Privacy - anvil-of-war.com

Last updated: 8 November 2026. This statement describes what this site actually does — it was checked against the source code and the running installation rather than copied from a template.

1. Controller

Alex Picker
Austrasse 10
73240 Wendlingen
Germany
Email: info@anvil-of-war.com

We have not appointed a data protection officer; we are not required to.

2. The short version

There are no analytics or statistics services from third parties — no Google Analytics, no Matomo, no counting pixel. We count page views ourselves, on our own server, without cookies and without storing your IP address (section 3a).
There are no advertising cookies and no profiling.
Colour scheme, language, reading position, filter choice, your read marks and your progress in reading paths are stored in your browser (localStorage) and never sent to us, unless you switch on the sync with a user account (section 6a).
A user account is optional; without one, everything works as before (section 6a). Nothing of it becomes public unless you explicitly switch that on.
Data leaves our server only where a function requires it: the contact form, the newsletter, the AI generator and embedded media. The fonts are hosted by us. Each of those is listed separately below.

3. Hosting and server logs

The site runs at ALL-INKL.COM (Neue Medien Münnich, Germany). A data processing agreement is in place with the provider.

On every request the server processes, as a technical necessity: IP address, time, requested address, amount of data transferred, referrer and browser identification. This is necessary to operate the site and to fend off attacks (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). Our host does not currently create an access log with these details; if it does again, the daily logs are kept at the host for a few days and are not combined with other data.

3a. Audience measurement (our own counting)

We count how often which pages are viewed and, roughly, where visitors come from. This happens on our own server, without a third-party service, without cookies and without any script in your browser.

What is processed. When a page is requested, your IP address and your browser identification are processed briefly in working memory. The following is derived from them, and only this is stored:

a daily token (a hash) that is valid until midnight. It lets us count several requests on the same day as one visit. The salt it is computed with is deleted at midnight; afterwards the token can no longer be tied to an IP address, and two days cannot be linked;
country and network operator, determined from DB-IP databases stored on our server. Your IP address is not sent to DB-IP for this;
families instead of details: device type (desktop, phone, tablet), browser, operating system, and whether the identification points to a search robot or similar programme. For programs that identify themselves as search robots or similar, a short name taken from the identification is stored as well (for example “googlebot”), so that we can see which program reads how much;
the page requested, its language, the referring site (domain only, without path or search query) and, if present, campaign parameters of the address (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign).

Not stored are your IP address, the browser identification in full, search terms, values from the address other than the campaign parameters, email addresses and user identifiers. Logged-in editors are not counted; logged-in members with a user account (section 6a) are counted like all other visitors, without a user identifier.

Purpose and legal basis. We want to know which content is read, whether links lead nowhere, and how much traffic comes from search robots and AI programmes, in order to maintain and improve the site. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in this (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). We deliberately do without cookies or other storage in your browser for it.

Retention. Individual count rows (without an IP address) are kept for up to 90 days; afterwards only summarised daily values without the daily token remain, for at most 26 months.

Browser signals. We do not evaluate signals from your browser such as “Do Not Track” or “Global Privacy Control”. You can object here instead:

Object to the counting of my visit

A click places a cookie in your browser that holds only this objection; after that your visit is no longer counted. You can undo it with the link on the confirmation page.

Access. Since we cannot identify individual visitors with this data, we cannot give information about you personally (Art. 11 GDPR). Your right to object (Art. 21 GDPR) is unaffected.

Evaluation of the access logs. Once a night we also read the daily log that our host creates for the previous day, if it creates one (section 3). Your IP address and browser string pass through memory only in this case too; only daily totals are stored: how many requests there were and with what result (for example “not found”), how many images, scripts and files such as PDF documents were requested, how often individual files were downloaded, which addresses were not found (without anything after the question mark), plus the same coarse details as in our own counting (country, network operator, family of device and browser, search robots). These values cannot be attributed to a person; the logs themselves stay unchanged at the host. The log does not show who is logged in; logged-in editors are therefore included in these daily totals. The log cannot recognise your objection (link above) because it does not record cookies; since only anonymous daily totals result, this makes no difference to the outcome for you. Retention: at most 26 months.

The country and network operator data come from IP Geolocation by DB-IP (licence Creative Commons Attribution 4.0).

Countries from stored addresses. For access codes (section 10) and comments (section 6) we store an IP address, as described there. For our statistics we look up the country from it in working memory and count how many redemptions and comments came from which country; the address itself is neither shown nor passed on for this. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in evaluating usage and preventing misuse (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

4. Cookies and browser storage

Without logging in and without commenting, the site sets no cookies. WordPress sets cookies only if you submit a comment with “remember my details” or if you log into the backend or into your user account (section 6a). The login cookies (“wordpress_logged_in_…” and “wordpress_sec_…”) record that you are logged in; the account could not work without them, so no consent is needed (Section 25(2) No. 2 TDDDG). They last until you close your browser, 14 days with “Stay signed in”, and end when you log out. Without logging in and without commenting, the only exception is the cookie “anvil_nz_aus”, which exists only if you expressly object to audience measurement (section 3a); it carries no identifier and lasts one year.

In your browser’s localStorage the site remembers your choice of colour scheme and language, your reading position in long works, and the last filter selection in the library (the latter expires after fourteen days). It also remembers which stories you have marked as read (at your request, or automatically when you reach the end), how far you have come in a reading path, which reading path was active last, and from when you are reading a path anew. These values stay in your browser; we cannot read them. If you have a user account and switch the sync on, the reading list, your progress in reading paths and your place in long stories are additionally stored in your service record (section 6a). Your reading list can be saved as a file and loaded again; the file is created and read by your browser alone. You can delete all of these values in your browser settings.

5. Fonts

The typefaces Oswald, Inter and Cinzel are stored on our own server and delivered from there. No connection to Google is made, and your IP address is transmitted to nobody for this purpose. Until 12 September 2026 these fonts came from Google’s CDN; that has been switched off since.

6. Comments

You can comment on stories. We store your name, email address (both required), the comment text, the time and your IP address. The IP address serves to prevent spam and abuse. Comments appear only after we have checked them (with a user account the check no longer applies after your first approved comment, section 6a), and then stay published until you or we delete them; an email is enough.

Spam protection uses an invisible control field (“honeypot”) and the plugin Antispam Bee. The check runs on our own server.

6a. User account (“Service Record”)

An account is optional; every tool and text on this site works without one. If you create one, the “Service Record” shows you what you have generated while logged in or saved for later.

What is stored. Your email address, a pseudonym you choose yourself, your password (only as a check value that WordPress derives from it; we never know the password itself), the language of your emails, and when you created and confirmed the account and last logged in. In addition: which works belong to you (chapters and regiments, works from the forge, battle reports, tanks and formations that you generated while logged in or added later through their link or code), the names you save from the name generator, with a note if you write one, and the events of your record (account created, confirmed, new work, added, saved, commented) with their time. In addition, if you wish, your reading list (which stories you have read or started, with progress and time), the entries you save (stories, glossary entries, dossiers), and the comments you wrote while logged in. If you create a public profile, also your introduction (up to 500 characters), your favourite faction, the chapter you want to show, and for each section whether it is public. If you sign in to the iPhone app, also a name for each device (suggested by the app, which you can change), the time of sign-in and of last use, and a check value of the access key the app receives (the key itself is not stored). If you redeem an access code in your record, your account’s ID is stored with the code so that the tools take it without typing (section 10); the record shows only the last four characters of a code, with its package, remaining uses and expiry. The site assigns your login name at random; it never appears anywhere.

Who sees it. Only you, as long as you do not make anything public. Your pseudonym appears on comments you write while logged in (section 6, with your account’s address). Your first comment is checked before publication like any other; after your first approved comment, further ones appear immediately. Everything else is private unless you explicitly switch on a public profile (see “Public profile”). Without such a profile your account does not appear on any page, in any list or in any interface. Nothing is passed on. Account emails (confirmation, login link, password, deletion, data export, notices) are sent through Mailjet (section 8).

Reading list. Without an account, the site keeps which stories you have read only in your browser (section 4). With a user account, we sync this list with your service record only if you want it, so that you can read on your computer and continue on your phone: the record asks you once whether the marks of this browser shall be copied over, and a switch in the record takes it back at any time. While the sync is on, your browser and our server exchange the list when a page loads and after every change (published entries only, with progress, time and title). The sync also covers your progress in the reading paths (which stops you opened and when, from when you read a path anew, which path you were on last) and, for long stories, the chapter where you stopped, with the address of the page and the time. Saved entries are kept in your service record only.

Public profile. You can create a profile and make each section public on its own: an introduction (up to 500 characters, plain text without links), your favourite faction, one of your chapters with its coat of arms, and the list of your works that are in the gallery. Everything is private until you explicitly make a section public; each section has its own switch, and you take it back at any time. What is public appears on your profile page under your pseudonym, where anyone who knows the address can see it. The page is set to “noindex” and not meant for search engines, but anyone can open and copy it. Works appear there only if you consented to the gallery when ordering and we have approved the work. Your address, reading list, saved entries, comments, codes and newsletter never appear on the profile page. If you wish (a switch of its own), your pseudonym appears on your works in the gallery. The legal basis for making something public is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR), which you give by ticking the box and may withdraw at any time. The terms of use apply.

Reporting content. Anyone who considers a profile unlawful or against the terms of use reports it using “Report this profile” at the bottom of the profile page. They give their email address, optionally their name, and a reason. This goes to us as an email through Mailjet (section 8); nothing is stored on the site. In the mailbox the report stays until it is closed, three months at most. The legal basis is our legal obligation to offer a reporting procedure (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR, Digital Services Act) and our legitimate interest in examining it (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Measures against profiles and accounts. If a profile or an account breaks the terms of use or the law, the operator can make a section private, remove the introduction, reset the pseudonym, or lock the profile or the account. The measure is noted on your account with the time, the reason and a short note (the last twenty entries); the note is part of your data export and is deleted with the account. We tell you about a measure, with the reason, by email. The legal basis is our legitimate interest in enforcing the terms of use and giving reasons for decisions (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR) and, where a report is the cause, our legal obligation under the Digital Services Act (Art. 6(1)(c) GDPR).

Registration and login. You can create an account from the age of 16. You confirm your address through a link that is valid for seven days; until then, nothing belongs to your account. You can log in with your password or with a link by email that is valid for 15 minutes and only once. To stop anyone creating accounts in bulk or trying out passwords, we limit registrations, logins and emails per connection and day; for that, a check value of your IP address is kept until midnight. Failed attempts are counted without address and without IP address. Login attempts are also recorded by Wordfence (section 12). In the iPhone app you sign in with address and password and receive an access key for this device; it is valid until you sign the device out in your record or change your password (which signs out all devices). The limit per connection and day applies here too.

Legal basis. By registering you enter into a user relationship; we process the data to fulfil it (Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR). The limit per connection rests on our legitimate interest in preventing abuse (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

Storage period. An account that is not confirmed within seven days is deleted. If you have not logged in for a little over 23 months, we send you an email; if you still do not log in, we delete the account after 24 months without a login, and no sooner than 30 days after that email. Otherwise it stays until you delete it. The weekly backup (section 3) holds the details up to four weeks longer.

Deleting your account. In your Service Record, or without logging in through a link we send you. We delete your address, your pseudonym, your password and everything that ties your account to you. What you created remains, without your name: your works without owner and without a stored address, your comments under “Former member” without address and without IP address, saved names and entries, reading list and events without identifier, without note and with only the day instead of the time. Your progress in reading paths and the places where you stopped in long stories are deleted. Your profile (introduction, favourite faction, selection and switches) is deleted, the profile page disappears at once, and your pseudonym no longer appears on your works. The devices of the app are signed out and deleted. Access codes you redeemed are released from your account: the code and its remainder stay, without any link to you. These remains can no longer be linked to anyone. If your address is on the newsletter, the deletion page offers the box “Also unsubscribe from the newsletter”, ticked in advance; if you untick it, you keep the subscription.

Access and rectification. In your Service Record you can download all data of your account as a file (account, works, saved names and entries, reading list, reading paths and reading position, profile, devices of the app, access codes, newsletter (yes or no only), events, comments); without logging in, we send you a link for it. You change your pseudonym, language and address there yourself; a new address applies once you confirm it through a link that is valid for two days.

7. Contact form

You can write to us using the form on the contact page. It transmits your email address and your message, and optionally your name and a subject. We use these details only to answer your enquiry; the legal basis is our legitimate interest in doing so (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR).

The message is not stored on the website; it is sent as an email to our mailbox info@anvil-of-war.com, delivered via Mailjet (section 8). We delete it there once the enquiry is dealt with and no statutory retention period applies. Your IP address is not included in that email.

To keep out automated submissions, the form contains an invisible check field and measures the time between loading and sending. Both happen on our server and collect no additional data.

8. Newsletter

Sign-up uses double opt-in: after your entry you receive an email with a confirmation link, and only then are you subscribed. If you do not click the link, we delete your address again after seven days. We store the email address plus the time and IP address of the sign-up and of the confirmation — that is the record showing the consent came from you. The legal basis is your consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR).

With a user account (section 6a) you can also subscribe to the newsletter in your service record: nothing is pre-ticked, the email with the confirmation link goes to the confirmed address of your account, and you are only subscribed once you click the link. The subscription belongs to the address, not to the account; we do not link the two. In the record you see whether your address is on the newsletter and unsubscribe there again.

Delivery runs through Mailjet (Sinch/Mailjet, France) as a processor. Our emails include open and click measurement: we can see whether a message was opened and which link was clicked. This tells us whether our emails arrive and are read at all.

Every email contains an unsubscribe link. After unsubscribing, your address is deleted; you may withdraw your consent at any time without giving reasons.

9. Story downloads

We hand out the file versions of a story (PDF, EPUB) in exchange for an email address; with the request you also subscribe to the newsletter (section 8). The complete online version is readable without giving anything. With a user account (section 6a) you download the files while logged in, without the newsletter and without giving anything else; nothing is stored for it, only the number of downloads is counted. Each file carries your email address as a watermark (“personal copy, not for redistribution”); with a user account it is the confirmed address of your account.

10. The generators: Chapter Generator, forge, name generator, battle reports, tanks & formations, armoury

The site offers tools that produce texts from your input. For those:

Your questionnaire entries are transmitted to Anthropic PBC (USA), because that is where the language model writing the text runs. The basis is the data processing agreement including EU standard contractual clauses that Anthropic provides for its programming interface.
Please do not enter personal data into the fields. What is asked for is invented material — Chapter names, worlds, quirks.
The result is stored with us so that you can open it again through its link.
You do not need an email address to use them. Two paths collect one: whoever works with an assigned access code leaves the address that code was sent to, and it is kept with the code as the record of the assignment as long as the code is not used up, and is deleted seven days after its last use. A check value stays (a hash of the address with a secret key, from which the address cannot be recovered); it makes sure nobody from the same batch gets a second code. For codes issued to Patreon members, section 10a applies instead. And whoever has a result sent by email (name generator, forge, battle report generator, Tanks & Formations, Armoury) enters the address themselves, with consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR). It is used for that one email only and not stored — with one exception: if you ask, when ordering, to get the link as soon as the work or its image is ready (forge, battle report generator, Tanks & Formations), or if you also ask in the forge to be told when the image for your work is ready, the address stays with the work until that email and is deleted before it is sent; if the run fails, it is deleted without an email. Emails are sent via Mailjet (section 8). So that the site cannot be used to flood third parties with mail, at most five such emails a day are possible per connection; for that, a hash of your IP address is kept until midnight.
With a user account: If you are logged in, a new result belongs to your account and appears in your Service Record (section 6a). In the Chapter Generator, the forge and the battle reports your account’s address is filled in as the recipient; Tanks & Formations sends its completion notice to it if you give no other.
Publishing a result in the public gallery requires an explicit tick. It is not pre-ticked, and without it nothing is published. The Armoury is the exception (see below): your marines appear there without a tick, because they consist only of fixed lists and a rolled name. Your pseudonym appears on a work in the gallery only if you explicitly ask for that in your profile (section 6a).
Access codes: Anyone who works with an access code has their IP address and the time of redemption stored with the code; both also appear in the notification email to the operator. This serves to prevent misuse, such as codes being passed on or guessed, and to manage quotas (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR). The details stay stored with the code for as long as it exists. If a member redeems the code in their service record (section 6a), the ID of their account is also stored with the code until they remove it from the record or delete the account; after that the code remains without this link. This is separate from the check value of your IP address, which is kept only until midnight (rate limiting of emails and failed attempts).
Images: If you ask for images with a result (crests, title image, scenes), we create them through the image interfaces of OpenAI (USA) and, for some kinds of image, of Google (Gemini interface, USA). The image text that the site derives from your result is transmitted, and to Google also the coat of arms already generated for the Chapter as a style reference — no name, no email address and not your IP address (the request is made by our server). Because terms from your input can flow into that image text, the same applies as above: please do not enter personal data. The basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR (the service you asked for). How long the providers keep their requests is governed by their terms for the programming interface; we store the finished images with us.

The name generator rolls its dice on our server; no input is transmitted to third parties.

The battle report generator works like the Chapter Generator: your selection (chapter, line-up, opponent, setting, outcome) is transmitted to Anthropic (see above), the narrated report is stored with us and can be reached only through its secret link. No email address is collected for it; at most an access code is needed (see above). Whoever has the link to a report, or to the short spark before it, sent by email enters the address themselves (see above under “email address”); it is used for that one email only and not stored. Whoever wants the link already when ordering the full report (“as soon as it is ready”) leaves the address with the report until that email; it is deleted before it is sent, and if the run fails, without an email.

“Tanks & Formations” works the same way: your choices in the form are transmitted to Anthropic, and the work is stored with us and can be reached through its secret link. Because a work takes a few minutes, you can have the link sent to you once it is ready: to an address you enter yourself, or to the address your access code was sent to. That address stays with the work until the email and is deleted before it is sent; if the run fails, it is deleted without an email. At most three such emails a day go to any one address.

The Armoury puts together the picture of a Space Marine from your selection (era, armour pattern, legion or successor chapter, weapons, role, condition, ornaments). The selection consists of fixed lists; there is no field for free text. The marine’s name does not come from you either: it is rolled by the name generator on our server, and nothing goes to third parties for that. The site derives a picture prompt from the selection and transmits it, as described above under “Images”, to the image provider in the USA, without the name, without an email address and without your IP address (the request is made by our server). The basis is Art. 6(1)(b) GDPR. The same selection gives the same picture; it is painted and stored only once.

What we store. The marine is stored as a work: the rolled name, the selection, the language, the time and the picture. The picture lies under a random address in a folder that cannot be called up directly. There is no period after which works or pictures are deleted. If you want a work and its picture removed, write to us through the contact form (section 7) and we will remove it. If you are logged in, the work belongs to your account and appears in your service record (section 6a); if you delete the account, the work stays without any link to you.

Public gallery. Unlike the other generators, publication needs no tick here: every finished picture appears with the rolled name, the legion or chapter and the picture in the public gallery (filter “Armoury”) and, as the latest work, also on the home page. This is justifiable because none of it comes from you: no text from you, no pseudonym, no account detail, no email address and no IP address appears with it, and nothing in the gallery shows who ordered a picture. The tile leads to the page of the first work with this selection; its link is therefore not secret. Later works with the same selection keep their secret link.

Link by email. Whoever has the link to their marine sent by email enters the address themselves, with consent (Art. 6(1)(a) GDPR); it is used for that one email only and not stored. The email is sent only once the picture is ready, and only the link is sent, never the picture. Emails are sent via Mailjet (section 8). At most five such emails a day can leave one connection and at most three can go to one address. For these limits and for the daily limits on names, works and pictures, a hash of your IP address is kept until midnight (see above under “Access codes”).

10a. Support through Patreon

Anyone who supports the site through Patreon receives an access code for it (section 10). Patreon (Patreon, Inc., USA) runs your account and your payment under its own responsibility; we do not see your payment details or your password. From Patreon, not from you, we receive: your Patreon ID and membership ID, your name, your email address, the tier you chose, the status of your membership (for example active, cancelled, payment declined), the time of the last and the next payment, and the amount of your support.

How this happens. Patreon reports changes to a membership to our server automatically; we check the signature of every message before we evaluate it. Once a day we also reconcile our records through Patreon’s interface. In doing so our server calls Patreon; no data of visitors to the site is sent to Patreon for this.

What we store. The details above, the access code assigned to you, the time it was sent, and a summarised record of your membership (with the amount and the status of the last charge). We also keep a log of all messages received, including rejected ones, with their wording.

Purpose. We assign an access package to your tier, create or extend your code, and send it to you by email; sending runs through Mailjet (section 8). The log and the daily reconciliation serve troubleshooting and the prevention of misuse. The assignment happens automatically from your status at Patreon; it has no legal effect against you (section 15).

Retention. We delete your name, your email address and the summarised record 90 days after your access has expired, and likewise the address held with your code in the access management; while a membership runs they stay as long as it does. In the log of messages we remove the wording, the message and your Patreon ID after 90 days. Only your Patreon ID and membership ID, the tier, the status, the times of payments and the code itself stay without a time limit; they contain neither your name nor your address. This keeps the same code from being issued twice and lets us recognise you if you return. The weekly backup (section 3) holds the details up to four weeks longer.

Your rights. Unlike with audience measurement we can identify you here; access, rectification, erasure and the other rights in section 14 therefore apply to you, and an email is enough. Your membership and your payment are managed at Patreon; Patreon’s privacy policy applies to that.

11. Embedded media

Some stories have audio versions. YouTube is embedded in extended privacy mode (youtube-nocookie.com), Spotify through the provider’s own player. Data — including your IP address — is transmitted to the respective provider only once you load or play a player.

12. Security

To fend off attacks we log suspicious requests and block IP addresses that repeatedly attempt to log in (plugin Wordfence). Wordfence records every login, including logins to a user account, with the name or address entered, your IP address, the browser identification, the time and the result. The site is available over HTTPS throughout. If your browser reports that the site would have loaded something its security policy does not allow, we count only the violated directive, the blocked source (scheme and host name), the host name of the file in which it occurred (for browser extensions only their kind), the number, the time and the page path without parameters; your IP address and an identifier of your browser are not stored for this (Art. 6(1)(f) GDPR, security of the site).

13. Affiliate links

This site contains no affiliate links. If we add any in future, we will mark them at the link and extend this section before they appear.

14. Your rights

You have the right to access the data we hold about you, to rectification, erasure and restriction of processing, to object to processing we base on a legitimate interest, and to data portability. You may withdraw consent at any time; the lawfulness of processing carried out until then is unaffected.

An email to info@anvil-of-war.com is enough for all of this. You may also lodge a complaint with a data protection supervisory authority — the one where you live or the one where we are based.

For audience measurement (section 3a) we cannot identify you; access, rectification, erasure, restriction and portability are therefore not possible there (Art. 11 GDPR). You can object at any time using the link in section 3a.

With a user account you can also take care of access, rectification, erasure and portability yourself in your Service Record (section 6a).

15. No automated decisions about people

There is no automated decision-making and no profiling with legal effect for you. The generators produce fiction; they do not assess people.

16. Changes

If the technology behind this site changes, this statement changes with it. The date at the top says which version applies.