40K fans are at war over lasgun laser colours in Total War: Warhammer 40,000 and Dawn of War 4

New gameplay footage from Total War: Warhammer 40,000 and Dawn of War 4 has reignited a long-running argument in the Warhammer 40K community: what colour should lasgun lasers actually be?

The flashpoint is the Imperial Guard — also known as the Astra Militarum — shown in Total War footage firing yellow lasers at a massive Ork force. A vocal chunk of the community wants red lasers back, pointing to earlier games like the original Dawn of War series as the reference point. On the Total War 40K subreddit, ImpressivePlum7350 summed up the frustration: "No one was asking for this change. If it wasn't broke why break it?" Others were more measured — TributeDaJerek said they'd love red beams back but acknowledged the debate had turned needlessly hostile: "People telling you to get over it need to chill out, I know Total War subreddits are plagued with vocal doomers but some of these replies are a bit aggressive."

The pro-yellow camp has lore on their side. Commenters like bigxangelx1 and Commander Dumb pushed back, arguing that earlier games took creative liberties and that yellow bolts were always the canonical depiction. That position got official backing from a Warhammer Community blog post published in December last year, which explicitly cemented yellow as the correct colour for lasgun fire — making it hard canon rather than a developer choice. Dawn of War 4's Necron faction, for what it's worth, has kept its iconic green lasers, which nobody seems to be complaining about.

The debate shows no sign of dying down as both games approach release, and it's a good illustration of how fiercely the 40K community guards its lore — even when the lore sides against them.