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Our all loved Pete Haines wrote about it that Behemoth and Leviathan do not speak the same "language" and attack each other while Kraken seem to have no problems with both.
But a Behemoth and Kraken team up against a Leviathan under false leading would be a quite nice idea.

I would love to see any of these ideas played out by GW. But sadly there is structural malfunction with some of them. Since the entire 40k universe revolves around the imperium, there is probably never going to be a major event where IG and/or SM are only a third party.

actually, it could happen. GW could do it as a series of release events or summer tourneys or whatever a camp. for oks and nids, one for necros and CSM Tau and Eldar or Tau and Orks or hell, let the Tau get ftl travel and become an actual force to be reconed with. In the meantime, the Imperium gets to pull an Eldar and laugh at all the violent brutal fools fighting each other and make some quick cheap gains in another area of the galaxy, maybe run into space dwarves or Mirrored Imperium (at the end of AoS when the Emporer jumped one way, they formed a sort of republic type dealio with alot more of the DAOT tech still at their disposal).

On a different path the imperium could break into say two main splinters ala Roman Empire Terra could just cut out, keep the beacon running for fear of getting crushed by the two factions for turning out the lights, or an Empire v.s. Rebellion type deal (post battle of Endor, two large mostly equal forces, not a massive and awesome legit gov't and a gaggle of idealist punks) gameplay would remain fairly untouched, as most Imperium forces would could be split roughly even and then fight either each other or the same old enemies, and GW could make a quick penny selling conversion kits at $10 a pop to the people who went with the group that didnt keep the name Imperium and therefore changed its imagery.

Or a merchant subfaction who realise with the galaxy in total war, you need a faction who will make and sell guns to everybody and act as a middleman to trade technology. Sure it will piss off some people, but there is no exploitive oppurtunities set by people who will profit from the enternal war (and giving birth to a god of greed)

it would be great to see the game move forward, but the problem is for one race-ie Tau to gain major land gain, as is their aim it would force the Imperium and Orks off their planets, so they have to find somewhere new to live, and it all gets very complicated as no-one really gets anything except one race, which'll cause an outcry

As to a fractured imperium, thats kinda already the case, Space Marines are effectivly there own race, that doesnt have to answer to the imperium, a campain could take place round the Terran Council accidentaly renagading a chapter (like Blood Angels cos of the Black rage) and other Chapters going up in arms about it causing a civil war effectivly, other races could capitalise on this and attack weakened outer Imperial worlds.

Of course this might annoy Blood Angel players...

GDW/DGP advanced the Traveller timeline when they released MegaTraveller in 1986. Similar to a post upthread, they broke the Imperium into rival factions somewhat like the late Roman period in the west. They then did a post MegaTraveller setting (the Virus era) for their next rules edition but by then most players had moved back to the 'classic' era just before going out of business. GW probably knows that and that is a reason for the malaise that is the 40K universe.

With the 40K Imperium fractured it's only hope rests in two scenarios: first, the Emperor is reborn; and second, humanity starts to think for itself again. The former could be rationalized, but the latter wouldn't be 40K.

If GW were a larger company with more resources it could probably handle a living universe with all the changes and opportunities it brings. GW could really expand the scope of its miniatures lines instead of the annual marine resculpts and the partial xenos resculpts every 4-5 years. The marines could actually get new equipment looks (like the evolution of the missile launcher); the tau could get new equipment; smaller races could get some sculpts etc. Novels could really stretch the breadth of the 40K universe.

However, knowing GW they'd still do a half-assed job of it with the humans always on the brink of annihilation; the Eldar being gloomy gits with no direction and the Nids having the character of a rubber suited monster in a Toho film. GW has no creativity left and their business model stamps any of that out. Given their financial condition they'll continue the tried and true route of space marine models, space marine novels, and space marine trash and trinkets.

I'd prefer to think of the 40K universe as a place and not a background. A place can exist in many times, but a background only resides in the past. The possibilities of future and past conflicts could spawn new games to sell new minis and invoke purchases from players like myself who have whole armies that are years or even a decade+ old. But I'm not seeing that kind of thinking from GW. They rely on old wine in new bottles and I've had enough of that.

Well GW could take a cue from PP as far as advancing their universe. Warmachine seems to have done a pretty good job of playing out changing events. I will say that PP had the foreknowledge that they would be doing something like that, where as GW has 25 years of fluff that doesn't always mesh well.

On the other hand, why does every future event have to be universe changing. Plant seeds, let them mature, then when the time is right let an event explode that has impact...but does not mean the end to the Imperium.

One idea I was thinking is subtlety allow the "Dragon" on Mars to awaken. He teaches the Adeptus Mechanicus how to create new and improved war machines. He is slowly building up his own force for a future confrontation. We, as players, only see this as an AM list with some unique new vehicles and infantry. The rules don't have to reflect anything Necron, but a few years they could have an event where the AM declares war on the other C'tans for no apparent reason...and actually hold their own. Thus the Necron threat, and anyone else caught in the middle, are halted but not destroyed. The Imperium still lives and the Space Marines can get their yet another new Codex before the Necrons get a 2nd one.

Actually GW don't really have to go forward with the fluff, because it is very succsessfull with going backwards. Endless novels and art books just with pre heresy fluff cause "Yay! Pre Heresey is so cool it is like historical gaming but you do not have to change your weapons." And we all want to know if every Primarch had Daddy issues.

I don't think anybody at gw ever meant to go foward with the fluff, I think that's what we are supposed to do with our own campaigns and whatnot, however I would be marginally surprised to find out that there is no sort of secret gw "writers bible" that has alot of answers to all of these what if questions. Though we'd never see it.

Am I the only one who finds it amusing that a lot of you are responding to a 2-year old thread?

Ozymandias, King of Kings

Yeah I recognized it to late shame on me. :(

Ozymandias wrote:Am I the only one who finds it amusing that a lot of you are responding to a 2-year old thread?

Ozymandias, King of Kings

A two year old thread about the 40k universe advancing into the future no less.

Well that answers the question then.

Let's hear it for WH 40,002!!!