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I always run into a difficult problem: whenever I see a battle, I frequently wonder "why is this fight happening?" Sometimes, its self-explanatory. Sometimes, it's a little more tricky. So, I now present a comprehensive guide for 'Why this battle is taking place.' You will notice that all of these are presented in a 1-6 fashion, so you can always roll a d6 if you want a random reason.

Imperial Forces vs Imperial Forces - Any Imperial force can use these.

1. One side is defecting to Chaos. As newly warped, they do not have any of the specialist equipment of Chaos troops yet.
2. The battle is a training exercise. All ammunition has been converted to a non-lethal variety.
3. Genestealer infiltrators have managed to plant false intelligence that implicates one side in a treasonous plot. The whole battle is a mistake.
4. A cache of equipment has been discovered that both sides lay claim to. Diplomacy has failed, and only one option remains.
5. The Inquisition has planted false information to instigate a conflict. In the aftermath of this fight, they will accuse both sides of misconduct and use the incident to exert influence
over them.
6. This battle is the culmination of some ancient grudge (such as the one that exists between the Dark Angels and the Space Wolves).


Tyranids vs Tyranids

1. Two different hive fleets have come together in conflict over the same world.
2. The Hive Mind is attempting to determine a matter of battle tactics. On a world which has already been devoured by the Hive, it is staging a battle to determine which set of
tactics work better.
3. An advanced weapon developed by the Tau has turned two portions of the Hive Mind against each other.
4. Nurgle is attempting to develop an anti-Tyranid weapon. A new virus of his devising turns its victims into Tyranid-like monsters. This battle is an attempt to determine their
actual usefulness in battle.
5. The world this fight takes place on has already succumbed to the Hive. This is just the orgy of destruction that follows, as the Hive turns upon itself.
6. One side is actually combat servitors designed and programmed to mimic Tyranids.


Tyranids vs Necrons

This one deserves a mention. Tyranids should, by all rights, ignore the Necrons unless attacked. The Necrons, however, will fight the Tyranids unconditionally. I find this fight to be the most fitting in 40k, since Tyranids represent life, fecund and unrestrained, while Necrons represent death incarnated.


Necrons vs Necrons

1. Both sides are devoid of advanced leadership, and are operating under their last orders. They have mistaken one another for enemies.
2. One group is in fact robots manufactured by the Tau to combat the Necrons.
3. The commanders of each army were rivals even before the great conversion. They still hate one another, and being higher ranking Necrons, maintain enough self-awareness to
continue their rivalry.
4. The Deceiver has commanded this battle take place. A nearby Imperial Inquisition monitoring station is going to respond to investigate the battle, at which point both armies
(or the winning army) will turn on the Imperial forces.
5. Both sides are actually combat servitors. The Inquisition is staging this battle to familiarize an inducted guard regiment with Necron tactics.
6. An Ork Mek has managed to cobble together a device to take control of a group of Necrons, turning them against their fellows. This battle will end when the device explodes.


Orks vs Orks - Seriously? Okay, if you really need one.

1. One side has run out of spare teef. And their rent is due...
2. It all started with an arm wrestling contest, and ended in this...
3. Both sides were supposed to be banding together to fight a guard regiment, who wisely decided not to show up.
4. One side arrived to take over the planet, but the other side had already taken it over years ago.
5. One side thinks Miller Light tastes great, the other side says it is less filling.
6. Why? Because.


Tau vs Tau

1. The command of one army has been infiltrated by a Genestealer cult.
2. One side has developed a peculiar genetic defect that makes them immune to the pheremonal control of the Ethereal Caste. The other side is attempting to destroy
them. For the greater good, of course.
3. Have you noticed that 'training exercise' is a recurring motif in these lists? Training exercise.
4. The Ethereal caste has sent one force to annihilate another. They will then blame the massacre on another force, in order to gain popular support for military action.
5. Imperial propaganda artists have managed to convince the population of a Tau controlled world to rebel. One force is some race other than Tau, and they are using the Tau's
tech against them.
6. A virus has infected one army, making them violent, irrrational, and prone to attack anyone they see.


Eldar vs Eldar

1. A Farseer has been taken over by a Chaos demon, despite all precautions. The tainted army has to be destroyed before his corruption spreads.
2. One army is a group of chaotic, vile Eldar from before the Fall, recently emerged from a tumultuous Warp storm which swallowed them millenia ago.
3. A disagreement over resources between two Craftworlds has ignited into violence.
4. A Craftworld army has come into conflict with a group of Exodite Eldar, who have taken up arms to defend themselves and their planet.
5. One group is actually an army of Dark Eldar, who have used the equipment and tactics of their enemy in order to get closer to them on a larger field of battle. Now that they
have closed, they reveal their true colors and attack.
6. One army is a group of Eldar renegades, desperately in need of supplies.


Chaos vs Chaos - Shouldn't really require an explanation but I'll toss some out if you feel you need one.

1. Both armies share the same demonic overlord, who has pitted them against one another to gain his favor.
2. Both armies seek to subsume the other, and the field of combat is the only way to settle the dispute.
3. An ancient Chaos artefact has been unearthed, and two armies seek to claim it.
4. The commander of one army is seeking a boon from a powerful daemon. To test his worthiness, the daemon has set this trial by combat before the supplicant.
5. A group of especially cunning Orks has arrived in a large campaign that the Chaos forces are fighting disguised as a Chaos army. They have set upon the first Chaos group they
saw. The disguise didn't really work, but the opposing side was more than willing to fight them anyway...
6. Catachan scouts have left a string of bodies on either side, each implicating the other group. Their cunning ruse has worked, and the victor is going to have to contend with
a concentrated surprise attack from the waiting Imperial Guard.


Dark Eldar - You really, really don't need a reason. The same reason they fight anyone else is a perfectly legitimate reason they would fight one another.

I know no one particularly asked for these lists, but it makes me happy to have them for myself. I thought there might be other people out there like me who would face similar quandries and would like to have a list like this handy. Hope someone else gets some use out of it.

I like to have a reason...
They are usually fairly simple but it is nice to have one...

Why are they fighting?
Because it's a galaxy of war, with everyone against everyone.
Most of the times you don't need a reason to fight. You have xxxxxxxxx things that can make you mad or that make you that you want to turn your gun against your brothers...
But I never heard about Tyranid vs. Tyranid fight. Or Tau vs. Tau.

There are some pretty advanced servitors running around...

Some good explanations there, especially the Tau training exercise, as I well imagine that they'd have the technology to carry out a simulated battle to that extent. If I could add one or two to that list?

Imperial Guard vs Imperial Guard
7. Civil war on an Imperial Planet (or war between different nations on the same planet). The forces there could be PDF, or garrisoned IG regiments that have picked sides in the conflict.
8. Power games in the upper echelons of the task force have reached ridiculous levels, with officers using the conflict to demonstrate superiority over another (either through their tactical ability, or by the strength of their loyal regiment).
9. A Warmaster/Supreme IG Commander has recently died, and there is now internal conflict over who shall succeed him/her (see Tanith First and Only).

Eldar vs Eldar
7. The Farseer of one Craftworld had foretold that a certain event must occur, while an opposing Farseer has foretold tht it must not occur. The two Farseers could be from different Craftworlds (with the event affecting them differently) or they could be from the same Craftworld but with have come to a disagreement over a prophecy, and have each gathered followings.

Yeah, I agree. Its much more fun if you have a reason, even if its just a very simple explanation.

Played a doubles game a few weeks back. Orks & Orks V Dark Eldar & Daemons.

Obviously, the orks were united under one warboss, the reason we came up with for Daemons & DE working together was that the archon had gone mad & summoned a load of daemons.

Its pretty sparse, but its nice to inject a bit of flavour.

The whole super-servitor thing is a bit far-fetched, but other than that they all seem pretty good. My favourite ones have to be the Ork ones (Why? just because).

Well, if one of the Imperial armies is the Space Wolves, then rationalizing the conflict is simple enough. The other Imperial faction is probably trying to preserve a cache of knowledge or attempting a diplomatic approach to a newly encountered civilization, and the Space Wolves simply can't have that.

A good reason for Necron vs Necrons imo is inter-C'tan conflict, which does exist to a large degree.

For Tyranids, I think a good reason unmentioned would be a rogue virus and/or alien lifeform having disrupted the Hive Minds control to a Hive Fleet, making it turn rogue and attack nearby Tyranid forces.

For Tau, Commander Farsight has already been declared a traitor I believe, you could have his forces vs. the greater Empire.

Everybody else is pretty easy to think of a reason for.

Like the lists, good thought exercises.
I'm not exactly sure why anyone would build proto-nids, though. It seems like there would be enough of them already. Maybe too many.

An abandoned Tau base is the venue for an Impy-on-Impy friendly fire incident.

Harriticus wrote:A good reason for Necron vs Necrons imo is inter-C'tan conflict, which does exist to a large degree.

Well, if the rumors about the new book are to be believed, C'tan are no longer running things.

very nice work mate. the lists are a good inspiration and actually better then some of the more official ones ive seen

Now I wonder on some GK V. GK action

Wardragoon wrote:Now I wonder on some GK V. GK action

easy: 2 inquisitors arguing: Your a heretic! no your the heretic here! no its you! no your using daemon weapons! but you like aliens! yearh but you have a daemonhost! so what, your a..... and so on.

Wardragoon wrote:Now I wonder on some GK V. GK action

If the PURE Grey Knights became DOUBLE PURE by slaughtering Sisters of Battle, then by killing each other they could become TRIPLE PURE.

tarnish wrote:

Wardragoon wrote:Now I wonder on some GK V. GK action

easy: 2 inquisitors arguing: Your a heretic! no your the heretic here! no its you! no your using daemon weapons! but you like aliens! yearh but you have a daemonhost! so what, your a..... and so on.

Except the GK wouldn't kill a battle brother cuz some stupid inquisitor said to. No, a more logical explanation is training. I've pondered it, and I can't think of any other reason GK vs GK would actually happen.

When my friends and I play we always come up with a reason. In fact we just started a campaign that's been pretty interesting. A whole reason to be on a planet and there must be a reason why you're fighting anyone else that shows up. In our campaign we have GK, SM, Orks, Chaos, DE, and Eldar. The GK have both an ordo malleus xenos inq for the seperate "specialties." It's not hard to come up with good reasons if you take the time to actually do it.

Sothas wrote:

tarnish wrote:

Wardragoon wrote:Now I wonder on some GK V. GK action

easy: 2 inquisitors arguing: Your a heretic! no your the heretic here! no its you! no your using daemon weapons! but you like aliens! yearh but you have a daemonhost! so what, your a..... and so on.

Except the GK wouldn't kill a battle brother cuz some stupid inquisitor said to. No, a more logical explanation is training. I've pondered it, and I can't think of any other reason GK vs GK would actually happen.

When my friends and I play we always come up with a reason. In fact we just started a campaign that's been pretty interesting. A whole reason to be on a planet and there must be a reason why you're fighting anyone else that shows up. In our campaign we have GK, SM, Orks, Chaos, DE, and Eldar. The GK have both an ordo malleus xenos inq for the seperate "specialties." It's not hard to come up with good reasons if you take the time to actually do it.

The only thing I can think one group views the other as corrupted by daemons, but even that feels thin story wise

For just about any fight for the imperials that involves similar forces fighting each other(IG vs IG, SM vs SM, GK vs GK) you can always say that it's a training exercise and that nobody really dies but are removed from the exercise.

Heck, I had an IG vs Dark Angels match that I reasoned with the following.

Orks had invaded the planet and the IG forces were pushing them back to a final stronghold. The Dark Angels forces landed and then destroyed the Orks, taking the final glory. The IG commander got a wee bit jealous and ordered his forces to attack the 'renegade' SM.

It fit with the terrain(lots of Ork skulls, weapons, IG helmets, and other detritus) and was farely unique in my own opinion.

Omegus wrote:

Harriticus wrote:A good reason for Necron vs Necrons imo is inter-C'tan conflict, which does exist to a large degree.

Well, if the rumors about the new book are to be believed, C'tan are no longer running things.

They still are, just not from the front line any more

Whenever it's Imperium vs. Imperium I tend to think that it is as a result of some kind of terrible miscommunication in Imperial bureaucracy. I like to think that happens a lot.

While I love the idea, it would be nice to have race v. different race scenarios.

Wardragoon wrote:The only thing I can think one group views the other as corrupted by daemons, but even that feels thin story wise

It may not be that one group has been corrupted, but the other may suspect so and feel that it is better to err on the side of caution.

Sothas wrote:

tarnish wrote:

Wardragoon wrote:Now I wonder on some GK V. GK action

easy: 2 inquisitors arguing: Your a heretic! no your the heretic here! no its you! no your using daemon weapons! but you like aliens! yearh but you have a daemonhost! so what, your a..... and so on.

Except the GK wouldn't kill a battle brother cuz some stupid inquisitor said to. No, a more logical explanation is training. I've pondered it, and I can't think of any other reason GK vs GK would actually happen.

I think the joke was obvious.

Emperors Faithful wrote:

Wardragoon wrote:Now I wonder on some GK V. GK action

If the PURE Grey Knights became DOUBLE PURE by slaughtering Sisters of Battle, then by killing each other they could become TRIPLE PURE.

Oh, this I have to use.

Oh man I love these why are they fighting lists, I wish they still put them into the codices.

GK vs GK is a training mission.

pure and simple.

Grey Templar wrote:GK vs GK is a training mission.

pure and simple.

I thought Grey Knight's train by slaughtering 'witnesses'?

Emperors Faithful wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:GK vs GK is a training mission.

pure and simple.

I thought Grey Knight's train by slaughtering 'witnesses'?

does not qualify as training, its a past time. now killing sisters of battle to make a ritual, thats training.

tarnish wrote:

Emperors Faithful wrote:

Grey Templar wrote:GK vs GK is a training mission.

pure and simple.

I thought Grey Knight's train by slaughtering 'witnesses'?

does not qualify as training, its a past time. now killing sisters of battle to make a ritual, thats training.

No, killing SoB is the closest the two groups get to sex