The Fortress Monastery - Warhammer 40,000 

The Blood Angels are infamous for being ferocious in battle, but not many know that they are fantastic artisans as well. How appropriate that a gorgeous and artistic short film is made about their daily routine. Thanks for giving the Blood Angels some love.

God damn the Warhammer 40k Community produce better short films and animation than Games Workshop can produce actual films! xD

That shot of the water shaking at the beginning. I honestly thought that was live action. Absolutely stunning

What is your Duty? *To serve the Emperor's Will* What is the Emperor's Will? *That we fight and die* What is Death? *It is our Duty* - Litany of the Space Marines

Instead of epic fights, you went for the world building approach, nice. Keep at it, brother.

What depresses and amazes me at the same time, is that basically everything I've seen lately on 40K fan fiction is miles ahead of the latest official GW fluff. This captures the solemn and melancholic spirit of the live of a Space Marine perfectly. Great job!

Man you must doing cinematic for future 40000 games - fantastic work

Some people would maybe call this boring, but for me as a WH40K fan this is awesome. Not just the quality but also the atmosphere and everything. Great work. I hope someday they will produce a WH40K movie with blockbuster budget. Altough i dont thing this will ever happen. At least not in a good way, where the overwhelming size and the grimm brutality of this universe is protrayed properly.

WHAT IS YOUR DUTY!?

Take a close look at 3:15. Do you know what that is? It is a latin version of the Gilgamesh Epic, I believe it is from tablet X or IX (of XII) when Gilgamesh goes to see Uta-Napishtim who is basically Noah as you may know him from the bible, except that he lives in the underworld and has been granted eternal life by the gods, which is what Gilgamesh seeks. In order to get there, however, he needs to cross the waters of the underworld and Ur-Shanabi is the ferry man. The lowest verse is Ur-Shanabi asking Gilgamesh about why there is so much pain in Gilgamesh's soul (Quare in tuam animus dolores est) and why he underwent the long and arduous journey to the brink of the seas of the underworld (et tui faciem de longe venientis?) and why he is clad in the hides of animals. This question is a repeated theme. Gilgamesh each time answers that he mourns for the loss of Enkidu, his friend and possibly lover. Each time he is given different advice by those he speaks to, but Siduri I think encapsulates the meaning of the epic best, as she says: "Make Merry each day, play and dance each night, may your head be washed, may you bathe in water and your clothes be clean. Look to the little one at your hand and let your wife enjoy your repeated embrace." Heed her words, because this message is about coming to terms with your own mortality and about embracing what it means to be human and not just accepting, but embracing it. The menationing of a wife and most importantly a child also seems to imply that to be human goes beyond just the individual and human life continues through the successive reproduction of generations instead of immortal individuals, though seeing as the authors lived so long ago, I am unsure if speculations on their intentions can be anything but baseless, but then again, I am no scholar. However: I vigorously, furiously applaud this super nerdy reference. This makes you wonder, though, what this text does mean to a space marine, what message would they derive from the epic? It is in essence an existencial work of literature, as is the theme of this video: "What is duty...?". Siduri's advice holds no value to them, they won't make merry each day and they do not sire offspring, presumably they do not even have sexual relations. Maybe it serves to contrast their role from that of ordinary humanity, but that seems too shallow. Coming to grips with mortality is a different question for a space marine, as they have no known maximum lifespan (See Dante) but are expected to die in combat and even then may go on interred into a dreadnaught. The end of the epic is Gilgamesh contemplating his great city and the works he has done to further its prosperity, so maybe the message to a space marine is that what counts is not the individual but the chapter and ultimately the Imperium. There are many ways to read the epic of Gilgamesh, so check it out for yourself, I assure you that it definitely is NOT heresy. There is also another fun fact in there for you guys: There are XII tablets, but the canonicity of tablet XII is debated, which goes to show you that people have angry debates about canon even if the work in question is literally the oldest literary work that we know of today.

How is it that a fan made short looks more accurate and appealing than the Official Ultramarines movie.

fans like you are what keep Warhammer alive..

I swear my pants were on when I started watching.

For the emperor! that's glorious!

The text on the chaplain's banner along with my attempt at a translation: "Spes nos potest esse sine Future: Habemus ad Fides autem unius non potest esse sine capite. Habemus ad Sine Imperatore, ibi nihil Et non ad nos" (Attempted) translation, taking a few liberties: "Our hope is to have no future (i.e. to die for the Emperor): We declare Faith, while united in us all, Cannot be without a head. We declare Without the Emperor, there is Nothing And nothingness for us"

The problem with this video? It ends. I Don't want to see it ends, i want to know were the blood angels are going, i wanna know who is the death one, i want to see the chaplain in battle. This video is majestic, is perfect for the intro of a movie! I want to see this one become a fantasti piece of movie and art. Really, fantastic job, i cannot even immagine the effort and the time spent. Brilliant!

The quality on this is next level.

Some of the best balance between filter and clear speech I've heard in a 40k video, bolstered by some damn good voice acting. Honestly I thought this was made in Cry-engine at first; had no idea that was Unreal Engine. Goes to show just how bloody good that thing can make things look. Amazing work!

Despite this being an anthology of disconnected scenes, I felt that this was closer to the spirit of the fluff than most other WH40K animated movies. I'm not saying that the others are bad by any means, as many of them are absolutely breathtaking. You manage to capture the "grim darkness" of the setting perfectly and beautifully.

There’s so much of this universe I’d love to see. I’ve always wanted to have a look inside an imperial navy ship. Remember playing fire warrior on the ps2. That got the atmospheric feel down when you were on the battle barge.

oh god

Holy Emperor this is amazing! Great job, mate! The quality of this blew my mind, when the shrapnel piece went into the water, it was life like! How is this possible?! You truly are an artist! I hope to see more Warhammer stuff from you! Amazing!

Ne mogu da iskazem koliko sam se iznenadila sto vidim da srpska imena stoje iza ovog filma. Toplo mi je oko srca. Fenomenalan rad na svetskom nivou, svaka cast. Emperor Would Be Proud!

No battle scenes but that's totally alright. So much of the other-worldly magic of 40k is the atmosphere and the small details, aided by an appropriate soundtrack, which this video does perfectly. Not to mention the great voices - keep up the great work.

the amount of quality and care that goes into these videos never ceases to amaze me

If this isnt one of the most beautiful things i have seen in my life, then i dont know what! Only in death, does duty ends.

Remember the days before GW dragged fan creators behind the shed? I remember.

imagine growing up in the 40k universe not be a space marine or a guardsmen, but a choir man for a fortress monastery, probably the safest job you'll ever have,.

I see many guys complaining about how long it takes for cloud and his team to make another video, then i go to his patreon and see only 6 (six!) guys support his work with miserable 4 bucks. That's literally one drink in a bar! Do you realize these guys (see credits) are doing this in their free time, as enthusiasts, and it takes a couple of months to do video of this quality and length and you want videos more often and longer? Support them or you shouldn't have any right to talk!

We need all these youtubers that make these short films to get together and create a full length movie or series

This is absolutely incredible, thank you for your contribution to the hobby, man.

Guy pops in outta nowhere. Drops this Masterpiece. Dips.

First there was The Lord Inquisitor then there was Hellsreach and death of hope now we have this! Oh what a time to be a 40k fan. :3

The WH40K fan films are coming in hot and fast. And they are all excellent quality

Can we please crowdfund this guy so that he has enough money to make a movie ? Imagine a 40 k movie with this quality. It would be so amazing

A little trivia for those who care: I first watched this video almost 2 years ago, and while i was captivated by its visuals, i had NO IDEA what it was about. I listened to the soldiers speak of their duty, while i watched hooded men tinker with the insides of some random man. Little did i know, that this very video, would starr a burning love for everything 40k, and to look back at this, remembering all the mysterious wonders at the time, and having an abundance of knowledge now...i smile in glee at it all

Holy emperor this looks damn good. So good I kept subscribed to this channel.

For the first time, we walk through lab, library, central hall of these warhammer-guys. .Fanrastic! Amasing! Bravo momci , najbolji ste!

I find it a fucking crime a series with such expansive lore and such a large fandom hasn’t had ONE movie made about it.

Waiting for that Cease and Desist to come to this man any day now.

Great job brother ;D

By the blood this is brilliant! You make the Emperor and Sanguinius proud today brother.

Servo skull with a lit candle on it's head floating around in a library. Seems safe.

This is... this... By the emperor's divine sake, you earned yourself a sub.

Good story, amazing sound, astonishing visuals. I adore you. Amazing work.

All the beauty of Warhammer 40000 in one video of six minutes. I've become Patreon. WHAT IS YOUR DUTY ?

I really wish we could have just the chant and the music looping again and again cause its so awesome and mighty...like this whole video honestly!

Being a chapter serf in a non-mental chapter's monastery must be the only comfy job in the Imperium

We have to wait so long for your videos, but every video reminds, they are worth the wait!

Need more pls

this is one of the most incredible things ive ever seen.

The original god tier 40K Content Creator, everything in this isn't just crisp and well made, its visually photo-realistic and perfect, everything just works so well.

Hollywood shitting on SW lore, lets keep 40k films to ourself

Holy mother of the Emperor! We have to purge 100000 Heretics everyday because this is so awesome!

If GW doesn't pick up on these badass, high quality animations then they will be missing the fuck out.

Great voice acting, great animation, true to the spirit.

The Emperor is please of this video give this man a successor chapter

May the emperor bless your art.

Humanity will never fall as long as the space marines fight and die.

In the name of the emperor and his holy grace, we bless this video.

That space marine litany is gonna be my ringtone and/or wake up alarm. Also I found it funny that only the chaplain is getting all hyped up

These videos keeps on getting better!

Excellent. This is a magnificent/epic small animated movie. Congratulation.

Even the 40k doctors look like they can smush an ork like paper

The atmosphere in this video is freaking awesome. Well done... Brother.

That was intense! Great job

This like so many fan 40k videos is a masterpiece.

2:04 I’m not even gonna ask how you animate that That is incredible

Man, this is great. You've reached a completely new level of quality. Your previous work was good but a bit clumsy. And now, this short movie, the graphics, the voice acting, camerawork are amazing. It is really pleasant to see how you improve your skills. I wish you luck and successful big 40k projects.

I'm impressed by the empty halls and librarium scenes, the simple act of a servo skull assistant picking up and sorting a book and shimmering water in a glass adds wonders, helped by Gregorian chants. Well done fine sir. If only we could see stuff like this outside of Imperium's military forces like the Administratium, the imperial Nobility in film format.

What is the joy of life To die knowing that your duty is complete

I don't think that Apothecaries work in full armor in the middle of their Chapter Monastery, but I could see why you chose to depict it this way. Great video!

Absolutely incredible. A phenomenal effort that no doubt has the Emperor himself smiling ear to ear. You've truly outdone yourself, Cloud. Mortal eyes are unworthy of gazing upon the sheer excellence on the screen.

Good work man I can’t wait for you to do a battle

Simply amazing

Svaka cast care :D sve najbolje ;)

what kind of music in the background?

Amazing quality (especially the jar of water) and voice acting. Superb!

That's fantastic

You have honored the emperor doing his will. Thank you for this

Bloody hell. This is amazing. Can you post screenshot of that hangar bay full of Thunderhawks? It would make nice wallpaper.

Someone needs to hire you & make a series out of this. You are truly talented.

absolutely stunning. Character building, cinematography, editing, texturing, all top notch.

Amazing voice acting, amazing idea and execution. It's the golden age for fan films.

Like first, then watch. I know I won't be disappointed. :) Also, *WHERE IS THE HERETIC THAT DISLIKED THE VIDEO!?*

Phenomenal job. We want more!

By the Emperor, this is amazing! 😮

When I clicked this video and saw the great quality of it thought "wow, after Astartes more talented people start making high quality 40k movies". Then I see it was uploaded in January 2018. How have I never seen this before?!

This is a fucking masterpiece

Nice to see how the Black Templars relax during their free time.

It looks incredible, your skills as visual effects artists have come a long way in short time.

I'm not 100% sure, I'm just tossing it out there! but I have a good feeling these are the Blood Angels.

Wow man, thats amazing work!

This is indeed satisfying.

astonishing really. very well done and thank you best 40k voice acting and visuals I think I've ever seen.

Holy snapping duck shit, by the emperor this is fantastic

Amazing work! !

I am glad to be born in this era where there are so many good animators.

I really enjoyed it, trying to piece it together, I am assuming we are looking at a SM who fulfilled his duty and perhaps the lead up to funeral rites while simultaneously looking at the day to day life in a grimdark world?

This is an awesome well made video! Especially since you get a small glimpse of a space marine's life outside of battle. The voice actors and music were also brilliant. Well done!