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What would be different because of the different times we live in?

I'm thinking both male and female Space Marines. At least one female Primarch. Marines and Guard weapon types would be switch (SM have laser rifles and Guard have something like AK-47s.

Nations nuke whoever claims to be empy. Empy claimee dies. Chaos wins

I feel like nuclear war was actually more of a thing in, you know, 1987. This is just me though.

Oh, you just didn't understand the OP. Gotcha.

I don't think I would be possible for 40k to be invented today, because SF/fantasy/gaming have become performative. That is, people are very aware of what they are doing and what they are required to do.

Probably more drones and rail guns. Shooty armies would be more based off the Tau style of play with things like marker lights, deep strike alpha strikes, and an emphasis on air power. I'd expect a lot fewer bikers.

None of the things that were cool in the 80s -- acid spit, getting memories from eating brains.

Less dystopianism.

It would be nowhere as cool

I'd have saved a lot of money.

 mitch_rifle wrote:
It would be nowhere as cool

That's probably true. With some things I've heard 40k is what it is because of the times it was made in. iirc dystopian was a popular thing back then. No idea what it is now. The Human back story would I'm thinking include sanction alliances with xenos. Something along the lines of what was intended for the Laer until Fulgrim made good on his other plans.

 Veteran Sergeant wrote:
I'd have saved a lot of money.

Nah. We'd all have spent it on some other form of gamer crack.

 WarAngel wrote:
What would be different because of the different times we live in?

I'm thinking both male and female Space Marines. At least one female Primarch. Marines and Guard weapon types would be switch (SM have laser rifles and Guard have something like AK-47s.

There were two female primarchs... but we're not allowed to talk about th... Oh hey there, commisar. Just spreading imperial light!

I'm thinking it would probably look something like Mass Effect.

There would be more zombies.

Mavnas wrote:
There would be more zombies.

And sexy vampires.

 TheSilo wrote:

Mavnas wrote:
There would be more zombies.

And sexy vampires.

They can be anything they want...except sparkly.

Yes more zombies. And probably some Catachan guardsman with a back story of his whole unit being wiped out and resorted to using a crossbow.

 WarAngel wrote:

And probably some Catachan guardsman with a back story of his whole unit being wiped out and resorted to using a crossbow.

Actually, the most recent edition stripped out Sly Marbo

Mavnas wrote:

 WarAngel wrote:

And probably some Catachan guardsman with a back story of his whole unit being wiped out and resorted to using a crossbow.

Actually, the most recent edition stripped out Sly Marbo

I cant handle those feels today.

Sometimes I get the feeling that Marbo was a bit like Kim Jong II.

If you do not cry sufficiently believable for the three days of his funeral, you will be sent to a labour camp.

Sisters of battle would have plastic kits and not be using 20 year old models. (though the SoB models are ok, despite the age of the models.)

Heh. The Sisters kits have aged well, but were only okay to begin with. Those faces really, really need work.

That gets me thinking, do you think the reason we dont have plastic sisters yet is because there no one left in the studio that can sculpt a decent female?

Back on topic, I agree that in this day and age 40k as we know and love it wouldnt exist. There just too much 80s vibe to it for it to be remotely the same if it was developed today.

No, that's definitely not the case - some of the new female sculpts are very nice.

40k nowadays? It's called Destiny. Seriously, that videogame looks like Corvus Belli's version of the 40k universe.

 Furyou Miko wrote:
No, that's definitely not the case - some of the new female sculpts are very nice.

I'm on you there with Warhammer Fantasy elves, but right now? Urgh. Dark Eldar Wyches are repulsive.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Agent_Tremolo wrote:
40k nowadays? It's called Destiny. Seriously, that videogame looks like Corvus Belli's version of the 40k universe.

How? Destiny holds absolutely nothing in common with 40k besides guns and people shooting them.

Destiny is Halo: The MMO. As Wyzilla said, the only things it and 40K have in common are guns and people shooting them.

ETA: And if 40K was first-published today, I don't think it would be like Destiny. I think it would be similar to Mass Effect, but with a darker edge to it. Especially seeing the popularity of the darker-edged games like The Witcher and Dragon Age, expect the Imperium to be basically the same, excepting races like the Eldar and probably the Tau are basically enslaved by the Humans. Too valuable to just exterminate (hey, magic plastic!) but too not-human to actually afford basic rights to. Space-Dwarves would probably be a thing again. The IG would probably lose all of the "old army" looks. You'd keep Cadians, DKOK, and maybe Catachans. The rest? Footnotes and in-universe references, maybe, but probably not on the table, excepting perhaps as certain "limited edition" releases.

The Orks, the Tyranids and... probably 'Crons, or something like them, would be the primary adversaries. They'd probably also (at least 2 out of 3) be linked to Chaos in some way, which would take on a more shadowy, mystic role, and CSM would be far less prevalent, but far more potent when they made their appearances... it would be like GK, but playing for the other team.

Space Marines would still be the primary "good guy" army, but would be more diverse. It would be an almost-exclusive-boys-club, except for a handful of female ICs who had varying degrees of cheesecake, but also had way better focus on a single role (sniper, melee-assassin, psyker and.... one other thing, like tank pilot or jet-pilot or something) than any other character in the faction. Also, one entirely-female Chapter. This would probably be what the SoB would be rolled into.

@Wyzilla, Psienesis

Whoops. That post of mine was perhaps a bit too drastic. Lemme elaborate.

I don't think Destiny is a carbon copy of 40k. Moreover, I think Bungie is deliberately avoiding taking stylistic and plot cues from 40k. However, the two fictional universes share some common ground.

40k and Destiny each pay homage to and are heavily inspired by the new wave of sci-fi and the "dying Earth" subgenre. Frank Herbert, Gene Wolfe, Jack Vance and M. John Harrison. Of course, 40k has a wider focus and extends to cosmic horror, space opera, milscifi, political dystopia and fantasy. But in turn, Destiny is inspired by more recent science fiction authors and subgenres that draw inspiration from the same disparate sources as 40k (and maybe from 40k itself) like, for instance, the "grimdark posthuman hard sci-fi space opera" of Alastair Reynolds.

In the end, by drawing from the same sources as 40k while simultaneously ignoring it, Destiny comes quite close to what the OP asked for. Destiny tells of a legendary golden age destroyed by the actions of an enigmatic enemy, of an all-powerful, arcane savior of Mankind (in the shape of a magic-technological alien AI) and of a disparate army of posthumans fighting a guerrilla war to build a future for the human race, aided by magic and forgotten tech. It's certainly not 40k, but it is a good example of a science-fantasy fictional universe written in a present-day world where 40k had never came to be.

 fox-light713 wrote:
Sisters of battle would have plastic kits and not be using 20 year old models.

I think actually sisters of battle would not even exist .

To start with it wouldn't be a table game but an mmorpg. Basically a futuristic version of WOW. The lore included and simplified, obviously, so you would have an edulcorated and more intelligent version of the Orks, a noble and righteous Imperium which cooperates with the Eldar, much less darkness and all that kind of stuff. The Chaos would be pretty much the same, but with a more classical hellish background (no "the Chaos fuel with emotions" stuff).

Oh, and a lot of boobs and female Space Marines. And Primarchs. Female Primarchs of course.

We would have less grimdark, and more ear grating dubstep.

 Tigramans wrote:
We would have less grimdark, and more ear grating dubstep.

That would make things better since I'm pretty sure Noise Marine crank out Justin Beiber tunes.

Edit: wrong thread

I think 40K could benefit from some dubstep.

http://youtu.be/i7AC5M7F4ys