Re: [Epic] The ages of Warhammer was mixing (long)
Excerpts from Epic: 2-Sep-97 Re: [Epic] The ages of Warh.. by Oki
Purwanto_at_...
> At 09:40 AM 9/1/97 -0500, you wrote:
> >Aaron P Teske wrote:
> ><major snip>
>
> (Major snip)
[SM1 & Adeptus Titanicus are Horus Heresy. Definitely.]
> >2) Some time between then and "now" there was something called "The Age of
> Apostasy"
>
> From, Codex Sisters of Battle :
> "The name most infamously connected with the Age of Apostasy and the
> architect of the Reign of Blood was Goge Vandire, 361st High Lord of the
> Administratum......"
> The fluff covered like 6 pages !!! After which he was replace by Sebastian
> Thor, who did much to reform the Ecclesiarchy. During his tenure as the
> Ecclesiarch, the High Lords of Terra issued a decree "Decree Passive
> 0001288/M36 which amongst other things forbid the Ecclesiarchy from
> controlling any 'Men under arms', which of course led to the official
> formation of the Sisters of battle.
>
> The Age of Apostasy lasted for quite some time; one noteworthy heresies was
> the Plague of Unbelief which was started by Cardinal Bucharis, which was
> halted by (who else :P) Space Wolves.
Dating note: The date listed above (0001288/M36) means that the decree
was issued at the start of the 288th year of the 36th millenium, so that
was quite a while ago. ^_^
(First 0 means it's an Earth Standard Date. 001 is the year fraction,
and 288 is the year. Mxx gives the millenium. Today's date (September
1, 1997) would be something like 0666997/M2, or the 997th year in the
second millenium. From White Dwarf, issue #97.)
> Also, an interesting fluff byline.
[snip]
> Phew !!!
Wow, guess GW hasn't lost *all* of it's nastiness....
> >3) At one time Squats were a part of the IG. This is not an assumption,
> >this is a fact ((Warhammer 40,000 Compendium, page 31 see 3rd, 62nd, 17th &
> >5th regiment).
Mmm, nope. At least, not completely. See page 167 of the Compendium:
"The Squat Home Worlds are almost unique in the Imperium, as they are
not directly controlled by the Administratum.... [I]nstead of rejoining
the Imperium as subject worlds, the Home Worlds negotiated a series of
treaties which enabled them to keep their independence.... [T]he home
worlds provide troops for the Imperial forces."
So that's where the regiments come from. It's not too different from an
Imperial world, true, but as far as I can tell Inquisitors have no
jurisdiction on Squat Worlds, and neither do other members of the
Administratum. They can make suggestions, but if they try & force
things on the Squats they'll get a fist in the, um, belly. (Squats are,
as has been pointed out, uniquely suited to this task. ^_^ )
*But*... if you look in Rogue Trader, page 175, it does imply that
Squats are part of the Imperium. ("In the Imperium, Squats are the only
abhuman type commonly seen occupying positions of authority, even
entering the priesthood and the ranks of the Inquisition.") Now, the
problem is that the date in Rogue Trader, while never specified as far
as I can see, is at least 4590640/M41, which is listed in one of the
flavor sections (p.32). Year 640 of the 41st millenium... the "current"
year in Warhammer 40,000 is the year 987, exactly 40,000 years after the
game was initially released if I'm not mistaken. (That, from the dating
conventions article in White Dwarf 97.)
> >3.1) Beast men were at one time allowed in the IG ((Warhammer 40,000
> >Compendium Page 148) or for that matter Epic 2nd Ed.)
Yup. But I don't think GW has actually written a history bit
'explaining' why Beastmen are no longer in the IG, they just aren't any
more.
> >4) Squats are no longer in the Imperium and beast men are Chaos only.
> >
> >5) This is important one....
> > "Nowadays there are no Squat Stronghold planets in the Imperium
> >itself, the last having secceded during the Age of Apostacy". (Codex:
> >Imperial Guard, page 8, paragraph 6)
> >
> >Which leads me to 2 simple statements
> >1) The current rules are set after the Age of Apostasy and
>
> From the Codex Sisters of Battle, you are right :)
Yeah, I'll agree with this. I should probably look at the Codex: Sisters....
> >2) Warhammer 40,000 (Rogue Trader) and Epic Space Marine 2nd Ed are set IN
> >the Age of Apostasy or before.
I'm certain, from statements made above, that this is *not* the case,
unless the Age of Apostasy ended less than 400 years before the
"present" date. I'll have to flip through some Codecies in my local
store... it's been a while.
> Not quite sure about the "before' part. Remember, Epic SM already had
> Tyranids, whose incursion was fairly recent. And the first hive fleet was
> defeated (Codex Tyranids) by Marneus Calgar 250 years ago (?), the current
> Lord Macragge.
Hive Fleet Behemoth was defeated in year 745/M41, and it is the only
Hive Fleet known to be destroyed; all the others have drifted out of
Imperial space and vanished. Hmm, some interesting snippets from White
Dwarf 97, pages 39-49:
* The current date is given as 987/M41, again.
* Macragge is really not a nice place... you can only breathe the air
for half of the year, and the temperature drops below zero every night.
Rain is unknown, though dust clouds are a common occurance. Vegetation
is limited to fungi, lichen and other simple forms, and a shrimp-like
creature ('dust krill') is the main source of food (oh, yum). Hmm, Mars
maybe?
* The first Tyranic War was in M34! Well before the end of the Age of
the Apostate, if the "Decree Passive" above is during that age.
Interesting... guess the Hive Fleets aren't all that recent.
* Marneus Calgar (Lord Macragge) is currently more machine than man,
having lost all four limbs, his left eye, and large areas of body tissue
during a skirmish with Hive Fleet Perseus in 982. Lieutenant-Commander
Cha Lee has commanded the Ultramarines in battle ever since.
(Fascinating, given the Calgar figure GW released a little while ago....
Did the article on that figure mention any of that? He was bionically
rebuilt, so it actually isn't that improbable, but....)
> >This explains why the "old" WH40K rule's fluff was so much darker than the
> >current rule's fluff. We are comparing WWII Nazi Germany with, say NATO in
> >the Gulf War. Both were major wars, to be sure, but in general life is a
> >little better now than in the 1940's
>
> But did you notice that the fluff is getting darker recently. True, it is
> not quite like the good ole days, but it has gotten darker since the days of
> Codex Space Wolves where Logan Grimnar (SW Great Wolf/commandeer) is one of
> the most recognised face in Imperium, "well loved by masses of the Imperium"
> or something like that. Blah !!!
ROFL! That's funny. ^_^
Of course, with good enough PR people, you never know.... (half ^_- )
> >The three (at least) ages of the Imperium, and what rules go with what age,
> >all straight from GW sources.
>
> Ah, just an excuse to bring newer miniature range.
Yup. And GW is perfectly willing to change that history, to suit the
needs of the miniatures....
Aaron Teske
Mithramuse+_at_...
Received on Mon Sep 01 1997 - 21:27:15 UTC
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