First up, welcome!
Vermintide II is set at the end of the old Warhammer Fantasy setting. Age of Sigmar is essentially a sequel to that world and has a lot of direct connections, returning characters and so on. A new edition of it is coming out in a few months (I believe), with the Skaven playing a massive part
Warhammer 40k is set in the same multiverse, with the Chaos Gods and other entities like them being literally the same individuals between the settings. They're mostly separate, though.
One thing that's unusual about 40k is that it doesn't really have a 'main narrative'. There has *sort of* been one in recent years with the Dawn of Fire books (among other connected ones), but even that's just one strand.
I'd personally suggest just jumping in with whatever you find most interesting
Aw alrighty thank you friend and its nice to be hear it’s a nice place to be at also old fantasy setting? Like the old story is what I’m assuming is what you’re telling me right?
There are a few different games/settings which all come under the umbrella of "Warhammer". The original was Warhammer Fantasy Battles, which was a fantasy world with elves, dwarfs, and so on - this is the setting for Vermintide. This game was discontinued and replaced by Warhammer Age of Sigmar, but has recently been brought back under a new name as Warhammer: The Old World. The Old World tabletop game is set a few hundred years earlier than Vermintide, but in the same setting.
Age of Sigmar is a sort of sequel to Warhammer Fantasy. It's also a fantasy setting, but takes place after the original Warhammer world was destroyed by the forces of chaos. Some factions and characters survived the destruction of the old world and are still around in the time when Age of Sigmar is set, but the world is quite different and there are also a whole bunch of new factions, characters, and locations.
Warhammer 40k is a sci-fi setting which is largely separate from Warhammer fantasy and Age of Sigmar, but does have some elements which cross over - notably the chaos gods, for example. 40k does not take place within the same timeline as Age of Sigmar and Warhammer fantasy, but rather in our own distant future, however there are enough similarities that a lot of people think of them as sort of alternate realities or parallel universes, however the exact connection between the 40k and fantasy settings, if there is one, has never been officially stated.
Luetin09 (probably the most well-regarded loretuber) [has a few primer videos](https://youtu.be/M6M9-oFEKpk?feature=shared) for beginners.
The [Lexicanum](https://lexicanum.com/) is a fan wiki for the setting.
TBH, a recent-ish rulebook is probably one of the best primers for newcomers.
40k lore videos on YouTube is a huge rabbit hole. Im personally a fan of Lord Baldemort's channel. He does a combination of fanfiction and official lore. You can also subscribe to audible, they have audiobooks of many official Black Library novels.
Welcome! These are great worlds with tons of options! While there are some good starting points with different YouTubers. For example luetin09 is great for 40k stuff, not sure who’s best for fantasy or age of Sigmar, but I’ve liked Bookofchoyer for some lore their skaven stuff is quite good.
I agree finding a rule book from one of the last 4 or five editions of some the games are a good place to start from there you kind of pick a direction.
There are so many factions and characters some with loads of stories, games and art to enjoy. I think old edition rulebooks sell fairly cheap. And are honestly easy to find for download to read through.
Congratulations, you found the best universe that hasn’t yet been destroyed by unoriginal corporate dipshits! Enjoy!
I love comedy so I recommend Majorkill, adeptus ridiculous and pancreasnowork for lore videos. The one issue with 40K is that the lore is so deep that it takes a lot of videos to even grasp the basics. Think of a world like Dune or Lord of the rings, where by the time the main story is happening, there is thousands of years of history that lead to that event. Have fun with it!
Also I recommend Age of Sigmar as well. It has some great factions like the flesh eaters court who are zombies who were created by an insane vampire so all the zombies think they are lords, ladies, and knights of a noble court. Really they are just killing and eating everyone. There are a lot of fun lore like that.
Id suggest finding some summary of the lore and factions on YouTube then picking one or two that sound interesting to you. 40k is so massive of a hobby… from painting, to novels, to the tabletop game and everything in between. I found I only have enough time for one faction/chapter, Blood Angels, and have spent all my spare time learning about the chapter and painting up an army.
First up, welcome! Vermintide II is set at the end of the old Warhammer Fantasy setting. Age of Sigmar is essentially a sequel to that world and has a lot of direct connections, returning characters and so on. A new edition of it is coming out in a few months (I believe), with the Skaven playing a massive part Warhammer 40k is set in the same multiverse, with the Chaos Gods and other entities like them being literally the same individuals between the settings. They're mostly separate, though. One thing that's unusual about 40k is that it doesn't really have a 'main narrative'. There has *sort of* been one in recent years with the Dawn of Fire books (among other connected ones), but even that's just one strand. I'd personally suggest just jumping in with whatever you find most interesting
Aw alrighty thank you friend and its nice to be hear it’s a nice place to be at also old fantasy setting? Like the old story is what I’m assuming is what you’re telling me right?
There are a few different games/settings which all come under the umbrella of "Warhammer". The original was Warhammer Fantasy Battles, which was a fantasy world with elves, dwarfs, and so on - this is the setting for Vermintide. This game was discontinued and replaced by Warhammer Age of Sigmar, but has recently been brought back under a new name as Warhammer: The Old World. The Old World tabletop game is set a few hundred years earlier than Vermintide, but in the same setting. Age of Sigmar is a sort of sequel to Warhammer Fantasy. It's also a fantasy setting, but takes place after the original Warhammer world was destroyed by the forces of chaos. Some factions and characters survived the destruction of the old world and are still around in the time when Age of Sigmar is set, but the world is quite different and there are also a whole bunch of new factions, characters, and locations. Warhammer 40k is a sci-fi setting which is largely separate from Warhammer fantasy and Age of Sigmar, but does have some elements which cross over - notably the chaos gods, for example. 40k does not take place within the same timeline as Age of Sigmar and Warhammer fantasy, but rather in our own distant future, however there are enough similarities that a lot of people think of them as sort of alternate realities or parallel universes, however the exact connection between the 40k and fantasy settings, if there is one, has never been officially stated.
Jesus Christ this lore is so confusing but yet so intriguing
Luetin09 (probably the most well-regarded loretuber) [has a few primer videos](https://youtu.be/M6M9-oFEKpk?feature=shared) for beginners. The [Lexicanum](https://lexicanum.com/) is a fan wiki for the setting. TBH, a recent-ish rulebook is probably one of the best primers for newcomers.
40k lore videos on YouTube is a huge rabbit hole. Im personally a fan of Lord Baldemort's channel. He does a combination of fanfiction and official lore. You can also subscribe to audible, they have audiobooks of many official Black Library novels.
Oh yeah yk I didn’t think about it
Welcome! These are great worlds with tons of options! While there are some good starting points with different YouTubers. For example luetin09 is great for 40k stuff, not sure who’s best for fantasy or age of Sigmar, but I’ve liked Bookofchoyer for some lore their skaven stuff is quite good. I agree finding a rule book from one of the last 4 or five editions of some the games are a good place to start from there you kind of pick a direction. There are so many factions and characters some with loads of stories, games and art to enjoy. I think old edition rulebooks sell fairly cheap. And are honestly easy to find for download to read through. Congratulations, you found the best universe that hasn’t yet been destroyed by unoriginal corporate dipshits! Enjoy!
I love comedy so I recommend Majorkill, adeptus ridiculous and pancreasnowork for lore videos. The one issue with 40K is that the lore is so deep that it takes a lot of videos to even grasp the basics. Think of a world like Dune or Lord of the rings, where by the time the main story is happening, there is thousands of years of history that lead to that event. Have fun with it! Also I recommend Age of Sigmar as well. It has some great factions like the flesh eaters court who are zombies who were created by an insane vampire so all the zombies think they are lords, ladies, and knights of a noble court. Really they are just killing and eating everyone. There are a lot of fun lore like that.
Id suggest finding some summary of the lore and factions on YouTube then picking one or two that sound interesting to you. 40k is so massive of a hobby… from painting, to novels, to the tabletop game and everything in between. I found I only have enough time for one faction/chapter, Blood Angels, and have spent all my spare time learning about the chapter and painting up an army.