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The universe ofWarhammer 40,000is a dark one to be sure, and while humanity is constantly at war with various enemies in the 41st Millennium, it has also colonized planets across star systems. The ways people live on these planets are as incredibly varied as the people that occupy them.
From futuristic towns, small feudalistic villages, and even archaic monasteries, the human civilizations of Warhammer 40K reflect the important aspects of the imperium itself. But, none are so grim and foreboding as the imperial hive city.
What Makes A Place A Hive City?
There are plenty of cities throughout the imperium,few of which are classified as proper hive cities, although they often havethe same makeup of citizens, manufactories, and other thingsthat make the imperium what it is.
The difference between a hive city and any other imperial enclave comes down toone thing really: size.
How Large Are They?
When you think of a large city in Warhammer 40K, it is probably safe to sayyou aren’t thinking big enoughwhen considering how large hive cities are.
They are in some waysthe pinnacle of the imperium’s architectural design, andin other ways the worst. Hive Cities are often large enough tobe seen from orbitrather easily. Huge swathes of continents are razed to be covered in ferrocrete and plasteel.
These designs are often “form meets function”, with buttresses, gargoyles, and the ever-present symbols of the emperor built in, especially as you move to higher levels.
They usually require incredibly sturdy basesto support how large they are, with their foundations sometimes reaching deep into a planet’s crust to stabilize it. Hive Cities are oftenbroken up into levels, each the size of the largest modern cities, but all stacked on top of each other.
The tallest peaks of a hive city oftenreach into the stratosphere, far taller than modern skyscrapers. They often resemble huge mountains from afar.
These tallest structures are often antennas, homes for the upper crust and prominent religious leaders, or docks for spacefaring craft.
What Places Make Up A Hive City?
With so many neighborhoods, and levels flowing into one another,hive cities often change drasticallyfrom one location to another quickly.
Most of the city is often made up of manufactories(places that create food, materials, and supplies for the imperium and their armies) and living spaces for the denizens. However, with so many people living there, any facet of life can be found inside the walls.
Chapels, businesses of all types, clubs, factories, and even high-end manors can all be found on the various levels of a hive city. Not to mention incredibly large areas that often take upcaverns underground that are dedicated to water, energy(often nuclear, plasma, or geothermal),and the hive city’s defenses.
Hive Cities that find themselves on the frontline planets, or ones that consider themselves high-priority targets often have shield generators that cover the city. These not only protect the city from attack, but also the harsh weather that often results in the city’s abuse of the atmosphere and terrain.
What’s Life Like In A Hive City?
The short answer: not ideal.Death, disease, and povertyare common in hive cities. The thing is, they are so populous that they can afford to lose countless people every day toworkplace accidents, gang violence,and otherpreventable causeswithout seeing the scales tip either way.
The Levels: Upper Crust To Underhives
Life in the spires and higher levels is often quite nice.Parks, well-maintained roads, businesses, and other amenities are easy to come by. These citizens also often have access to private security forces, transport around and off the planet, and age-defying surgeries.
The average folk live in the middle to lower levels. Here work andtoil are the main, with little time to relax in-between.Small apartments are the norm, but some businesses allow for houses, whileothers mean living in a bunk in a large dormitoryshared by dozens of other people.
The underhives are the levels below ground. They arelawless placeswhere gangs and illicit dealings are the way to survive.
Wars are fought daily by the various gangsthat call the underhives home and this is also where dark forces often enter and gain power in a hive city.Mutations are also commondown here
Strike forces of peacekeeping arbiters and other forces will enter the underhives when the ongoings of the people there threaten the life of the hive city as a whole. To mixed results.
Notable Examples
Necromunda
Of all the hive cities, Necromunda is probably the most poignant example.It has popped-up in 40K loremany times over the decades, and even has various board games, and video games where it is the setting.
These include Necromunda: Hired Gun, Necromunda: Underhive Wars, the self-titled board game, and the offshoot Necromunda: Underhive.
Necromunda isGames Workshop’s go-to settingto discuss the underhive gangs that often call these places home. The main hive city is surrounded byash wastes and desertsthat make the hive cityboth an oasis in an unforgiving planet, and ahotbed of death and war.
Tertium
The hive city of Atoma Prime in the Moebian Domain of the galactic northwest.Tertium is the setting for Warhammer 40k: Darktide,notably the lower levels.
Tertium is just as varied as any hive city is, although with seemingly less gang activity than Necromunda. It is remarkable for themanufactories that make Leman Russ tank partsfor the imperium’s armies.
Tertium is a great example of how a chaos incursion can eat away at a hive city from the inside out.
Armageddon
Armageddon is a common location forthe Warhammer 40k novels.It is a world of industry, with people either working in the large factories that dot the planet, or joining into service for the Armageddon Steel Legion.
Armageddon is unique forhaving nearly a dozen hive cities, something that planets usually can’t supportdue to population, materials, and the well-being of the planet’s atmosphere. This has caused Armageddon to be the location ofmultiple wars at the hands of orks and chaos forces.
The result of this has turned Armaggedon into a wasteland ofradiation, deserts, and volatile leftovers from the wars, making the hive cities some of the only livable places on the planet.
