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

From: Joshua W Raup <deaconblue3_at_...>
Date: Fri, 26 May 2000 14:41:33 -0400

But the knowledge was still there all the time. The ignorant masses
would not have known, but state-of-the-art researchers surely would
(and did).

-->But that does not mean that they understood the material. Knowledge
is not understanding. Also, those same peopel "knew" the Earth was flat,
and that the sun revolved around the Earth too. 8)

Hundreds of war fronts with enemies looking for total genocide seem a
pretty powerful incentive to me...

-->For military application, sure. the Imperium even has them. But it
often leads to a serious underdevelopment of the social aspects. the
emphasis is solely on the miliatry, leaving the social to chance.


The germans developed V1 and V2s. Usa would hardly have won the Space
race without Werner von Braun.

-->that was in a prolonged period of peace following war. The Imperium
has not had such a period since before the age of strife. It has been in
a constant state of war since that time.

 But NOTHING AT ALL? Not even some
longer-range weapons? Better flyers? Faster spaceships?

-->Again, we don't see much of it, and some of it hasn't been placed in
the time line when it was developed. We have no real basis for
comparison here. But we could create one. 8) Some weapons are
definitely post heresy I would say. the Ordinatus for sure, and many of
teh super heavy tank variations. Not sure about T-Hawks, and if they are
post heresy, forget about CSMs getting them. If they're Heresy era
equipment, then CSMs should get them as special cards. So I would say
that there is some advancement in the technologies of teh Imperium (we
have no real basis for space travel and such), thought it is incredibly
slow.

 Maybe,
but I still think it's extremely hard to curtain someone more
advanced
than you.

-->that's what MacArthur thought in Korea. He thought that superior
Allied technology would off set the numbers of the PRC army. He was
wrong. And who has the tech edge on teh Imperium? Eldar? Most likely,
but they don't have the numbers to make any serious threat to the over
all Imperial state. Technology is not the be all end all here. You have
to have the manpower to use it, and be on a par withyour opponents.

Sure, but again: there SHOULD be an elite which is constantly
advancing. Unless the whole of the Imperium is ruled by a bunch of
suicidal maniacs. No: unless the Imperium HAS BEEN RULED FOR 10000
YEARS by a bunch of suicidal maniacs.

-->real world (TM) example here. the auto manufacturers have been
sitting on a very advanced, highly fuel efficient engine for almost 30
years now. It's not gonna see the light of day. why/ Too mcuh at stake
for their allies in the oil industry. the engine is good enough, and
efficient enough, that it would cause the oil producers to suffer serious
economic losses. And we don't really know what sort of advances the AM
is sitting on, waiting to unleash when the time is right. Or what they
are working on. It's never stated in the fluff. I would asy that the AM
is making advances, but isn't releasing them to the Imperium at large.
They may have no practical application, or they are being held solely for
the use of teh AM. Also, the AM are like the Astropaths, in that they
absorb (Borg like), anyone showing promise in the tech fields. they are
brought into the organization, if only to keep them out of circulation.
This keeps them in control of the vast majority of the people capable of
doing tech work outside of the AM.




Minister for General Mayhem
"Don't let the bastards grind you down." Gen. Joseph Stilwell
Received on Fri May 26 2000 - 18:41:33 UTC