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The Bolter and Chainsword needs you! Since 1999, the Bolter and Chainsword has been providing Warhammer 40,000 hobbyists with a platform for understanding and enjoying the hobby and for engaging with hobbyists around the world. The site is funded by donations. There are no paywalls to participate here: members don't pay any membership fees and members don't have to pay to unlock any features or access increased/improved capabilities. We don't have any advertising. What we have is generous members who are willing to donate funds to keep the site running. Several years ago, we received a very sizeable donation from a member, and that donation was sufficient to support the site for quite some time. About half a year ago, that donation ran out and I have been paying for the site out of my own pocket. Canoness Tyler tells me that's no longer an option, however, so we're returning to our donation model. What do your donations pay for? Monthly hosting fees Semiannual licensing fees Themes (skins) and associated imagery Emergency maintenance We also like to keep some money in reserve to cover emergency maintenance since that might require professional help, replacement servers, etc. It's difficult to predict what that might cost, so we aim for a cushion (operational reserve) of at least $500 (and $1,000 is a much better target). In addition, we try to collect a little money every year to save up for periodic server upgrades/migrations and software upgrades, the latter of which includes licensing fees. This amounts to about $300 per year, which should accumulate over a 3-5 year period to cover these costs. Everyone who works here (administrators, moderators, etc.) does so on a completely voluntary basis - no one is paid for the work that they perform here day in and day out. Your donations don't go into anyone's pocket, not even mine. I manage the funds (and pay taxes on them - part of my monetary contribution to the site), but all funds collected belong to the site/community. If we're ever able to collect more money than is necessary to cover our fixed fees, the operational reserve, and the migration/upgrade fund, that money might be used for contest prizes or to commission special themes/imagery for the site. Alternatively, it will roll over for the next year. That money never goes into anyone's pocket. Our goal is to collect $2,500 USD by the end of June, 2026. This will cover all of our fixed fees for the year. We are planning to upgrade/migrate our servers and update the software to Invision 5.0 soon, so our target this year is a little higher than we expect it to be in subsequent years. What do you get in return? Aside from the satisfaction of knowing that you're contributing to keep the best site on the Internet for the Warhammer 40,000 hobby up and running, you'll receive a supporter badge for 2026: Anonymous donations are allowed, too, as are donations from non-members. In those cases, the supporter badge will not be awarded. Okay, you also get: Articles - a way to present useful hobby content for other hobbyists to view, and to view similar content published by other hobbyists Blogs - a way to share and organize your hobby-related content in a way that you can control and access far more easily than the Forums, and to engage with other members about the hobby-related content that they share Downloads - a way to share your hobby-related files with other hobbyists and to download files shared by other hobbyists Events - a way to remain aware of, and to make others aware of, hobby-related events via our calendar Forums - a way to engage in discussion with hobbyists from around the world Gallery - a way to host your hobby-related images for sharing with other hobbyists (and a way to see other hobbyists' images) Clubs - a way to customize all of the above into your own little niche, engaging with other hobbyists on areas of special interest And all of the above is freely available to everyone. How can you donate? The easiest way to donate is via PayPal. You can make a one-time donation or you can set up a recurring donation. If you make a recurring donation, please let me know so I can forecast our monthly totals. Whether you choose to make your donation one-time or recurring, make sure to mark your donation as a gift. If you're a member and you're logged in, look for the Donate sidebar widget on the main Forums page. If you're not a member and desire to donate via PayPal, you can send your [gift] donation to . If you prefer Venmo, you can submit your donation to: bolter-and-chainsword If you prefer to use some method other than PayPal, contact me at the email address above and we'll work something out. If you desire for your donation to be anonymous, please send me a PM after you make the donation so that I know to not award the supporter badge. Be sure to include the email address or name used for the donation. We'll keep track of the donations that we receive and will provide regular updates. These will occur via the color-coded announcement that will appear at the top of the forum as well as via a reply in this discussion. In addition, members using the dark theme will see a fundraising banner in the rotation and that will provide both the total amount of funds raised on the right side and a green bar that will stretch across the bottom to show the percentage we've reached. If we're not able to reach our funding goal via donations, we'll either have to look into advertising or the site will have to shut down (and if the latter happens, we'll refund all donors, minus PayPal/financial management fees).

Our tags system is in a transitional period. Prior to this, we have allowed freeform tags - members could basically type in whatever they wanted for their tags. We have had the option to limit tags, but I didn't want to do that. Freeform tags will no longer be an option when we upgrade to Invision 5.0, however, so we're leaning forward and building our tag list. Ultimately, tags are one element of our content discovery. Most people probably just look at them and see what tag(s) members have assigned to their content. Some of you may have figured out that you can click on a tag and the software will then perform a search, returning all results for content that shares the clicked tag. For tags to be truly useful, then, there needs to be some level of consistency. Freeform tags don't guarantee consistency and we would often see different spellings, abbreviations, etc. for the same concept. For example, content about Space Marines might have a variety of tags assigned, such as Space Marines or Adeptus Astartes, and you can imagine how some members might capitalize and others might not. We might even see tags like space, Marines, Adeptus, Astartes, etc. assigned instead, leading to confusion. For example, would the tag space refer to Space Marines, Chaos Space Marines, [outer] space, or some other subject that uses "space" in its name? And then there are the terms that have multiple meanings. A good example of this is Horus Heresy. That term might refer to the actual event, to the setting, to the current tabletop miniature wargame or one of its preceding editions, to the original wargame, to the revised game that Fantasy Flight Games published, to the collectible card game, to the series of books, etc. It has been clear for quite some time that we needed to standardize things, and I've been trying to do that without being overly limiting or oppressive. This involved coming up with guidelines for entering tags, though that would still allow for extensive tagging options. With the upcoming change in Invision 5.0, however, our hand is forced. My original plan was to simply standardize the schema I had been developing. After working through it, however, I realized that would be unworkable. The way the defined tags work is that members are allowed to choose from a list of tags. If we have a list of tags as extensive as the one I originally envisioned, or even a list one-tenth the size that I envisioned, it would rapidly become unusable and tags would become pointless. Moreover, we would be continuously updating the list as GW publishes new games, new editions of games, new (sub)factions, etc. So I had to consider tags as part of an overarching system for content architecture and content discovery. Tags work within an ecosystem that also includes content titles, content descriptions, content types (e.g., discussions, images, articles, etc.), and content location within features (i.e., the categories and subcategories of the respective features, as well as the forums and subforums within the Forums feature). While clicking on a tag will activate a simple use of the search engine, members can perform more advanced searches that include tags, content titles, content types, content authors, etc. Understanding that, I realized that the list of tags could be much smaller. More importantly, tags don't need to duplicate data that can (and should) be captured in those other elements. For example, we don't need a Dark Angels Chapter tag because members can simply enter "Dark Angels" into the search engine to find content related to that Legion/Chapter. Instead of entering any tags you want into a cell, you'll be presented with a drop-down list of the available tags, allowing you to select one or more. You don't have to select any, however. You will see staff members edit tag assignments, however. So if you select one of the tags that is intended for staff usage, we'll probably delete it. We'll add/delete tags to improve content discovery and remove/reduce confusion. The current list is transitional. I am certain that it will be expanded (I have at least three additions in mind as I compose this). For now, the tags available to you are: Banner of the Month battle report community challenge force composition MUD product review resource index rule question rumor site announcement strategy and tactics Banner of the Month is one that might disappear. I use that in my [usually] monthly topics about the Banner of the Month and having a tag is very handy. I might force myself to just search for the text string in the content title. battle report is fairly obvious in its meaning. Theoretically, battle reports can be located in the various forums of the ++ STRATEGIUM: RULES AND GAME PLAY ++ category (e.g., a Necromunda battle report would be posted in the + NECROMUNDA + forum, an Aeuronautica Imperialis battle report would be posted in the + EPIC SCALE HORUS HERESY GAMES + forum, a Space Hulk battle report would be posted in the + OTHER GAMES + forum, etc.). However, hobbyists often post their battle reports in the (sub)forums dedicated to the participating (sub)factions. For example, a Warhammer 40,000 battle report featuring the Ultramarines versus Orks might be posted in the + ULTRAMARINES + forum, the + ORKS + forum, or both. Truth be told, the method I prefer is that members create their own blogs and post their battle reports in their blogs, then post outreach topics in the appropriate (sub)forums to draw eyes to those blog entries. We're not going to be heavy-handed here, giving hobbyists the freedom to choose whatever they prefer. Regardless, assigning the battle report tag to all such content will allow members to find it wherever it is. community challenge refers to any of the various contests and challenges that we conduct here, such as the 12 Months of Hobby Challenge 2026 (conducted via the Clubs), the Bunker Bingo 2026 Challenge! (also conducted via the Clubs), and the recent Legio Roll of Honour challenge (conducted via the Forums). This tag can also be used for external contests and challenges. force composition is what we would normally think of as an army list. However, different games have different names for this concept. In Battlefleet Gothic, for example, one uses a fleet registry. A more generalized name makes it usable for any of the various games covered here. MUD is a tag used by the staff (it definitely doesn't mean "Malcador unceremoniously died" ). product review would be used for any type of review of a product such as a miniature, a boxed set, a book, etc. resource index is a tag used by the staff to identify both the resource index topics that appear at the top of many (sub)forums as well as the topics that are linked from those resource topics. We use the resource topics to minimize the number of pinned topics, allowing members to get to the more current topics without having to scroll through dozens or more pinned topics. The topics linked within retain top-of-the-forum visibility and quick accessibility via the links in the resource topics, and the tags help us to readily know when they are in those indices (so we can unarchive them, when necessary). rule question would be used for any discussion in which a member has a question about a rule. Ideally, each discussion will be limited to a single rule and the topic title would include the rule name (where practical), allowing members to (a) focus discussion on that rule, and (b) recognize which rule is being discussed at a glance. There may be times when the interaction between two or more rules is an issue, allowing the interactions between those rules to be discussed in the same topic. rumor should be used for any bonafide rumor (not speculation), including the Rumour Engine (and it's occasional thematic alternative names) that Games Workshop presents at Warhammer Community. site announcement is another tag used by the staff to identify topics like this one, announcing some change or update to the site. strategy and tactics is the tag used for discussions about strategy and tactics on the tabletop (not army/force composition). We're not going to have tags for characters (e.g., Roboute Guilliman, Eldrad Ulthran, etc.), nor are we going to have tags for (sub)factions/organizations (e.g., Ultramarines, Red Corsairs, Legio Furibundus). Similarly, we won't have tags for Black Library authors. We won't have tags for units (e.g., Vindicators, Intercessors, etc.). We're not going to have tags for images, articles, downloads, blogs, etc. since those are content types that are easily selectable in the search engine. And we definitely won't have tags for members (a lot of members have done this in the past, and it made perfect sense at the time). We will almost certainly expand this list. For example, I can see tags identifying that content is about a DIY/homegrown organization as well as tags to identify models, terrain, and gaming boards (or something like that). If you have suggestions, feel free to post them here.