There are a whole bunch of stereotypes in the Warhammer 40k fandom: Ultramarines players have a stick up their butt, Astra Militarum players are rivet counters, Tyranid players will eat your miniatures – that kind of thing. It’s now time to update your assumptions, because – thanks to a data mining tool called Subreddit Stats – we have actual data on which other topics 40k fans are obsessed with, and the results are as amusing as they are horny.
Subreddit Stats pulls in raw data from Reddit and turns it into things a human can make sense of. In this case we’re looking at the “user-overlap” tool. Enter the name of the subreddit for one of the Warhammer 40k factions – say, r/AdeptusCustodes – and it will produce a list of other subreddits that its members are particularly likely to be part of. That comes with a multiplier number, which tells you how much more likely they are than a typical Redittor to be active in that subreddit.
I owe thanks to redditor Life-Competition9577 who first tried this experiment and posted about it in r/Grimdank. I worked back to the original source to check the figures. Subreddit Stats has big warning labels on it, stating that Reddit has updated its API, and that the “site may break or stop updating” at any warning. The site author even cautions “please do not rely on the accuracy of this site’s data for anything serious / important – the data collector is not robust”.
Some of these subreddits are very small, so their most active users distort the results. Any bots that are in each subreddit have an even more outsized impact. And the members of a subreddit will not reflect the actual wider player base for a particular faction. Still, the results are a mixture of eye-opening, puzzling, and funny, and I wanted to share.
Unsurprisingly, the members of all the faction-specific subreddits are more likely than the average Redditor to hang out in other Warhammer 40k subreddits. They’re also particularly interested in Magic the Gathering, loads of videogames, and sci-fi TV series. Below, I’ve pulled out all the overlaps that demonstrate interesting and surprising patterns of other interests within each faction’s subreddit, be they nerdy, political, or simply horny.
r/AdeptusCustodes – 59,000 members
This is a grab bag. They’re into upbeat HFY (37.37) sci-fi, Gundam (19.71) and Gunpla (15.48). Politically they seem kind of diverse, with overlaps with worldpolitics (15.18), sandersforpresident (9.82), and Denmark (12.32), plus airforce (19.20) rather than the more common USMC. Overlaps with the horny pawg (10.87) and grindset daytrading (16.56) subreddits aren’t totally surprising – but why is there such a big overlap with the cast iron skillet subreddit, castiron (10.24)?
r/AdeptusMechanicus – 87,000 members
The overlaps with other subreddits aren’t especially techy, or fixated on toasters. We’ve got a grab-bag of high frequency nerd interests, including mordhau (13.50), berserk (12.40), starcitizen (9.61), and evangelion (9.46), plus looking down on people in confidentlyincorect (7.65). An overlap with ADHDmeme (7.27) suggests which flavor of neurodiverse this subreddit leans towards. Interests in worldbuilding (18.74) and worldpolitics (13.26) suggest a little wonder and worldliness.
r/alphalegion – 33,000 members
The Alpha Legion really like Bioware games, with big with overlaps with swtor (69.34) anthemthegame (42.57), dragonage (38.18). They’re into politicaldiscussion (33.63) and with an interest in breadtube (34.20), mocking ForwardsFromKlandma (25.20) and justneckbeardthings (17.09) they seem to be leftwing.
Since there’s also an overlap with notliketheothergirls (36.31) (which mocks women for saying they’re not like other girls for very normal stuff) they seem kind of judgy, which might be why there’s a big overlap with makenewfriendshere (20.13). There’s also some transgender rep via asktransgender (16.64), and they’re one of the subreddits that really likes staying hydrated, with a big hydrohomies (27.83) overlap.
r/TheAstraMilitarum – 103,000 members
This one does not stray far from stereotypes, with interests in the Hearts of Iron 4 mod kaiserreich (22.88) and hoi4 (16.25) itself, airsoft (19.64), USMC (12.13), worldoftanks (11.35), and historyporn (10.20). Not to mention an overlap with the banned-for-hatespeech subreddit 2middleeast4you (13.51)
r/blacklegion40k – 6,200 members
No data found
r/BlackTemplars – 61,000 members
No data found
r/BloodAngels – 73,000 members
This is a politically active group. We’ve got overlap with preppers (15.98), airforce (15.74), menslib (9.04) (which seems to be a group looking for positive models of masculinity); and people laughing at inceltear (15.53), shitstatistssay (8.59), or trying to understand others, as in asktrumpsupporters(8.45). No horniness, but we do have an overlap with guitarporn (9.28) and spirituality (7.80).
r/Chaos40k – 75,000 members
Beyond the core nerd interests, there’s little to say about the Chaos subreddit except that there’s a lot of them in Australia – they’re members of ausfinance (29.60), Brisbane (25.45), and Australia (11.76). There are cohorts from Maryland (11.70) and NorthernIreland (19.31) as well.
r/ChaosKnights – 32,000 members
This is a small subreddit with very little data, but apparently it has a lot of transgender (or gender questioning, or ally) members, with a massive overlap with asktransgender (255.21). They’re also really into Attack on Titan, with a big overlap with titanfolk (73.18).
r/DarkAngels40k – 45,000 members
A small subreddit with very little data; the membership is apparently massively into elderscrolls (535.79), League of Legends mobile – overlapping with the wildrift (531.05) subreddit – and ffxiv (167.75). Picture all the secret cells in the dungeons of the Rock packed with custom PCs with RGB lighting.
r/Deathkorpsofkrieg – 45,000 members
No data found
r/deathguard40k – 78,000 members
The Death Guard are really focused on core nerd stuff; the overlaps that stand out show a general interest in internet social commentary. They overlap with random_acts_of_amazon (10.88), justunsubbed (7.84), averageredditor (7.14), memeeconomy (6.57) – and some pro wrestling – scjerk (9.91).
r/deathwatch40k – 33,000 members
The Deathwatch are into the cuckolding kink, overlapping with the hotwife (48.83) subreddit – and whatever gayspiderbrothel (18.35) is – it’s banned from Reddit and I don’t want to delve deeper. Despite having a big Republican (28.23) overlap, I’m getting some weeb vibes, from the interests in gachagaming (23.32), japanlife (21.74), houkai3rd (24.97), and girslfrontline (24.24).
r/Drukhari – 34,000 members
These folks are cops, overlapping with the protectandserve (11.77) and gunfights (10.10) subreddits, and they’re on restricted diets, members of 1200isplenty (9.77). A combination that, appropriately, I am concerned by.
r/Eldar – 63,000 members
More Australians, with Brisbane (14.55) and ausfinance (10.15) overlaps showing up, and a curious interest in botchedsurgeries (7.74).
r/EmperorsChildren – 44,000 members
You’d expect the Emperors Children to be a horny subreddit, wouldn’t you? There is an overlap with bi_irl (31.16). But there’s a stronger military presence – USMC (44.32), veterans (44.32) – and an interest in political debate – debatereligion (59.44), shitstatistssay (41.75), joebiden (28.77), capitalismvsocialism (26.70). Geographically we’re looking at Brisbane (30.22), Alberta (19.17), and Sweden (17.33). And for some reason there’s a big cohort of electricians (21.55).
r/genestealercult – 36,000 members
The Genestealer Cults have interests in tacticalgear (13.24) and capitolconsequences (11.85), which gives appropriately anarchist vibes. Weirdly, they’re more interested in bad comics illustrations, with overlaps with mendrawingwomen (51.06) and badwomensanatomy (8.07).
But most noticeable is how horny this subreddit is, with an interest in femboys (11.43), sluttyconfessions (8.05), massivecock (6.77), and breedingmaterial (6.27). The last one at least fits for an offshoot of the Tyranids.
r/Grey_Knights – 40,000 members
I’m not surprised that there’s an overlap with cops – protectandserve (42.97) – and guns (6.21). What does surprise me is how horny the knights of Titan are: they’ve got big overlaps with dirtysnapchat (31.65), dirtyr4r (16.66), massivecock (8.65), femboys (7.30), and verifiedfeet (28.35). And they’re into binance (16.91) – not ‘bi finance’, but a bitcoin page.
r/Harlequins40k – 16,000 members
No data found
r/ImperialFists – 41,000 members
All of the faction subreddits have nerdy interests, but as the Imperial Fists overlap with the subreddits for Hazbinhotel (43.90), Berserk (42.84), microsoftflightsim (26.86), and linuxgaming (25.61), I think they might be the very nerdiest.
Overlaps with kaiserreich (23.73) and military (19.68) might suggest a pro-military bent, until you notice the anarchism (20.71) and shitliberalssay (20.44) overlaps. And there’s a dedicated a cohort of transgender members, overlapping with asktransgender (10.35), egg_irl (7.77), and traaaaaaannnnnnnnnns (3.88).
r/ImperialKnights – 41,000 members
The Imperial Knights have very particular interests. They adore Spindlehorse animations – overlapping massively with Hazbinhotel (142.89) and helluvaboss (138.60); enjoy naval warfare – warthunder (29.44), warshipporn (28.66); have autism – aspiememes (23.21), autism (13.73); and are bisexual (22.44). Given they also overlap with bisexualteens (13.30) and askteenboys (12.28), I have to hope they’re younger bisexuals. Lastly, an overlap with hydrohomies (18.77) tells us they like to stay hydrated.
r/IronHands40k – 19,000 members
No data found
r/IronWarriors – 41,000 members
There’s not much data, but with massive overlaps with summonsign (413.43), DarkSouls3 (155.18) and food (91.14), it seems the sons of Perturabo enjoy Dark Souls multiplayer, sustenance, and little else.
r/LeaguesofVotann – 38,000 members
No data found
r/Necrontyr – 102,000 members
The Necrontyr subreddit has a fairly typical spread of nerdy interests, but there’s a noticeable space theme in it, overlapping with SpaceEngineers (11.13), DeepRockGalactic (10.69), Planetside (7.93), Stellaris (5.95), and SpaceXLounge (5.77). They’re also keen on WaltDisneyWorld (8.30). 100 internet points to the first fan artist to draw Trazyn the Infinite stealing a Disney princess.
r/NightLords – 43,000 members
The Night Lords are so horny that one of their biggest overlaps is with a subreddit that’s simply called ‘horny’ (41.34). They’re also into prettyaltgirls (33.02), furry (29.94), gothsluts (26.86), boobs (14.74), slut (13.12), massivecock (7.96), breedingmaterial (7.37). They also enjoy criticising covidiots (21.22) and bigoted elders in ForwardsFromKlandma (20.06). And for a little bit of Nostraman gangster style, they’re into poker (52.34).
r/orks – 110,000 members
The Orks subreddit is not what I expected. Aside from regular nerdy stuff, we’ve got a big gay (11.27) overlap, and a notable cohort from Belgium (9.63). Then there’s overlap with the banned-for-hate-speech 2middleeast4you (8.66), working class gun ownership community socialistra (7.13), and liberal democrat enoughcommiespam (6.89). I thought there would be more DIY mechanics and home brewed beer, honestly.
r/RavenGuard40k – 26,000 members
The Raven Guard overlap with a lot of aggressively left wing subreddits – socialistra (61.00), economy (40.87), shitliberalssay (27.01), and latestagecapitalism (16.79). They’re also weirdly judgy, overlapping with subreddits that dunk on people for cringey behavior: Iamverysmart (66.83), notliketheothergirls (59.66), byebyejob (34.52), and choosingbeggars (12.13).
r/Salamanders40k – 54,000 members
The subreddits the Salamanders overlap with paint a dismal picture. The list is mostly packed with games and anime, but then we’ve got ifyouhadtopickone (24.83) – banned from Reddit for harassing content – keto (12.82), depression (12.29), and unemployment (10.56). Grim.
r/sistersofbattle – 59,000 members
It seems some of members of the Sisters of Battle subreddit really are devout adherents of an absolutist religion, since there’s an overlap with the prolife (8.59) subreddit. Others seem to be into the SOB because they reflect their sexual tastes, as evidenced by overlaps with the pawg (16.35), mombod (7.88), ratemynudebody (7.23), and gothsluts (6.97) subreddits.
Then there’s some transgender rep – asktransgender (6.88). Lastly, interests in crossstitch (15.22) and cocaine (8.04) initially don’t seem like SOB activities, until you think about them for a moment. Cross stitch and cocaine? A regular weekend at the fortress monastery
r/spacemarines – 62,000 members
No data found
r/SpaceWolves – 57,000 members
The Space Wolves seem to be interested in nature, perhaps even foraging, overlapping with the subreddits for mycology (11.15) and whatsthisplant (10.08). Overlaps with plumbing (8.89) and crosstitch (9.96) suggest they’re either into DIY or cottagecore or both.
Politically, they overlap with the Bernie Sanders subreddits wayofthebern (10.05) and sandersforpresident (9.66). Sexually they stand for prettyaltgirls (11.21), pawg (10.69), and gothsluts (9.12). But delightfully, they’re more interested in WaltDisneyWorld (23.14) than any of the above.
r/Tau40k – 100,000 members
Regular nerds, with a notable overlap with USMC (12.36) and nothing else.
r/ThousandSons – 62,000 members
The Thousand Sons subreddit is appropriately interested in worldpolitics (16.90) and propagandaposters (12.23). There’s also an overlap with parlerwatch (17.87), which – against expectations – is all about combatting disinformation and conspiracy theories. Fittingly for the Space Marine Legion with the most bling and (debateably) the best rizz, there’s an overlap with the streetwear (17.84) and clevercomebacks (16.39) subreddits. Overlaps with talesfromtechsupport (11.00) and recruitinghell (10.73) suggest members who are often trapped in mazes of words at the whim of capricious masters – it fits.
r/Tyranids – 105,000 members
Mostly just interested in regular nerd stuff, but there’s an overlap with the banned-for-hate-speech 2middleeast4you (14.63), and rather than any horny stuff, Tyranids overlap with asexuality (8.56).
r/Ultramarines – 42,000 members
The Ultramarines are very confusing. There’s a chill overlap with the aquarium subreddit plantedtank (67.32), but after that it’s off the map – we’ve got overlaps with ufo (25.20), truechristian (24.43), engineeringstudents (23.82), gayspiderbrothel (20.92), imaginarymaps (15.71), worldbuilding (14.71), art (12.71), aliens (11.45), and combatfootage (11.45). What do they know?
r/WordBearers – 20,000 members
There’s a massive USMC (423.07) and veterans (422.32) overlap, and the Word Bearers are ready to hold a trueunpopularopinion (209.32). Then there’s the big membership of qult_headquarters (168.87) – which sounds like a Qanon subreddit, but is actually an anti-Qanon subreddit. Lastly there’s an overlap with nonewnormal (48.01), which was banned from Reddit for interfering with other communities. I couldn’t really have asked for more from the Word Bearers data.
r/WhiteScars40k – 18,000 members
Despite having big geographical overlaps with Sydney (99.11) and Toronto (31.29), the biggest political overlap is Republican (40.13). This subreddit is really into concealed carry weapons – ccw (42.96) – audioengineering (57.65), and medicalschool (44.99). It’s opposed to conspiracy theories, with a decent parlerwatch (38.40) overlap. While at least some members are interested in debate, overlapping with the changemyview (16.24), the fact they’re all carrying makes me a little disinclined to engage them.
r/WorldEaters40k – 53,000 members
The World Eaters have (unsurprising) overlaps with USMC (36.22), veterans (36.15), military (28.33), militaryporn (21.36), tacticalgear (18.42), and the slightly more surprising liberalgunowners (12.96). Strangely there’s a big cohort who overlap with the Scandinavian subreddit Norge (77.62), and then there’s big overlaps with askLosAngeles (37.33), NorthCarolina (36.67) and Alberta (15.67).
Once again we’ve got some asktransgender (14.90) overlap – because you can’t spell ‘transhuman’ without ‘trans’ – and some overlap with depression (18.42). Whether that’s because of military PTSD, seasonal affective disorder in Nordic countries, or the ongoing political victimization of trans people, I can only guess. The prominent overlap with the aquarium-building subreddit plantedtank (60.95) may be the only thing keeping the lid on.
I repeat – the data backing these statements up is shaky. The results are hilarious, which is why I’ve spent over 2,500 words writing about them, but don’t base any substantial conclusions on this.
If you’ve found this chucklesome, have a theory about what the ‘gayspiderbrothel’ was, or happen to be a data scientist with an inexplicable quantity of spare time to help me investigate further, come and say hello in the official Wargamer Discord community!