Warhammer 40,000 is not only one of the most popular fantasy roleplaying games ever created, it's also inspired a rich central mythos that has been successfully adapted into novels, video games, and a variety of other media. But as yet, the Warhammer property has not been able to be turned into a feature film (though a straight-to-DVD animated feature titled Ultramarines was released in 2013); with many citing the sheer density of the material and the prohibitively expensive-looking design aesthetic associated with the franchise.

However, that hasn't stopped Warhammer fans from trying out adaptations of their own, including this latest impressive effort titled "The Lord Inquisitor."

Begun as a fan project (with the blessing of Warhammer license-owner Games Workshop) by Erasmus Brosdau -- a Senior 3D Artist and now Art Director at high-end video game developer Crytek -- The Lord Inquisitor uses intricately-rendered original 3D animation (including entirely new-produced models) made during animators' spare time without official funding as the prologue to a much larger promised storyline. From the official site:

"With over 80,000 fans on Facebook, The Lord Inquisitor is one of the most popular non-commercial film projects to date. Set in the dystopian universe of Warhammer 40,000, The Lord Inquisitor focuses on Marcus Allenbrisk – a young Inquisitor hunting demonic threats within the Imperium of Man and already aspiring to become the next fully-fledged Lord Inquisitor."

41st Millennium in Warhammer

Ostensibly set in the 41st Millennium of a fictional alternate universe (and initially connected to the Warhammer Fantasy Battle property) Warhammer 40,000 was created by Rick Priestley in 1987. The storyline and background mythology combine elements of classical high-fantasy wargaming, pairing sci-fi variations on staples like Orks and armored knights with a quasi-futuristic outer-space setting dominated by a dystopian spacefaring dictatorship ruled by a mysterious emperor. Seven editions have been released for the main game between '87 and 2014, with numerous spinoffs and side projects also being produced during the same period.

Interestingly, Priestley has often stated that many of the franchise's most beloved elements -- including the grim, portentous tone and the massively proportioned Space Marines -- were crafted with a satirical bent in mind inspired by Paradise Lost and the fantasy fiction of Michael Moorcock. Fans, however, are known to take the Warhammer universe (particularly its labor-intensive miniature and model-making elements) extremely seriously; while its design sensibility has been cited as a major influence on other properties such as the Halo video game series and movies like Jupiter Ascending.

Screen Rant will have more information for you on the Warhammer series as it is made available.

Source: The Lord Inquisitor