M37

Ok So Relic is developing a game based on a regonized boardgame. Anyone mind providing the fourm with a little backstory, summarization of what's going on in the 40K Universe? Who are the good guys ect...
I'm asking becuse I'm prety sure I'm not the only person scaching his head over this.

ionfish

Inquisitor

Okay then, since you asked :P What follows is a lengthy but greatly simplified overview for those who don't have time to read all the stuff on the official website (and there is a lot.)

(All you 40K fans don't get mad if I over-simplify the theme of the different armies, but it's probably the best way to quickly understand them.)

_________________________________________________

IN THE GRIM DARKNESS OF THE FAR FUTURE THERE IS ONLY WAR!

Overview
The 40K universe is set, as you may have already figured out, 40,000 years into the future. And it is a dark and bleak future as well. Mankind has stretched a vast empire across the galaxy, an empire that is constantly plagued on all sides by powerful aliens, demonic threats, and evil gods.

Good And Bad Guys?
Well, as with both sides of a war, it depends on your point of view. In general, the human race in Warhammer 40,000 is often harsh, ruthless, and cruel. The same can be said of the rest of the races in the galaxy, but the human Imperium is especially over-zealous and xenophobic. It is very beaurocratic, almost communistic, and does what it has to do to survive in a universe that is dangerous and deadly.

Still, there is a line you can draw between the "good" and the "bad" factions in terms of the game.

Good:
Space Marines
Imperial Guard
Sisters Of Battle
Eldar
Tau

Bad:
Chaos Space Marines
Dark Eldar
Orcs
Tyranids
Necrons

Factions
Though the 40K universe has grown greatly in scope and depth since its inception, it may be easiest to think of the setting as it was originally intended: Fantasy races in a sci-fi setting. So, I'll try to draw parallels to fantasy examples when describing some of these factions--basically these are the armies you can choose from before you plan to collect, paint, and play.

Space Marines--
Elite humans shock troops, genetically bred with the best armor and weaponry available to humans. Quite formidable. They can be led by force commanders, Chaplains devoted to the God-Emperor, or even powerful Psyker Librarians. Think of them as knights.

Imperial Guard--
The rank and file human soldiers. Very similar in appearance to today's military, with an emphasis on armor and sheer numbers. They have the widest range of tanks and can specialize in many areas of combat.

Sisters Of Battle--
Nuns with guns. Seriously. They are devoted to the God-Emperor, a human with powerful psyker powers risen to deity status but entombed within the Golden Throne on Terra where he has been for thousands of years. He is worshipped by mankind, and the structure of religion in the Imperium can be compared to Catholicism in the middle ages.

Eldar--
Elves in Space. They are a dying race, a mere shadow of their former selves. Wise, quick, snooty, they look down upon the barbaric "mon-keigh" (Eldar word for humans.) Eldar Vehicles are hover-based, unlike the ungraceful tracked vehicles of the humans. They also have highly skilled psykers that make human psykers pale in comparison.

Tau--
A highly advanced alien race that focuses on technology. A young race, the Tau are perhaps the least grim of all the other races. For your anima/manga fans, think mecha.

Chaos Space Marines--
Evil versions of Space Marines, they have betrayed the God-Emperor and worship the Chaos Gods, can summon daemons and use evil magic. Very. Bad. Dudes.

Dark Eldar--
Dark Elves in Space, bloodthirsty and cruel. A bit like vikings raiders I suppose, quick and deadly. Also, it seems like they're all sadomasochists.

Orcs--
Orcs in spa--well, you get the idea. Not too bright, but they are tough and resilient. And there are a lot of them. Green tide!

Tyranids--
Think of the bugs from the Starship Troopers movie. That's them, pretty much. Swarms and swarms of bugs, with scary big bugs leading them.

Necrons--
Ancient evil race of advanced androids. They have awakened from their millennia long sleep and seek to destroy all life. Think terminators.

There are also other "advanced" armies to choose from with their own specialized rules.

Dimension

in addition to the above, it can be said that there are no steady alliances between any factions(except space marines, imp guards and the sisters), in some instances (orcs, chaos space marines) there is also in-fighting.

Dark Eldar are essentially Eldar that are corrupted by the Chaos gods. THESE ARE:
the way the dark eldar practice their cruelties is very reminiscent of Slaneesh, but they don't worship him. for that reason he is very pissed at them and every dark eldar that dies will have his soul tormented by slaneesh in ways beyond anyones imagination. no need to mention the dark eldar are very afraid of dying for that reason

Eldar are a bit like the vaygr, as they seek to channel their natural agression into a so called "aspect", meaning they specialize in say, close combat, and will practice in nothing else. read: very specialized, unlike the space marines for instance. as a side mention, they pray to a single god of war, named Khain (who is in fact one and the same as the Chaos god Khorne).

The Tau are the only non-xenophobic race in the warhammer 40K universe. they are pretty idealistic, even somewhat naiive, seeking power through unity. their army consists both of Tau, and of Kroot, a somewhat primitve and savage race of tribal humanoids. the kroot are an example of the Tau integrating other races into their faction. they seek to unite the whole universe under one rule(for everyones good. they are naiive after all

Sajuukar

So... uh... what do the women and children do?

And another question... the title says "Dawn of War"... what does that mean?

Inquisitor

They try not to die horribly.

Seriously, as far as the humans are concerned, most people do their best to lead normal lives. They have jobs, go to school, raise children, pay the bills. Some worlds are relatively safe. But the threat of war, the incursions of Chaos, the dangers of alien attack, it's ever-present. Some worlds have evolved cultures that focus on warfare, right down to camo-style fashion for men, women, and children. And also, some worlds are more advanced than others. There are feral and feudal worlds that are part of the Imperium, but all are aware of the dangers of the Enemy, which may come to them in one form or another.

The universe in Warhammer 40K is horrid, gothic, frightening. Nightmares come to life, daemons of the Warp and terrible evils that can drive most mortal minds insane with but a single glance are all a fact of life.

The 40K tagline is "IN THE GRIM DARKNESS OF THE FAR FUTURE THERE IS ONLY WAR." That pretty much sums it up.

M37

Ion: You should make this a sticky so the unitiated don't keep asking this agian.

ionfish

Thread docked and renamed for clarity's sake.

The Collector

I thought women could join the Warrior aspect as well. It seems the Eldar have no "Aspect" (job field) for slackers...except maybe Rangers. Rangers just run around the galaxy like Indiana Jones.

We won't have to go into history of WH40k...it can be found all over the net. Just look. Really, really hard.

The Humans may be called "The Empire". I dont remember how big it was...maybe a fourth or 2/5ths of the galaxy?

The Humans have a Administratum that does paperwork stuff. They use a "Inquisition" to look for psykers (psychic power people...they are deemed dangerous because of posession). Inquisition also functions as a KGB of sorts. They have a force of exorcists to defeat Warp Daemons, which draw their energy from "the warp"...which is also psychic energy, and the means of FTL travel used. Since the Warp has Daemons in it, and other stuff, travel is random, uncertain, and dangerous. Ships get "lost in the warp" and people inside die or worse stuff. Ships and hulks that go in, come out at odd moments in time. Time seems to stop in the warp: you go in, time freezes, you come out years later or something.

They treat Warp like navigating stormy oceans. There are references to warp eddies and other stuff. As such, humankind is fragmented if they use this uncertain, and strangely random warp for communications and travel.

In any case, onwards with the humans.

Beyond the Inquisition, w/ secret police stuff and counter-daemon forces, is the Officio Assassinorium. Kids taken and trained to kill in a different way, sorted into different schools which train a different way to kill. The one most likely to be ever seen in this game will be the Vindicare, which is like a sniper, with a big, big, gun.

Other forces include Imperial Guard, the Sisters of Battle, Space Marines. Imperial Guard is stand-off volume of fire, lots of tanks. Space Marines is almost the same, smaller forces, equally devastating. Sisters of Battle have a odd penchant for fire, and are more "close quarters" then the other sides.

There's also the Adeptus Mechanicus. They worship machines. They build giant mech thingies called Titans, which pretty much own everything.

Might as well stop there.

Vijil

More info:

The warhammer 40k universe is excellent in the way it merges the spiritual and sci fi.

In the 40 universe, there is a sort of alternate dimension called the Warp. This is used in the traditional sci fi sense for faster interstellar travel by spacecraft, but it is much more than that. Within the warp lies the spiritual realm, a place in which every human has a part of themselves, like a soul. This interaction with warp space paves the way for psychic visions, and also means that in order to use the warp for travel one must have a strong psychic on board to navigate around warp storms, storms of metaphysical energy.

This is where chaos comes in, the all corrupting evil power in the universe. The chaos gods were created by the Eldar, a strongly psychic race with strong beacons in the warp. The race gave themselves over to their primal desires, and became decadent beyond anything we could think of. The strength and the hate of their emotions during this time was so powerful that their warp souls became inflamed by it, and ultimately the sheer evil of their behaviour broke off from their warp selves and became a seperate entity unto itself. Thus, the four gods of Chaos were born. Only the psychic strength of the human Emperor pretects humanity from being corrupted by this force.

The eldar, realising what they had done, immediately set about trying to get rid of the dark gods, but their were two different ideals on how to do this. The dark Eldar are attempting to please the gods through total decadence and sheer evil, hoping their actions will appease the gods lust for death and reduce their power.

The Eldar, on the other hand, are attempting to starve the chaos gods of strength by denying them the source of their power: the psychic energy given off by death and hate. Needless to say, these two groups have opposing goals and are none too fond of one another.

The chaos gods do not only affect eldar. Humanity can be corrupted by it as well. Chaos SPace marines used to be good, but turned against the emperor when the became corrupted during the Horus Heresy, which is another long story.

Another interesting thing: humanity uses archaic technology they have forgotten how to make. Their religious tech priests can maintain the tech, but they dont really know how it works. A computer AI for this reason is reffered to as a "machine spirit" and so on.

There is so much to this universe its mind boggling, but those are some of the basics.

Ill post some more fluff about other races when I feel like it.

thesamonthemoon

I think this info belongs here:

Darkness

Little is known about the roots of the tyranids, i think i saw somewhere they were from the necron time but in a distant part of the galaxy, the force you see now is evolution based upon consumption of millions of worlds and races. but some say they are only a small scouting force for the main fleet of nids, and dont forget that their leaders have very powerful psyches too.
and look at the pics of the leaders, they are Very much alien Queen like, yall seen those movies right? pure coolness

yes, they are my favourite

Kained

Stellar empires cannot really be reckoned in terms of the spatial areas they occupy, but only in terms of the star systems under their control. The Imperium is the largest such empire in the galaxy. The million or more worlds that lie under its dominion are spread throughout the entire galaxy with the exception of the Eastern Fringe. It extends to the limits of the Astronomican, the beacon which its fleets rely on for navigation. Of course the Imperium does not control all of the star systems within this vast area, nor even the majority of the inhabited systems within its borders. The, galaxy also contains many alien races ruling smaller empires of their own.

The Imperium is ruled from Old Earth. It is governed by a vast bureaucracy known as the Adeptus Terra sometimes referred to simply as The Priesthood. The Adeptus Terra governs the Imperium in the name of the Emperor of Humanity, the Undying Master of Mankind.

- From the 40k background.

May i also suggest a site called Portent.net it is one of the largest 40k fan sites around and the forum is an excellent places for both beginner and experienced player to learn more about the 40k universe.

Dimension

http://www.criticalhit.co.uk/wfrp/r...haos_gods.shtml

some good info on tha chaos gods, albeit in reference to the regular Warhammer (think middle-ages). still gives you a good idea what they're about.

also, i thought the demise of the eldar didn't create all chaos gods but only slannesh? (can someone clear up how he is written btw, i've seen Slannesh, Slaneesh and Slaanesh so far)

The Collector

Critical Hit looks at Warhammer from a RPGer's standpoint. Might be useful.

If you really cared, there's lots of resources out on the net about it: not just GW.

Shadione

Female Eldar who follow aspects gravitate towards the Howling Banshee Aspect, the only all female Aspect in the Eldar race. The Banshee is a harbinger of war and death to the Eldar. The Banshee aspect are close combat specialists who strike terror in their enemies with their terrifying Banshee Howl.

Every Eldar follows a path, this keeps their mind from straying, critical, as a wandering mind for a race that is so latently psychic invites attention from daemonic entities of the Warp. Not all paths are combat-related, somebody has to bake bread and stuff. In times of war the non-combat paths make up the Guardians, the base troop for the Eldar. Their race is too few in numbers, and dwindling every year, for everyone to not do their part. For this reason, guardian squads are also made up of both men and women.

Shadione

A nit-picky detail, as this statement is basically true, but there are actually no computer AI's in the Imperium's technology. All such things were destroyed after the Dark Age of Technology, as mankinds superstitions prevent them from trusting in such things. For any kind of cognitive thinking or other functions a computer might perform the Imperium uses Servitors. Servitors are basically humans, usually convicted of some kind of crime be it real or imagined, who are lobotimized and turned into cyborgs of sorts.

The Machine Spirit is literally supposed to be the soul of a machine, and is not based on the existence of an AI. Followers of the machine cult believe all machines have a spirit that can be satiated or angered. Forget to do the Sacred Rights of Changing Oil on your truck long enough and you'll anger it to the point that it will fuse its parts together and stop functioning to show its displeasure. Same result as in our reality, but different thought process on how you get there.

Dimension

Did some research on the web and critical hit had some very interesting info on the emperor and the way he interacted with the universe read all about it here

following is are a few excerpts explaining how the chaos gods came to be.







note that "the emperor was born in the region of Earth known as Central Anatolia (a region of Turkey) in the eighth millennium BC", so the conflicts mentioned above are actually relating to history known today, such as the crusades and the pest.

Rincewind

Actually, there is no limitations on any of the Eldar Aspects. A male Eldar may take up the female Way of the Banshee. He simply "plays" the female Banshee on the battlefield.

Before any idiotic pre-teens make any stupid comments on that, no, they are not homosexual or transvestite.

Shadione: Actually, the reason Humans do not use AI's is because the AI's turned on Humanity at the end of the Dark Age of Technology. There was a war between the Golden Men (Advanced Humans) and Iron Men (robots). The Golden Men managed to destroy the Iron Men, but at the cost of their civilization. They became the Stone Men, the current Xenophobic and superstitious Humanity. This info can actually be found in the 3rd Edition Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook, near the end.

Also, there are AI's in excistance. The Machine Spirits are for all intents and purposes Artificial Intelligences. The way the Adeptus Mechanicus percieves them doesn't really change the "objective reality" of the Spirits. Some, like the computer of a Land Raider tank, are no more intelligent than a dog. They can perform follow rudimentary instructions like "shoot that" or "move there".

Others, like the enormous Machine Spirits inhibiting Titans, are self-aware. They are intelligent, can process strategic information and even make disicions in the heat of battle.

There was an old story related to the Space Marine game (predecessor to Epic) where a group of Warlord's refused to retreat, even though their Princeps' tried to make them move. All Titans are imprinted with the instincts and personality of a predatory animal, in the case of Warlords, grizzly bears.

Tyryt

For another interesting little tidbit of info, looking through the old RT book, There are quotes from Dune and Star Trek, and from those pretty much implying that it's all the same universe.

It does tie in as well, to an extent, Star Trek (Golden age, humanity expanding through the galaxy) -> Dune (Just at the end of the great war against the machines, introduction of traveling via "The Warp" instead of "at warp speed", navigators, spice, etc.) -> 40K.

There are also some other more obscure refferences as well.

Shadione

Yeah, I'm aware of that, just didn't want to get too far into the history or the reasons.



Now you have a debate on your hands. GW loves to revise history in later editions. Seems to me they're moving more towards a no AI interpretation now, with any kind of intelligence coming from individual or group servitors, but who knows. The ambiguity is what sometimes makes it interesting. Generally, I don't take anything pre-dating the current edition to be 'true', as each edition re-works fiction as much as the game mechanics.

Beelzebuddy

For some reason this bring up bits of greek mythology from the dregs of my mind. I recall reading a legend about this... something about a couple who were the last of the Golden Race told by the gods to toss stones behind them, that then grew into men - the Stone Race. Could be GW's just ripping off ancient history and packaging it as original ideas. Wouldn't be the first time a company did that.

The Collector

GW does do that: they just do it extremely well, and are in turn, ripped off of.

It's just repacking some old ideas and adding some new stuff into the brew. Fluff matters not. Just victory!

Kained

Check this out for a full background discussion and the actual story.

Golden, Stone and Iron Men

The Iron Men were the AI's in a similar way to the Animatrix background. That's why the Imperium generally finds the idea of AI's abhorrent, preferring to use lobotimised Servitors.

Computers are widely used but these are generally defined as logic engines. Suggesting, that although they may be powerful, they lack cognitive ability

Of course whats live in the guarded vaults of the Adeptus Mechanicus is a mystery for all but the Lords of Mars.

The Collector

I remember seeing stuff about the Adeptus Mechanicus having robots: out until the Horus Heresy. They stopped afterwards I think, but probably still have them.

Adalpheus

You mean the Titan Legions? They were and still are built in the Imperium.

RedDevil

Just thought that I would throw this out as well. Another reason, that GW has hinted at about, for why the Imperium of Man doesn't use real AI's, is that they can actually be taken over/possessed by chaos.

On that note, deamons can actually inhabbit a vehicle as well, essentially using it like a body. Sometimes even warping them to the point where tanks grow arms, scythes for close combat, and can heal themselves. Scary stuff.

Titans are not immune to this as well, as many Titan legions of old turned traitor along with legions of Imperial gaurd, and the Chaos Space marines during the Horus Haresy. A Choas Titan is trully a terrify site as it looks almost as if alive, with the bodies and skulls of sacrifices fused with the huge body, screaming as if still alive. Their AI has become so warped that they act more as savage, rabid, animal, sometimes thrashing out at their own troops just to sait their bloodlust.

The Collector

Adalpheus, I wasn't referring to Titans. Real robots. Critical Hit makes reference to the "Legio Cybernetica" or something that sounds like it.

IWAssassin

Generally speaking MODERN GW Fluff [within the past year] actually more implies that all AIs the Imperium uses are not AIs at all, but a living part of the C'Tan Void Dragon, known to the Adeptus Mechanicus as the Machine God. Of course the Tech Priests are so self centered, protective, and downright insane that they dont realise that he's a CTan and the rest of the Imperium has no way of finding out.

Of course then there are those of us who see the C'Tan fluff as simply a bunch of garbage (:

Adalpheus

Oh right. The robots are still used and produced on Mars and the Forge Worlds. They are attached to forces along with a priest-guy to perform the "rites of pushing the on-button" then monitors their progress. They also have a habit of recovering every single one that gets destroyed for spare parts. The blueprints are still kept in the Machine-God Altar on Mars.

Silmaril

I know this is going back in the thread a bit, but originally the Tyranids were an intergalactic race. The theory was that they had devoured their original galaxy, and had crossed the vast intergalactic void. Genestealers were the scouts. Appearing aboard space hulks, and "breeding" with humans to form the Hyprids. (Strong Psykic powers prevented the hybrids from being killed) Often They formed cults, and were destroyed as heretics.


Then came the First Hivefleet - Behemoth. The first world they completey ravaged was a planet called Tyran (if memory serves). Eventually the hivefleet was discovered, an Ultramarine detachment was sent, and completely wiped out (thus the Genestrealers on their Banners) Eventually (this is where my memory gets hazy) the whole chapter, and then some, destoryed the hivefleet.

But it turned out it was just the first part of it, as the much larger Hivefleet Kraken appeared.



If anyone can clarify, and/or correct please do. That was the story at the time they released the Tyranid Codex, but that was a good few years ago, and I'd love to know what the current background is.

No Surrender

I thought one of the Cadian Imperial Guard Regiments decimated Hive Fleet Behemoth (See Guard Codex) The Space Marines get all the glory.

Note About the Emperor: The Emperor was the person who created the Space Marine Legions and set out on the Great Crusade to reconquer all the Human Colonies separated by Warp Storms. He created the Primarchs, super humans from which the Space Marines were created. There were around 10 Primarchs (I think) Each of them were given a Space Marine Legion and set off to conquer more worlds. Then, the Emperor's most trusted and skilled Primarchs, Horus, turned against him along with 1/2 the Space Marine Legions. A bloody period of Civil War known as the Horus Herecy followed. The Chaos Legions were on the verge of breaching the defenses of Ancient Terra (Earth) before the Emperor slew the tratorous war master in single combat. The Emperor himself was mortally wounded in the proccess and the Golden Throne was constructed to keep him alive. Now the Emperor sits imobile ontop the golden throne and guides the Imperiums war fleets and ships throught the Warp.

Nitrax

On Hive fleet Behemoth and the Tyranids.

I've forgotten the name of the book but it's the rule book you got for the Tyranids for the old Epic system. Now my computers really messed up and I'm doing this from memory so I will try to be as breif as possible.

Apart from the disaperence of several scouting missions on the eastern rim the first real contact with the tyranids was at the planet Tyran. It served as a staging post for exploration missions and had about 4000 personel. Behemoth was the name given to the first hivefleet. It operated in two seperate waves, leap frogging over each other. There are more details but suffice it to say that Tyrans commander, after a brush with the Tyranid fleet realised that they were hostile but Tyran was two small to survive(it did have laser defence silos about 5 I think and 5 in system patrol craft) and so during a lull in the fighting the commander ordered all there data stroed onto computer and bured in the core of the planet. Inquisitor Krytman was the first to find this, on a planet that could barly be identified aas Tyran. He proceded to warn the imperium and by this time more and more tyranids were being spotted, a survivor was rescued from the ship Hammer of Foes (Not sure) and eventually Kryptman diduced that the tyranids would hit the world of Ultimar soon. (The homeworld of the Ultramarines.) The entire chapter was recalled and reinforcements were sent, including a battlefleet from one of the main fleet bases lead by Admiral Rath and the Emperor Class Battleship Dominix Astra. Anyway when the tyranids attacked Ultimar and Calgar (again not sure) the commander of the ultrmarines used a hammer and anvil stratagy with his fleet and the planet, some tyranids landed on the planet but most of the ships were either destroid or fled.

The marine ships pursuid and the Tyrandis ran straight into the arriving imperial fleet under the command of Rath and anihlated. As the marine and imperial lfeet turned back the second turanid fleet arrived behind them. The marines turned back to the planet, admiral rath headed for Circi, a gas giant which was aparantly defendable.

The tyranids split, the larger part heading for rath, the smaller following teh marines. The imperal fleet was almost defeated but the Domonix Astra overloaded it's own warp engins and ripped the heart out of the tyranid fleet. The tyranids that followed the marines were destoid by the planetary defences. On the planet the northern polar fortress had been overun with the loss of the entire 1st company of marines, in the south some pockets still held out. Without the guidance of teh hive fleet though the tyranids were eventually defeated. There were regiments of the Planitary defence auxilary, aswell as a titan legion, but individual guard regiments arn't mentioned. And there you go, the rough story of hivefleet behemoth. Sorry about all the spelling mistakes, but my computers so mashed that I don't even get to see the text i'm writing until a minute after i finish writing it.

And finally, Kraken turned up about 200 years later, got mashed by the Iyadin Eldar, but survived, then Leviathen turned up below it not long after. And thats all I can rememeber/and type at the moment.

Rincewind

Actually, it was the other way around. One of the Kraken sub-fleets almost destroyed the Iaynden Craftworld, with around 80% of the population dead. Hive Fleet Kraken is still in the Eastern Fringes, messing the place up.

Hive Fleet Leviathan appeared near the center of the galaxy, coming "up" in regards to the galactic plane.

The Adeptus Mechanicus doesn't "officially" use Robots anymore. That is old background (or fluff, as it is usually known). Anything that has not been re-published after the 3rd edition of the game was published is not valid. They practically changed the entire history.

No Surrender: 20 Primarchs.

Captain Stern

Those flying skulls (I don't know how their english name is) are a kind of robot, aren't they?

The Collector

Servo-skulls? A reference to them exists on Critical Hit, but with insufficient canon background reference. Once I find it I'll cite it.

Kained

Yeah it's a Servo Skull. It contain a lobotomised human brain just like other Servitors.

Captain Stern

Ah, there's a brain inside? I thought they would only use the skull of an imperial hero and put a motor inside.

ObsceneName

none of the hivefleets have been completey destroyed except behemoth which was never fully destroy but became tiny splinter fleets which seem to follow no tatical pattern and some have gotten past imperial defences desimicating worlds and slowly getting stronger to there full strength again and are slowly heading for terra

i think i also read that it said the splinter fleets fight each or something if they meet

Rincewind

Behemoth was raped by the Ultramarines, nothing is left. Official fluff, end of story. Codex Tyranids, plus Index Xenos article in White Dwarf.

Kraken is formed into small fleets (splinter fleets) that coordinate with each other, attacking hundreds of worlds at the same time. See Codex Tyranids.

Servo Skulls contain a small logic engine, capable of performing limited tasks. It is made from the skull of an Imperial servant, a scribe or somesuch. It is fitted with a small anti-grav engine. See Inquisitor Rulebook.

El'Jonson

Good Grief! OK, I'm a 40k vet since the Rouge Trader rulebook (The 1st ed.) Questions?

DarthFelth

sure i ant played for 8 months, what are the new rules i hear about for dismounting from vehicles

El'Jonson

The new Trial Vehicle Rules are out there, I think in the new Chapter Approved 2004. They are not in effect yet, and the 4th ed of the game is to be released in the next year or so. That being said, I still use the 3rd ed rules, so diembarking isn't any different than your used to. I'm looking into the 4th ed rules set. When I find it, I'll post it for ya.

Admiral Ragon

i hope this game is like homeworld 2 then it will RoCk

Darkness

ragon its on teh planet surfaces, its not a space rts, no spaceships or motherships here

Archon Vap'Oriz

ok im sorry i saw a couple of people say that dark eldar are eldar corrupted by chaos.

this is the opposite of the truth. dark eldar hate chaos. let me tell you a story.

the eldar were once a great and mighty race. they ruled the stars. they eventually got to the point that they love sensuality. they did everything they could to get pleasure from using they're senses. every being has a psycic "echo" that exists in the warp. the home world of the eldar was where the "eye of terror" now exists. one day all that psycic echo from the sensuality collapsed and created a creature known as slaanesh. this is one of the chaos gods. when slaanesh was created , she let out kindof a "psycic birth scream" it kill hundreds of billions of eldar intantly taking their souls and consumning them. when this happened it created the eye of terror. a link between warp space and real space. there are only around maybe at the most 5% of the eldar left. alot of them fled to "craftworlds" large spaceships that are made for living in. worlds in their own entirety. they decided eldar needed to change their ways to prevent something like that from happening agoin. they chose to use i think "soulstones" so whenever they died their souls would go into the stones instead of being consumed by slaanesh.
other eldar wished to keep their ways of sensuality and fled to the webway where they are safe from slaanesh... for the most part. there is a kindof constant drain on their souls very slow, but it is there. they created a city there called commorragh. the dark city. well to survive they take raiding paries using webway portals and such to go somewhere, make a very swift strike, take thousands of prisoner, bring them to their leader, and they tourture the people, kill them and drink their soul to t=keep nourished. there are many kind of clans in the dark city called kabals. each kabal is led by an archon there are constant battles over power in the dark city and treason and backstabbing is more common than making allies. dark eldar hate the chaos gods. especially slaanesh.

and mon-keigh is just a doragatory eldarish term for lesser species. including humans.
*kinda like monkey.....*

my 2 cents

Admiral Ragon

ok then thanks i did not know

Lord Mave

actually, the dark eldar fled into the webway (a kind of stargate-ish tunnel system that exists in the warp) at the exact moment of the birth of slaanesh, and escaped the destruction of their homeworlds. they sacrifice the sould of thier slaves/victims to slaanesh to keep him/her/it from eating thiers. feed him till he's too stuffed to eat you...

ObsceneName

vap is right
and of course the older you get the more of your soul is sucked away so you need more souls

like that one kabal leader in the fluff like kills 10s of thousands of peopel eveyr day to keep him self alive