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Why do Adeptus Mechanicus rely too much on STC? And did they invent something new for the Imperium of Man?
In the world history in medieval times, many of the ancient technologies were lost but later the human technology became very advanced in comparison to the one in Ancient times.
But why can't the Imperials stop their regression of technology?

Much of the old technology was lost so they are bent on rediscovering it. The IoM is hampered in that rediscovery partly by Imperial dogma, superstition and isolation caused by the warp.

Because Mecahnicus said: "All was invented by Machine God. Everything new is Heresy."

To the AdMec all sacred and pure technology is within STC's and any deviation or new invention that is not STC-related is heretical. It's why the Imperium is slowly losing its technology, as you need innovation to sustain any societies technological progress.

A major point of bitterness between the AdMec and Dark Mechanicus is the latter actually invents new stuff, like Planet Killer. If the AdMec got their heads out of their overly religious asses who knows what wonder they could achieve.

Harriticus wrote:To the AdMec all sacred and pure technology is within STC's and any deviation or new invention that is not STC-related is heretical. It's why the Imperium is slowly losing its technology, as you need innovation to sustain any societies technological progress.

A major point of bitterness between the AdMec and Dark Mechanicus is the latter actually invents new stuff, like Planet Killer. If the AdMec got their heads out of their overly religious asses who knows what wonder they could achieve.

I think the AdMech does occasionally invent stuff (like power armour variants) they just would rather find ancient blueprints instead of making new things.

Cheesecat wrote:

Harriticus wrote:To the AdMec all sacred and pure technology is within STC's and any deviation or new invention that is not STC-related is heretical. It's why the Imperium is slowly losing its technology, as you need innovation to sustain any societies technological progress.

A major point of bitterness between the AdMec and Dark Mechanicus is the latter actually invents new stuff, like Planet Killer. If the AdMec got their heads out of their overly religious asses who knows what wonder they could achieve.

I think the AdMech does occasionally invent stuff (like power armour variants) they just would rather find ancient blueprints instead of making new things.

So they would rather spend hundreds or even thousands of years travelling around the galaxy looking for technology that should already be considered obsolete? If they would just move forward they might even be able to surpass the tau technologically. But then they would start winning, and we all know that we don't want that.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Was the Stalker Pattern Boltgun new, or was there an STC for that too?

But surly if the machine god invented it then he would guide their inventions

TechMarine1 wrote:

Cheesecat wrote:

Harriticus wrote:To the AdMec all sacred and pure technology is within STC's and any deviation or new invention that is not STC-related is heretical. It's why the Imperium is slowly losing its technology, as you need innovation to sustain any societies technological progress.

A major point of bitterness between the AdMec and Dark Mechanicus is the latter actually invents new stuff, like Planet Killer. If the AdMec got their heads out of their overly religious asses who knows what wonder they could achieve.

I think the AdMech does occasionally invent stuff (like power armour variants) they just would rather find ancient blueprints instead of making new things.

So they would rather spend hundreds or even thousands of years travelling around the galaxy looking for technology that should already be considered obsolete? If they would just move forward they might even be able to surpass the tau technologically. But then they would start winning, and we all know that we don't want that.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Was the Stalker Pattern Boltgun new, or was there an STC for that too?

Um, the Tau aren't more advanced the Imperium (nor are they less adavanced) Tau are more advanced in some areas than the Imperium but the same could be said for the Imperium as well (such as faster than

light travel).

TechMarine1 wrote:So they would rather spend hundreds or even thousands of years travelling around the galaxy looking for technology that should already be considered obsolete? If they would just move forward they might even be able to surpass the tau technologically. But then they would start winning, and we all know that we don't want that.

It's more than simply not wanting to move forward. There is a devout religious belief that everything technical is a creation of the Machine God, and therefore anything humans create without the blessing of the Machine God will necessarily be inferior and a waste.

This type of philosophical belief was not uncommon in human history. Even original ideas are often presented as simply subtle changes over what has come before.

This is one aspect of the fluff I really like. It allows the use of a combination of sci-fi and archaic technology in a futuristic world, neatly dealing with continuity problems.

Generations of people increasingly losing their knowledge, and ending up revering the information that was originally only practical. Sort of like worshipping a Haynes manual and reproducing scores of perfectly copied 1980s Ford Escorts.

"I'm back from my quest for knowledge. Now we can build something called a VW Camper."

The tau technology represents the possibilities of unfettered science, as evidenced by their relatively rapid expansion.

Cheesecat wrote:

Harriticus wrote:To the AdMec all sacred and pure technology is within STC's and any deviation or new invention that is not STC-related is heretical. It's why the Imperium is slowly losing its technology, as you need innovation to sustain any societies technological progress.

A major point of bitterness between the AdMec and Dark Mechanicus is the latter actually invents new stuff, like Planet Killer. If the AdMec got their heads out of their overly religious asses who knows what wonder they could achieve.

I think the AdMech does occasionally invent stuff (like power armour variants) they just would rather find ancient blueprints instead of making new things.

This is just streching existing technology to its limits. They haven't invented anything truly new in 10,000 years.

It's just a belief thing. The AdMech are so devout, even altering technology (in most cases) is punishable by death. It's something called the Law of the Divine Complexity. In a nutshell, all tech is from the Omnissiah and is sacred, altering it is HERESY. It's in the HH Mechanicum book (a good read, btw).

@Harraticus: couldn't have said it better.

Because the Mechanicus cant get their s!*t together and realize that innovation is good

Beastmaster wrote:Because the Mechanicus cant get their s!*t together and realize that innovation is good

They'd have to innovate their thinking to begin innovating, though.

Their logical processors can't handle that.

Innovation is not necessarily good. After all, someone, in the distant past, thought up a really novel idea of labor-saving devices. They thought that they would build artificial people out of near-indestructible materials and implant Artificial Intelligences into them to allow them to perform a variety of functions flawlessly.

Psienesis wrote:Innovation is not necessarily good. After all, someone, in the distant past, thought up a really novel idea of labor-saving devices. They thought that they would build artificial people out of near-indestructible materials and implant Artificial Intelligences into them to allow them to perform a variety of functions flawlessly.

And they worked!

For a little while!

Beastmaster wrote:Because the Mechanicus cant get their s!*t together and realize that innovation is good

They kind of did this and it kind of led to the creation of the Dark Mechanicus if I remember correctly.

Beastmaster wrote:Because the Mechanicus cant get their s!*t together and realize that innovation is good

They did that once.

Humanity almost got wiped out. Oops.

Harriticus wrote:To the AdMec all sacred and pure technology is within STC's and any deviation or new invention that is not STC-related is heretical. It's why the Imperium is slowly losing its technology, as you need innovation to sustain any societies technological progress.

A major point of bitterness between the AdMec and Dark Mechanicus is the latter actually invents new stuff, like Planet Killer. If the AdMec got their heads out of their overly religious asses who knows what wonder they could achieve.

Didn't Dark Mechanicus follows dark path? joining Chaos and supply Chaos marines with series of freeks like Defiler?

Lone Cat wrote:

Harriticus wrote:To the AdMec all sacred and pure technology is within STC's and any deviation or new invention that is not STC-related is heretical. It's why the Imperium is slowly losing its technology, as you need innovation to sustain any societies technological progress.

A major point of bitterness between the AdMec and Dark Mechanicus is the latter actually invents new stuff, like Planet Killer. If the AdMec got their heads out of their overly religious asses who knows what wonder they could achieve.

Didn't Dark Mechanicus follows dark path? joining Chaos and supply Chaos marines with series of freeks like Defiler?

The Dark Mechanicus joined Horus because they were offered a complete STC from the Auretian Technocracy; the religious goal of the Mechanicus is to find one of these and bring back the Golden Age of Technology. Not so sure what happened to the STC though... Haven't read Mechanicum yet .

Because apparently innovation is considered heresy, one might say they consider common sense also heretical in this case

Deathly Angel wrote:

Lone Cat wrote:

Harriticus wrote:To the AdMec all sacred and pure technology is within STC's and any deviation or new invention that is not STC-related is heretical. It's why the Imperium is slowly losing its technology, as you need innovation to sustain any societies technological progress.

A major point of bitterness between the AdMec and Dark Mechanicus is the latter actually invents new stuff, like Planet Killer. If the AdMec got their heads out of their overly religious asses who knows what wonder they could achieve.

Didn't Dark Mechanicus follows dark path? joining Chaos and supply Chaos marines with series of freeks like Defiler?

The Dark Mechanicus joined Horus because they were offered a complete STC from the Auretian Technocracy; the religious goal of the Mechanicus is to find one of these and bring back the Golden Age of Technology. Not so sure what happened to the STC though... Haven't read Mechanicum yet .

i need a full details of pacts between renegade Mechanicus and Horus.
as for now I assume that
1. Auretian DO NOT really have a complete one (maybe Aurethians have better technology than what the Imperium had at that time)
2. Auretian may have one but not give it to Horus
3. Horus may got one from Auretia but wreck it to intimidate those renegades evenmore. fearing that the renegades will switch side to the Imperium once again.
4. those renegades got that complete STC but not delivered it to Mars (for some reasons. maybe they kept ones unto themselves and only reveal a few features to avoid the Loyal mechanicus to copy ones... there's some spilnter factions inside Mars researching what the 'orthodox' AdMech preaches not to. some even make a functional xenotech weapons!!!

TechMarine1 wrote:
So they would rather spend hundreds or even thousands of years travelling around the galaxy looking for technology that should already be considered obsolete?

There is nothing obsolete about Imperial STC technology. Pound for pound, an Imperial Navy battleship is one of the most powerful spacebound vehicles in the galaxy; something similar applies to the Leman Russ MBT. The assumption that, because that form of technology has been around for ages, it is obsolete in some way is an incorrect one, though I can understand why you'd make it. After all, there is no need to update the design of the Leman Russ if it still an effective weapon.

Lone Cat wrote:

Deathly Angel wrote:

Lone Cat wrote:

Harriticus wrote:To the AdMec all sacred and pure technology is within STC's and any deviation or new invention that is not STC-related is heretical. It's why the Imperium is slowly losing its technology, as you need innovation to sustain any societies technological progress.

A major point of bitterness between the AdMec and Dark Mechanicus is the latter actually invents new stuff, like Planet Killer. If the AdMec got their heads out of their overly religious asses who knows what wonder they could achieve.

Didn't Dark Mechanicus follows dark path? joining Chaos and supply Chaos marines with series of freeks like Defiler?

The Dark Mechanicus joined Horus because they were offered a complete STC from the Auretian Technocracy; the religious goal of the Mechanicus is to find one of these and bring back the Golden Age of Technology. Not so sure what happened to the STC though... Haven't read Mechanicum yet .

i need a full details of pacts between renegade Mechanicus and Horus.
as for now I assume that
1. Auretian DO NOT really have a complete one (maybe Aurethians have better technology than what the Imperium had at that time)
2. Auretian may have one but not give it to Horus
3. Horus may got one from Auretia but wreck it to intimidate those renegades evenmore. fearing that the renegades will switch side to the Imperium once again.
4. those renegades got that complete STC but not delivered it to Mars (for some reasons. maybe they kept ones unto themselves and only reveal a few features to avoid the Loyal mechanicus to copy ones... there's some spilnter factions inside Mars researching what the 'orthodox' AdMech preaches not to. some even make a functional xenotech weapons!!!

The more likely one is Horus hears about how valuable this would be to them, then lies about having it. Heresy happens and they're "stuck" with his side.

Viersche wrote: common sense also heretical in this case

Common sense doesn't really exist.

The Mechanicus does invent new things, however it is alot easier just to find old blueprints then make stuff new from scratch.

Mankind was unbelieavably advanced, so advanced it would make the Tau look primative and clunky. They were on par with the Eldar as far as technology was concerned.

However, mankind's reliance on machines to keep their Tech level up(without understanding it themselves) brought about the loss of much of mankind's wonders. This happened long before the Emperor started uniting Terra.

The IoM is actually MORE advanced then it was at its inception as they have rediscovered countless STCs and made many improvements.


The fear and suspicion of technology isn't an unfounded one. The War of the Ironmen left an indelible mark on the human mind, one that will never be erased. The IoM and Ad Mech are suspicious of technology and for good reason.

Grey Templar wrote:The Mechanicus does invent new things, however it is alot easier just to find old blueprints then make stuff new from scratch.

Mankind was unbelieavably advanced, so advanced it would make the Tau look primative and clunky. They were on par with the Eldar as far as technology was concerned.

However, mankind's reliance on machines to keep their Tech level up(without understanding it themselves) brought about the loss of much of mankind's wonders. This happened long before the Emperor started uniting Terra.

The IoM is actually MORE advanced then it was at its inception as they have rediscovered countless STCs and made many improvements.


The fear and suspicion of technology isn't an unfounded one. The War of the Ironmen left an indelible mark on the human mind, one that will never be erased. The IoM and Ad Mech are suspicious of technology and for good reason.

People just can't understand how hard it is to invent something from scratch, like we trying to invent Warp Drive engine with today's tech....impossible...

Indeed,


If you have ever lost a school assignment you will know that its easier to try and find it on your computer again instead of rewriting it all over again.

Brother Coa wrote:Because Mecahnicus said: "All was invented by Machine God. Everything new is Heresy."

No they didn't.

The implication has always been that the Mechanicus have been dedicated for so long (since the end of the dark age of technology) to recovering lost knowledge that the search has become an end of itself, replacing discovery and innovation as a means of advancement.

The literary purpose of the STCs is to justify the Imperium's apparently static (or indeed slowly declining) but uniform technological level to suit Warhammer 40,000's themes of darkness and stagnation (and to contrast with the hope and progressivism of almost all other science fiction) and to allow players to represent a galaxy of battles over a ten thousand year period with the same models.