Editing Leagues of Votann (section)

===Influences/Mythology/Aesthetic/Complaints===
*'''The greater rage:''' The 2001 release of the [[Tau]] was spurred with anger, confusion, and revulsion. Even to this day in the year 2022, you'll still see swathes of the community that seethe at the mere mention of the Tau, deeming them as "weaboo space communists who aren't grimdark enough", or simply "another vile xeno who is irrelevant". And like its predecessor, the LoV is reaching similar levels of division and anger. But much like the decade that it was revealed in, the Leagues bring in a new scale of chaotic and unprecedented changes. This section is to help boil this down, and address complaints and confusion.
*'''Twentieth century futurism:''' There have been quite a few who have claimed that the LoV is "generic sci-fi" and "inconsistent in its design". To be quite frank, this is a bunch of nonsense hullabaloo. Anyone who has enjoyed enough fictional settings like that of [[Fallout|Fallout]] is going to tell you that the Leagues is full of [[Isaac Asimov|mid-centrury futurism]] and [[Arthur C. Clarke|classical sci-fi]], with the atv looking like a 1960s moon buggy, and the Hernkyn chopper looking like a mid-century 60s bike ([https://youtu.be/ySxEFuUrdio|for god's sake, look at its trailer]). While you will find some of dieselpunk in the LoV and its not entirely just mid-century aesthetics, [[atompunk|atompunk]] has asserted its dominance here, Giving them a more civilian look. This also includes the look of the Ironkin (and to a certain extent [[UR-025]] and the [[Kastelan Class Battle-Automata]] which look like mid-century robots). Fact is, the LoV is a love letter to classic sci fi. But that's not all.
*'''Western/wacky sci-fi:''' If you haven't noticed from the bolter revolvers, the abundance of words like "Pioneer", "frontier", "rugged", and "hardy", along with the fact that the first revealed ironkin looks a lot like a western blacksmith, the amount of "simple" practical tools the Kin often carry, the Leagues have a lot of western influences. They also seem to still retain an air of comedic relief from their previous Squat forms. Expect future [[Firefly|Firefly]] references, and a Votann answering with [[Approved Literature|"42"]].
*'''Mass produced goodness:''' Unlike their many Dwarven counterparts, the Leagues are by no means the top technological powerhouse of the galaxy (the Necron and the Aeldari have them beat, along with most of the other species from around the time of the old ones). To be quite honest, they are more about industry as a theme rather than being the most industrious. However, one could say they are still the top non-prehistoric industrial in the galaxy. They could also be said to be the top powerhouse in the galaxy that is both operating at its full capability (Necron sleepiness), and still actively lives and colonizes the galaxy (Eldar and their hidey holes). And in comparison, to their "competitors", they are probably the most easily accessible due to them generally not wanting to instantly butcher you the second they even glance at you, or just tell you to get lost. As for the lower powers? The Imperium, while it's very industrial, is also incredibly inefficient and often...dumb with its capabilities in general (Agri-worlds, under use of auto loaders, crappy servitors). And the Tau, while smarter than the Imperium with their industrial capabilities, has far less potential with what they have.
**Moving on from their position in the galaxy, why the industrial aesthetic? Well, first off, they're dwarves. Second off, as mentioned above, the other industrial factions are either too insufficient to carry out certain ideas and concepts or are too hidey. The Leagues are in the perfect position to introduce potential new concepts to the universe, like not crap hive cities, dyson spheres that don't belong to the Necron, megastructures, and potentially much more. it's a nice change of pace to see an actually efficient industrial that isn't controlled by ancient aliens.
**Thirdly, you need a little grime and practicality to that atompunk, and efficient industry is the perfect way to do it. Doesn't mean you can't have your cleanliness (and I'm pretty sure they'd prefer to not have pollution in their holds), just adds a tad bit of realistic imagery to it.
*'''Cleanliness, kin, and old world blues:''' Besides the reasons above, there is a reason the Leagues look so clean, organized, and sleek. This comes from the more grimdark and evil side of the Leagues (which is a little weird and unique). As previously stated before, the Leagues are a meritocracy overseen by guilds, wise long-bearded psykers, military commanders, and the mighty moai heads themselves. Said guilds are very competitive and will not hesitate to strip to the bone entire planets with civilizations and ecosystems just to stay ahead.
**So are they capitalist? Maybe. But while they've shown how they can easily have conflicts with themselves, one of their mottos is "Kin are kin". They also seem to be very egalitarian within their societies. On top of this, we've had previous examples of society reaching post scarcity levels of comfort, including even some Imperial worlds, and the friggin lower tech tau. They also seem to put high importance on community and fellow kin. Even the guilds wouldn't be caught dead cutting corners and making shoddy products (they regulate much of League society).
**So socialists? Maybe. But really, the answer may be in-between (somewhat). Would certainly suggest looking up the guilds of post classical, classical, and pre-classical history to get a better perspective.
**Perhaps mercantilism? A pre capitalist economic system would be closer to their ideal they defend their economic interest via specialized guild like organizations and strive to keep their exports above imports while using military force to guard their trade secrets and business partners. 
**But we do know that they generally have a comfortable life and are very egalitarian. The guilds are competitive, meritocratic, regulate much of League society, and still come to blow with each other. What we can tell is that Leagues inner society is generally at least decent for its citizens. As for those who are outside of League society...
**Expect to see a lot of neocolonialism, colonialism, client states, banana Republics, puppet states, potentially narco states, banana wars, and the 1893 overthrowing of the kingdom of Hawaii except 10x worse (and with more planetary genocide). As with their holds: dirty on the outside, clean on the inside.
*'''The mythological and the fantastical:''' This one is a total mashup. You got Celtic, Greek, Nordic, and other mythologies mashed in. The Leagues are named after Greek titans, and Nordic gods. The Votann are based off [[Odin]]. The Kin are Geri and Freki, odins greedy wolves. The leadership is based off odins ideal leadership (with the grimnyr being based off one of his disguise names).
*'''Too Human similarities:''' Way back in 2008 the now defunct game company Silicon Knights released a game called “Too Human” for the Xbox 360 after over a decade of it being stuck in development hell. The game was based on reimagining Norse mythology through a cyberpunk lens. While the game flopped miserably (so miserably in fact that Silicon Knights tried to sue the engine devs for sabotage, only for that lawsuit to backfire so hard that Too Human had to be deleted from existence) due to its clunky control system, some of its design elements seem suspiciously similar to the Leagues of Votann aesthetic including: exoskeleton-equipped berserkers, combat transports that resemble the Hekaton Land fortress, the whole mega corporation of the Aesir, and the fact that Odin was reimagined in the game as an AI called the “Organic Distributed Information Network” which bears a striking similarity to the idea of the Votann. Maybe someone in GW played the game and used it as inspiration for the Leagues? It wouldn’t be too surprising.
*'''[[Deep Rock Galactic]]:''' Similar to the above, the game "Deep Rock Galactic" may have spurred on GW's decision to reinvent the squats in some areas. Notably, the game is based on a company of the same name, which uses actual dwarves as their mercenary-miners to plunder a planet of all its wealth while fighting bugs. Themselves a corporatist, mercantile faction that prefers wealth over civility. Now, this game was released in alpha in early 2018, so it could be a little bit of a stretch to say if it's fully influenced much on the LoV, considering the lengthy design process GW has. It hasn't stopped WarCom from throwing in some tongue-in-cheek, potential references to the game, though. Plus, with all the "Rock and Stone"s and "For Kahl!"s that players will throw out, it probably won't matter anyway. Though the codex does mention an offshoot of the Greater Thurman League known as the Deep Rock Kindred.
*'''[[Star_Trek|The Ferengi Alliance]]:''' A politically neutral trade empire with a materialistic religion. In the case of the leagues  of votann their code is the truths akin to the Ferengi's rules of acquisition. This profit minded philosophy ensures that they are on friendly business terms with humanity due to them being easy to placate when it comes to trade deals but should a trade partner become disruptive the leagues will not hesitate to use force to get what they want.
*'''Lost Planet:''' Replace the games space bugs with nids and you have the squats origin that being human prospectors facing alien monsters and inhospitable planets for a mining company.
*'''Starcraft:''' Seriously their Hearthkyn armor looks like a mini ripoff version of Terran Marine armor. The Einhyr Exo-Suits make that comparison even more blatant.
*'''Transformers:''' their faction symbol looks like the Autobot logo and they worship giant godlike AIs that would probably get along quite well with Primus…less so with Unicron, despite doing his shtick themselves frequently.
*'''[[Dwarf]] technology & craftmanship:''' the Leagues represent a 40k take on the standard fantasy dwarf archetype which more often than not includes them having technology or at least craftmanship superior to all other factions save for “elder/precursor races“ if they are present, so it is no surprise that only the [[Eldar]] and [[Necrons]] beat them with the [[Tau]] being close contenders. Speaking more specifically of [[Warhammer Fantasy|the sister game]] the Dwarfs were the source of the better magic of the [[High Elves (Warhammer Fantasy)|Elves]] and the technology of [[The Empire|The Empire]], have a culture revolving around settling all slights [[Slayers|with blood or gold]], have such reliable magic that they can make doors/walls that even the strongest Daemons can't pass and Tzeentch himself cannot see through and can [[Arianka|can imprison a Chaos God in a box]], literally use the word human ("Umgi") as a description for inferior quality, and [[Chaos Dwarfs|even Chaos has to go to them for the good gear]]. In regards to weapons, just ask Warhammer Fantasy players with big expensive models how they feel about Dwarf <strike>sniper missiles</strike> Cannons.