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Is it really game over the imperium loses cadia? I mean there are many thousands of fortress planets to get through not mention space marine chapters, millions of guard regiments and titan legions til they get to terra

what are your thoughts on this?

If the Imperium loses Cadia, we will lose hundreds of worlds, all being engulfed by the eye of terror. Losing Cadia will break the back of the Imperium and probably doom it.

For me the importance of Cadia is the phylons that stabilize the warp near it , and by doing so the allow a "safer" passage , also its a kind of nexus for all the warp points for lots of sectors , so if the Chaos forcer get there hands in a stable way out of the eye of terror that links to a lot of warp hot spots it will give them the ability to hit several worlds fast and easy , and like Lord Tarkin said that would result in the lost of those worlds and a cause a major setback for the Imperium .

I don't think that they want Cadia for that reason any more GarretAsh, I believed it was what it was previously intended for before the Crimson Path fluff was written.

Basically, Abaddon now whats to overload the Pylons so that they no longer hold back the Eye and the warp and real space overlap grows, enabling Daemons to manifest easier. He then intends to increase the Eye so that it eventually reaches Terra.

If Cadia falls and the Eye is spread further open it would be pretty disastrous for the Imperium and likely the end of it.

Long term - If Cadia is destroyed the Eye will expand and everyone will die.

Short term - The forces of Chaos will be able to run rampant throught the Galaxy but the Imperium may be able to hold the most fortified planets for a while.

I have a question, how is it that the traitor legions can launch attacks and abby has his black crusades if it appears that nothing can get past Cadia. At least that's what the fluff sounds like its trying to be

 Androxine Vortex wrote:
I have a question, how is it that the traitor legions can launch attacks and abby has his black crusades if it appears that nothing can get past Cadia. At least that's what the fluff sounds like its trying to be

things can get past cadia, but it is much more difficult. Think long distance/lots of "mountains" in the way.

There are many other ways out of the Eye of Terror, but the Cadian Gate is by far the largest and the most stable. Getting half a dozen, or even several dozen ships out of the EoT through other means isn't that big of a problem if you're willing to take some losses in the process. Getting literally thousands upon thousands of ships out without losing a huge proportion of them requires Cadia. Hence why the previous Black Crusades were all noticeably smaller than the 13th.

Also some of the Chaos Legions don't operate in the Eye anyway. There are other warp storms, less dangerous (and less empowering), than the Eye.

Its a key choke point.

Lose that you have a colossal front to defend, its a gatehouse defending a plain beyond.

The gate must hold no matter what.

It would mean the end of the Imperium's control of Segmentum Obscuras but not the end of the Imperium.

If Cadia falls, the Imperium will fall. It would give Chaos a stable beachhead to launch attacks in real space and it would deny Man their chokepoint to hold back the tide.

Which does not guarantee a loss, as the forces of Chaos cannot and do not remain unified under Abaddon for very long.

Losing Cadia makes defending the Imperium more difficult, it does not make it impossible.

 Pilau Rice wrote:
I don't think that they want Cadia for that reason any more GarretAsh, I believed it was what it was previously intended for before the Crimson Path fluff was written.

Basically, Abaddon now whats to overload the Pylons so that they no longer hold back the Eye and the warp and real space overlap grows, enabling Daemons to manifest easier. He then intends to increase the Eye so that it eventually reaches Terra.

If Cadia falls and the Eye is spread further open it would be pretty disastrous for the Imperium and likely the end of it.

Fair enough, thx for the update, got to give my chaos codex another go , still its pretty bad for the Imperium , i just wish the emperor would get his ass out of the throne and start some ass kicking.

The Emperor might be nothing more than a corpse. The fluff is vague on that point... and, more so, contradictory in places.

If Cadia even comes close to falling a huge hand shall descend from the heavens and retcon the whole thing anyway

I don't believe it is their intention anymore as once the imperium is covered entirely by the Eye, it won't matter whether they are in or out of it, they would just be able to pull their stuff along with them, summoning Daemons as they went.

It says in the Black Legion supplement that Abaddon could have attacked Terra anytime he wanted, but would likely have been defeated as we could easily have been cut off. With the Eye in tow behind him, he wouldn't have to worry as escape or reinforcement would be much easier.

I didn't like the Crimson Path fluff initially as it sounds kinda dumb, but thinking about it, it actually makes a fair bit of sense.

Many among his warlords questioned the Despoiler's plan to attack the Cadian System - the single most well defended part of the Imperium after Terra itself. It seemed folly to expend the might of the Traitor Legions against its fortifications and defenders when it would have been possible to bypass it and make directly for the Segmentum Solar, and distant Terra. However, even after centuries of war, Abaddon knew that if the Traitor Legions alone struck at Terra, they would fail, just as Horus had failed ten millennia before. If the Warmaster was to be triumphant and cast the corpse-Emperor from his Golden Throne, he would need to free the energies of the Warp upon reality.

as others have said Cadia falling isn't an auto loss for the Imperium, but it's a strategic loss on a HUGE scale that makes the Imperium scoring a victory (or even holding a long term stalemate, which for the IoM is just as good) FAR less likely

 Psienesis wrote:
The Emperor might be nothing more than a corpse. The fluff is vague on that point... and, more so, contradictory in places.

Lies! He's still alive! Someone is:

a) Soulbinding
b) Directing the Astronomicon

Proof if proof were needed that he's still around. 100% no doubt that it's him and not some arcane technology doing the job in his place.




Probably.

 Veteran of The Long War wrote:
It would mean the end of the Imperium's control of Segmentum Obscuras but not the end of the Imperium.

I also think the Eldar, Necrons, Orks, and Tau would be unlikely to take that kind of Chaos expansion lying down. The galaxy is mostly imperium, but not just imperium. Any force that expands its realm runs into much more than just their main enemy. There are a lot of groups with an interest in keeping Chaos contained.

Mellow wrote:

 Psienesis wrote:
The Emperor might be nothing more than a corpse. The fluff is vague on that point... and, more so, contradictory in places.

Lies! He's still alive! Someone is:

a) Soulbinding
b) Directing the Astronomicon

Proof if proof were needed that he's still around. 100% no doubt that it's him and not some arcane technology doing the job in his place.




Probably.

Spoken like a true worshiper of the corpse god.

In answer to the OP Chaos wants Cadia in a similar manner that the Allies wanted Normandy. As a stable beachhead to launch their attacks . And if the Black Legion controls it then they would grow in power and stature far beyond that of anything seen before. Imagine how many smaller waveband would pay a tithe to pass through the gates. It'd be easy for Abbadon to swell his ranks till he had enough to unleash a massive black crusade unlike any the Imperium has seen

Considering how many chapters have come to the defense of cadia yea it would cripple them.

 TheSilo wrote:

 Veteran of The Long War wrote:
It would mean the end of the Imperium's control of Segmentum Obscuras but not the end of the Imperium.

I also think the Eldar, Necrons, Orks, and Tau would be unlikely to take that kind of Chaos expansion lying down. The galaxy is mostly imperium, but not just imperium. Any force that expands its realm runs into much more than just their main enemy. There are a lot of groups with an interest in keeping Chaos contained.

Very true. Although bear in mind the tau are on the other side of the galaxy.

 TheSilo wrote:

 Veteran of The Long War wrote:
It would mean the end of the Imperium's control of Segmentum Obscuras but not the end of the Imperium.

I also think the Eldar, Necrons, Orks, and Tau would be unlikely to take that kind of Chaos expansion lying down. The galaxy is mostly imperium, but not just imperium. Any force that expands its realm runs into much more than just their main enemy. There are a lot of groups with an interest in keeping Chaos contained.

Moreover, the bigger the Eye is, the more likely it is that a Tyranid Hive Fleet will find its way in there. I imagine that a big enough Shadow in the Warp could leave Abaddon's forces without any support from their daemon buddies. That's one way an open beachhead into the galaxy could be cleansed.

... or you get Chaos Tyranids.

I believe the eldar codex mentions their taking a more active part in stemming the tide. I think it also hints that abbadons crimson path is working because the sheer amount of destruction from the conflict thus far is drawing in daemons by the millions. So more factions like the orks joining the fight could actually be enhancing abbadons objectives.

Dang eye of terror, those meddling Eldar created it in the first place and now its up to brave Cadians to clean up the mess they left behind... or at least to die in the millions keeping it from expanding.

I doubt it would be the end of the Imperium if it lost Cadia but it would certainly be a significant story progresser - and therefore will never happen .

 Psienesis wrote:
... or you get Chaos Tyranids.

Unfortunately not, as awesome as it would be, Nids do not have souls as shown in the fluff where they fight. Chaos loses grip on the real world because there is nothing to corrupt in tyranids, only hunger.

Whoops... there doesn't seem to be anything here.

Well, it was, and then it wasn't, so it isn't any more.