Total Fluff ups - When GW forgets what they wrote...

[Levitas]

Over 5 editions of 40k a lot of things can change. Sometimes GW clarify and develop the back story, other times they ignore completely what has been written before. Then there are those times when the writers just seem to go off on one down the merry road of "I'm gonna change that guys name now" (Ranek/Ulrik)

What are the infamous instances when fluff has changed dramatically from its original source, or stuff that doesnt add up? And just what colour is Ragnar Blackmanes hair??

[gwensdad]

I've got a book on painting marines, and it refers to Space Wolves as "The most devoted to the codex of all chapters".

And the Salamanders were the "green" chapter, not the Dark Angels.

[Duke]

Well, I know that this example is Fantasy based but I couldn't help myself.

The master of all fluff ups: End of Times worldwide campaign... Archon invades and gets pwnd, so we will just rewind time in the army book to say that he is just about to launch his invasion of the old world... Being the Everchosen has its benefits, like rewinding time when you get owned.

Duke

[Bung]

The BT story in Words of Blood
Covering a BT Devastor Squad.

[Fantomex]

Quoting in the Space Marine Codex from the Iron Hands chapter master, them being the main chapter that *don't* have a master..

[Abominable Plague Marine]

And the Salamanders were the "green" chapter, not the Dark Angels.

That is correct, pre-Heresy, Dark Angels were all black (or at least dark armoured).

GW have repeatedly stated that history that is written and re-written over 10,000 years will change or become lost. I like it, and it intrigues the young guys, they go looking for it or gape open mouthed at the tales that are no longer written and have been lost in time.

[johnny_trash]

How about the fluff that Roboute used to be an Imperial Army general, and that the Ultramarines were a second founding chapter? That's a good one...

[Cascadia]

could be mistaken but im sure i read that Smurfs were one of the first chapters to turn renegade, this was way way back in some long forgotten WD issue which i cant remember, someone else must remember more details on it?

[Ulag Grimskar]

That is correct, pre-Heresy, Dark Angels were all black (or at least dark armoured).

GW have repeatedly stated that history that is written and re-written over 10,000 years will change or become lost. I like it, and it intrigues the young guys, they go looking for it or gape open mouthed at the tales that are no longer written and have been lost in time.

Also, has anyone noticed that the fallen and therefore heresy-times Cypher is wearing a green armour?

I definitley agree that I see the fluff as a mix between actual knowledge we (as the players) get and the stuff the Imperium or some Xenos see as history, with the Necrons or Tyranids as good examples, where we know a lot more of than any Magos Biologis or Ordo Xenos Inquisitor. Therefore, stuff changing is also a reflection of further (or lost) knowledge of any Factions present in the 40k-universe. Same is true for actual history as well, and I find this rather interesting....

[RogueGarou]

Yeah the decision to have Cypher wear green power armor and the bone colored robes of the post-Heresy Inner Circle of the Dark Angels is never properly explained. I imagine it was just a goof on the 'Eavy Metal guy that painted him up for the color plates. I always thought a reasonable explanation was that he dresses in that fashion to pass as a loyal Dark Angel when he shows up somewhere in the Imperium.

One thing that always bugged me, and at least one contributor to White Dwarf, was the color selections of the Inner Circle named characters. Members of the Inner Circle of the Dark Angels are inducted into the Deathwing. All members of the Deathwing wear bone white armor to honor the Terminators who saved their homeworld from a Genestealer infestation. Oh, wait, all members except Ezekiel, Azrael, and Asmodai. They wear white robes but do not paint their armor as if they are members of the Deathwing. There was a gent in a White Dwarf who painted his characters in Bleached Bone armor with the robes colored for their role: blue, green, and black for Ezekiel, Azrael, and Asmodai respectively. I always liked that look because it makes more sense to me and looks drastically different than you normally see those models. However, I could see those characters NOT wearing the bone colored armor so they do not stand out as much to their enemies but it is never explained as such. There is a parallel in the real world where rank insignia is in a subdued color scheme or sometimes not worn to make officers blend in with the rank and file so there may be a reason for the apparent flub. I think a painter just got the assignment to paint the models and did not know any better but then no one at GW ever voiced an explanation one way or the other.

Also, I always wondered why Ahriman's Black Staff is actually white. Maybe it goes something like this: In the grim darkness of the far-off nightmare future... wow, it really is dark, isn't it? I mean, I never realized my staff was white. Wow, this puts things into a totally new perspective. Maybe.. ahh, nope, those "Pretty Marines" still look, ahem, "odd".