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Which (rpg) books related to the Warhammer 40k universe have images depicting the "average" citizenry and cities of the Empire and their daily lives?

In case there are no official sources, please recommend sources/artists (online) whose works you've actually used during play to show your players the "backdrop" of their urban adventures.

I really find the imagery of the WH40k universe... fascinating, in a way. However, we're usually shown only the elite (well, in a certain sense, anyway), which makes (re)constructing a mental image of the average city and its inhabitants quite hard. (Obviously, their dresses won't have all the embroidery, ornamentation etc that the elite's outfit tends to have. But then what do they look like? What would I see on a journalistic street photo?)

Of course, the worlds of the empire have a wide variety of tech levels. What I'm interested in of the spectrum is those worlds that are at least on the same tech level as Earth IRL is, currently.

The more official sources and/or the better quality and better fitting sources you list, the more I'm likely to pick and accept your answer. :) Thank you.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Not worth a full answer, but I assume you've taken a look at the maps of Imperial cities in the Dawn of War RTS games? There are at least a few city maps in those that haven't been shelled to bits yet. (Though they tend towards being somewhat artificially square-ish due to the engine.) \$\endgroup\$
    – Aesin
    Jun 28, 2012 at 19:13

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The Dark Heresy line has some material; it tends to focus more on the powerful - nobles, etc, but there are a few bits of the seedier side.

The Rogue Trader corebook and it's player's guide have pretty good descriptions of the lifestyles of normal ship crew, but I suspect that's still unusual enough to be out of scope.

The real images of the lower class are in Necromunda, not in the 40K RPGs. But those are all just hive gangs.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Thanks. These sources are great (especially Necromunda), even though they cover the topic only partially. Any unofficial recommendations (sf artists, movies etc) that you've used? \$\endgroup\$
    – OpaCitiZen
    Jun 21, 2012 at 7:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ Not really - unless you count every WWII flick showing wartime NaZi Germany. Which, BTW, is where I pulled most of my non-hive-world imagery from. That, and bits in the original 40K 1E hardcover... Oh, and Brazil, Logan's Run, and Heavy Metal. \$\endgroup\$
    – aramis
    Jun 21, 2012 at 14:25
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Oddly enough, the game Space Marine is a fairly good source for this in the audiologs. You find journal entries by various people including a number of random citizens, which I find really drive home what an ork invasion means, and give you glimpses into what they live through. I bet you could find them on youtube.

Also, you walk through a number of assembly areas and whatnot, and hear the mechanical voices issuing workers their day to day instructions.

A bit non-traditional, I know, and of questionable canonicity, but hey, isn't everything in W40K?

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Having scoured the net for sources, I've found that - not too surprisingly - it is widely known that the Adeptus Arbites, the planetary police force of the Warhammer 40k universe was heavily inspired by Judge Dredd - and that the same goes for the cities as well: Your average WH40k city/planet (that is, the kind I specified in the Q) is probably quite similar to Mega-City One, the setting of Judge Dredd.

The answer seems to be, then, that to get a glimpse of the average citizen's life, you'd have to check out the numerous Judge Dredd comics, their creators' relevant works (link is an example), all the movie_adaptations and so on, paying special attention to what goes on in the background.

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You may consider the novel "Dead Men Walking" useful. Even though it isn't the central narrative, it depicts the behaviour of civilians after a Necron "outbreak" quite nicely. One of the main civilians is the planetary governor's daughter, yet she's still mediocre in comparison to all the other protagonists that are normally portrayed in WH40K-novels.

Even though you don't get any literal pictures by reading the book, it still offers an impression of civilian life in the WH40K universe.

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