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Not who will be great in a fight etc - but rather what race/s do you think would make the current universe more interesting and/or fit in nicely - and why.

There are few fantasy universes on the same weight class as 40k.

Zerg. Because Tyranids need allies.

Or maybe MI from the book version of Starship Troopers.

Tribbles.

I don't think they need an explanation.
Just imagine the unlimited potential of Chaos Tribbles.

Oh man, give me Turians or Krogan (Mass Effect) in a 40k setting! Hell, you could give the Krogan an area of space that makes the orks their biggest rivals. Can you imagine the carnage those two races would inflict on one another?

 Algorithm wrote:
Oh man, give me Turians or Krogan (Mass Effect) in a 40k setting! Hell, you could give the Krogan an area of space that makes the orks their biggest rivals. Can you imagine the carnage those two races would inflict on one another?

Oh man, just thinking of the interactions between Krogan and Orks put a smile on my face. I wholeheartedly approve.

Outside of the ME races, the Vorlons and/or Shadow from Bab 5 come to mind as races with potential in the 40k universe.

I reckon the Krogan wouldn't be able to handle the Orks in a straight up fight... but the Orks would see the Krogan as ded 'ard bosses and end up working for them as mercs.

Kerbals, from Kerbal Space Program. Kind of like Orks except they'd have more "advanced" technology and wouldn't be as aggressive.

EWOKS

 Red Marine wrote:
EWOKS

Chaos nurgle zombie ewoks....

how amusing....

umm...
let see....

I dunno....

The Culture. Not because the war would be interesting (it would be the most one-sided slaughter in the history of scifi), but because it would be fun to see how the Culture imposes civilization and order on the 40k universe. Would they take a subtle approach and hire local mercenaries to intervene in important turning points and gradually direct the universe through incremental progress? Would they try to break the Imperium in one blow by obliterating its most important worlds and parading the shattered corpse of the emperor around as a trophy? Would they genetically engineer a new Tyranid swarm that feeds only on its fellow Tyranids? Etc.

I am gonna say my favorite faction from a similar setting.

Skaven

No I don´t mean Hrud, Hrud are xenos. Skaven are a Beastmen subtype. They are somehow humans or half-humans. Mutants. They are cute, their background fits the setting, have a nice personality and lovely-looking models.

Skaven Skaven Skaven

Protoss. They can be pretty grimdark in that they'll happily exterminate any opposition if they think it's necessary, they have both psykers (high templar) and sorcerors (dark templar), high technology, melee, ranged, powerful fleets and great characters. They of course have their parallels with the Eldar/Tau, but they're different and full fledged enough imo to be a worthy, fun addition. I'd also sell organs for a good range of protoss miniatures, and there's ample opportunity for a Golden Fleet for BFG.

Shivans from Freespace. They kill all other races they encounter and even have the power to blow up suns wiping out entire systems with their battle fleets. Could definitely be a treat in the 40k universe.

The Concordiat of Man from the Boloverse.

It would be interesting to have a rising Human power, still flush with the power of the Golden Age of Technology and willing to embrace science and understanding at its fullest.

A human faction to which technology offers no fear or superstition.

It would be similar to the Tau, really, except human (which makes me say feth YEAH) and much much better aesthetics.

 Peregrine wrote:
The Culture. Not because the war would be interesting (it would be the most one-sided slaughter in the history of scifi), but because it would be fun to see how the Culture imposes civilization and order on the 40k universe. Would they take a subtle approach and hire local mercenaries to intervene in important turning points and gradually direct the universe through incremental progress? Would they try to break the Imperium in one blow by obliterating its most important worlds and parading the shattered corpse of the emperor around as a trophy? Would they genetically engineer a new Tyranid swarm that feeds only on its fellow Tyranids? Etc.

This. I would love to see the interaction of The Culture with the rest of the races in 40k, especially considering that most of them are wildly fanatical and would likely result in a war similar to one they already fought (and won).

 ImotekhTheStormlord wrote:
There are few fantasy universes on the same weight class as 40k.

I disagree entirely, and to just name a few:

ManKzin Wars books
Starwars
Star Trek
Starship Troopers
Flash Gordon
John Carter, Warlord of Mars

The last three basically being some of the fathers of modern sci-fi, and the last two being the fathers of modern super hero comics (heck, superman is a bit of a John Carter rip off honestly).

I could go for the Kzinti from the Man/Kzin Wars or the Shivans from Descent Freespace if I had to pick non human. If I had to pick human, I'd pick the MI or the Tribes from Starsiege: Tribes.

The Shivans would be a great counter to the Necrons, solar system destroying monsters from another galaxy. Non warp users that could easily jump in from no where to lay out devastation.

The MI should speak for themselves. Starsiege Tribes would allow something similar, but provide various factions that could potentially fight each other (similar to how the various faction of Eldar or Imperials could end up fighting each other).

McNinja:

http://archiveofourown.org/works/649448?view_full_work=true

The Covenant. Just give a +1 to the power of their tech and they'd make for an interesting new power in the 40k universe. A religious alien faction who thinks their ultimate goal is salvation but really is the destruction of all known life? That's pretty grimdark.

Protectors from Niven's Known Space.
Puppeteers from the same universe would also be quite interesting.

Cybermen from Doctor Who as of Nightmare in Silver would be a fun addition. They're like if you fused the Necrons and Tyranids together as an enemy then allowed them to move so fast that it appears they've stopped time. And develop immunity to any firearm after a couple of their number have been destroyed. And they even slumber on planets and slowly build up their numbers until they're in the millions! They're practically made for W40K. Just edit some bit and dub them the return of the Iron Men.

And Covenant are woefully behind W40K. They'd get taken out by a group of PDF troopers. Their tech pretty much sucks and they'd lose to modern Earth in a ground war.

An original design based on the Deep Ones of Lovecraft would be interesting as well. Add a living god to the mass deity melee free-for-all in W40K with a living eldritch abomination that serves as the ancestor of a race similar to the Deep Ones.

I'd be interested to see another human faction outside of the IOM. One that either went unnoticed or was never found by the Great Crusade, still had Dark Age tech working, and were far less fanatical and dogmatic than the IOM. Far freer in their alliances, openly working/trading with the Tau or Eldar and other minor Xenos races.

I'd also say that giving them no deity or psykers, but also no greater goal other than survival, would be interesting. Not for the Emperor, or the Greater Good, simply to survive in a galaxy where everything wants to kill them, but unlike the IOM, willing to develop, to expand, and to fight back.

 Paradigm wrote:
I'd be interested to see another human faction outside of the IOM. One that either went unnoticed or was never found by the Great Crusade, still had Dark Age tech working, and were far less fanatical and dogmatic than the IOM. Far freer in their alliances, openly working/trading with the Tau or Eldar and other minor Xenos races.

I'd also say that giving them no deity or psykers, but also no greater goal other than survival, would be interesting. Not for the Emperor, or the Greater Good, simply to survive in a galaxy where everything wants to kill them, but unlike the IOM, willing to develop, to expand, and to fight back.

You could always do something like the Chiss in Star Wars. Lost human colony attempt that developed into its own civilization and evolved to suit their environment. Similar and sexually compatible with humans, but close to developing into its own species.

 TheCustomLime wrote:
The Covenant. Just give a +1 to the power of their tech and they'd make for an interesting new power in the 40k universe. A religious alien faction who thinks their ultimate goal is salvation but really is the destruction of all known life? That's pretty grimdark.

Given they can nuke planets from orbit with ease, redirect and control plasma after it has been fired, have man portable cloaking technology that is small and use minimal power, etc., why would they need +1 to their technology? They're already on an at least equivalent playing field. With the Huragok, they would be disgustingly powerful in 40k, as Huragok can configure almost anything of any size, and upgrade any technology.

 Maniac_nmt wrote:

 TheCustomLime wrote:
The Covenant. Just give a +1 to the power of their tech and they'd make for an interesting new power in the 40k universe. A religious alien faction who thinks their ultimate goal is salvation but really is the destruction of all known life? That's pretty grimdark.

Given they can nuke planets from orbit with ease, redirect and control plasma after it has been fired, have man portable cloaking technology that is small and use minimal power, etc., why would they need +1 to their technology? They're already on an at least equivalent playing field. With the Huragok, they would be disgustingly powerful in 40k, as Huragok can configure almost anything of any size, and upgrade any technology.

No guys, they really aren't. Covenant aren't even in the same playing field as Star Wars, let alone the Imperium or even Tau. Their weapons suck and their yields are in the megatons, not in the gigatons or terratons. I'm on Spacebattles and this has been done over and over. The Covenant would lose to the combined modern military force of real life Earth in a ground war where space ships were not allowed. Their ships also suck as well, so in space combat they're not dangerous at all compared to any of the heavy hitters. Covenant in W40K would die hard and fast from encountering any of the factions.

They're require such a buff to their technology they wouldn't even look like the Covenant anymore. Same with the UNSC.

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Maniac_nmt wrote:

 TheCustomLime wrote:
The Covenant. Just give a +1 to the power of their tech and they'd make for an interesting new power in the 40k universe. A religious alien faction who thinks their ultimate goal is salvation but really is the destruction of all known life? That's pretty grimdark.

Given they can nuke planets from orbit with ease, redirect and control plasma after it has been fired, have man portable cloaking technology that is small and use minimal power, etc., why would they need +1 to their technology? They're already on an at least equivalent playing field. With the Huragok, they would be disgustingly powerful in 40k, as Huragok can configure almost anything of any size, and upgrade any technology.

No guys, they really aren't. Covenant aren't even in the same playing field as Star Wars, let alone the Imperium or even Tau. Their weapons suck and their yields are in the megatons, not in the gigatons or terratons. I'm on Spacebattles and this has been done over and over. The Covenant would lose to the combined modern military force of real life Earth in a ground war where space ships were not allowed. Their ships also suck as well, so in space combat they're not dangerous at all compared to any of the heavy hitters. Covenant in W40K would die hard and fast from encountering any of the factions.

They're require such a buff to their technology they wouldn't even look like the Covenant anymore. Same with the UNSC.

\

Nah, just make their Plasma about as powerful as Tau plasma, make their shielding tech more resistant, give their ship mounted weapons a +1 and make their metals out to be some magical space alloy and you're done. It's not hard to make one sci-fi race fit into another setting really.

I agree though. The UNSC has crappy tech compared to even us. For instance, their main battle tank can be taken out by .50 caliber rounds and fires a 90mm cannon. Yeah... if that tank beats everything then an M1 Abrams would wipe the floor with the Covenant army.

Daleks seem suitable fro 40k's power level.

"We are the Borg. Lower your shields and surrender your ships. We will add your biological and technological distinctiveness to our own. Your culture will adapt to service us. Resistance is futile."[

 Peregrine wrote:
The Culture. Not because the war would be interesting (it would be the most one-sided slaughter in the history of scifi), but because it would be fun to see how the Culture imposes civilization and order on the 40k universe. Would they take a subtle approach and hire local mercenaries to intervene in important turning points and gradually direct the universe through incremental progress? Would they try to break the Imperium in one blow by obliterating its most important worlds and parading the shattered corpse of the emperor around as a trophy? Would they genetically engineer a new Tyranid swarm that feeds only on its fellow Tyranids? Etc.

It would certainly be intersting to see how the Culture interact with the various races (unless of course the Kabal is a Speciali Circumstances ploy already ) A Culture ship showing up to have a chat with a Necron overlord would be fun - yeah sure we can give you organic bodies if you like - however we would like to discuss the whole wiping out other races thing you are in to.

Dark Eldar and Tryanids are similar to their Affront problem - certainly the latter have a lot in common with the Dark Eldar - except they have no need to feed Slaanesh. "Affront society is described in Excession as being "a never ending, self perpetuating holocaust of pain and misery", where the strong prey upon weaker species and individuals."

In a similar manner intrigued how they would intertact with the warp - certainly the various Minds would be interested in it I should expect - although again whether they would generate a presence in the Warp themselves..............

I agree the Culture are one of the more powerful (and attractive) sci-fi "races" out there - although they are not even the strongest in their narrative universe - just perhaps one of the more active?

 TheCustomLime wrote:

 Wyzilla wrote:

 Maniac_nmt wrote:

 TheCustomLime wrote:
The Covenant. Just give a +1 to the power of their tech and they'd make for an interesting new power in the 40k universe. A religious alien faction who thinks their ultimate goal is salvation but really is the destruction of all known life? That's pretty grimdark.

Given they can nuke planets from orbit with ease, redirect and control plasma after it has been fired, have man portable cloaking technology that is small and use minimal power, etc., why would they need +1 to their technology? They're already on an at least equivalent playing field. With the Huragok, they would be disgustingly powerful in 40k, as Huragok can configure almost anything of any size, and upgrade any technology.

No guys, they really aren't. Covenant aren't even in the same playing field as Star Wars, let alone the Imperium or even Tau. Their weapons suck and their yields are in the megatons, not in the gigatons or terratons. I'm on Spacebattles and this has been done over and over. The Covenant would lose to the combined modern military force of real life Earth in a ground war where space ships were not allowed. Their ships also suck as well, so in space combat they're not dangerous at all compared to any of the heavy hitters. Covenant in W40K would die hard and fast from encountering any of the factions.

They're require such a buff to their technology they wouldn't even look like the Covenant anymore. Same with the UNSC.

\

Nah, just make their Plasma about as powerful as Tau plasma, make their shielding tech more resistant, give their ship mounted weapons a +1 and make their metals out to be some magical space alloy and you're done. It's not hard to make one sci-fi race fit into another setting really.

I agree though. The UNSC has crappy tech compared to even us. For instance, their main battle tank can be taken out by .50 caliber rounds and fires a 90mm cannon. Yeah... if that tank beats everything then an M1 Abrams would wipe the floor with the Covenant army.

The sad thing is that the Scorpion is larger than an Abrams. Yet is terrible in nearly every feasible means possible. The main gun is mounted on some really odd turret that sticks up and is a massive target. The ammo is stored under it and only protected by a metal grate- which all that stands between you and sending the turret into orbit from the resulting explosion. It's slow and difficult to maneuver, the driver is poorly protected, and the gunner is completely exposed. Even when it got upgraded- it's a 105mm cannon, not even 120mm for something larger than the already massive Abrams.
Although .50's won't pick it apart. That's just gameplay. But it still completely sucks.

Of course, the Covenant is worse off than the UNSC. Their fleets and their method of combat is subpar- and again, they suck so much on the ground modern day Earth would beat them silly without glassing. Their combat doctrine is about as good as the Death Korps of Kreg, only incompetent.

Of course with recent stuff like Halo Initiation, the UNSC's entered the dumb as a bag of rocks area- with their top secret ship (Infinity) in their top secret shipyard nobody was supposed to know about hijacked by Innies. Wat.

As for the Culture, they become a Slaanesh cult in five seconds flat. They'd stomp everyone in realspace silly, but probably end up falling to Chaos or the Minds having to wage a constant war against Chaos taint.

And the Daleks would stomp W40K so hard it isn't funny. They're capable of destroying the multiverse and there's nothing even comparable to them in W40K.
(Plus it also depends on which time of the Dalek civilization(s).)

And the Borg are woefully behind everyone. They either wouldn't be much of a threat or end up infected with Scrapcode and turned into a Chaos-controlled private army.