Astartes is a short, mostly silent 3D animation about Space Marines boarding a rebel ship, made by a fan named Syama Pedersen. It’s the rare fan project that got good enough for Games Workshop to hire the creator and fold it into official Warhammer canon.
What the astartes animation actually is
It’s a series of 3D animated shorts focused on the Adeptus Astartes. The first episode runs in five parts and follows the Retributors chapter as they deploy an Impulsor kill-team to hunt the leaders of the failed Argosa Uprisings.
The squad boards a rebel warship and fights through a crew that’s desperate but competent. The deeper they go, the worse things get, and the ending leans hard into Warhammer’s cosmic horror rather than a clean win.
There’s almost no dialogue. The story is told through movement, framing, and sound design, which is a big part of why it landed so hard with fans.
From Patreon project to Warhammer+
Pedersen started Astartes in 2018 as a pure fan effort, funded partly through Patreon. Games Workshop reached out, hired him onto the Warhammer animation team, and made the series official.
That means the original episode came down from its own YouTube channel. It now lives on Warhammer Community and Warhammer+, where it’s still free to watch.
In 2021, Games Workshop announced a sequel, Astartes II, also by Pedersen. A teaser trailer dropped in January 2025, and the studio has since pointed to a 2026 release.
Why fans rate it so highly
- The action is weighty and readable, with Space Marines moving like they’re genuinely heavy.
- It shows Astartes as terrifying rather than heroic, which fits the setting better than most adaptations.
- Small details reward rewatches, like Astartes blood coagulating fast to seal wounds.
- The visual style is unusually clean and minimalist for Warhammer, which makes the violence hit harder.
How it connects to the wider lore
The Retributors are the chapter in the spotlight, and the story sits in the aftermath of the Argosa Uprisings, a rebellion the Imperium put down. An Inquisitorial agent appears too, tying the squad’s mission to the wider Imperial machine.
The finale pulls the squad into the Warp, where a shadowy entity destroys the thing that grabbed them. That’s classic 40k: even when Space Marines win, something bigger is always watching.
Astartes II will build on that ending. The 2025 teaser wasn’t clips from the new show, but a montage of the characters’ former lives, with a fairly blunt hint about where the story is heading.
Astartes vs Astartes II at a glance
| Astartes | Astartes II | |
|---|---|---|
| Creator | Syama Pedersen | Syama Pedersen with Warhammer Studio |
| Status | Released, free on Warhammer+ | In development |
| Release | 2018 onwards | Announced for 2026 |
| Focus | Retributors boarding a rebel ship | Characters’ pasts and a new story |
Key facts
- Astartes is a 3D animated short series by Syama Pedersen, started as a fan project in 2018.
- It follows the Retributors chapter during the aftermath of the Argosa Uprisings.
- Games Workshop hired Pedersen and made the series official Warhammer content.
- The original episode streams free on Warhammer+ and Warhammer Community.
- A sequel, Astartes II, was announced in 2021 and is set for a 2026 release.
FAQ
Where can I watch the Astartes animation?
It’s on Warhammer+ and the Warhammer Community site. It used to be on its own YouTube channel, but Games Workshop moved it after making the series official.
Is Astartes canon?
It’s official Warhammer content now that Games Workshop hired the creator, though it’s a standalone story rather than something that reshapes the main timeline.
When is Astartes II coming out?
Games Workshop has said 2026. A teaser trailer arrived in January 2025, so the project is real and moving, just slowly.