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Which non playable faction could become a major power or at least on par with the Taus in the series right now or in the future?

The Hrud are a consistent annoyance.



I guess the adeptus arbites are fairly significant.

The Mechanicum.

Not counting any Imperials (since really, they all count as "The Imperium".

... idk. The Hurd are deadly, but from what I understand they're a nomad race who doesn't give a gak about anything. Not too knowledgeable on any other races.

Zoats.

Hrud, if they were expanded upon more.

Hrud, Slaugth and others could wreack havoc if further developed

The return of the Enslavers!

Traitor Guard

Slaugth, Hrud and the Rak'Gol

Genestealer cults.

Demiurg

I've been waiting for some donkey-cave to say the Squats.

You have failed me, Dakka.

Squats?

Nids or DE (they are virtually non playable aren't they?)

Old Ones, assuming they're hiding somewhere as opposed to being dead.

 Mr. Burning wrote:
Nids or DE (they are virtually non playable aren't they?)

Wrongo! Nids are just extremely limited on their good lists but Psychic Choir Monster Mash biomancy is nasty.

In all seriousness though... Hrud or Slaugh

 BlaxicanX wrote:
I've been waiting for some donkey-cave to say the Squats.

You have failed me, Dakka.

That is because I was working earlier and had not had a chance to reply.

That being said:

All Fear the Diminutive Squats!

Squats are just remnants nowadays in the current setting (last we heard of them).

Rakgol wouldnt' be able to hold any territory for long, but they could be good at hit and run piracy attacks like the Dark Eldar.. I'm not sure being as "strong" as the Dark Eldar counts, though, since the original post said "Strong as the Tau." Dark Eldar are technically less of a threat than the Tau are. They just do hit and run attacks on planets while Tau actually CONQUER entire planets here and there. I don't think Dark Eldar have even managed to fully take an entire planet's population. They usually just show up, grab a chunk of the populace, and then are gone.

...anyways, Hrud have managed to destroy entire planets in their migrations so I'd have to cast my vote in with them. Bhargessi are also really powerful (powerful enough that the Imperium DEFENDED them from the Tyranids because the Imperium fears the idea of the Tyranids consuming their genes). but are contained in the ghoul stars and thus presumably aren't very numerous (still numerous enough to have SEVERAL entire space marine chapters dedicated to their containment, though).

The Loxatl.

Rak'Gol

Thu don't just do hit and run, they come to kill everything on the planet and make it a nuclear wasteland.

They are also in search of ancient alien artefacts that they like to attach to their bodies either as decoration or replacement arms or legs.

They are brutal.

Tarellian dog soldiers?

Administratum

 Kroothawk wrote:
Administratum

That shall flood the galaxy with red tape!

Just as soon as someone has filled out form 111FC/3 (proposal to expand operations) in triplicate, submitted the plan to the review board, followed by review of the review by the review sub committee, passed it for consultation by the management board (subject to the normal reviews, checks and balances).

Then, and only then, shall we take over the galaxy! One report submission at a time (pending health and safety assessment)

We'll be back to you with a final answer in 300-400 years. Possibly. As long as we get a reply from management on Holy Terra sometime this decade.

 BlaxicanX wrote:
I've been waiting for some donkey-cave to say the Squats.

You have failed me, Dakka.

The post before you said 'Demiurg'.

What about the Adeptus Custodes and the Sisters of Silence? Can't really play em at the moment but they sure are powerful enough to make some serious movement in the universe!

IMHO sisters of silence should be an elite attachment to sisters of battle like harlequins or legion of the damned.

They have a very specialized role and given that the ENTIRE sisterhood is made up of pariahs, I doubt they have enough sisters to field an army. At most, they probably only have enough to use as attachments.

....that said, I believe Forge World said that sisters of silence will have playable fieldable units for the Prospero Horus Heresy book.

TiamatRoar wrote:

I'm not sure being as "strong" as the Dark Eldar counts, though, since the original post said "Strong as the Tau." Dark Eldar are technically less of a threat than the Tau are. They just do hit and run attacks on planets while Tau actually CONQUER entire planets here and there. I don't think Dark Eldar have even managed to fully take an entire planet's population. They usually just show up, grab a chunk of the populace, and then are gone.

who says they wanted an entire planets population

they can strike where they want, when they want, to get what they want, and no one can stop them.

R'akgal can de-populate planets, but mainly through orbital bombardment. I'm not sure they'd be able to field a standing army in their current fluff state that could go toe to toe with another standing army force of average "tabletop" size.

 Exergy wrote:

TiamatRoar wrote:

I'm not sure being as "strong" as the Dark Eldar counts, though, since the original post said "Strong as the Tau." Dark Eldar are technically less of a threat than the Tau are. They just do hit and run attacks on planets while Tau actually CONQUER entire planets here and there. I don't think Dark Eldar have even managed to fully take an entire planet's population. They usually just show up, grab a chunk of the populace, and then are gone.

who says they wanted an entire planets population

they can strike where they want, when they want, to get what they want, and no one can stop them.

Even Dark Eldar that would love to have their own planet (exiles from Commoragh) can't conquer one. Dark Eldar are VERY good at what they do, but when it comes to straight up holding territory, I doubt they'd be able to do it if they hypothetically wanted to. The one time the Imperium was able to send a sizeable force to Commaragh, things went pretty badly for the DE (well, most of them. Vecht was having the time of his life)

Admittingly, they did repel the Imperial invaders in the end. I suppose it's technically unconfirmed if they could beat the Tau in a straight fight or not if all their forces were matched against each other in a Ragnarok scenario.

The Wambles. Being able to live on the moon with no oxygen means they can float around through space if their ship explodes.

TiamatRoar wrote:

 Exergy wrote:


who says they wanted an entire planets population

they can strike where they want, when they want, to get what they want, and no one can stop them.

Even Dark Eldar that would love to have their own planet (exiles from Commoragh) can't conquer one. Dark Eldar are VERY good at what they do, but when it comes to straight up holding territory, I doubt they'd be able to do it if they hypothetically wanted to. The one time the Imperium was able to send a sizeable force to Commaragh, things went pretty badly for the DE (well, most of them. Vect was having the time of his life)

Admittingly, they did repel the Imperial invaders in the end. I suppose it's technically unconfirmed if they could beat the Tau in a straight fight or not if all their forces were matched against each other in a Ragnarok scenario.

The DE dont want a planet. They like hiding away in the webway, hidden from Slanesh. They could go out and get hundreds of planets, but to what end? Then they would be visible to their "she who thirsts" and vulnerable.


Commoragh is much larger than any planet, it contains several entire suns in it for lighting. It is described that Commoragh compared to a human hive city is similar to a hive city to an ant hill. Immeasurably larger. They want not for living space.

The only reason that they might want to colonize or conquer worlds is to get raw materials, but why go to the trouble of mining/growing junk when you can just steal it from lesser races?

It is never mentioned that DE want a planet, they have no use for them.


Anyway they are a playable faction, so I am sticking with the mechanicus