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Fannon - fan canon, attempts by fans to fill in the gaps or contradictions of a fictional universe. Even when it contradicts the official canon of the owner.

So what's in your 40k fannon?

For me...

1 - Rhinos are common armored vehicles found across the Imperium.
2 - Marine rhinos and tanks are driven by chapter serfs and crippled marines who have been cybernetically installed in them. Those guys you see sticking out of the hatch? They don't have legs.
3 - Woman can become marines and there are a few female chapters. But sexist myths and attitudes prevent most Imperial subjects from accepting even the possibility of female marines.
4 - The Primarchs were not that much better than a modern Chapter Master, they just never spent much time fighting top tier foes. After all when they were around the Eldar were rebuilding, Daemons were rare to non-existant, the Tau, Necrons and Tyranids weren't even around.
5 - Imperial law requires the execution or mind-wiping of any unauthorized people who learn of chaos. However this law was written in the early days of the Horus Heresy and is impractical to execute in this age of darkness. The Imperium would have long since run out of guardsmen and even marines if anyone tried to enforce that law.

The imperial army (guard, storm troopers, and PDF) is in reality very compitant and on the whole very effective. Most guard regiments do not send men to die just because they can and most operate closely to the way modern armies do.

The guard is four different elements:
The conscripts make up most armies. These armies are what most people think of when they think guard. Huge and unwieldy, inexperienced and fearful.

Then there is what I refer to as the regular guard. These guys are pretty good. Certainly better than conscripts. Well trained and drilled. Can be counted on to hold in the face of death. Effective fighting force equivalent to many of today's modern armies.

Then there is the elite regiment and worlds. GW's model range make up many of these armies. Superbly trained and grizzled veterans. Fearless against any enemy, and terrifyingly efficient. Well equipped and supplied, these regiments have the potential to hold against forces many times their size and a few of these regiments can change the tide of a war or crusade. However, they are rare in the grand scheme of things.

Last is the storm troopers. Absolute masters of war. Brutally efficient and almost unbeatable to all but the largest of enemies and armies. Essentially space marines in carapace. Able to do anything and everything asked of them.

By extension, space marines are gods of war, and I've always envisioned them being better than the black library depicts them.

Primarchs are near indestructible , unkillable, literal Demi gods. They can take lascannons to the chest and shrug it off as nothing. Basically hyper powerful beings

Incursions by Chaos marines fairly rare everywhere besides EOT.

Most Guardsmen officers do throw their troops the meat grinder either as acceptable or regrettable losses, at least against the more problematic foes.

Templars more anti - inquistion than speculated, have even fought/challenged those who would dare question their unflinching zeal.

Ignatius wrote:The imperial army (guard, storm troopers, and PDF) is in reality very compitant and on the whole very effective. Most guard regiments do not send men to die just because they can and most operate closely to the way modern armies do.

The guard is four different elements:
The conscripts make up most armies. These armies are what most people think of when they think guard. Huge and unwieldy, inexperienced and fearful.

Then there is what I refer to as the regular guard. These guys are pretty good. Certainly better than conscripts. Well trained and drilled. Can be counted on to hold in the face of death. Effective fighting force equivalent to many of today's modern armies.

Then there is the elite regiment and worlds. GW's model range make up many of these armies. Superbly trained and grizzled veterans. Fearless against any enemy, and terrifyingly efficient. Well equipped and supplied, these regiments have the potential to hold against forces many times their size and a few of these regiments can change the tide of a war or crusade. However, they are rare in the grand scheme of things.

Last is the storm troopers. Absolute masters of war. Brutally efficient and almost unbeatable to all but the largest of enemies and armies. Essentially space marines in carapace. Able to do anything and everything asked of them.

By extension, space marines are gods of war, and I've always envisioned them being better than the black library depicts them.

Primarchs are near indestructible , unkillable, literal Demi gods. They can take lascannons to the chest and shrug it off as nothing. Basically hyper powerful beings

That is how I see it too. But with the blood angels first amongst these gods of war!

5 - Imperial law requires the execution or mind-wiping of any unauthorized people who learn of chaos. However this law was written in the early days of the Horus Heresy and is impractical to execute in this age of darkness. The Imperium would have long since run out of guardsmen and even marines if anyone tried to enforce that law.

This one. Really creates a mess with every Chaos story if you accept it as a universal standard rather than 1 isolated instance given to the 1st Armageddon War.

Also as has already been touched upon here, the fanbase (at least on this forum) loves to beef up the Imperial Guard. Gone is the GW depiction as a human wave of terrified inexperienced conscripts who will inevitably be slaughtered by their enemies or gunned down by their own officers if they retreat. Rather, the Guard is an elite, professional, nigh-unstoppable force. Even average Guardsmen are more well trained then Fire Warriors or Guardians, a Veteran or Stormtrooper will deal with a Marine quite handily. They are highly motivated and led by brilliant, caring officers who will not waste of their men.

Another thing is that non-Chaos uprisings are the most common war the Imperium faces. Now while I actually believe/advocate this, it's actually never been said explicitly in any official GW book to my knowledge.

Harriticus wrote:

Also as has already been touched upon here, the fanbase (at least on this forum) loves to beef up the Imperial Guard. Gone is the GW depiction as a human wave of terrified inexperienced conscripts who will inevitably be slaughtered by their enemies or gunned down by their own officers if they retreat. Rather, the Guard is an elite, professional, nigh-unstoppable force. Even average Guardsmen are more well trained then Fire Warriors or Guardians, a Veteran or Stormtrooper will deal with a Marine quite handily. They are highly motivated and led by brilliant, caring officers who will not waste of their men.

People like the imperial guard, many consider them the only good guys, and people read Gaunts Ghosts and such like where the guard are portrayed like this by and large

1) The Emperor is not a corpse on a Throne. He is merely unconscious (as a result of going beyond the limits of His body when He destroyed Horus), and His injuries have since been patched up with cybernetics, and as such looks as much as He did back during the Great Crusade.
2) No psykers are sacrificed to the Throne at all, though they still power the Astronomican.
3) There are only three Ordos in the Inquisition, no radicals, and the Grey Knights are as they used to be (as in no Khornate Knights, no mind-wipes and other Wardian gak) and are now legion strength. Deathwatch continues to serve the Ordo Xenos, and Holy Sisters for the Ordo Hereticus.
4) No technological regression - the Imperium has not forgotten how to make anything - rather, they have improved (but not innovated) existing technologies, put into production recovered Golden Age of Technology data, and make a conscious effort to reverse-engineer alien technology (with mixed success).
5) The creation of Space Marines is less 'wasteful' in terms of neophytes lost, but just as successful. The Imperial Guard are also more professional - while they still depend on heavy armor/vehicles and large numbers, they're not used as Human bullets - and more trusted (as in they don't get bombed from orbit for fighting Chaos).
6) Sisters of Silence still man the Black Ships.
7) The Illuminati exist as a secret even from the Imperium at large, but serve the Emperor by seeking the means to restore Him back to full consciousness.
8) Magnus did not join Horus, rather, after the Burning of Prospero, he and his legion simply isolated themselves on the Planet of the Sorcerers and have never taken part in any Black Crusade. The Rubric still happened, and Ahriman is still banished.
9) The Swarmlord does not exist.
10) No Phoenix Lords.
11) The Dark Eldar are as they used to be.
12) Oldcrons.

I have no fannon.

I'm not going to say what's exactly in my 'fannon', but I think a brief snippet will do:

'In the happy sunshine fun times of the 41st millennium, there is only hugs...'

Space marines are quite capable of having children if they so choose.

However many chapters abstain from such pleasures as being unworthy of them.

Space Wolves however sire many ginger haired bastards.

Guardsmen are individually competent but as a whole tend to be lacking. Chimeras aren't that rare but issued to squads on a "As needed" basis. Some regiments have power swords as a standard issue officer weapon but it depends on the host world's wealth and technology. The Departmento Munitorum has an entire department dedicated to finding and stocking replacement parts and repair kits for the myriad of equipment and vehicles found in the Imperial Guard. It's an endless and time taking task but necessary. Their hard work shows in how most regiments don't have maintenance issues with their kit.

Eldar/Human relationships are extremely rare but do happen. When it does it's hard for both members. Eldar Guardians are as effective as Guardsmen and their armor is as strong as Flak armor but more well made. Guardians are the Eldar equivalent of conscripts and are used at times as throwaway units. But not nearly as much as the Guard uses their conscripts.

The Necrons don't want to wipe out all life or even some races. They simply want all living beings to acknowledge their right to rule everything. A Necron Empire would be an oppressive regime but not genocidal as an end goal. Many Necrons have died but their parts get reused to make new ones. In this way, they haven't truly perished but the entity is destroyed when they die.

Space Marines are the equals of elite Warriors in most armies but are fallible. Lasguns can kill them if you hit them in "Sweet spots". They also have a large replacement pool to replace the constant casualties suffered by a small fighting force stretched across a hostile galaxy. The replacement brothers spend their times training, meditating and praying. They often take the place of Chapter Serfs but the tasks they are assigned often help them build up their talents and physical fitness.

Slaaneshi cultists are often enticed by sex and get their desires.. but then realize the greater range of pleasures and indulgences that go beyond simple carnal pleasures.

In my fanon, Chaos has already won and consumed the galaxy. The 40k universe at large is just a momentary dream of the newly born 5th Chaos God.

TheCustomLime wrote:
Eldar/Human relationships are extremely rare but do happen. When it does it's hard for both members.

They take refuge in the galactic hinterland. Frontier worlds ignored by the Imperium and other galactic powers, independent, but rife with near-anarchy and a lack of central government. Rogue Traders, Chaos proselytes, Tau merchants, Eldar Wanderers, Human Colonists, etc. mix freely but warily. Lots of half-breeds in the hinterland, religion is mixed, sometimes the God-Emperor, sometimes the Chaos Powers, sometimes obscure, alien deities, sometimes the surviving Eldar gods, are worshipped as needed.

There is a more advanced model of Bolter that, rather than firing massive explosive missiles (bolts), uses electric pulses to load and fire smaller projectiles at incredible velocities. The kinetic energy from the speed of the bullets causes almost as much damage as ordinary bolts, and hundreds of rounds can be stored per magazine. This new model is based on recently rediscovered technology and is being considered as a replacement for the conventional Bolter.

All that is just an excuse for me to think of Bolters being capable of firing full auto and having a large reserve of ammunition to back up extensive use. Space Marines with ordinary bolters would run out of ammo in about five minutes otherwise, which would probably be annoying. Especially since they apparently don't carry spare magazines. Big dummies.

The Primarchs aren't as super amazingly awesome as everyone says, just a little better than the famous chapter masters that are around now (Grimnar/Calgar ect)

The Emperor isn't as super amazingly awesome as everyone says either. Just a good all-rounder thats marginally better than the Primarchs.

It's Alpharius in stasis on Macragge, not Guilleman. He's spying

The Emperor is already dead, its just the constant psyker sacrifice that's keeping the astronomicon going. They just hide the truth to stop people loosing hope.

Chaos is begin to grow...scratch that, that one's already cannon

infinite_array wrote:

'In the happy sunshine fun times of the 41st millennium, there is only hugs...'

I ;love the idea that one of Primarchs II and XI was a pacifist and refused to fight for the Emperor, so he had them wiped out. I imagine them as total pacifists

In MY 40k universe...

Space Marines can breed (oooh titilation!) and the focus of choice for procreation are the Sisters of Battle (mmm, MORE titilation!) especially when they wear those Hawt suits of armor that shows off their sexy sexiness!

Even the Tyranids are sexy because we all know somewhere out there in the Hive Fleet is one of those strange manga creatures with phalluses for hands... I can hardly wait till they find a human hive city!!!! OOOOH, lots of miniature on miniature action for my dioramas!

The Ultramarines are really degenerate low-lifes who, after being coddled by the Emperor abandoned him during the heresy. Since then, the Ultras have been slowly devolving into regular humans. Hence, their notorious wimpiness.

Chaos is in the ascendance because chaos is the righteous retribution for the Emperors betrayal committed against his loyal sons...

Chaos is just the embodiment of having a good time, and the Emperor and his Imperium are just spoil-sports with too many roolz.

The Grey Knights have been subverted to worship Chaos unbeknownst to themselves. Just ask the Sisters!!!

Oh, and Draigo really IS the Emperor in drag...

In the Grim Darkness of the far future... it may or may not be Grimdark, depending on who you ask.

On topic, I also think that Tau females are very similar to males to the uninitiated but with time spent with them you can distinguish them. And as for relationships with humans, it's slightly more common than eldar/human relationships due to their close proximity on some worlds but not that common because it's hard to tell the sexes apart and mutual distrust.

My Fannon

1) Oldcrons, seriousley, they were so much cooler and fitted better with the universe as the mindless Lovecraftian Horrors. Some Gold level lords have free thought but all Necrons follow Azimov's 3 laws of robotics in connection to the C'Tan and their tech levels aren't regressing.

2) Pre-Ward GK fluff as well, operating at legion strength

3) Calgar isn't every-bodies favourite guy, in fact the majority of non-UM, look upon him with distaint, in part to fact the majority of them are older than him

4) Serfs man all SM vehicles

5) Commander Farsight is a persona the leader of the faction adopts

6) Gulliman isn't healing in stasis, y'know it's how a stasis field works

7) The Star-Child Theory is bang on the money

8) The guard aren't nearly as callous as they can be portrayed

I have a sector that's part of the Imperium and Mechanicum, and half of it isn't really part of the Imperium until the 41st millennium.

For me...

1 - Tanks do not look like something from WWI
2 - Marine rhinos and tanks are driven by none astarte chapter forces.
3 - Astarte's are breed, not turned for the most part. They do not have a genseed, that is simply a term they use for using that marines genetics for the next batch of Astartes.
4_ Number 3 means, yes there are also female Astarte
5 - The Primarchs were not much larger or more powerful then most Atartes, they were the first Astarte, but not demi-gods
6 - The imperial army units as a whole are complainant and effective. They do not as a whole stupidly throw away lives.
7- Void ships are more common then canon
8- The admech are still fools for the most part, but the higher ups do have a plan and know a bit more about what they are doing.
9- The Eldra do not have normal ground troops, most warriors are simply suits with Egos( Souls of the dead) in them. They are a bit more transhuman in outlook.
10- Tyranids are not an unstoppable and countless foe, but the remains of a dead civilization
11- Orks are the remains of a race called the Korks, just a biological army left leaderless with a few built in orders.
12- The old ones lived inside the webway and vanished once that was breached by the necrons and their cities annihilated
13- The old ones did not craft the orks or eldra, but allied with the races that did
14- The Necrotyr had FTL capability, just not warp.
15- The Eldar are the remnants of a trnashumanist race once called the Eldren
16- Most of the HH is a lie or at lest a very pro imperium version that has been "Cleaned"

The Star Wars universe is in fact part of the 40k universe.

The Force = The Warp
Force users = Psykers

One day, the Imperium will discover that galaxy far far away and set them all straight.

EDIT: Also, Neimoidians, the species the leaders of the Trade Federation are, are what the Imperium would call Tau.

This

Ignatius wrote:The imperial army (guard, storm troopers, and PDF) is in reality very compitant and on the whole very effective. Most guard regiments do not send men to die just because they can and most operate closely to the way modern armies do.
Then there is what I refer to as the regular guard. These guys are pretty good. Certainly better than conscripts. Well trained and drilled. Can be counted on to hold in the face of death. Effective fighting force equivalent to many of today's modern armies.
Then there is the elite regiment and worlds. GW's model range make up many of these armies. Superbly trained and grizzled veterans. Fearless against any enemy, and terrifyingly efficient. Well equipped and supplied, these regiments have the potential to hold against forces many times their size and a few of these regiments can change the tide of a war or crusade. However, they are rare in the grand scheme of things.
Last is the storm troopers. Absolute masters of war. Brutally efficient and almost unbeatable to all but the largest of enemies and armies. Essentially space marines in carapace. Able to do anything and everything asked of them.
By extension, space marines are gods of war, and I've always envisioned them being better than the black library depicts them.
Primarchs are near indestructible , unkillable, literal Demi gods. They can take lascannons to the chest and shrug it off as nothing. Basically hyper powerful beings

and this

Tadashi wrote:
2) No psykers are sacrificed to the Throne at all, though they still power the Astronomican.
3) There are only three Ordos in the Inquisition, and the Grey Knights are as they used to be (as in no Khornate Knights, no mind-wipes and other Wardian gak) and are now legion strength. Deathwatch continues to serve the Ordo Xenos, and Holy Sisters for the Ordo Hereticus.
4) No technological regression - the Imperium has not forgotten how to make anything - rather, they have improved (but not innovated) existing technologies, put into production recovered Golden Age of Technology data,
.

and
The Emperor is not a corpse on a Throne. He is conscious.
Tau are fairly grimdark hoping to actively defeat the Imperium one day. (Tau on the top of the society, all the other races are second class citizens)

Thats it for now that I can think of

1: The Inquisition is really kind and reasonable if you are helpful to your full etent to them
2:Cain the the emperor reincarnate.
3: Terminator armor is actually a marine inside sitting on at a control panel piloting it, not waering it.
4:Ultra-marines are really Chaos that are on a 20,000 year plan on infiltrate that imperium.
5:Space wolves are furries.

This

http://www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/posts/list/449469.page

Grey Knights are not as good as their fluff and codex make them to be...more akin to the overly exaggerated Smurfs than anything else
Prepare for:

A lasgun shot in the mouth of an Ork that destroy its brain will keep it dead, sending explosive ordinance over battlefields with Orks spores destroy the spores.

IG is competent, but some regiment still succeed using human wave tactics.

An SM can go down agaisnt 15 or so guardsmen, less or more depending on the training or gear.

Necrons slowly gets damaged when they self repair, meaning they can't go on getting destroyed for the 1000th time, being melted to a small puddle is even more damaging. They can still be revived on the field of battle, however.

A fully powered lasbolt will tear a limb or reduce someone face to nothingness, low powered shots won't and can be stopped by flak armor, carapace armor can resist a few fully powered shots, hotshot punch through any flak/carapace/powered (not termie or artificer) armor.

Technology slowly progress, the average guardsman can do the occasionnal fix to his own gear, most advanced maintenance needs tech priest and the likes.

DKoK Grenadiers can deepstrike

The emperor comes back to lead the imperium as an emperor class dreadnought, still connected to the golden throne and still eating thousands of souls but fully awake and aware

1. The Adeptus Mechanicus' Legio Cybernetica is much more prevalent on their Forge Worlds and space-based installations. Fully-cybernetic/robotic soldiers are common in these places, most notably the Centurion-model Heavy Infantry Unit, a completely artificial combat robot equipped with a stormbolter and a powersword.

2. In other areas, certain tasks are deemed too dangerous for servitors, because the nature of the task destroys the organic components too quickly to maintain efficiency. Simple robots are instead programmed to perform this task.

3. The Guard is, generally speaking, competent, though when facing truly horrid foes, such as a risen Necron Tomb World or the Warp-born forces of the Arch-Enemy, they are at a distinct disadvantage.

4. The Space Marines are the Emperor's own Angels of Death. Facing a Space Marine in combat is almost certain annihilation. Renegade Guard units are killed to a man by a single kill-team of four to five Marines with brutal efficiency. The Space Marines out-gun, out-armor and out-tactic every other Imperial military force. Insult them at your peril.

5. The Sisters of Battle are, for all intents and purposes, the female equivalent of the Space Marines on the field of battle. Draw their ire, and there will be naught left of you but ashes. The weapons of bolter, flamer, melta and unshakeable faith in the God-Emperor of Mankind allows the Sisterhood to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and rally the forces of the Imperium wherever they fight in order to win the day. If defeat is inevitable, any survivors are sure to tell the tale of the heroic sacrifice the Sisterhood made in defending their human allies, and of the terrible cost the foe paid in the battle.

6. If you are an Inquisitor, the power of the Rosette extends only as far as the law of the Imperium does. If you're out in the wilds of space, far from any civilized world, do keep that in mind. If that Rogue Trader has a bigger, more heavily-armed ship than yours? Well, you're a long way from home, and it might be centuries before anyone finds the wreckage of your vessel. Try to be polite, hmm?

7. The powers of the Warp are strange and untrustworthy, but even they follow some certain rules. An injury healed by the Psyker may not be healed again. (IE, once a psyker uses Biomancy on you to heal you, you have to be wounded again for at least 1W before he or she can try again).

8. The vast majority of the Imperium has never heard of Chaos, or the powers of the Warp, the Traitor Legions, the Ruinous Powers and all the rest of that. The Ecclesiarchy and Arbites ensure it. Asking around about these matters is likely to get you arrested and summarily executed. For the Inquisitors out there, ignorance is a blessing. Try not to shake down the local tavern chasing rumors of cultists, you're wasting your time.

9. Incoming fire has the right of way.

10. Friendly fire isn't. Yes, you have a stormbolter. Yes, your companion has engaged in melee with that guy. Yes, if you empty a clip into that melee, your friend is going to catch at *least* one bullet.