From pas4189@tam2000.tamu.edu Sun Dec 10 12:25:50 CST 1995
Article: 17653 of rec.games.miniatures.warhammer
Path: news.tamu.edu!tam2000!pas4189
From: pas4189@tam2000.tamu.edu (Peter Andrew Siekierski)
Newsgroups: rec.games.miniatures.warhammer
Subject: Re: Van Saar Models (of Fremen, and Dune, and 40K...)
Date: 8 Dec 1995 17:34:36 GMT
Organization: Texas A&M University, College Station, Tx
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References: <4a5jn0$lo5@solaris.cc.vt.edu> <4a7nso$3kh@newsbf02.news.aol.com>
NNTP-Posting-Host: tam2000.tamu.edu

     Once, ages ago, I posted an article on the similarities between
Dune and the WH40K universe (in which Necromunda takes place). It went some
thing like this:

In Dune, a formerly loyal vassal (Duke Leto, or rather his son, Paul
Atreides) of the Emperor Shaddam IV leads a holy insurrection against him.
...in WH40K, a formerly loyal Warmaster Horus leads an unholy insurrection
against the Emperor of Mankind.

In Dune, the Emperor of the Known Universe (the above mentioned Shaddam IV)
is respected because he commands the power of his elite terror troops, the
Saudukar...
In WH40K, the Emperor of Mankind is respected because he commands the power
of his elite terror troops, the Space Marines.

In Dune, the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood manipulates the bloodlines of the
royal families to produce a super being, the Kwisatz Haderach...
In WH40K, the Adeptus Sororitas Sisterhood purges the ranks of the Adeptus
Astartes to produce super beings, the Space Marines. 
[NOTE: this part of the background has probably been changed by now]

In Dune, "the Spacing Guild and its Navigators, whom the spice has mutated
over four thousand years, use the orange spice gas, whih gives them the
ability to fold space..." (from Princess Irulan's intro to the movie)...
In WH40K, the Navigators, many of whom have mutated after generations of
sanctioned psychic power use and inbreeding, control space travel by using
the Astromicon, which gives them the ability to move through warp space.

In Dune, the Butlerian Jihad cleansed the universe of man's evil machines...
In WH40K, the Age of Strife cleansed the universe of man's evil machines.

In Dune, the feared weapon of the Saudukar is the lasgun...
... while in WH40K, the standard issue weapon of the Imperial Army is the
lasgun.

There are a few other references here and there, including Ornithopters,
shields that clip on to one's belt (Refractors, I suppose...), and strange
similarities between Necromunda and Geidi Prime; but most of those were
eliminated by the boxed set.

Pete