Your Least Favorite GW Fluff

[Skeletay]

Blood angels are way too vampirey these days. I always liked the blood angels, in fact the first model I ever painted was a blood angel, way back in second edition. Back then they were the noblest of all the space marine chapters, yada yada, and only if they survived the black rage did they succumb to the red thirst. Now they seem to be vampirey all the time. It's not right, I tell you.

I also never painted the different squad types with different coloured helmets. I get different coloured helmets for sergeants and officers, but why squad type. Do the blood angels forget what sqaud they're from and need a convenient colour coded quick reference, or what?

[Drunkencorgimaster]

My biggest beef with 40k is that there is so much written, virtually everyone new to 40k in the past 10 years has no idea what was written before. Such as:

Imperial Guard use to be composed of Humans, Beastmen, Squats, Ratings, and Ogryn and they use to have access to Robots, Rhinos, Land Raiders, Land Speeders, Jet Bikes, Bikes, Jump Packs, and Dreadnoughts; Roboute Gilliman was an Imperial Commander back then.

Space Marines were combat drug and cyberneticly enhanced murders in powered vacuum armour with ... Robots, Rhinos, Land Raiders, Land Speeders, Jet Bikes, Bikes, Jump Packs, and Dreadnoughts; Ultramarines were the 13th chapter of the 3rd founding, Dark Angels wore black, and Salamanders were the original Green Marines.

Dark Eldar were members of the Harlequins. Eldar were allies of the Inquisition. Orks were green blooded reptilians, not red blooded fungus. Genesteelers were not Tyranids (but Orks may have been, as Squiggs were found with both Ork and Tyranid forces).

Oh! Disk Riders of Tzeentch where Chaos Space Marines in both Fantasy and 40k.

Of course, fluff has drifted over time. Many of the above examples have changed either do to retroactive reconstructions of the 40k universe or through the simple method of just not mentioning it ever again.

For example, Squats became their own army, and then were dropped because GW was unable to define the concept of “intellectual property” until afterward. Beastmen were dropped out of Imperial Guard as they were too close to the than concept of chaos and mutation, which flew in the face of then newer fluff about purity of the human species and purging of mutation. Robots left the fold due to reason never really define but probably related to intellectual property issues. Guard lost all of their “Marine” Gear when they gain Tanks and APC’s of their own. Everyone lost Jet Bikes other than Eldar (and Dark Eldar when they stopped being harlequins/pirates and became non-Slaanesh pain-worshipers). At some point, Roboute Gilliman became a primarch, the Ultramarines became the 13th Legion, and Dark Angels became green. Orks became fungus, ‘Steelers became ‘Nids, Squiggs became an Ork-only sub-species, and Squats/Beastmen went away forever.

And then there are the Necrons. They started out as the “undead” of the 40k universe; robots from a bygone time, activating and rising from the dust to defend the shattered ruins of their past … nope, scratch that, they are ancient aliens that covered themselves in metal so that they can be the slaves of greedy star-gods and fight chaos by killing everything, which only feeds chaos as living souls are released, etc, etc.

Tau. Where do we start with Tau? Superior technology, inferior history. All for the greater good, even if it means doing evil things. Everything has its place, and that place is slavery or death; but it’s all for the greater good!

Chaos Marines. The losers of a galactic civil war and the champions of the chaos gods. They were legion, they were strong, they were plenty, and now they are only the Black Legion as GW can’t be bothered to include rules for fielding factional armies anymore.

On technology. The Imperium of Man is a stagnant society where progress is heresy, failure is heresy, and initiative is heresy. Everything that is “new” is ancient, just seldom used and a rare find, that is until some new fluff comes along and changes the paradigm yet again. “It may be heresy, but it’s been in use for a 1,000 years and it just saved you butt. I guess that means it’s not heresy.”

Now don’t get me wrong, more recent fluff has been filling the holes left open for years, yet the more recent fluff still glosses over established fluff as if everyone knows it so therefore it can be ignored or over written when older backgrounds get in the way of dramatic license because the authors forgot.

SJ

Awesome post, who knew the Ultramarines were 3rd founding?

[CaptainLoken]

My least favorite Fluff comes from a book. Hammer of Daemons...wow did I not like that book...

Now, I will not try to spoil anything for anyone, but the author had no concept of faith. In fact, most of the Black Library authors seems to completely ignore this little bit of humanity. Now, I'm not saying that Space Marines, or Grey Knights, believe that the Emperor is a god. In fact, most of the Fluff says that they do not.

However, faith in an ideal, as well as a spiritual being, can be one of the most powerful forces in the universe. Look at the Egyptians. They built tombs for their rulers because they BELIEVED that they were gods on Earth. Faith can literally move mountains...

Not so in Hammer of Daemons. There is a point in the book where it would have been amazingly cool to have a little scene where faith wins the day. Instead, we get insanity...

Ruined the whole book for me, as well as tarnished the legacy of the Grey Knights in my mind as well...

However, other people have enjoyed the book, so to each their own I guess...

[Rahakanji]

I dont like the fluff of the 1st Tanith, sure the story is cool. But they kill CSM like they were little more than men. Sorry but this is sh***

[Corsair117]

personally i dislike the fluff for the tyranids, don't get me wrong the whole ultimate-predator-space-locusts thing is fine i just dislike the fact that their like the dominoes pizza guys of evolution "30 minutes or less".

[Jackmojo]

The Necrons, but mostly the C'Tan, I like the idea of long dead robots rising to go all terminatory on every living thing, but the star gods and war in heaven fluff is garbage.

Jack

[The Lord]

I never really liked some of the extra "superpowers" that marines have like spitting acid, color changing skin, and being able to absorb information through eating their victim???? what? im really glad they dont go into much detail on those bits of fluff as much.

[Jive Tyrant]

Orks growing from spores. That's what spoils them for me.

[Archon]

Primarchs.

Because they are so cool. But there has never been models or rules. So instead there have been many sub standard conversions and bad home brew rules. We have titans, Ctan, and DPs. But we never get Primarchs, ever in any edition.

So I would rather they were gone... or GW actually give them some attention. Apoc pre-heresy edition.

I think it is very wise from GW not to make stats and minis for the Primarchs. They are better left to our imagination. Besides the are stats for Angron in an Apo Sheet. Thats a little step to much. I don´t like to see a primarch reduce to T6 or somthing.

Fluff I don´t like is Orkz. Funguid? Thats so much silly its hurts. And it is so much not-fitting. Barbarians made out of mushroom.

But speaking of the Eye of Terror in the opening post - I´m a little frightend by the way the fluff of chaos ist changing. The animostiy ist not rule-relevant and - in the case of Chaos Deamons, crippled to a tiny little rule.

[AshHammer]

My lest favorite fluff would be anything that C.S. Goto has written. That man makes me shudder some times.