/r/WarhammerWhatIf
A place for all of your "What if?" posts related to Warhammer (both kinds)
/r/WarhammerWhatIf
Let’s say there was a strigoi with a gift for magic determined to restore his followers to sanity and humanity. Could he succeed?
The main text, but what physical age? Vitae wombs still take time to grow a baby Death Korps member. And at what physical maturity, i.e. biological age, would they be?
After centuries of manpower-expensive and -intensive trench warfare I feel as though it wouldn't be 18 because there's physical maturity before that, and slipping it lower and lower due to the need for more manpower during the war, but it can't be like 12 or something either. What do y'all think?
In order to fuel endless trench warfare, where the most fit (and societally acceptable) 18-25 year olds are expended quickly and with older people being a finite supply, how young did they go? The admittance of younger and younger soldiers would be required to maintain attrition rates, so how young are Krieger soldiers? I imagine 15? I figure that to be the minimum age to hold their own in combat?
When the Loyalists had to fight the Secessionists on Krieg for 5 centuries why did they continue trench warfare? Stormtrooper tactics and mechanized warfare developed in only 3 years (1914 doesn't really count as nobody understood the need for new doctrine). In 160x as long why did they keep fighting with trench warfare? Did no one think of the idea of a big, speedy metal box in all that time?
For context:
The Salmonids are a race of fish from the Splatoon franchise. They can swim in the water walk on land, and have a Skaven-ish level of technology. As you can see from the picture, they can vary in size (the smallest salmonids are roughly the size of a dog or a cat, while the biggest one seen so far (not pictured), is roughly half the size and length of a real-life modern spaceship.) and ability, but their strategy mainly relies on swarming the enemy to death. Their "ink" (the green liquid from the picture) is probably harmless against other races that are not an inkling or an octoling (the main races in Splatoon), but they are launched very fast, sometimes in containers, from various guns and cannons, and can possibly harm or seriously injure anyone regardless of race.
I've been wondering if that distant forge world that was ignored by the traitors was able to send his war machines to Terra before the siege would have they been able to change the outcome of the battle, given that they had/have very overpowered machines at their disposal.
An AU idea that I had and that I wanted your opinions on and how you all would want it to be done?
Would they cancel eachother out, or would they combine into something new?
Who wins between the Mordian Iron Guard and the Scintillan Fusiliers and why?
Let's assume for a moment that Magnus and the Thousand Sons Legion remained loyal to the Emperor, but the Horus Heresy ended more or less the same way, the Emperor was placed on the Golden Throne, etc.
If Magnus and his legion remained loyal, how would the Imperium treat Psionics in the 41st millennium?
Would the Imperium have more trust in the Psykers, would the Thousand Sons and possible successor Chapters have any close contacts with the adeptus astra telepathica, would the Black Ships fly to Prospero?
What if Konrad Curze was a Perpetual (either alongside or instead Vulkan)?
What if Belisarius Cawl or Fabius Bile turned their attentions to improving the Ogryn?
Greetings, fellow Warhammer 40K enthusiasts!
I've been toying with an idea that I believe could add an intriguing layer to our beloved grimdark universe: Vampirism, a curse (or perhaps a twisted blessing?) crafted by the joint will of the Chaos gods.
Imagine a vampiric disease, a perfect storm of the gods' desires:
These vampires would not be your typical undead. We're talking about rotting yet undying warriors, former Space Marines from a lost chapter, now badass killing machines with a semblance of immortality. Their lower ranks would be akin to zombies, albeit with a deadly prowess, while the Vampire Lords would be something out of a horror tale, akin to attractive yet horrifying Chaos demi-gods who've ascended to daemonhood, tasked to eternally spread this blight.
The grimdark potential here is immense. Think of the narrative and aesthetic possibilities: battles where these vampiric legions, shrouded in the Warp's shadow, lay waste to entire colonies, leaving behind nothing but death and the nascent stirrings of new unlife.
Now, I turn to you, the community, to gauge your thoughts. Would you accept such a faction in the 40K universe? How would you envision their integration into the existing lore? Could their origin story of a lost Space Marine chapter work, or would you propose a different genesis for these creatures of the night?
Let's discuss the potential of darkness eternal and warfare unending, a new player on the galactic stage of Warhammer 40,000.
For the night is dark and full of terrors, but in the 41st millennium, there is only war.
Share your thoughts and let the galaxy burn with speculation!
I've been getting really into the lore of Warhammer recently, trying to answer a ton of questions that came into my head about the lore. One thing I've been thinking about is what would happen to the Primarchs if they never met the Emperor?
Say something happened to him and he had to spend much longer conquering Earth and the solar system, or he even died somehow, how would these essentially demigods in charge of planets turn out?
I'm curious what everyone else's opinions would be. I guess it depends greatly on their planets tech level, and their personalities. I'm also curious how they would treat xenos without the Emperor's influence. Would any of them be friendly? What would happen if two Primarchs met, independent of the Emperor?
Please let me know if this doesn't fit the subreddit or if anything needs to be changed to not break any rules. I tried posting it in 40klore but it got removed instantly and didn't list a reason why.
Lion would probably try and lead Caliban through its own industrial revolution if possible. This probably leads to problems down the line with Luther, who lets his jealousy take over and probably doesn't approve of massively changing Caliban.
Two is impossible to answer given we know nothing about him. The only thing I can say is maybe whatever caused the Emperor and Malcador to erase nearly everything about him wouldn't happen.
Fulgrim would probably expand and start his own stellar empire, but at a much slower rate then Dorn and Guilliman. With a focus on arts his empire would probably have a golden age in terms of culture.
Perturabo likely takes over from his adoptive father Dammekos when he finally died. He'd probably finish conquering Olympia if he hadn't already. Without the Emperor to make him a general, maybe Perturabo could find some happiness creating magnificent works as he truly wanted.
On the other hand, maybe nothing he did would ever be good enough, and he would tear down the works of anyone who did better then him, like he did with his adoptive brother. Or maybe he would go out into the galaxy and conquer other worlds, though I think staying behind is more likely.
Jaghatai seemed pretty content to just keep to the life of a nomad and let the planet do whatever it wants, sometimes leading a conquest. Maybe after some time he'd go out and conqueror over planets, but I don't think he'd make an empire out of it, he'd just be doing it for his own satisfaction.
Leman I'm not too sure about. By the time the Emperor found him he was in charge of Fenris. Hes definitely the conquering type, but with Fenris basically being a pre industrial society, would he try and develop the planet, or would he keep it as it is?
Dorn has already conquered multiple star systems iirc by the time he was found. He would just continue his conquests until he either came into contact with the Emperor or another Primarch, or reached a point where his empire became to large to continue conquering. Good luck to any rival power trying to break through his defences.
Curze leaves me stumped to be honest. He had effectively taken control of Nostramo through his campaign of fear through mutilation and execution of anyone committing a crime, so what does he do as ruler?
Crime seemed to have basically stopped from what I can read on Lexicanum, because no one wanted to be his next victim. What happens to Nostramo and Curze if basically no crime happens for generations?
Sanguinius I'm also not sure about. Not because of his intentions but because Baal is essentially an irritated hell of a planet. He'd try and make a better life for his people, but I really don't know how much he could do without the Emperor.
Ferrus would continue his role as ruler over Medusa. I'm not really sure about the technology levels on the planet, but I don't think they have the ability to travel to other planets. I'm also not sure what would happen, as because he was found somewhat early in the Great Crusade, he didn't have time to really develop the planet, if he even could.
With the tribes still fighting maybe he would take the best and brightest and use them to advance Medusa, or maybe he'd be content to just keep everything as it is.
Eleven also is impossible to say anything for certain just like two. Just like two maybe whatever caused the Emperor to wipe away memory of him would be avoided.
Angron was almost certainly die, just as he wanted. Unless Khorne intervened in his rebellion he likely is killed by the slavers, unless he can somehow pull out a victory.
Guilliman just like Dorn would have no issues creating his own stellar empire. There isn't too much to say that's any different from Rogal, he'd go out, conquer, and eventually settle in to rule.
Mortarion would definitely be an interesting case. From his POV, The Emperor convinced him to go face his adoptive father before Mortarion was truly ready, then stepped in at the last minute and killed Necare, denying Mortarion his vengeance and humiliating him.
Maybe without the Emperor showing up, Mortarion still goes to challenge Necare before he's ready still (if he can even be ready to face him), and is killed, or maybe by taking more time, he's able to adapt better, improve his armour and breathing apparatus, and kill Necare. If he wins, then I think he'd set out trying to make Barbarus a better place, and improve the lives of the regular people. The how I'm not really sure of, and I doubt he would leave and conquer anywhere else.
Magnus was probably continue leading Prospero, I could be wrong but I don't think he would conquer other worlds. After some time he might travel to learn more about the universe, the warp, and anything he could get his hands on. Given that he was talking to the Emperor psychically, I think at some point he gather the best of his followers and sets out in search of knowledge, the Emperor, and his brothers.
Horus likely doesn't change, reading on his backstory on Lexicanum it seems he was either brought to Terra by Tech Priests, or travelled there himself. If he hadn't, he'd probably just be a gang lord, maybe taking over Cthonia, starting with its underworld.
After uniting Colchis, Lorgar would maybe try to advance Colchis technologically if possible, but given the planet as already dominated by Chaos, I think it depends on them. Maybe the gods help Lorgar in secret and set him on the path he took in canon, or maybe they prevent him from advancing Colchis at all.
By the time Vulcan was sorta in charge of Nocturne,the Emperor had arrived. So without the Emperor, he probably continues as a blacksmith, influence continuing to build any time the Dark Eldar come to raid and get beaten back.
From here there's a few paths that history could take. Maybe one day he loses to the Dark Eldar, and is captured and enslaved, or he continues as a blacksmith besting back raids everytime they come, or being a master blacksmith and with the knowledge that comes from being a Primarch, maybe he's able to do something with left over Dark Eldar tech, and after some time, heading to the stars.
Without the Emperor I don't see Vulcan as a conquer, as he seemed content being a blacksmith until the Dark Eldar raids just kept coming. But like he did on Nocturne, if he can somehow make it to the stars, maybe he could build influence with other planets by helping them defeat raids.
After overthrowing the slavers of Deliverance, Corax will probably be in a position of first among equals. What he does from here I'm not sure. Kiavahr basically relied on slave labour to get the minerals and manpower required to operate the Forge World, and Corax wouldn't bring back slavery imo.
I think Kiavahr continues to operate at a much lower level, while Corax settles in to try and create a better society for both the planet and Deliverance.
Alpharius and Omegon are a pain in the ass to figure out, like figuring out anything about the Alpha Legion. Was he secretly found by the Emperor and Malcador first while Omegon was found last? Where the twins together the whole time? I've got nothing here, I don't even know what their true origin is.
So say just before they take off for saber some of the risen get a message out basically goading the dark angels to come to saber, the rock shows up just after the lion got separated from his forces.
So how do you think things would play out?
I don’t think they’d just bomb the planet since they generally take the fallen alive to repent however the bone thing in orbit I imagine they’d shoot just for the pleasure of destroying a chaos artifact, after that they would probably deploy the death wing.
Hopefully that message zabrial got from the lion would be enough to convince his little brothers to not fuck everything up.
What if T'zeentch sent Kairos to aid K'banna and Kyris attempt to corrupt Sanginius. Would he be able to foresee Meros pivotal role in saving his Primarch and advise the other daemons to concerate killing the otherwise unremarkable Apothecary before he could intervene.
If one of the megacorporations of cyberpunk 2077 establish a succesfull colony in 40k and this colony It became independent megacorp and stayed isolated from all 40k for a wile How they Will survive? they Will thrive? And if they thrive IS possible they archive Warp travel, throught DaoT Age tech Who can help them to move throught the Warp safe at some extent?
In the universe of Trollhunters the animated series, trolls are magical beings made of living rock who petrify when exposed to daylight, and live in underground communities beneath the Earth.
Millennia before the 21th century, there was a war between troll-and humankind over the surface. The humans and good trolls stood victorious and banished the bad trolls who wanted to devour all of humanity, the Gumm Gumms, to the Darklands, a dark realm which was the original homeland of the trolls.
In response, the Gumm Gumms created the changelings.
Changelings are trolls who were altered so they can assume human form.
Changelings are sent to the human realm as spies, supplanting infant human babies who are known as the Changeling's Familiar. They're swapped with their human counterparts at birth and have dwelt among humans for decades, therefore anyone could be a Changeling.
In a crossover between Warhammer 40K and trollhunters, what would the Imperium feel about changelings, who are basically xenos disguised as humans?
What would happen if a bunch of Orkz invade the Mushroom Kingdom from the Super Mario series. How will the inhabitants take to being attack by the hyper violent and very silly fungoid monsters from the grimdark future.
What kind of shenanigans the Greenskinz finds themselves up to when they discover all the weird power ups and they rampage across a world despite rather peaceful is just as wacky as they are.
After watching pariah nexus I got thinking if a deathmark can do that what can a hexmark destroyer do. So in lore how deadly are they ? And what if say a hexmark destroyer was tasked with wiping out as many night lords as possible that are on a tomb world just woken up to discover it’s covered with night lords
While I do know that Slaanesh is also and Eldar god, I want to know if there is a fanfic about when slaanesh was born, that they didn’t eat all of the Eldar gods and instead became one of them?
In one system, the ruling family of narathos primeris have a machine that can both clone embryos and mutate them (mostly the machine just gene mixes the embryos and if needs be gives them traits drawn from pre existing human templates so it hardly needs to be creative) but it can create new traits and increasing the planets gene pool if the population has dropped enough.
It generally produces 2.3 billion new embryos a year to either be injected into fertile women or grown in pods and adopted.
However there is bug where for every ten people it creates it makes either one blank or one psyker.
Nobody is sure why this is the case but they have long since just given up on trying to fix the problem and excepted that it will just do that.
So the psykers are put in high tech tower cities on narathos sacundus and left to their own devices with the exception of when the royal family needs something.
The blanks on the other hand are left in cavern cites beneath the towers and are equally forgotten about.
That is until the imperium comes and gets a good look at this whole situation how do they react?
What if 30k versions of The Emperor, Sanginius, Ferrus Manus, a Pre-Monarchia Lorgar and uncorrupted versions of Horus, Magnus, Angron, Mortarion, Fulgrim, Perturabo, Konrad Kurze and Alpharius Omagon, in addition to their Legions' found themselves teleported to the 42 Millennium on the world of Armageddon.
What is their reaction to the state of the Galaxy and the Imperium? What is the reaction of Roboute Guilliman when learns of what just happened on Armageddon.
This is just some thing I’m wondering and I’m pretty sure the flood spreads its infection from networks
While coming through the data-vaults of Mars an archmagos made a fascinating discovery. Coordinates to an ancient human planet untouched by the endless wars of the 41st millennium, xenos and the forces of Chaos, according to info within the data-vault the planet is said to contain fascinating archeotech as well as a group of unique psykers called "Dominants".
Wasting no time, the archmagos immediately went to work to gather forces at his command to acquire these resources for the Imperium and the Adeptus Mechanicus.
Exterminatus has been deemed too risky as it would damage the archeotech, the archmagos has to invade all the countries within the world of Valisthea the old fashion way, capture all the mothercrystals all the while the Dominants and the inhabitants are trying to stop him.
The archmagos of course is not unarmed and has brought his personal Ark Mechanicus housing his armies consisting of battle servitors, Skitarii legions, as well as help from the Legio Cybernetica.
What if the C’tan defeated the Necrons and were never sharded/killed?