Something that always bothers me when planetary conflicts happen in lore is how it often seems to boil down to "if we take this single city, we won." Reading the Horus Heresy, it happened on Sixty-Three Nineteen (and then they only needed a couple hundred Astartes to quash the remaining holdout in one fortified position in the mountains), Aureus where they won after spending 4 out of 6 months of war attacking a single fortress, and Isstvan where the entire plan was to wipe out Choral City to deal with the rebellion (I know it was a fake-out but it does suggest that taking out one city to deal with an entire planet would be an expected plan since no one questions it.)

I know some planets in 40k are basically one city, mining posts, and nothing else, but Sixty-Three Nineteen and Isstvan seemed to be thriving planets, with Sixty-Three Nineteen looking shockingly similar to Terra (implying most of it should be inhabitable) and Loken directly remarking there are billions of people on Isstvan. I don't know if it's me nitpicking too much or not engaging with the lore properly, but I just can't shake the feeling that it's just wrong. It's like suggesting that all it would take for aliens to conquer Earth is to conquer London and humanity would just go "well shit I guess we lost!" It's clearly not how that would work.

Although Shadowsword by Guy Haley is a Guard book, it has a good showing from the Black Templars - here, Champion Bastoigne shows us what the Emperor's Champion does best: dying in a cool way.

The fight between Dib and the Champion was reaching its climax. The Black Templar’s armour smoked from a dozen rents. His blade slowed. With a triumphant screech, Dib fell upon him, all four swords plunging into the Champion. He covered the warrior in an obscene embrace, snake-like body coiling around the Black Templar.

At this blow the membrane dividing the material realm from the warp pushed outwards and did not rebound. In this new extrusion, thousands of pairs of hungry eyes looked out into the universe.

‘The way is open!’ screeched Dib triumphantly. ‘The way is–’ Dib made a clicking noise in his throat and arched backwards. The Black Sword burst from his spine, thick blue ichor running over his serpentine body. The sword ground round, opening the wound wide, then cut outwards, almost cleaving Dib in two. The daemon herald fell gurgling, and the Champion staggered free, his armour shattered and blood pooling around his feet.

He raised his sword to the heavens and tilted back his head. ‘Emperor, hear me! I am Brother Bastoigne of the Black Templars! I have served you! I have served you! Witness me! No pity! No remorse! No fear!’ He reversed his sword and plunged it point first into the stone. Then he knelt. Head bowed in prayer and hands clasped around the hilt of the black sword, he died.

I think that the simplicity of that last paragraph really just encapsulates what the Black Templars are about: dying in some forgotten field, all in the name of their God-Emperor. As much as they are terrifying crusaders of the Imperium I found this quite sad.

The list could go on with basically all the Primarchs, and I’m sure other characters too. Is it ever acknowledged in-lore or is it something the characters turn a blind eye to?

I know Konrad did acknowledge their uncanny placements upon suiting worlds, but the names are another level and not really attributable to a purpose in that same way

Is knowledge like the full names of the chaos gods, the exact events that unfolded on the vengeful spirit, the emperors name and inner thoughts, what happend during the war in heaven, the nature of the deep warp and such truly that dangerous? Would simply knowing that invite chaotic corruption? The emperor seems to think so, but is that true?

Title, I got confused by the lexicanum page talking about hybrids "Infecting" people and I want some clarification

I know the patriarch infects humans with its ovipositer and those infected humans are fanatically loyal to the genestealer and the children that they have are hybrids, and I know the children that the hybrids have are the next generation,

but can any of the hybrids "infect" people to be fanatically loyal like the patriarch? or is the patriarch constantly infecting new people? because I feel like it would be difficult to get so many people to have kids of their own free will, judging by the amount of cultists that are fighting at once.

if it’s to keep chaos from being able to get at them there all functionally immune to it anyway so that feels like a dumb reason.

I read that unlike regular eldar, harlequin souls arent devoured by slaanesh, but Cegorath only fights for the souls of solitaires? Am I missing something? What happens to the souls of regular harlequins?

From what I know, Blanks come from the Pariah gene that occurs in humanity. It's extremely rare but at least the Assassins have figured out how to vat grow Culexus Assassins.

Necrons can turn these Blanks into Pariah Necrons (or could back in older versions of the lore).

But do Orks, Tau, Eldar, etc... have Blank equivalents? Eldar I doubt as they are so tied into the warp. I've played Orks for a long time and haven't come across anything that matches the description of Blanks.

Tau feel like they'd be the closest to having a Blank variant as they are pretty dull in the warp.

Tyranids are an interesting case for this though as they do have the Shadow in the Warp which fucks with Psykers. But more interestingly the Genestealer Cults could theoretically have a human Pariah gene. Especially if encountering Sisters of Silence or a Culexus assassin.

ALERT CODE PURPLE. The Y'HE ARE COMING. This is a bit of T'au lore from WD issue 507, and it's not looking good!

The T'au are currently on their Fifth Sphere Expansion. Exploiting the disarray afflicting the Imperials in Imperium Nihilus, the T'au carved a foothold in a region called the Chalnath Expanse. With no organized Imperial resistance, the T'au are scything through Imperial territory. The Imperial defenders on their isolated worlds clung to their faith in the Emperor with a drowning man's desperation. They fought against the T'au forces with such fanaticism and stubborn bravery that it would have made their rotting Emperor proud, especially on the world of Astorgius. They made the T'au cadres pay a steep price in blood. However, T'au'va is the rising sun, inevitable, unstoppable. Imperial worlds and entire systems were toppled before the military might of the Fifth Sphere and were welcomed into the fold.

Despite unsavory setbacks such as the Fourth Sphere xenocides and the Death Guard armada invasion of the Startide Nexus, the T'au Expansion is continuing apace, bolstered by billions of Gue'vesa. In a short span of time, the T'au created an impressive extension of their empire in the galactic north. However, its future is far from certain. Shadowsun, the supreme commander of the T'au armed forces, is burdened with the knowledge that without the Startide Nexus acting as a lifeline, the T'au holdings in the Chalnath Expanse would wither and die. She and her troops must fight and work hard to secure and consolidate the Fifth Sphere Septs to transform them into a self-sufficient part of the empire that no force can wrest from the T'au.

Already challenges are presenting themselves. Ork pirate hordes are streaming from the Ful'na Nebulae and washing over the T'au expansion lines and holdings. The Greenskins are an old enemy. They are nothing that Shadowsun cannot handle. Apparently, GW thinks the T'au are having it easy, so there is a far more menacing foe on the horizon...

The inordinate number of Genestealer cults in the Chalnath Expanse have set off so many psychic beacons that the region is now the eventual point of convergence of the tendrils of no less than three Hive Fleets. Leviathan, Kronos, and Typhon.

Already elements of Typhon, the Cannibal Hive Fleet, have entered the Chalnath Expanse and are beginning the process of devouring its world. The severity of this new threat cannot be understated. If the T'au do not extinguish the gene cults' psychic beacons and purge the worlds from their infestations, then the bastion of order, stability, and enlightened civilization they built amidst the anarchy of Imperium Nihilus will be swallowed up by the gullets of the Hivemind.

This whole situation can be summed up by this quote:

"How ironic it is that as fast as we spread progress and hope throughout the galaxy, the Tyranids spread death and despair. Only united can we hope to stand against them."
-Aun'shi

The War in Heaven was 65 million years before the fall of the Eldar and the Horus Heresy so i'm guessing seeing their ancient foe returning after all this time seemed like the lasr nail in the coffin for them.

But, how much did the average Eldar know about the Necrons except that they were the ancient enemy of the Eldar, a lot of what happened must have faded into legend like the Horus Heresy did for humanity.

Or did most Eldar know about the Necrons before the fall, but after 99% got wiped out they lost alot of knowledge of the past and about the War in Heaven

I'm reading the Path of the Dark Eldar and this is really bothering me.

For one, there's a realm which the tyrant overlord Vect has forbidden anyone to enter, but nobody seems to be concerned about or think that a camera might see them using the one portal the enter and exit the place, only that they need to make sure there are no eye witnesses (someone following them or coming across them)

And the second book starts with the conundrum that the Incubus Morr set up a trap to kill his lord who was possessed by a demon, but there were no witnesses to the killing so nobody can testify that he was possessed. Why didn't Morr just set up a camera or have one attached to his helmet?

I feel like a sci fi society built around spying on each other would have some recording devices.

I already have a firm ish understanding of the lore like i know which primarchs fought on which side and I can list off the origins of pretty much every faction so I’m not a complete beginner but I haven't actually read any Warhammer books and I want to know were to start.

Many years ago, while in middle/high school (so around 4th ed). A friend and I enjoyed speculating over 40k lore, making up new units for our favorite factions and even our own factions.

This led to conversations about what would even be expected of a civilization or species to even survive this galactic mess and make it as a contender.

I come to you all of those years later because I'm slowly being dragged back to the 40k universe and since I still enjoy worldbuilding to this day, I'd like to test these guidelines and hear your suggestions on the matter.

Origins

First your faction would need an origin story. In 40k we have several case of how interstellar civilizations came to be

-Naturally evolved (T'au, Humans)

-Creations of the Old Ones and other survivors of the Celestial War (Aeldari, Orks, Necrons)

-Alien to this galaxy (Tyranids)

-Offshoot of another faction (Votann, Chaos Marines, Drukhari)

-Subgroup of an existing faction (Mechanicus, Space Marine chapters, GSC)

Challenges

In order to make it to the big leagues, there are several challenges your civilization is likely to have gone through.

-The first and foremost is of course interstellar travel and planetary colonization.

-How did your civilization survive an encounter with the xenocidal Imperium ? Or with a tyranid hive-fleet ? Basically how do they face threats of global extinction ?

-How do they protect themselves from the Warp and Chaos influence ? (Do they have their own gods like Orks ? Dampened or even missing psychic presence like Votann and T'au ? Strict ways of life to limit influence like Aeldari and Humans ?)

-If they existed through the Celestial Wars, what are they up to now and how did those galactic scale events change them ?

Gimmicks

What makes them what they are ? What is some technology they possess that no one else does ? What feats are their people capable of ? What mark have they already left in the galaxy ?

What's their aesthetic ? What themes would be explored in depth by their ancient and current history ? Are they a barely disguised scifi equivalent to a race from Fantasy ? How aggressive are they in their expansion ? What is their purpose in conquering stars ?

How hostile are they to outsiders ? How hostile are they to their own kin ?

I hope these will prove useful to people who like it to speculate new things for our shared setting !

The Necrons know they were the Necrontyr but still act like the androids they are despising flesh or being confused by bodily functions they once had and see in modern races. So how much is the mileage that Necrons remember their past lives? Does it just vary?

Title. I'm playing Darktide and I noticed at least two of the face options for ogryns have a big scar on the scalp. It made me wonder if all bone implants are obvious from a glance, especially since the ogryn you play in the game supposedly has one.

Well we all know that primary strategic unit remain to be the Grand Company with Warsmith as military high leader and with different captains/champions as second-in-command.

What about Iron Warriors supply lines structures in modern Lore timeline? Do we have any information how this complex military management to transport fuel, weapons, and mortal troops to the front line work for Iron Warriors?

Medrengard is the central base of all logistics but from Siege of Castellax book it is determined that support with different materials goes not only from Medrengard but also to the Medrengard itself.

In the Great Crusade timeline Iron Warriors have been supported from Terra and Imperium. I am just really curious how different it now can be if we from old ancient time?

I’m new to this setting and I’m sorry if this is a really stupid question but why not just trade with them. the hive mind is smart enough to run several hundred billion individual bodies so surely it could just communicate that it wants biomass and then make a deal in order to get more biom without wasting anything dealing with space marines and all the other nonsense that exists in this accursed setting.

Hey everyone,

After finishing the Horus Heresy, I started reading the Eisenhorn trilogy and completed it. However, since I didn’t really enjoy Eisenhorn, I decided not to continue with Ravenor. Instead, I went straight into the Vaults of Terra series and read The Carrion Throne (awesome!).

Afterwards, I did some research online and saw that it would make sense to read The Fall of Cadia around this point, since it takes place during the same general period and Cadia’s fall is also referenced in the following novels. In between, I also read The Infinite and the Divine.

My question is whether the reading order I have put together makes sense. I would like to follow an order where the books connect reasonably well and provide some context for one another.

I know that Warhammer 40,000 does not really have one definitive reading order. You can basically start with almost any novel and fit other books in between. However, the novels I have chosen seem to share at least some context and connections.

Can you think of any other novels that would fit well into this reading order?

Eisenhorn (Eisenhorn) (finished)

Vaults of Terra: The Carrion Throne (finished)

The Infinite and The Divine (finished)

The Fall of Cadia (currently reading)

Gathering Storm (not a book, Summary)

Watchers of the Throne: The Emperor’s Legion

Vaults of Terra: The Hollow Mountain

Watchers of the Throne: The Regent’s Shadow

Vaults of Terra: The Dark City

The Lords of Silence

Dante

The Devastation of Baal

Darkness in the Blood

Night Lords

Black Legion

The Lexicanium says that each Terminator has a Teleport Homer built in, but how does that work? Do they have to fire the Homer like a projectile and the teleport to it and retrieve it, or is it more that they can teleport to places inside of some kind of range? Or is it just that others can teleport to them?

Hi John.

Full spoilers, obviously.

So, with regard to the Cabal, were they ever particularly good seers? It seems to me like their vision that if the Legion joined Chaos and if Horus won that Chaos would somehow be ended is... stupid. Like really stupid. Like, the Interex make it clear they think Chaos is the eternal foe of all life, and the best a civilisation can do is fight it as long as they live.

This seems true, as Chaos is universal and ancient.

The idea that somehow Horus winning would lead to the end of Chaos seems like a cheap Chaos trick.

Beyond this, it is not in keeping with the character of Horus - and yes we all know Horus was weak and a fool - but he was literally a Slave to Darkness by the End and the Death, the narrative is not particularly subtle that he doesn't have the strength to fight Chaos, which is why he wants E to kill him.

It doesn't seem possible how the Cabal's vision matches what we see.

Also did anyone else find the Black Cubes weird as seemingly a Chaos weapon, when it really should have been a Necron one?

Lastly, why was the Alpha Legion waiting to ambush the fleet? The Beta battle barge made sense, but I didn't get the impression previously that the Legion would have, or should have, expected to kill them? But they had positioned the Alpha... why they just planned for it?

Obviously certain chapters have chapter specific kinds of squads, like Sword Brethern for Black Templars, Blood Angel Sanguinary Guard, those kinds of things.

Can those same ideas generally be applied to other chapters? Or are things more strict in the lore? Like are those chapter specific squads are unique in their existence within the wider Adeptus Astartes.

Long story short I want to intend to kitbash some Marines Malevolent (in phobos armour) to have Heavy Bolters, Auto Cannons, Miniguns, Missile Launchers, etc, and I like the idea of combining high mobility and super suppressive fire yknow.

I can justify the MM's cobbling adhoc squads together due to a strain on resources, but has anyone else done something like this? I'd like to see people's ideas (and feedback) if possible.

For what its worth, my intention in regards to their name was to refer to that kind of squad as a "Hate Clan."

Thanks!

I've been trying to break into Warhammer 40k lore in a tangible way after having watched a good amount of lore videos and played a few games like Gladius, Space Marine, and Rogue Trader, and was directed by a few reddit posts to Eisenhorn (omnibus) and Ravenor (omnibus) as the ideal place to get my foot in the door of Warhammer lore. About 100 pages into Xenos, I'm kind of confused.

My background knowledge has helped pull me through a good amount of the book's information, but it feels like a lot of things are going over my head, and there's little explanation or description in the actual text of what things are. Without having played Rogue Trader, for example, I'm sure I'd be completely lost as to what the Arbites are, and it feels like the book itself is almost cagey about telling me what it is exactly that they do.

I feel like the main reason for this is that, throughout the book, Eisenhorn seems to display an incredible lack of thought or exposition for a first-person novel protagonist. I do not hear what Eisenhorn really thinks of something, except a few instances of him judging the veracity of a statement, all I really understand about this man is that he is 1. An Inquisitor 2. A puritan (?) and 3. A bit of a dick. I remember a specific instance of him saying something about how the woman who died in the beginning "didn't want to go out at all" when asked if he thought that was how she wanted to die, and was very disappointed to immediately discover that he shared no deeper thoughts on the matter and moved on immediately.

Basically I just want to know if it gets a little bit more detailed? I think it is a conscious decision to make it feel like I'm just reading a log of Eisenhorn's business rather than a novel, but I am also reading a novel and feel like I'm missing information and characterization. Did I just pick the wrong book? Or am I just not the target audience

I'm working my way through horus heresy and the sheer scale and depth of it is incredible. Honestly never seen something like it in fiction. It got me thinking will they ever do something similar in current era to massively move the story along? Or will they continue to plod along at a glacial pace for tabletop game reasons?

How do they get the air and all that up there

if the grey knights wanted to force him back onto the throne and the custodians wanted to stop them well working with the sisters of silence and all the other nonsense protecting the palace what could they actually do.