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Hey there fellow 40k fans!

I have a simple question that's probably been answered a thousand times before...

Can ships enter the Warp from any spot in real space or do they all need to get to the Eye of Terror or the Maelstrom to do so?
I'm pretty sure they can enter and exit it from anywhere. If that's the case, why is the Eye of Terror and the Maelstrom so important?

they can enter the warp from any point in space, and in an atmosphere, however its extremely dangerous to do, so starships have to (usually) get to a transit point on the edge of a system to do so, Eldar, orks, tau are all different so may be slightly different when it comes to entering the warp/webway.

1.They can enter/exit from anywhere
2.The Eye of Terror/the Maelstrom are direct portals to the warp, and are filled with chaos conquered planets (the Maelstrom is a mini Eye of Terror)

The Eye of Terror is where the Black legion mostly reside, and laumch their black crusades from
the Maelstrom is where the Red Corsairs reside, and raid any ships that come close to it (as they are pirates)

Any explanations why the chaos marine fleets don't warp travel into the Imperium instead of trying to pass through Cadia in the materium ?

Yeah, what @godardc is asking. Being a chaos fan, that's what I really want to know.

 godardc wrote:
Any explanations why the chaos marine fleets don't warp travel into the Imperium instead of trying to pass through Cadia in the materium ?

They can but it is difficult. People think the Warp is like space but it is closer to an ocean with currents and storms. The eye of terror is a very big and powerful warp storm that prevents most travel. One of the things that broke the old human civilization was the giant warp storm that engulfed the galaxy during the age of strife which made warp travel basically impossible. They can try to enter the imperium through the storm but it is abit of a crap shoot. What makes Cadia so important is the Necron pylons that makes a corridor of real space and thus no warp storm within the eye. If they can capture it Cadia would become a major staging groud for future invasions.

 godardc wrote:
Any explanations why the chaos marine fleets don't warp travel into the Imperium instead of trying to pass through Cadia in the materium ?

Because the Eye of Terror is an absolute mess and is surrounded by both Eldar and Necron anti-warp-travel wards.

Leaving the Eye of Terror is like trying to get into Sydney Harbour in a Force 12 while driving an oil tanker and being attacked by selkies. Theoretically possible, but not something you want to do if there's any other option.

This actually begs the question; what would happen if a warp drive were used on a planet? As in one built in secret, deep in a hive world? Obviously such beaches can be used to get into the Warp. Can things come out? A lost ship, buried under generations of rebuilding is found and powered up by accident... A battle ensues to recover the ancient tech and close the breach. Might make a good story

 Furyou Miko wrote:

 godardc wrote:
Any explanations why the chaos marine fleets don't warp travel into the Imperium instead of trying to pass through Cadia in the materium ?

Because the Eye of Terror is an absolute mess and is surrounded by both Eldar and Necron anti-warp-travel wards.

Leaving the Eye of Terror is like trying to get into Sydney Harbour in a Force 12 while driving an oil tanker and being attacked by selkies. Theoretically possible, but not something you want to do if there's any other option.

In addition to Furyou Miko, there are other stable routes other than the Cadian Gate out of the EoT, but all known ones are monitored either by the Imperium or other races. It is possible to enter/exit the EoT whilst in the warp so you could do it, but it is hazardous. Any sizeable fleet would need to use the Cadian Gate, other smaller excursions could probably slip through.

One of the Black Crusades was known as the Ghost War, where after leaving the EoT the Chaos vessels entered the warp and disappeared on their respective missions. They could have done the whole thing in the warp, but I guess the whole we are here and now we are gone must've worried the Imperium, not knowing where they would strike next.

Thank you for your answers people, I think things are becoming clearer now.
Let's see if I get it: The chaos fleets don't exit the Warp just anywhere in real space because it's way to dangerous and prefer to try and use the EoT "exit" to Cadia because the Necron tech on the planet makes it safer.

This raises another small question: In 40k novels we see chaos (and other) ships constantly get out of the Warp and enter real space in other places, other than the EoT. Why are -they- not in danger?

 SpaceMushroom wrote:
Thank you for your answers people, I think things are becoming clearer now.
Let's see if I get it: The chaos fleets don't exit the Warp just anywhere in real space because it's way to dangerous and prefer to try and use the EoT "exit" to Cadia because the Necron tech on the planet makes it safer.

This raises another small question: In 40k novels we see chaos (and other) ships constantly get out of the Warp and enter real space in other places, other than the EoT. Why are -they- not in danger?

If you're trying to get 1 ship, or even 20-100 ships out of the EoT, it's not that difficult to find a small, if unstable path out of the Eye, especially if you don't mind losing a ship or two. It's only when you're dealing with thousands of vessels that the Cadian Gate becomes extremely important.

As for other locations, these are usually the result of cult activity that weakens the barrier between the warp and the materium. Expansion of that cult activity as well as promoting acts useful to chaotic ritual is what can lead to the creation and stabilization of new warp storms and portals, such as the Hadex Anomaly.

It should be noted that being in the EoT is not the same thing as being in the warp. The warp is the vast ocean while the EoT is merely the shallows that lead to the warp, so once you're inside the EoT it's possible to remain in there without a Geller field without too many problems other than dealing with daemons and other corporeal beings. The warp is far more tumultuous and harmful by comparison.

 SpaceMushroom wrote:
Thank you for your answers people, I think things are becoming clearer now.
Let's see if I get it: The chaos fleets don't exit the Warp just anywhere in real space because it's way to dangerous and prefer to try and use the EoT "exit" to Cadia because the Necron tech on the planet makes it safer.

This raises another small question: In 40k novels we see chaos (and other) ships constantly get out of the Warp and enter real space in other places, other than the EoT. Why are -they- not in danger?

Chaos vessels are in danger when making Warp Jumps, but they have cultists and sorcerers to do rites and rituals to appease the Warp (and the powers that reside in it) to grant safe passage. All ships that enter the Warp, of any faction, are at risk of being invaded and/or devoured by Daemons and such, or simply torn apart by the forces within the Warp (like sailing into a hurricane). When a ship enters/leaves the Warp, it leaves "eddies" in its wake, relatively minor disruptions in the Warp, basically the same thing as the wake-trails left behind real ships in an ocean.

However, the more ships you try to bring in behind that first one, the worse those eddies get, and eventually the disruptions are so bad that your arriving ships are ending up light-years off-course, or popping out of the Warp centuries or millennia out-of-phase with your planned invasion.

Hence, the stable Cadian Gate, or other, known stable routes linking worlds, is needed for moving massive fleets into and out of the Warp.

Ah, I believe I am starting to understand now! Thank you people!

So, I suppose the Cadian Gate is close enough to the Sol System that it makes it so precious to Abbadon? Is there no other safe passageway closer to Terra that he could use to advance his fleets?

 SpaceMushroom wrote:
Ah, I believe I am starting to understand now! Thank you people!

So, I suppose the Cadian Gate is close enough to the Sol System that it makes it so precious to Abbadon? Is there no other safe passageway closer to Terra that he could use to advance his fleets?

Think of the Eye of Terror as a gargantuan island surrounded by miles-long reefs and sandbars; making travel all but impossible to and from it. However, there is one large safe passage through it, and its on the southeast side. Unfortunately for Abaddon, this passage is guarded by a series of huge-as-feth fortresses and legions of flashlight-wielding meatshields and entire fleets of ships and mines. Now, he has acquired his followers by the million but, unfortunately, he must now break through the chokepoint of that one "safe" passageway. Terra, his ultimate target, is 8 thousand miles to the southeast and surrounded by hundreds of miles of fortifications and flashlight-wielding meatshields. In order to reach this place, he must break through the chokepoint, travel through 8000 miles of enemy-held island chains and open water, and then crack open Terra's hundreds of miles of defenses.

 SpaceMushroom wrote:
Ah, I believe I am starting to understand now! Thank you people!

So, I suppose the Cadian Gate is close enough to the Sol System that it makes it so precious to Abbadon? Is there no other safe passageway closer to Terra that he could use to advance his fleets?

The Eye is like a giant hurricane in space. A hurricane of primordial evil. It doesn't cover the entire galaxy (only a very big chunk of it) and the Cadian Gate lies along its eastern edge. There are, however, no known stable routes from Cadia to Terra, most space-travel is done in hops between known links to arrive at an eventual, distant destination. Non-stop flights are not really a thing in 40k.

It's "close", galactically-speaking, but space is really, really, really, really big. You should be able to find a map of the 40k galaxy online to show you the relative positions of major worlds and points of interest. In short, no, not really, it's still a hell of a haul from the Eye to Terra, with a bunch of major worlds between them (like Fenris).