# The Empire after 999.M41



## Tobacco (Sep 24, 2011)

Hello everyone, 

I'm new to 40K - like a week - and I'm devouring all the fluff I can in addition to assembling and painting my models. I have some questions about the future of the Imperium and what happens after the conclusion of the 13th Black Crusade.

Firstly, the major threats to the Imperium as I understand them, please correct me if I misunderstand them:

Orks - The most numerous species in the galaxy and probably numerous in other galaxies as well, according to Imperial probes and studies. They are extremely dangerous and have evolved to be the ultimate killing machines, as their entire species fights and they reproduce easily enough from dead Orks. Armies literally grow from the fallen ones and the only way to totally rid them from a planet is to burn them all. The Orks would have probably conquered the galaxy long ago if they weren't so disorganized and constantly fighting each other.

Tyranids - A fearsome alien race that is invading the galaxy from the East. They consume all living things in their path and leave planets totally desolate. Their activities are coordinated by a central hive mind. Imperial and Tau forces in the East have managed to hold off the first waves of the Tyranid blitz, but Imperial reports indicate that these Tyranid fleets were small fragments of a much larger Tyranid force lurking somewhere beyond our galaxy that is expected to arrive sometime in early M42.

Chaos - The Imperium's enemy of the warp, the Chaos forces seek to escape their pen in the Warp and infect the whole galaxy. The Imperium has generally done a good job of containing and combating the forces of Chaos. The Chaos forces recently gained a foothold on Cadia at the end of the 13th Black Crusade. 

Necrons - An ancient force that has recently awaken to destroy all living things in the galaxy once again. There are new, powerful opponents for them to face and many of their old technologies, temples, and even some of the C'tan have been destroyed, but they represent a considerable threat to the Imperium and will take a lot of manpower to quell - manpower the Imperium may not have in its current state.

Minor threats include the Eldar craftworlds, as they recently seem to be nominally aligned with the Imperium against mutual enemies, but they are a thorn nonetheless. Similarly, the Tau may be forced to fight with the Imperium against the imminent Tyranid invasion.


If the pressure from these combined threats weren't enough, the Imperium itself is crumbling. Technological innovation is stagnant and even in decline. Corruption is rampant at all levels of Imperial administration. Social unrest grows and human rights are severely repressed. The most fanatical degree of the Imperial Cult, which is characterized by extreme religiosity and superstition, is dominant on most core worlds of the Imperium. Otherwise peaceful worlds of less fanatic vigor are targeted by Inquisitions, forcing many far-flung or unimportant systems to splinter from Imperial control or even sway towards Chaos.


On top of this, the mechanisms that keep the Emperor alive in the Golden Throne are starting to fail and no solution is known since the understanding of these machines have degraded so much over time. -*this part I don't get and I find hard to believe and a little silly*- If the Emperor dies, his spirit will be unable to hold back the Chaos in the Warp and the Chaos forces will infect every human in the Galaxy.


So what is to be done? What do you guys think will happen in M42?


I think the one thing that would help the Imperium the most - although it would cause initial disorder - is sweeping reformations to purge the crippling corruption, religiosity, and superstition that poison the Imperium from within. I was talking with a manager of a hobby shop who is very knowledgeable in all this stuff and he says the most interesting thing that could happen would be if the Ultramarines and Imperial worlds of the Eastern Fringe secede from the Imperium to form a new and just human rule that could organize itself successfully to combat the growing threats that the current Imperium isn't suited to do.


If the above doesn't happen - it is just a random guess, but a cool one I think - there really needs to be some big changes in the Imperium if it is going to survive for another couple hundred years, especially at the rate things are going for them now.


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## normtheunsavoury (Mar 20, 2008)

Tobacco said:


> On top of this, the mechanisms that keep the Emperor alive in the Golden Throne are starting to fail and no solution is known since the understanding of these machines have degraded so much over time. -*this part I don't get and I find hard to believe and a little silly*- If the Emperor dies, his spirit will be unable to hold back the Chaos in the Warp and the Chaos forces will infect every human in the Galaxy.


Why is it so hard to believe?

If the nuclear power station down the road stopped working would you know how to fix it?

Technology is a religion in 40K, no one really knows how or why things work any more, they simply follow the rituals and pray that it does. 
Beneath the Golden Throne is a Webway tunnel that the Emperor built before the Heresy, when things kicked off the portal was damaged and Chaos Daemons flooded into the Webway. The Emperor managed to fight them back (I think it was him it may have been the Custodes, or both?). 
Now, all that is holding back the tide of Daemons is the psychic power of the Emperor, if he dies they will overrun Terra, which would be quite bad. 

As for what happens after 40K?

No one knows and GW definitely ain't letting on, it's been two minutes to midnight for nearly thirty years now. Essentially what happens is down to you, if you want to play it out with your mates then you're free to.


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## Tobacco (Sep 24, 2011)

normtheunsavoury said:


> No one knows and GW definitely ain't letting on, it's been two minutes to midnight for nearly thirty years now. Essentially what happens is down to you, if you want to play it out with your mates then you're free to.


I wish there was a worldwide campaign every year to determine the fiction.


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## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

The Imperium has existed for 10,000 years, that's longer than our recorded history. It's going to be around for a few thousand more. It still is, and will continue to be the dominant galactic power. 

In regards to some of the threats facing them. The 13th Black Crusade has stalled and the Imperium has regained orbital superiority so they are going to win, it's just a matter of time. Cadia itself is still in the hands of the Imperium. While the whole region has been weakened, there isn't really many chaos forces left to exploit that weakness, most of them are already a part of the crusade. 

In regards to the Imperium there may or may not be huge numbers coming from other galaxy's. Besides so far the Imperium has won every major engagement with the Tyranids. 

The Emperor's throne and its supposed fault. The Mechanicus have merely identified what they believe is a fault which is beyond their capabilities to fix. However this fault, if it is serious, may take hundreds or thousands of years to take effect. Or it could fix itself, the Throne is very advanced tech and the Emperor a very powerful psycher. Finally even if the Emperor died it may not be a bad thing. He could reincarnate in a similar fashion to the way he was born or he might ascend to full fledged godhood, ala star child theory (though whether that would be a good thing or not for humanity is debatable).


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## Doelago (Nov 29, 2009)

Tobacco said:


> What do you guys think will happen in M42?


*shrugs* The Tau might get their asses handed, but other vise everything will proceed as normal?


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## Dînadan (Mar 7, 2009)

From the Ciaphas Cain books we can infer that the Imperium survives in relative good shape for at least a century or two beyond the end of the 13th Black Crusade (Cain lives through the Black Crusade and the books are 'based' on his memoirs which are edited at a later date by Inquisitor Vail and some include extracts from Sulla's memoirs which are dated as being published in M42).


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## General-jwj (Sep 22, 2011)

I think unless huge galaxy-shattering events take place shortly (very unlikely given GW's stance on galactic happenings these last years, as normtheurnsavoury aptly pointed out) the Imperium's inertia will just keep it going for a few millenia longer at least.

I'd be more worried about the Eldar or the Tau, those aren't in a very favourable position.


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## Machiavellismx (Sep 11, 2011)

The Imperium also has the Imperial Guard. I know every race's codex is baised to that race, but you only have to read the IG one to see how incredible their fluff is. Sure, a normal human with a lasgun isnt much, but the IG numbers literally in the billions. With how many tanks and super-heavy tanks? The biggest problem is logistics and moving around, it takes so long to move that they often arrive late, but they're like a sleeping bear. Once they've roused, they wipe the table clean.

I forget the commanders name, (dont have my codex to hand atm) but the best IG leader ever went on a huge crusade and conquered planet after planet after planet. One of the guardsmen - marbo, I believe - is so crazy good at stealth he used to hunt 'nid Lictors rather than vice-versa. This is just a couple of examples from the millions and more men that make up the IG.

While the Imperium has some serious, serious issues to deal with and very real threats, they're not about to fall just yet.


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## Nave Senrag (Jul 8, 2010)

Machiavellismx said:


> The Imperium also has the Imperial Guard. I know every race's codex is baised to that race, but you only have to read the IG one to see how incredible their fluff is. Sure, a normal human with a lasgun isnt much, but the IG numbers literally in the billions. With how many tanks and super-heavy tanks? The biggest problem is logistics and moving around, it takes so long to move that they often arrive late, but they're like a sleeping bear. Once they've roused, they wipe the table clean.
> 
> I forget the commanders name, (dont have my codex to hand atm) but the best IG leader ever went on a huge crusade and conquered planet after planet after planet. One of the guardsmen - marbo, I believe - is so crazy good at stealth he used to hunt 'nid Lictors rather than vice-versa. This is just a couple of examples from the millions and more men that make up the IG.
> 
> While the Imperium has some serious, serious issues to deal with and very real threats, they're not about to fall just yet.


Lord Solar Macharius is the one you are thinking of. He had rules a couple of years ago, and Nork Dedogg was his personal bodyguard until the latest codex.


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## Rems (Jun 20, 2011)

Nork was never Macharius' bodyguard. He was typically associated with the Catachan Colonel Greiss (who'se only even been a small fictional character).


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## Uber Ork (Aug 23, 2010)

normtheunsavoury said:


> As for what happens after 40K?
> 
> No one knows and GW definitely ain't letting on, it's been two minutes to midnight for nearly thirty years now. Essentially what happens is down to you, if you want to play it out with your mates then you're free to.


Ha ha, true... so true.

It reminds me a lot of the Battletech universe that was set in the "peace" that followed the 3rd succession war. There the Battletech universe sat for years and years until FASA progressed the storyline in absolutely amazingly cool ways. The 4th succession war, the clans, it was an amazing time for the game. 

Then, the universe imploded in on itself, FASA sold the rights, and everything tanked into a black hole of absolute lameness. With that disaster still burned into my psyche, I'm not sure I want GW to advance the 40K universe in too spectacular a way (i.e. the emperor dies or the imperium falls, etc.).


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## General-jwj (Sep 22, 2011)

Macharius' conquests didn't last long either, since after his death it caused a huge civil war that took a bucketload of astartes to stop.

The Imperium also stays pretty stable in the long-term, seeing as how for every planet lost they capture one elsewhere (example : the Sabbath Worlds Crusade. That's a lot of planets the Imperium will get back with that one)


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## Phoebus (Apr 17, 2010)

Macharius' conquests were recaptured following the Macharian Heresy. 

Cheers,
P.


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