ALL Female Models From Every Warhammer 40k Starter Set- Painting Challenge! (All 10 Editions)

Be careful. Representation leads to inclusion. Inclusion leads to girls. Girls lead to cooties.

Brent for president!

I am fine with the "no female space marines" in-universe rule, mainly because I think it would completely undermine the creative work put into sisters of battle if we had female space marines. The in-universe reason of adhering to the letter of some arbitrary bureaucracy rule of "no men under arms" is so fitting for a setting that parodies bureaucracy to the extreme. I think the reason for why this topic comes up again and again, is that space marines just get too, much, fucking, attention. And that ie. the guard or sisters don't have enough diversity in terms of look. I'd love to see an all steel legion, catachan or mordian guard range. Or some new sisters from a far off galaxy twith their own look, distinct from the current sisters.

But I also think that the problem is that people want attractive, or female-looking space marines, which I don't think is possible with the in-universe way space marines are created. Pump enough testosterone and steroids into anyone, AND put them in giant power armor and it'll be impossible to tell who they are regardless of their gender. But I also like the headcannon of there could be or are female space marines, but they are basically indistinguishable from male space marines.
And besides, nothing is stopping you from kitbashing your own female space marines (age of sigmar bodies make for great space marines with a head/arm swap). And if someone doesn't want to play you because you play a mixed or all female chapter? Maybe it isn't someone you should play anyway.

"No girls in the Space Marine tree house" is making me want to do the Space Marine equivalent of G.R.O.S.S. (Get Rid Of Slimy girlS) from Calvin and Hobbes.

And then make a Susie Marine, obviously.

Youre channel is such a safe space for hobbyists of all genders and gender identities. And you're hilarious, entertaining and knowledgeable all rolled into one!

Can't believe I didn't comment on this before. Or at least I didn't see a comment from me. The only observation I would make is the starter kits are limited in what they can release vis a vis combatants. That is, one set is always going to be Space Marines and they will always be male. So the other set has to be a threat to the Imperium. The hoards of Orks, (Genderless) and Tyranids (They have "females". You just don't want to see one in a bikini) and Chaos Marines who came from Space Marines. But while there are limitations on the starter sets, there have been other box set in which the girls participated. Maybe a piece on these is in order..

I am literally shaking. How can you actually LIKE the sisters of battle? They promote a heteronormative reinforcement of the gender binary and fascist beauty standards. Their small waists and sculpted breasts are clearly intended for the male gaze. Also, words like “sister” and “nun” are problematic because not only do they assume the fascist gender binary, they also allude to oppressive Christian cultural elements. Also, their cultural aesthetic is clearly inspired by the eurocentric Roman Catholic Church, which has oppressed women for thousands of years by not supporting marriages between lesbian women of size.
I personally, being a male-presenting human of progress and equality, will not EVER support the Sisters of Battle until they are sculpted EXACTLY THE SAME as primaris space marine bodies with conventionally unattractive female heads.

....late 20th hunderts, but good video anyways
And yeah, the one aeldari is bloody disappointing
If they release a sororitas starter box, I might actually start collecting a full army and not just the best minis from all of 40k
Which in my opinion are mostly SoB on the side of the Empire
Damn angels

i mean... i can convert anything into a girl with a dremel and green stuff...

Now realized, i subconsciously trended to the 2 human factions with females. I run my cadian guard using every single female bit - regular men and women fighting the forces of hell is just awesome. A female sergeant with a drum-fed autogun or female vox-caster is as badass as it can get. Also love my sisters army. More female models in the hobby please!

worst video yet

I would rather my armies be unique than have representation. I want female models I'll get the army that has female models and if I want to go crusading with the bois and play the boys are back in town in my head every time I go on the battle field I'll stick the the marines.

To be honest, I think given the type and quantity of modifications involved in making a space marine, you could forego the boob armour and would only stand a chance of telling when they take their helmets off. I doubt we’d be looking at a sci fi version of stormcast females.

I know that you do address this point in the video but I would contend that the bigger issue is the ubiquity of space marines, especially when they are such a minority of the Imperium’s armed forces. I don’t think it is a bad thing thematically and narratively to have none inclusive factions as long as the game on the whole is inclusive. Particularly when one of the broader factions is such a nightmarish, oppressive regime even though they are the “good” guys.

Promoting factions such as Sisters, Eldar and Imperial Guard with female soldiers makes more sense to me than rewriting an army that is so heavily inspired by historically non-inclusive groups as well (and as you say it’s not like the Sisters are going to start letting dudes in). Keeping some factions non-inclusive and backwards also gives you something to contrast the more progressive ones with.

Yeah that day will never come. The repercussions to GW would be far too great and then you'll realise how much of a minority you really are.

Given how 40k female sculpts look, I'm grateful women aren't represented.

How did you make your dry palette? I have seen it in a couple other vids and think it’s an amazing addition to my hobby space

I'm glad that you didn't make this video in June ('pride' month). I find the whole 'pride' thing incredibly patronising.
Anyway, I agree 100% that we need more female characters, and there must be room within most factions for more females "in the tree house"!
However, there are more than just males and females in this world, and I like the fact that Orks (and possibly Necrons and Tyranids) are there to represent gender neutral types (although, really, they are sex-neautral: they still appear to be masculine in essence).

this is now my single most liked mini painting video, whenever someone asks me for a good tutotial person i will send them to this video to explore the greatness this channel is.

props for doing those more social kind of videos ! Your message is very clear & positive, and they're really entertaining to watch. I think it's awesome that you use your platform to champion more inclusivity & representation

my biggest problem with the "space marines are warrior monks and sisters of battle are warrior nuns" thing is that sisters of battle dont get to be warrior nuns who are also romans, or vikings, or knights, Mongolians, or blood thirsty barbarians, or plague ridden zombies, or Egyptian sorcerers, or evil bat man, or crazy glamrock girls, or just be in tactical gear. They come with 1 look and just different paint schemes like every faction except space marines, orks and guard do. I want viking sisters of battle on wolves :o

Genuinely the lack of female models is just sad. Someday the Tau heads will start having half male half female, someday.

I love your kitty.

I like what GW has done with AOS and specifically the diversity of character options in the Cities if Sigmar box. The move towards a more cartoonish fantasy style is welcome in my book. And the option to maintain that grimdark men at arms vibe is still there if you want it. That being said it would be a lot harder to implement for 40k space marines. Because the soldiers are so heavily modified would there be a discernible difference in the silhouette of a female vs male space marine?

I honestly don't get why we're pushing Space Marines and why they sell so well.
Everyone should already own enough of them to not be excited for new models...

They are BY FAR my least favorite faction. And they aren't really the good guys. No one is.

I loved how the fantasy starter boxes had some more interesting pairings.

I wish we could get like Tau vs Dark Eldar or Orks vs Tyranids, Chaos Demons vs Sisters and Battle and so forth.

i would love to see more representation!! i always played bretonnia when i was younger because i loved all the pretty princesses and trying to protect them

You are the absolute best, Brent.

I'm not so sure Indomitus was all dudes.

I mean, the Necrons are made from an entire alien civilisation that've had their consciousness transferred to mechanical bodies, it seems likely that the females of that alien species would also undergo biotransference.

Where is my male sisters of battle? :(

I had the tyranid half of a leviathan box and can confirm that they are all women :)

I'm soy facing right now! I love correct opinions!!

No girls allowed in the space marine tree house really got me!

Нельзя женщин в спейсмарины, а вдруг тогда и правда начнут играть и мешаться нам в клубах?! Долой! Только бро трущиеся о других бро попами, без гейства, конечно!

Funnily enough I head-swapped my Leviathan Captain, Librarian and Infernus Sergeant with 3d printed female heads because I didn't want my marines to be the same as everyone else's. I've recently done similar with Slaaneshi chaos marines. I don't think Slaanesh would approve of a 'no girls' rule. Or any rule.

According to the Indomitus tie-in novel, the Necron Plasmancer character specifically identifies as female.

Thank you for this amazing video! It was really intresting to hear the story of Warhammer 40K starter sets. This no girls rule sucks btw

Bravo! Great video, great topic that needs more coverage.

What is a woman?

What an amazing statement! Props!

Hey Brent, I just wanted to thank you for your amazing work and your continous fight for invlusivity in our hobby. As part of the LGBTQIA+ community I especially love your Pride month videos. You’re a great ally and a great painter. I wish you all the best and I am excited for all your future content

dude, a ladybug tyranide color scheme would be awesome

Yes to more female models! But can we please have some with realistic chests?

I want more female imperial guard. Not all female units but rather good mixed units. Space marines should be 100% sausage only

It’s almost as if they made these starter boxes to appeal to their main customer base. Assholes. If they keep this up they will definitely fail as a company and have no success whatsoever.

This makes me want to strip down all my space marines and paint them all bright pink and purple... and pop the trans flag on the flag bearers. Inclusion is important! (Also Ultramarines Blue is boring)

I'm not opposed to female space marines for any lore reason, but here's my take. Let's assume that more gender representation will lead to more popularity of that army (I'd sincerely love to know if there's any actual precedent for this being true, because I heard that back in the 80s that the female GW models wouldn't sell and retailers asked for them not to be included in restocks. It was decades ago, sure, but the apple doesn't fall that far from the tree). If anything, I'd want Space Marines to firmly remain in the boys club and be the absolute last army to receive female models. They're already too popular for the game's good and I wouldn't want to see an influx of new players piling into Space Marines and further skewing the numbers towards them.

I don't think I'd be particularly bothered if almost any other army had female variants added in the new kits or boxes. I think Guard would be, by far, the most sensible option from a lore perspective but also given how much the flavour pulls from things like Aliens and Starship Troopers, neither or which shied away from including women amongst their soldiers' ranks.

However, if female space marines were to cause some mass exodus of butthurt "Sekrit Klubberz" from the army (or game entirely), I say do it. Whatever knocks SM down a peg. I think that GW could do a bit better of a job communicating to newcomers how much other cool shit there is in the 40K lineup. Everything is so front loaded towards space marines, not for no reason of course, but it is a bit of a vicious circle.

I still say that Games Workshop messed up when they did the Primaris. Not because I don't like the Primaris, I like them fine, but because they had the perfect chance to add female Space Marines without people going "BU BU BUT THE LORE".

They still should just do it.

The number of insecure neckbeards feeling threatened by this video is hilarious.
Keep up the good vibes, Brent.

I have been playing since the first printing of WH40K:RT and still have all those figures lol.

A big factor for me getting into the ravaged star minis was the inclusion of female models for both cultists and CSM's. There is no reason GW can't start including female models into other factions, then work them into space marines as people just get over it. As you said, expanding the playerbase can only be a good thing.

I still remember the 1st time I went into Games Workshop and asking where their female minis were. The response I got? “We don’t have any; chicks aren’t into this stuff”.
Me, literally standing in front of him trying to get into wargaming: We aren’t?
Him: Nope shrugs & walks off

I went from keen & interested to massively put off.
Thanks for highlighting the disparity…maybe one day companies will realise that their target market is greatly shaped by them, not something they’re just catering to..