More female friendly

By Shkar, in Warhammer 40,000: Conquest

I already know that the W40k universe is not known for being friendly for female fans.

There a very reduced number of female characters, mainly Inquisitors, Sororitas, Dark Eldar Witches, and some Eldar.

Also, if we take a look at the default units either in the miniature game or in this card game, all of them are mainly portrayed as male. Some races just because males take the combat role, others (like orks) just because there are no females in their culture (but they are presented as males anyway)

In fact is not a great issue, and female players like my wife can easily play with the cards provided, even thought there are only 1 female warlord.

Anyway, i know she will be more confortable if she could choose between a larger number of female characters, not only Warlords, but units as well.

For example, I'm not a fan of Adeptus Sororitas, but if they are ever represented in the game i know my wife will give them a try :)

So, i'll ask for a more female friendly cast of characters.

Netrunner has done a great work in that matter, and while "in the grim darkness of the dark future there is only war", i hope designers could find a bit of love for female characters in Conquest ^_^

I'm sure we will eventually see sororitas and probably just about any other female character type that 40k has. You're right, 40k isn't particularly female friendly, but I don't think it is meant to be. It's target audience, be it for books, miniatures and even card games, is overwhelmingly male. It's great that your wife is willing to play, I wish I could get mine to do it. Card games are just not her thing.

Edited by Titan

There is no reason 40K couldn't have strong female characters or units. Warmachine/hordes does it and has a much larger female audience due to this.

40K's lack of female characters (that aren't insane sex / S&M things) shows that it has not been willing to move away from it's 1980's white teen male roots...too bad really as the universe has some neat stuff going on. That is GW for you.

(I won't mention how white the universe is either...)

There is no reason 40K couldn't have strong female characters or units. Warmachine/hordes does it and has a much larger female audience due to this.

Exactly :)

(I won't mention how white the universe is either...)

Aye.

Due to the zone i'm living i'm not so aware of that problem, but should be nice to solve that too.

Another thing Netrunner is doing right with the Runner ID's. Although there's a great number of white characters we already have an Asian Runner and a Afroamerican female Runner.

It's going to sound nitpicky, but there are two female warlords in the core set; Packmaster Kith and Commander Shadowsun.

As for female characters, Orks and Space Marines will never have any due to their lore.

I do hope they put the Sisters of Battle in. Reckon they will be part of the Imperial Guard faction, since it seems they are getting an Inquisitor warlord at some point?

Edited by Whingewood

It's going to sound nitpicky, but there are two female warlords in the core set; Packmaster Kith and Commander Shadowsun.

Thx for the info: http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Commander_Shadowsun

Never have guessed that!!

won't mention how white the universe is either...)

There are some exceptions, most notably the Salamanders and White Scars. Personally, I'm not looking for racial or gender equality in a sci-fi universe of the dismal, far future.

"racial or gender equality in a sci-fi universe of the dismal, far future."

would you stop playing 40k if there were more female characters in the game?

Does your "significant other" play any 40k games...actually do any of your female friends/co-workers/relatives play?

You can always have her try some of the "Gender-Neutral" races Like Tyranids granted they aren't humanoid but I am sure some of them are female (Tervigon probably being the only one we can tell for sure is) Cron's I don't think have genders either.

Would I stop playing it if there were more female characters? No, why would I? I'm not sure that I understand the point of your other questions. I already mentioned in my first post here that my wife does not play this. Nothing to do with female characters, she's not into sci-fi or card games of any kind. The same can be said for pretty much every woman I know. For that matter, I've never seen women be anything but a small minority in gaming in general. I'm not opposed to more female characters, but I highly doubt that will change much about women's willingness to play.

It's a game, gender really shouldn't enter into the equation. People who want to play the game will, people who don't will not. Just be thankful GW doesn't follow the trend of portraying women as hulking titty monsters.

Relic Knights comes to mind.

for Conquest I stand by the OP

"So, i'll ask for a more female friendly cast of characters."

Is the game not already female friendly? I have yet to detect any misogyny.

It's a game, gender really shouldn't enter into the equation. People who want to play the game will, people who don't will not. Just be thankful GW doesn't follow the trend of portraying women as hulking titty monsters.

Gender shouldnt enter de equation, aye. But we are not playing with soul less blank cards. We are using cards representing characters from a given universe, and i'm sure a lot of us will not play Conquest if cards used generic stats and geometric figures instead of characters from the w40k setting.

Is not the same if my red cube attacks your blue triangle...

So, the setting adds value, and what i'm asking is that it should take into account the fact that some players (female players in my first post) may feel more confortable if the balance between represented characters is more... well, balanced :P

Also, the more friendly is to new players, the more players we can get to play with ^_^

Is the game not already female friendly? I have yet to detect any misogyny.

Female cast of characters is far less numerous than that of male characters. Only 2 of the 7 warlords are women (and thx to a previuos poster that pointed to the fact that the Tau one is a female... I didn't notice :S).

It's also worth noting that the game is not restricted to pre-existing characters in 40K fluff. Of the current 7 warlords, two of them--Packmaster Kith and Zarathur, High Sorcerer--seem to be inventions of FFG. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) So even if 40K lore tends to be dude-centric, they're not really restricted to what's already been established, they're free to make whoever they want.

Though, as has been pointed out, some of the factions we'll only be seeing men (or aliens that may or may not fit human gender binaries but are presented as masculine). Space Marines, Orks, Necron I suppose once they're released. But that leaves AM (which seems to be the catch-all for most human forces), Eldar, Tau, Dark Eldar, and Chaos wide open. We still have three warlords left to be revealed for the upcoming cycle, and hopefully some of them will be female.

It's also worth noting that the game is not restricted to pre-existing characters in 40K fluff. Of the current 7 warlords, two of them--Packmaster Kith and Zarathur, High Sorcerer--seem to be inventions of FFG. (Correct me if I'm wrong.) So even if 40K lore tends to be dude-centric, they're not really restricted to what's already been established, they're free to make whoever they want.

Though, as has been pointed out, some of the factions we'll only be seeing men (or aliens that may or may not fit human gender binaries but are presented as masculine). Space Marines, Orks, Necron I suppose once they're released. But that leaves AM (which seems to be the catch-all for most human forces), Eldar, Tau, Dark Eldar, and Chaos wide open. We still have three warlords left to be revealed for the upcoming cycle, and hopefully some of them will be female.

We still have 3 warlords left to be spoiled, but of the 5 potential female friendly factions you mentioned 2 had a female warlord in the starter, and Chaos has already been revealed as a demon...

Leaving Eldar, which has been noted as being a Phoenix Lord, so a 1/3rd chance(Jain-Zarr/ Barroth).

And AM, which has been noted as being an Inquisitor (I dont know of any well developed female inquisitors that would be likely candidates, but perhaps they will go with the Packmaster Kith route and just create one...i would actually prefer that)

Other than warlords, women in 40k tend to be relegated into all-female units, and there are more than enough in AM (Sisters of battle), Eldar (banshees/Swooping hawks), and Dark Eldar (wytches) to form an all-female army (when combined with vehicles)... and future neutrals akin to the rogue trader could easily be women as well.

Sadly 40k has always tends to double-down on the Jr. High Dance mentality of total segregation of the sexes.

Baharroth is male not female.

Edited by Toqtamish

Eep, you are totally correct...

the 40k RPG seem to have a more mature grasp on Gender and race than the TTG so maybe we will see a better balance as the LCG gets cards.

I would hope to see plenty of female characters from both types of Eldar. I was actually a bit surprised at the lack of females in the Eldar Core Cards...I think Banshees are the only one?

IG have had models for female Assassins, Inquisitors, Commissars and grunts so there is precedent for them.

So, agreed with the OP, it would be nice to see.

Female cast of characters is far less numerous than that of male characters.

Yeah, war tends to be like that.

So, what you really want is for FFG to change the fluff for 'balance' in an industry and setting that are both predominantly male oriented. Am I getting that right? Somehow I don't think a smaller cast of female characters is the real impediment when it comes to women playing card games.

Female cast of characters is far less numerous than that of male characters.

Yeah, war tends to be like that.

Sure, but i dont want this game to be real, i want it to be epic and fun.

If I would like real war i'll volunteer myself... no thx.

So, what you really want is for FFG to change the fluff for 'balance' in an industry and setting that are both predominantly male oriented. Am I getting that right? Somehow I don't think a smaller cast of female characters is the real impediment when it comes to women playing card games.

Its not an impediment, my wife already plays it.

I just mean she would be more confortable if able to choose female themed units and warlords.

Also, i know that a lot of male players would like more female characters too, but thats not the point i'm posting here.

Dark Eldar (believe it or not) are the most diverse faction in 40K with regards to gender.

There are female Kabalites, Scourges, Reavers, Hellions, and Archons, just as there are male Wychs. The model kits are usually something like 60/40 m/f or f/m.

This of course is not counting Wracks because...well...