Lexicanum
The Lexicanum is an unofficial wiki based on Games Workshop's Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer 40,000 product lines; like this wiki, it uses the wikimedia format, distinguishing it from the rival Warhammer 40k Wiki, which uses Wikia. They are both fully dedicated to record every bit of fluff there is, EVERY BIT. They do, however, refuse to record any kind of crunch on Warhammer 40k characters for legal reasons, though many Warhammer players prefer to look up the crunch on units rather than fluff. However, there are a large number of people who don't play the tabletop game for various reasons (cost being one of the biggest ones, Warhammer 40k miniatures are very expensive). Many people are interested in the fluff of the Warhammer universes out of general interest or an interest in one of the game's other iterations, i.e. video games or roleplaying games. Both wikis also have a very stringent policy on everything from how articles and images are to be created and uploaded, to the nature of personal comments on talk pages. The rules are stringent enough that you'll rarely see any non-Warhammer 40k related humor in any of their talk pages or articles. Lexicanum also occasionally writes articles for Community, showing that GW clearly thinks that it’s the most official of the ‘big three’ Warhammer wikis (Lexicanum, Wh40k wiki, and yours truly).
Regardless, the Lexicanum and the Warhammer 40k Wiki are both good places to look up fluff on anything Warhammer as they've recorded almost all of it. When compared to the Warhammer 40k Wiki, the Lexicanum's articles tend to be shorter due to Administrator Inquisitor S's paranoia, but are more numerous, so while the WH40k Wiki's Carnifex article is much longer and more detailed than the Lexicanum's, the Lexicanum has more information on many aspects of the various alien races of the Warhammer universe which the WH40k Wiki does not. If you want every bit of information that has been collected about a specific WH40k topic, the Warhammer 40k Wiki is the better bet; though there is the caveat that the WH40k Wiki may or may not have an article for that particular thing. But if you want to be sure of finding at least a short article for even the most obscure WH40k topic, the Lexicanum is your wiki.
The WH40k Wiki and the Lexicanum have something of a rivalry, but there is little doubt that the Lexicanum is the better known of the two sources, as the WH40k Wiki came into existence in its current incarnation only in May 2010, while the Lexicanum was created in 2005. This differential also explains why the WH40k Wiki has a smaller number of articles than the Lexicanum.
To simplify it: While WH40k Wiki has generally more information and higher quality of information on any given topic, it suffers from the fact that it once allowed fan-made imagery in. The Lexicanum, on the other hand, is more reminiscent of official Games Workshop material (often word for word), such as the tabletop game's codices, but it sometimes lacks as much depth on a particular topic.
While the Warhammer 40k Wiki's pages are of superior quality, it lacks the sheer number and scope of articles that Lexicanum has, are somewhat Imperium sided and allows fan-art on the site though the site's rules indicate that fan art will only be accepted in certain very rare cases, this is not followed well. In addition Warhammer 40k Wiki articles relies heavily on simply copying and pasting contents straight from Games Workshop books. Most of the post-2010 content has been constructed this way and if you look at any recent big article chances are that it is simply copied and pasted Codex or rulebook text, word for word. This is generally frowned upon in the fan wiki community.
Warhammer 40,000 Wiki cites all sources used at the bottom of each article rather than using footnotes. The lack of in-line citation, however, means that the authors must be trusted, making it far more difficult to check each article's facts. However, the small, professional staff is quick to fix errors that are pointed out by the community.
While it's rare for obvious homebrew fluff to survive for long on either wiki, Lexicanum's articles are somewhat less prone to contamination by fanon than Warhammer 40,000 Wiki, due to its policy of requiring in-line citations and specific page/chapter references. This is generally obvious when you find a passage on Warhammer 40,000 Wiki that was copied over from Lexicanum: typically, it will be reworded slightly (usually using more pretentious verbose language), or mixed up with some of the editor's own speculation/conclusions/fan wank, which may be hard to distinguish from official lore. A good way to avoid getting misled by fanon is to compare the overlapping information on both wikis, and see how they differ.
Comparison, aka why 1d4chan is teh besht wicki evah!
| Lexicanum | Warhammer 40k Wiki/Warhammer Fantasy Wiki (Fandom, formerly Wikia) | 1d4chan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| More articles on obscure fluff | Fewer articles on obscure fluff | Not dedicated to only 40k, so you'll find articles on all sorts, from official material to fanon that ranges from shitty to master-crafted. Unlike the others; we also offer crunch because we're not afraid of being sued by GeeDubs. | |
| Shorter, condensed, simpler articles, no editor speculation allowed | Longer, more in-depth articles, walls of text everywhere, prone to rambling and speculation. Often just copies and pastes codex and rulebook passages down to the grammatical errors. | Usually like the WH40wiki, but with more opinions, sarcasm, skub, and salt that typically pokes fun of the absurdities found in the settings they discuss. Some stubs due to lack of interest. | |
| Slower to update | More recent information | Often updates within minutes of the news being revealed. This does have a downside of everyone claiming the apocalypse on every update of their favorite wargame and a tendency to take rumors at face value. | |
| Only official everything - EVERYTHING! | Fanart used when considered applicable/needed, was more common in the past | Fanart can be used so long as it is relevant to the article, although official material is preferred so we can poke fun of/admire the developers' design choices later. | |
| Well known in community, better established, has been endorsed by GeeDubs on the Warhammer Community website | More recent creation, rapidly expanding | Once considered the armpit of the internet as far as its subject matter is concerned, now slightly more respectable, occasionally showing up in Google searches above the other two. Is the go-to place if you want a brutally honest yet comedic retelling of your favorite franchises. We're also just below Lexicanum if you search it on Google. | |
| In-text links to citation footnotes | Citations only at the end of the page | Sources are not enforced and are rarely put in by authors, unless it's to prove the truly outlandish tidbits in fluff. The reasoning for this is twofold; one is that you can always get more factual and serious articles elsewhere (and also verify the things we say here). Second is that articles on 1d4chan are geared towards deconstructing and discussing fluff, like what normally happens on /tg/, rather than just flat-out listing it like a dictionary. So, rather than just copying what our competition does; we instead provide something you can't get there; deeper insight into fluff (and laughs), straight from the minds of a thousand grizzled neckbeards. Plus as stated above; we also provide tried-and-true in-game data for popular wargame pages (especially 40K), to help you with your TT needs. Two for the price on one. | |
| Rampant paranoia about new edits, more veteran editors | More open, smaller staff, volunteer staff replaced by professionals because the fans could not be trusted | More dialogue than the other two put together in talk pages when issues come up, opinionated and defensive authors can cause debates that can last for months on end | |
| Your edits WILL BE REVERTED and YOU WILL BE BANNED | Your edits will probably be reverted. Fuck you. | DAT GIT'Z NOT AGREEIN' WITH MY POV?! EDIT WAAAAAGH! (and just like a real waaagh, this only stops when one side is victorious or everyone gets bored and slowly splinters elsewhere.) | |
| Few ads | You will DROWN in advertisements if you don't register | Two ads located at the top and side, but that still won't save you from spambots | |
| Does have Warhammer Fantasy information. Most of it is crap and outdated, though. The German version has generally more information and media than English version. It is still crap and outdated. |
No Warhammer Fantasy information (you have to rely on a different wiki for that here, the warhammer fantasy wiki is pretty much inarguably superior to the Lexicanum in terms of amount and breadth of content) | More Fantasy / AoS than most due to /tg/ wanting to preserve the memory of WHFB and keeping an eye on AoS. | |
| No Rule 34 | No PROMOTIONS | ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED?! IS THAT NOT WHY YOU ARE HERE?! | |
| Immaculate grammar due to being endorsed by GeeDubs themselves, so the mods comb over everything. Grammatical errors are nearly non-existent. | Poor grammar makes people on it want to kill themselves. | Above-average due to almost everyone in the site being English-speaking grammar Nazis. Errors still exist, although they're only in obscure articles that people rarely tend to, intentionally done for comedic purposes, or so trivial people can't be bothered to correct it. | |
| Usually can't be accessed from a restricted wifi. | Can't be accessed because fandom is considered heresy to the idiot overlords. | Is accessible through most restricted wifi networks, including most of the PROMOTIONS. |