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.

Let's say one day an Imperial vessel chances upon a xenos world.

The xenos of that world only inhabit that particular world. They have not spread to other planets yet.

The xenos are really friendly and peace loving. They are also free of any Chaotic taint. What's more, when the Imperials espouse their religious creed, the xenos wholeheartedly accept it.

The xenos agree with what the ministorum priests are saying. They accept and believe that the GEOM is the one true god of the galaxy.

In this case, what would the Imperium do? Would they live and let live? Or would they still exterminate these hippie xenos?

Depends how useful they are. Since hippies would probably be useless they would be killed.

My wife's mother is a hippie and I've seen the hippie communities here as a result. I think art and rebellious tendency would have no place in the imperium and isimply see no way ffor it to end well haha.

If the hippie xenos occupy a resource rich planet the Imperium might kill them in order to obtain the resources.

But if they inhabit a barren world the Imperium will see that they're useless and just exterminate them outright?

Annex the worlds, make them Imperial vassals (slaves in any other term). They would be "hippies" and so useless to the Imperial War Machine. Even abhumans are still humans at their root, xenos are scum to the Imperium, otherwise it weakens the Imperial resolve to see xenos as anything to be tolerated.

The xenos agree with what the ministorum priests are saying. They accept and believe that the GEOM is the one true god of the galaxy.

Then they will go gladly to their deaths...............

The Imperium is unlikely to be tolerant unless the Xenos have something to offer / can defend themselves. A world that is peaceful and free from taint is a Imperial Colony waiting to happen.

The Imperials will be deeply suspicious of friendly overtones - its likely that the first encounter may eb with a Rogue Trader and he may well not tell the whole truth - this sounds like same thing as all the peaceful south seas islanders being friendly to the Western ships that arrived on their shores - and we all know how that ended.......

Likely to be a period of consolidation, exploitation and slavery followed by extermination unless there is a reason not to......

If they inhabit a world that is not worth the Imperium's attention they might survive and be ignored / monitored for any threat, but that's best case I would think.

"Much of the Imperium, led by the religious fervor of the Adeptus Ministorum, believe in the extermination of all aliens, even those that are entirely peaceful species."

That's a direct quote from the 7e fluffbook, which also talks about the persecution of abhumans. Without even that tenuous claim to having roots in humanity the xenos would be wiped out.

...and finding that little gem in the 7e book makes my mind boggle all the more at the sporadic attempts to portray the IoM as the good guys.

Maximus Bitch wrote:
Let's say one day an Imperial vessel chances upon a xenos world.

The xenos of that world only inhabit that particular world. They have not spread to other planets yet.

The xenos are really friendly and peace loving. They are also free of any Chaotic taint. What's more, when the Imperials espouse their religious creed, the xenos wholeheartedly accept it.

The xenos agree with what the ministorum priests are saying. They accept and believe that the GEOM is the one true god of the galaxy.

In this case, what would the Imperium do? Would they live and let live? Or would they still exterminate these hippie xenos?

The Imperium wouldn't even bother espousing anything to the Xenos.

They might send some "diplomats" to just spy on the aliens. Determine any potential resources and if the aliens would be useful to the Imperium for something(maybe their bodies produce a natural antiseptic)

Then, the Imperium sends in a bunch of IG to wipe out the aliens(or subjugate in the very unlikely event they are more useful alive) and they are followed by colony ships.

In my antiseptic example, the aliens would be farmed for it by the Imperium(while being kept under intense guard)

Part of the Imperial Creed is "Thou Shalt Not Suffer the Xenos to Live". So, if these Hippie Aliens are down with that, then exterminating them is very simple, straightforward task.

 ashcroft wrote:
[i]

...and finding that little gem in the 7e book makes my mind boggle all the more at the sporadic attempts to portray the IoM as the good guys.

Being "good" is just a point of view in 40k. They're the good guys if you are human. And as all the fluff in 40k is written from a human perspective it can be said they're the good guys. Which really just means the bad guys are even worse.

 Grey Templar wrote:

 ashcroft wrote:
[i]

...and finding that little gem in the 7e book makes my mind boggle all the more at the sporadic attempts to portray the IoM as the good guys.

Being "good" is just a point of view in 40k. They're the good guys if you are human. And as all the fluff in 40k is written from a human perspective it can be said they're the good guys. Which really just means the bad guys are even worse.

The single largest oppressor of humanity in the 40k galaxy is the Imperium of Man. They aren't the good guys, they have never been even when Space Adolf still walked among his slaves. The Imperium is "the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable" with the only upside that it somehow keeps other, similar but nonhuman oppressors at bay.

KingDeath wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:

 ashcroft wrote:
[i]

...and finding that little gem in the 7e book makes my mind boggle all the more at the sporadic attempts to portray the IoM as the good guys.

Being "good" is just a point of view in 40k. They're the good guys if you are human. And as all the fluff in 40k is written from a human perspective it can be said they're the good guys. Which really just means the bad guys are even worse.

The single largest oppressor of humanity in the 40k galaxy is the Imperium of Man. They aren't the good guys, they have never been even when Space Adolf still walked among his slaves. The Imperium is "the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable" with the only upside that it somehow keeps other, similar but nonhuman oppressors at bay.

When the other option is service to dark and uncaring gods or extinction at the hands of genocidal aliens it doesn't seem so bad. Oppression is nothing in the face of extinction.

Depends on what your definition of " Good Guys " is.

A rebellious group of beings dabbling in nature worship, magic, and crystal power sounds to me to be the soft sell on the beginings of a chaos cult in the making.

Purgation manifest.

 Grey Templar wrote:

KingDeath wrote:

 Grey Templar wrote:

 ashcroft wrote:
[i]

...and finding that little gem in the 7e book makes my mind boggle all the more at the sporadic attempts to portray the IoM as the good guys.

Being "good" is just a point of view in 40k. They're the good guys if you are human. And as all the fluff in 40k is written from a human perspective it can be said they're the good guys. Which really just means the bad guys are even worse.

The single largest oppressor of humanity in the 40k galaxy is the Imperium of Man. They aren't the good guys, they have never been even when Space Adolf still walked among his slaves. The Imperium is "the cruelest and most bloody regime imaginable" with the only upside that it somehow keeps other, similar but nonhuman oppressors at bay.

When the other option is service to dark and uncaring gods or extinction at the hands of genocidal aliens it doesn't seem so bad. Oppression is nothing in the face of extinction.

Give me liberty, or give me death!
Well, of course the Imperium is extremely niggardly with the first while it hands out the second in copious amounts, even to it's most loyal slave subjects.
What makes 40k somewhat interesting, at least to me, is that the main protagonist both acts as the "shield of humanity" against outside threats while also being the primary cause for humanity's woes in the setting. Chaos breeds like mad on countless imperial worlds because their desperate populations would do almost anything to make their lifes just a tiny bit less soulcrushingly oppressive.
All while a decadent leadership, growing fat upon the forced labour and death of it's subjects, justifies it's acts of barbarity with the need to preserve an Empire that is slowly crumbling
not despite the harshness of it's regime but because of it.

I think it's worth noting that the IoM has a few areas where there is no comprimise, areas where there shouldn't be eaither. but for the most part worlds are left to themselves. I imagine the IoM has dictatorships, democracies and everything in between. and unless your world starts sliding into chaos worship or thinking "boy Tau culture rocks!" I suspect the IoM leaves it alone.
it's too big to micromanage

BrianDavion wrote:
I think it's worth noting that the IoM has a few areas where there is no comprimise, areas where there shouldn't be eaither. but for the most part worlds are left to themselves. I imagine the IoM has dictatorships, democracies and everything in between. and unless your world starts sliding into chaos worship or thinking "boy Tau culture rocks!" I suspect the IoM leaves it alone.
it's too big to micromanage

Only partialy. As soon as your world has something that the Imperium desires then you better pay your tithe, no matter if this means starving your own people.

Maximus Bitch wrote:
Let's say one day an Imperial vessel chances upon a xenos world.

The xenos of that world only inhabit that particular world. They have not spread to other planets yet.

Sure, sure.

Maximus Bitch wrote:
The xenos are really friendly and peace loving. They are also free of any Chaotic taint. What's more, when the Imperials espouse their religious creed, the xenos wholeheartedly accept it.

The xenos agree with what the ministorum priests are saying. They accept and believe that the GEOM is the one true god of the galaxy.

So, just to clarify.... by accepting the Imperial Creed and all their doctrine, the xenos are accepting the fact that they're inferior to humans. They're accepting that humanity has the right to dominate them, and that they are essentially worthless- remember how xenophobic the Imperium is.

Maximus Bitch wrote:
In this case, what would the Imperium do? Would they live and let live? Or would they still exterminate these hippie xenos?

Depends.
If the world was rich in minerals, I see the aliens being enslaved to work mines/plantations/processing facilities/etc as the Imperials exploit the planet. I'd expect them to be pushed to the limit as a workforce and not taken good care of. If any aliens remain after mining operations, they would probably be shipped to other planets that need labor as a slave workforce.

If the aliens have any potential to be good fighters, they would be sent to die on the front lines to distract the enemy. Given the scope of the Imperiums wars, I would expect all the aliens to be killed off within 100 years.

The thing to note is that the Imperium isn't stupid. While they despise aliens, they would still recognize their potential usefulness. They would probably sterilize the aliens and try to work them to death or get them killed off on the front lines- this way, the aliens can 'repay their debt to the Emperor' for being impure.

Purge the vile xenos.

End of story.

Don't forget, the Imperium regularly slaughters humans en-masse, and killed off the inhabitants of any isolated human world it encountered during the crusades for failing to submit to the Emporer immediately.

 ashcroft wrote:
"Much of the Imperium, led by the religious fervor of the Adeptus Ministorum, believe in the extermination of all aliens, even those that are entirely peaceful species."

That's a direct quote from the 7e fluffbook, which also talks about the persecution of abhumans. Without even that tenuous claim to having roots in humanity the xenos would be wiped out.

...and finding that little gem in the 7e book makes my mind boggle all the more at the sporadic attempts to portray the IoM as the good guys.

To be fair it isn't like xenos were all nice and friendly during the age of strife. A lot of human worlds were enslaved, controlled, invaded, or exterminated by xenos, generally people don't hate things without reason. I mean the Imperium isn't good, it is flat out the most ruthless, brutal, and oppressive regime in human history, but its policy towards xenos is understandable on two levels, xenos were terrible to humans when humanity was at its weakest, and as far as religious doctrine goes the galaxy is humanity's birthright . I mean its hardly unknown for humans to hate or be distrustful of other groups of humans who harmed them in the past even when it isn't religious doctrine, it is easy to see why one would have non-humans who harmed them in the past when it is religious doctrine.

Its possible that the OP hasn'theard the story of the previous war for Armageddon, when after wiping the daemonic forces from the face of the planet, the Imperium rounded up all of the Imperial citizens (and suviving soldiers!) that survived, sterilized them, and locked them up in gigantic prison camps to work the rest of their days as slave labor.

The then shipped in new citizens to occupy the planet and live in what those slaves were rebuilding.

All so that news of the daemons and risk of "the taint" would not get out. And those were humans that were Imperial citizens, not some random xenos on a planet.

To the OP-
BWAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHA HEHEHE hehehe..
Burn the heretic... deny the demon... beat the xenos to death with a pillow... a fluffy pillow...

Seriously though? If the Missionaries found them they would burn them or send word back to the Imperium to have them burn ASAP...
If the INQUISITION found them.. that would be a different story...
IE- completely up to the individual Inquisitor that found them.. unless another more powerful Inquisitor found out... then it would be up to him/her.

The only thing that prevents the imperium from wiping out a race is if they're notably useful and easy to exploit for some specific purpose or if they're so powerful a protracted campaign is not wroth it. In this case it sounds like neither is true, so they'd get exterminated and the planet would then be settled by humans

BrianDavion wrote:
I think it's worth noting that the IoM has a few areas where there is no comprimise, areas where there shouldn't be eaither. but for the most part worlds are left to themselves. I imagine the IoM has dictatorships, democracies and everything in between. and unless your world starts sliding into chaos worship or thinking "boy Tau culture rocks!" I suspect the IoM leaves it alone.
it's too big to micromanage

Actually, according some of the Dark Heresy fluff, this isn't entirely true. The Imperium doesn't like democracy, because they consider it to be inefficient (ironic for a bureaucracy that misplaces entire PLANETS and SOLAR SYSTEMS) and weak, and therefore a threat to mankind's security. Where it's found, democracy is suppressed and replaced with dictatorships. Planetary governors are supposed to at least theoretically be appointed by the administratum. Really the best case scenario is that your planet is run by some corporation or authoritarian council that, while oppressive, isn't as bad as the Eccesiarchy.

As for the OP, I agree with everyone else. If the peaceful aliens aren't useful, they're going to be killed to make room for a human colony.

They would kill them.

Or..

They are quickly adopted as shock troops and sent off world to desperate war fronts. Their skills of clogging enemy vehicles with their prone bodies is very much in the Imperial ethos already. And their ability to organise a 35 days music festival using only a comb and fuel drums would quickly drain the enemies desire to fight, and ensure no toilet paper for kilometres around. And the smell..dear heavens..

They would try to wipe them out, then get wiped out by Biel-tan for daring to attack an exodite world.

Maximus Bitch wrote:Let's say one day an Imperial vessel chances upon a xenos world.

First they would be all:



And then they'd be all:



The absolutely only way you get to be a xeno that isn't just immediately purged is if your fluff is written by Mat Ward.

 fallinq wrote:

Actually, according some of the Dark Heresy fluff, this isn't entirely true. The Imperium doesn't like democracy, because they consider it to be inefficient (ironic for a bureaucracy that misplaces entire PLANETS and SOLAR SYSTEMS) and weak, and therefore a threat to mankind's security. Where it's found, democracy is suppressed and replaced with dictatorships. Planetary governors are supposed to at least theoretically be appointed by the administratum. Really the best case scenario is that your planet is run by some corporation or authoritarian council that, while oppressive, isn't as bad as the Eccesiarchy.

As for the OP, I agree with everyone else. If the peaceful aliens aren't useful, they're going to be killed to make room for a human colony.

Firstly the dark heresy days was very long time ago.. And it's NOT in many ways try same imperium..
These days it's more accurate to say that it's just More likely for democracy to be replaced by dictators than the other way around.. The greater imperium is imfamous for not giving two Hruds towards how individual planets run, so don't lift a finger to stop dictators destroying democracy.. Yet if a civil war against a dictator slowed the tithe they would destroy both sides.. One for heresy (loss of tithe same thing) the other as a traitor (or incompetence same difference)

There are a few democracies out there however that have been succesful, most notable in my mind is Catachan... Which elects everyone from squad leader to planetary 'governor' (though they loath the title) by popular vote of the whole.

 fallinq wrote:

BrianDavion wrote:
I think it's worth noting that the IoM has a few areas where there is no comprimise, areas where there shouldn't be eaither. but for the most part worlds are left to themselves. I imagine the IoM has dictatorships, democracies and everything in between. and unless your world starts sliding into chaos worship or thinking "boy Tau culture rocks!" I suspect the IoM leaves it alone.
it's too big to micromanage

Actually, according some of the Dark Heresy fluff, this isn't entirely true. The Imperium doesn't like democracy, because they consider it to be inefficient (ironic for a bureaucracy that misplaces entire PLANETS and SOLAR SYSTEMS) and weak, and therefore a threat to mankind's security. Where it's found, democracy is suppressed and replaced with dictatorships. Planetary governors are supposed to at least theoretically be appointed by the administratum. Really the best case scenario is that your planet is run by some corporation or authoritarian council that, while oppressive, isn't as bad as the Eccesiarchy.

As for the OP, I agree with everyone else. If the peaceful aliens aren't useful, they're going to be killed to make room for a human colony.

This seems like a really stupid attempt to make the Imperium seem evil by making them anti-democracy, because democracy is supposed to be this amazing, objectively good system of government that always works and is great for everyone. Meanwhile, dictatorships are always bad and objectively evil. This really doesn't make any sense, either - why would they hunt democracy down for "efficiency" reasons while the rest of the Imperium's rule is "Do whatever you want as long as you pay your tithe and don't do heresy"? Yes, a Planetary Governor is the appointed manager of a given world by the Imperium, but that doesn't mean the Governor is necessarily politically in power. It's entirely up to an individual Governor how he/she manages the planet. If the Governor decides to live on a mountain in the middle of nowhere while the rest of the world is divided up into myriad warring countries, that's fine. If the Governor lives a life of luxury while an elected official manages politics, that's fine too. Besides, even a planet with a Governor who has directly seized control of the entire world would need officials. One person can barely manage a small section of a planet (see real life), not to mention all of it. A Governor could rule the planet while regional officials are publicly elected under them, selected by gladiatorial combat, or whatever.

They'd send in the Imperial Guard and mop them up with minimal, if any, casualties. Then have the regiments involve settle the planet and claim another world in the Emperor's name. Glory to the Imperium!

 TheCustomLime wrote:
They'd send in the Imperial Guard and mop them up with minimal, if any, casualties. Then have the regiments involve settle the planet and claim another world in the Emperor's name. Glory to the Imperium!

This. Let's not forget that their initial reaction to discovering the Tau (when they were in a Stone Age and completely harmless) was "purge the alien". Their reasons for attacking the Eldar are purely because of their xenophobia, too.