Food in the 42nd Millenium

[Eviscerator]

Everyone knows that WH40K is full of death and grimdark and all that but has anyone noted what they eat?

Here are my notes and such on Food and some musings on their contents
Feel free to discuss or correct me.

example PDF ration
Bread
Cheese
Brown gluey meat product
(meat extract with other additives?)

Possible CRP/Guard issue items
(bolded items are items known to have been consumed in field)
freeze-dried buckwheat porridge
corn crackers
self heating tinned soup
jars of air-dried veggies in oil
canned fish
heat-treated milk
net-wrapped dry sausage
vacuum-packed soya bars

Dehydrated bean cube soup
Bland meat substituteReconstituted broth
Tinned Meat (C-Grade)
Tea leaves
Pickled Bell Chilli and Peppers
Rehydrated rice

Departmento Munitorum canteen issue (clean and wholesome)
Fish broth and bread
Fish and Starch pudding (piquant)
Fish stock gruel with root vegetables and rye bread

IG Penal Legion daily standard ration
Cold protein gruel with reconstituted fruit juice (half pint daily)
Prison Planet daily menu
Protein gruel or overcooked meat with sloppy soup

Imperial Navy standard Worker issue
Grey Slop twice a day
Reveille: slathered on hard bread
Before Lights out: All you can eat, Hot.

[Coyote]

Was there something you were curious about or wanted to ask about science fiction food in general, or is this just someone looking for a reason to discuss Wankhammer 40K?

[Eviscerator]

Everybody keeps talking X amount of soldiers vs Y amount of enemy, but then no one remembers "The fuel that keeps the Imperium going and without which countless worlds would collapse" - Bleeding Chalice paraphrased quote.

I was looking for discussion like
1. Advanced killing tech but lousy basic nutrition
All this feeding of chemical laden food can't be good for a human. (although yeah the average Guardsman combat lifespan is 13 hours)
2. Why in the Grim Future is so much of sci-fi food bland?
3. For those with prior service in the military, maybe now you can look on your Combat Ration with some relief your not getting Grey Slop

[ZGundam]

Actually this makes me wonder how the military is able to keep its soldiers in top condition with this kind of food. Even today's military's MREs seem better then this slop.

Seems to be just the minimum needed to keep a body working and with the amount of Ig out there, so what if a few die, right?

[Hawkwings]

What are your sources for this information? I presume books, but which books?

[ZGundam]

I know alot of the Gaunt's Ghosts novel talking about the crappy food they eat.

[Eviscerator]

A short lis

Nightbringer - PDF ration
Gaunt's Ghost and Ciaphas Cain series - main bulk CRP/DM items
Emperor's Mercy for the C-grade meat and condiments
Last Chancers omnibus - Penal legion stuff
Relentless - Grey Slop.

I've left out several other items like hive/feral world food items, luxury items, etc etc. Couple items i've forgotten to put in too.

[Peptuck]

I know that about half of that comes from the Gaunt's Ghosts books, specifically

freeze-dried buckwheat porridge
corn crackers
self heating tinned soup
jars of air-dried veggies in oil
canned fish
heat-treated milk
net-wrapped dry sausage
vacuum-packed soya bars

All of those are things Tona Criid finds in the Ghosts' supply warehouse in Necropolis.

There's also Soylens Viridians, from the Cain novels.

[Darksider]

There's also Soylens Viridians, from the Cain novels.

It's people?


I know from Titanicus that the Orestes PDF storehouses contain something called "Munitorium-issue reprocessed meat product" in sealed cans. Whatever it is it doesn't sound too appetizing.

[Broomstick]

I haven't read anything in WH40K, but I looked at this list and it occurred to me I've eaten a lot of similar stuff on camping trips:

Bread
Cheese
freeze-dried buckwheat porridge
corn crackers
self heating tinned soup
canned fish
heat-treated milk
net-wrapped dry sausage
vacuum-packed soya bars
Dehydrated bean cube soup
Bland meat substitute
Reconstituted broth
Tinned Meat
Tea leaves
Pickled Bell Chilli and Peppers
Rehydrated rice
Fish broth and bread
Fish stock gruel with root vegetables and rye bread
Cold protein gruel with reconstituted fruit juice (half pint daily)
Protein gruel or overcooked meat with sloppy soup

Which leaves stuff that I don't think I've eaten before:

Brown gluey meat product (meat extract with other additives?) (WTF? Sounds like natto, except natto is from soybeans. But it's definitely brown and gluey. And come to think of it, I have eaten the stuff)
Fish and Starch pudding (piquant) (This actually sounds somewhat like my great aunt Pearl's gefilte fish. If so, it tastes better than it sounds, particularly with horseradish on top.)
Grey Slop twice a day (more WTF?)

What's listed isn't wonderful food, but it will keep you going in the field for awhile and if you're hungry you'll eat it. Add the proper vitamins and minerals to the mix and you can probably live on it indefinitely. It's not ideal nutrition, but hey, there's a war on, right?

I was looking for discussion like
1. Advanced killing tech but lousy basic nutrition
All this feeding of chemical laden food can't be good for a human.

All food is chemicals. All cooking is chemistry.

2. Why in the Grim Future is so much of sci-fi food bland?

Less likely to cause tummy upset.

3. For those with prior service in the military, maybe now you can look on your Combat Ration with some relief your not getting Grey Slop

I do wonder, though, if the military still serves Shit on a Shingle, though...

I know from Titanicus that the Orestes PDF storehouses contain something called "Munitorium-issue reprocessed meat product" in sealed cans. Whatever it is it doesn't sound too appetizing.

Sounds rather like our contemporary "mechanically separated meat" which, yes, is animal in origin but if you know how it's made I'd question if you'd consider it meat. If you've eaten hot dogs you've eaten this stuff, and it's found in various other products as well.

[Connor MacLeod]

Corpse startch. Places that are overcrowded and hives are likely to recycle any organic matter (including people) and process it into food. you don't want to live in places like that. That's likely the diet of most lower level hive dwellers (hab residents, factory workers, etc.) The AdMech is known to create nutrient pastes IIRC to feed its troops from reccled corpses too (and I wont touch on Soylent Viridians. Its a joke., I hope...)

Of course, hives are also known to import food from offworld (thats one of the big purpsoes of agri worlds after all) but I suspect that at most its middle and upper class folk that get access to that stuff (On Necromunda only the wealthy get real food IIRC). Perversely, underhivers may also avoid eating people if they are fairly well off by Underhive standards (successful gangers, bounty hunters, etc.) by subsisting on whatever local ecosystem may develop (Wildsnake, rat, mutant beetle, etc.)

I suspect the "best" food is on Agri and Paradise worlds, although Agri worlds as a rule tend to be highly specialized too.

Civilised worlds and their variants probably fall somewhere in between.

[NecronLord]

Why are we assuming Guard food is bad and 'Grimdark'? The munitorum manual indicates neutrition is at least thought about, and I have no doubt that people who can make servitors can make a good MRE. Much like the notion that the High Lords are corrupt, I see no real evidence for it.

By the by, it's the 41st Millennium. As we know, the 42nd is the Millennium when mankind triumphs over all but the Necrons.

[Connor MacLeod]

Everybody keeps talking X amount of soldiers vs Y amount of enemy, but then no one remembers "The fuel that keeps the Imperium going and without which countless worlds would collapse" - Bleeding Chalice paraphrased quote.

I was looking for discussion like
1. Advanced killing tech but lousy basic nutrition

Actually from what I've read they tend to focus heavily on nutrition over many other factors including flavor. IIRc the uplifting primer and Munitorum manual cover food pretty well, although various guard novels do at some point or another as do some of the "campaign" guides like for Armageddon and the Sabbat Worlds Crusade.

If there are any problems, its likely because you have millions of worlds with countless populations of differing backgrounds, climates, and whatever, and thats before introducing genetic engineering or other stuff. Nutritional requirements vary.

All this feeding of chemical laden food can't be good for a human.

As opposed to what? I'm pretty sure we haven't stopped adding chemicals to modern foods for various reaosns (or at least certain kinds) otherwise there wouldnt be a prolific side-trade in "organic" foods.

(although yeah the average Guardsman combat lifespan is 13 hours)

I've seen other stats elsewhere. Depends greatly on the region/world you come from.

2. Why in the Grim Future is so much of sci-fi food bland?

Again, many many different worlds with different people and different ecologies and such. IRL I get allergies from certain products like milk if there's too much in it. I imagine you have similar complications arising. Keeping it relatively flavorless helps cut down on adverse reactions I'd say. (Alot of this is in fact highlighted in the Munitorum manual, and even then they have to keep varieties of food in the chain because of the diversity of regiments that exist. So that's yet antoher reason why food can vary so much)

Moreover, adding flavor to food can largely be considered a "luxury" - something you pay for. That's why I pay extra for spices at the store if I wnat to add flavor to something I cook.

[Serafina]

Why are we assuming Guard food is bad and 'Grimdark'? The munitorum manual indicates neutrition is at least thought about, and I have no doubt that people who can make servitors can make a good MRE. Much like the notion that the High Lords are corrupt, I see no real evidence for it.

By the by, it's the 41st Millennium. As we know, the 42nd is the Millennium when mankind triumphs over all but the Necrons.

Heck, we can make high-caloric food these days with ease. We are capable of sustaining people on a single teacup of food a day for months.
We can mix that stuff with other food, so you propably won't see a difference either.

We do not use it do feed our troops, because it is more expensive, and food is only a small part of the supply line anyway.
But if you have to ship that food with starships, have to operate without a supply line from months (all the food being stored on food etc.), saving on storage space becomes was more important. And i do not think that the Imperium cares about giving their soldiers tasty or variable food.

[Darksider]

By the by, it's the 41st Millennium. As we know, the 42nd is the Millennium when mankind triumphs over all but the Necrons.

Erm what?

Doesn't all the fluff from the new edition codexes refer to this as the "time of ending" for the Imperium? Supposedly the golden throne is damaged beyond the admech's ability to repair and the Astronomicon barely reaches Ultramar. I have a hard time believing that the Imperium could go from its darkest hour to ultimate victory in a little over a thousand years, what with them having been fighting for ten thousand years already without making significant progress.

[Bob the Gunslinger]

Darksider, I believe Necronlord is referring to the Ciaphas Cain novels, which contain footnotes written from a 42nd Millennium viewpoint. (Perhaps Sandy Mitchell's greatest joke is that his novels are the only GW fluff that advances the story in any way past 999 M41.) The footnotes give the impression that the Imperium is still whole, possibly prospering, but that the Necrons are feared even more in the future than they are 'now' due to increased exposure and understanding of the threat. I could be wrong, though.

[Aaron]

I was looking for discussion like
1. Advanced killing tech but lousy basic nutrition
All this feeding of chemical laden food can't be good for a human. (although yeah the average Guardsman combat lifespan is 13 hours)

Well that is obviously out and out bullshit, considering that even guys in a Penal Legion where in good health on just gruel and fruit juice. Hell Kage was a virtual one man army, Catachan's resemble mountains more then they do men and there are plenty of examples in the Cain novels of them besting Orks and such in HtH. You don't do that stuff on a shit diet.

And if you got that 13 hours example from the novel of the same name, that was specific to that world.

2. Why in the Grim Future is so much of sci-fi food bland?

This should actually have been your question at the start, Guard food seems to be bland but Eisenhorn, the new DH novels and Ravenor to an extent demonstrate that food is more then palatable.

3. For those with prior service in the military, maybe now you can look on your Combat Ration with some relief your not getting Grey Slop

Our combat rations had salmon steak as a meal. They were actually better then the Mess Hall food.

[Shroom Man 777]

Hey, in the Cain stories his Guardsmen seem pretty well-nourished and they seem to have lots of food and teas and coffees (recaff!) and amenasec or whatever, and florn cakes. Of course, that's just Cain and his buddies in the higher ranks. But, I mean, even Jurgen can make sandwiches for Cain.

I think it's just that a lot of the standard food issued by the Munitorum is shitty and bland and tasteless, but I think Guard regiments end up supplementing a lot of their foods and supplies from local sources when they reach planets with lots of restaurants and cooks and stuff.

I mean, shit, MREs aren't the only thing US soldiers eat, and they have their own cooks and chefs and canteens that cook other stuff taken from local food sources and make "real" food.

[Aaron]

Shroom just reminded me, in The Traitor's Hand Cain makes mention of arming the cooks. So Guard regiments at least contain a cooks section, just like a real life regiment.

[NecronLord]

Darksider, I believe Necronlord is referring to the Ciaphas Cain novels, which contain footnotes written from a 42nd Millennium viewpoint. (Perhaps Sandy Mitchell's greatest joke is that his novels are the only GW fluff that advances the story in any way past 999 M41.) The footnotes give the impression that the Imperium is still whole, possibly prospering, but that the Necrons are feared even more in the future than they are 'now' due to increased exposure and understanding of the threat. I could be wrong, though.

I am indeed. They're written a hundred years or so past the 999.M41 date. Amberly mentions in passing that the Tau are still growing, but that she thwarts their plots, Kryptmann's plan worked, and the Nids are chowing down on Orks by and large, the 13th Black Crusade was driven back. The only threat that seems to be what it's cracked up to be is the Necrons, as she mentions that they're just beginning to find out about the C'tan, and that more necrons are awakening, and so on.

This is somewhat conjectural, but the tone of her statements, and general attitude seems to imply that all this is the case. One of the historical documents in Cain's Last Stand mentions glorious victories at Cadia, for instance.

[Darksider]

Isn't getting the nids to attack the Orks considered to be a stalling tactic at best, since afterwards the Imperium will have to face either a massive hive fleet that's fattened up on orks, or a massive WAAAGH! full of veteran Orks?

As for the Black Crusade, I thought that was already taken care of after some world-wide event a few years back. In order for Chaos to actually make it past the Cadian Gate, they'd have to be led by someone other than Failbaadon.

And I seriously can't believe that someone hasn't taken the five minutes it'd take to swat the Tau like a bunch of flies yet.

[NecronLord]

Isn't getting the nids to attack the Orks considered to be a stalling tactic at best, since afterwards the Imperium will have to face either a massive hive fleet that's fattened up on orks, or a massive WAAAGH! full of veteran Orks?

Indeed. However, that pessimism assumes the Imperium sits around with its collective thumb up its butt.

As for the Black Crusade, I thought that was already taken care of after some world-wide event a few years back. In order for Chaos to actually make it past the Cadian Gate, they'd have to be led by someone other than Failbaadon.

I'd have to look it up, but it's rather more positive than that.

[Raxmei]

And if you got that 13 hours example from the novel of the same name, that was specific to that world.

It's actually 15 hours, and that number isn't even the average lifespan. In a badly managed warzone where the Guard are losing, half of all replacement troops die within 15 hours of reaching the front. The mean lifespan would be more than 15 hours because after the first day or so the new troops adapt to combat conditions and will go on to survive for much longer than 15 hours. The book's about a badly dysfunctional Guard force cut off from offworld supply and reinforcement and forced to support itself on local resources. Of course their food sucks, everything sucks there.

[Aaron]

15 Hours! I thought I had that wrong. Thanks.

[Eviscerator]

At some point GW has to get off their collective butts and advance the story to the 42nd Millenium don't they?

The DM quite likely has different ration scales like the Soviet Army of ww2.
Hans Von Luck made reference in his book to 4 grades of men with differing food issue
Thus we have Commissars dining on bacon and eggs for breakfast and Lord Generals having Whatever They Damn Well Want.
Rank and file however have different stuff and i admit, issue stuff varies widely from sector to sector and we can end up with junior officers dining on Hot meal brick

DH: Inquisitor's Handbook lists other stuff like
Civilian ration bricks made from recyk food waste or any other organic materials (Real human protein?)
Prayer sheets imprinted with nutrients (maybe rice paper or equivalent) for general firing
And their take on Long Range rations, also the famous "emergency ration bar" that Cain loaths.