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The Orks and the Necrons are the only two factions that can halt the Tyranids, any other faction is screwed. Including the Imperium and Chaos.

My 'fannon' is for my draigowing. Its not an actual grey knight army, but a group of elite slaaneshi traitors who decorate their pink armor with inquisition emblems. They do this because, 99% of the imperium wont know any better anyways, and those that would will see through any disguise. So rather than fight, they cruise around backwater worlds in their strike cruiser, picking up women/drugs from planets and threatening governors if they dont give them money.

Because honestly, if 12 psychic terminator marines teleport down to your governors mansion and say the inquisition demands you lower your void shields and give them the coordinates to every high class brothel in the hive, you arent going to challenge them or ask to see their papers.

Eidolon wrote:My 'fannon' is for my draigowing. Its not an actual grey knight army, but a group of elite slaaneshi traitors who decorate their pink armor with inquisition emblems. They do this because, 99% of the imperium wont know any better anyways, and those that would will see through any disguise. So rather than fight, they cruise around backwater worlds in their strike cruiser, picking up women/drugs from planets and threatening governors if they dont give them money.

Because honestly, if 12 psychic terminator marines teleport down to your governors mansion and say the inquisition demands you lower your void shields and give them the coordinates to every high class brothel in the hive, you arent going to challenge them or ask to see their papers.

So... You really like chaos, and want that to be your army, but want to use the much better and arguably broken rules of the Grey Knights...?

Shame on ye!

Von Chogg

No, I really like chaos fluff, I really like grey knights models. I bought grey knights planning on them being grey knights, but after painting a sanguinary guard army I decided doing ANOTHER army in metallics wasnt something I was up for. I wasnt sure what to paitn them for about 3 months, they just played as a grey legion. I had joked about doing them up in slaaneshi colors, but one night got drunk and implemented my plan. It was been my favorite paint job since, as the reactions it gets are always funny.

Also, I already have a foot wolf army I use as iron warriors, and is painted up in Iron warriors schemes.

In 40k fannon.

Ultramarine Captain Cato Scarius is a douche. Oh wait that is lore.

The ghoul stars are ripe with dangerous empires.

The Ghoul Stars are major threat, and no crusade has succeeded as the emperor's light ends at the Wanderer's deserted home system.

I tend to go along with the official fluff for the most part and build my armies in the gaps it leaves (the Eldar Codex makes mention of eleven Craftworlds, but the number of Craftworlds, Corsair fleets, etc. that it doesn't mention could be significantly larger, for instance); the only major thing I've patched the official fluff with is a theory that the Grey Knights lost 2,200 Marines and four Grand Masters in between the 3e Codex and the 5e Codex because of some sort of political schism dealing with the fact that someone in the upper management decided to appoint a Supreme Grand Master. Given their association with the Inquisition, I suspect a rather loud and violent argument involving which side was corrupted by Chaos resulted, the people backing Draigo insisting that the dissenters were being turned against the Imperium by Chaos influence, the dissenters insisting Draigo's backers were blinded by ambition. End of story: the Inquisition fragments, the official Grey Knights under Draigo edit everyone else out of the official records, and there are now more rogue Inquisitors and Grey Knights acting against Chaos on their own and possibly fighting against other forces sent to hunt them down.

The whole thing is mostly because I don't like Matt Ward's insistence on telling me what my armies think of his canon characters, if I want my Grey Knights to think Draigo is a puppet of Tzeentch and my Space Marines to think Robute Gulliman was a pansy-ass incompetent more concerned with polishing his boots than fighting, that's my choice.

What's in my fannon?

Anything in Rogue Trader and 2nd ed fluff that hasn't been directly contradicted yet.

Yes, that includes Sensei, Beastmen being recognized abhumans, and a certain previous Ultramarines Librarian being half-Eldar.

I exist in my Fannon.That is all that departs from "official" cannon.

Primarch II, being the second Primarch and thus, neither the first or second, was killed because he was tainted by the warp and corrupted his legion.

Primarch XI and his legion were destroyed by the Iron Hands as their primarch kept saying to Ferrous Manus: 11 is 1 louder than 10, isn't it?

Kid_Kyoto wrote:
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.

Yeah, most guardsmen probably never see followers of chaos, most wars are between the IG/PDF and pirates, rebel planets, independent human worlds, Orks, or "normal" xenos (aliens that aren't 8 foot tall killing machines or undead robots), so they wouldn't have run out except for maybe Cadia. Also SMs are just examined for their purity like Lysander was after being captured and tortured by the Iron Warriors.

Also, don't see the point of even acknowledging female marines. In my fanon the answer to the question of girl marines is a resounding maybe. There is no real reason for one to potentially waste geneseed attempting and failing (if it does fail) to make female marines when making male marines is hard enough. Also, the societies that marines come from are often feral and death worlds, which are probably more likely to suffer from misogyny than a civilized world or hive world.

Overall these are the main points to my fanon
1. Most information on the Tyranids is pure guessing, the idea that they have consumed several galaxies, and the idea that the Imperial Guard would need to increase its numbers by %500 in order for humanity to stand any chance are guesses airing on the side of caution. Pretty much they are likely overestimating the threat so that they won't have to deal with a bigger threat than they imagined. Better to have 5 times as many guardsmen than you need than 5 times too few.

2. Imperial Guard Storm Troopers are formed into a single regiment numbering in the millions if not tens of millions. The reasoning for this being if it is ten thousand strong as the last source to give a defined number states they are effectively useless. You might get one storm trooper for a whole sector if you are lucky with those numbers.

3. There is some formation in the Imperial Guard in between the regiment level and company level. The problem with IG regiments is that their scale makes no sense. They are often portrayed as anywhere from 1,000 to 120,000+ men, and if the second largest formation was a company the unit would be incredibly unwieldy. So instead of a 5,000 man regiment and 50, 100 man companies, a regiment may have 5 battalions each with 10 companies.

4. Space marines average about 8 feet tall and have kill ratios against GEQs of approximately 100 to 1 up to 1,000 to 1 depending on the environment and situation. Simple reasoning, they have always been portrayed as gods of war in fluff, they should damn well live up to that.

5. Commander Chenkov is depressed and borderline suicidal because he regrets sending so many men to their deaths. I just like it because it makes him seem like less of a one dimensional uh jerk, that isn't too offensive, instead seeming like an officer that sacrifices his men because it is the most expedient way to victory, and while he regrets the deaths understands that by ending a conflict quickly with 10,000,000 losses he is preventing a decade long war that claims hundreds of millions.

6. The average guardsman is about on par with a modern western soldier in terms of skills, more than enough to handle a random schmuck with a gun, but still inferior to 8 foot tall walking tanks. Cadians and other well known regiments are akin to the best special forces in the modern world, highly competent and well trained, except being trained and equipped for conventional warfare. Storm Troopers are far superior to any modern soldiers, and are absolutely ruthless, being at the absolute peak of human physical abilities outside of marines.

None of it is really revolutionary, mostly just tying up loose ends and toning things up or down to make more sense in the setting, 10K storm troopers is meaningless, marines are a waste if their K/D ratios are only 10 to 1 or something, and if the Tyranids did eat a dozen galaxies the entire point of the setting is meaningless because no matter what happens the nids will eat everyone.

BrotherGnaeus wrote:

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!

Me too, except replace BA with UM

1. There are plenty of Imperial citizens living far from the front lines whose lives will never be touched by war. Same goes for some of the other factions (eg well-protected Tau planets, some Craftworlds, etc).
2. Ignorance of technology is not as common as it is often made out to be. Think of how far technology in the real world has come in the last 100 years...the planets of the Imperium have had millennia to develop. There can't be A Techpriest complaining every time someone takes the back off their TV. There are undoubtedly plenty of people who know about technology, from plumbers and programmers among the civilian population to Guardsmen who know how to keep their vehicles and weapons in good order.
4. The AdMech will not punish all tinkering with technology. They mainly have a monopoly on the really advanced tech, such as plasma weapons and the Titan Legions. Their rituals are often a smokescreen to avoid letting outsiders find out that they actually understand a lot of what they're dealing with.
5. There are a surprising number of planets that aren't such bad places to live.
6. There are both Oldcron and Newcron empires (I think this is still official in any case)
7. The Imperial Guard are largely competent, well-trained and professional, though standards vary between regiments (Black Library has already made this view all but official anyway). Officers like Chenkov are in the minority.

In my fannon, Chaos Marines aren't crap. In fact, loyalists are the ones who are crap. You join Chaos because you get stronger and you get to sex around and take drugs and be a rock star in power armour! With cultists and raunchy daemonettes as your groupies.

The only thing keeping the Chaos Gods from consuming the whole galaxy is the fact they'll probably destroy themselves by destroying all life that feeds them. Or at least they'd be bored. And they don't get along.

A Chaos Raptor will tear an Assault Marine to shreds, no contest.

Grey Knights are the ultimate squares and thus not cool at all.

Things like that...

The Brotherhood of the Ghoul Stars are all that remain of Imperial Forces in the Ghoul Stars, after a hive fleet and many terrifying enemies have risen.

The Astronmican is weak.

The Imperium has very lose control of the Space Marines.

Space Marines are not as rare as previously thought.

New technology is constantly developed but only slightly more efficient.

Power armor incorporates 41st millenia technology and Astartes are competent soldiers.

All Ward fluff that includes Draigo does not exist.

The Ultramarines are still indeed jerks.

The Wanderers are feared rightfully by the enemies of the imperium, they are also well known in folklore and in major hives as the Knights of the Heavens.

I have to agree on just about everything Ignatius said about the Imperial guard. Maybe storm troopers aren't "essentially space marines in carapace armor", but trained to just above the peak of normal human performance.

I'm also a fan of King Pariah's take on the Necrons.

Now, for my fanon:
1. The Milky Way galaxy has hundreds of millions of different suns, and among those are probably millions of habitable worlds. Therefore, the Imperium had at some point in its history control of two or three million worlds full of humans. The one million it has now is a result of xenos invasions, daemon incursions, and the ever-popular death by Exterminatus.
2. On the whole, the citizens of the Imperium only hear about the Ruinous Powers when they go to church or via very suspicious rumors that are quickly stamped out. At first glance, they would easily mistake a Chaos Space Marine to be a Loyalist one, because no knowledge of the Traitor Legions were ever passed down to them.
3. The Emperor, the greatest psyker to ever exist in the galaxy was a brilliant general, scientist, and ruler, but was still just a man, and therefore prone to mistakes. Though his plan to introduce widespread Iconoclasm to all humans was a noble one, it would never had succeeded, for humans will always need a religion to go by. By the time he was interned to the Golden Throne, he figured it was no use trying to convince them otherwise.
4. Speaking of the Horus Heresy, before Horus could strike the final blow against the Emperor, it was one man who stood between them. His name was Ollanius Pius, and though he was just a man facing down a Primarch strengthed and inebriated by an evil he could not comprehend or understand, he nevertheless stood in front of the Emperor without fear in his heart in a futile attempt to defend Him. The Emperor saw in that moment mankind's faith in his spirit to defy death itself, despite how easily crushed that spirit could be. As Horus threw back his head laughing after obliterating Ollanius Pius with a swipe of his hand, He knew his favorite son was too far gone, and knew what must be done to give humanity a fighting chance of survival.
5. The Grey Knights number approximately 3,000 strong, all the more able to spread out and fight Chaos wherever it may lurk. Kaldor Draigo, for all his achievements while trapped indefinitely in the Warp, will never make a lasting impression against Chaos. He can burn Nurgle's garden, but it will always regrow anew; kill daemons and greater daemons, but they will never truly die; create havoc and chaos on any daemon world, but to no avail, for Chaos thrives on such things. He will be forever stuck in the shifting tides of the Warp, the only place he could call home. Oh, and the Grand Master never carved any names into Mortarion's heart.
6. As with any hostile xenos race, the Imperium is at war with both the Eldar and the Tau, and will fight both at any occasion which is opportune. However, against the threat of Chaos or the Great Devourer, these races will temporarily set aside their differences to face a common enemy. After which, the Eldar will make a move to secretly backstab them, and the Imperials will begrudgingly leave the Tau alone until the next encounter.

From the Tau perspective:
I try to find a middle ground for the idealism and grimdark.
To me, they're not above beating down anyone who stands in their way or enforcing social order. And yet, they give you a chance to surrender to your fate peacefully instead of just charging in and blowing faces off.

And as for Farsight, I always like to see him as a grizzled old vet disillusioned by the system. He's a rebel and is leading anyone that'll stand by him in his quest for survival in an uncaring, unforgiving galaxy. Basically, it justifies him taking Kroot and IG lol.

A couple things.

1.Mechanicus - Machine Spirits are just 40k speak for doing weapons maintenance, since they think that oiling a gun is a holy ceremony.

2.The AdMechs are actually creating new tech and hocking it off as "ancient holy relics srsly guys!"

3.The Alpha Legion has had enough of Abbadon's unsuccessful Black Crusades, so they turned to the Maledictum Daemon to use Azariah Kyras as a replacement for the Despoiler. Considering that Abaddon sends Eliphas the backstabbing backstabber to slay Kyras, this is only a win win for the Alpha Legion.

Either Kyras becomes the Ascendant and challenges Abaddon, or Eliphas slays Kyras, becomes a Daemon and challenges Abaddon.

Arcsquad12 wrote:A couple things.

1.Mechanicus - Machine Spirits are just 40k speak for doing weapons maintenance, since they think that oiling a gun is a holy ceremony.

2.The AdMechs are actually creating new tech and hocking it off as "ancient holy relics srsly guys!"

Both of these are actually legit. Although the second one is more like they modify old stuff and just go along not making a big deal about it.

Fafnir wrote:

Arcsquad12 wrote:A couple things.

1.Mechanicus - Machine Spirits are just 40k speak for doing weapons maintenance, since they think that oiling a gun is a holy ceremony.

2.The AdMechs are actually creating new tech and hocking it off as "ancient holy relics srsly guys!"

Both of these are actually legit. Although the second one is more like they modify old stuff and just go along not making a big deal about it.

I still find both hilarious.

1. Regiments are just another word for a modern day division, and usually has 10000-30000 men in it.

2. Between Company level and Regimental Level are Battalions.

3. After Regiments are Brigades, (Corps), Divisions, (Army), Battle Groups (Army Group), Solar, Sub-sector, Sector, and thats as far as i want to take it.

4. The Imperial Guard is on average as well trained as a modern day soldier, exceptions are more primitive cultures.

5. Oygrns are more like Khador Men of Wars.

6. Ratlings do not exsist, no hoblits in space.

7. The Imperial Guard is for the most part a motorized army, with rarer Mechanized regiments. WH40k tt battles are just too small for it to make a difference.

8. Commissars are pretty much the same, but arent as much of a jerk.

9. Space Marines are extremely rare. Maybe 1 in 1000000 battles.

10. Most IG fight Orks, Rebels, and Pirates. Then Dark Eldar, Chaos Cultists, and Eldar. CSM and Deamons are as rare as space marines.

11. Guardsmen arent executed for fighting Chaos Cultists or even Chaos marines.

12. Drago is a propaganda story to give hope to the GKs, since they fight a hopeless battle.

ObliviousBlueCaboose wrote:1
12. Drago is a propaganda story to give hope to the GKs, since they fight a hopeless battle.

This, I could get behind.

Arcsquad12 wrote:A couple things.

1.Mechanicus - Machine Spirits are just 40k speak for doing weapons maintenance, since they think that oiling a gun is a holy ceremony.

2.The AdMechs are actually creating new tech and hocking it off as "ancient holy relics srsly guys!"

3.The Alpha Legion has had enough of Abbadon's unsuccessful Black Crusades, so they turned to the Maledictum Daemon to use Azariah Kyras as a replacement for the Despoiler. Considering that Abaddon sends Eliphas the backstabbing backstabber to slay Kyras, this is only a win win for the Alpha Legion.

Either Kyras becomes the Ascendant and challenges Abaddon, or Eliphas slays Kyras, becomes a Daemon and challenges Abaddon.

If Eliphas the Inheritor bumps off Abaddon and assumes the title of Warmaster, I'd be so happy. Eliphas is a badass mofo.

Fafnir wrote:

ObliviousBlueCaboose wrote:1
12. Drago is a propaganda story to give hope to the GKs, since they fight a hopeless battle.

This, I could get behind.

King Pariah wrote:

If Eliphas the Inheritor bumps off Abaddon and assumes the title of Warmaster, I'd be so happy. Eliphas is a badass mofo.

1. Regarding the new necron fluff I like to combine the old and new. The Deceiver, Nightbringer, Outsider and Dragon are all still "whole" and not shards. They were the only ones to survive the Necrons "shattering". The Dragon was still captured by the Emperor under Mars (no mere "shard" can influence an entire culture) and the outsider was still imprisoned by the laughing god in the Dyson sphere. The nightbringer and deceiver prefer to orchestrate events from the shadows.
2. Not every Old one died, a few survived as a more "local" xenos power. After the enslaver plague and the rise of Chaos, it became clear that their reliance on the warp would doom them entirely to extinction. Using their mastery of bio-engineering they seeded genes into many other races which would help combat the threat of chaos. Their work that has lasted for thousands of years is the creation of the Tau. When it became clear the Tau would destroy themselves they were forced to use the etherials to "save" them. It was due to their warp technology that all fleets attempting to reach T'au were destroyed.
3. The guardsmen are an extremely competent fighting force, however logistics makes them unwieldy meaning they take far more casualties than should be necessary.
4. Imperial tanks are more adequately proportioned and armoured than what we see.
5. Marines are 7ft tall or 8ft tall in power armour.
6. Marines CAN and DO feel fear, however they are so highly trained they can instantly suppress it in most cases (especially in combat situations).
7. Like above Marines can also feel love and normal human affection, but it is (mostly) bred out of them.
8. Marines CAN die of old age, however different chapters have different "lifespans" (eg BA live longer than UM). Marines that are to old (or too badly wounded) fill important administrative and training roles in the chapter.
9. Most chapters contain 1500-2000 marines, as marines that are not included in the 10 companies are often not counted (vehicle crews, librarians ect).
10. The Emperor was a horrible, power hungry person, blinded by idealism who after over 30k years of living had become vey distanced from "normal" humans. He was so concerned with humanities survival from chaos that he was not afraid to commit any act, no matter how bad. This included flatly denying any chance of peaceful co-exsistence with many Xenos and even consorting with the powers he was trying to fight to create the primarchs. During his 30k year lifespan, he had grown used to humans obeying him at every turn due to his immense psychic powers, which was only re-enforced when he "revealed" himself during the unification wars. He therefore was hugely shortsighted in how his sons would react to his decisions, as they were largely immune to the Emperors psychic influence. It was due to this poor judgement that the HH took place.
11. Many other human and Xenos civilisations created super soldiers, many which were on par with the astartes. They were never however made in the large numbers the astartes were.
12. The Tyranids were in fact a bio-weapon that got out of control and destroyed its creator.
13. The majority of the imperium is actually a very happy place, where few know of the many wars fought in their name. All will have their own technology and customs. It is only the imperial governor, the regular tithe and the edicts of the ad mech and elclesiarchy which links them with the wider Imperium.
14. There are many places where humans and xenos live happily together, even within the imperium in more remote locations.
15. The Imperium may control "one million worlds" but only a fraction of those will have any serious habitation.
16. The ad mech is not one organisation, it is in fact thousands of individual companies (most controlling one forge world) competing for recognition and funding from mars. It is this combined with the ritualisation of technology which means across the imperium, most technology has become stagnant (an organisation which is distrustful of new technology is unlikely to invest in new, unproven technology so it is often never made).
17. One of the forgotten legions and its primarch turned to chaos long before the HH and the space wolves destroyed them. The others primarch was somehow killed and the legion was fused with the ultramarines.
18. If the Emperors body ever were to "die" he would either become a small god in the warp or be re-encarnated. Sebastian Thor and the storm of the emperors wrath are his "experiments" in this field. The terminus decree is an order to switch off the golden throne.
19. Gork and Mork are independent warp gods, which look upon the chaos gods great game and laugh at their stupidity. The Eldar had their own pantheon at one point, why not the Orks?
20. The Ork Psychic field "smooths the rough edges" of their technology and biology, allowing it to function when it really should not. It cannot however turn a lump of metal into a gun, it has to be a device made as such with physical projectiles.
21. The 13th black crusade was actually a huge success (as was decided in the eye of terror campaign) Cadia has been destroyed.
22. DRAGO DID NOT CARVE HIS NAME INTO MORTARIONS HEART!!! HE IS A DAEMON PRIMARCH FOR F**K SAKE!!!

Thats all I can think of at the moment....


Automatically Appended Next Post:

King Pariah wrote:
If Eliphas the Inheritor bumps off Abaddon and assumes the title of Warmaster, I'd be so happy. Eliphas is a badass mofo.

I support this 100%, "a change in leadership is in order". And Abaddon has no arms.

1) The IG win the vast majority of the battles they fight, including battles against enemies often seen as being out of their league, like Necrons, Tyranids, and Chaos, almost always without Space Marine assistance. They still lose just enough that there are a number of serious threats to the Imperium.
2) The Imperium contains more than a million worlds- probably closer to a billion, but a number of those are entirely uninhabited.
3) The Eldar and Space Marines are not hilariously tiny in terms of numbers. There are about a billion Eldar (not including DE) and a few billion marines.
4) An Eldar Aspect Warrior can take on a Space Marine 1-on-1. This isn't to say such a battle would be a foregone conclusion- it'd be fairly evenly matched.
5) The Imperial Guard can use tactics besides throwing Guardsmen at the problem until it goes away, but oftentimes, the good ol' meat grinder is the only option.

I honestly prefer the new Necron fluff to the old. In my universe, there are a few different camps of the Necrons. There are:

1. Those that ally with Szarek and wish to return to The Time of Flesh.
2. Those that ally with Imotekh, seek to purge the galaxy of those that do not accept Necron supremacy and rightful rule, and wish to remain immortal.
3. Those that seek to reform The Nightbringer and The Deceiver.

I haven't had time to flesh it out, but the main fellows have agendas and war with each other, while temporarily forming alliances to annihilate foes.

There are also some other things.

1. C'Tan, while not impossible to destroy, are part of fundamental reality and there are dire consequences for destroying one.
2. Necrons do not have Dolem Gates, they possess FTL/ Star Trek Warp 9 capabilities.
3. Necrontyr is the full name of the race, it's just shortened to Necron.
4. The Celestial Orrery is not fought over and rarely used, if at all. Perhaps a handful of times since it's inception.

I'm glad none of you have any ties to GW. They produce some terrible fluff, but it's all gold compared to some of the crap in this thread.

Please review our Rule Number One. Thanks ~ Manchu