Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

The toll the Horus Heresy took on the Imperium cannot be understated - the war itself, the loss of half the Mechanicum and their respective production facilities, the loss of manpower in normal humans, the loss of huge amounts of starships, entire planets worth of materials, constant raids by aliens and Chaos, the increasingly secular nature of the Imperium in 40k...these things all add up and contribute.

TLDR; The Imperium ain't what it used to be.