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Hello one and all, and welcome to the long-awaited 40k revisions. Yes, I know, it has been ages, and lots of stuff that needs to be tackled probably won’t be for the moment. But, alas, such is the scale that the only way these revisions can be pushed through is in relatively bite-sized chunks.
Here we will be discussing some of the details that befall the Primarchs, the Astartes, the Imperial Guard, Sisters of Battle, and the Talons of the Emperor (Custodes and Sisters of Silence). Without further ado:
The Primarchs
The Primarch ratings we have on our profiles are blatantly false and have been for a long time.
…Well, see that’s not exactly true, but it may as well be. The feat of Madail’s star fort is very much real. As are numerous other displays of celestial level power by daemons. And the Primarchs regularly match these daemons in combat, if not in psychic power then at least physicals.
But then far more numerous are the instances where the Primarchs get inconvenienced by things like flipping tanks. Digging themselves out of the Earth. Titans. Even simple Astartes Legionaries. And the latter such feats are far, far more numerous when it comes to the Primarchs than the ones pertaining to cosmic levels of power.
And the same goes for characters like Kharn, Ahriman (though we’ll get to him later), Lucius, etc. Though they should logically be capable of challenging these most high servants of Chaos as either champions of Chaos themselves, or in the case of loyalist Primarchs, the strongest creations of the Emperor, they at the same time are at a very real risk from things far, faaaaaaar inferior to them. This contrast between planet-destroyers and solar system busters is very stark when put against weaponry that IS futuristic, but still within the realm of possibilities.
Now, how can we possibly accept both these wildly different interpretations by different authors as being true? Because if we choose one, that’d just be picking favorites, even if one series of circumstances (the top tier fighters being moreso really good as opposed to planet slayers) is far more common in the lore.
Well I have a simple solution for that my friends: the Eye of Terror. The Eye of Terror, now having expanded to become the Great Rift after the fall of Cadia, is a region of space that is overflowing with Warp energy. It’s often said that the Eye of Terror is part of the Warp. This is false. The Eye of Terror is a chunk of the Milky Way where the boundaries between realspace and the Warp intersect, thus allowing for quite frankly impossible things in normal circumstances to happen.
This could be used to explain how high-ranked daemons can do shit like this:
A planetary system loomed up. He slowed further and steered close to take a good look at it. Its sun was huge, except that it was not what he would normally think of as a sun. It was not spherical but a flat disc, in colour a brilliant shimmering green. There were at least twenty different planets, each a different colour- mauve, russet, lemon yellow, magenta- but they were not arranged as planets normally are. Instead of being roughly in the same plane, their orbits criss-crossed at all angles, linke the electrons of an atom, and sometimes more than one planet shared the same orbit.Then something appeared which caused Calliden to sit stock-still with shock. A figure was flying through the system, and it was bigger than the planets themselves, bigger than the disc-shaped green sun. A vaguely humanoid figure but crimson-furred, with a ferociously fanged, dog-like head, eyes glaring like pits of blood from beneath jutting horns, the head topped by great angled horns plus a twisted unicorn horn jutting from the crown. The creature was flying by, flapping great membranous wings which put a dozen planets in shadow with each pass. It wore brief, ornately worked armour down to the waist, glinting red and black, close-fitting except at the shoulders whch were protected by raised and extravagently worked pieces. The curve-bladed battle-axe it carried in one hand, holding the haft loosely as it flew, was bronze-black and vaster than any weapon should be. A supernatural energy seemed to flow and crackle through the unbelievable apparition, making it more solid-seeming, more real, than any natural creature."What- what-"Calliden stuttered until his mind found a rational explanation. "It's a hallucination. Can you see it, Kwyler?"Though frightened, Kwyler was not quite as astonished as the navigator. "It is real," he said quietly, his mouth dry. "A daemon, one of rank too."Now something happened which confused Calliden at first. The apparition seemed to be retreating. Too late, be realized that it in fact was approaching, but diminishing in size at the same time.The daemon seemed angry. It flew alongside the Wandering Star, no more than twenty times the size of the spacecraft now, glancing at it sidelong with its smouldering eyes, wings beating majestically."How can it use those wings to fly in space?" Calliden queried hysterically."It flies on warp currents. Be careful. Don't do anything. Perhaps it will go away."Calliden shrieked and pulled on the controls as the warp entity, in a sudden rage, swung round and lashed out with the battle-axe, itself larger than the starship. The Wandering Star jinked aside, narrowly missing being crushed by the blow, then sped off.The daemon did not follow. The spaceship was too minute to be worth the bother, no more significant than a gnat. When last he looked Calliden saw the immense Chaos creature, system-sized again, taking his frustration out on one of the circling coloured worlds, batting it sidewise with the flat of the battle-axe, and sending the broken pieces hurtling into the disc-shaped sun.For the very first time the navigator felt that now he truly understood what it was that the divine Emperor was striving to protect the human race from.Briefly he wondered if the smashed planet had had a human population.
-Eye of Terror Page 96-97
While also losing to people like this some other time:
But you might ask “how do we treat the Primarchs beating these guys on their home turf?” Rather simple really. The Primarchs too, are liable to this buff effect. Or at least, that is my theory.
In truth, it has only been partially confirmed, and even then by the more psychically attuned of them (Magnus, Lorgar, Russ, etc.), but the Primarchs are all living Warp engines. They’re all either pieces or replicas of aspects of the Emperor given form in extremely powerful genetically-engineered bodies and brilliant minds. But it’s made plenty evident that that spark of Emprahness is what makes them truly special. As such, while in a Warp-affected space like the Eye of Terror, or in the case of Sanguinius’ example fighting Madail, the Ruinstorm, this line of logic should work.
What we change them to:
Each Primarch and current Tier 5 or higher scaled character that isn’t a god will scale to 8-C or High 8-C via being superior to either regular Space Marines or Terminators. This also includes Chaos champions, Imperium notable characters, daemons, some Tyranids, Eldar, T’au and Necrons. The exception to this will be psykers, as that’s a whole other can of worms for another time.
HOWEVER, individuals who display outright improved power due to the nature of the blend of unreality and reality in Warp-infested space like the Eye will retain their cosmic ratings IN A SEPARATE KEY, exclusive to Warp-Materium spaces like the Eye. That includes characters such as Kharn, Guilliman, Sanguinius, etc. Once again, no tackling psykers at this stage. That will come later. As will the revision to the daemons.
Here we will be discussing some of the details that befall the Primarchs, the Astartes, the Imperial Guard, Sisters of Battle, and the Talons of the Emperor (Custodes and Sisters of Silence). Without further ado:
The Primarchs
The Primarch ratings we have on our profiles are blatantly false and have been for a long time.
…Well, see that’s not exactly true, but it may as well be. The feat of Madail’s star fort is very much real. As are numerous other displays of celestial level power by daemons. And the Primarchs regularly match these daemons in combat, if not in psychic power then at least physicals.
But then far more numerous are the instances where the Primarchs get inconvenienced by things like flipping tanks. Digging themselves out of the Earth. Titans. Even simple Astartes Legionaries. And the latter such feats are far, far more numerous when it comes to the Primarchs than the ones pertaining to cosmic levels of power.
And the same goes for characters like Kharn, Ahriman (though we’ll get to him later), Lucius, etc. Though they should logically be capable of challenging these most high servants of Chaos as either champions of Chaos themselves, or in the case of loyalist Primarchs, the strongest creations of the Emperor, they at the same time are at a very real risk from things far, faaaaaaar inferior to them. This contrast between planet-destroyers and solar system busters is very stark when put against weaponry that IS futuristic, but still within the realm of possibilities.
Now, how can we possibly accept both these wildly different interpretations by different authors as being true? Because if we choose one, that’d just be picking favorites, even if one series of circumstances (the top tier fighters being moreso really good as opposed to planet slayers) is far more common in the lore.
Well I have a simple solution for that my friends: the Eye of Terror. The Eye of Terror, now having expanded to become the Great Rift after the fall of Cadia, is a region of space that is overflowing with Warp energy. It’s often said that the Eye of Terror is part of the Warp. This is false. The Eye of Terror is a chunk of the Milky Way where the boundaries between realspace and the Warp intersect, thus allowing for quite frankly impossible things in normal circumstances to happen.
This could be used to explain how high-ranked daemons can do shit like this:
A planetary system loomed up. He slowed further and steered close to take a good look at it. Its sun was huge, except that it was not what he would normally think of as a sun. It was not spherical but a flat disc, in colour a brilliant shimmering green. There were at least twenty different planets, each a different colour- mauve, russet, lemon yellow, magenta- but they were not arranged as planets normally are. Instead of being roughly in the same plane, their orbits criss-crossed at all angles, linke the electrons of an atom, and sometimes more than one planet shared the same orbit.Then something appeared which caused Calliden to sit stock-still with shock. A figure was flying through the system, and it was bigger than the planets themselves, bigger than the disc-shaped green sun. A vaguely humanoid figure but crimson-furred, with a ferociously fanged, dog-like head, eyes glaring like pits of blood from beneath jutting horns, the head topped by great angled horns plus a twisted unicorn horn jutting from the crown. The creature was flying by, flapping great membranous wings which put a dozen planets in shadow with each pass. It wore brief, ornately worked armour down to the waist, glinting red and black, close-fitting except at the shoulders whch were protected by raised and extravagently worked pieces. The curve-bladed battle-axe it carried in one hand, holding the haft loosely as it flew, was bronze-black and vaster than any weapon should be. A supernatural energy seemed to flow and crackle through the unbelievable apparition, making it more solid-seeming, more real, than any natural creature."What- what-"Calliden stuttered until his mind found a rational explanation. "It's a hallucination. Can you see it, Kwyler?"Though frightened, Kwyler was not quite as astonished as the navigator. "It is real," he said quietly, his mouth dry. "A daemon, one of rank too."Now something happened which confused Calliden at first. The apparition seemed to be retreating. Too late, be realized that it in fact was approaching, but diminishing in size at the same time.The daemon seemed angry. It flew alongside the Wandering Star, no more than twenty times the size of the spacecraft now, glancing at it sidelong with its smouldering eyes, wings beating majestically."How can it use those wings to fly in space?" Calliden queried hysterically."It flies on warp currents. Be careful. Don't do anything. Perhaps it will go away."Calliden shrieked and pulled on the controls as the warp entity, in a sudden rage, swung round and lashed out with the battle-axe, itself larger than the starship. The Wandering Star jinked aside, narrowly missing being crushed by the blow, then sped off.The daemon did not follow. The spaceship was too minute to be worth the bother, no more significant than a gnat. When last he looked Calliden saw the immense Chaos creature, system-sized again, taking his frustration out on one of the circling coloured worlds, batting it sidewise with the flat of the battle-axe, and sending the broken pieces hurtling into the disc-shaped sun.For the very first time the navigator felt that now he truly understood what it was that the divine Emperor was striving to protect the human race from.Briefly he wondered if the smashed planet had had a human population.
-Eye of Terror Page 96-97
While also losing to people like this some other time:
But you might ask “how do we treat the Primarchs beating these guys on their home turf?” Rather simple really. The Primarchs too, are liable to this buff effect. Or at least, that is my theory.
In truth, it has only been partially confirmed, and even then by the more psychically attuned of them (Magnus, Lorgar, Russ, etc.), but the Primarchs are all living Warp engines. They’re all either pieces or replicas of aspects of the Emperor given form in extremely powerful genetically-engineered bodies and brilliant minds. But it’s made plenty evident that that spark of Emprahness is what makes them truly special. As such, while in a Warp-affected space like the Eye of Terror, or in the case of Sanguinius’ example fighting Madail, the Ruinstorm, this line of logic should work.
What we change them to:
Each Primarch and current Tier 5 or higher scaled character that isn’t a god will scale to 8-C or High 8-C via being superior to either regular Space Marines or Terminators. This also includes Chaos champions, Imperium notable characters, daemons, some Tyranids, Eldar, T’au and Necrons. The exception to this will be psykers, as that’s a whole other can of worms for another time.
HOWEVER, individuals who display outright improved power due to the nature of the blend of unreality and reality in Warp-infested space like the Eye will retain their cosmic ratings IN A SEPARATE KEY, exclusive to Warp-Materium spaces like the Eye. That includes characters such as Kharn, Guilliman, Sanguinius, etc. Once again, no tackling psykers at this stage. That will come later. As will the revision to the daemons.
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