I've played a handful of the video games, but never read the lore, books, or the tabletop games.
I've played:
- Space Marine 1 + 2
- Necromunda Hired Gun
- Boltgun
- Deathwing
- Space Hulk
- Dawn of War 3
- Dark Tide
- Shootahs, Guns, and Teef
I think the only one I 100%'d was Necromunda Hired Gun, but I played a good chunk of the rest.
It seemed apparent to me that in its creation, 40K was an amalgamation of Dune, Aliens, and the Holy Roman Catholic Church (Knights of Templar, the Crusades, etc). It is the complete opposite of what the degenerates have coopted it to be.
Not sure if yall have seen this short story, but it's pretty neat: