It's Wokehammer! Games Workshop engulfed in gender row with fans after it said ... trends now
A 'woke' gender row has broken out among Games Workshop fantasy fans after women were added to an army squadron for the first time.
Bosses behind the Warhammer game have introduced a female character to one of its most popular table-top battalions whose devotees include film star Henry Cavill.
But some men are furious at the move, insisting that the 'Adeptus Custodes' brigade has always been all-male and any changes should have been done differently.
The company was directly questioned on X, formerly Twitter, by a follower asking: 'Why did you make female custodes?'
The official Warhammer account responded by posting: 'Since the first of the Ten Thousand were created, there have always been female Custodians.'
Warhammer umbrella firm Games Workshop has announced for the first time that women were part of its popular 'Adeptus Custodes' brigade
Henry Cavill is an avid gamer and has signed up to star in Warhammer screen adaptations
Warhammer toys are at the centre of a new gender row after Games Workshop gave its update
The official Warhammer account was challenged over the latest update on X, formerly Twitter
A new edition of Warhammer 40,000 fantasy fiction introduces a character named 'Custodian Calladyce Taurovalia Kesh' - and using female pronouns for her.
Long-time fans say it is the first time a woman has been part of the gold-clad Adeptus Custodes squad - with an online backlash breaking out in response.
Fan site Wargamer discussed the controversy in a post which described how there had been 'nearly three decades of Warhammer 40k books and short stories only featuring male-presenting Custodian Guards'.
It went on to say: 'The introduction of a canonically female member of the Custodes is being seen by fans as a conscious narrative shift on GW’s part.'
Another Twitter user asked Games Workshop whether more female members would be added, to be told: 'We'll just have to wait and see.'
There was a backlash online from some fans unhappy with the development.
Video game executive and former World Of Warcraft developer Mark Kern accused Games Workshop of 'gender flipping' characters for 'woke points'.
He said: 'The issue with Warhammer and Custodes is the lie. They could have changed it all they wanted.
An enthusiast is seen playing a game of Warhammer at a Games Workshop store in London
British actor Henry Cavill is set to star in and produce Warhammer 40,000 adaptations
Games Workshop's announcement has prompted an angry backlash on X, formerly Twitter - though others have hit out at the critics themselves
'But they decided to lie and pretend it was that way all along. That lie is part of an insidious malignant ideology that throws away all reason and fact. That is the part that is
