Welcome to the first installment of my latest occasional series, Show and Tell, where I dive into the world of WarhammerTV’s suite of video programming.
To be honest, I’ve barely scratched the surface of what WarhammerTV offers, typically leveraging my subscription just to make sure I have access to the various Black Library author interviews and the Book Club series. But these are stories every bit a part of Warhammer lore as the Black Library, and this was creatively attributed to the Warhammer StoryForge team- the team tasked with bringing Warhammer’s fiction into the world of animation.
We’re going to kick things off with Iron Within, a self-contained half-hour story that arrived in 2023.
The Story
Nothing quite says grimdark like being a citizen on a dismal Imperial planet whose governor has surreptitiously decided to start paying a ‘peace tithe’ to the Drukhari. It’s a terrific device because it works in both directions; one could make a case that sacrificing a hundred to save a thousand is a moral choice, but that’s not how the Imperium works- nor the Drukhari, for that matter.
Give the Drukhari a hundred, and it soon becomes 150. Becomes 250. Becomes whatever the hell they feel like taking, while the corrosive social effect of a permission-based chattel system poisons the society from within.
That’s the situation we find the nameless world at the heart of Iron Within, with its Imperial Guard gamely trying to hold off the latest Drukhari raid. Unbeknownst to them, the craven Governor not only has signed off on the raids, but is wanting to seal up the palace and leave the citizenry to fend for itself.
As things spiral out of control, in desperation the Guard play the only card they have left: the age-old myth that the “Angels of Death” have promised to return when called, a debt to be paid for the planet’s original tithe. With nothing left to lose, they have their astromancer send out the distress call… and are stunned to find it soon answered. A rain of drop pods falls from the sky, Astartes warriors emerging with their guns blazing, mowing down the raiding Drukhari.
Astartes with black and yellow hazard stripes.
Notes & Impressions (Spoilers Ahead)
This was a great story, and it used up every bit of its 27 minutes. The action snaps, it doesn’t use battle as padding or filler, and the dawning realization that they’ve summoned the devil to counter a demon is delicious.
I loved seeing the Iron Warriors fighting. The massive Terminator at the head, Astartes with the riot shielding in a flanking line, firing controlled shots with a slow march and terrific discipline. The story itself offers up almost no exposition about the Legion, but you definitely get a sense of who they are from how they fight. Showing, not telling. Bravo!
I did happen to catch one incident of recycled animation, where a Guardsman gets sniped in the right temple early on, then again later in the episode. As long as it’s not as obvious as the old looping background like the old Hanna Barbera cartoons always did, not a dealbreaker.
Speaking of animation, it was very well done by Codex Films. The generally dark color palette and unsteady camera effects during action sequences probably allowed a bit of creative fudging on having to do detailed backgrounds, but overall it was certainly on par from what I’d expect of a AAA video game cutscene of the past few years.
Two years before its debut, the project was mentioned on the mothership with Codex Films quoted as saying, “As long-time Warhammer fans, we're very excited to combine our passion for the Warhammer hobby with our experience in CGI. It was a surreal feeling when Games Workshop approached us. It brings a lot of new possibilities, and we can't wait to deliver this story of Iron Warriors and Drukhari to the community!” Just in case you ever wondered about the lead time for some of these types of projects.
At 27 minutes, this one was paced very well, with the setup and execution on par with you usual you’d expect from a Black Library short story. It didn’t feel rushed, nor did it overstay its welcome, and it paid off well in the ‘twist’ ending.
All in all, an easy one to recommend, and a genuine delight for fans of the Iron Warriors.
