Warhammer 40,000 End Times - What would it look like?

[Mr Mystery]

How do?

Dunno about you, but I'm currently greatly enjoying the ongoing Warhammer End Times series. For those in the dark about it, in short it's a massive advancement of the Warhammer World. We don't even know if it's going to have a defined end, or if it's simply a new and deeply groovy status quo. Either way, we already have some major shake ups, which I won't go into here. Suffice to say Archaon (Sword and Board Abaddon for all intents and purposes) is coming, and the Old World is in for a proper kicking.

And I think we might just see the same thing happen for 40k, given the apparent success of End Times in Warhammer (books selling out on day of release, good levels of enthusiasm etc).

But as the title asks - what exactly would that look like?

First up the obvious - the 13th Black Crusade breaks properly. Not Storm of Chaos 'it happened, then it didn't' 13th Black Crusade, but the sure and certain beginning of the end 13th Black Crusade.

So Chaos v Imperium, with the Eldar sticking their metaphorical oar in as suits them. But that leaves Dark Eldar, Orks, Necron, Tau and Tyranids largely out in the cold. Except.....does it? The Imperium would have to respond en masse to a Black Crusade, and that weakens them elsewhere. Opportunities abound (look at what the Tau did last time the Imperium was forced to leave off) and whole sectors could fall not just into anarchy, but entirely from Imperium control.

Right, scene set. Speculate away! And don't forget - proper, proper casualties, as in 'dead in the face' dead. Warhammer has already seen the demise of Kurt Helborg and The Grand Theogonist, not to mention the Supreme Patriarch of Magic go all Necromancer on them. Various Undead characters are now proper dead (Nagash. Him no like word 'no', and he'll boil your brain if he wants to!).

[ElectricPaladin]

I think that you - or someone who plays more Fantasy than I do - is going to have to answer some questions first:

• What are the End Times books, exactly?
• Do they come one after the other, in a series, or are they each alternate takes on the end of the Warhammer world?
• Are they meant to be a one-off narrative/campaign or are they intended to clear the way for a new take on the setting?

If we're talking about a series of events, for example, we probably want to hold off on the ones that are going to really devastate the setting, like the return of the Enslaver Plague or the 13th Black Crusade or the Hive Fleets arriving at Terra, and start with things that have the potential to be apocalyptic, but more localized, like the Tau developing true Warp travel and starting a major space war with the Imperium or the Lords of Terra launching an ill-fated campaign to finally seize control of the Astartes chapters.

So, while I've clearly got ideas, I think that we need a better idea of our goal format, first.

[Mr Mystery]

Good questions...

1. Mostly background. Each entry so far has been two books. One pure background, the other new units, and new rules (for the units, and ways to play)

2. Ongoing narrative at the moment. Nagash kicked things off, and has had the largest background book, as it dwelt on the general setting changes across the world, as well as what Boney O'Boneington has been up to.

3. We just don't know at this stage. That it's permanent seems a safe bet. But whether or not there is a defined end to come, no idea. I suspect not, but that's mostly a gut feeling (certainly aren't winding up the game. The stuff they're releasing represent a significant cash investment in terms of development and production).

[Wildeybeast]

A good and not necessarily easy set of questions to answer.

There have been two sets of books so far, Nagash and Glottkin. Both sets consist of one source/fluff book and one book of new rules and scenarios. They come one after the other, but the events are dated (according to the Imperial Calendar) and have actually been happening pretty much concurrently.

Nagash was massive as it set up the starting position of all the races, then dealt with the resurrection of Nagash and his conquest of Nekhehkara (mummy undead conquered by vampire undead). Glottkin dealt with a massive Chaos invasion of the Empire. It looks like each End Times book focuses on a few of the different armies. So far its been Undead (both flavours) and Empire and Chaos (Nurgle). Rampant speculation is the next one will focus on the on the elves.

In terms of what happens in the fluff, we have special characters (including ones with existing models and rules) being killed off and entire nations being wiped out (though none of the ones with playable armies). Oh and the return of Super Big Bads and actual gods.

As for the rules books, they have made some big changes. They have changed the limitations on army selections (HeroHammer is back) and allowed players to field combined Undead and Chaos army lists. You still need the individual army books, but you can now mix and match units from them as you like. These count in all games of Warhammer. there are also a raft of new units and characters that can be taken for the armies featured in the books. Then there are optional rules to use as you like (for example rules on city fighting) and narrative scenarios based on the fluff books.

Phew, I think that covers everything.

[ElectricPaladin]

Ok, so if we want to follow that pattern, my random suggestions are...

Book One: Tau vs. Eldar
• Plot: Tau attack a Craftworld in the hope of stealing their technology in preparation for a major offensive against the Imperium
• Major Players: Tau, Eldar
• Minor Players: Dark Eldar, Daemons (broken Eldar technology and many tasty Eldar souls leads to Daemonic incursions)

Book Two: Eldar vs. Dark Eldar
• Plot: After suffering terribly at the hands of the rapacious Tau, the Craftworld Eldar attack the Dark Eldar in the hopes of stealing portions of the webway and saving the lives of the Craftworlds that are slowly failing thanks to damage sustained in Book One.
• Major Players: Eldar, Dark Eldar
• Minor Players: Daemons (same reason as in Book One)

Book Three: Tau vs. Imperium
• Plot: Bolstered by stolen Eldar technology, including the ability to travel more quickly through the Webway, the Tau finally launch their apocalyptic final war against the Imperium!
• Major Players: Tau, Imperium
• Minor Players: Everyone else (damn opportunists)

Book Four: The 13th Black Crusade
• Plot: With the Imperium reeling from the Tau invasion and the loss of many worlds, Abaddon launches his 13th Black Crusade!
• Major Players: Chaos Marines, Imperium
• Minor Players: Chaos Daemons, Tau (defending their holdings from "reconquest" by Abaddon)

Book Five: Tyranids vs. Daemons
• Plot: As **** starts to get truly dire, Daemons and 'Nids face off for who gets to be the one to eat the galaxy.
• Major Players: Tyrands vs. Daemons
• Minor Players: Chaos Marines (helping out Daemons), everyone else (getting caught in the middle)

Book Six: Necrons vs. Everyone
• Plot: The Necrons finish waking up, decide to kill everyone, while the Silent King engages in some good old-fashioned civil war in an effort to clean house and establish himself as the Necron overlord
• Major Players: Necrons vs Everyone
• Minor Players: No one, the Necrons hate everyone.

Book Seven: The New Imperium
• Plot: Abaddon stands astride Terra and attempts to solidify his gains by forcing the Astartes to obey or die.
• Major Players: A new "Dark Imperium" army list that combines elements of AM and Daemons and Chaos Marines vs. Space Marines
• Minor Players: Everyone else (Abaddon isn't above a little tertiary slaughter)

Not sure where to go after that...

[Wildeybeast]

Who killed the Orks?

[Mr Mystery]

Probs The Orks :p

Which reminds me.....Codex Ghaz, along with various bits of background for 13th Black Crusade being in readiness makes me wonder just how wishlisty 40k End Times is!

I reckon we'd see Abaddon repulsed, but at the cost of a vastly reduced Imperium, which might prove just the tonic for the old beast that it is. Right now it's stretched ridiculously thin. Imagine if the Astartes could be more concentrated....

[ElectricPaladin]

Oh, yeah. I forgot the Orks. I never much liked them anyway.

[Gwhizz84]

Don't forget Eldar vs Chaos, rhana dandra stylé!

[StraightSilver]

Ok, I'd like to see something much more radical (wish listing here for Hollywood style epic moment!).

Ordo Xenos discover the Tyranid Incursions were just small scouting forces, huge disturbances begin to occur in both real space and warp space.

Huge Hive Fleets in numbers never seen before emerge and start to devastate real space, new Tyranid creatures are seen for the first time and the Hive Mind is fully realised.

The Eldar take huge losses, the psychic scream of the Hive Mind destabalises the astronomicon and the Imperium is thrown into chaos.

Imperial forces take heavy losses, the Eldar retreat to the web way where they shelter from the Tryranid advance. After a brief struggle Eldar and dark Eldar form an alliance for the sake of saving what's left of their race.

The Gods of the warp realise that without the souls of mortals in real space they will cease to exist, as the Tyranids have no warp presence, and send their forces to aid the Imperials.

Shocked Imperial forces find themselves helped by their mortal enemies against the Tyranid advance. The help is at first unwanted, but then in a classic Hollywood "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" an uneasy alliance is formed.

Radical Ordo Malleus inquisitors use this to push for power and the distinction between good and evil is blurred.

The Orks amass into the biggest Waaaaghhh ever seen and their psychic presence pushes back the Tyranid advance for the first time. The Orks take on the Tyranids, for a laugh and rampage through Tau held areas of space. The Tau retreat leaving their worlds behind and become a broken Empire, fighting alongside both Chaos and Imperial forces alike.

The Necrons, sensing an alliance between all sentient races cannot stay sleeping, and fully awake. They attack absolutely everyone.

This cements the uneasy alliances further, but the Blood Angels' proximity to Chaos forces drives them over the edge and they succumb in full to the Black Rage, turning from the Emperor embracing Khorne.

The Eldar and Dark Eldar finally leave the safety of the web way and with the fractured Tau Empire take the fight to the Necrons.

With the Orks temporarily occupying the Tyranids the Imperium realises it has made a huge mistake accepting help from Chaos and all bets are off, they take the fight to everybody.

With the Blood Angels lost, Imperial forces devastated, Marine Chapters on the verge of extinction and the Inquisition fighting it's own to purge the radicals within it's ranks the High Lords of Terra make a decision that could change the Imperium forever.

They open the deepest dungeons of Terra and release two prisoners held captive there for 10,000 years......

[tiamat79]

I suppose it depends on how they deal with the heresy issue, but without spoilers so far, I think two possible primarchs could return, Roboute could heal and come out fighting, the traitor primarchs would sally forth, and it would be Imperial Chaos face off.

I think Vulkan h'stann would be wiped out, but would find Vulkan. Calgar would die, and possibly Dorn severely wounded. I think the craftworlds may come out in support of the Imperium, but suffer critical damage. I think necrons would side with chaos and stab them in the back. The orks and 'nids would take advantage, and tau would side with imperium for the greater good.


How do?

Dunno about you, but I'm currently greatly enjoying the ongoing Warhammer End Times series. For those in the dark about it, in short it's a massive advancement of the Warhammer World. We don't even know if it's going to have a defined end, or if it's simply a new and deeply groovy status quo. Either way, we already have some major shake ups, which I won't go into here. Suffice to say Archaon (Sword and Board Abaddon for all intents and purposes) is coming, and the Old World is in for a proper kicking.

And I think we might just see the same thing happen for 40k, given the apparent success of End Times in Warhammer (books selling out on day of release, good levels of enthusiasm etc).

But as the title asks - what exactly would that look like?

First up the obvious - the 13th Black Crusade breaks properly. Not Storm of Chaos 'it happened, then it didn't' 13th Black Crusade, but the sure and certain beginning of the end 13th Black Crusade.

So Chaos v Imperium, with the Eldar sticking their metaphorical oar in as suits them. But that leaves Dark Eldar, Orks, Necron, Tau and Tyranids largely out in the cold. Except.....does it? The Imperium would have to respond en masse to a Black Crusade, and that weakens them elsewhere. Opportunities abound (look at what the Tau did last time the Imperium was forced to leave off) and whole sectors could fall not just into anarchy, but entirely from Imperium control.

Right, scene set. Speculate away! And don't forget - proper, proper casualties, as in 'dead in the face' dead. Warhammer has already seen the demise of Kurt Helborg and The Grand Theogonist, not to mention the Supreme Patriarch of Magic go all Necromancer on them. Various Undead characters are now proper dead (Nagash. Him no like word 'no', and he'll boil your brain if he wants to!).

- - - Updated - - -

I suppose it depends on how they deal with the heresy issue, but without spoilers so far, I think two possible primarchs could return, Roboute could heal and come out fighting, the traitor primarchs would sally forth, and it would be Imperial Chaos face off.

I think Vulkan h'stann would be wiped out, but would find Vulkan. Calgar would die, and possibly Dorn severely wounded. I think the craftworlds may come out in support of the Imperium, but suffer critical damage. I think necrons would side with chaos and stab them in the back. The orks and 'nids would take advantage, and tau would side with imperium for the greater good.


How do?

Dunno about you, but I'm currently greatly enjoying the ongoing Warhammer End Times series. For those in the dark about it, in short it's a massive advancement of the Warhammer World. We don't even know if it's going to have a defined end, or if it's simply a new and deeply groovy status quo. Either way, we already have some major shake ups, which I won't go into here. Suffice to say Archaon (Sword and Board Abaddon for all intents and purposes) is coming, and the Old World is in for a proper kicking.

And I think we might just see the same thing happen for 40k, given the apparent success of End Times in Warhammer (books selling out on day of release, good levels of enthusiasm etc).

But as the title asks - what exactly would that look like?

First up the obvious - the 13th Black Crusade breaks properly. Not Storm of Chaos 'it happened, then it didn't' 13th Black Crusade, but the sure and certain beginning of the end 13th Black Crusade.

So Chaos v Imperium, with the Eldar sticking their metaphorical oar in as suits them. But that leaves Dark Eldar, Orks, Necron, Tau and Tyranids largely out in the cold. Except.....does it? The Imperium would have to respond en masse to a Black Crusade, and that weakens them elsewhere. Opportunities abound (look at what the Tau did last time the Imperium was forced to leave off) and whole sectors could fall not just into anarchy, but entirely from Imperium control.

Right, scene set. Speculate away! And don't forget - proper, proper casualties, as in 'dead in the face' dead. Warhammer has already seen the demise of Kurt Helborg and The Grand Theogonist, not to mention the Supreme Patriarch of Magic go all Necromancer on them. Various Undead characters are now proper dead (Nagash. Him no like word 'no', and he'll boil your brain if he wants to!).

[Mengel Miniatures]

With all the attention Tyranids have been getting for the past year now I wouldn't be surprised if they become the big bad for the 40k End Times. They can kick it off with the 13th Black Crusade and have that play out for the majority for the majority of it, but then have the bugs full invasion hit the galaxy forcing everyone to put aside their differences and fight together. Just imagine if some the loyalist Primarchs do come back too, you could get Guilliman and Lorgar having to work together...

[Mason Carroll]

The original Storm of Chaos was a joke of a failure, but the 13th Black Crusade was actually something of a success. After all, Chaos won. At the very least, it wasn't a win for the Imperium by any stretch of the imagination. But...if they're going to continue to wipe out old fluff for new (inferior) fluff, then I guess you'd start with Hive Fleet Leviathan's invasion of the Imperium.

Book one: The Leviathan

Tyranids vs Imperium/Inquisition to start, then explore the Hive Fleet's impact on any Eldar Craftworlds in the area of invasion. Maybe even some Exodite worlds. That would draw Biel'Tan and Alaitoc into the fray for sure. You could touch on the Tau, taking advantage of the Imperium's shifting priorities to expand further than they had initially planned. The Inquisition uses that device to lead the Nids away from the Imperium and into an Ork empire. Of course, this would draw the ire of the Biel’Tan so they might try to stop it. But of course it’s too late. Now the Orks and Nids are fighting it out and whoever wins will be much stronger than before.
On the minor side of things, Dark Eldar raids pick up, to the point that more heavily defended worlds are being attacked. For what reason? No one knows. Warbands of Chaos Marines are striking against the Cadian Gate with even more frequency and doing so more brazenly than ever. Major outposts begin to fall silent and a major databank/library on a well-known cardinal world is raided and then burned to the ground by Ahriman and a large group of Thousand Sons. A mysterious voce broadcasts itself over the radios (or whatever) of every world across the Cadian gate, inciting revolts and unrest and causing more distrust to be sewn against the Imperium. And demonic incursions begin to plague worlds further and further from the Eye of Terror, each day.
And to finish off, on a pollution choked, red world…something stirs. And in the Eye of Terror, Abaddon knows his time has come…


Book two: Darkness Gathers/The Dragon

Necron focus to start. Necron dynasties begin to unite under Imotekh but a new power is rising. You could make a new Necron lord who wishes to bring the C’Tan back to their former glory. He/she is uniting hundreds of C’tan shards and even has the Nightbringer back to near full strength. This gives you a huge chance to make Necron/Necron battles with the Imperium caught in between. Imperial Guard regiments are forced to scramble to protect Imperial worlds with most Space Marine chapters/Guard regiments busy against Leviathan and the rising unrest in the Eye of Terror. Eldar Craft Worlds could easily be drawn in as they hate the Necrons. And on Mars, unrest builds as Necrons begin to awaken beneath the surface and many tech priests go insane/declare the Mechanicum cult separate from the Imperium. The Machine god has awakened. With a civil war on the door step of Terra, the Imperium is thrown into a tizzy. Tech Priest radicals could start suicide bombing parts of Terra. (hidden cells or whatever) and you could even have the High Priest of the Mechanicum kill the High Lords of Terra as they get together in an emergency meeting to find out what to do. He blows himself up and them “For the Machine God”. The Imperium finds its government now broken/leaderless. This is when ish gets real. The Adeptus Custodes step in to restore order as riots, fear, and panic begin to drown Terra. You could even have one of them take over in the name of the Emperor.
On Cadia, the military is in disarray with the all that is going on. Plagues have broken out over many of the worlds around the Cadian Gate, large scale insurrections have flared up. The Dark Angels arrive but say little to anyone. They seem to follow the “voice” to whatever planet it happens to broadcast over. The Space Wolves and dozens of other Chapters are nearby but they are stuck dealing with problems that seem to crop up at every turn. It all comes to a head when the Cadias leader is assassinated. To make matters worse, the Titan legions are split by a sudden civil war. Tech Priests begin to sabotage weapons and equipment and almost at the same time, a large force of Demons and Chaos Marines invades the planet through a portal. They destroy several of the Cadian monoliths before being driven back, thanks to the inspired leadership of Creed, who now takes over the Cadian military.
To finish off…the Eye opens, and Abaddon’s black crusade begins.

Book Three: Black Crusade

This isn’t too hard to figure out. Fill in the blank here. Focus on Space Marines and Chaos Space Marines. Add rules for a combined army. Example, Space Marines/Imperial Guard and Chaos Marines/Chaos Demons.

[Death Shroud]

Start it with the death of the Emperor, the illuminati begin sacrificing the sensei to bring back the Emperor, it fails but causes a sustained flare in the astronomican which still allows navigation (something for the old time fluff fans, hey I'm sure the un-named leuitenant of Nagash is Drachenfels so old fluff returning has a prescedent set). Cypher witnesses the death of the Emperor and leaves Terra.

The Imperium fractures between The High Lords of Terra on one side and and numerous other forces and begins a civil war with multiple sides.
Lion El Jonson wakes up, Cypher returns his sword to him and earns the forgiveness of those fallen not corrupted by Chaos. The Emperor's last act was the reforging of the Lion's sword and a message for the Primarchs. Lion El Jonson forgives Luthor then executes him with the sword.
Leman Russ returns to the Space Wolves, they ally with the Dark Angels and form a faction dedicated to pre-imperial ideals based on pre-heresy Imperium. Throughout the story other Primarchs will appear and add to this.

Vulkan is found by Vulcan Hestan. The Salamanders spread around their area of space helping to stabilise their area of space, several Imperial worlds turn to him for leadership. Corax reappears, he is a mess and half insane but he tells Vulkan he has discovered the location of their brother Jaghatai. Whilst springing a trap for a large army of Dark Eldar raiders Vulkan, Corax and a contingent of Raven Guard and Salamanders disappear.

Isolated, Ultramar will become very much an Empire of it's own with many Ultramarine successor chapter amongst others flocking to protect it. It comes into conflict with forces loyal to the High Lords of Terra and a civil war breaks out.

The Tau begin another huge wave of expansion soaking up many weaker systems on it's borders including introducing many humans to a Tau Empire ready to integrate them.

Tyranids start eating big chunks of the Imperium, increasing it's fracturing.

Ghazghkull's intervention helps the defeat of the Tyranids at Octarius. There is now a vast piece of Ork territory in the galaxy. The Orks rampage around growing in strength but not really heading to Terra. Armageddon falls to the Orks forming another large pocket of Greenskin territory.

The Necrons and Eldar are attacking at specific points trying to stymie the gains the forces. The Necrons seem concerned with the Nids more than anything, the Eldar focussing on the forces of Chaos. Many new Necron worlds wake up, one area is lost to them, The C'Tan known as The Dragon and The Outsider have returned with an eye to re-uniting the C'Tan shards and putting the C'Tan in control of the Necrons.

Abaddon makes his move, Chaos strikes towards Terra but Imperial and Chaos forces find they are having to deal with a new Nid Hive Fleet that is close to Terra. The Alpha Legion start fighting for both sides. The Space Marine chapter known as The Omega Marines' leader reveals himself to be Omegon, slays his twin in single combat and begins (with the Omega marines and loyalist Alpha Legion) to create disruption amongst the chaos forces which have now broken through the Hive Fleet. They head directly for Terra. One of the largest battles in history takes place in the Sol system.
There is the largest ever muster of Imperial forces versus chaos. It is led by Commander Dante of the Blood Angels. The muster is so large that they are winning the battle against chaos. Then one of the High Lords betrays them, he has been an agent of Chaos for some time. The The Mechanicum of Mars flees as Chaos forces make planetfall on Terra. The traitor high Lord of Terra has all the remaining Sensei killed, this turns off the Astronomican. The Adeptus Custodes have escaped with some Sensei and a few important imperial dignitaries. Without the Golden Throne's powering it the wards weaken. Abaddon is triumphant! He sacrifices the High Lords (including the traitor). In doing so the wards break, Terra becomes a Daemon world and Abaddon finally accepts Daemonhood.

From out of a portal in the systems around Nocturne a ravaged band appears. There a few battered Raven Guard and Salamanders accompanied by three towering figures, it is Corax and Vulkan, between them they support a badly wounded Jaghatai who has been freed from almost 10,000 years of torment at the hands of the Dark Eldar.

Meanwhile on Ultramar a stranger stands over the stasis encased body of Guilliman. The seals on the stasis pod break open, "time to arise my son, we have a lot of work to do."

As for deaths along the way, I dunno. I think Dante and a large contingent of the Blood Angels (and all the Flesh Tearers) would give their lives for the Custodes to escape. Yarrick buying the farm against a resurgent Ghazghkull. Alpaharius (the real one this time) being killed by Omegon. A few chapter masters along the way (Azrael being replaced by Cypher under the Lion's orders would be a real shake up!). All of the High Lords. Would love to see what GW could come up with!

[ElectricPaladin]

Can my Knights of Blood get either a formal pardon from the High Lords and the Inquisition as part of the price they demand for their help in the last days, or a heroic death throwing themselves into an impossible battle and either winning, but while being slaughtered to an Astartes, or buying someone else time to do something awesome?

[Mr Mystery]

Emperor wakes up in the shower, having seen the future, decides it's not worth the effort, and just goes back to bed.

[Peter Lundgreen Hansen]

i for one would like to see Khaine's gate crumble and Commoragh feel the full impact of the warp. Urien Rakarth has foreseen this, and has been preparing for the horrors to come, and unleashes millions of new horrors upon real space. GIVE MY Dark Eldar SOME LUVIN!!!!!!!

[Faultie]

I'd like to see the Grand Provost Marshall go all Judge Death and declare that all Imperial citizens, given that they're alive, are now suspected heretics and must be executed in order to prevent their fall to Chaos. Then it's just galaxy-wide genocide.

Then, all the factions converge on Terra for the greatest battle the galaxy has seen since the fall of the Old Ones. Everyone you can name is there, from all factions, and just when it seems the carnage could not get any worse, the War Doctor shows up and uses the Moment to destroy everyone.

[ElectricPaladin]

I'd like to see the Grand Provost Marshall go all Judge Death and declare that all Imperial citizens, given that they're alive, are now suspected heretics and must be executed in order to prevent their fall to Chaos. Then it's just galaxy-wide genocide.

Then, all the factions converge on Terra for the greatest battle the galaxy has seen since the fall of the Old Ones. Everyone you can name is there, from all factions, and...

Silliness aside, I kind of like the idea of one of the plots being that the authorities on Terra finally just completely lose their **** and the Militarum, Ecclesiarchy (via the Sororitas), and Astartes have to show up and put things back together.

[Peter Lundgreen Hansen]

Khaine's gates burst open, the impending doom of Commoragh makes the Dark eldar go deeper into the webway, and Urien Rakarth smiles as the oportunity he has been waiting for in millenia reveals itself.

[Lord Ezekial]

Here are my musings on the 40k Apocalypse :

The Emperor is dying and the throne failing. One of the high lords of Terra (inquisitor) hears the Voice (ala Talon of Horus) of the Emperor and this Inquisitor brings Cypher to the throne and end the emperors life. The Emperor dies and a laugh echoes through the chamber and the 5th Chaos god is reborn.

The Emperor's death scream calls forth Vulkan, Corax, Dorn (armless of course), Lion El Jonson, and Guilliman, they return to their legions and break ties with Terra. The Ecclesiarchy views this new god as a continuation of the Emperor, and they as well as the Militarum fall to this new god. The Mechanium withdraws to mars and a civil war ensues over if this new god is still the omnihassa (sp?). The inquisitors go to war linked to the side of the "new emperor" chaos god.

Meanwhile in the Warp Abbaddon and the fallen primarchs realize the death of the Emperor and feel the release of a new god. The legions gather and strike at Cadia, overwhelming it easily.

Eldar and Dark Eldar view the "new emperor" as the reincarnation of the old ones and make all haste to Terra.

The Tyranids' hive mind also having sensed the Astronomica failing, move in, similarily the necrons sensing a dire threat completely wake up. The Orks being orks just love that there is a fight going on and start a strong invasion.

The old loyalist legions again are split between their primarchs return and loyalty to Terra. Blood angels sensing the danger, scour their legions and finally eliminate their flaw by spilling each other's blood.

We end at a place where the prodigal and lost sons return and team up making a new empire of daemon and man where they are untied against this evil. The new emperor and his legions are seen as the "bad guys" and their cult has killed billions across the galaxy and are the new force now allied with the Eldar but this new god is far darker than any other chaos god and threats to defeat them and enter an age of total oblivion. Orks are still orks, more tyranids everywhere.

This doesn't really account for the death of anyone but we could kill off a number of ways. I just like the way this shakes up the universe, more power players, the return of legions of marines and the "good guys" being bad

I can expand more on my thoughts but I am in class haha

[flail3]

Well, judging by releases so far id see it play out this way:

Wave 1: 13th Black Crusade:
Big Box: Doombreed
3 generals: Angron, Mortarion and Magnus daemon prince models.
Unit Box: Khornate Champions
Single Blister: Empowered Abaddon

Book 1: Abaddon
Details the 13th black crusade. They dominate cadia and make move for terra. Abaddon leads the grand army of chaos and daemons with the daemon primarchs at there head.
The eldar and dark eldar are forced to create blood pacts when the harlequins explain that the united forces of chaos could destroy the galaxy. They use the webway portals to move quickly to terra in delegations to explain the situation and offer help. Then they also send small delegations to the necrons in desperate hope but none return. Finally they send delegates to the tau who politely refuse.

Book 2: Ghazgul
Big Box: Da war machine (ghazgul in a knight sized suit a bit like a dreadknight)
3 generals: 3 named orks riding in smaller imitation meks
Unit Box: Silent Praetorians
Single Blister: The Silent King
Details the ork response to the crusade, Ghaz doesnt want to be outdone and decides to coincide an attack on terra. Chaos draws close to terra and their secret weapon, a caste of renegade inquisitors unleash anarchy on terra. Chaos attack tau along the way and utterly cripple their empire and wipe out the vespids and destroy the kroot homeworld. The survivors are saved only by the timely arrival of Eldrad who helps them escape via the webway and are given Uranus as a homeworld if they will help the now united species against chaos. Almost all chapters send as much of their force as can be mustered except the ultramarines who are sent to break the tide against tyranid forces before they can muster against the imperium, and in the end only calgar and a reserve chapter come to terra as cassius takes command of the chapter. Overall command of astartes is given to Dante of the blood angels, with a council consisting of the five greatest learnt commanders of the imperium: Bjorn, Calgar, Helbrecht, He'Stan and Azrael. The end of the book has the missing eldar delegations from the necrons return with the Silent king and his personal guard, who understand that there race still isnt strong enough after the slumber to survive another war against gods. They pledge their armies to the cause but do not enter the united species causing the other races to think of them as an unwelcome ally at best.

Book 3: The second siege of terra part 1
Big Box: "The One" (an alpha psyker model, a normal human but created by a great sacrifice of 10 million psykers at the emperors golden throne to give him an instant of power, which he creates an alpha psyker out of an inquisitor. Model is like the chaos renegade psyker with head thrown back and arms outstretched but raised 6" in the air surrounded by lightning and swirling spirits a bit like nagash with really ornate base with robed figures kneeling in prayer around the bottom)
3 generals: none for this release
Unit Box: Adeptus Custodes
Single Blister: Constanine Valdor
The siege of terra, chaos arrives and causes a lot of damage, angron famously casts down the outer wall of the palace and breaks upon the marines defending. In an almighty duel calgar breaks angrons sword, but in the end doesn't save him as angron steals back gorechild from kharn and decapitates him. Holding calgars head high above the wall, the forces surge forth. It is only the timely arrival of "The One" that saves the second ring of the palace from falling. In a display of raw power, magnus and "the one" engage in a duel that decimates both sides, but ends with magnus being banished back to the warp. Meanwhile, Mortation goes after the grey knights and in a brutal display of power, enacts revenge and kills Draigo, however in his death draigo banishes mortarion back to the warp once again. The Battle is going badly, the tau are forced by now to engage in close quarters combat ending up with them dying in droves, daemons run amok through terra, chaos icons are raised all over the world, and he last bastion of hope, the imperial palace, is crumbling under attack. The orks attack but are engaged by the combined forces of the eldar, ghazgul strides forward destroying all in his path. Nothing can seem to harm him, as he cleaves through the arrayed wraithknights before him. Eldrad disappears and all seems bleak until the four phoenix lords appear and create a stalemate. It is now that abaddon makes his appearance known, and as he steps forth upon terra he destroys all in his path. As he approaches the last circle of the emprors palace, valdor steps before him.


Book 4: The second siege of terra part 2
Big Box: Greater avatar of khaine
3 generals: Russ, Gulliman and Johnson
Single Blister: The Solitaire
The battle between the orks and eldar has reached a stalemate, but more orks are arriving by the second, and every casualty from the eldar is sorely felt, they are about to lose hope when eldrad returns, and with him the greatest shard of khaine to survive, kept at the heart of ulthwe, the greater avatar of khaine. It strides forth and in an epic duel kills ghazgul. But not all orks witness his death and keep on fighting, until the harlequin Solitaire reaches into the minds of all the mustered orks to show them the death of their leader. Broken and in disarray the orks are butchered by the eldar and dark eldar.
Meanwhile on Terra, "The One" is finally killed as angron has surged far ahead of the rest of the chaos forces that are now being set upon by the victorious eldar. Leaving nothing but a pile of broken bodies angron makes his way to the stairway to the emperors golden throne. It is then that the final play of the empror is revealed. The missing russ, the sleeping lion and the now revived gulliman stand guard at the base of his throne. In a battle that shakes the very foundations, under the weeping gaze of the emperor himself, the former brothers fought. In the end angron is banished back to the warp, and each primarch sheds a tear for a brother lost, before entering the fray below. With primarchs at their head, the imperium and united species push back the forces of chaos. In a duel that has lasted many hours, valdor finally bests abaddon, but before he can deal a death blow horus teleports back to his ship. Their assault broken, chaos retreat and the battle is won. The necrons retreat back to their own empires, along with the eldar. The tau are welcomed into the imperium and the primarchs are regarded as heroes. However the chapters who still mourne or miss their primarchs grow jealous, and either blindly crusade to find them or grow apart from the other chapters. Meanwhile, the fateful duel between the primarchs had more consequences than just that, as now for some reason, something is not working right with the golden throne.....

[Mr Mystery]

If bodies of the two unknown Primarchs are held on Terra - Emperor posseses them.

That'd be equally daft and cool!

Would also like to see swathes of the Imperium abandoned to their fate, as resources are poured into the defence of Terra - not only would that be characteristically an Imperial response, but blows open breathing space for the other big boys, giving us more scope for fun and games once the setting is shaken up.

Overall, Black Crusade would have to be repulsed. Death of The Emperor would likely be the death of 40k after all!

My mate suggested some kind of warp mishap related reappearance of a Great Crusade era Mechanicum Exploratory fleet - so there's new toys galore!

[ElectricPaladin]

I really love the idea of the Inquisitor becoming a super psyker. Can it be Ravenor? Or better yet, Eisenhorn?

[flail3]

I thought of it, but i tried to keep it in standard 40k verse, otherwise id have rex fight angron and i did think of ravenor as the alpha, just wanted to have it a bit more along what gw might do.

[YorkNecromancer]

I always thought it might be interesting to have a really simple and obvious reveal.

The Emperor has always been dead; he hasn't been psychically lighting a beacon - that was just a lie the AdMech made up. The Golden Throne does all the work, and they don't know how it works (because only the Emperor did), and so they've been lying for years. So who or what has been focusing all the energies, fuelling the Imperium?

Khorne.

Because in the grim darkness of the far future, there is only war.

Khorne has outgambitted everyone. The Imperium has been consecrated to his name all along; every prayer made to the Emperor fed an aspect of him: Khorne as Warlord, the dictator who rules through martial prowess and might.

The Inquisition discover this and all hell breaks loose.

The Astartes immediately factionalise: some declare this revelation heresy, and name themselves 'loyalists' (probably Dark Angels, Imperial Fists, and all those whose loyalty to the Emperor means they can never break through their denial). Others declare themselves 'true sons of the Emperor', and wage war on the Imperium (Grey Knights, Ultras, Salamanders). Some stick their head in the sand and try to maintain the status quo (Iron Hands, Raven Guard). The Astra Militarum immediately splits along similar lines. Khorne lends his favour to the 'loyalist' faction; he never sends daemons or psykers - Khorne-as-Warlord is far more subtle than anyone expected, representing as he does war fought with strategy and guile. However, the AdMech loyalists uncover 'new STC templates'; actually Daemon Engine designs, and begin their mass production.

Including mass production of Daemonically-possessed Iron Men.

The Ecclesiarchy refuses to believe the lie and goes mad, declaring war on everyone, taking half the Inquisition, The Deathwatch, and the Red Hunters Astartes with them

The Eldar sense the shift in the Imperium and lose their minds; they immediately call a conclave and begin amassing a huge fleet of everyone they can - Dark Eldar, Tau, even a few Ork Freebooter Lords. The Necrons see the shift of power and ally with this xenos fleet out of sheer pragmatism.

Just as this all kicks off, The Hive Mind arrives. Not a Tyranid tendril: the motherf***ing Hive Mind itself. The number of Tyranid bioforms in the Imperium has reached sufficient mass and created a large enough synaptic web that every Tyranid fleet-tendril joins to form a single mind. And it is both self-aware, sapient and intelligent. Reports start to come in of Hive Tyrants who come wishing to negotiate - the Hive Mind uses them as voice boxes (think Locutus of Borg but fifteen feet tall and droolier). Some species join them (Tau in particular seem to find the Hive Mind's arguments compelling) and thus Tyranid armies start to see allies for the first time. Tyranid instinctive behaviour begins to alter subtly, becoming cleverer, more strategic, as the Hive Mind ASSUMES DIRECT CONTROL.

And Abaddon? There is no 13th Black Crusade under his command. Not when Draigo shows up, butchers him, and reveals that he has been Khorne's ace-in-the-hole all along - the reason he's so damned Mary-Sue invincible? So absurdly overpowered? He's Khorne's avatar in this plane. Not possessed by a Greater Daemon, not a Daemon Prince: A LITERAL CHAOS GOD. He made himself flesh, and forgot who he was so he couldn't be caught. He hid himself amongst his worst enemies and learned their ways. He trained their greatest champions. He knows every one of their secrets.

So, Abaddon dies and, Highlander-style, Draigo-who-was absorbs his power FOR THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE. Discarding his Grey Knight armour (but keeping the Titansword and Dr'yachen), he opens a portal to allow Angron, Mortarion, Fulgrim, and Magnus the Red through, each of whom is gifted a fleet and a Legion of Chaos Astartes.

Smiling, the then begins the Final Black Crusade.

So, there are now several power blocs:

Loyalist Imperials, in the service of Khorne.
True Children of the Emperor, at war with the Imperium.
Those who want to go back to how it was; those Imperials who just want this all to go away.
The Ecclesiarchy
The Xenos Fleet
The Hive Mind
Khorne's personal Black Crusade



Yeah, it's silly, but, you know. 40k generally is.

[vigbrand]

With all this, when will the Emperor finally be released from his fleshy prison and finally get the chance to be reborn as the Star Child to reign in the utter chaos the Imperium is in, not just from enemies without but subversives with in? now THAT would be an End Time Event! Courage and Duty!

[Gridlock]

I think that with the Necrons the end times will start with the C´tans breaking free of their prisons, helped by The Deceiver who had hidden itself among the Necrons (it would be right up it´s ally to do something like that).
With the C´tans once again free the Necrons stands with a choice submit to their servitude and hope for mercy or fight to once again impression the C´tans.
This basically spark a civil war amongst the Necrons some choosing the side of the C´tans others fighting for their freedom.
The ones fighting for freedom would be unable to use the C´tans but would gain access to weapons capable of destroying the C´tans Avatars.
Now i say Avatar because a real fully powered C´tan has been described (at least in the old codex) as a being capable of levelling cities, with the merest gesture.
Something like that would be TOO powerful for tabletop as it would basically be turn 1 I win, i basically look at you and your army is gone.

So to explain why this isn´t so, i would put it like this The C´tans have learned from past mistakes instead of putting all their eggs in one basket and risking being blown to bits once again and imprisoned they now go by the divide and conquer tactics.
Implanting the smallest piece of their essences into their Necron slaves they are able to monitor the battles they participate in.
Should they feel that it is required they can take direct control of said soldier and change it´s body into a living Avatar of the C´tan that the C´tan can control directly.

(this would open of for some great miniatures and conversion of necron bodies twisted into the likeness of a C´tan.)

As for the Eldar and Dark Eldar they would have their own problems to deal with Slaanesh has lunched a full scale war against the Eldar and Dark Eldar.
Alot of craftworld is under siege some are drained and destroyed.
Commorragh is underseige as well, tasked by Slaanesh him/her/itself to bring down the city Fulgrim and his emperor´s children laying siege to the Dark Eldar city.
The Dark Eldar getting more and more desperate are throwing even their prisoners at Fulgrim and his horde in the hopes of being able to stem the tide of the battle.
When all hope seems to fail they finally get desperate enough to release their most powerful Prisoner with the promise of returning him and his people should he succeed in fighting of his brother and his armies.

[Andrew Christlieb]

Oh it's the end times? Meh

11791

[Porkchop Express]

I think that with the Necrons the end times will start with the C´tans breaking free of their prisons, helped by The Deceiver who had hidden itself among the Necrons (it would be right up it´s ally to do something like that).
With the C´tans once again free the Necrons stands with a choice submit to their servitude and hope for mercy or fight to once again impression the C´tans.
This basically spark a civil war amongst the Necrons some choosing the side of the C´tans others fighting for their freedom.
The ones fighting for freedom would be unable to use the C´tans but would gain access to weapons capable of destroying the C´tans Avatars.
Now i say Avatar because a real fully powered C´tan has been described (at least in the old codex) as a being capable of levelling cities, with the merest gesture.
Something like that would be TOO powerful for tabletop as it would basically be turn 1 I win, i basically look at you and your army is gone.

So to explain why this isn´t so, i would put it like this The C´tans have learned from past mistakes instead of putting all their eggs in one basket and risking being blown to bits once again and imprisoned they now go by the divide and conquer tactics.
Implanting the smallest piece of their essences into their Necron slaves they are able to monitor the battles they participate in.
Should they feel that it is required they can take direct control of said soldier and change it´s body into a living Avatar of the C´tan that the C´tan can control directly.

(this would open of for some great miniatures and conversion of necron bodies twisted into the likeness of a C´tan.)

As for the Eldar and Dark Eldar they would have their own problems to deal with Slaanesh has lunched a full scale war against the Eldar and Dark Eldar.
Alot of craftworld is under siege some are drained and destroyed.
Commorragh is underseige as well, tasked by Slaanesh him/her/itself to bring down the city Fulgrim and his emperor´s children laying siege to the Dark Eldar city.
The Dark Eldar getting more and more desperate are throwing even their prisoners at Fulgrim and his horde in the hopes of being able to stem the tide of the battle.
When all hope seems to fail they finally get desperate enough to release their most powerful Prisoner with the promise of returning him and his people should he succeed in fighting of his brother and his armies.
I quite like this idea. The problem that I see with it though is the numbers of Emperor's Children. They are supposed to be both very fractured and very small in numbers, and would probably be non-existent if it weren't for the genius of Fabulous Bill.

[Basa Mogul]

Im ok with any idea as long as the ending will be revealing the only race that the tyranids are afraid of. The sole reason why they are ravaging through space....

SPACE OGRES! We have come to eat you all!