If you were Captain Ret-Con for a day...

[Freefall945]

...If you were Captain Ret-Con for a day and had the power to retroactively configure or add something significant to the lore, what would it be? Would you advance the Tau deep into the Third Sphere Expansion, giving them a psychic client race to afford true warp travel?

Would you set Necrons back to being soulless drones in the service of Cthulhu?

Would you revive Squats?

Would you make the Emperor slowly recover, glutted on the regenerative souls of ten thousand years of psyker tribute, blinking away the dust from his eyes and looking over his own ruined, whithered body... only to ask the Custodes in a sound like granite dragged over sand...

"My sons... Where are my sons?"

This isn't so much about how you'd like the 40k universe to turn out, however. Rather, it's a question of what you genuinely think would make it -better- as a setting. Surely, everyone has an opinion on that.

[Pendragon38]

...If you were Captain Ret-Con for a day and had the power to retroactively configure or add something significant to the lore, what would it be? Would you advance the Tau deep into the Third Sphere Expansion, giving them a psychic client race to afford true warp travel? Would you set Necrons back to being soulless drones in the service of Cthulhu? Would you revive Squats? Would you make the Emperor slowly recover, glutted on the regenerative souls of ten thousand years of psyker tribute, blinking away the dust from his eyes and looking over his own ruined, whithered body... only to ask the Custodes in a sound like granite dragged over sand... "My sons... Where are my sons?" This isn't so much about how you'd like the 40k universe to turn out, however. Rather, it's a question of what you genuinely think would make it -better- as a setting. Surely, everyone has an opinion on that. Tau and squats they need more planets and beer

[wittdooley]

Removing any notion of Cthulu from 40k is the best thing that could have happened. Period. Cthulu is stupid.

I'd love to start to see some new stories regarding Magnus trying to work his way back into the imperial fold. I still think he's a loyal son, and would love for him, in the end times, to be the saviour of humanity.

[eldargal]

I wouldn't change much, perhaps alter the tone of the Space Marines so there isn't quite the same expectation of 'OMG TEH AWESOMEST!!!' that leads to truly ghastly fluff being written to meet those expectations.

[DrLove42]

My retcon just got done. Removing the Necrons from the Eldars fluff has made me happy

[Psychosplodge]

I think I preferred it when the necrons weren't a (direct) reflection of a warhammer army, although on the other hand it opens the door for squats...

[Pendragon38]

I think I preferred it when the necrons weren't a (direct) reflection of a warhammer army, although on the other hand it opens the door for squats... yes to the squats think about it nothing like a bunch of drunken gingers in space

[Psychosplodge]

yes to the squats think about it nothing like a bunch of drunken gingers in space
That's the point, if they're going back to that system it opens the door for them,
they vanished because 40k was meant to be moving away from the future mirror wh.

[MaltonNecromancer]

I'd completely revise the gods of Chaos, because they just don't work for me. I don't see how all sentient emotion can be tied into War, Disease/hope, Change and Desire. It's overly simple, as well as the fact that Nurgle just doesn't seem to fit to me: how is disease an emotional state? It causes emotion, but in and of itself, it's not.

I'd probably either go with Chaos gods built around either the seven deadly sins (ala Helldorado - a god of wrath makes more sense than a god of war) or else the Qlippothic spheres (where each sphere represents a positive aspect of humanity that has turned sour when the positive aspect has left - thus "love" becomes "stalking", and "justice" becomes "revenge", etc...)

I think my problem with Chaos is that the Chaos gods were clearly designed by fantasy writers with no idea about actual ethics, theology, or philosophy, so they're kind of one-note and stupid. Like Slaanesh is the god of Desire... but that always just equates to "perviness"; it's just BDSM and boobs, rather than anything deeper or more meaningful.

I think it's just that you can't contain the entirety of human experience as either "You like war, sexy time, disease, or schizophreni... sorry, magic. Now choose!"

Plus, for "Chaos"... well, they aren't all that chaotic. Every bloodletter has a long, phallic head. Every daemonette has a corset. Every horror has multiple arms... They're so codified and ordered, I just don't get how they can be called Chaotic! One of the ironies of the game universe, I suppose.

Bottom line, I'd do something with Chaos akin to what Grant Morrison did with it in "The Invisibles"; order/control vs. chaos/freedom. Neither is particularly positive when taken to their extremes. (i.e.: play up the fact that at their core, Chaos and Imperial forces are Not So Different.)

That and have lots more different bits on the sprues so that units actually lived up to the army name and were actually disturbing.

(i.e.: compare

Fruity McTinkle Wings
http://kofler.dot.at/40k/units/Khorne_Greater_Daemon_Bloodthirster_2.jpg

to Mr. "My Belt Is Made Of Your Dad"
http://www.coolminiornot.com/shop/media/catalog/product/h/d/hd1005.jpg)

[eldargal]

I think you ate oversimplifying the gods, I've always felt it to be a rather elegant system.

Tzeentch represents our tendency to conspire, scheme and plot.
Slaanesh our selfishness and baser desires (remember she is the god of EXCESS and pleasure, not just pleasure/desire)
Nurgle represents our frequent dichotomy of entropy and hope.
Khorne represents the basic instincts we have of thumping stuff that threatens us.

I do agree there is a tendency for people, GW/BL authors included, to miss the subtleties, particularly with Slaanesh. In fact it was one of the teasons I was glad the new daemonettes are suitably daemonic instead of just being funny looking strippers.

P.S. I think the Hell Dorado miniature looks like a toy and is ridiculously over the top and silly, even if the GW one is pretty sad now too.

[gendoikari87]

I'd just fix all the contradictory stuff with the mechanicus.

[gendoikari87]

I think you ate oversimplifying the gods, I've always felt it to be a rather elegant system.

Tzeentch represents our tendency to conspire, scheme and plot.
Slaanesh our selfishness and baser desires (remember she is the god of EXCESS and pleasure, not just pleasure/desire)
Nurgle represents our frequent dichotomy of entropy and hope.
Khorne represents the basic instincts we have of thumping stuff that threatens us.

I do agree there is a tendency for people, GW/BL authors included, to miss the subtleties, particularly with Slaanesh. In fact it was one of the teasons I was glad the new daemonettes are suitably daemonic instead of just being funny looking strippers.

P.S. I think the Hell Dorado miniature looks like a toy and is ridiculously over the top and silly, even if the GW one is pretty sad now too.

well theres nothing saying there aren't other minor chaos gods. but they're probably either not concerned with real space or are enslaved by one of the big four.

[eldargal]

Well all gods are technically Chaos gods, but the big Four dominate. A lot of little ones whose belief is limited to single planetary populations would be little more than daemons in comparison.

[Necron2.0]

If warp entities are just manifestations of strong emotions and psychic backlash, then I'd have it revealed that there are actually two emperors. There's the being sitting on the golden throne, who may or may not be a true psychic presence anymore. And then, there's a warp entity, born from the millenia of hope and faith pouring out from humanity. Both are the emperor. While the emperor on the golden throne (supposedly) maintains the astronomicon and what not, the warp entity is the one who protects, lending his aid to preserve mankind against all the evils of the universe, including those from the warp. The big difference between the two beings is, the real emperor (assuming there is anything actually living in his husk) still abhors being worshiped as a god, while the warp-born emperor ... well, he IS a god, and is sustained by human worship in the same way the true emperor is sustained by dying psychers.

[energongoodie]

I wouldn't change much, perhaps alter the tone of the Space Marines so there isn't quite the same expectation of 'OMG TEH AWESOMEST!!!' that leads to truly ghastly fluff being written to meet those expectations.

This is how Marines were in Rogue Trader. Hive scum given a bit of strength and power armour. I've never liked how the fluff is drastically different to in game power.


Me, I'd give Imperial Guard and Space Marines Jet Bikes back. I've always liked the idea of them.

[Psychosplodge]

I think you ate oversimplifying the gods, I've always felt it to be a rather elegant system.

Tzeentch represents our tendency to conspire, scheme and plot.
Slaanesh our selfishness and baser desires (remember she is the god of EXCESS and pleasure, not just pleasure/desire)
Nurgle represents our frequent dichotomy of entropy and hope.
Khorne represents the basic instincts we have of thumping stuff that threatens us.

I do agree there is a tendency for people, GW/BL authors included, to miss the subtleties, particularly with Slaanesh. In fact it was one of the teasons I was glad the new daemonettes are suitably daemonic instead of just being funny looking strippers.

P.S. I think the Hell Dorado miniature looks like a toy and is ridiculously over the top and silly, even if the GW one is pretty sad now too.

I thought they'd deliberately written the subtleties out of the chaos gods with each edition, eg khorne wasnt just a frenzied killer, he used to be the god of martial honour and skill too.

?

[gendoikari87]

This is how Marines were in Rogue Trader. Hive scum given a bit of strength and power armour. I've never liked how the fluff is drastically different to in game power.


Me, I'd give Imperial Guard and Space Marines Jet Bikes back. I've always liked the idea of them.

They have jetbikes, at least the imperium and mechanicus does, why they don't get built and sent out on missions? is something that escapes me, maybe in the next marines codex.

[eldargal]

The technology for jetbikes is nearly lost, Ithought the Ravenwing chaps bike was something likethe only operational one left?

[energongoodie]

I want hoards of jetbikes, not just one. And I want a guard platoon full of them! :)

1483

[gendoikari87]

The technology for jetbikes is nearly lost, Ithought the Ravenwing chaps bike was something likethe only operational one left?

no reason the adeptus mechanicus can't reverse engineer the ones that are still lying around, they are accepted patterns.

[Servant of the Emperor]

Removing any notion of Cthulu from 40k is the best thing that could have happened. Period. Cthulu is stupid.

Completely off topic, I know, but I just wanted to defend old Lovecraft here. Cthulhu is not stupid. Period.



no reason the adeptus mechanicus can't reverse engineer the ones that are still lying around, they are accepted patterns.

Yea, there is, same reason why they can't backward-engineer everything else in 40k - they are ritualistic about, and afraid of, technology, and throwing around holy water and incense, while muttering "techno-magic" phrases never built anyone a jetbike. Same reason why they never seem to invent any new cool stuff.

[gendoikari87]

Completely off topic, I know, but I just wanted to defend old Lovecraft here. Cthulhu is not stupid. Period.




Yea, there is, same reason why they can't backward-engineer everything else in 40k - they are ritualistic about, and afraid of, technology, and throwing around holy water and incense, while muttering "techno-magic" phrases never built anyone a jetbike. Same reason why they never seem to invent any new cool stuff.
Land Raider? Land Speeder? these are named after the explorator that found them you know. There is advancement in the mechanicus, it just comes for techno-archaeology and not innovation.

[Servant of the Emperor]

Land Raider? Land Speeder? these are named after the explorator that found them you know. There is advancement in the mechanicus, it just comes for techno-archaeology and not innovation.

Very nice of you to confirm my statement - the keyword in what you wrote is "found" - what Arkhan Land did was not invent new stuff, nor was it backward-engineer something, he found new old stuff - STCs.

The Mechanicum don't mind you finding ancient data for making new (old) technology, because that's not blasphemy, that's reclaiming the lost treasures of the past.


I'm all for the Mechanicum finding an STC so they could build new (old) jetbikes, but I don't see them opening up an ancient piece of treasured and rare technology for the purposes of backward-engineering themselves to the blueprints anytime soon.

[gendoikari87]

Dude what do you think using the STC's is? it's reverse engineering made simple. Jetbikes have already been approved by the mechanicus, so copying them is no big deal. they aren't creating anything new, just making a copy.

Infact the fluff states that the only reason they don't make them anymore is that it's the technology in PRODUCING them that has been lost, not the technology itself.

[eldargal]

STCs are templates which let you produce technology without even understanding it anymore, ideal for settlers and colonists who lack specific skills and knowledge. Which is what the STC system was designed for. Nothing about it is reverse engineering. While there is some technological advancement in the Imperium it proceeds at a glacial pace, it could take millennia for them to reverse engineer a jetbike even if they made the attempt.

[Servant of the Emperor]

Dude what do you think using the STC's is? it's reverse engineering made simple. Jetbikes have already been approved by the mechanicus, so copying them is no big deal. they aren't creating anything new, just making a copy.

Infact the fluff states that the only reason they don't make them anymore is that it's the technology in PRODUCING them that has been lost, not the technology itself.

I will merely state "lol" and refer to Eldargal's reply above this post.

And either way, if the technology on how to produce them are lost, all the back-engineering in the world won't help them. Same thing goes for giving a caveman an electrical blender and asking him to build you a copy - he won't know half the thingies inside the blender, won't remember what they were for when it's disassembled and definately won't be able to copy the vast majority of the bits in there because they're too advanced for him.

For those wanting jetbike models, there's this one coming up:
Chapterhouse Studios Jetbike Marine (http://chapterhousestudios.com/webshop/news/44-upcoming-javelin-class-imperial-jet-bike)
I don't personally like it as it is, but with a bunch of conversion, someone might make it cool

[gendoikari87]

STCs are templates which let you produce technology without even understanding it anymore, ideal for settlers and colonists who lack specific skills and knowledge. Which is what the STC system was designed for. Nothing about it is reverse engineering. While there is some technological advancement in the Imperium it proceeds at a glacial pace, it could take millennia for them to reverse engineer a jetbike even if they made the attempt.

You don't have to understand something to make a copy of it. Just like you don't have to be an artists to trace something. Might not be as good but it'll get done, eventually as long as there are no special requirements for the materials, which is probably what they mean when they say the technology for production has been lost. and everything in the imperium seems to take millenniums

[eldargal]

Yes but to make a copy of it you need the STC, and the Imperium no longer has the STC for the jetbike, that is why there is only one known to be in use.:)

[energongoodie]

Lets not bicker and argue BOLS chums :)

Lets just agree that I am right to want my 30 odd imperial guardsmen mounted on cool looking jetbikes. Elysian style.

[Thornblood]

I have a plan for you energon!

You get a really big chain net and hook it up. Then you somehow make your hive scum guardsmen (if you have no hive scum guardsmen, get some) look like really tempting targets for Deldar jetbikes. Electrify the net and get the delader to fly into the net. Then, stab the tazared deldar and nick thier jetbikes.

Hive scum are important because dicsiplined troops wouldnt do this.

Alternatively you could get a radical ordo xenos inquisitor in on the act. Maybe your army is his requisitioned army could work.

Now you just need to make their dexterity and reactions better and your sweet!

This might also work with eldar if you were stealing something precious from them. Which is slightly more dificult. But heck, this is imaginationland so who am i to judge?

[eldargal]

It wouldn't work with Eldar, their technology relies on the inherent psychic ability of the race to function. I'm not sure the plan would work with DE, either, whose to say the pilots aren't insulated by their suits/non-conductive materials in the bike?;)

[energongoodie]

I have a plan for you energon!

You get a really big chain net and hook it up. Then you somehow make your hive scum guardsmen (if you have no hive scum guardsmen, get some) look like really tempting targets for Deldar jetbikes. Electrify the net and get the delader to fly into the net. Then, stab the tazared deldar and nick thier jetbikes.

Hive scum are important because dicsiplined troops wouldnt do this.

Alternatively you could get a radical ordo xenos inquisitor in on the act. Maybe your army is his requisitioned army could work.

Now you just need to make their dexterity and reactions better and your sweet!

This might also work with eldar if you were stealing something precious from them. Which is slightly more dificult. But heck, this is imaginationland so who am i to judge?

Love it. :D

As for their reactions, I'd be happy to have to roll for every bike every turn to see if they crash spectacularly taking other models out with them. Comedy game gold.

[Thornblood]

It wouldn't work with Eldar, their technology relies on the inherent psychic ability of the race to function. I'm not sure the plan would work with DE, either, whose to say the pilots aren't insulated by their suits/non-conductive materials in the bike?;)

Fair enough with the Eldar.

However who's to say the ganger-guardsmen cant wear the Deldar suits? Also the deldar have naked arms and heads in some cases, so Im guessing the suits are just your regular evil bdsm/motorbiking attire rather than anything sciency (like gore-tex or pressure suits or whatever).

Might be worth putting the guardsmen in red goretex for insulation though. High speeds can be cold. And sunglasses. I was a watersports instructor for a short time- we all wore sunglasses because of the wind in our eyes rather than the sun (such is the lack of sun in South-East Britain).

However, I am now thinking about getting some Orks to try this tactic, armour plate up the jetbikes, add some buzzsaws and count as Deffcopters.

[Servant of the Emperor]

I realise I never actually answered the question.

I'd take the Necrons somewhere else - for me, Khemri in space just isn't working.
Maybe I'd just call them something different from Phaerons and remove the Egyptian stuff from their design. Not sure about the fluff, not updated on the new stuff yet.

Then I'd give Leman Russ a beard.
It's always annoyed me that the King of Vikings in Space has no beard.

I'd put Magnus' eye square in the forehead.
As I child, I read somewhere he was a "cyclops", so I always imagined him to be Polyphemus-like.

And then I'd give the Iron Hands some much-needed loving!!
This is my most important point. I don't recall them having fought any major or awesome battles in...ever. They've got no special characters and hardly a mention in the Codex, even while being a first founding legion! The battle with Manus and Fulgrim was just pathetic, Manus was annoying 'outclassed' (I'd still argue it's McNeill who needs a punch or two in the face, more than its fluffy reasons) and his awesome, cool-sounding elite bodyguard were all just decapitated (and I was so looking forward to seeing them fight!). They need some love.

[Thornblood]

Your completely right Servant.

I think I would have a special character Master of The Forge for the Iron hands who comes with a captain's command squad (that you can upgrade any way you like) and Necron We'll be back (or whatever its now called) on account of their amazing bionics.

I would go Aztec Necrons. And maybe not have the transport the same shape as the resurrection ship from BSG.

Also a great big generic humans dex. How to make a pdf army and then add characters (not special ones) which unlock other units. An Arbites Judge giving you repressors, arbitrators, enforcers and marksmen, a Cardinal giving you fanatics, arco flagellants, priests, and trainee clergy types and/or an elite guard of some sort, Alpha Legion Cult Leader giving you chaos marines and sneaky types, Renegade leaders giving you all the chaos guard stuff (stalk tanks and the like), Tau Water caste giving you fire warriors, gue'la and maybe gue'la weapons platforms, a mafia-boss type giving you necromunda type gangs as squads as well as armour plated civvy vehicles and maybe the limo, A Genestealer Broodlord giving you magos', limos, hybrids and purestrain 'stealers, A Rogue Trader giving kroot mercenaries, other alien mercs (demiurg, that race krashrak the stalker comes from), an elite guard and maybe even digganob giving you ramshackle vehicles, barbarians and the ability to paint your humans faces green. With only two HQ slots you can only have extras from two lists (and some will be mutually exclusive- like chaos and the ecclesiarchy, or arbites and gangers).

[Valkerie]

STCs are templates which let you produce technology without even understanding it anymore, ideal for settlers and colonists who lack specific skills and knowledge. Which is what the STC system was designed for. Nothing about it is reverse engineering. While there is some technological advancement in the Imperium it proceeds at a glacial pace, it could take millennia for them to reverse engineer a jetbike even if they made the attempt.

Also, I'm thinking that maybe the Ravenwing Chaplin might have a few objections to someone taking his sacred jetbike and tearing it apart just so they 'might' be able to reverse engineer it and create new ones several hundred years from now.:)

[gendoikari87]

I have a plan for you energon!

You get a really big chain net and hook it up. Then you somehow make your hive scum guardsmen (if you have no hive scum guardsmen, get some) look like really tempting targets for Deldar jetbikes. Electrify the net and get the delader to fly into the net. Then, stab the tazared deldar and nick thier jetbikes.

Hive scum are important because dicsiplined troops wouldnt do this.

Alternatively you could get a radical ordo xenos inquisitor in on the act. Maybe your army is his requisitioned army could work.

Now you just need to make their dexterity and reactions better and your sweet!

This might also work with eldar if you were stealing something precious from them. Which is slightly more dificult. But heck, this is imaginationland so who am i to judge?

Could also go with those techpriest that were reverse engineering eldar weapons to use them. Not sure how fluffy it was, but they jumped through all kinds of loops to "sanctify" the machine spirits.

Actually I can't remember if they were sanctifying them and purifying them or if they were verifying that they were in fact of the omnissiah.

Edit: ah yeah crucible resolviate. Sanctification, deeming them "Technosanctus Vertifidae"

[energongoodie]

Then I'd give Leman Russ a beard.
It's always annoyed me that the King of Vikings in Space has no beard.


And then I'd give the Iron Hands some much-needed loving!!
This is my most important point. I don't recall them having fought any major or awesome battles in...ever. They've got no special characters and hardly a mention in the Codex, even while being a first founding legion! The battle with Manus and Fulgrim was just pathetic, Manus was annoying 'outclassed' (I'd still argue it's McNeill who needs a punch or two in the face, more than its fluffy reasons) and his awesome, cool-sounding elite bodyguard were all just decapitated (and I was so looking forward to seeing them fight!). They need some love.

Motion seconded. I'm feeling bad that I didn't jump in with the Iron Hands getting more love. I guess I have just accepted that it is not to be. For now....

As for the beard, great point.

[eldargal]

He has a beard, we just don't know her name. Teehee.




Then I'd give Leman Russ a beard.
It's always annoyed me that the King of Vikings in Space has no beard.

[DrLove42]

Fair enough with the Eldar.

However who's to say the ganger-guardsmen cant wear the Deldar suits? Also the deldar have naked arms and heads in some cases, so Im guessing the suits are just your regular evil bdsm/motorbiking attire rather than anything sciency (like gore-tex or pressure suits or whatever).


Its theoretically possible but remember that DE armour isn't a suit they wear. Its attached via hundreds of hooks and bards on the inside that pierce the skin, generating pain

I doubt a normal guardsman would do very well with that on him

[Thornblood]

I was going for the reaver jetbike riders. They dont seem to be particularly armoured, and have big naked parts (arms/head, maybe some wych like waist attire). Not all of what theya re wearing is armoured- much is just material.

But point being you dont have to be wearing a pressure suit to drive a jetbike.

[MaltonNecromancer]

He has a beard, we just don't know her name. Teehee.

Thank you Eldargal; now I've gone and laughed so hard the tea I was drinking has sprayed out of my nose and made my keyboard wet.

[Psychosplodge]

He has a beard, we just don't know her name. Teehee.


Thank you Eldargal; now I've gone and laughed so hard the tea I was drinking has sprayed out of my nose and made my keyboard wet.

That's the sort of accusation more usually levelled at the head of that monkish legion rather than the head of the space vikings isn't it?

[MaltonNecromancer]

Perhaps. But let's be fair, there is a whole gay subculture built around hairy, muscular men... :)

Plus, the Space Wolves would at least hold you afterwards, rather than leaving in silence for the Reclusiam, for some "corrective" self-flagellation. :D

[Psychosplodge]

By hold do you mean fall asleep drunk over/under/next to? lol

[gendoikari87]

He has a beard, we just don't know her name. Teehee.

oh, oh that's bad.

also, why do the space wolves not have horns on their helmets? it's just so wrong.

[MaltonNecromancer]

By hold do you mean fall asleep drunk over/under/next to? lol

LIES!

He told me he was keeping the draughts from getting in from under the door. At least that's what it sounded like in between rounds of vomiting...

[Psychosplodge]

Did he tell you, you were the only one too? and that you'd always be special?

[MaltonNecromancer]

But.. But how could you possibly know that?! Unless... Unless IT WAS ALL LIES!!! NOOOOOOOO!!! I'VE BEEN SUCH A FOOL!!!

[Denzark]

If I was Captain Retcon, I would bring back the Squats. Actually, there were so many throughout the galaxy with wanderlust or serving with the IG that exterminating the race is unlikely. I can just imagine transferring all the Squat Engines of Death from Epic to Forgeworld. Awesome.

I would also put back the Necron fluff or at least tone down all the overlords with stupid names.

Should I be incapable of doing these things I would hope to do the decent thing - draw the Mess Bolt pistol, one round, and a bottle of amasec...

[hohoho]

Not a fan of the Squats, but if I was Captain Retcon I would bring back some old stuff: zoats, genestealer cults, psycho-marines who eat people. And Enslavers (who were retconned 15 days ago).

And Oldcrons… perhaps turning Newcrons into two completely different races, with both having their own fluff, and both saying the other is insane. And robots (Legio Cibernetica). And lots of non humanoid xenos.

Alpharius did not turn because a xeno somehow tricked him. Back to Index Astartes.
Olanus Pious.

And Hrud are Skaven!!! Skaven!!!!!! Not that...thing from Xenology. Skaven!!

[Grailkeeper]

Enslavers (who were retconned 15 days ago).



Details?

[Thornblood]

Trazyn the Infinite has a pet one (possibly pickled or something). I think this is how he created the mind-slave scarabs he has.

Not brought back properly but you know.

[hohoho]

Well they still exist (sort of).
But the Enslavers Plague is out. They are not anymore a high tier force and the only big thing they did has been rewritten without them.

That´s odd... I am new here and it looks like I can not post in some topics. This is from a post I have been trying to write in New Necron Backstory:

The War in Heaven turned into the Enslavers Plague. The Necron were unable to stop the Enslavers (they were not “utterly unbeatable”). So they went to sleep.
With the living pushed to the brim of extinction and the dead sleeping, the Enslavers (who feed on consciousness) died by starvation and turned back to the warp.

The Necs also prepared their awakening, sowing the seed of the pariah to be harvested and burying the pylons (in Cadia, among others), both actions in order to close the path to the warp and stop the Enslavers. But the pariah didn´t mix well with the space mummie concept, so they (GW, not MW imo) scratched it all off.


If I were Captain Retcon, I will recover this sort of things.

[Zond]

I'd want to make the Chaos gods more unknowable. Right now I feel they have too much personality. I'd also shorten the timeline considerably, especially concerning Necrons and Eldar. And I'd put in more stuff about the Men of Iron.

[Etra]

I would improve the efficiency of the Administratum.

The whole character of the Imperium is an endlessly suffering and dying beast, with every new year bringing only increased misery until the beast reached it's inevitable end.

I would improve the efficiency of the Administratum to give the Imperium some chance at hope - that despite the endless wars with numberless enemies, the Imperium still has an effective government capable of juggling resources and projects.

I read about how entire worlds get overlooked and billions of Imperial citizens are cast into darkness because of some bureaucratic error, and I get that the Imperium is a dark parody of the ineffective government we struggle with every day of our lives, but I'm just so tired of reading about how terrible the Imperium is.

The "grim dark" lore is intriguing, but deeply draining on the emotions of the reader. I have built up too much fatigue of it all and would change the lore to fix that.

[Myu]

"And Oldcrons… perhaps turning Newcrons into two completely different races, with both having their own fluff, and both saying the other is insane. And robots (Legio Cibernetica). And lots of non humanoid xenos."

I'd do that to. Or maybe not "two different races" but use mostly same rules and say most Necrons are the 3rd Ed horror bots and some (not many) broke free (or were allowed to roam free at the whim of their C'tan or something). Having a few more human like partially honourable Necron Lords due to insantiy/whatever is ok, so long as the background reflects they are in the minority and not spend almost all it's time dwelling on them.

And make the book dark in writing and color the whole way through again. You can really tell the new art from the old (although some new art I do really like) and remember "evil robots coming to destroy universe is less scary if you find parts of the book funny".

[Shadow Walker]

I would remove SoB, Salamanders, Tau, Death Cult Assassins [btw why they are always female dressed like S&M domina?].

[bfmusashi]

I have to disagree with Eldargirl and say you could totally steal an Eldar jetbike. They make a lot of smoke for devices driven by the psychic potential of the Eldar and normal humans can use smaller devices like shuriken catapults.
The thing I'd want to change the most would be Titans. I don't like the 'new' look of the Imperial titans and I'm not sure why the Phantom is run by one dude in its head now. I mean, he's an exarch of Kaine in the aspect of Giant Zombie Robot Death, and if the spirit stone of the titan has all the other exarchs in it does that mean he's bound to the cockpit? It just makes me want a Phoenix Lord titan now.
In the realm of other things I could abuse my new power with:

Let's bring back the idea Chaos Eldar.
Resurrect the rules for Space Elves on Dinosaurs Fighting Giant Robots From Mars.
Eldar do not suffer perils of the warp, it's the whole point of the rune technique.
Eldar runic array shuts down psychic activity within a certain radius.
Tech Priests, Mechs, Bonesingers, etc. provide a -1 to the vehicle damage chart for friendly models within 6 inches.
Nemesis Force 'chucks: could be nunchucks, could be swordchucks. The law of awesome will decide.
Have a high ranking member of the Tau Empire who is not a Tau. Kind of kills the whole 'come join us' vibe when you don't even have a token non-tau in charge.
I'd keep the Necron the way they are now. You don't need two armies representing a faceless doom waiting to engulf the galaxy with an army of mindless drones.
Publish rules for that month's new sexy releases in WD.

[Maleclypse]

If I were captain retcon I would change the size of the space marine chapters. Even with SM's being fluff monsters there are still too few in a chapter to fight off a billion strong waaghh or any number of other threats.

[marsdonut]

I would only cut down on all the fluff to weapon talk in the codices, to reduce on the non-rule clutter. They would be available in another section of the each book with sample chapters, short stories, xeno-perspective propraganda accompanied with illustrations as needed.

How that goes over with the editor is another issue.

Edit: Oh, jeez. I completely misread the question. :(

[Dag]

Space marines would go back to being brain wiped ex-cons that have been medically experimented on.
The primarchs would go back to being the original space marines rather than the uber creatures that a space marine is 10% of. The references to Nurgle would all go back to being the lord of decay, while only one of the things he is known for is disease. Only in the past few years have they changed his main title to involve disease.
I'd bring in a new side concept into the fluff that perhaps there are chaos influences keeping the man thought to be the emporer alive on his throne.
Chaos dreadnaughts wouldn't be completely sensory deprived between missions.... (there is a difference between being completely insane, and actually being able to fight something.)
Links involving a Tzeenchian plan would be more apparent in the birth of the Tau.
Links involving Dark Eldars servitude to Slaanesh would be more evident... they need the souls to feed to their great enemy....
Chaos wouldn't be focused on chaos space marines... Yes I want to field my Chaos squats! All I hear about are bringing back the squats...forget them, I want my chaos squats! Hmmm, I'm getting derailed here... now I'm going to have to go think up a good excuse to put them into an army.

[mullinstron]

Would you set Necrons back to being soulless drones in the service of Cthulhu?

This for sure!

[Jmaximum]

I would definitely revert the necrons. the implacable, unstoppable, soulless automatons were just scary. Now they have their own cool-aid man, a ronald mcdonald, etc, which is just dumb.

[Roma89q]

I would just want to know what's under Titan that the purifiers must secretly guard, and also if Trazyn really has a primarch or not. Then bring in world peace!

[ZenPaladin]

I would definitely bring back the mystery of chaos. The big four would become the big four thousand. All races that are psychically attuned would have issues with chaos. Chaos ork, chaos Eldar and yes even chaos nids.

The idea would be that the warp in the milky way is just a fusked up place and no race taps it's power with no consequence. The hive mind for example would suffer from unintended and controlled mutation. Spontanious creation of free will and other weird stuff that it had no defense for or understanding off.

Chaos would be something powerful and dark and unknown and not subject to simple codification. Something only the mad and the desperate dared to look into.

Back to the ultimate big bad.

[George Labour]

I'd add the knight worlds back in, as they were depicted in the Titan Legions game.

Back in the good old days when men in giant robots herded dinosaurs for cyborg technotheurgists on distant Mars.

Might also bring back the eldar exodites but only because I really loved the Dinoriders cartoon.

[Brusilov]

Let's see, where to begin... I'd rewrite the confrontation between Horus and the Emperor to have daddy give a good spanking to his spoiled son...

Joking aside, I like most of the fluff the way it is now. I'd simply rewrite the Star Child/Sensei/Illuminati stuff back, just so much fun to toy around these things...

And I'd retcon the Necron fluff to something in between current fluff and their previous incarnation : I like that the C'tan are no longer the head honchos and that the Necrons have some personality and room for personalisation. However I miss the fact that the Necrons fluff used to tie everything together quite nicely : Orks, Eldar, Necrons, Chaos... It was taken to extreme with C'tan shoehorned into everybody's background, from the Void Dragon influencing the Mechanicus to the Deceiver potentially posturing as Cegorach the Laughing God.

However, it was still better than a bunch of angry Tomb Kings of space bent of galactic domination...

And for the record, The Adeptus Mechanicus does innovate, it just takes 500 years of testing and praying to get a new variant of an existing vehicle approved. Read about that in one of the IA books from Forge World.

[Foxhound2delta]

I would bring back some of the loyalist primarchs or even have a chapter come across one of the runaway primarchs to discover they are evil! Better yet I would delve more into the story concerning possibly primarch being held my the Necrons.

[St.Germaine]

I have several things that I'd like to see them take a different tack on but there are two where GW missed the bus completely that I'd fix.

The first is female marines. The only reason that they were excluded with some flat out ridiculous pseudo-scientific statements is that in the early days the GW sculptors could barely handle male figures. The few female figures they produced in those days were beyond horrible. "If we find reasons not to include female figures, maybe we won't have to sculpt them." They missed the boat so badly from a marketing POV.

The second is not including a loyalist fragment of one of the traitor legions from the get-go. The fluff possibilities boggle the mind. Loyal marines trusted by almost none, actually attacked by some. Kept on a very short leash by the High Lords while they prove their loyalty. A chapter almost rabid in their need to redeem their honor, volunteering for the bloodiest campaigns in order to try and prove their worth.

GW may have missed the boat but I've been playing both concepts for almost as long as I've been playing 40K. (just post-2nd edition)

[awats124]

What they really need with the chaos gods is to bring back all te fluff about Khorne getting warriors honour Nurgle getting hope etc

[tdogp]

Make Necrons scary again. I like the idea of the C'tan shards as an ewplanation why they are so "easy" to kill, but not the making them the slaves part. Imagine if the shards just made it so there were several versions of The Deceiver running around, or one mind with many bodies. Remember all the cool scary stuff the C'tan did? Ya I want that back. As it is the Necrons aren't that much scarier than the (Craftworld) Eldar, and less so than the Orks. Which are scarier Tomb Kings or Vampire Counts? So maybe the crons should be more like the latter.

[tdogp]

I would also like to see the people that worship Chaos to actually get something out of it instead of just craziness. There has to be a reason someone elects to follow them besides snapping one day. Yet craziness should also be an element present.

[TheWildRider]

...If you were Captain Ret-Con for a day and had the power to retroactively configure or add something significant to the lore, what would it be? Would you advance the Tau deep into the Third Sphere Expansion, giving them a psychic client race to afford true warp travel?

Would you set Necrons back to being soulless drones in the service of Cthulhu?

Would you revive Squats?

Would you make the Emperor slowly recover, glutted on the regenerative souls of ten thousand years of psyker tribute, blinking away the dust from his eyes and looking over his own ruined, whithered body... only to ask the Custodes in a sound like granite dragged over sand...

"My sons... Where are my sons?"

This isn't so much about how you'd like the 40k universe to turn out, however. Rather, it's a question of what you genuinely think would make it -better- as a setting. Surely, everyone has an opinion on that.
Perversely, I'd have the Chaos Legions winning the Horus Heresy, as Horus's grand scheming goes pretty much according to plan, and most legions, barring the Smurfs, Imperial Fists, Salamanders and the Raven Guard turning to Chaos.

I kind of like the idea of the loyalists holding out for thousands of years against a galaxy consumed by Chaos. It also means some of the more badass Chaos primarchs that got wasted survive. Like Night Haunter, who is space batman :D