed or flat-out ignored, while still others were successful in their goals through sheer force of arms (Like true comrades). The hardest hit, however, were not the more liberalized and industrious Western nations. Instead, the hardest hit by these successive waves of revolution was none other than the two oldest empires in Europe at that time- Austria and the Ottomans, both of whom were weary, tired states in dire need of reform. While some in both powers saw granting people increasing amounts of autonomy as the way to keep their state from collapsing (such as the formation of the dual monarchy and the recognition of Hungary as an equal partner, transforming the Austrian Empire into Austria-Hungary and the failed Tanzimat reforms of the Ottoman Empire and the Young Turks coup following the Tanzimat's abolition establishing what was intended to be a constitutional monarch but really was a military dictatorship under the delusionally idealistic and, as would be proven in a few years, seriously incompetent Enver and his fellows in high command), others insisted on a more hardline approach, trying to keep the state afloat by using terror. All of this bred resentment, particularly in the Balkans, which increasingly became a powder keg that was waiting for the right spark.

That spark came in the form of the assassination of the heir to the Austrian throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, at the hands of Gavrilo Princip, who was a member of the Young Bosnia movement which was itself under the influence of the infamous serbian nationalist organization, the Black Hand. Austria-Hungary gave an ultimatum to Serbia (biggest independent slavic country), which included some frankly ridiculous and cruel terms. When [[Just as Planned|the Serbs rejected a few of these terms, the Austrians took it as a casus belli]] and declared war on Serbia. In response, [[Not as planned|Russia declared war on Austria, to which Germany declared war on Russia, to which France declared war on Germany]]. Germany would then invade the neutral Belgium in an attempt to avoid French fortifications on the border, bringing the British into the conflict. The internationalization of the conflict and the various ethnics that the colonial empires of Europe press ganged into service had some downright comical results, like an Indian battalion fighting in East Africa against German-led Askari tribesmen, all because because a Serbian shot an Austrian in Bosnia.

Thus began a conflict that would last for four bloody long years, see eleven million deaths as the result of horrific industrial warfare in the trenches and bombed-out fields, diseases such as the Spanish flu, and the breakup of several empires to form new nations. Truly, an entire generation of Europe's men was destroyed as a result (and is commonly known as the [[Grimdark|Lost Generation]] today) and gave rise to later extremist philosophies, the proponents of whom were all too eager to amass power for themselves by blaming their nation's misfortunes on the subversive "other." And while the civilian losses were nowhere near that of the Second World War, they were significant on both fronts, especially in Belgium where the Imperial German Army exercised collective punishment against villages suspected of harboring partisans.

While the average citizen didn't give much of a damn about the alliance system and the bickering of a bunch of politicians over some dispute halfway across the continent, the government of each country knew they had to sell the "necessity" of the war to their citizens. Propaganda from both sides painted the enemy nations as barbaric, inhuman war criminals who had to be stopped to prevent the devastation that would follow if they were allowed to go unopposed. They also reassured the public that, with their obvious technological superiority, the war would be quick and soldiers would return home by Christmas. While this illusion could be maintained with the civilians population, the soldiers sent to the front lines were quickly disillusioned by the horrors that they saw. Morale was so bad that the Russians overthrew Tsar Nicholas II and eventually came to be led by the [[Communism|Bolsheviks]] under Vladimir Lenin, and the French nearly did the same as mass mutinies broke out in the French army. Had the Americans not joined on the Allies' side to swing the war in their favor, it's likely that even more revolutions could have taken place.

Terrifying new weapons of war earned their fearsome reputation in this conflict. Machine guns and air-burst artillery shells rendered the old tactics of Napoleonic warfare suicidal, while mustard gas and the like created a new age of massive destruction. Tanks made their first debut in this war, slowly rumbling forth like invincible metal monsters, shrugging off most resistance and dealing punishing firepower themselves, only to breakdown in the middle of the battle due to being rudimentary designs. The airplane, as well, saw use in a combat role, and it would swiftly become an invaluable strategic and tactical tool, for he who dominated the skies dominated the flow of battle.

The bloodiest war in human history up to that point ended with Germany's surrender at 11:00 A.M, on November 11th, 1918, after being exhausted, starving, and dangerously close to collapse in the face of a communist uprising. The irony is that despite the announced end of the conflict, soldiers continued to fight tooth and nail to the last minute, desperately hoping that whatever few yards they could seize would somehow bring the negotiations in their countries' favor, as in the fighting continued until literally seconds before 11 AM where an American soldier who was demoted made a suicide charge on a machine gun and a Canadian guy got sniped.

The consequences of WW1 cannot be understated; this four-year-long international bloodletting completely destroyed the Eurocentric world order that has persisted since the 1500s, pushed all european powers except Russia from being superpowers in their own right to second-rank states and ended the age of (overt) Imperialism for good. The scale of the money spent for this war was enormous; Britain went from the biggest lender of the world to the biggest debtor, having spent the entire wealth accumulated over the course of 300 years of colonial British and English history in just four years. France saw its industrial and agricultural heartlands in the northeast reduced into nothing but poisonous wasteland that is ''to this day'' unusable and dangerous from all the unexploded ordinance. Germany had replaced its state form from the Prussian semi-feudal social order to a constitutional republic with nothing to fill the social void that was left when the old Imperial elites just fucked off elsewhere and left it to the Social Democrats and Liberals to clean up the mess they had created. (They failed.) Russia was transformed into the Soviet Union and could only compensate the extreme loss of people and infrastructure by installing a tyrannical regime and wasting away millions of its own people in forced labour camps and famines. And that's just in Europe. In the middle east, the haphazardly drawn borders (Sykes-Picot Agreement) created by Britain and France with no regard ([[Marines Malevolent|or intentional disregard]]) to the cultural mixup of the lands they took from the Ottomans ended up creating some of the most vicious and long-lasting ethnic conflicts, most of which last to this very day, with the Iraq-Iran, Israeli-Palestinian and in general Sunni-Shi'a conflict and the Turkish-Kurdish war (of which the latter's first uprising explicitly aided by the British) being particularly noteworthy examples.

=== The Punitive Expedition ===
While the United States of America sat the early part of the war out, it was not without armed conflict of its own. In 1916 failed Mexican revolutionary Francisco "Pancho" Villa launched an unprovoked attack on US settlement of Columbus, New Mexico that killed 26 Americans. The actual reasons are unclear, but seizing supplies, and/or a ploy to get the US Government to involve themselves in the revolution and wreck everything are common guesses. In response, the US sent troops into Mexico to retaliate against Villa. While the conflict was small scale, it ensured the US didn't enter the Great War totally blind to modern warfare as everyone else had. In fact, it was in this conflict that future superstar General Patton got a taste of the new vehicle-based warfare that he would become famous for.

=== The Warlord Era===
Around the same time, after the Boxer Rebellion failed to remove the Europeans from China, it became clear that Imperial China's days were over. After the forced abdication of the Qing Emperor, attempts to create a modern Chinese Republic quickly collapsed as regional Warlords split the country among themselves, intent on unifying China with themselves as its leader. Much like the Three Kingdoms period way back in Early China, much of the military and political conflict was characterized by long, drawn-out border skirmishes with the occasional big battle, massive conscript armies, backstabbing, and leaders who were able to hold onto power so long as they had their army's loyalty. Due to an arms embargo and limited domestic manufacturing, industrialized warfare played a very limited role in the early part of the Warlord era; cavalry and bayonet charges were still viable, as very few warlords could afford the artillery and machine guns needed to make them obsolete. However, the eventual intervention of the Japanese eventually shifted the conflict away from a domestic dispute over who ruled into a fight for China's survival against a technologically superior force, as covered in more detail below.

=== The Empire of the Rising Sun ===
Japan alongside the US began emerging as something of the world power a few years before the war. The Russo-Japanese war of 1905 shocked the dominant european powers as the Japanese managed to defeat the supposedly superior Russians (though the fact of the matter was that both sides were blundering hard and the weebs won because the other side was MUCH more incompetent - russian navy sent from the Black Sea to Japan fired on a British fishing fleet thinking it was the Japanese thus almost starting a war with the UK). Japan was a member of the Triple Entente and as such seized some German islands in Asia, sent a small fleet into the Mediterranean to escort naval convoys and participated in an expedition alongside the US in Syberia after the revolution in Russia, but the main political activity was focused on exerting an ever increasing influence on China. After the war, Japan was awarded a permanent seat in the League of Nations and recognised as a 'great power' but their proposal to be recognised as equals race-wise was rejected which caused alienation from the western powers which in turn would partially contribute to increased nationalism and militarism down the line.

== The Interwar Period ==
{{topquote|This is not a peace. It is an armistice for 20 years.|Ferdinand Foch, 1919}}
Knowing that the world could not endure another such war, US president Woodrow Wilson made it his mission to set the groundwork for long-term peace (between whites at least); he set fourth what he called the Fourteen Points, a set of foreign policy doctrines that would address many of the underlying issues behind WWI and promote better diplomacy and cooperation between nations, with its biggest selling point being the League of Nations. The Germans thought that this was actually a pretty neat idea, and were hoping to agree to these terms during the upcoming peace conference. Unfortunately, none of Wilson's allies bought into his vague ideas, and slowly he was forced to compromise on all his policies just so he could get the League of Nations established (even shittier proto-United Nations, in that at least the UN specialist agencies do important global coordination work). Ironically, Wilson failed to convince the US to join the League of Nations, partly due to alienating his Republican opponents in Congress, as they weren't convinced that this League wasn't completely useless, or worse, just another military alliance that would suck them into another European War. Without the US to back it, and with little power to enforce peace resolutions, the League pretty quickly collapsed in the lead-up to WWII, as the pissed off Germans had been assigned full blame for the war and wanted revenge.

Near the end of the first World War, the world was thrown into yet another cataclysm. The Spanish Flu, named such because neutral Spain was the only place that paid much attention to it over the ongoing war, spread rapidly and killed many thanks to the conditions caused by the war (overcrowding, especially in transport ships for returning soldiers, malnourishment, etc.). The death toll was horrendous, with the minimum estimate of 50 million being over double the entire war's death toll. After this, Europe needed decades to recover from the horrible destruction the war and flu had caused. Various post war conflicts continued in the regional level, most famously the Anatolian conflict between Greece, Armenia, French Colonial Forces, Islamists loyal to the Ottoman Government and the nationalist wings of the Ottoman military that revolted under Mustafa Kemal's regime. The latter won after deals with Armenia (which was not ratified as the Soviets nommed them, the new regime made another treaty which was officially ratified and guaranteed by the Soviets) and France, while Greece was rather soundly defeated. After another peace treaty with the Allies at Lausanne and the nationalist regime reforming into a Republic and abolishing the monarchy and the caliphate a year after the end of the monarchy and the Treaty of Lausanne, the local wars pretty much ended barring minor border disputes and posturing, with the only real big scare being the Bosphorus Straits affair with the Soviet's, that was resolved through the Montreaux Convention in the 30's. The rest of the world wasn't so lucky.

America, however, was having its best years ever. The Washington Naval Treaty had Britain officially cede the position of Earth’s mightiest navy, which the Royal Navy held for centuries, by recognizing the US Navy’s power as at least equal to it. The so called "Roaring Twenties" saw a rapid increase in the standard of living. President Harding managed to do the impossible and eliminate the deficit, though some of his appointees trying to sell [[Wikipedia:Teapot Rock|some government owned rock in the middle of nowhere]] marred his legacy (looking back historians realize there's a lack of evidence suggesting he had any knowledge or involvement though that isn't really a compliment, you do need to pay attention when you are damn head of state). The American economy of the time was doing well; unlike the other powers of Europe, it had not been strained extensively by being in a war economy for four years that strained productivity, had prime farmland turned into no man's land like France, its economy pushed to the breaking point like Germany, broken up into squabbling states like the Austro-Hungarian Empire, or had all of that happen and was taken over by communists after a civil war like Russia (with some like Turkey as aforementioned getting lucky and successfully reforming), while having basically everyone in Europe owe American bankers to pay for the war.

After Harding's death during the scandal, his Vice-President, Calvin Coolidge, took over. This was rather sudden and Coolidge was sworn in during the middle of the night by his father on the family Bible, with his first act was to pray to God to bless the American people and give him the strength to lead them. Unlike Harding, Coolidge proved wildly popular despite (or because of) his quiet nature. His economic policies really kicked off the Roaring Twenties and he was popular enough he was elected by a landslide in an election ''he didn't campaign for'' (this was common in American politics at the time, it was considered undignified to campaign for yourself). Coolidge continued Harding's deficit free budgets to the point the US was able to repay most of the national debt. Despite his wild popularity, Coolidge shocked the world with his announcement that [[Wikipedia:I do not choose to run|"I do not choose to run"]] for reelection and, true to his nature, did not really explain why (he would later elaborate in his autobiography that he did not wish to break the (then unofficial) rule set by Washington of a max of two terms among other issues). He would be followed by Herbert Hoover, who largely rode on his success (justifiably though; Hoover had been Commerce Secretary for 8 years). This would change in October of 1929 when the stock market crashed and ushered in the Great Depression.

There had been a series of stock market crashes through the the 19th century in the US every decade or so, each with increasing severity and effects in the US as more people moved into cities and were more dependent on wages. The 1920s saw a rise in consumer culture, payment plans, investment by common people, loans for buying stock with, and a lot of scams which culminated in the biggest crash yet. Moreover, since the US was now linked to a bunch of other countries thanks to improved communications, trade, transportation, and so forth, the crash not only tanked the US economy, but that of basically every other developed country save for the USSR under Stalin (which had its own Stalin-related problems, and boy were they big problems), which further hindered recovery. It also didn't help that large swaths of Europe were still battle scarred wastelands useless for agriculture, an entire generation of young working men had been killed or crippled, and that the formerly super-productive Germany was now teetering with an ineffectual government and crippling reparations to pay (Take the claim of the Reparations being crippling with a huge grain of salt: Modern historians have come to the conclusion that the effect of the reparations was much lesser than the German governments and later Hitler liked to claim. They liked to overstate the burden to create a welcome excuse for their own failure to stabilize the deteriorating value of the Reichsmark for the vengeful German masses, which culminated in one of the worst hyperinflations of the 20th century and also the temporary occupation of the Ruhr Valley by French troops) Throw in a crushing multi-year drought in the United States that ruined harvests across wholes states and the stage is set for chaos.

The old ways of dealing with things did not work and people turned to new ideas. In the US, this was various public works projects and assistance programs, collectively called the New Deal, to get people back working and build confidence in the economy and financial regulations. Similar ideas were tried in England, Australia and the UK. It should be noted that afterwards there was no major economic setbacks until 2008 after New Deal era financial regulations were pulled. In Germany, the response was more severe and was seen as a failure of democracy, which contributed to the rise of authoritarian parties on the left like the Communist KPD, which in turn led to the Nazi (National Socialists German Workers Party) party to counter them (possibly with help from western powers seeking a wall against communism) <s>with a newfound hate of the Allies thanks to the colossal reparations to the rest of Europe that Germany had been forced to pay in the Treaty of Versailles</s>, except that the rise of the Nazis to power was far more complicated than just that. Much more important in that question was the fact that Germany was blamed for the war to create to legal and moral justification for said reparations (as elaborated above, the actual econonomic effects of the reparations were questionable) and the Stab-And-The-Back-Myth that was set into the world by Imperial German Marshals (and defacto military oligarchs from 1916 on) Ludendorff and Hindenburg in order to shift the blame for the Germanys defeat to the Social Democrats and the Jews. The concurrent deeply authoritarian political culture of many German institutions as well as reactionary and monarchist Industrialists like Krupp, who all backed Hitler and Nationalist and Antisemitic Parties similar to the NSDAP (like the DNVP) and the lack of people actually willing to give a damn about the Republic itself lead to the erosion of the few democratic principles left at this point. From 1930 onwards, Hindenburg, who was elected as the candidate of a coalition of Nationalist and conservative parties to the office of President reigned Germany in a dictatorial manner and named Hitler as Chancellor and head of government in January 1933, after two governments under the centrist-conservative Party Zentrum and the Nationalist DNVP failed to stabilize the economy. Responding to the collapse gave the Nazis the political currency to get into power, stimulate the economy by gearing it up to war and made the UK less willing to intervene to stop them while they were rising due to nobody wanting to be the one to start another war. And ideals of peace and disarmamemt certainly somewhat popular in the UK and France.

To their credit, in the mid 30's the Nazis did appear to be doing good things, even if there was a clear air of racial supremacy about the whole affair. Europe was collectively terrified of Marxism, and a nation that was forcefully rebuilding and modernizing itself without resorting to collectivization was tolerated by the French and British out of fear of the alternative. Between completing the Autobahn, hosting the Olympics, and achieving a number of engineering feats such as the first practical helicopter, Germany appeared to be getting shit done. When the communists tried to launch a revolution in Spain, Germany sent weapons and eventually troops to keep keep the nationalists in control, while Britain looked the other way and pretended not to notice that Germany suddenly had hundreds of tanks (and that France was providing aid to communist revolutionaries). So nobody was too concerned when Germany started making noises about reunifying some Germanic peoples in border regions they'd ceded in the Treaty...

== The Second World War ==

=== The War in the West ===
See also [[Nazi]]s

With Poland unwilling to roll over before the Nazis, the Nazis securing a ceasefire with Soviet Russia and with Britain and France finally stirred to the defense of Poland, it was clear that war was inevitable and so, on September 1st 1939, after creating a false-flag incident to offer the thinnest fig leaf of legality (and also dispose of a few dissenting Germans on the Nazis' hitlist) Germany struck at Poland. Two days later on September 3rd Britain and France declared war on Germany. Contrary to the popular imagination, Poland did not simply crumble before the German onslaught, and the myth of Polish cavalry trying to charge German tanks was yet another piece of propaganda. But after a month of hard fighting, with the Soviets entering the war on the German side and striking Poland in the rear, Poland finally gave in to the inevitable.

=== The War in the East ===
Since at least 1853, when Commodore Perry sailed into Tokyo Harbor, the Japanese feared the day when the powers of Europe would stomp all over them like they did China. In response they began building up their industrial base, importing guns, ships, factory machinery, engineers, textbooks, and professors. Some Japanese people came to the idea that the best way to fend off imperialism was to become imperialists themselves, and they began gobbling up their neighbors from the late 19th century onward (at first, in the name of liberating them and creating a "Greater East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere", but with more brutality and for more obviously selfish reasons as time went on). They kept this going into the 20th century (when this sort of behavior was finally falling out of fashion among the Western powers, especially after WWI), by which time the military had become central to Japanese politics. In 1931, they invaded Manchuria, and invaded China in 1937, killing millions as they went(four times the death toll of the Holocaust to be precise, something that is largely ignored in light of Holocaust itself and Japan's contemporary PR effort). The rest of the world was outraged and cut Japan off from trade, which caused them to dig their heels in and keep it up, lest they be perceived as paper tigers. Tensions built until eventually the US threatened to cut off the oil Japan needed to keep their massive fleet running, and the overconfident Army managed to push the Imperial Japanese Navy into launching an attack on the US Navy base at Pearl Harbor (timed to hit approximately 30 minutes after delivering the declaration of war, thus [[Rules lawyer|effectively being a surprise attack without technically being a surprise attack]]).

The idea was that if everything went right, the fickle American public would be dismayed by the prospect of a hard fight over distant lands (especially while contemplating joining the war in Europe), the IJN could seize control of the Pacific while the crippled US fleet was out of action, and the US would be left with no choice but negotiation. However, while the Pearl Harbor attack did work pretty well and they did overrun a lot of Allied holdings around Asia, they missed all but one of the US carriers which only suffered minor damaged, enraged an American public that was previously tepid on war (especially since mistakes delayed even the planned token warning), and the fact was that the US had more than 10 times the Industry that Japan did as well as plenty of fuel. They also aligned themselves with the Nazis, based on shared enemies and ultra-Imperialist/Nationalist ideologies, but thus reinforcing the narrative of them being a part of the barbaric Forces of Evil who needed to be completely defeated for the sake of the civilized world.

Despite the US' obvious industrial advantage, the US Navy was seriously lacking in experience and numbers compared to the IJN at the start of the war; with the Japanese carriers outnumbering Americans (who had to split their fleets to protect against German U-Boat attacks), there was a very real threat that the IJN would return to finish the job and start raiding the US Mainland before replacement ships could be built. The early stages of the War in the Pacific were very much touch-and-go, but that all changed after the Battle of Midway, when [[Tactical genius|Admiral Nimitz]] intercepted the IJN's plans to attack Midway Island and lured them into a trap, destroying half of the IJN's total carrier capacity. This permanently halted Japanese aggression and put them on the defensive, buying the American war machine valuable time to rearm and retrain.

As time went on, and with some shaky starts, the Allies quickly learned how to rely on carriers instead of traditional battleship tactics, a lucky and devastating win at the Battle of Midway put the IJN on the back foot, now finding themselves as the proverbial one legged man in an ass kicking contest with the cream of Japanese carrier aviation at the bottom of the Pacific. Ferocious naval engagements gave way as the star of the show to even more brutal amphibious warfare as the Marines began their island hopping campaign across the Pacific, painfully prying each strategically important Japanese occupied island from their well dug in defenders — and crucially, skipping the islands that weren't important, leaving lots of Japanese units deployed in spots they could do fuck-all. The jungle, cave and amphibious warfare of this stage of the campaign was especially horrific even by World War 2 standards, not helped by racism against the Japanese on the part of Americans and the racism against everyone crossed with the suicidal fanaticism of the Japanese further exacerbating this. The IJN also set up various military units for holding prisoners and scientific experiments - best exemplified by Unit 731 - which gave Auschwitz a run for their money on crimes against humanity, the only difference being the lack of a genocidal goal.

One often overlooked (at least in popular history from the western perspective) event in the war in China was the last big Japanese Offensive of 1944, named Operation Ichi-Go, where the Japanese threw their last reserves together to break through Republican Chinese lines under Chiang Kai-shek with astounding success. Although the Japanese were beaten back very quickly as were they in no position to hold their gains against the following allied counter-offensive, the Republican Chinese failure to stop it lead to the US taking control over the Nationalist forces after an ultimatum that greatly damaged the previously good relations between Kai-shek and the US government. It also lead to the disillusion of a lot of Nationalist Chinese officiers and soldiers with their cause, prompting them to switch sides to the Communists under Mao Zedong. Mao on the other hand quickly utilized this momentum and influx of experienced soldiers (along with Soviet aid) to seize control of China from the Nationalists, push them out of the main land off to Taiwan and found the Chinese Peoples Republic in 1949.

One major note from a wargaming perspective in this theater is Operation Ten-Go, the last sortie of the IJN against the US military forces invading Okinawa. The largest battleship made by human hands, the Yamato, and her support fleet, sortied... and were promptly destroyed by massed American air power. Thus proving the change in the IRL meta of naval warfare to carrier dominance, which has endured to this day.

=== The Manhattan Project ===
At the tail end of the 19th century, scientists began to work out some odd properties of matter, which eventually got them to realize that splitting atomic nuclei after processing Uranium in a cyclotron releases millions of times more energy than an equivalent mass of a chemical reaction. Naturally, instead of using it as cheap energy first, people thought "How can we weaponize this?" Such a weapon would be a game changer for warfare (less for the raw destruction it would cause, since firebombing cities was already horrifyingly effective, but because it would only take one bomber getting through air defenses to do the job instead of dozens or hundreds), and the Nazis getting it first would be an intolerable state of affairs. As such the Brits and the Americans pooled their scientific and industrial resources at Los Alamos to work out how to build a bomb. 20000 '''tons''' of silver wiring were built to enrich the Uranium into something that will recreate a small sun for a brief moment.

They were not ready in time to use it against the Nazis, but the first two were dropped on Japan to convince them that they wouldn't be able to fight to the stalemate they were now aiming for, thus ending the war quickly at the cost of a few hundred thousand Japanese civilians, rather than a long and costly slog that would potentially result in millions dead if the fanatical Japanese military forced it through to completion (including both the Japanese civilians who would be mobilized into militias and untold American service members). Some accounts also say it was intended to intimidate the Soviet Union, but since the Russians ended up nicking the research data (supposedly, Stalin knew that the Manhattan Project succeeded before Truman), this just paved the way for the nuclear stalemate known as [[the Cold War]].

After the war, the United Nations was organized in a significantly more effective manner than the League of Nations through the veto power and the binding requirements at the Security Council at least nominally giving the world a way to forcibly stop wars. The embarrassment that was the League of Nations formally dissolved itself and handed over all its assets to the UN in it's last meeting in 18 April 1946 (the Resolution went in to effect the next day on the 19th) with the sole exception of a 9 man committee transferring assets, records and administrations of specialist agencies to the UN. With the self-dissolution of the committee on 31 July 1947, legally ending the League of Nations as an entity. The Cold War technically started the day the Japanese surrendered, though the Berlin Blockade and the ending of the Chinese Civil War, reignited after Japan's defeat, were the public display.

== The appeal of the World Wars ==
These are the biggest armed conflicts of world history, rolling across continents using modern weapons, from tanks to planes to automatic weapons. Modern War was born in the trenches of the Somme, in the skies above London and over the fields of Poland during the Blitzkrieg, the flanking in France, the naval bombardment and air bombing in the Pacific, the hell in the Eastern front cities, in the bombing of Europe from the air, in the atomic fire of Hiroshima and Japan. We entered the century and went 14 years thinking everything was right and as great as it could be. Thirty years, a war, a pandemic, an economic crash, another war and several genocides later the man who was born into the first large scale factories witnessed the power of the atom burn the hopes and dreams of two cities.

Of the two wars, World War One gets relatively little media attention and what little it does get is somber. Part of that is because it's hard to craft a heroic action-packed adventure out of the hopeless horror of trench warfare, the other part is that the morality of the war is very, very grey. There was no clear right side, with both the Central and Allied powers equally chomping at the bit for a fight (at least to start with), and ready to start shooting for ''any'' convenient reason. When some angry Illyrians in the Balkans finally set everything off, the ''only'' motivation the common people had (besides being drafted and having no choice anyway) to go fight was the extensive propaganda campaigns telling them how totally awful for realsies the enemy was, and anyone asking questions or doubting was shut down ''hard''. As a result, it's hard to make easily dehumanized rank-and file villains for a narrative when the soldiers of neither side actually want to be fighting at all.

When it was all over the country blamed and punished for the whole mess wasn't even the one that started it (in fact, the country that actually started it made bank off the entire thing. Germany was still the one to go to war with Belgium and get the British involved so they could certainly take some blame.) All told, the First World War is largely seen as a great tragedy, and is widely considered a wasteful war as winnings were slim on the Allied side. If Russia didn't get involved or if the Axis didn't go for Belgium or if Italy either started under the allies or stayed in the axis or if Italy was the cause of WW1 as it likely would have been depending on how things would have continued in AH if the either the Duke dying didn't result in a war or if the Duke was never assassinated a war with one side getting a much greater victory could have transpired.

Probably one of the only noble (and almost certainly the cleanest) aspects of WW1 was the war in the air, where fighter pilots were effectively chivalric knights of the sky. One famous example was Manfred von Richthofen (the Red Baron), easily the most famous Ace fighter of the war, with 80 victories to his name in his distinctive red tri-plane (which only accounted for his last 17). He was so well respected among his adversaries that when he was finally shot down, the Allied officers who recovered his body buried him with full honors, including an honor guard and gun salute. This didn't stop the ruthless pragmatism, a few pilots even publicly boasted of shooting down parachuting airmen to prevent them from returning to the fight.

Another event stands out known as the Christmas Truce; early on in the war, troops on the Western Front pretty quickly realized that the guys they were shooting at didn’t want to be there any more than they did, and agreed to a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas. When the truce looked like it was going to last, commanders put a kibosh on the whole thing and told them to start fighting again and even cracked down on small mutinies arising. Another such truce would never happen as the fighting became more destructive, as poison gas attacks and tank assaults made each side far more wary of the other.

The Second World War is a much more palatable conflict of more or less Good vs Evil, with both the Nazis and Imperial Japan going out to conquer their respective hemispheres of the world and exterminating millions as key objectives and Italy playing the incompetent sidekick/comic relief which isn't too far off the truth in a series of spectacular displays of military incompetence on the part of Mussolini and his generals. The Axis Powers provided a clear and easy villain for the rest of the world to rally against (as well as providing easy media villains for the rest of the century and into the next millennium). The far more mobile and urban warfare of WW2 also allowed for more personal initiative and heroism, and stories of the extraordinary accomplishments of individual squads, or even individual soldiers, are far more commonplace here than they were back in WW1, when individual men or units had no real hope of making a difference, no matter what they did (mind, it was still industrial weight and technology that won the war, but it is far easier to remember Simo Häyhä than say, Alvin York (They both have Sabaton songs though!)).

As a result, a solid majority of [[Alternate History]] fiction is set in WWII one way or another. Even if WWI (or any of the many, many 19th Century to 1913 events and trends that lead to it) is the point of divergence, the story is likely to be in the late interwar to WWII periods.

== World War inspired Games, Factions and Settings ==
* A lot of stuff from the [[Imperium of Man]], especially the Death Korps of Krieg.
* [[Dieselpunk]] is the WWII equivalent of Steampunk. If you like the general aesthetics and mood of the time period but don’t want to be limited by the period’s technology, or perhaps want to see what would happen if the Nazi “Wunderwaffen” had been fully realized, this is the setting for you.
* [[Bolt Action]], [[Flames of War]], and other similar military tabletop games are set in WWII.
* [[Star Wars]] takes a great deal of inspiration from this time period, and in regards to the prequels, it especially takes a lot of inspiration from the transformation of the democratic-but-ineffectual Weimar Republic into the nightmarishly totalitarian Third Reich (though it was also influenced by the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire).
* Indiana Jones. Do we need to explain this?
* The 1920+ universe, inspired by the art of Jakub Rozalski, envisions an alternate Europe where Nikola Tesla’s super science lead to the development of Mechs as the dominant war machine. Best known for the RTS game “Iron Harvest” that pits Imperial Germany, Imperial Russia, and Poland in a version of WWI with WWII elements mixed in. Even Rasputin makes an appearance as the leader of a shadowy cabal looking to seize power by fomenting revolution in all three factions and take over Tesla’s super-advanced city-state.

{{Skub}}
{{Time Periods}}
[[Category: History]]

Industrial Revolution

2022-01-08T00:47:59Z

2A01:CB00:62F:3000:96B:3F4:A4A2:2870: /* The United States Civil War */ correcting French slavery abolition date

[[File:Steam engine in action.gif|300px|thumb|left|Knights clash, Nobles Plot, Kings Proclaim and Priests Preach. But for all their ambition, passion, glory, drive and zeal it's a few modestly well off men trying to figure out how to better drain flooded mines that change the world]]
{{topquote|The more we progress the more we tend to progress. We advance not in arithmetical but in geometrical progression. We draw compound interest on the whole capital of knowledge and virtue which has been accumulated since the dawning of time. Some eighty thousand years are supposed to have existed between paleolithic and neolithic man. Yet in all that time he only learned to grind his flint stones instead of chipping them. But within our father's lives what changes have there not been? The railway and the telegraph, chloroform and applied electricity. Ten years now go further than a thousand then, not so much on account of our finer intellects as because the light we have shows us the way to more. Primeval man stumbled along with peering eyes, and slow, uncertain footsteps. Now we walk briskly towards our unknown goal.|Arthur Conan Doyle}}
The '''Industrial Revolution''' was a period from about 1776 to 1914 which was a major game changer for humanity. Many periods of history are laid out arbitrarily by historians for book-keeping purposes. A peasant born at the transition at the tail end of the [[High Middle Ages]] in 1340 and lived to see the [[Renaissance]] over some 90 years would not think the world he was born in to be too different to the one he died, even if he was glad that the whole "everybody's dropping dead of plague" spell did not come back. But the same could not be said if said fellow was born in England in 1780. In that time the majority of people had moved from the countryside to cities, factories were making everything, you could cross the country in a train in a day and send a message to newfangled Dominion of Canada at the speed of light.

The big thing of note here is energy. For most of the history of civilization if humans wanted to get something done like move some thing from point A to Point B, dig a hole, grind grain, work iron or whatever they had to do it with muscle power, either their own, other peoples' or by those of some cows or horses. Later they worked out how to put wind and flowing water to use with sails, watermills and windmills. Both of which were useful in their own right and by the 1700s they were used in a wide variety of operations but both had serious limitations. There are only so many rivers where you can build watermills and even in windy places there are calm days, so they primarily supplemented wind and water power. A human can produce about 100 watts (joules per second) of motive power continuously, a horse can provide about 750 watts. In contrast a kilogram of wood has about 16-21 megajoules of energy if burned and coal has about 30 megajoules, though this comes in heat. Steam engines use boiling water to turn that heat into motive force which can operate factory machines, propel ships and locomotives to carry cargo, dig ditches and more. Once they had been refined to a level of comparative efficiency they changed the nature of how work got done. First this was done by belts, gears and rods and latter by electrical power generated by steam (or other sources) turning generators to power electric motors and lights.

One of the key advances of the Industrial Revolution was the assembly line which allowed rapid construction of goods by giving each worker a single task to be repeated instead of requiring they have specialized knowledge of the whole process. While this idea goes back to at least the Venetian Arsenal in 1320, it became the standard during this era thanks to breakthroughs in milling, grinding and lathing metal powered by steam. One side effect of making things on an assembly line is that items were broken into interchangeable parts that were replaceable if they broke, where before repairs were specialized work, if they could be accomplished at all. It would not be until World War Two however, that quality control was tight enough that parts were interchangeable between factories. The assembly line led to widespread and cheap automobiles. The most prominent example was the Ford Model T. These early cars all had unique controls and the modern, standardized control layout would not be invented until 1916 and would not achieve popularity until after 1922.

Education also improved and became more universal during this era. By 1800 literacy was near universal in the United States, though this figure may not be counting slaves. Indeed, high literacy was critical to the American Revolution, which made extensive use of mass printed propaganda like ''[[Wikipedia:Common Sense (pamphlet)|Common Sense]]''. Public Education further improved this. Democracy would gradually rise in prominence during this period thanks to increased literacy. The abolition of slavery and women's emancipation would also make serious progress during this era AS an extension of this.

Communications would advance rapidly, with radio quickly becoming a standard possession. The telegraph and later telephone would also be invented during this era. The earliest traces of film recording started here. Photography has matured enough by this time that photographs of most important figures from ~1840 onward exist.

Weapons technology advanced by leaps and bounds. At the start of the Industrial Revolution the average soldier had a flintlock musket that could be shot maybe four times a minute and was accurate up to maybe 100 meters. Breech-loading rifles came around very shortly into the period, though the complexity of the mechanism made large scale manufacture impossible. Guns became mass produced (and were among the first complex machines with metal mechanisms to be so), but over the early 19th century they gradually became rifled as standard and switched over to percussion locks and were complemented with the first mass produced revolvers. Starting in 1848, muskets began being phased out for breech-loading rifles. Metallic cartridge and smokeless powder would arrive towards the end of this era. Since black powder would rapidly foul any repeating action, smokeless powder was critical to the function of any self-loading firearm. Machine guns became common during this era with Sir Hiram Maxim's invention of his famous gun in 1886. Self loading pistols emerged as well. Artillery advanced from simple iron tubes firing iron balls straight ahead to breech-loading steel guns which fired explosive shells on predictable ballistic trajectories.

Of course, there was a downside. Industrialization did generate a lot of wealth, but not everyone profited from it. Rural landlords found that their fields were full of surplus farmhands who weren't needed and they [the landlords] promptly kicked them [the surplus farmhands] off their land to go into dirty overcrowded cities full of cheaply made apartments in which people were crammed in like sardines. To get enough to survive, everyone in a poor family older than six would have to work in unsafe conditions for 12 hours or more, often operating dangerous machines that could take the hand off the unwary in the heat, dark, stink and noise of it all while [[Wikipedia:Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire|forcibly locked their workers into the building]].

There were various responses to these conditions, some of which were more extreme than others. The best-known of these is the concept of the labor union, which allowed for workers in the same industry to group together and demand better working conditions from their employers, as did regulations against child labor, safety standards and so forth. And of course, there was the enormous amount of pollution and general environmental destruction, whose effects are coming back to bite us in the ass a little over a century later.

== Napoleonic Wars ==

Imagine a world where Tom Cruise succeeded in killing Hitler and then Rommel proceeded to do all the conquering that Hitler promised to do except without all the genocide, only to lose it all by invading Russia in winter. Replace Hitler with Maximilien Robespierre and Rommel with Napoleon Bonaparte and that's basically the Napoleonic Wars.

France is a shit place to live. It always has been. But the 1790s were particularly shitty. Like "why is my bread made of sawdust" shitty (no, really, that happened). Seeing that America had a good end throwing out the monarchy, a bunch of French people decided they had nothing to lose and tried the same. Things got a little [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reign_of_Terror out of hand] as they [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Bartholomew%27s_Day_massacre tend to in France] and before long a young military officer decided that the best course of action was to shoot some protesters with cannons, and the country loved him for it.

Now that he was in control [[Emprah|Emperor Napoleon]] had a relatively short to-do list, he wanted to: Lead and shape <s>Man</s>Frenchkind <s>into a psychic race</s> and surpass the <s>Eldar</s> '''Romans''' by learning from their mistakes, unite Humanity under one aegis and allow for <s>instant</s> communication and travel <s>across all human inhabited worlds</s>, kill literally every <s>Xenos</s> Brit and most importantly, prevent another calamity like the Age of Strife or Fall of the <s>Eldar</s> '''Romans'''.

Five coalitions were raised against the Emperor's Great Crusade, and each was smashed to pieces by his <s>Astartes</s> '''Horse Artillery''' and the <s>Solar Auxilia</s> '''Garde Impériale'''. This went on until the Emperor was betrayed by <s>Horus</s> '''the weather'''. In the disastrous invasion of <s>Isstvan V</s> '''Russia''', the Grand Army would suffer 80% losses, many due to freezing to death.

While Napoleon would fight against two more coalitions against him, the defeat in Russia would prove to be the beginning of the end.

To fund these wars Napoleon sold the United States a '''huge''' chunk of land that's now known as the Louisiana Purchase. This was actually controversial in the United States at the time since it wasn't ''explicitly'' allowed by the Constitution of the United States. The sheer size of the acquisition surprised nearly everyone except Napoleon; the negotiators sent by President Jefferson were only looking to acquire New Orleans and access to the Mississippi. Napoleon was eager to divest himself of his New World holdings because they were more trouble than they were worth (a lesson Spain never took to heart and the British only after a very long time); this was shortly after France embarrassingly lost Haiti to the world's first successful slave revolt. Ultimately, the argument that the power to make treaties was sufficient to make a treaty exchanging money for land won out and American settlers soon flooded the largely undeveloped land. Another lasting consequence was that Napoleon's government offered a large reward for anyone who could develop a cost effective method of preserving food. Nicolas Appert claimed this prize when he discovered that food cooked in sealed jars would last for a long time. This would eventually be refined into canning.

=== War of 1812 ===
The young USA would engage in its own, concurrent, fight against the British. In 1812, the U.S. would declare war on the British over press-ganging of American sailors... two days after the British put a stop to it (transatlantic communication could go no faster than transatlantic ships, which took roughly two months). The official ''casus belli'' aside, the real reason the United States declared war on Britain was in retaliation for British support of Tecumseh's Shawnee Confederation and a desire to conquer Canada. Despite terrible results for the US on land, which saw the White House burned down by Canadians, the U.S. did better than expected on the naval front. Even with Napoleon tying up most of the Royal Navy, the hastily raised and underfunded U.S. Navy matching them was a serious accomplishment.

One especially notable U.S. vessel was the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_floating_battery_Demologos United States floating battery ''Demologos''] (retroactively renamed the ''Fulton'' after its creator), the first documented steam warship. However, the principle muscle of the USN was the nation's first six frigates, originally constructed to fight the Barbary pirates. Although aged at the start of the war, they were still well armed, sturdy, exceptionally fast for their weight and virtually cannon proof due to their composite armor hull built with American live oak instead of comparatively flimsy European wood. After a string of high profile defeats the Royal Navy forbade their captains to engage them with less than a two-to-one advantage.

In December 1814 both sides declared peace since they weren’t getting anywhere and the original cause for the war was no longer applicable. On 8 January 1815 [sic] the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_New_Orleans Battle of New Orleans] was fought, to overwhelming U.S. victory, despite the war being over (see the above point of communication being slow).

==Meiji Revolution ==
{{topquote|智識ヲ世界ニ求メ大ニ皇基ヲ振起スべシ (Knowledge shall be sought throughout the world so as to strengthen the foundation of imperial rule.)|Meiji Charter Oath}}

During the Age of Exploration, Japan had closed its borders to most of the outside world to prevent foreign influence (even going so far as to kill castaways, missionaries and their converts - even Japanese sailors who were rescued by foreign ships were prevented from returning home), and for a time, the Shogunate was successful in preventing Europeans from encroaching on Japan like they had in so many other parts of the world. This came to a crashing halt over 200 years later on the 8th of July 1853, the USS Mississippi and some other American ships arrived in Edo to deliver a message from US President (at the time of the Mississippi's departure) Millard Fillmore requesting the reopening of trade. The Mississippi and its companions returned on 12th of February 1854 and led to the Convention of Kanagawa in March (funny enough, Fillmore's term in office was over before this). There were other developments like the British bombing a port in revenge for a murdered businessman, said ports rulers in the Satsuma domain agreeing to pay reparations by buying warships, having been thoroughly impressed, the assassination of the Shogun's number two Ii Naosuke and an attempt to burn the Imperial Palace. This led to a weakening of the ruling Shogunate that allowed Emperor Meiji to seize back power in the violent but swift Boshin War in 1868, permanently ending the Shogunate and the feudal system that ruled Japan for centuries. The die-hard Shogunate loyalists briefly declared a Republic but they were defeated at Hakodate in the final weeks of the war. One of the foremost Imperial samurai and part of the ruling triumvirate under the Emperor, Saigo Takamori, led his home domain of Satsuma to a brief rebellion after disagreeing with some of the reforms and the triumvirate falling apart with one of them dying of illness and Saigo being rivals with the other guy. During the Battle of Shiroyama Saigo's last charge, mortal wounding and assisted Seppuku, followed by the final charge of his 50 remaining followers marked the end of the samurai in the face of conscripted peasants with rifles and cannons. With the last remaining of the big three being assassinated by ex-samurai after the Rebellion, ironically not far from where Naosuke had been shot and decapitated, it was over.

The new Meiji government, not wanting to be consumed by the western powers as many other countries already had, led to a rapid adoption of western technology and, eventually, some empire building of its own. On the one hand, the fact that a formerly isolated nation could go from a feudal backwater to a competitive modern nation in just a scant few decades was remarkable. On the other hand, the need to maintain Japan's power to prevent Western Imperialism directly lead to Japan's own growing military autocracy. Military success against China in 1894, and against Russia in 1905 (the architect of that, Admiral Togo Heihachiro, was a young samurai brat who was fanatically on the Imperial side in the Boshin War while he missed out on the Satsuma Rebellion due to studying abroad at the time) would put it on the world stage. And while the Samurai as a class lost their traditional power of free money and being able to execute disrespectful peasants, enough saw the writing on the wall that they found positions in the new order, using the wealth and education their families had accumulated to enter politics or found many modern institutions one would recognize today, such as Mitsubishi.

== The United States Civil War ==

Shortly after achieving independence a split in the new U.S. States formed as a distinction became more and more pressing. The Southern Colonies were settled by men who wanted to make a lot of money in the New World and who set up plantations manned by slaves growing tobacco and cotton. The Northern Colonies were settled by groups who wanted to recreate England (or their ideal version there-of) where the cash crops grown on plantations where not profitable and to whom slavery increasingly became morally unpalatable. Stunts like counting slaves in population censuses towards legislative representation while they did not vote inflamed issues. There was some hope that it was on its way out at first (many of the Founding Fathers believed that the growth of industrialization would make slavery obsolete and thus left the problem for future generations to solve), then Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin which made the slave owners very wealthy. Even those who did not profit directly from slavery still supported the institution, if only because they were terrified of the possibility of a slave revolt, or an outright race war, as had been the case in Haiti just a few decades prior.

There was also a growing sense of Abolitionism with the British shutting down the Transatlantic Slave Trade in 1807 and abolishing slavery in 1833 with France following in 1848. While the number of hard-line abolitionists in the North was comparatively small, they were making some headway and there were various groups opposed to slavery to various degrees. Tensions rose gradually in the first few decades of the nineteenth century, from outright brawls in the United States Senate to the "Bleeding Kansas" incident, to John Brown's attempted slave revolt at Harper's Ferry. This led to plays to create slave states as fast as possible and other ploys which spiraled things out until the election of President Abraham Lincoln on a generalized anti-slavery plan. Fearing that "The Peculiar Institution" would be contained, constrained and eventually brought to inevitable extinction the powers that be in the South pushed for a violent breakaway.

This war is notable for being the most destructive conflict to take place within the United States (700,000 people dead (more than any other American war) as well as a lot of buildings and infrastructure destroyed) and one of the biggest wars that was fought between industrial powers. One reason for this is the North simultaneously held that South never left the US but total war with intentional targeting of the civilian population and infrastructure was OK. Another was a fear among the North that if the war was not won quickly (regardless of cost in lives) public opinion on it would sour, Lincoln would lose reelection and the war might end without the South's defeat.

The war consisted broadly of two halves, cleanly divided by the Battle of Gettysburg. The first half was characterized by a series of grand maneuver battles in the east in which the Confederate States of America tended to win on account of all the really competent generals picking their side, most notably the legendary [[tactical genius]] Robert E. Lee. A vicious cycle ensued where every moron Lincoln gave command to would boldly set out to conquer Richmond and end the war in one stroke, only to run into Lee playing tower defense on the most unfair terrain available. Union Commander of the Month would furiously throw men at Lee's lines until the grumbling from the ranks started to sound mutinous (Fredericksburg, Peninsula) or just stare at his lines until getting blindsided outta fucking nowhere (Chambersburg). Either way, it'd end with the Union sulking back to Washington with about 2/3rds the army they started with. This would repeat several times until eventually Lee got cocky and tried the same thing (Gettysburg, and technically Antietam although that was more of a really bloody draw).
[[Image:ShermansMarch.jpg|[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ufSGd58gjAM M-i-c, k-e-y, m-o-u-s-e. Who's the leader of the club that's made for you and me?]|thumb|right|250px]]
However, the Western Theater was a different story; a pair of grimdark badasses named Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman were leading the Union on a steady slog of wins up and down the Mississippi river system. After Gettysburg, Lincoln decided he just wanted to win and didn't care how messy it got, so he gave Grant command. Grant knew that the Union had more men, and was perfectly content to [[Imperial Guard|win by attrition]]. Grant sent Sherman rampaging through Georgia like an [[Eversor]] with flamers, and then settled in for a year of meatgrinder trench warfare with Lee that was basically just World War One without biplanes.

While the war was fought over slavery, complete emancipation was not an original war aim of the North. However as territory fell to the Union advance, slaves came into the custody of the Union army. This became troublesome in the latter years of the war as it presented a serious logistical challenge to feed not only a fighting army on the move but their ever growing camp follower train of liberated slaves. This problem was particularly acute for [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman%27s_March_to_the_Sea Sherman's March to the Sea]. Some U.S. generals addressed this problem by offering enlistment to liberated slaves, although this practice was not universal. However, many slaves fled Confederate territory to join up with Union forces and a good number of them ended up serving in the Union Army. Ending slavery not only became political policy, but also a weapon of war since it destroyed the Confederacy's economy. This led to the Emancipation Proclamation and eventually the 13th Amendment and with it abolition.

== The American Frontier ==
{{topquote|You have died of dysentery.|''The Oregon Trail''}}
Throughout the mid 1800s Americans spread rapidly westward. This was aided by several large land purchases such as the aforementioned Lousiana Purchase; this was a huge step for the young nation as they now had a major highway (The Mississippi River) linking the entire back country from the Great Lakes down to the Gulf of Mexico. But said expansion would only accelerate after a little incident south of the border where American settlers living in the Texas territory got fed up with the Mexican government and seceded the entire territory north of the Rio Grande. Texas joined the Union and Mexico gave up a bunch of land after getting its ass kicked. This led the United States to stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Fueling this was several gold rushes and a series of Homestead Acts, which gave ownership of land for free if you lived on it and maintained it. Canada also had a western frontier at the same time, but that part isn't nearly as well remembered (Did you play Yukon Trail? Did you even know it existed?). Huge waves of settlers were eager to reach the newly claimed California and Oregon territories, but before any railroads were laid down, they had to travel by wagon through the barren and hostile wilderness in between, with many would-be settlers dying to disease, hypothermia, hyperthermia, attacks from upset Native American tribes, and in at least one infamous case, [[Wikipedia:Donner_Party|cannibalism]].

This era has long been dramatized to the point it has become its own genre, the Western. This goes so far back ''[[Wikipedia:The Great Train Robbery (1903 film)|The Great Train Robbery]]'', one of the first films with a narrative '''ever''', was a western. Westerns dramatized the "Wild" West as a chaotic wasteland full of bandits and savages where a man would be killed for any or no reason, but historically this was not the case. Statistically the west was actually very peaceful outside of the wars, especially compared to cities out east. The big outlaws, shootouts and murders were simply very publicized '''because''' they were unusual. Still, many of these more famous incidents showed how loose the power of the law was out in the frontier, as in several cases, you had several figures who had been on both sides of the law (Billy the Kid’s Regulators, Wyatt Earp’s revenge ride, etc) usually due to conflicting interests between locally powerful factions.

== The Unification of Germany ==
{{topquote|The great questions of the day will not be settled by means of speeches and majority decisions but by iron and blood.|Otto von Bismarck about the unification of Germany}}

One of the aftereffects of Napoleons brief stint into making France the all-encompassing superpower of Europe was that he motivated quite a lot of people to identify themselves with their nation instead of families or rulers. The place where this nascent idea of Nationalism reverberated the most were the German states. Liberal and nationalist ideas that sought to unify Germany into one nation ultimately culminated in a series of revolutions that all failed until Prussia, under the leadership of Otto von Bismarck (a man with a political genius as massive as his mustache), kicked the Austrians out of the German territories and won the successive war against France in 1871.

The unification of Germany marked a massive power shift in the balance of the European powers, the weakest power in the European concert (Prussia) suddenly became the strongest on the continent, with a massive population, a disciplined and modern army that ground every enemy it faced into the dirt like they were nothing and a huge industrial base that was kicked into overdrive once the multitude of national barriers between the small German dukedoms were abolished (also helped by the reparations France had to pay to the Germans as well as the capture of Alsace-Lothringia and its rich deposits of ore). It grew so fast and rapidly that only in the span of 30 years, it managed to surpass the production of steel and coal of every other imperial power in the world, including Britain and the United States and singlehandedly pioneered large-scale industral chemical production with inventions like, for example, the Haber process for synthesizing Ammonia from atmospheric Nitrogen (invaluable and irreplaceable in anything that has to do with anorganic chemistry).

The Germans, being late to the party as far as Imperialism was concerned, wanted a piece of that big fat colonial cake that they felt were owed and used their industrial and military leverage to exhibit massive pressure on the other powers of Europe. This, combined with the inherent semi-feudal social order that persisted in Prussia since the 1600s and a rampant militarism of the entire German society, lead to a very aggressive nationalist machismo which ultimately contributed a lot to the crisis that lead to World War One with all of its cataclysmic consequences. Nearly all negative stereotypes people associate with Germany to this day, like militarism, brutishness, obedience, lack of humour, strict workplace discipline, punctuality and being unemotional come from this particular era. The culture that this attitude bred eventually lead to the mindset that gave to the Nazis after Germanys defeat in The Great War and only started to fizzle out after the old elites of the German Empire were permanently removed from power after World War Two forced the Germans to reinvent themselves and their nation.

== The British Empire ==
{{British}}
{{topquote|On her dominions the sun never sets; before his evening rays leave the spires of Quebec, his morning beams have shone three hours on Port Jackson, and while sinking from the waters of Lake Superior, his eye opens upon the Mouth of the Ganges.|The Caledonian Mercury}}

Remember the British East India Company from the [[Age of Enlightenment]]? Well, eventually Britain decided to drop the pretense that it was merely an English corporation that was building colonies everywhere and just owned it that, yes, they were trying to take over the world. They hadn't been the only ones; the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, French, Germans, Russians, and several American presidents were as well, and near the end Japan would try to get in on the action.

The Napoleonic wars left the British in the enviable position of having the world's biggest, baddest navy. A title they would hold until the Washington Naval Treaty of 1922 recognized the American navy as at least roughly equal in might. They would lose it entirely after the Second World War, due to the tremendous debts of fighting that war and the previous one.

Having a massive navy at its disposal meant that the British could be extremely persuasive in dealing with anyone within sight of the sea. This persuasion was not solely political strong-arming, but also strong anti-slavery actions, with the West Africa Squadron alone freeing over a 10th of a million slaves and largely shutting down the Atlantic Triangle. At its height the British Empire had founded colonies or established protectorates on almost every major landmass on Earth, and had presences at the choke points of Gibraltar, the Suez, the Cape of Good Hope, Singapore, and the Falklands near Cape Horn. It was said that "The sun never sets on the British Empire," which is still true due to the existence of the Pitcairn Islands.


=== The Indian Munity ===
In 1853 the cost of rifling had come down enough that the British would start to transition from smooth-bore firearms supplemented by specialist riflemen, both using the slow and relatively unreliable flint lock system, to standardizing on a rifled, percussion fired gun, resulting in the 1853 Enfield. Like many firearms of this era, it was loaded by paper cartridges consisting of the powder and ball in a sealed paper sleeve that allowed loading the rifle by tearing open the cartridge (often by biting it), pouring in the powder, and ramming in the ball. This significant arms upgrade eventually reached India. In 1857 rumors (which were never proven) developed that the cartridges were sealed with animal fats including beef tallow and pork lard, pissing off the Hindu and Muslim natives, leading to the final sparks for a long brewing rebellion. Shortly into this, mutineers at Cawnpore slaughtering women and children who had surrendered would be a PR disaster for the rebels, kill any claims of legitimacy, and enrage the British public enough to warrant a very strong response. One important note is that the mutiny was not total (in-fact, the conflict was mostly contained to Bengal), and many colonial troops fought against the mutineers, particularly Sikhs who had no prohibitions on pork or beef and were keen on the idea of getting to kill Hindus and Muslims. The conflict would lead to an effective end of the British East India Company in favor of direct rule ("Raj"), which was generally a serious improvement in conditions for Indians.

While relatively short (a year and a half), there was little lull in the action and there's a lot of first hand accounts one can look through to get an understanding of combat in the era. Of particular note is the several accounts of rebels being shot multiple times with a revolver but living long enough to kill or seriously injure men with their swords, which remain important in any consideration of knife vs. gun. One officer, Hodson of the British even managed to kill ~10 rebels with a ''spear'' by abusing a narrow doorway.

As a side note, the rifle at the center of this would eventually be exported to the Confederate States of America (see above) in large numbers, which after its defeat would then be sold surplus to the post-Sakoku Japanese government (see above again).

=== The Boer Wars ===
During the Napoleonic Wars the British gained control of every Dutch colony, and while they handed most of them back afterwards, they decided the Cape colony in what is now South Africa was too good to let go, so they bought it. [[Rape|The Dutch weren't in a position to refuse the offer]]. A long series of disputes arising from this rose to war between inhabitants and the British Empire. Both wars were disasters for the British (even though they eventually won the second through overwhelming force) thanks to trying Napoleonic tactics in an era of rifled repeating firearms. This was even worse in the first war since the British had not yet ditched their bright red uniforms and things did not improve in the early stages of the Second Boer War and Redvers Buller, in charge on behalf of Garnet Wolseley, proved an unmitigated failure losing battle after battle. After Buller got fired and was replaced by Wolseley's rival (to such an extent that the British army was basically split in two through tensions of Wolseley's African colonial veteran followers against the Indian service) Frederick Roberts (who lead the Indian veteran contingents in the rivalry), the Brits won on the field and things devolved to an insurgency which was brutally suppressed. Adding insult to injury, Roberts replaced Wolseley as Commander-in-Chief after the war.

These wars are largely forgotten except by military historians due to its [[The World Wars|premonitions of things to come]]. One thing that survives the wars however is the term "Commando", which originally referred to the organization of the Boer forces during the wars and acquired its modern usage due to their unorthodox (for the time) tactics it enabled.

== Notes ==
*This was the Era where Europe, and the nations descended from them, truly and unquestionably ruled the world. The British Empire alone controlled a quarter of the globe and the few nations that were capable of resisting European imperialism were entirely dependent on them. With that came a lot of nastiness. You see, the notion that people not born with a silver spoon up their arses being more than mostly expendable meatshields carried over from middle ages hasn't catched on yet, and this went double for foreigners. The ruthlessness and blatant disregard for human life with which the Imperial powers of that time exploited the people they ruled over caused, later down the line, most of the efforts of decolonization and the brutal struggle of the underclasses for equal rights and humane treatment.
*The agricultural revolution, where machines and other modern technology were applied to farming, accompanied the industrial revolution. Indeed, this fed it by allowing enough food to be produced that the majority of workers could take factory jobs instead of agricultural work.
* Several technologies supported the process of industrialization. Steam Power helped kick things off by revolutionizing manufacturing and transportation, but two others were also important. Large machinery and tall buildings required steel to become cheap enough that it could be made on a massive scale. Historically, making good-quality steel was a time-consuming process that needed the careful attention of expert craftsmen. But with the Bessemer process, bellows would be used to blast hot air directly into the molten iron to get it hot enough to melt impurities. Electricity also helped tremendously, allowing for much longer working cycles through lightbulbs and improved communications through telegraph and radio.
*The invention of vapor-compression cycle cooling was also a major innovation of this era, although until electricity became widely available its use was mostly constrained to steam powered dairies in cities. This allowed for much denser and heavily mechanized industrial centers, as well greater population in warmer areas. The flush toilet and toilet paper also originated at this time.
*Vulcanized rubber arose during this era. While important for sealing and tires, one major change this facilitated was in clothing. The elastic waistband brought about modern undergarments among other things. The first plastics also arose during this era, but these early plastics were brittle and had few practical uses, so the true rise of plastics would not be till the era of [[The World Wars]] and [[The Cold War|and beyond]].
*Food preservation made large advances. In most of history methods were limited to drying (though methods including salt, smoke and/or sugar), pickling and (in climates that allowed it) freezing food, all of which originated in the [[Bronze Age]] at the latest. Now methods like jarring and canning (though early sealing methods turned out to be toxic themselves) food emerged and serious improvements to old methods like like quick freezing, the electric icemaker/freezer/refrigerator (domestic versions won't appear till the interwar though), freeze drying, and spray drying led to food that took less and less space while having lifespans measured in ''years''. These methods continue to be refined in [[Post-Cold War|the current era]], largely through new materials and understanding of microscopic organisms.
**To add to that, the invention of Beef Extract by the German chemist Justus von Liebig revolutionized the way food could be produced at larger scales at less of a cost. It served as the catalyst for the invention of most modern processed foods and the birth of large scale food factories, where cheap food could be produced to feed an ever increasing amount of mouths, further accelerating the population boom that conincided with the improvement of healthcare that is outlined below.
*The invention of modern medicine, which arguably started with the Hungarian doctor Ignaz Semmelweis' research into the childbed fever (a dangerous infection of the uterus thorugh bacteria that enter the body after giving birth), delivered the modern template of how medical research is conducted. Combined with the rise of the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, this lead to a massive increase of birth rates and life expectancy for every human on the planet. As a result, the world population increased rapidly, starting in the 1850s, a trend that peaked in the 1960s and is continuously decreasing ever since (not that bad of a thing as one might think, with climate change, limited resources and all)
*The Scramble for Africa begins in 1881 and ends in 1914. Almost all modern "explorer" cliches and imagery began here, Theodore Roosevelt's midadventures, or the Indiana Jones movies. The two main exceptions, the coonskin cap American and breastplate clad Spanish Conquistador, are both strongly linked to a specific type and time of explorer instead of explorers in general. The Pith Helmet, binoculars, khaki overalls and cutting through foliage with big knives stereotype started here.
*Human flight was first achieved in this era. In 1783 the first air balloon flight took place, and was used for military use in 1794. The Wright Flyer took flight in late 1903, marking the first heavier than air flying machine. Zeppelins became practical just before World War I.
* Naval technology went through multiple revolutions. The wooden sailing ships of the Napoleonic Wars gave way to ironclad tallships with steam and sail propulsion, only to be replaced in turn by steel armored warships. The famous duel of the Merrimack and the Monitor marked the end of the sail, the Turbinia led to a transition to turbine engines, and the British dreadnought heralded the modern battleship. The first submarines appeared, although the concept wouldn't be perfected until the Great War.

== The appeal of the Industrial Revolution ==
This era produced many things modern people take for granted and have difficulty considering life without. The rise of film and audio recording during this era and mass printing of advertisement and newspapers during this era mean there is no shortage of records of daily life, so this era is fairly well understood. Of particular note is that the late 1800s printed mail order catalogs started being printed, and these now provide quality information on everyday items, complete with cost and illustrations, that simply don't exist in earlier eras. Those researching earlier eras for this kind of thing have to go through the rare surviving records of estate sales, government orders and business transactions to get a ''fraction'' the understanding a layman can obtain from viewing a simple public domain catalog. These have proven such good resources some historically set RPGs outright say to find catalogs from companies like Bannerman (A surplus arms dealer so successful he built a castle on a private island next to West Point as an advertisement, since everyone traveling the Hudson had to see the sign on it), Montgomery Ward, and Sears Roebuck to fill in the blanks of the equipment list. Before this period, historians were mostly concerned with Big Things: wars, generals, kings, nobles, priests and the occasional artist, merchant, architect, engineer or inventor thrown in, often because there was so few records of the common man. In the Industrial Revolution historians became able and willing to adequately research the way people lived their lives day to day, from well-to-do merchants and skilled tradesmen to factory workers to scavengers picking through garbage for bones, rages, scraps of metal and dog turds to sell.

The Industrial Revolution allowed for inventors to not only create meaningful new creations, but see them become common overnight. [[Adeptus Mechanicus|Before the Industrial Revolution changes generally happened slowly with various small tweaks on things and methods, the compilation of said tweaks rolling over and the occasional breakthrough like the water wheel or gunpowder every once and a while which would take centuries to come into it's own]]. A peasant would assume that his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren would till the soil just as he did with what changes that did happen in his lifetime being largely minor stuff that tweaked the board but did not change the game. Industrialization changed all that, lives were changed for better or worse by mechanization suddenly and totally. Progress became an idea that would drive the world, even if problems were also mounting. People came to understand that the past was not just the present which happened beforehand and the future could be more than just more of the same. It's not surprising that science fiction started up in the 19th century, as did horror. Jules Verne, HG Wells, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Mary Shelley, and Edgar Allan Poe were all active writers of the era.

This time was also one of upheaval socially and politically. Before the Industrial Revolution people generally operated on the idea that one should "Know One's Station", that society was divided into classes that were (with various degrees of legal formality enforcing this) hereditary, static and instead of trying to get out of them they should stay in them, stay out of the affairs of people of other classes and obey their betters. If you were a peasant you'd work for your lord, obey his orders, treat him with reverence as a higher form of human, be jolly grateful to have such a man as your master and avoid thinking about all that politics stuff which is none of your business. While this had not died out in the Industrial Revolution (see all of England's class stuff), it was on the decline both from gradual erosion and active resistance.

The source of wealth shifted from farms and fields to factories and companies which the merchant classes/bourgeois now owned. To be a noble you needed a peerage at least (in England that is, the rest of Europe, especially Spain and Germany remained static feudal societies at heart, while the French and eventually the Russians abolished it in a literally cutthroat fashion) and preferably a dozen generations of pedigree which your fellow nobs would respect even if you were broke, to be a captain of industry you just needed a lot of money invested in the right companies. It was possible for a poor man to rise to the highest echelons of society in the Industrial Revolution, see Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. The downside of it was that these rich buggers tended to view the poor which could not rise from rags (ignoring of course how most of these ''nouveau riche'' then made it as difficult as possible for anyone to actually join their ranks) as being lazy incompetents that were only fit for ruthless exploitation and that attempting to help them out (beyond providing them with just enough education for them to do whatever work the rich needed them to do and healthy enough to keep working) was not only useless, but an active evil in the long term since it meant only more of them in the long run. To quote Charles Dickens' ''A Christmas Carol'':

''"Many cannot go there [Workhouses and Prisons] and many would rather die."''

''“If they'd rather die, they'd better do it and decrease the surplus population."''

Such treatment of the working class, combined with the belief that as the actual producers of wealth it should rightfully belong to the workers, would lead to Karl Marx writing the ''Communist Manifesto':, creating [[communism]], one of the most notable ideologies of the 20th century and also one of the most [[skub|controversial]].

The Industrial Revolution people had oppressive rigid order and stability swapped out for opportunities to excel and thrive or crash and burn. You could be born dirt poor and rise to riches, or you might start out as a skilled tradesmen who ends up as just another disposable factory worker.

That attitude about the poor went doubly so for the colonial subjects and non-white people in general. In 1876 there was a drought which led to crop failure in much of India, instead of importing food to feed the affected masses (which they'd done not long before successfully) the Raj Government allowed merchants to stockpile grain and sell it abroad to drive the price up. The result was famine and starvation which killed 6-10 million people. The Belgians in the Congo made this look saintly by comparison.

The Industrial Revolution is the start of the Modern World and many of its issues still persist to this day. People can relate more to an Industrial Revolution era person more easily than that of a peasant in the Middle Ages, a serf in the Dark Ages, a citizen soldier of the Classical Era, a scribe at a pharaoh's court, a priest king in the Fertile Crescent or Grug and his rocks. The downside of this is that these issues are still politically charged to this day.

== Industrial Revolution inspired Games, Factions and Settings ==
* [[Steampunk]]
* Much of Discworld
* [[Eberron]] before the Last War. After it Eberron is a cross between Industrial Revolution and interwar.
* [[Arcanum]] is a magical world that is currently undergoing a revolution.
* [[Iron Kingdoms]]'s whole schtick is that it's a typical fantasy setting that developed into this.
* The [[Skaven]], particularly their Weapons Teams and anything related to [[Clan Skryre]]. Thankfully one of the reasons why they never achieved world domination in one fell swoop is the overall lack of quality control on their gadgets.

fill me
{{Skub}}
{{Time Periods}}
[[Category: History]]

Power weapon

2022-01-08T00:33:30Z

2A01:CB00:62F:3000:96B:3F4:A4A2:2870: /* Anointed Halberd */ correcting a link

[[File:Cato Sicarius.jpg|300px|right|thumb|Before the age of [[Captain Titus|Titus]], this was the only time Ultramarines were even remotely cool.]]
'''Power weapons''' are a type of weapon in [[Warhammer 40,000]]. Power weapons look just like normal melee weapons , but what makes them actually useful is that they are sheathed with an energy field surrounding the blade. This energy field can in turn slice through even the toughest of armor.

For one reason or another, the glorious Daemon Weapons of Chaos operate like power weapons(even if more recent rules reflect their peculiarity with added bonuses). Probably for the same reason that allows cheap guardsmen bayonets to be exactly as deadly as ''[[chainsword]]s'' in melee combat.

8th edition changed this by making chainswords add one to the models attacks with that weapon, which makes logical sense.

==Imperial Power Weapons==

===Power Blade===
[[File:PowerBlade.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Power Blade]]
The little brother of the Power Knife and possibly the smallest known Power Weapon.

Power Blades are small dagger-like Power Weapons used by Imperial forces. They are easily concealable and often used on infiltration missions by assassins and stealth operatives. Power Blades rely on the strength of their built-in power field to maintain the integrity of the thin blade upon a strike.

Due to the fact that Power Knives are meant for Astartes or Custodes hands whilst the Power Blade is known to be usable by regular human forces, it would make sense for the Power Blade to be smaller and concealable.

{{clear}}

===Power Knife===
[[File:Misericordia.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Power Knife (Misericordia)]]
Weapons that were crafted as a convenient off-hand carver to compliment a larger power weapon, these weapons were used almost exclusively by the [[Alpha Legion]]. They lack the strength and cutting power of a Power Sword, but do have Rending. More importantly, they are relatively cheap and have the Specialist weapon quality, allowing them to be paired with bulkier melee weapons and still grant an extra attack.

More recently, Power Knives are now also wielded by the Adeptus Custodes and House Van Saar. Though they appear to be mundane pieces of wargear, each Power Knife has been masterfully crafted and is able to pierce the thickest armor, all the way to its hilt. These Knives are called the Misericordias, more can be read below.

====Misericordia====

The Misericordia ("blade of mercy") is a weapon usually in the form of a long dagger or short sword carried by the [[Adeptus Custodes|Legio Custodes, and later Adeptus Custodes]], as a symbol of the Magisterium Lex Ultima which places them above all law except the direct authority of the Emperor of Mankind. Designed to deliver a single killing thrust, they may be used to carry out a death sentence or to euthanise a grievously wounded warrior. Therefore, it is more of a ceremonial weapon than it is a weapon of war.

The Misericordias resembles a knife that are filigreed with gold and theldrite, their hilts molded to the owner's unique grip and their blades imbued with micromolecular dissonator spirits that allow them to slice through the thickest armor as though it is just sheet of paper.

It is said that originally - before the Unification Wars Misericordias were the weapon of Tyrants of old Terra, but after their fall transfered to symbol of arbiters of humanity, the Emperor's judgement itself. After the Horus Heresy Misericordias gain a new meaning - becoming the vengeance for Emperor's demise. [[Bullshit|Bullshitters]] states that every time a Misericordia pierced a traitor's heart, [[Derp|a minuscule measure of revenge is exacted on behalf of the Emperor himself.]] Custodians are wise enough not to believe such weaponized [[Derp]], although they do like to use them against Traitors symbolically at least.

===Power Stake===
[[File:PowerStake.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Power Stake]]

Yeah, you heard that right. [[Derp|There's a stake that's considered a power weapon.]] Anyways, a Power Stake is a weapon carried by some Inquisitors, which immolates on contact with psykers. Physically it is a long iron rod but is charged as a Power Weapon and as such is effective against non-psychic foes. So it is the quintessential stabbity stab stab.

On the tabletop the Power Stake was only usable by the Witch Hunters, counting as a two handed Power Weapon (ignoring armour saves) while also wounding Psykers on a 2+. It still rarely saw use, as Blessed Weapons and Force Weapons just offered better benefits 90% of the time.

===Power Pick===
[[File:Power_Pick.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Power Pick]]

A mining equipment that has been turned into a improvised weapon.

The Power Pick is a type of construction and mining equipment used by the Imperium meant to shatter diamond-hard boulders into sizable chunks. The power field enveloping the the point of the Power Pick is sharp enough to poke deep holes into armored vehicles.

Yes, you read that correctly. The rare and venerated power weapons are used as menial labor equipment. And they don't require a power cable, unlike the "new" power weapons given to unimportant people like Imperial Guard whoever. Don't you just love the Imperium?

Due to its hard sharp points the Power Pick has been utilized as a weapon by rebel factions, most notably by Genestealer Cults. Aberrants use these simple weapons, which are capable of piercing ceramite when struck hard enough.

On tabletop it is a makeshift Power Axe. You get the D3 damage and AP-2, but you don't get the bonus point of Strength and they're a colossal 16 points each (now only 10 with Chapter Approved). Interestingly enough also a choice for the Neophyte Leader, although with only S3 and 2A it's an utter waste of points and efficiency compared to the cheaper (4 point) power maul, or the free chainsword/cultist knife.

However, it is now updated to allow a free Rending Claw attack for each attack made with the Power Pick.

{{clear}}

===Power Hammer===
[[File:Power_Hammer_Genestealer.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Power Hammer]]

The little brother of the Thunderhammer....or the more utilitarian and civilian-friendly version of the Thunderhammer. The Power Hammer is a type of construction and mining equipment used by the Imperium. However it can also be utilized as a weapon, most notably by [[Genestealer|Genestealer Cults.]]

Yes, another mundane civilian menial tool that uses more advanced technology than the power swords Imperial officers might sometimes be allowed to use. And unlike those, it doesn't require a power cable. Just when you though the poor Guardsmen couldn't get more cheated, and that's without remembering the powered exoskeletons used by Hive gangers...and menial laborers.

[[Genestealer Aberrants|Aberrants]] use these weapons on those they can catch, each swing crushing torsos and breaking spines in a burst of disruptive energy. Like their bigger brothers, Power Hammers function by containing most of the disruptive power until the point of impact, unleashing the full blast all at once to ensure whatever material being struck by would shatter from the sheer explosive force.

On tabletop, the Power Hammer is the Aberrants' weapon upgrade choice. 8 (6 more now) more points than the already expensive Pick they start with, but it might be worth it for Power Fists that always roll a 3 for damage. Now that aberrants have been reduced in price using these has actually become a good idea, hammer time has come at last.

===Neural Whip===
[[File:Neural_Whip_Modern.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Neural Whip]]
[[/d/|The very kinky Neural Whip]] is a Power Weapon utilized by the [[Sisters of Battle]], particularly Repentia Mistresses. The flailing, psycho-conductive neural whips are as much symbols of the rank of Repentia Mistress as they are vicious weapons that lash out at the enemy of the Emperor before they are able to strike back. Of course like all whips, it is very difficult and unwieldy to utilize.

In 8th Edition, the Neural Whip got a modernized makeover and it actually looks like it could whip worth a damn.

On 7th edition. Neural Whips are a melee weapon with Str User and AP3 with Shred on non-vehicle units with leadership 8 or less. Mob Rule? Fuck that noise. Only Mistress of Repentances get these. (Basic Sisters have LD 8...[[/d/|coincidence?]])

<gallery>
Image:Neural_Whip_by_Mrmao.JPG|Neural Whip, ''courtesy of Mrmao.''
Image:Sister_Repentia_Mistress_with_Neural_Whip.jpg|[[Rule 34|Whip me harder Mistress!]]
Image:Neural_Whip.JPG
</gallery>

===Electro-Flail===
[[File:ElectroFlail.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Electro-Flail]]

The more confused cousin of the Neural Whip.

[[Pretend|No, despite the name, they have very little in relation to an]] [[Arc Weaponry|Arc Weapon]]. Why GW like to keep on using names that are CLEARLY [[FAIL|inaccurate of the weapon's nature is unknown.]] These flails have short reach, but as they strike in devastating masses of hits they can be extremely effective at incapacitating a foe.

Anyways, instead of being a true Arc Weapon, Electro-Flails are a type of Power Weapon consisting of a whip-like weapon with multiple lashes charged with electrical energy. So yeah, [[Lolwut|they are power weapons that use their energy field to produce electricity]]....[[Derp|''what?'']] [[Herp|Yeah its kind of weird;]] instead of using the power of lightning itself, it uses some other indirect source to produce the same effect. Guess we have another [[Lightning Gun|Lightning Gun]] in our hands here. Although, if the whip used the power field instead of derping electricity, it'd be pretty incredibly OP. Just twirl it once and a tank could fall apart.

Electro-Flails can be wielded by a normal human, but it is most found on the [[Arco-flagellant|Arco-Flagellants]].

===Null Rod===
[[File:Nullrod.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Null Rod]]
The complete opposite of a [[Force Weapons#Force Rod|Force Rod.]]

A Null Rod is a type of Power weapon used by members of the Ordo Malleus's Daemonhunters. These obsidian rods constantly crackle with [[Blank|anti-psychic power]] which nullifies the powers of the Warp. However, this device also prevents the wielders themselves from making use of any psychic power.

In 8th Edition, Null Rods could only be wielded by the Chainsword-armed Canoness only for the Bolter Bitches and by the Inquisition. For the Sisters of Battle, the Canoness can't be affected by psychic powers, with a -1 to psychic tests while the Psyker's within 18" of a rod. For the Inquisition, the Null Rod is a SU AP-2, D1, D1d3 against psykers, and the cost the same as a Power Sword. Hard pass - reliably worse than a Power Sword, which you should also be avoiding.

===Crozius Arcanum===
[[image:Stormrod.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Crozius Arcanum]]
The signature weapon of [[Chaplain]]s, the Crozius Arcanum is a mace encased in energy that serves as both a symbol of office and a weapon. Counts exactly as a Power Maul in 7th ed. The Crozius Arcanum itself is a staff of medium length, topped with the Imperial Aquila or symbols, such as winged skeletons or skulls. A few versions use iconography from the Chapter they belong to. The Salamanders, for instance, use the smith's hammer or a dragon's head. Ortan Cassius, Master of Sanctity of the Ultramarines, has fashioned his Crozius Arcanum after a Tyranid head, in remembrance of the Battle for Macragge.

Although it is a bludgeoning weapon, certain 40k authors and artists sometimes forget about that, and simply [[Derp|turned the Arcanum into a slicing weapon.]] [[Lulz|Enjoy envisioning a giant club bisecting people in two.]] Sometimes (through the power of [[Dan Abnett|shitty writing]]) it gains the ability to [[Ultramarines:_The_Movie|project a weak stasis field]] as if it's some sort of [[heresy|stasis flamer]].
In the words of an aggressively British loremaster the Crozius Arcanum is 'It's a very fancy beating stick, but it's still just a beating stick.' A case could be made that the Arcanum was used as a conduit or focus of the Emperor's power to burn away heretic's since it was carried by a Chaplain but these were Ultramarines. Nowhere near pious enough for such miracles like the Black Templars, much less the Sister of Battle.

A '''Shock Mace''' is an older-model power weapon favored by the [[Chaos|traitor legions]]. It is functionally a Crozius Arcanum, but without the status symbol.

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===Power Sword===
[[image:PowerSword6.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Power Sword]]
In a nutshell, the power sword is an example of power weapon technology applied to a sword. It's easily the most common power weapon (the [[Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine|Space Marine video game]] <s> only said otherwise so as not to make players feel cheated by the DLC they just bought </s> not anymore since the 10th Anniversity Edition came on 9/23/21, the DLC is free for all users, rendering the earlier point moot), and is used not only by the [[Space Marines]], but by the [[Commissar|Commissariat]], [[Daemonhunters|Inquisition]], and [[Imperial Guard]], who, likewise, often issue it to Sergeants and Officers. Can be made from literally any type of sword out there, Longsword, Shortsword, Katana, Cutlass, etc. You get the idea.

The [[God-Emperor of Mankind|Emperor of Mankind]] and most of the [[Primarchs]] who had swords used Power Swords. As of 6th edition, Power Swords are now AP3, screwing over many units and characters who have swords modeled on, such as [[Mephiston]], resulting in Terminators becoming absurdly hard to kill in assaults. Now, with armour modifiers, power swords will be pretty useful against Terminators again since AP-3 brings their save down to a 5+. As of 9th Edition, they now give +1 strength as well.

====Heavenfall Blade====
[[File:Heavenfall_Blade.JPG|200px|right|thumb|A Heavenfall Blade, this one is in particular is [[Azrael]]'s Sword of Secrets]]
As you can see from the page, the Dark Angels really like power weapons and swords in particular. Unlike their other unique swords, Heavenfall Blades don't originate from the Terrain Unification Wars or their homeworld of Caliban. Instead they are created from a meteor that struck [[The Rock]]. With the exception of Osmium, Ruthenium, and Rhodium, meteors, comets and asteroids contain elements that are easily attained on Earth and other rocky planets. Since these elements tend to sink into a planet's core during formation. Therefore, we can guess Heavenfall Blades are probably made out of those instead.

The First most likely found more of these space objects. As every officer of the Inner Circle seems to have a Heavenfall Blade as their badge of office across dozens to nearly one hundred chapters. So there must be between hundreds to thousands of these things in use. Unlike the power swords of other chapters, Heavenfall Blades don't really stand out that much either.

On the tabletop [[Azrael]], [[Belial]] and [[Sammael]] have their own versions with different states. While Belial can swap his for Lightning Claws or a Thunder Hammer. The Relic that can be given to characters has S+2 AP-4 D2 and an extra attack like a Chainsword. So its best given to Masters (aka DA captains) or the Ravenwing Talonmaster. It can replace a Power Sword, master crafted Power Sword, Relic Blade, or Executioner's relic blade.

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===Relic Blade===
[[File:Relicblade.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Relic Blade]]
A Relic Blade is a large Power Weapon often resembling a sword or axe surrounded by a power field for shearing through armour. Due to their size and weight these weapons must be wielded two-handed, but are of immense importance to the Space Marines who carry them. Many have their origins in the dark days of the Horus Heresy, while others were created many centuries later as tribute to other momentous events.

A two-handed power sword, which on the tabletop results in +2S (so S+2 AP3) and two-handed (can't benefit from a second weapon, although curiously there is no ban on taking two items that both do this, which currently only means you can wield a relic blade '''and''' a storm shield). For some reason this also applies to [[derp|officers in Terminator armor.]] Despite the fluff stating that they can use weapons that other Astartes can't.

Don't bother with Relic Blade upgrades for Captains and Chapter Master if a melee based Chapter Relic has better stats. Which they usually will. It is a decent upgrade if the Chapter Relic replaces a ranged weapon, armor or Storm Shield. Honor Guards and Vanguard Sergeants can also use them. Though it is a huge waste on the latter if he doesn't have a Storm Shield.

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image:RelicBlade.png
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===Glaive Encarmine===
[[File:GlaiveEncarmine.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Glaive Encarmine]]

The Glaive Encarmine is a two handed master-crafted power weapon that the [[Blood Angels]] [[Sanguinary Guard]] use to accompany their Angelus Bolters. They do not have the luxury of choosing the weapons they will enter into battle with, as the weapons they wield are traditional to their rank, and have been for the last ten thousand years.

The Blood Angels [[Sanguinor]] is also equipped with a Glaive Encarmine, but considering that the original Sanguinor was a member of the Sanguinary Guard called Aratron, before Askaellon entombed his face in his armour, this is not surprising.

Crafted long ago using forgotten methods and techniques, few weapons in the Blood Angels armories approach the elegance and mastery of manufacture embodied in the Glaive Encarmine. In battle, a skilled Battle-Brother can wield such a weapon as easily as he might a combat knife.

===Black Sword===
[[File:Black_Sword.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Black Sword]]
The Black Sword is an absolutely [[AWESOME|fuck awesome onyx-black power sword]] used by everyone's favorite canon [[Black Templars|Angry Marines.]] These massive, two-handed power swords are wielded by the [[Emperor's Champion]] and is often seen as a gift and an honour to be bestowed to wield one of these.

Blessed by the chapter Chaplains and paired with the Armour of Faith, the first of these weapons was given to [[Sigismund]] during the battle for the Imperial Palace, who then almost immediately used it to kill [[Kharn|a pretty swell guy]]. What is unique to the Black Sword other than the fact it can skullfuck xenos and heretics with its [[/d/|large, black blade,]] is that it can also considerably increase the strength of the Black Templar who wields it. How this is done, we have no idea.

===Executioner Blade===
[[File:Executioner_Blade.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Executioner Blade]]
A weapon that is [[Choppa|choppy]] enough to make an [[Ork]] [[Slaanesh|orgasm.]]

The Executioner Blade is a large and badass relic sword wielded primarily by the [[Primaris Space Marines|Primaris]] [[Judiciar]] as a means to give a free [[RIP AND TEAR|'crew cut']] to anyone caught disturbing the [[Chapter Master]]'s nap time.

These giant power swords are unique in design, due to having a flat-ended tip rather than the more conventional point of most swords. This makes the sword poor at piercing through armor, but excellent at chopping shit up like a giant machete. Seeing as how the whole point of the Executioner Blade is to lob off heads, it does its job quite well.

===Sentinel Blade===
[[File:Sentinel_Blade.png|200px|right|thumb|Sentinel Blade]]

A super special power weapon for those [[Adeptus Custodes|Special golden boys.]]

Sentinel Blades are power swords with weirdly broad but kinda stubby blades (though so massive they're still long), that are wielded by the Adeptus Custodes and are of such daunting size, that their hilts are flanked with Bolt Casters of exceptionally fine craftsmanship. It is a testament to the sheer strength of the Custodes, that they can wield these mighty swords with the same ease a lesser man might swing a cavalry sabre.

As its name implied, [[Sentinel Guard|Sentinel Guards]] are the primary users of these weapons.

On tabletop it is a Strength User weapon, AP-3, D3 damage; not as killy as the Spear, but your only option if you take a Storm Shield. A good option if you want to outfit a unit to hunt T4 units, since they will wound just as well as the spear but also get 2 pistol shots each in melee.
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===Power Axe===
[[image:MCPowerAxe.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Power Axe]]
Power Axes are single or double-bladed axes with their edges sheathed in energy. Power Axes are especially favored by the [[Space Wolves]], [[Chaos Lord]]s and [[Techpriest|Techpriests]] of the [[Adeptus Mechanicus]]. The Raven Guard occaisonally made use of power tomahawks, a marginally lighter variant that could be thrown.

On the tabletop, Power Axes are AP2, +1S and Unwieldy, making your unit strike at I1. This is probably going to be your only way to cheaply kill Terminators in assault, if they haven't overwatched your guys to death or happen to be using Thunder Hammers and Storm Shields.

In 8th Edition, they're the opposite to Power Mauls by being +1S, AP-2 (making MEQ armour saves from 3+ to 5+ and TEQs 2+ to 4+) and, most important, they're no longer unwieldy! Pretty cheap too, being 1 more point than Power Swords and Mauls! 9th Edition further buffed them by making them +2S in addition to the AP -2.

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Image:PowerAxe4.jpg
Image:DanteAxe.png
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===Frost Axe===
[[File:FrostAxe.PNG|200px|right|thumb|Frost Axe]]

A very special Power Axe unlike any other. A Frost Axe is a master-crafted melee weapon, used exclusively by the warriors of the Space Wolves Chapter of Space Marines, and is similar in many ways to more common Power Weapons of similar design ([[Wat|doesn't stop Lexicanum for putting it in the]] [[Chainsword|Chain weapon category]]....[[Derp|for some reason]]).

Each Frost Axe is considered among some of the most prized weapons of the Chapter, and each is crafted by a master [[Iron Priest]]. The cutting edge of Frost Axes are often made from energised diamond, giving them the appearance of blades forged from purest ice. Other times, for those with the courage and skill to slay a mighty miles-long Kraken from the vast oceans depths of Fenris, the edge may be instead studded with the beast's diamond-hard teeth. No idea what happens to the rest. Regardless of what the details of their design, all Frost Axes are power weapons of consummate lethality.

[[Pretend|Now if only they could freeze enemies like its name implies]]....

===Omnissian Axe===
[[File:Omnisianaxe.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Omnisian Axe]]
A holy icon of the Cult Mechanicus, the Omnissian Axe or glaive is granted to adepts who have shown their faith to the Machine God in battle. These fearsome weapons have no equal amongst power weapons and are only gifted to tech-priests by their superiors.

Saw, or perhaps cog-ed, toothed and marked with sacred equations they are forged with the finest materials and use secrets of tempering and field generation. To the followers of the Machine God, the bearer of an Omnissian glaive is a most blessed figure, a furious incarnation of the Machine God's power in war.

On tabletop, the Omnissian Axe is like a Force Axe but with a flat D2 instead of D1d3, for Domini and Enginseers.

===Power Maul===
[[image:PowerMaul6.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Power Maul]]
Power Mauls are whatever form of bashin' stick or stave a Space Marine, human or xenos supreme race's can get their hands on and turn into a relatively hi-tech weapon. If you can conceivably clobber someone over the head with it, it doesn't look heavy enough to be a Thunder Hammer, and it has room to tape a disruption field generator on somewhere along the haft, it's probably a Power Maul.

Crunch-wise, Power Mauls are AP4, +2 Str and Concussive. This means they bounce off MEQs (but wound on a 2+, at least), and when wielded by aforementioned MEQs turn any variety of Spess Pansy or Humie not wearing power armor into meat slurry, multiple wounds be damned. Great for challenges against the aforementioned T3 squishies.

This edition still keeps their 2+ Str but their AP-1 (opposite stats to the Power Axe), making em able to wound most things (Read: Toughness 4 models) on a 3+ and reducing their armour saves (so MEQ have their armour saves on a 4+). Ideal for tackling squishy models! 9th Edition reworked Power Mauls to give the most strength of any power weapon short of a Power Fist or Thunder Hammer with +3S, at the cost of their armor penetration with only -1 AP.

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===Hallowed Mace===
[[File:Hallowed_Mace.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Hallowed Mace]]
The Hallowed Mace are a type of Power Mauls, that are wielded by the [[Adepta Sororitas]]' [[Celestians#Celestian Sacresant|Celestian Sacresants.]]

It is considered the standard-issue close-combat weapon of these bolter bitches. They are essentially normal Power Mauls with a Sororitas-flavored tinge and works well in conjunction with their Sacresant Shields.

Crunchwise, it is your typical power maul with a S+2, AP-1 and D2 statline. Rather, it is a weapon meant to complement the shields as Celestian Sacresants are used as a slow-moving line-breaker to bonk the heads of anyone dumb enough to charge a shield wall that is not super-heavy in category.

===Mace of the Righteous===
[[File:Mace_of_the_Righteous.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Mace of the Righteous]]
The Mace of the Righteous is the standard equipment and weapon wielded by the [[Dogmata]].

This Power Mace is most often seen as the mark of office and just as much as a weapon as it is quite capable of bowling over man and monster alike.

Tabletop wise, it is a standard power mace slightly stronger than the Hallowed Mace at S+2, AP-2 and D2. As aforementioned, it is more like a symbol of office than an actual weapon of war, even if it still does its job well. A [[Dogmata]] is a support unit after all.

===Mace of Absolution===
[[File:Mace_of_Absolution.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Mace of Absolution]]
The Maces of Absolution are specialized weapons used by the [[Deathwing Knights|Deathwing Knights of the Unforgiven.]] Glowing with power, these ominous weapons have their power amplified in the presence of the most accursed of heretics.

A Mace of Absolution is similar in function to a Power Maul, but possesses the ability to be used in a "smite mode," where the power field of the weapon is greatly strengthened and augmented to the point that the weapon will [[Wat|cleave apart even the most heavily armoured vehicles and enemies with ease, this is ignoring the fact that maces are meant to bludgeon enemies to death, not turn them into chop-suey.]]

On tabletop, these are some scary weapons when considering an average Deathwing team hosts these as standard-issue; striking at S8 AP-2 and doing [[FATAL|THREE damage each,]] with no drawbacks to accuracy, basically rendering Thunder Hammers pointless.

===Executioner's Greatblade===
[[File:Executioner_Greatblade.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Executioner's Greatblade]]

Think the Relic Blade on growth pills (and then factor in how big a Relic Blade is in the first place).

Executioner Greatblades (or simply Execution Blades) were two-handed Power Swords that are ECKS BAWKS HUEG, that were used by the [[Sisters of Silence]] and were wonders of the swordsmith's art. Each Greatblade was perfectly weighted for the martial style of its wielder and once the Sisters were schooled in their use, they could strike with the speed of a duellist combined with the killing might of a veteran executioner.

The blades were edged with diamond-hard silica glass, enabling a skilled strike to pierce the finest armor. It is by far the largest types of Power Sword within the Imperium, big enough that it needs to be two-handed to be effective.

===Terranic Greatsword===
[[File:Terranic_Greatsword.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Terranic Greatsword]]
The Terranic Greatswords were a type of ECKS BAWKS HUEG power swords, used by the Dark Angels Legion.

They were specifically wielded by the the [[Deathwing Companions|Deathwing Companions]] and [[Knights Cenobium]]; each one of them are prolific in its usage. Judging by its scale, these swords would be around 8-9ft long. Greatsword indeed.
Judging by its name, it may or may not be constructed from [[Terra|Holy Terra itself]]. From the name alone, it seems to have been in their armory sense the days of Unification Wars.

These things are absolute [[Rape|rapemachines]] on the [[Horus Heresy]] tabletop, combined with the Companions' high base attack and you are carving up ''Terminators'' like Guardsmen. It is also available to Inner Circle Cenobites as their standard Power Weapon(besides Thunder Hammers), while Praetors, Centurions, and Consuls with Power Fists can exchange them at no cost.

===Power Scythes===
[[image:Power_Scythe.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Power Scythe]]
A form of Power Weapon shaped like a scythe. Power Scythes were generally unwieldy and never caught on with the Imperial military outside the Legiones Astartes, and even then they were only popular with the [[Death Guard]], who used a massive type of Power Scythe known as ''Manreapers''. Even in that particular case, they were only used by their [[Primarch]] [[Mortarion]], some officers (like First Captain [[Typhus|Calas Typhon]]), and the Deathshroud Terminators.

Crunch wise they're power axes with reaping blow instead of unwieldy, giving the wielder +1 attack provided there is an enemy in base contact at the cost -1 I. As such, they're nice since they hit before other AP2 weapons. Because of its association with the Death Guard, it should surprise no one that the [[Departmento Munitorum]] cancelled all orders for Power Scythes in M34 due to their complete lack of popularity, although [[Scythes of the Emperor|some chapters still managed to get them.]]

<gallery>
Image:DeathshroudScythe.png|Deathshroud holding his infamous weapon.
</gallery>

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===Power Fist===
[[File:Powerfist_Side.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Power Fist]]
Also known as big-metal-death-fists-of-doom, and one of the [[Chainsword|most]] [[Bolter|iconic]] weapons of 40k, '''Power Fists''' are massive gauntlets which are encased within an energy field that breaks down molecular bonds when activated. They are intended to be worn with [[Terminator]] armour, but frequently you find people wearing Power Armour, or even '''NOT''' wearing Power ''Anything'', wielding Power Fists. The Emperor of Mankind had a power fist on his left hand, which he used to famously put [[Leman Russ]] in his place. Russ later said that the subsequent headache was from the drinking contest they had.

They are commonly used as an anti-armor weapon. Yes, you heard correctly. Brave bastards (even unarmored, normal humans) will [[Fist of the North Star|punch tanks until they explode]]. [[Awesome|That's how fucking badass this universe is]].

[[Ork]]s, in their looting tendencies, have taken to mimicking Power Fists as '''Power Klaws''', which are like Power Fists except that they usually have 2-4 digits, and have massive grabbing blade-claws instead of articulated fingers. [[Commissar Yarrick]] famously killed an Ork and used his Power Klaw to replace his severed forearm. Why the [[Commissar|Commissariat]] has not censured him for using xenos weapons is not entirely clear , but they probably let it slide because he's such a badass ({{BLAM|That, and the battle-trophy claimed from the foul Xenos has been reconsecrated by servants of the Omnissiah prior to being turned in a prothestic}}). Still, one must wonder how [[Sly Marbo|he goes to sleep, takes a shower, or masturbates with that thing on.]] (Hint: it's detachable at the shoulder.)

Some variants of Power Fist are called '''Power Claws''', which are basically Power Fists with the digits ending in razor-sharp claws. You more frequently see them among [[Chaos Space Marines]], but occasionally the [[Raven Guard]] or [[Space Wolves]] use them. The infamous Talon of Horus, used by [[Horus|Horus Lupercal]] to kill [[Sanguinius]] and critically injure the Emperor, and later looted by [[Abaddon|Ezekyle Abaddon]], is a Power Claw with an infamous history. Most of these, however, would technically be considered a form of Lightning Claws (see below).

On the tabletop, Power Fists/Klaws double the user's strength, but makes him strike at I1. A popular tactic was to use it to instagib enemy ICs in assault by hiding the Fister behind other expendable troops, allocating wounds onto them instead. However, with 6th edition, this tactic is mostly rendered moot as now ICs and characters can issue challenges, so the Power Fister will most likely fall in battle should the opponent strike and kill him first or see that both get killed off. New wound allocation rules also make the Fister more likely to have a wound allocated to him, but that is slightly mitigated by the Look Out Sir! rule. [[Dreadnought|Dreadnoughts]] have no such penalty to initiative or benefit of LOS! as they are walking death machines crewed by a crippled vet, yet are strangely not characters.

In 7th Edition, challenges can only be issued to models in combat (in attacking distance), and both sides get 3" pile in at their initiative step. Thusly, if you plan carefully you can have the powerfister 6" away from the combat, have the enemy close in and unable to challenge, and then pile in onto combat at initiative step 1.

In 8th Edition, much like the Power Axe, they've lost the Unwieldy rule and still get their Str x 2 bonus; however, they're now AP-3 and D3, they also now subtract hits by -1 (so on a Space Marine Sgt, they hit on 4+).

In 9th Edition, Power Fists largely work the same, although they're now 2 damage flat.

There has been some speculation on how successful it would be to incorporate Power Fists into truly epic highfives and brofists, but the AdMech has made it perfectly clear that to do so would be [[Heresy|tech-heresy.]]
<gallery>
image:CommissarPowerFist.png|Power Fist, as worn by a [[Commissar]]. Note the bulky battery and the frame encapsulating his whole arm.
</gallery>
====Chainfist====
For information on the combi-weapon version of the Power Fist, see [[Chainsword#Chainfist|Chainfist]].

====Power Fist Subweapons====
Around the end of the 41st Millennium. The Space Marines started to realize that there is enough space on their Power Fists to put a secondary weapon. Other than a Chainsword or modifying it into a clawed gauntlet. Nassir Amit had the same idea centuries earlier. Who mounted [[Storm Bolter]]s on his Chainfists. The more cynical could say that Games Workshop's Codex creators were stealing ideas from their own Black Library writers. Though at the pace GW works, [[rage|gaming groups have to house rule them until official versions are released.]] You'd think they'd be one step ahead after shuttering their publishing deal with FFG. Another famous example are the Gauntlets of Ultramar used by [[Marneus Calgar]], which are themselves similar to [[Roboute Guilliman]]'s Hand of Dominion. They tend to be depicted as Master Crafted Storm Bolter Power Fists.

The most common variant is the Power Fist with Auxiliary [[Meltagun]]. Allowing Deathwatch Terminators to destroy vehicles and hulk-smash the survivors. Nor does it require them to exchange their other ranged weapons for a Meltagun. A typical load out is a Deathwatch Termi with either an [[Assault Cannon]], [[Cyclone Missile Launcher]]/[[Storm Bolter]] combo or [[Combi-Bolter]] paired with a [[Meltagun]]. It makes more sense than attaching a Storm Bolter to it. As Boltguns require a machinegun chainlink to feed Bolts into the weapon. No real need for a Thunder Hammer or Lightning Claws when you can Overwatch them to death than sucker punch the survivors.

The second variant is a Space Marine Terminator Captain with a wrist-mounted [[Grenade Launcher]]. Because they want to turn half the enemy squad into paste before charging in. It's best paired with a ranged relic weapon or a [[Combi-Plasma|Combi-Plasma Bolter]] for maximum [[dakka]].

Primaris Marines in Gravis Armour get in on the fun with their own versions. Courtesy of [[Cawl]]. The [[Boltstorm Gauntlet]] coming in semi and full auto flavors. The latter appropriately called Auto Boltstorm Gauntlets. Though only Aggressors get access to the automatic versions. There are also the Flamestorm Gauntlets. Because these guys really hate hordes and over sized bastards with multiple wounds.

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===Lightning Claw===
[[File:Lightning_Claw.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Lightning Claw]]
Lightning Claws are a quartet of razor-sharp claws affixed to a gauntlet, each blade of which is a small power weapon. The claws had different designs pre- and post-Heresy, but they mostly function the same.

The pre-heresy design of the Lightning claws is that instead of blades being placed on the dorsal palm, the fingers on the glove are turned into power blades, giving the user a rather terrifying look. This is the wide-spread model that Chaos marines use since it's what they had on hand (''literally'') when they fell back to the Eye of Terror.

The current design of Lightning claws are 3-4 smaller power blades that are placed above the weapon's dorsal palm plating, akin to X-men's Wolverine. This design, although considered totally uncool when compared to the old Power Talons, gives the user the advantage of still having articulated fingers, albeit with digits that are still powerfist-sized, [[General Sturnn|though]] [[Vance Motherfucking Stubbs|some]] [[Governor-Militant Lukas Alexander|bad ass]] imperial guard commanders have been seen with lightning claws for no fluff-explained reason. Possibly just an oversight that got grandfathered into the later games but it still looks awesome so we'll let it slide. Though two of those guys are from the same regiment (Cadian 412th) so maybe it's just a quirky tradition of that one regiment.

And then there are some gems like [[Lugft Huron]]'s which have both dorsal ''and'' finger claws.

They are normally used in pairs. Favored by Terminators and Chaos Raptors, Lightning Claws are a bit unwieldy, but are much more likely to land a damaging hit on a target when used by a trained user (in tabletop, this translates to re-rolling failed to-wound rolls). They are also AP3, so it is now pointless to use them against Terminators, but they will mince up MEQs and blobs. The Raven Guard in particular often employ Lightning Claws. Always remember [[meme|to say "snikt" when using them and incessantly refer to your enemies as "bub"]] and to take them off before attempting to masturbate or pick your nose. [[Slaanesh|Or don't]].

<gallery>
SternguardLightningClaws.jpg
image:RavenClaw.png|The Finger Claw variant
image:LugftHuronClaw.png|Huron's double claw
</gallery>

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===Solerite Power Gauntlet===
[[File:SoleritePowerGauntlet.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Solerite Power Gauntlet]]

The golden fist for our golden boys.

A Solerite Power Gauntlet is a unique Power Weapon that takes the form of a massive master-crafted Power Fist utilized exclusively by the Legio Custodes, the elite bodyguard of the Emperor of Mankind. First fashioned in the pattern of ancient relics to arm the elite of the [[Thunder Warriors|Thunder Warriors,]] the Solerite Power Gauntlets and their raptor-taloned variants are potent weapons.

They differ from the standard Power Fists and claws utilized by the Adeptus Astartes in both the near-irreplaceable artifact power coils which energize their disruption field generators and the nigh-indestructible materials their casings and blades are fashioned from, forged as they are in furnaces recovered from the ancient Tempest Galleries near Terra's molten core by the nascent XVIII Legion (the then-unnamed Salamanders Legion).

The Imperial Fists also gained access to a much smaller variant, but with the same effects. 'Solerate' weapons are used by the Custodes, although that's just Forgeworld's proofreading at work, since they have the same thing description, stats, and the 40k version has been corrected to be 'Solerite' weapons.
<gallery>
Solarite_Power_Gauntlet.JPG|<center>Solerite Power Talon</center>
</gallery>

===Power Spear===
[[File:Power_Spear.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Power Spear]]

There was eventually bound to have a Power Spear somewhere in the Imperium's armory.

Throughout history, the spear has consistently proven itself a deadly and efficient weapon, and the Imperium of Mankind honors its legacy of bloodshed through various creations such as the explosive-tipped hunting lance and the power spear.

Officers in certain Imperial Guard Rough Rider regiments prefer to wield power spears over weapons like cavalry sabres, or even wield them as a secondary weapon for use after a hunting lance charge. This is a one-handed melee weapon in contrast to the normally two-handed Power Lance.

They are also used by Custodes on Gyrfalcon Jetbikes during the Great Crusade... for some odd reason seeing as how they're outright inferior to every other weapon the Custodes use and even the vast majority of weapons the Space Marines used. Thankfully by the 42nd millennium they ditched that piece of shit they were using for interceptor lances.

The [[Lamenters]] also have a special Power Spear called Victory's Price. Because these are the Lamenters, it also has a case of bad luck. It's been wielded in many victories, but [[Grimdark|the wielders generally die in claiming that victory]]. Unsurprisingly, Lamenters who wield the spear are... CONCERNED when chosen to wield it, but resolve to ensure that their death will be in service to great victory.

===Power Lance===
[[File:Power_lance_DWFF.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Power Lance]]
A weapon used almost exclusively by the [[White Scars]], Power Lances are energy-sheathed lances which the White Scars use in charging their opponents on their bikes. You can imagine the results.

Tabletop-wise, Power Lances are AP3 +1S on the charge but become AP4 and default strength in following assault phases. Since few box sets come with Power Lance bits, a lot of converting is to be done if you want to kit out your models with Power Lances. They're pretty awful in the hands of anything without Hit And Run. Honestly, they're pretty awful even in the hands of anything with Hit and Run. If you want the +1S, use a power axe. If you want AP3, use a power sword. If you want high strength and don't care about the AP, use a power maul. The only round Power Lances are better than the others is the charging round, so only take them if you think you can win a fight in the first round. If not then stick to the other choices.

8 edition turned them into a powermaul crunchwise.

<gallery>
image:WhiteScarsLance.png|Alternate view
image:SpearOfVulkanModel.png|''Spear of Vulkan''
</gallery>

{{clear}}

===Power Halberd===
[[image:Halberd_of_Caliban.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Power Halberd]]
A large power weapon in the shape of a glaive. Though a functional weapon, Power Halberds are largely ceremonial weapons used by [[Space Marine]] [[Honour Guard]]s when on sentry duty, although the White Scars will use them in combat.

The [[Adeptus Custodes|Custodes]] also used power halberds with attached bolters, but those weapons are to regular power halberds what Custodes are to regular marines. Not wanting to get left behind, CM [[Asterion Moloc]] "[[Blood Ravens|acquired]]" one of those and [[Awesome|slapped a freaking lascannon onto it.]] The only way to use it is if you play Dark Angels and take a Deathwing Champion, as they're the only ones with a proper Halberd. Since it gets bonus attacks when fighting a unit with five or more models. Pair him with Deathwing Knights or TH/SS Deathwing Termis.

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===Anointed Halberd===
[[File:Anointed_Halberd.JPG|250px|right|thumb|Anointed Halberd]]
The Anointed Halberd are heavy Power Halberds, that are wielded by the [[Adepta Sororitas]]' [[Celestians#Celestian Sacresant|Celestian Sacresants.]]

These ''very'' long power weapons are, as their name suggests, are anointed with holy oils and sacred texts etched onto the blade to skewer the unclean and the tainted a new, rose-smelling [[Anal circumference|asshole.]]

On the tabletop, Anointed Halberds are an okay close-combat weapon. Its stats are S+3, AP-3 with D1. While it has disappointing damage especially for a weapon of such size, its long reach and a high chance of hitting GEQs and MEQs make it a pretty decent poker in close combat.

===Guardian Spear===
[[File:GSImage.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Guardian Spear]]

The iconic weapon of the [[Custodian Guard]].

Guardian Spears are halberd-like power weapons so heavy that it would take several ordinary men to lift it and incorporating a ranged weapon at its tip. The weapon's powerful ranged and close combat duality complemented the fighting style of this bodyguard force, giving them good capabilities in both close combat and at a distance. In battle, Custodes spin these weapons in great arcs, slaying enemies with each strike be it in melee combat or from afar.

Almost all Guardian Spears comes equipped with a built-in [[Guardian Bolter]]. However, other weapons can also be mounted on the spear. These variants include the '''Adrasite Spear''' which obviously features an [[Adrathic Destructor]], and the '''Pyrithite Spear''' which includes a melta beam.

As symbol of their roles as sentinel, Deathwatch Watch Masters are also given Guardian Spears.

The bigger version of the Guardian Spear is the Dreadspear.

The weird-looking [[Necromunda|Cawdor]] polearm are crafted as imitations of the Guardian Spears, because apparently they caught wind of the custodians and their holy weapons.

<gallery>
Adrasite_Spear.JPG|Adrasite Spear.
Pyrithite_Spear.JPG|Pyrithite Spear.
</gallery>

===Castellan Axe===
[[File:Castellan_Axe.png|200px|right|thumb|Castellan Axe]]

The Guardian Spear's more gritty cousin.

A Castellan Axe is variant of the Guardian Spear, the signature weapon of the [[Adeptus Custodes]], that incorporates a heavier, axe-like blade rather than a speartip. These weapons lend themselves to an elegant and brutal combat style that sees the wielder use their exceptional transhuman strength in conjunction with their axe's momentum, launching thunderous sweeps that switch direction with breathtaking suddenness to cleave through their victims' guard and hack off heads and limbs.

The wielder can also fire concentrated volleys of Bolter fire from the hafts of their weapons, scything down those who attempt to stay out of their blades' devastating reach. These deadly weapons are typically wielded by veteran [[Custodian Warden|Custodian Wardens,]] [[Allarus Custodian|elite Allarus Custodians]] [[Shield-Captain|or Shield-Captains.]]

===Thunder Hammer===
[[File:Thunder_Hammer.jpg||200px|right|thumb|Thunder Hammer]]
Big war hammers (''40k'') that smash anything they touch, and popularly paired with Storm Shields. Unlike other power weapons, Thunder Hammers only activate their energy fields upon contact with a target. This works like a flash capacitor, and utterly ''explodes'' whatever Thunder Hammers hit - in editions [[Dark_Age_of_Technology|long past]] this meant they always scored a wound whenever they hit, no roll was needed. Comes in one-handed and two-handed varieties, but both functionally are the same weapon stat-wise. Particularly common among Terminators, although the [[Salamanders]] love it (going with [[Vulkan]]'s training as a blacksmith and the artificer themes of the Promethean Creed).

Gameplay wise, they're basically the same as Powerfists, except when attacking vehicles they will at a minimum get a "Crew Shaken" if they glance or penetrate, in addition to whatever else they roll on vehicle destruction. From 6th ed onwards, the special effect was changed to the "Concussive" rule; any target that takes a wound (but survives) is reduced to Initiative 1 till the end of the next assault phase, simulating disorientation from the explosive impact, making it very effective even against big gribblies that are tough enough to avoid Instant Death.

Fun fact: Captains could not use thunder hammers without wearing terminator until Dawn of War proved how awesome it looked. 8th edition removed the concussive rule and the low Initiative, replacing them with minus 1 to hit 2x str AP3 and 3 damage flat. 9th Edition reworked Thunder Hammers to make them less of an autopick over Power Fists, sacrificing armor penetration in exchange for more damage.

<gallery>
image:TerminatorThunderHammer.png|Alternate view
Image:Thunder_Hammer_HH.jpg|Horus Heresy era
</gallery>

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===Power Sledgehammer===
[[File:Power_Sledgehammer.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Power Sledgehammer]]

The Power Hammer's more beefier cousin and one big enough that it can rival a Heavy Thunder Hammer is sheer power. Like the Power Hammers, Power Sledgehammers are actually civilian mining equipment used to shatter large boulders into refined chunks, however they are just as likely to shatter the side armor of a Leman Russ Tank as any normal Thunder Hammer would...which is something a [[Genestealer Cult]] would pick up from.

Power Sledgehammers are the primary weapon of the [[Genestealer Aberrants#Abominants|Genestealer Abominants]] and these guys combine [[-4 Strength|the strength of their gains to the natural concussive power of the oversized Sledgehammer.]] The result? they hit with the force of a fucking [[Powergamer|'''Lascannon.''']]

In 8th Edition, Power Sledgehammer is a Sx2, AP -3, D6 monster of a melee weapon with the trait to turn all damage roles of 1 and 2 to 3's. [[Rape|GW's said that the sledge would give him an effective Strength of 12 so should mean he is rocking a strength of 6.]] [[RIP AND TEAR|This guy was made to turn characters and TEQ's into red stains, bust Chimeras in two, and turn Russes into swiss cheese.]] Not even Imperial Knights are safe from this wrecking ball.

===Heavy Thunder Hammer===
[[File:HeavyThunderHammer.png|200px|right|thumb|Heavy Thunder Hammer]]
These monstrosities are used by the [[Deathwatch]] for when a regular thunder hammer won't do the job. Being two-handed, you sacrifice the ability to wield a shield for the chance to one-shot most high-value targets.

These weapons are equipped with two heads, each swathed in a powerful disruptor field. Heavy Thunder Hammers are extremely powerful weapons, able to smash the midsection of a Carnifex in twain and turn tanks into crumpled metal.

Equip your Deathwatch with one of these and he would be happy playing galactic whack-a-mole. The only difference besides requiring two hands is that it does damage on a D6. Doing twice as much as a normal Thunder Hammer if the player rolls a 6+. Because of the RNG involved a normal TH is better most of the time. One would think they could be given to Deathwatch Terminators for use as one handed weapons. However GW doesn't do things that make sense to the rest of us.

<gallery>
image:DeathwatchHeavyThunderHammer.png|Its hammer time!
</gallery>

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===Venatari Lance===
[[File:Venatari_Lance.JPG|250px|right|thumb|Venatari Lance]]

The more assault variant of the Guardian Spear (Yes, it is pretty absurd that there would be a more assault version of a spear, but here we are). Venatari Lances are two-handed power spears, that are wielded by the [[Adeptus Custodes|Adeptus Custodes']] [[Venatari|Custodian Venatari]]. Like the Guardian Spears, the Venatari Lance contains a built in range weapon, in this case, instead of a Bolter it house a [[Kinetic Destroyer#Archaeotech Repeater|single-barrel Archaeotech repeaters.]]

On tabletop, these Venatari Lances are a 12" Assault 2 S6 AP-2 D2 weapon. Slight overkill on GEQs thanks to the D2 but can also do good work against MEQs and Primaris Marines. Great if you want your Venatari to be more killy in close quarters.

===Interceptor Lance===
[[File:Interceptor_Lance.JPG|250px|right|thumb|Interceptor Lance]]

Interceptor Lances are Power Weapons that are wielded by the Adeptus Custodes' [[Vertus Praetors|Vertus Praetor]] [[Dawneagle Jetbike|Dawneagle jetbike riders.]] These lances are the metaphorical [[Dick]] of the Emprah's Will meant to ruthlessly [[Rape|penetrate]] [[Anal circumference|the rear end]] of the enemies of man. With the Dawneagle's great speed and the skilled hands of the Praetors', the Interceptor Lance becomes a brutally effective weapon in battle.

On tabletop, these Lances are the standard issue for your Jetbikes; same stat-wise as a Guardian Spear, but without any shooting and it allows you to re-roll wounds on the charge. Furthermore, since these Jetbikes have the Fly Keyword, it means they can [[Awesome|charge and attack flyers in melee. Just think about that.]] Additionally, they aren't too bad against vehicles, making them an all-round flexible weapon.

===Battle-Automata Power Blade===
[[File:Automata_Power_Blade.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Battle-Automata Power Blade]]

''Not to be confused with the [[Herp|Power Blade]] or the [[Derp|Powerblade.]]''

The Power Blade of the [[Legio Cybernetica]] is not like the small dagger-like Power Blades utilized by Imperium assassins, nor are they the lightning fast and hard-to-parry Powerblades used by [[Eldar]] [[Warp Spiders]]. These blades resemble a chakram that has been revved-up and function like a power saw.

A common close range weapon used by various types of Battle-Automata, these circular saw-like bladed weapons deploy molecular disruption fields that are super-charged with power from the Battle-Automata's own engine core. These blades are usually used in pairs. A Castellax-class Battle-Automata armed with Power Blades loses the ability to carry its built-in Bolters.

The Horus Heresy tabletop list these as AP2 Rending weapons. Being MCs, Battle Automata melee attacks are already AP2, so the main use for them is the extra attack (because they are counted as a weapon) and, with some good fortune from the dice gods, some armor penetration due to Smash getting worse in 7th Ed.

===Paragon War Mace===
[[File:Paragon_War_Mace.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Paragon War Mace]]
The Paragon War Mace is a giant powermaul wielded by the [[Derp|derpy]] looking [[Paragon Warsuit]].

It is considered as one of the two standard-issue close-combat weapon for the Warsuit, with the other being the Paragon War Blade.

On the tabletop, the Paragon War Mace is a powerful S+4, AP-2 with D3. It is capable of pummeling GEQs and MEQs like pancakes due to its higher base strength and damage, although its low AP makes it less suitable against TEQs like the War Blade. It has an ability that allows the weapon to subtract 1 from that attack's hit roll.

{{Clear}}

===Paragon War Blade===
[[File:Paragon_War_Blade.JPG|250px|right|thumb|Paragon War Blade]]
The Paragon War Blade is a giant powersword wielded by the [[Derp|derpy]] looking [[Paragon Warsuit]].

It is considered as one of the two standard-issue close-combat weapon for the Warsuit, with the other being the Paragon War Mace.

Crunchwise, it is a S+1, AP-3 and D2 weapon. Pretty good at carving up MEQs and even TEQs like a roasted turkey. Its special ability allows the War Blade to make one additional attack every time the Warsuit fights, making it quite dangerous in close combat.

{{Clear}}

===Dreadnought Power Fist===
[[File:DreadnoughtFist.png|200px|right|thumb|Mark V Dreadnought Power Fist]]
A Power Fist suited specifically for Dreadnought needs. Dreadnought Power Fists comes in all shapes and sizes but they all do one thing, fucking shit up.

The most common pattern is the Dreadnought Mark V Power Fist. The weapon takes the form of a massive metal gauntlet and features four clamp-like fingers that can open and close. The fist can be used to smash enemy units and vehicles and grab enemy units with its clamps. The '''Mark V Dreadnought Power Fist''' can be armed with an underslung Storm Bolter or Heavy Flamer.

Another variant is the '''Venerable Dreadnought Power Fist'''. These Master Crafted Weapons are markedly more advanced than their basic counterparts, and feature four fully articulated and jointed fingers, allowing a greater range of movement than the clamps or bladed fingers of other Castraferrum Dreadnoughts, in a sense, it is essentially the Contemptor Dreadnought Power Fist in all but name. The next variant is the '''Ironclad Dreadnought Power Fist'''. These Power Fists feature larger "finger" clamps and thicker armor. The Ironclad Dreadnought Power Fist is equipped with an under-slung Storm Bolter or Heavy Flamer. Additionally there is the Blood Angels' '''Blood Fists''' which feature longer servo-manipulator "fingers" than the standard Castraferrum Dreadnought Power Fist and are designed to rip and tear through flesh, bone and armour more swiftly. The newest variant of the Dreadnought Power Fist is the NuMarines '''Redemptor Fist'''. A Redemptor Fist is a massive, articulated Dreadnought-sized Power Fist of advanced design used by Primaris Space Marine Redemptor Dreadnoughts as a primary melee weapon on one of their two weapon arms.

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===Dreadnought Power Claw===
[[File:DreadChaplainClaw.png|200px|right|thumb|Mark IV Dreadnought Power Claw]]
Similar to the Dreadnought Power Fist, the Power Claw has a lot of variants.

The weapon takes the form of a massive metal gauntlet and features four blade-like fingers that can open and close. The fist can be used to smash enemy units and vehicles and tear through enemy units with its bladed fingers.

There are simply way too many Power Claws to be considered reasonable. Seriously look at this shit. We got the typical '''Mark IV Power Claw''' you see on the right as well as the '''Contemptor Power Claw'''. There is the Blood Angels' '''Blood Talon''' (and its Contemptor versions) which closely resemble a Lightning Claw in their design, featuring four energized adamantium claws that can pincer down on an enemy target or slash through nearly an entire enemy infantry squad with ease. There's the Salamander's more roasty '''Dreadfire Fist''' with a built-in Dreadfire Heavy Flamers. The Space Wolves '''Great Wolf Claw''' which are enchanted by powerful runes to further augment their destructive potential. The [[Contemptor-Incaendius Dreadnought]] also have a unique form of Power Claw called the '''Talons of Perdition''', similar to the aforementioned Blood Talon, but with a built-in Heavy Flamer, which can be swapped with a Meltagun or a prototype Iliastus Pattern Assault Cannon.

[[Tl;dr]], there is way too many versions and lets not even get into Chaos or Ork territory.

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===Penitent Buzz-Saw===
[[File:PenEngPower_Saw.png|200px|right|thumb|Penitent Buzz-Saw]]

A weapon that looks like a case in which the [[Sisters of Battle|Ministorum]] [[Looted]] a [[Miscellaneous Klose Kombat Weapons#Buzz Saw|Buzz Saw]] from an [[Ork]] [[Deff Dred]]. The Power Saw of the [[Penitent Engine]] is a savage looking piece of contraption designed to cause as much carnage as humanly possible whilst still retaining an aura of [[Rogal Dorn|self-righteous masochism.]]

All Penitent Engines are armed only with this Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon, which usually includes a large, circulating Saw Blade on each of the walker's arms, as the pilot is in too frantic a mental state to take his or her time to aim long-range weaponry effectively. The Penitent Engine's weapon arms are also equipped with either Flamers or Heavy Flamers, which can be fired together or separately.

With the new update, Penitents along with the Power weapons saw a massive buff, as they are by and large no longer one-shot by heavy weapons, and while they are still weaker than Dreadnoughts in CC, a roll of 4+ allows them to make their full set of attacks TWICE. That’s 8 attacks at strength 10 each dealing 3 wounds. When taking them, go big or go home. Either deploy none or at least four of them.

===Fenrisian Great Axe===
[[File:Fenrisaxe.png|200px|right|thumb|Fenrisian Great Axe]]

When the Space Wolves can't get enough Viking, they equip their Dreadnoughts with these fuckhueg Power Axes. For all intents and purposes, it is a Frost Axe scaled up to the size in which a Dreadnought could use it with its thicc, meaty powerfists.

Fenrisian Great Axes are massive Power Weapons that can only be hefted by a Dreadnought. However, it is currently unknown whether this axe has cool frost effects like the Helfrost weapons. It would be cool if GW implements this however.

Each of these great axes are forged in the heart of the Fang by the Space Wolves' master artificers. Each is longer than a man is tall and so heavy that only a Dreadnought could ever use or even lift.

A Dreadnought, armed with such a weapon, can cleave a bloody path through many foes at once.

On tabletop, it has two killing modes: '''Scythe''', which doubles their number of attacks that hit at S6, AP-3, D1, or '''Cleave''', which causes -1 to their to-hit rolls, but hits at S10, AP-3, Dd6. Always taken with a Dreadnought-sized storm shield known as a blizzard shield that gives a 4+ invulnerable save, and removes all ranged options.
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===Galatus Warblade===
[[File:Infernus Incinerator.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Galatus Warblade]]

Think the Sentinel Blade on steroids or a Sentinel Blade large enough to be wielded by a Dreadnought.

The Galatus Warblade is a massive Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon used by Custodes Contemptor-Galatus Dreadnoughts. These blades are made of the highest materials and could cut the armor of superheavy vehicles with contemptuous ease.

The blade has a built-in Infernus Incinerator just in case you really want to make sure that the targeted enemy is completely and utterly neutralized.

On 9th Edition, this is a 3 Damage Power Sword that now allows your dude to do D3 additional attacks. Sounds pretty good, yeah? [[Rape|Now give it to a Dreadnought.]]
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===Achillus Dreadspear===
[[File:Corve Las-Pulsar.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Achillus Dreadspear]]

The Achillus Dreadspear or simply known as the Dreadspear is a Dreadnought-sized version of the Guardian Spear that was widely used by the Legio Custodes. Wielded by the fearsome Contemptor-Achillus Dreadnoughts, these massive spears were capable of devastating enemy infantry and vehicles.

The Achillus Dreadspear features an in-built Corvae Pattern Las-pulser to fire upon enemies at range, but nobody really bother with that as the Dreadnought is fast enough to charge through almost anything smaller than itself.

In 9th Edition, this [[Dick|golden shlong]] is a brutal [[Anal circumference|Sx2 (14) AP-3 Dd3+3 weapon that treats all Damage rolls of 1 or 2 as 3 and also deals d3 mortal wounds on the charge.]] Perfect for hunting down large, single entities toughness 7 or less. [[Rape|Bend over and we'll make this over quick.]] It can also handle T8 thanks to its high strength, but if you charge a titan with it expect the Achillus to die immediately after attacking.

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===Cerastus Shock Lance===
[[File:Cerastus_Shock_Lance.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Cerastus Shock Lance]]

A very long power weapon for the Imperial Knights.

The Cerastus Shock Lance is a type of Titan Power Lance wielded by Knight Lancer walkers. This magneto-hydraulic power size of prodigious size has a disruption field which may also be projected as a powerful electromagnetic plasma blast over short ranges.

Crunch wise, the Shock Lance is a combi-melee/range weapon that gives it extra initiative when it charges into combat, its shooting mode is basically a 18" range 6-shot plasma rifle that concusses its targets. The Shock Lance is thus, very versatile and can catch unsurprising enemies (even fliers!) off guard.

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===Tempest Warblade===
[[File:Tempest_Warblade.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Tempest Warblade]]

A suped up power sword exclusive to the Castigator Knights.

The Tempest Sword is a complex relic fitted with lethal and strange energy generation systems little understood in the 41st Millennium even by the Sacristans that tend the Castigator Knights. It is capable of carving a fellow Knight with a fiery swing. Yes, that includes the shields too.

Crunchwise, the Warblade strikes at str+6 AP-3 D3, two less damage than before, BUT it now swings twice for every attack you make with it. That's 8 Attacks base before any traits or Household Traditions mind you, so combine with the Castigator bolt cannon and you have one scary ass unit against tarpitters.

===Telemon Caestus===
[[File:TelemonCastus.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Telemon Caestus]]

Ya know that Solerite Power Gauntlet? Yeah imagine scaling that up to the point that the largest Dreadnought on the table is able to wear one. [[Anal circumference|The ultimate golden fistboi.]] The Telemon Caestus is a type of large Dreadnought Close Combat Weapon used by the Adeptus Custodes. Typically mounted on the [[Telemon Heavy Dreadnought]], it consists of a large Power Fist with built-in twin Plasma Projectors (For those who don't know, Plasma Projectors are typically found on Starships. So yes. [[Cheese|The Custodians are rich enough to lug around ''Voidship-level weapons'']]...albeit the baby versions).

Crunchwise, the Caestus is an A4 S18 cheesemongering murder machine! Ap-3 D3 re-rolling wounds rolls of 1 and you can make [[Imperial Knight|Imperial Knights]] bend over for a [[Anal circumference|golden fisting.]] Combine this with the Plasma Projectors which is a [[Rape|8” Heavy 2D6 S7 ap-3 D1 auto hitting flamer/plasma gun hybrid which hit like baby Inferno Guns]] and you have a CQC weapon with no equal.

Seeing as how the average Telemon [[Rape|carries two of these bad boys]], this monster can pulverize entire mobs of Tanks, let alone squishy meatbags like Gaunts, Guardsmen and Ork Boyz. If the Telemon goes in melee range and that unit is not a Superheavy, consider that unit deader than [[Horus]]. Thank the Emprah these things cost like a truck and you are only allowed one Telemon in a battle.

Be afraid. '''''Be very afraid.'''''

===Thunderstrike Gauntlet===
[[File:Thunderstrike.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Thunderstrike Gauntlet]]

The middle stepchild of the power fist family.

The Thunderstrike Gauntlet is a smaller type of Titan power fist carried by Imperial Knights. Crackling with destructive energies, the Thunderstrike Gauntlet allows the Knight to rip apart its enemy, even tearing limbs off of Titans.

When used as a bludgeon instrument the gauntlet releases a deafening thunderclap upon impact, so powerful it is capable of hurling Battle Tanks through the air to land amongst the enemy and crush them beneath the vehicle's weight.

On tabletop the Gauntlet is a S16/AP-4/D6. Higher strength and AP in exchange for -1 to hit and a meager +5 points. This excels at pretty much the same things the Inferno cannon does; anything T7/3+ or better. Plus, you get the lulzy spectacle of chucking a dead razorback at his warlord for extra mortal wounds.

The Reaver Power Fist is basically this but upscaled.

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===Titan Power Fist===
[[File:TitanPowerFist.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Titan Power Fist]]

The largest Imperial Power Fists and the proverbial One Punch Weapon.

Essentially the Thunderstrike Gauntlet's bigger brother.

These giant weapons can literally do the equivalent of a [[Anal circumference|power fisting on a truly Titanic scale.]] The most common users are [[Reaver Battle Titan]]s, as they provide the best medium between speed and durability.

<s>So far, there is no sources on whether a Warlord is able to get their equivalents.</s> Being the biggest kids on the 'up close and personal' block ([[Imperator Battle Titan|Imperators]] are bigger in size but they're big pussies that avoid glorious melee), Warlords gets an even better toy. See below.

On tabletop the Power Fist is a Sx2 AP-5 10 D. Has a similar trick to the Knights' Thunderstrike Gauntlet, but on a much bigger scale obviously. For extra [[Lulz]], on a 4+ you can throw whatever you killed at that unit and inflict D6 mortal wounds on them.

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===Titan Power Claw===
[[File:Arioch.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Arioch Power Claw]]

The largest Imperial Power Claw.

Titan Power Claws are giant fuckoff weapons against other superheavies and Titans that got too close for comfort. These things can rip open fortresses like tin cans and swipe a Titan's head off in one good blow.

They come in two varieties, the Warlord Arioch Power Claws with a built-in Vulcan Mega-Bolter and the smaller Reaver Power Claws.

On tabletop, the Arioch is a goddamn [[Rape|rape fist]]. At Sx2 ([[Powergamer|that's S18, by the way, which wounds literally everything outside of certain buildings on 2s]]) AP-5 '''D18''', and has the same throwing rule as the Reaver- when you kill a {{W40kKeyword|MONSTER}} or {{W40kKeyword|Vehicle}} with it, and most will die in one hit, choose an enemy unit within 9' of the victim. They take D6 mortals. Doesn't even harm your firepower since it comes with a built-in Vulcan Mega Bolter. [[Cheese|Yes, that means the ultimate anti tank weapon is also the ultimate anti infantry weapon.]] Notably, its insanely high strength makes it the only weapon capable of wounding another Warlord on a 2+. Enjoy power fingering enemy Titans in the asshole.

<gallery>
Image:TitanPowerClaw.jpg|Reaver variant
</gallery>

===Gallery===
====Dreadnought Power Fist====
<gallery>
image:DredPF.jpg|<center>Mark V (model)</center>
image:IroncladPF.jpg|<center>Ironclad variant (model)</center>
Image:IroncladFist.png|<center>Ironclad variant</center>
Image:ContemptPF.png|<center>Venerable variant</center>
image:ContemptorFist.png|<center>Contemptor variant</center>
Image:DreadnoughtBloodFist.png|<center>Blood Fist</center>
Image:RedemptorFist.png|<center>Redemptor variant</center>
</gallery>

====Dreadnought Power Claw====
<gallery>
image:DreadWolfClaw2.png|A Lightning Claw-style variant
image:ContemptorClaw.png|<center>Contemptor variant</center>
Image:DreadfireFist.png|<center>Dreadfire Fist</center>
image:DreadWolfClaw.png|<center>Great Wolf Claw</center>
Image:Bloodtalon.jpg|<center>Blood Talon</center>
image:DeathCompanyBloodTalons.png|<center>Death Company variant Blood Talons</center>
image:Talons_of_Perdition.JPG|<center>Talons of Perdition</center>
</gallery>
<gallery>
image:DreadPC.jpg|<center>Mark IV</center>
Image:ContemptorPC.jpg|<center>Contemptor variant</center>
Image:Salamanders_PC.jpg|<center>Dreadfire Fist</center>
Image:Wolf_Claw.png|<center>Great Wolf Claw</center>
</gallery>

===Miscellaneous===
<gallery>
Image:Commissar-Fuck Yeah.jpg|thumb|Commissariat-approved use of Power Fists is to inspire the troops.
Image:RavenCommander.jpg|thumb|[[Beakie]] [[Raven Guard]] love Lightning Claws.
Image:GK_Terminator_halberd.jpg|thumb|Pictured: Actually a force halberd.
</gallery>

{{40k-Imperial-Weapons}}
{{40k-GenestealerCults-Weapons}}

==Chaos Power Weapons==

Chaos basically utilize Chain Weapons more than Power Weapons from the Imperium 'cause Chain Weapons look more [[Manly Marines|Manly]] to a Khornate worshiper; does not help that GW has a boner for [[Khorne]], so oh well.

===Accursed Crozius===
[[Image:Accursed_Arcanum.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Accursed Crozius]]

The [[Chaos Space Marines|Traitor]] equivalent of the Crozius Arcanum, the [[Dark Apostle]], uses a functionally identical item, though twisted by Chaos, called an '''Accursed Crozius'''. Which actually resembles a maul or a giant mace.

At the time of the [[Horus Heresy]], most [[Chaplain|Chaplains]] resisted the lure of Chaos and were slaughtered by their brother Astartes. However, the Chaplains of the [[Word Bearers]] had the same fervent desire to find objects of worship as their [[Primarch]] [[Lorgar]] and so willingly turned to the dark devotion of [[Chaos]].

To prove their dedication of faith to the Dark Gods, the Chaplains corrupted their once-sacred Crozius Arcanum, their badge of office and symbol of the Imperial faith. [[Extra Heresy|With such blasphemous actions,]] the Crozius were blessed with fell powers to show that no servant of the Emperor, even the strongest-willed, is immune to the call of Chaos. In battle, they now serve not only as both weapon and mark of rank, but also a powerful link between the bearer and the warp itself.

===Bubotic Axe===
[[File:Bubotic_Axe_Death_Guard.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Bubotic Axe]]

A weapon that incorporates both a power weapon, a chain weapon and a daemon weapon all at once. Although official fluff calls it a power weapon.

A Bubotic Axe is a type of Chaos Power Weapon that is blessed by the Plague God Nurgle and is a favoured melee weapon of [[Blightlord Terminator]]s and other [[Plague Marine]]s. Similiar to their Manreapers and normal Plague Scythes, the Death Guard like to incorporate [[Chain Weapon|chain teeth]] into their Axes. Forming something like a Chainfist in affect. Bubotic Axes may or may not be a pun reference to the word Bubonic.

in the Death Guard Codex, the Bubotic Axe is a S+1 AP-2 D1 weapon, like the standard power axe but with the Plague Weapon special rule.

<gallery>
File:BuboAxe_Side.JPG|Blightlord variant
Image:Bubotic_Axe.JPG|Front view
</gallery>

===Great Plague Cleaver===
[[File:Great_Plague_Cleaver.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Great Plague Cleaver]]

The Bubotic Axe's big brother.

The Great Plague Cleaver is a type of heavy Power Weapon used by Death Guard Plague Marines. Bearing more of a resemblance to an axe than an actual cleaver, this thing is so heavy and large that it requires even the strong and sturdy Plague Marines to two hand this bastard.

On tabletop, the Great Plague Cleaver counts as a [[Wat|Power Fist but with Plague Weapon and D6 damage.]] [[Derp|You would think that such a large weapon should have a pretty significant range right?]] Nonetheless, this weapon is pretty underwhelming. <s>The main reasons not to take it are its horrendous points cost and the fact that only Plague Marines with their paltry single attack can take one.</s> 9th edition cut it's points cost and bumped the attacks your marine gets with this thing to 3, making it a more attractive option.

===Power Scourge===
[[File:Power_Scourge.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Power Scourge]]

A Chaos exclusive weapon.

Power Scourges are Chaos Space Marine Power Weapons. These weapons consist of a set of jointed metal arms tipped with blades that crackle with barely contained energy. In battle, the Power Scourge lashes wildly, cutting anything that gets close.

The large and unwieldy nature of these weapons means that the Power Scourge is only usable on [[Dreadnoughts]], [[Helbrute]], [[Defiler]], [[Maulerfiend]] and a assortment of known and unknown [[Daemon Engines]].

Back in the old days, normal Dreadnoughts could also get access to these weapons, but they look more dated, goofy and ridiculous than the more updated counterparts.

In a nutshell, [[Rape|Chaos Rape Tentacles.]] Appropriate for the [[Emperor's Children]] for all your [[/d/|Hentai]] needs.

<gallery>
Image:CSMdreadnoughtmainLash.jpg|Chaos Dreadnought Power Scourge.
</gallery>

===Plague Claw===
[[File:Plague_Claw.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Plague Claw]]

A [[Death Guard]] exclusive weapon.

The [[Chaos Dreadnought]] Plague Claw is a massive Dreadnought Power Claw that has been mutated to include incredibly long, organic talons. Although they might look fragile, these unnatural talons can slice through flesh and metal as easily as a Power Weapon. This is unnatural due to most Nurglite weapons looking like a bloated mass of metal and flesh that can take several hits from a Battle Cannon and still be combat ready.

The Plague Claw is designed as an answer to complaints that Death Guard Dreadnoughts lack effective close combat range due to a combination of slow speed and sluggish agility. The long reach of the talons is made to compensate for this problem.

These weapons are used by Chaos Dreadnoughts that are dedicated to the [[Chaos God]] [[Nurgle]]. A Plague Claw takes up nearly the entire Dreadnought weapon arm, and as such it has no built-in weapons.

Unfortunately, despite having a model, there are no rules for the Plague Claw much to GW [[FAIL]].

===Dreadnought/Helbrute Thunder Hammer===
[[File:Helbrute_Thunder_Hammer.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Helbrute Thunder Hammer]]

Chaos saw the Imperium's Heavy Thunder Hammer and has decided to one-up them.

A massive Dreadnought-sized Thunder Hammer that takes up the entire weapon arm of the Dreadnought, either engineered this way or mutated into the Dreadnought's mechanical parts as a gift for its service to the Ruinous Powers. These weapons are used to devastating effect during close combat, battering infantry and vehicles aside as if they were mere toys. These weapons take up the near entirety of the Dreadnought's weapon arm, and as such they have no built-in weapons.

The Helbrute has a even more modernized version, and is warped into the Helbrute's weapon arm by flesh and muscle. These weapons are used to devastating effect during close combat and the natural joints of the Helbrute makes it far more flexible in performance.

<gallery>
Image:Dreadnought_Thunder_Hammer_Chaos.jpg|Chaos Dreadnought Thunder Hammer.
</gallery>

===Defiler Power Claw===
[[File:Defiler_Claw.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Defiler Power Claw]]

The quintessential crab claws for your quintessential crab tank.

The Chaos [[Defiler]] is a massive multi-legged Daemon Engine that strides upon six legs. The walker's front two legs end in massive, pincer-like Power Claws, similar to those of a Terran crab. These huge piston-driven claws can be used to grab and crush the enemy, toss vehicles aside and tear through fortifications. Defilers are armed with a pair of Defiler Power Claws for the double the crumpin'.

Defiler Claws can range from crab-like, to three fingered hydraulic claws, to even giant crushing pincers like those from an excavator.

Crunchwise, the Defiler doesn't suffer -1 to hit when he gives you d6 wounds to the face. It is gonna crumple most armor like paper, so have your Defiler go and [[Rape|'soften']] up some pesky Terminators.

{{clear}}
{{40k-Chaos-Weapons}}

==Eldar Power Weapons==
The Eldar have the knowledge to create power weapons as well: theirs are of a lighter, more elegant design, and are used almost exclusively by the Howling Banshee aspect warriors.

===Triskele===
[[File:Triskele.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Triskele]]

A <s>giant shuriken</s> Chakram.

A Triskele is an Eldar weapon used by the Exarch of the Howling Banshees. Extremely versatile, it can be thrown ahead of a charge, dismembering many enemies before returning to its owner, or it can be used as a close range melee weapon to rip apart opponents into bloody ribbons; it is highly effective against even the heaviest armored enemies. [[Jain Zar]] is the most notable individual to use these weapons.

In 8th edition, the Triskele is an interesting weapon. Basically, for 9 points you trade your Power Sword for a weapon with 1 less AP, but it can be thrown as an Assault 3 shooting attack instead of firing a pistol. [[Derp|You would think that a thrown weapon would be the one replacing the pistol rather than the sword.]] Unfortunately, this is not the case and the Triskele ends up unfortunately less effective overall.

Ends up faring a lot worse than the sword, obviously, since you've paid 5 points overall to reduce your AP by 1, but does roughly triple the damage of the pistol against most targets. [[Skub|Really a terrible idea. Hard pass.]]

{{clear}}

===Diresword===
[[image:AvengerSword.png|200px|right|thumb|Diresword]]
The Elfdar analogue of the Imperium's Relic Sword.

A Power Sword with a twist used by an [[Exarch]] of the [[Dire Avengers]]. In addition to being a power weapon, a Diresword is also a spirit stone, housing a great Exarch of the past. When connecting with the target, the Eldar soul within will attempt to destroy the opponent's mind.

All Direswords are modeled after the legendary Sword of Asur, the first of its kind, carried by the first Phoenix Lord; Asurmen.

On 8th Edition, Dire Avenger Exarchs could get a power sword equivalent that's AP-2, but slaps a mortal wound in addition to any damage dealt on a wound roll of 6. Since your Exarch is naturally S3 and would've needed to roll a 5 or 6 just to wound most MEQ units anyways.

===Eldar Power Sword===
[[image:BansheeSword.png|200px|right|thumb|Eldar Power Sword]]

The Eldar's analogue of the regular Power Sword.

Used by the [[Howling Banshees]], these weapons are of a more elegant design than their Imperial counterparts: they have a single edge and have a curve at the tip of the blade. It is a single-bladed sword that is great for slicing and carving flesh and bone alike.

Though being lighter, these weapons have more metal at the tip, allowing them to strike just as hard as an Imperial power weapon.

Unfortunately, in 8th Edition, while these swords have decent AP, the weak ass Strength 3 of the Howling Banshees means that, without a Warlock or Farseer doing the heavy lifting, you would only be chopping up GEQ targets fifty percent of the time. How GW [[Fail|fucked ''that up'',]] we have no idea. You'll rarely, if ever see the Exarch leading these ladies use one in lieu of the stronger Executioner or more accurate Mirrorswords.

===Mirrorswords===
[[image:Mirrorsword.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Mirrorswords]]

Basically an Eldar Force Falchion.

Somewhat smaller than, but otherwise identical to the regular power swords, these blades are used in pairs by the Exarchs of the Howling Banshees. The style that they are used in allows the wielder to deliver a far higher amount of blows on a target than with regular power swords.

They are part of an ambidextrous sword-art using paired blades.

In 8th Edition, these replace a Howling Banshee Exarch's power sword and shuriken pistol for no extra point cost. While this causes her AP to drop to -2 as well, it does allow her to re-roll all failed hit rolls in melee combat. Against squishier infantry such as Guardsmen or T'au, these are probably the best choice out of the bunch for the exarch. They have great synergy with the ''Whirling Blades'' exarch power thanks to the extra attacks granted to the mirrorswords.

<gallery>
image:BansheeMirrorSwords.png
</gallery>

===Executioner===
[[image:Executioner.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Executioner]]

A glaive, this power weapon greatly enhances the power behind the user's blows, allowing the warrior to slice its enemies in half with ease. Exarchs of the Dire Avengers aspect use a similar, but lighter weapon for superior range over their enemies.

The Executioner is not standardized and thus, it takes many forms - that of a heavy spear, a rune-encrusted sword or a great black scythe. Whatever its form, it is one of the most deadly hand to hand power weapons.

In 7th Edition, these weapons have quite the nasty stat lines of S5 AP2. In 8th Edition, it is a S+2, AP-3, D3 weapon for just 3 extra points. This is pretty much the only weapon in the entire Banshee arsenal that can actually reliably carve through MEQ/TEQ targets without dedicated psychic support. Unfortunately, this also means that against said MEQ opponents, the Banshee Exarch wielding this is going to be the only one actually contributing to the fight.
<gallery>
image:BansheeExecutioner.png|<center>Howling Banshee's</center>
image:DireAvengerExecutioner.png|<center>Dire Avenger's</center>
</gallery>

===Star Glaive===
[[File:Star_Glaive.JPG|250px|right|thumb|Star Glaive]]
A cousin of the Executioner.

The Star Glaive is a type of Power Weapon used exclusively by Eldar [[Autarch]]s. They have a much larger blade than the Executioner, allowing for a greater striking force at the expanse of encumbering the user.

In 9th Edition, the Star Glaive is exclusive to the footslogging Autarch in the codex, essentially a Scorpion's Claw (Sx2, AP-3, Dd3) and god-awful in comparison. At S3, making you a mediocre S6 with this, and hitting on a 3+ due to the unwieldy rule it seriously pales in comparison and restricts you to fighting infantry and light vehicles, compared to the power fist of marines giving you the flexibility to hit tanks with some success.

===Powerblades===
[[File:Eldar Powerblade.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Powerblades]]

Not to be confused with the Imperium's Power Blade (Seriously GW, fix your god damn names).

Attached to the user's forearms, these weapons grant the wielder the advantages of a power weapon while allowing the user to keep his hands free. Used mainly by Exarchs of the [[Warp Spiders]] aspect.

In earlier editions powerblades could be wielded by Exarchs of other Aspects - most notably by the Dark Reapers, who wielded them in conjunction with their heavy weapons to give them both ranged and close-quarters abilities.

<gallery>
image:WarpSpiderBlades.png
</gallery>

===Scorpion's Claw===
[[image:Scorpion's_Claw.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Scorpion's Claw]]

Scorpion's Claw is an Eldar version of a power fist, except it doesn't slow its wielder (in game terms it doesn't have the Unwieldy or Special Weapon rules). Exarchs of the [[Striking Scorpions]] wear this on one hand while holding a chainsword in the other. It's a big claw with a shuriken pistol inside.

Basically, it is far more utilitarian and versatile than any other races Power Fists or Power Claws.

On tabletop, it is a Sx2 (S6) AP-3 claw that carves away D3 wounds per smack, complemented by a built-in Shuriken Catapult that isn't named that. It also will cost the Exarch his Shuriken Pistol, so he won't be able to contribute any ranged firepower if he's tied up in melee.

<gallery>
image:ScorpionClaw.png
</gallery>

===Eldar Power Lance===
[[File:EPowerLance.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Eldar Power Lance]]

The Eldar have their own Power Spears in the form of Lances.

They essentially function the same in all retrospects. Power Lances, especially for the Craftworlder varieties, are often the standard issue CCW for [[Autarch|Autarchs]]. They have obviously a longer reach and works better two handed than one handed. They were best seen in [[Dawn of War 2]] as the primary weapon of the bitchy [[Autarch]]. It handed rather okay for a support unit, unfortunately that did not translate well on the tabletop.

On the tabletop, other than its reach, it is pretty meh. Seriously, there are much better weapons to replace the Power Lance, it is ''that'' mediocre. On 8th Edition, the Power Lance has been removed all together, showing how redundant the weapon has become.

Both the Craftworld Eldar and Dark Eldar utilize Power Lances. The DEldar is obviously more edgier looking.

<gallery>
Image:DEPowerLance.jpg|Dark Eldar variant
</gallery>

===Ghostaxe===
[[File:Ghostaxe.png|200px|right|thumb|Ghostaxe]]

The Ghostaxe is a large Eldar Power Weapon that is a cousin to the Ghostsword. These weapons are often preferred by [[Wraithblades|Wraithblade constructs.]] Like Ghostweapons, it guides the wielder's blow into the target's weak spot.

9th Edition Ghostaxes hit harder than the Ghostswords at S7, but outside of T6/T7 targets you will not notice the difference. They also have one fewer attack than the Ghostswords and have a -1 to hit malus for the Wraithblade swinging it. So why bring them? They do come with a complimentary scattershield for a 4++ invulnerable save. This makes them the tankiest infantry units the Craftworlders can field by far, especially if supplemented by the Protect power. Additionally, though they are slightly less accurate and have fewer attacks, each swing deals d3 damage. Considering Spiritseers are often in tow, the accuracy drop isn't as big of an issue as it might seem.

===Ghostsword===
[[File:Ghostsword.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Ghostsword]]
The Ghostsword is a large melee Power Weapon used by Eldar Wraithblades. They are the smaller version of Ghostglaives. Usually wielded in pairs, they leave glowing traces in the air as they are swung. Like all Ghostweapons, they guide the wielder's blows into the target's weak spot.

In the 8th edition Eldar Codex, the default Ghostswords have 4 Attacks on the charge hitting at WS 3+, S6, AP -3 and Damage 1. This is the one you want to use against lightly armoured units that rely on toughness to shrug off hits. Given they will always be in a [[Wave Serpent]] they don’t need much in the way of support but they do appreciate Psyker support or an Autarch Bubble.

Become absolute nightmares if any Iyanden characters bring the Psytronome of Iyanden as they get the option to double the attack characteristic a Wraith unit has at the cost of the Wraith unit taking d3 Mortal Wounds. 6 Attacks per Wraithblade at S6 and AP-3 is going to turn anything short of a superheavy [[RIP AND TEAR|into a fine mist.]] Toss in Enhance from a Spiritseer nearby and even Conscript Blobs are suffering critical existence failure. Don't forget to give them Fortune from a Farseer as well to mitigate the mortal wounds afterwards.

===Wraithbone Power Fist===
[[File:Wraithbone_PF.png|200px|right|thumb|Wraithbone Power Fist]]

Like the Imperium's Dreadnought Power Fist, the Elfdar have their own equivalents on their walkers.

The fists found on Eldar [[Wraithlords]] and [[Wraithseer|Wraithseers]] are capable of being used in the same manner as the more common Power Fist, such as punching enemy vehicles or picking up and crushing enemy infantry. In contrast to the more bulky Imperium equivalent, these power fists are much more proportioned, allowing the wraith constructs to articulately manipulate objects with ample dexterity without outright turning it into spam. These weapons can be outfitted with wrist-mounted Shuriken Catapults or Flamers.

However, despite being a Power Fist, there are much better options for the Wraithlord and Wraithseer such as the Ghostglaive for example, which has far longer range than the conventional Power Fist.
{{clear}}

===Ghostspear===
[[File:Wraithspear.PNG|250px|right|thumb|Ghostspear]]

Imagine a [[Force weapon#Singing Spear|Singing Spear]] scaled to a Wraithlord chassis.

Ghostspears are massive, rune-etched spears made of Wraithbone (like virtually everything the Eldar make). These weapons are carried into combat by the rare Wraithseer ghost warriors used by the Eldar. These weapons contain a rudimentary sentience within their Spirit Stone core that empowers the blade and guides its wielder's blows toward the most vital points of their foe.

Aside being used to help channel the Wraithseer's psychic prowess, the Ghostspear shares a statline nearly identical to the more standard Ghostglaive used by their Wraithlord cousins: S+2 AP-4 d6 damage, with the added bonus of re-rolling wound rolls against vehicles (for some reason).

===Ghostglaive===
[[File:Ghostglaive.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Ghostglaive]]

The Ghostglaive is a heavy Eldar melee weapon mounted on [[Wraithknight|Wraithknights]] and on [[Wraithlords]]. These great blades can even engage [[Daemon Prince|Daemon Lords]] in single combat. They are the big daddies of the Ghostweapons and are able to slice their contemporaries into pieces.

In the 8th edition Eldar Codex, the Ghostglaive is a S+2, AP-4 D6 weapon exclusive to the Wraithlord. Between the high AP, four attacks and effective S9 of the Wraithlord swinging this around, virtually everything in the game smaller than a full-fledged titan without an invuln save is vulnerable to this weapon. The only thing holding back its otherwise unrivaled killing potential is the limited number of swings the Wraithlord can make against blobs and the generally inconsistent d6 rolls potentially dealing underwhelming damage against hardier single targets.

[[Rape|Oh and it gets even ''worse'' on a Wraithknight.]] On a Wraithknight, the Ghostglaive is grown to truly titanic sizes and is now a Sx2, AP-4 weapon with a standard damage of 6. Oh yes, its a fucking [[Cheese|'''Strength 16 weapon,''']] its gonna go through most superheavies like a hot knife through butter. [[Anal circumference|Prepare your anus indeed.]]

===Phantom Power Glaive===
[[File:PhantomPowerGlaive.png|200px|right|thumb|Phantom Power Glaive]]
A giant Power Weapon for the Eldar to combat enemy Titans.

Known also as the Ashuna-Valcry'le, roughly translated as 'Sleepless Harbinger of Destruction', the Phantom Power Glaive is one of the less-common weapons wielded by an Eldar Phantom Titan and could slice superheavy machines into sizable chunks. In addition to its deadly close combat blades the weapon also mounts two Starcannons.

On 8th edition, these monsters are the quintessential Eldar anti-titan melee option, this [[Powergamer|Sx2 (S18) AP-5 armblade does a straight 9 damage a cleave,]] [[Rape|producing additional attacks on hit rolls of a 6]]. [[Awesome|Since this will bypass Void Shields,]] it's honestly the most reliable anti-titan weapon you can give to the Phantom. Additionally, while not exactly amazing, it does have a built in Starcannon/Bright Lance to help contribute a smidge more firepower to compensate for the loss of other ranged options.

One must wonder why the Imperium never thought of creating a Titan-scale Power Sword.

===Gallery===
====Executioner====
<gallery>
image:JainZarExecutioner.png|<center>Jain Zar's</center>
image:MauganRaExecutioner.png|<center>Maugan Ra's</center>
</gallery>

{{40k-Eldar-Weapons}}

==Dark Eldar Power Weapons==
While many of the Dark Eldar's weapons have only cosmetic differences to those of Eldar design, there are a few that are more unique

<gallery>
image:DarkEldarPowerSword.png
image:DEldarPowerSword.png
</gallery>

===Demiklaive===
[[File:Demiklaive.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Demiklaive]]

Baby Klaives essentially.

Demiklaves are small Dark Eldar melee weapons. Some Incubi sects prefer demiklaives over the Klaive. Demiklaives are two power swords which can be wielded as two close combat swords or as one mighty weapon. Changing from one weapon into two is so easy for Klaivex that they can do it in the midst of battle.

Perhaps the best known Dark Eldar wielding demiklaives is Drazhar, the Master of Blades.

On tabletop, its stats is similiar to its bigger brother, just now with a D2 on each profile of the blades. May not sound like much, but take in context that this is Drazhar we are talking about. Damage stack up is gonna rise to lethal in a single round.

<gallery>
image:DrazharDemiklaives.png|Drazhar's Demiklaives
</gallery>

{{clear}}

===Klaive===
[[File:KlaiveIncubiDE.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Klaive]]

These massive two-handed swords are the staple weapon of the Incubus and are regarded by them as "The ultimate weapon". Every Klaive is a masterpiece of a weapon. They are perfectly balanced and in the right hands they are also extreme instruments of death. Klaives are also power weapons on their own and because of that can even cleave through Space Marine power armor.

These enormous cleavers are AP2 and +1S while letting you strike at full I. Some squad leaders get the even deadlier Demi-Klaives. They grant an additional S normally, but you can choose to use them as +0S and +2A.

<gallery>
image:IncubiKlaive.png
image:Klaive.png
</gallery>

===Agoniser===
[[File:Agoniser_New.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Agoniser]]

''THE'' BDSM weapon.

A weapon befitting its name, this deadly whip drives the senses of the victim haywire with pain. It is not standardized and therefore, come in many forms, such as whips or gauntlets, but they are designed to attach themselves to the victim's nervous system, take control of it and inflict immense pain which can disable or kill the victim. [[Pretend|Should in no way be confused with the]] [[Dark Eldar Combat Weapons#Electrocorrosive Whip|Electrocorrosive Whip]], [[Derp|''another'' Dark Eldar whip of a different kind.]]

The size of the creature doesn't matter and often the larger the creature, the greater the potential for pain-infliction. Agonisers have the ability to [[Wat|harm vehicles as well,]] potentially disabling the crew or disrupting the vehicle's systems. It grants AP3 and wounds the enemies on a 4+, regardless of toughness.

<gallery>
image:SuccubusAgoniser.png|Whip it good!
image:Agoniser.png
</gallery>

===Huskblade===

[[File:HuskbladeDE.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Huskblade]]

A very weird weapon. Possibly one of the weirdest weapons in the DEldar armory and that's saying something. This is the stock standard CCW for Dark Eldar Archons.

Carved from Desiccator bone, this horrid saber drains the moisture out of its victims in a fraction of a second, leaving nothing behind but a shriveled corpse. How this blade sucks the moisture of its victims despite being a sharpened bone I have no idea. Shit is so goddamned weird.

It grants AP3 and Instant Death. On 8th Edition, it is a Strength +1, AP-2 and D3 Damage weapon, making it excellent for murderfucking characters and swarms due to its multi-wound attacks. Now known as the [[/d/|Suckblade.]]

<gallery>
image:ArchonHuskBlade.png
image:Huskblade.png
</gallery>

===Djin Blade===
[[image:DjinBlade.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Djin Blade]]

A blade that looks annoyingly similiar to the Husk Blade although descriptions of it is somewhat different (its described as taking the form of polished crystal with a scowling bestial face upon its hilt).

Only available to the most elite of nobles such as Archons, a Djin blade houses the soul of a fallen Eldar and therefore, is considered a relic weapon. This grants AP3 and +2A, but on a roll of doubles on the extra attacks the soul rebels and the attacks target the user, which usually means rolling a D6 and taking 1 mortal wound.

The blade however, truly shines when given to an Archon with the Soul Thirst ability, which allows that fucker to heal that mortal wound and negate that con from the weapon. Or, if you're feeling lazy, just get a [[Sslyth]] to wield one, as that snakeboi could absorb 2+ wounds from the blade just fine.

<gallery>
image:Djinblade.png
</gallery>

{{clear}}

===Punisher===
[[File:Punisher.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Punisher]]

A Dark Eldar Power Halberd and used by Dark Eldar Incubi. It is large and unwieldy but incorporates a shock field generator which is beyond the ability of the Imperium to replicate. They are often easily alterable to suit the user with an extendable shaft and a monomolecular blade attached to deliver the shock.

In practice it counts as a two-handed power weapon that also gives +1 Strength, although the two-handed part doesn't matter since Incubi who use it also fight with a Tormentor Helm which counts as a splinter pistol both in and out of combat, effectively giving the Incubi an extra attack anyway since they shoot it through thought alone.

<gallery>
image:ClassicIncubiPunisher.png|An Incubus holding a Punisher (and wearing a "''Tormentor Helm''")
</gallery>

{{clear}}

===Archite Glaive===
[[File:Archite_Glaive.PNG|200px|right|thumb|Archite Glaive]]

These Power Glaives are exquisitely crafted pole-arms employed to lethal effect by Succubi in both the gladiatorial arenas of Commorragh and the battlefields of realspace. They can be wielded with both hands, to bisect a foe with ease, or used in combination with another weapon to cut through a host of victims.

On a curious side note, they look like a [[Cathay|Chinese Guandao,]] which was basically a giant sabre/cleaver on a pole-arms. Could easily chop people in half as it is, beheading horses.

On tabletop, these weapons are S+2, AP-3. Sounds like a dream right? Nope, [[Wat|you also take a -1 penalty to your Hit rolls and only have Damage 1 for your troubles.]] That said, your Succubus has a WS of 2+ anyway so don't worry about the penalty too much, and she can functionally ignore the penalty entirely if you give her Serpentin or from Turn 3 onwards with PFP.

{{40k-DEldar-Weapons}}

==Harlequin Power Weapons==
In addition to the below weapons, the Harlequins also have access to the Eldar Power Sword mentioned above.

{{clear}}

===Harlequin's Caress===
[[File:Harlequin's_Caress.jpg|150px|right|thumb|Harlequin's Caress]]

The Harlequin's Caress is a bracer that generates a power field around the user's hand, resulting in what essentially is an extremely lightweight Power Fist. A Harlequin armed with a Caress is easily capable of reaching into his opponent's chest and plucking out his heart.

On tabletop, the Harlequin's Caress is the middle child of the three primary Harlequin close combat weapons, which costs 7 points and grants +2S and AP-2. While there are certain unit types against which it is the better choice (this is explored more below), in practice it is never so much better than its cost is justified over the Embrace.

<gallery>
image:HarlequinCaress.png|Imma rip your heart out like fucking Kano
</gallery>

===Zephyrglaive===
[[File:Zephyrglaive.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Zephyrglaive]]

The Zephyrglaive is a power polearm used by Harlequin Skyweavers. Each Zephyrglaive is perfectly weighted and individually balanced to its wielder. Its blade enveloped by a molecular dissonanse field and it is indeed a lethal weapon for the aerial murder.

Crunch-wise. It is a 1S AP-2 weapon with 2 Damage. Combined with the extremely high speed of Skyweavers, it's a useful weapon for backfield assaults against 2W models, letting them quickly wipe out skulking units of Hellblasters and the like.

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==Ork Power Weapons==

===Power Stabba===
[[File:Power_Stabba.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Power Stabba]]
An Ork power shiv.

The Power Stabba is an [[Orky]] [[Power_weapon#Power_Sword|Power Sword]], resembling an electric Carving Knife that replaces the Ork's hand as part of a [[Cyborks|Bionik Arm]] - presumably, the unstable power field encompassing the blade makes it buck like nobody's business without any extra weight like the Power Klaw has behind it, and they need Cybork bitz just to keep the recoil manageable? Whatever is the case, this weapons is more compact, making it act as a smaller but faster power weapon than the Power Klaw.

Just like the Carving Knife, the Power Stabba excels at slicing through flesh with its AP-2, and they're often used by Nobz who need to deal with medium armour that doesn't require any additional strength to go into the blow, like [[Space Marines]].

===Snagga-Klaw===
[[File:Snagga-Klaw.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Snagga-Klaw]]
GET OVA 'ERE!

A extremely light-weight version of the conventional Ork Power Klaw.

Snagga-Klaws are a type of interesting looking Ork Power Klaw that is almost [[Steampunk|Steampunk-esque]] in design. A piston-driven weapon, what makes the Snagga-Klaw distinct is that it is equipped with a barbed harpoon cannon with heavy chain attached...which makes it pretty much the Ork's version of [[Awesome|Scorpion's Chain-Stinger Kunai from Mortal Kombat.]] When fired, the Snagga-Klaw allows its wielder to pierce an enemy and reel them in, or simply let them drag behind their [[Deffkilla Wartrike]].

On tabletop, these are essentially a S+2 AP-2 Dd3 CCW, which you can re-roll to wound. A kind of Power Klaw with the downside that can not be swapped for the new "Da Killa Klaw".

===Power Snappa===
[[File:Power_Snappa.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Power Snappa]]
In-between the Snagga-Klaw and the Power Klaw, the Power Snappa is a medium-sized power weapon used mainly by a [[Painboss]] to easily amputate and snip off unnecessary limbs if need be during an operation.

However, he can just as easily snip a bitch in two when the going gets tough. They are the Painboss' ''only'' known weapon, let alone a close-combat weapon, as he is mainly there for support. Still, despite being overall underarmed, this is still a power weapon you are facing here, best not to fuck with it.

Power Snappas kind of resemble a scaled-down Kan Klaw or Dread Klaw. So yes, if you want to, you can technically create an [[Meme|army of crab people.]]

Crunchwise, these are one of the Beast Snagga's alternative to the Power Klaw. It doesn't boost the user's strength as much (S+2 to Sx2), but it won't suffer the penalty to hit. Combined with the Beast Snagga's improved strength and you're pretty much getting an equivalent experience to the Power Klaw.
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===Beast Snagga Klaw===
[[File:Beast_Snagga_Klaw.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Beast Snagga Klaw]]
Not to be confused with the regular Snagga-Klaw.

The Beast Snagga Klaw is the [[Conan the Barbarian|Conan variety]] of the regular Ork Power Klaw. Made and fashioned from the skull of a large beast slain by a [[Beastboss]], the Beast Snagga Klaw is made of relatively simple technology even by Ork standards, as [[Beast Snagga]]s are basically a bunch of hyperviolent mushroom Amish that live off the land and must make-do with whatever materials they find.

On tabletop, these are the Beastboss' answer to the Power Klaw. It's effectively the same (S+4 on S6 still equals S10, but not as hobbled by any debuffs) but only deals D2. Again, quite a dangerous tool to have, and the weapon of choice for most enemies.
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===Power Klaw===
[[File:Power_Klaw_2.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Power Klaw]]

The Orks saw the umies and their power claws and they answered with their own.

It is similar in characteristics to an [[Imperium_of_Man|Imperial]] [[Power_weapon#Power_Fist|Power Fist]], being an armored, powered gauntlet, strapped to an Ork's arm with a piston-driven pincer comprising two to three snapping blades. These are sheathed in energy the same way a Power Fist is, and so can effortlessly rip through any armor, tearing any enemy into bloody paste. It is particularly effective against vehicles.

These weapons are amongst the biggest and choppiest an Ork can possess and often serve as symbol of status as well as a weapon. As such, many of them are owned by Warbosses or by particularly brutish Nobs, in which hands Power Klaws become even more effective, due to their skill and strength. Orks often amputate their own arms, taking the weapon as an augmentic implant. Power Klaws are most often found incorporated into Mega Armour.

===Kan Klaw===
[[File:Kan_Klaw.PNG|200px|right|thumb|Kan Klaw]]

Sometimes called as '''Power Shears'''. A up sized Power Klaw suited directly for the [[Killa Kan]]'s. Resembling oversized hedge trimmers, the Kan Klaw is a large Ork Power Weapon meant to snip enemies in half. These weapons are the standard issue weapon and is built-in the walker, with the weapon being powered through the Killa Kan's own engines.

On tabletop, the Kan Klaw is a fine weapon that increases your Killa Kanz Strength by 3 (to S8) instead of doubling it with no extra attacks. You can equip your Killa Kan with another Klaw for double the slash, making it remarkable against hordes of MEQs and TEQs.

===Dread Klaw===
[[File:Dread_Klaw.PNG|200px|right|thumb|Dread Klaw]]

The Dread Klaw AKA Dred Klaw or Power Shears is the big brother of the Kan Klaw.

Analogous to the Imperium's Dreadnought Power Claw, the Dread Klaw is wielded by the equally large [[Deff Dred]] and is used to rip open vehicles like oversized tin cans and turn infantry into salami. Similar to the Kan Klaw, the Dread Klaw draws its power from the Deff Dred's own engine as a reliable power source.

On tabletop, like the Kan Klaw or your standard Power Klaw, the Dread Klaw always does 3 damage and doesn't impose a hit roll penalty. Each extra one increases a Deff Dred's Attack output by adding one extra attack, at expense of losing the option to take shooting weapons. If you want to turn your Deff Dred into a Khornate Dreadnought, you can equip both arms with Dread Klaws.

===Klaw of Gork===
[[File:KlawOfGork.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Klaw of Gork (or possibly Mork)]]
The Klaw of Gork and Klaw of Mork are massive Power Klaws mounted on [[Gorkanaut]] and [[Morkanaut]] heavy walkers. They are the ultimate weapons of [[RIP AND TEAR]] and can [[Anal circumference|rip open the rear ends of any armored vehicle in its way.]]

These gargantuan Power Klaws are meant to go toe-to-toe with Imperial Knights and win. The Klaws of Gork/Mork throws away the cutting ability with sheer balls-out crushing power. Thus, it functions more like a power fist than a power claw. The main downsides is that these things are large and cumbersome, meaning that it is extremely hard to hit small and nimble opponents and must square up against similarly-sized enemies to be effective. These things are not to be messed with.

On the tabletop, they are a huge Power Klaw for your Gorkanaut and Morkanaut. It comes with two distinct attack profiles. The first is '''Crush''', which is a Sx2 AP-4 D6 Dmg and likewise, hits like a tonne of bricks. The second is '''Smash''', which although it doesn't boost the Naut's strength and only having an AP of -2, it does cause 2 guaranteed wounds per hit. Which is handy, since it lets you make 3 hit rolls for each base Attack, tripling your Attack output.
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==Tau Power Weapons==

===Honour Blade===
[[File:HonorBlade.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Honour Blade]]
A Honour Blade is a weapon carried by [[Tau]] [[Ethereal|Ethereals]] and Ethereal Guards for a number of uses. It's mainly used as a symbols of their office, ceremonial weapons, and in self-defense. Of course, with how shit-tier Tau are in close combat, they might as well be plastic kids toys used for decoration. While each weapon is custom-made, they all feature a broad blade fitted to a long, lightweight metallic staff.

Ethereals use the blades primarily to settle disputes, engaging in [[Derp|lengthy, highly stylized duels that are more coordinated co-meditation than combat.]] Basically, long story short, [[Faggotry|their weebfags that do interpretive dance rather than actual fighting.]] [[Gay|Basically the epitome of style over substances.]] [[Fail|God damn, even Eldar have more balls than that.]] Some Ethereals carry their Honour Blades on the field of battle, not expecting to have to use them, but prepared to make a last stand against their foes nonetheless, [[FAIL|which they will always fail spectacularly.]] Unless your name is [[Aun'Shi]].

Curiously enough, they are counted as Power Weapons for some reason, despite the Ethereals not using them at its full potential. On the tabletop, the Honour Blade is a S+2 and D1 weapon.

===Equalizer===
[[File:Equalizer.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Equalizer]]

A Tau walking stick.

Equalizers are Tau ceremonial weapons typically carried in pairs by Ethereals. They are not only a badge of office, but also can be a potent weapon that contains a powerful disruption field able to shatter armor and bones just like power weapons. Of course, Tau are relatively shit fighters and the Ethereals would most likely end up bonking the heads of some Guardsmen like Old Man Henderson hitting a kid on a head with a cane stick. Except that's a shit comparison, because [[Old Man Henderson]] actually kills stuff.

On tabletop, the Equalizer is a AP-1 weapon with a bonus attack.

===Onager Gauntlet===
[[image:OnagerGauntlet.png|200px|right|thumb|Onager Gauntlet]]
Basically a Tau powerfist equivalent, but can only be used by Crisis-type battlesuits. Often jokingly called "donkey punch" by a players, and sometimes modeled on a suit's legs instead of hands, since "onager" is Latin for donkey (although it was also the name of a Roman catapult).

It was designed to battle Imperial tanks after the Tau realized that those crazy Gue'la can send in so many MEHTUL BAWKSES in a single engagement that Crisis teams would exhaust their ammunition supplies and the Guard would still have tanks rolling everywhere. Despite being ''very'' successfully tested during the Damocles Crusade, where a 12-man team of Crisis suits managed to falcon punch dozens of Imperial tanks into scrap, it is still undergoing field tests and is treated as an experimental system, due to the fact that the casualty rate of trying to give tanks a proper fisting in the middle of a war was too damn high.

Of the original 12 suits who tested the weapon; only Commander Bravestorm of [[Farsight]]'s battlesuit retinue survived....kind of. Although Bravestorm lived, his body was [[Dreadnought|too badly wounded after his Crisis suit was critically damaged at one point that he had to be permanently entombed into his Crisis suit just to survive]].

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[[Category:Chaos]]

==Necron Power Weapons==
Before 9e only the Hyperphase Sword was available. Not like that's a bad thing since the 'Crons just have [[C'tan Phase Weapons|much better equipment around.]] This is for those who want to feel the blood splash against their metallic skin. The Necrons now have several more awesome looking Power weapons also available.

===Hyperphase Sword===

[[File:Hyperphase_Sword.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Hyperphase Sword]]
A Hyperphase Sword is a Necron melee weapon whose energy blade vibrates across dimensional states and can easily slice through armor and flesh to sever the vital organs within. A Hyperphase Sword can be considered an advanced type of Power Weapon. Hyperphase Swords are found exclusively as part of the armories of Necron royals, such as Necron Overlords, Necron Lords, Necron Destroyer Lords, and their favored Lychguards. Are also found on Deathwatch Watch Sergeants, oddly enough.

On tabletop, the Hyperphase Sword is an AP-3 and D1 weapon. On a Lychguard with its S5 stats, it should be able to do some hefty damage on MEQs and GEQs, although in all honesty, it would be much better to get the superior Warscythe.

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===Hyperphase Thresher===
[[File:HyperphaseThresher.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Hyperphase Thresher]]
The Chinese cleavers of Hyperphase weapons.

The annoyingly named Hyperphase Thresher (Seriously why not just call it Thrasher? Because it's keeps with the farming theming of these weapons without being misconstrued for one of the various other things thrashers could be), is the big-boned cousin of the conventional Hyperphase Sword that could shatter bone and slice through armor like Swiss cheese.

These Hyperphase Thresher are one of the two primary weapons of the [[Skorpekh Destroyer]]. They are always wielded in pairs and are permanently attached to the Skorpekh Destroyer, so it could never be unarmed in battle.

It is so named the Thresher, because the Skorpekh Destroyer wielding it turns into a walking meat blender. Fuck subtlety and elegance, the [[Necrons]] [[Get shit done|gets shit done]] and if it means thrashing around these swords like a spastic ASIMO, than so be it.

On tabletop, these are AP-3 D2 meat cleavers that can throw another attack.

===Hyperphase Reap-Blade===
[[File:HyperphaseReapBlade.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Hyperphase Reap-Blade]]
The Hyperphase Thresher's bigger brother.

The Hyperphase Reap-Blade closely resembles the Thresher, except on a much larger scale. The Hyperphase Reap-Blade is so big that it needs to be wielded by two hands. The Reap-Blade is one of the two primary weapons of the [[Skorpekh Destroyer]] and the [[Ophydian Destroyer]].

Like the Thresher, the Reap-Blade is permanently attached to the Skorpekh Destroyer, so it could never be unarmed in battle. It was notable as being basically, the mascot weapon of [[Warhammer 40,000 9th Edition]] and the [[Necrons]] in general, as it was famously seen being used to duke it out with a [[Canoness]] armed with a [[Power Weapon#Power Sword|Power Sword]] during the 9th Edition trailer.

Crunchwise, an Ophydian Destroyer would strike 3 times with his Hyperphase Reap Blades at S6 AP-4 3d (with a 3x1/6=50% chance of making an extra attack per the weapon rules).

===Hyperphase Glaive===
[[File:HyperphaseGlaive.jpg|250px|right|thumb|Hyperphase Glaive]]
The staff cousin of the Hyperphase family.

The Hyperphase Glaive is a large and long two-handed power weapon wielded by [[Necron Overlord|Necron Overlords]] to spank a bitch if need be. It is an optional weapon and is dependent on whether the Overlord likes to go in close and dirty. If not, then he/she can opt for a [[Necron Staff Weapons|Necron Staff Weapon]] to pew pew enemies from a distance.

Due to its sheer size, a Hyperphase Glaive could easily cleave a tank in two, moreover, it has a smaller blade on the other end, to ensure a nasty surprise if the Overlord finds him/herself in a sword-fighting stalemate.

On the tabletop, this is a Melee S+2 AP-3 D1d3 weapon, giving you the equivalent of a power axe.

===Hyperphase Harvester===
[[File:Harvester_Blade.jpg|200px|right|thumb|Hyperphase Harvester]]
The big chungus of Hyperphase weapons.

The Hyperphase Harvester is an enormous Hyperphase Weapon wielded by [[Skorpekh Lord|Necron Skorpekh Lords]]. These absolute units of a weapon is wielded single-handedly due to the sheer size of the Skorpekh Lord and is one of its primary weapons.

Like the Hyperphase Glaive, the blade of the Hyperphase Harvester could cleave tanks easily in two. Its thickness also makes the blade incredibly heavy, crushing and bending lesser swords from sheer weight alone.

Tabletop wise, these monsters are S+2 AP-4 D3 weapons with the hit penalty of a power fist. You will be [[Anal circumference|fisting the rear end of tanks with this bad boy.]]
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==Zoat Power Weapons==
===Eradicator Glove===
[[File:Eradicator_Glove.JPG|200px|right|thumb|Eradicator Glove]]
Eradicator Gloves are a type of pseudo-power weapon used by the [[Zoats]].

It is a form of powerfist or powerclaw that is form-fitted over the hands of a Zoat. Power is probably drawn from the Zoat's blood, given the intensive cybernetic (borderline fetishtic) augmentations of a Zoat.

Whether they are true power weapons or not, we have no idea. Or we know is that, in terms of the rules, it is a melee weapon with a strength of X2, an armor penetration of -3, damage of 3, and a special rule where when resolving attacks made with said weapon subtract 1 from the hit roll.

However, they are ''technically'' the only Tyranid power weapon, if one were to assume that the Zoats were a creation of the Nids. They, like the [[Atomic Disassembler]] are weapons that are in a very murky category due to lack of fluff.

Of course, some may dispute this and state that it may, in fact, be a powered pneumatic claw.
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