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I know nothing of the high lords of terra believe it or not. And I am a 40k expert I MUST LEARN!
Who are they!?!?!??!?
I know the Custode one but the others are new to me.

Asherian Command wrote:I know nothing of the high lords of terra believe it or not. And I am a 40k expert I MUST LEARN!
Who are they!?!?!??!?
I know the Custode one but the others are new to me.

They are the 12 most powerful men in the Galaxy! Get to know your Terran council member here: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/High_Lords_of_Terra

I know that part everyone knows that part but what the hell are they!

What do you mean? They're the ruling goverment of The Imperium.....um they're humans...What do you mean what are they?

What are their names? That is who are they?

Unknown. Not important either - their position is. The Ecclesiarch is like The Pope. Different men come and go but the office of the papacy is what's important. The only person who may have remained the same for the last 10,000 years is The Fabricator-General. Mechanicum folk live a long time.

How are their names not important?!??!?!??!? THE NAME IS EVERYTHING! (jk)
Anyway what do they do exactly as a job. I really don't know much about them...

The only one who can get anything done without having to ask the council of Veto is the Fabricator General. Maybe the Eccliesiarch can send in the SOBs on their... uh... Holy Ships... or the Inquisition can just send a fast ship before the word of the high lords reaches wherever they are going to "Stop this man, he is an enemy of the state." but really, all every other non-Custodes High Lord does is -be- a High Lord. The Fabricator is too busy running the admech, weilding half of the imperiums might, and actually votes absentee on important issues like Crusades, new SM foundings, or what to do about hive fleet leviathan. He is TO COOL and TOO POWERFULL to be bothered being THE MOST POWERFULL MAN IN THE IMPERIUM! He has to share THAT title with 12 others, whereas he can keep sole primacy in his own little empire. Being #1 of #2 is better than being 1/12 of #1. He just happens to be both.

EDIT: arguing on the internet again... FOR SHAME!

Can't agree with that. You're telling me Lord Commander Militant doesn't have a lot on his plate? He's got 2 trillion troops to command! Don't even get me started on the Master of the Administratum.
They are all very busy people except for possibly The Master of The Astronomicon and the Captain-General (weird rank) of the Custodes. Not sure what they do.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Can't agree with that. You're telling me Lord Commander Militant doesn't have a lot on his plate? He's got 2 trillion troops to command! Don't even get me started on the Master of the Administratum.
They are all very busy people except for possibly The Master of The Astronomicon and the Captain-General (weird rank) of the Custodes. Not sure what they do.

I'm still of the mind that the master of the administratum has the most power, in effect he runs the imperium, its day to day working, its economy, resource management, the tithe system etc...

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Also, right or wrong, The Ecclesiarch is the only Lord who can say he knows what The Emperor's will actually (is due to his holiness) and there's nothing the others can say.

The Captain-General of the Custodes says "what?".

EmilCrane wrote:

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Can't agree with that. You're telling me Lord Commander Militant doesn't have a lot on his plate? He's got 2 trillion troops to command! Don't even get me started on the Master of the Administratum.
They are all very busy people except for possibly The Master of The Astronomicon and the Captain-General (weird rank) of the Custodes. Not sure what they do.

I'm still of the mind that the master of the administratum has the most power, in effect he runs the imperium, its day to day working, its economy, resource management, the tithe system etc...

The pencil pushers are trying to rally in the poll!


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AlmightyWalrus wrote:

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Also, right or wrong, The Ecclesiarch is the only Lord who can say he knows what The Emperor's will actually (is due to his holiness) and there's nothing the others can say.

The Captain-General of the Custodes says "what?".

The Captain-General has to much honour to say "The Emprah told me". The Ecclesiarch I'm not so sure.

The Captain-General is the representative of the Astrates if I recall correctly.

You recall incorrectly. He represents the Custodes. Astartes almost never have a representative.

The Marines are independent of the High Lords, works both ways, they aren't beholden to them but they also don't get a say.

Yes, but I have seen some sources that say occasionally there may have been an Astartes representative. Seems pointless though because even an Astartes high lord wouldn't represent all Space Marines just his own chapter or a task force. At least an Ultramarine could represent Ultramar.

The Captain-General is a bit of a Dark Horse. He and he alone decides who has an audience with The Emperor. Definately has had influence on the course of history of the Imperium. Most notably, The Age of Apostasy would have turned out a lot differently.

Yep. I remember he showed the brides of the emperor the hersey within their leader. And their leader killed him.

What I meant wasn't that he'd lie and say that the Emperor told him something he didn't, he would probably be present whenever anyone got an audience with the Emperor and as such be aware of what the Emperor did and didn't say to the Ecclesiarch. Unless the Ecclesiarch decided to play the "He said so in my head!" card, but I'd imagine that the Custodes actually have some way of communicating with the Big E themselves...

AlmightyWalrus wrote:Unless the Ecclesiarch decided to play the "He said so in my head!" card, but I'd imagine that the Custodes actually have some way of communicating with the Big E themselves...

That's pretty much what I meant but more like "He came to me in my prayers". Other Lords may roll their eyes in private but there really is nothing they can do about it. It's easy to argue that The Church is the most powerful entity in The Holy Imperium of Man.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:

AlmightyWalrus wrote:Unless the Ecclesiarch decided to play the "He said so in my head!" card, but I'd imagine that the Custodes actually have some way of communicating with the Big E themselves...

That's pretty much what I meant but more like "He came to me in my prayers". Other Lords may roll their eyes in private but there really is nothing they can do about it. It's easy to argue that The Church is the most powerful entity in The Holy Imperium of Man.

Apart from the fact the last time an Ecclesiarch went nuts there was a huge civil war over it. The next time it happens no one will be as forgiving. There are also most likely safeguards to prevent him from getting too much power. He has no authority over IG or Imperial Navy for instance.

Why is there not a 'idontknow' but i like to post entery

Ledabot wrote:Why is there not a 'idontknow' but i like to post entery

Because that is needless and adds nothing to a discussion on a thread posted in discussion.

Ah, but he does. He is the spiritual leader. See The Seige of Vraks for how much power a simple cardinal can weild. The space-pope's unofficial power can be more daunting than his official authority.

What Ecclesiarch-went-nutz fiasco are you refering too?


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purplefood wrote:

Ledabot wrote:Why is there not a 'idontknow' but i like to post entery

Because that is needless and adds nothing to a discussion on a thread posted in discussion.

Yes, if you don't know read the thread and fluff and whatnot and form an opinion.

KamikazeCanuck wrote:Ah, but he does. He is the spiritual leader. See The Seige of Vraks for how much power a simple cardinal can weild. The space-pope's unofficial power can be more daunting than his official authority.

What Ecclesiarch-went-nutz fiasco are you refering too?

Perhaps the Age of Apostasy? Lord Vandire because the Master of the Administratum and the Ecclesiarch and turned the imperium to civil war, i think thats a good indicator of who wields the power.

Right but i would say that's a case of The Master of the Admistratum going crazy and taking over. I always wondered what lords sided with who on that one.

To be fair, the Grand Master of the Officio Assassinorum is by far the most zealous and devoted (and therefore most powerful) of all the HLoT, because he could, feasibly, topple the entire Imperium if he wanted to. That's a lot of power. He even has personal access to the Emperor.

source: http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Grand_Master_of_Assassins

Interesting, but it is just a rumour. Didn't know Malcador was the first ever Grand Master of the Assassins! That adds some prestige to the title.

Not the toppling of the Imperium part

Scary, isn't it?

I don't know about that. Not sure if the Custodes are in charge of security for the High Lords but they are pretty safe regardless. There must be some mandate about not assassinating other Lords too otherwise why didn't they just take Vandire out?