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Made in ca
Grovelin' Grot





Edmonton, Alberta

As the title reads. Any insignificant piece of the world that you find cool

For example, one of my favorite bits of 40K is purity seals. Something so simple and small can really tell a lot about the world


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Another one of my favourites is grots and snotlings

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/06/21 07:24:22


 
   
Made in se
Stubborn Hammerer




Sweden

Ode to the Imperium of Man

Basically everything about the Imperium of Man beyond the shiny poster boys in power armour. The more decrepit, grotesque, insane, miserable, dysfunctional, hypocritical and ostentatious, the better. It makes 40k an endlessly fascinating setting, where so many other settings just make me lose interest after a while. Aesthetics and daring to go over the top are key.

And usually also the more niche without mass appeal, the better, although I note happily that the Adeptus Mechanicus and the Inquisition have garnered some healthy popularity. To me, Warhammer 40'000 is all about the minor fluff.

Go bonkers or go home.









This message was edited 10 times. Last update was at 2021/06/21 08:38:26


   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut






I am partial to the snippets of Ork lore in the codices I've had over the years.

The lost waaagh! - where a warboss jumps into the warp, emerges shortly before he left, and shot his doppelganger to get a spare of his favourite shooter. The resulting confusion stopped the waaagh! in its tracks.

Then there was the looted deathstrike missile, where it was used by the orks, "much to the surprise of 2 infantry platoons, a leman russ regiment and some 300 orks".

12,300 points of Orks
9th W/D/L with Orks, 4/0/2
I am Thoruk, the Barbarian, Slayer of Ducks, and This is my blog!

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Made in tw
Regular Dakkanaut





Does Warp! Corax kicking Lorgar’s butt count as minor fluff?
   
Made in ca
Pustulating Plague Priest






I recall a snippet in the 5E Tyranid codex regarding a conflict between a Tyranid strain (I think it was Gorgon) and a planet infested with Orks. This conflict stemmed from a machination of the Inquisition, where one would would destroy the other and become weakened in the process. What resulted was the inverse. The Tyranids altered their biology to adapt to the environment and their foe. The Orks kept growing and multiplying due to the endless amount of conflict they had on their hands. The Tyranids ended up out-adapting the Orks, and the Inquisition watched in horror as the strengthened Tyranids started heading in their direction.

There was also something another poster mentioned concerning a set of automated mechanical moving legs found by the Mechanicum. Nobody knew what to use them for, but the fear was that the legs would stop working permanently if they ran out of power. The solution was to put these giant automated mechanical legs on treadmills and keep them fueled until someone could figure out what to use them for. I’ve found it a good story when trying to explain how ridiculous the setting can get sometimes.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/21 14:28:02


Faithful... Enlightened... Ambitious... Brethren... WE NEED A NEW DRIVER! THIS ONE IS DEAD!  
   
Made in us
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

I really enjoy the parts where they give you a peek at the weird Imperial logistics that keep their society or their armies afloat. Here's an excerpt from Gaunt's Ghosts on their spam in a a can that I've always liked:

Slab is pretty gruesome stuff. Pressure-treated down from any and all available nutritional sources by the Munitorum, it has no discernable flavour apart from a faint, mucusy aftertaste, and it looks like grey-white putty. Slab, as it's known to every common Guard lasman, comes canned and it comes freeze-dried, it comes in packets and it comes in boxes, it comes in individual heated tins and it comes in catering blocks. Company cooks slice, dice and mince it, and use it as the bulk base of any meal when local provisions are unavailable. They flavour it with whatever they have on hand, usually foil sachets of powder with names like groxtail and vegetable or sausage. Ibram lived on it for most of his adult life. He was used to the stuff and actually miss it when it's not around.

For Eldar I always thought it was interesting their titans need to be piloted by twins or triplets, then there are the Wraithknights where one twin is alive and the other a soulstone.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut




It is, and almost certainly always will be, the Ork warboss who goes back in time to fight himself and get a second copy of his favorite gun, but accidentally destroys his own army in the process by disrupting the timeline.
   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






 SkavenLord wrote:
I recall a snippet in the 5E Tyranid codex regarding a conflict between a Tyranid strain (I think it was Gorgon) and a planet infested with Orks. This conflict stemmed from a machination of the Inquisition, where one would would destroy the other and become weakened in the process. What resulted was the inverse. The Tyranids altered their biology to adapt to the environment and their foe. The Orks kept growing and multiplying due to the endless amount of conflict they had on their hands. The Tyranids ended up out-adapting the Orks, and the Inquisition watched in horror as the strengthened Tyranids started heading in their direction.


That's the Octarius War between Leviathan tendrils and the Ork Empire of Octarius. It was engineered by Inquisitor Kryptman who used captured Genestealers to direct some of Leviathan's tendrils into Ork space to prevent a full-scale invasion of the Imperium. The Nid's would adapt to the Orks and create new biomorphs and the Orks would get bigger, stronger, and smarter for every battle they won. The fighting then spread into Imperial space anyway drawing in the Raven Guard, White Scars, Salamanders, Saim-Hann Craftworld, and even a Khorne Warband looking for Tyranid skulls. Then to top it off, Ghazghkull showed up, beat up a Mawloc, and is now leading a huge Ork armada into Imperial space.
Kryptman got kicked out of the Inquisition for this plus the other measures he took to curb Leviathan.
   
Made in us
Morally-Flexible Malleus Hearing Whispers




I think my absolute favorite bit of minor fluff is that SoS can inflct literal damage and pain through their language of Thought Mark, which is literally just hand signals/USL. There are varying levels of "force" they can put on each gesture, which is akin to volume or emphasis. So if they shout "STOP" loud enough they can inflict pain on the person they are talking to.

If I remember correctly Aleya states the true practitioners of the art back in the HH could literally kill with these gestures.
   
Made in ca
Pustulating Plague Priest






 Gert wrote:
 SkavenLord wrote:
I recall a snippet in the 5E Tyranid codex regarding a conflict between a Tyranid strain (I think it was Gorgon) and a planet infested with Orks. This conflict stemmed from a machination of the Inquisition, where one would would destroy the other and become weakened in the process. What resulted was the inverse. The Tyranids altered their biology to adapt to the environment and their foe. The Orks kept growing and multiplying due to the endless amount of conflict they had on their hands. The Tyranids ended up out-adapting the Orks, and the Inquisition watched in horror as the strengthened Tyranids started heading in their direction.


That's the Octarius War between Leviathan tendrils and the Ork Empire of Octarius. It was engineered by Inquisitor Kryptman who used captured Genestealers to direct some of Leviathan's tendrils into Ork space to prevent a full-scale invasion of the Imperium. The Nid's would adapt to the Orks and create new biomorphs and the Orks would get bigger, stronger, and smarter for every battle they won. The fighting then spread into Imperial space anyway drawing in the Raven Guard, White Scars, Salamanders, Saim-Hann Craftworld, and even a Khorne Warband looking for Tyranid skulls. Then to top it off, Ghazghkull showed up, beat up a Mawloc, and is now leading a huge Ork armada into Imperial space.
Kryptman got kicked out of the Inquisition for this plus the other measures he took to curb Leviathan.


Right! That was the one. I’ll have to give that one a reread, as I could have sworn it was the Tyranids that emerged the victors of that conflict. Didn’t hear about everyone else getting drawn into the conflict however. Was that part included in another codex entry by any chance?

Faithful... Enlightened... Ambitious... Brethren... WE NEED A NEW DRIVER! THIS ONE IS DEAD!  
   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






Octarius was mentioned in quite a few books IIRC. It's technically still an ongoing conflict as well.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/21 20:34:11


 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka







 SkavenLord wrote:
There was also something another poster mentioned concerning a set of automated mechanical moving legs found by the Mechanicum. Nobody knew what to use them for, but the fear was that the legs would stop working permanently if they ran out of power. The solution was to put these giant automated mechanical legs on treadmills and keep them fueled until someone could figure out what to use them for. I’ve found it a good story when trying to explain how ridiculous the setting can get sometimes.


I'd need to grab my copy of the 8th 'dex, but isn't that how they describe the Ironstriders?

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My Pile of Potential - updates ongoing...

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 Kanluwen wrote:
This is, emphatically, why I will continue suggesting nuking Guard and starting over again. It's a legacy army that needs to be rebooted with a new focal point.

Confirmation of why no-one should listen to Kanluwen when it comes to the IG - he doesn't want the IG, he want's Kan's New Model Army...

tneva82 wrote:
You aren't even trying ty pretend for honest arqument. Open bad faith trolling.
- No reason to keep this here, unless people want to use it for something... 
   
Made in us
Automated Rubric Marine of Tzeentch




dorset

 Dysartes wrote:
 SkavenLord wrote:
There was also something another poster mentioned concerning a set of automated mechanical moving legs found by the Mechanicum. Nobody knew what to use them for, but the fear was that the legs would stop working permanently if they ran out of power. The solution was to put these giant automated mechanical legs on treadmills and keep them fueled until someone could figure out what to use them for. I’ve found it a good story when trying to explain how ridiculous the setting can get sometimes.


I'd need to grab my copy of the 8th 'dex, but isn't that how they describe the Ironstriders?


yes. they have some not-really-understood anymore, almost perpetual motion thing going on, they basically dont need refueling. they aren't sure how to restart them anymore so they just....never stop them. they "park" them on treadmills (some places hook this treadmills up as a power source!) and replace pilots and servitors in them "on the hoof". its not clear if they can still make these anymore (it doesnt say they cant, but it doesnt specifically say they can, either).


just for added kicks, "just dont turn it off" was a actual fix applied to one of the early computers (i think colossus, the UK Codebreaking one), as they had a long standing issue with vacuum tubes failing form heat stress, but most of the heat stress was on startup/shutdown (ie big changes in temperature causing differential heat expansion). So, they started just turning it on and leaving it on, and that brought the failure rate down form 3 or three a day to one every two or three days.

To be a man in such times is to be one amongst untold billions. It is to live in the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable. These are the tales of those times. Forget the power of technology and science, for so much has been forgotten, never to be relearned. Forget the promise of progress and understanding, for in the grim dark future there is only war. There is no peace amongst the stars, only an eternity of carnage and slaughter, and the laughter of thirsting gods.

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Made in gb
Slaanesh Chosen Marine Riding a Fiend





Port Carmine

I've always liked the Iconoclast's Mound:

Beneath Port Carmine in Commorragh there is a vast area full of full of jewels, religious artifacts and relics. These have all been dumped by Raiding parties returning from Realspace. It is rumored to have started as a joke, but it has escalated into a tradition among the kabals there.

VAIROSEAN LIVES! 
   
Made in ca
Commander of the Mysterious 2nd Legion





 harlokin wrote:
I've always liked the Iconoclast's Mound:

Beneath Port Carmine in Commorragh there is a vast area full of full of jewels, religious artifacts and relics. These have all been dumped by Raiding parties returning from Realspace. It is rumored to have started as a joke, but it has escalated into a tradition among the kabals there.


you'd think the drukhari would just use that stuff to buy extra slaves

Opinions are not facts please don't confuse the two 
   
Made in gb
Executing Exarch





 harlokin wrote:
I've always liked the Iconoclast's Mound:

Beneath Port Carmine in Commorragh there is a vast area full of full of jewels, religious artifacts and relics. These have all been dumped by Raiding parties returning from Realspace. It is rumored to have started as a joke, but it has escalated into a tradition among the kabals there.


Some (well mostly all) Drukhari just want to see the world burn...

"AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED." 
   
Made in gb
Witch Hunter in the Shadows





Feral Cherubs - the little flying cloned flesh baby servitors which have cybernetic spliced cat brains.

Sometimes the cat part manages to break free of its programming and can get a little murdery.
   
Made in gb
Slaanesh Chosen Marine Riding a Fiend





Port Carmine

BrianDavion wrote:
 harlokin wrote:
I've always liked the Iconoclast's Mound:

Beneath Port Carmine in Commorragh there is a vast area full of full of jewels, religious artifacts and relics. These have all been dumped by Raiding parties returning from Realspace. It is rumored to have started as a joke, but it has escalated into a tradition among the kabals there.


you'd think the drukhari would just use that stuff to buy extra slaves


I don't think they like to pay for stuff when they can 'forage'.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
 Turnip Jedi wrote:
 harlokin wrote:
I've always liked the Iconoclast's Mound:

Beneath Port Carmine in Commorragh there is a vast area full of full of jewels, religious artifacts and relics. These have all been dumped by Raiding parties returning from Realspace. It is rumored to have started as a joke, but it has escalated into a tradition among the kabals there.


Some (well mostly all) Drukhari just want to see the world burn...


Yeah.

They also have an odd relationship with divinities.....I wonder if there is an element of "our gods failed us, and this is to show yours are just as useless".


Automatically Appended Next Post:
A.T. wrote:
Feral Cherubs - the little flying cloned flesh baby servitors which have cybernetic spliced cat brains.

Sometimes the cat part manages to break free of its programming and can get a little murdery.


That is awesome.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/06/23 11:06:08


VAIROSEAN LIVES! 
   
Made in gb
Moustache-twirling Princeps




United Kingdom

One battle - three versions
[Thumb - 76689055_2756324044405037_4326472332815106048_n.jpg]
Xalladin

   
Made in ca
Pustulating Plague Priest






xerxeskingofking wrote:
 Dysartes wrote:
 SkavenLord wrote:
There was also something another poster mentioned concerning a set of automated mechanical moving legs found by the Mechanicum. Nobody knew what to use them for, but the fear was that the legs would stop working permanently if they ran out of power. The solution was to put these giant automated mechanical legs on treadmills and keep them fueled until someone could figure out what to use them for. I’ve found it a good story when trying to explain how ridiculous the setting can get sometimes.


I'd need to grab my copy of the 8th 'dex, but isn't that how they describe the Ironstriders?


yes. they have some not-really-understood anymore, almost perpetual motion thing going on, they basically dont need refueling. they aren't sure how to restart them anymore so they just....never stop them. they "park" them on treadmills (some places hook this treadmills up as a power source!) and replace pilots and servitors in them "on the hoof". its not clear if they can still make these anymore (it doesnt say they cant, but it doesnt specifically say they can, either).


just for added kicks, "just dont turn it off" was a actual fix applied to one of the early computers (i think colossus, the UK Codebreaking one), as they had a long standing issue with vacuum tubes failing form heat stress, but most of the heat stress was on startup/shutdown (ie big changes in temperature causing differential heat expansion). So, they started just turning it on and leaving it on, and that brought the failure rate down form 3 or three a day to one every two or three days.


Was it really an actual fix? That’s amazing. I’m going to look that one up.

Faithful... Enlightened... Ambitious... Brethren... WE NEED A NEW DRIVER! THIS ONE IS DEAD!  
   
Made in ca
Stormin' Stompa






Ottawa, ON

FezzikDaBullgryn wrote:
I think my absolute favorite bit of minor fluff is that SoS can inflct literal damage and pain through their language of Thought Mark, which is literally just hand signals/USL. There are varying levels of "force" they can put on each gesture, which is akin to volume or emphasis. So if they shout "STOP" loud enough they can inflict pain on the person they are talking to.

If I remember correctly Aleya states the true practitioners of the art back in the HH could literally kill with these gestures.


I think this would be hilarious if the harmful gesture just happens to be a fist to the face.

Ask yourself: have you rated a gallery image today? 
   
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Contagious Dreadnought of Nurgle





-Ku'gath plaguefather, who is 40K's Obelix
- That time travelling Ork who killed himself to have two of his favourite shootas
- The little short story in CSM Codex 3,5 from the point of view of a Veteran of the long war fighting inexperienced lapdogs of the Emperor
   
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Esteemed Veteran Space Marine




UK

I like the fluff around lasguns.

That their power packs can be warmed on a fire to get a few more shots out of them.

That they make a whip crack sound rather than pew pew.

I just think they are neat.

 
   
Made in gb
Moustache-twirling Princeps




United Kingdom

 SkavenLord wrote:
Was it really an actual fix? That’s amazing. I’m going to look that one up.

Yep - Bletchley Park was reluctant to use valves due to their failure rate until Tommy Flowers from the General Post Office (GPO) research station pointed out you just don't turn the machines off (he then built Colossus).

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2021/06/23 22:42:49


 
   
Made in gb
[DCM]
Lone Wolf Sentinel Pilot





Leicester, UK

Yes! great thread. Karak Norn you've nailed it mate and summed up my thoughts exactly.

But seriously, it's beard squigs.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Just reading through the thread you linked there Karak, reckon you must be a black belt in Blanchitsu.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/23 23:21:59


My painting and modeling blog:

PaddyMick's Chopshop: Converted 40K Vehicles

 
   
Made in ca
Commander of the Mysterious 2nd Legion





beast_gts wrote:
One battle - three versions


yeah I thought that was a nice touch, just proof that even modern GW can do some great stuff.
   
Made in us
Growlin' Guntrukk Driver with Killacannon





Italy

 General Kroll wrote:
I like the fluff around lasguns.

That their power packs can be warmed on a fire to get a few more shots out of them.

That they make a whip crack sound rather than pew pew.

I just think they are neat.


Completely agree, I really like how they describe the whip crack of lasguns instantly gives you a feeling you're in a completely different science fiction universe than the classic pew pews.
   
Made in gb
Hungry Ork Hunta Lying in Wait





THe fact the imperium post humorously executed a guard regiment for being late to a battlefield (after they got lost in the warp)

A planet had a hive fleet with venomthropes and toxicrenes trying to outtoxic a nurgle daemon force and it got so virulent both sides just melted into sludge.
   
Made in eu
Longtime Dakkanaut




I always liked the fact that the war in heaven made the great crusade and the horus heresy look like childsplay.
Considering that the whole setting of 40k is anchored around the events of the colossal conflicts during the great crusade and the heresy, it really gives a sense of scale when both of those eras pale in comparison to the war in heaven. Necrons be OP y'all....

The Echoing Vault:
an ancient xenos device that unleashed eldritch horrors just called "the harrowing" from the halo stars, which took the combined effort of several space marine chapters, the inquisition and even some xenos to repell.
Several thousand years later an ambitious black legion lord tries to gain control of the echoing vault again. But before he can do so not one, but two of the moraides, ancient warships of the custodes, show up. They deploy a bunch of wardens and forty terminators to annihilate the chaos marines, while also permanently stationing a garrison of wardens to protect the vault.
Really gets you thinking as to how dangerous these eldritch horrors must have been. I just love cosmic horror sprinkled in 40k lore.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/24 10:49:21


 
   
Made in gb
Preparing the Invasion of Terra






I like how vague the majority of the War in Heaven is left. The Crusade and Heresy gained something because it gave modern 40k forces better options for stories and character motivations. Why do the Custodes hate Astartes? Ah because they were responsible for ruining the Emperor's vision. Why was Abbadon crowned Warmaster? Here is his origins and growth as a warrior and commander.
The War in Heaven works better as this unknowable but intensely destructive conflict works better because it was millions of years ago rather than 10k. Most factions in 40k shouldn't have an idea of the War in Heaven whereas it makes sense they'd know about things like the Heresy or Crusade.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2021/06/24 10:58:36


 
   
 
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