Re: [NetEpic ML] On Imperial armies and original fluff

From: Joshua W Raup <deaconblue3_at_...>
Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 04:44:49 -0400

From Luca:

Fluff. I would support the "fluff unification", but honestly, if you
stop to think about it, there are too many gaping holes. Imperial and
Eldar technology standing still for 10.000 years?? Su-u-re. Just look
at what we have done in the last 6000 years and then we'll talk. And
they even have working examples of advanced technology to study. And
don't get me started on the "they see it as religion" thing. Either
the IQ of every Mars citizen in the last 10.000 years has been below
0, or this simply won't work this way.


--->well, I think we can suspend some disbelief when it comes to this. I
mean, Eldar are acceptable, but the decadence of the Imperium isn't?
It's a big Rome of the later years. A greta deal of this is about focus,
need, and the acceptable "social view." According to fluff, the
technological height of the Imperium occurred several hundred years prior
to the Emperor's ascencion, and the start of the greta crusade. Much of
the gains made, were lost in the civil wars on Earth and Mars, as well as
by the lack of ability to maintain these great works in the colonies.
Think of it this way: You take all the needs of modern life, go to a
remote island, and then lose all contact with the rest of the world. Do
you really think that you'd be able to maintain that generator and TV
when they break down? Or fix the air conditioner when the freon leaks?
The society of the Imperium, in the era prior to the rise of the Emperor,
retrogressed, with much of what made its initial rapid expansion
possible, being lost. Then, the isolation thing kicked in, and you get
the rise of the Machine Cult aka the Adeptus Mechanicus, and the like in
the fontiers. It was the dark ages on a galatic scale. It took many
hundreds of years for these institutions, and their associated ethos to
develop. It didn't just happen. though I will say that it isn't very
well stated in the GW fluff, but we can fix that, can't we? 8)

And. Why didn't the empire pummel everyone else into the dirt?? Look
at the galaxy maps, estimate the number of worlds the empire
controls, and then let me know what's the limit of their resources.
I'd say there's no practical one. So, why didn't they just assemble a
fleet of 10000 X the number of orc ships and blast them into
oblivion?
And the same goes with every other race, too. Eldar are supposed to
be a dying race, right? so they should be few. Advanced technology
won't help you when the enemy has 1.000.000 soldiers for each of your
own.

-->As for the Imperium, logistics limit their abilities. First off is
communications. FTL communications is all fine and dandy, but when a
message has to travel several thousand lightyears, it still takes a
while. The Imperium is slow, pondering, and powerful. Much of it has to
be decentralized just to operate on a daily basis. this makes for all
sorts of petty ego problems between governors, sector commanders,
administratum types, etc. So you get a lot of bureaucratic red tape
tying things up as well. now we can throw in the dangers of warp
navigation, and the limits of the Astronomicon. Imperial vessels can
only safely navigate with in a limited radius from the beacon, leaving
many worlds outside of their reach. Exhibit A; The exploits of Solar
Macharius. Then, in the current scheme, no single commander would ever
be given such a force to lead. Too tempting to pull a Horus.

josh R
Minister for General Mayhem
"Don't let the bastards grind you down." Gen. Joseph Stilwell
Received on Fri May 26 2000 - 08:44:49 UTC