40K: How Much Can GW Shake Up the Grimdark
Every company wants to inject new blood into old franchises – but just how far is GW willing to go?
It’s time to give 40K a shot in the arm!
Time to Liven Things Up
OK, with all the rumors of the End Times approaching for the Imperium, it’s safe to say that GW may be looking to shake things up a bit for 30 year old 40K.
Age of Sigmar HAS been a shot of creativity – injected straight into the beating heart of the GW Design Studio – and I bet the regular staff is excited to flex their creative muscles in such a black slate of a universe. Now think about switching gears at your desk job from designing for a 2 year old franchise to working on a very very mature one older than many of the staff.
I think GW knows better than to do a giant reset. I would bet good money there will be no Old World style “End Times” coming for the Grimdark. But the trick would be – how do you add a lot of spice and new life into the Grimdark, not invalidate every bit of lore and codex out there – yet give every faction something cool to excite the players and non-coincidentally spike sales?
I think you can go faction by faction, and see not the details, but the general direction GW seems to be going to liven things up. Let’s get started:
Advancing the Story
Chaos: Based on every rumor we have been hearing – it looks like for Abaddon, the 13th time’s the charm. A successful Black Crusade headed to Terra with a handful of Daemon Primarchs and the ruinous powers in tow will liven things up quite a bit. There were hints in Traitor’s Hate that Abaddon is trying to work some sorcery and create a warprift from the Eye of Terror all the way to Terra. That would be exciting (for chaos).
The Imperium: I would assume a 2nd Siege of Terra would count as a major shakeup. Exotic sub-factions like the Sisters of Silence, Custodes, Deathwatch, and the Inquisition could all get in on the “backs against the wall” action. If the Adeptus Mechanicus have any crazy secrets hidden in the closets of Mars (and you know those nutters do) – this would be the time to pull them out (and get them on the store shelves for us to buy). The Space Marines and Astra Militarum would of course pitch in. Who knows maybe some no-name chapters would get wiped out in heroic defense of Holy Terra (the Bell of Lost Souls tolls for the Imperial Meercats, who fell to a man defending the outer marches of the Sol system).
Tau: GW has been dropping not so subtle hints of the Tau messing with warp engines. Give the blue dudes the ability to travel great distances and hook them up with some new allies and you have a recipe for a serious “good xenos” counterweight to the Imperium.
Eldar: Remember a few months back when Eldrad and the Harlequins were trying to create a new Eldar God to destroy Slaanesh? Funny how the Death Masque boxed set came and went in a weekend. I’m sure those loose plot threads are going to get pulled on and the the Dark Kin will be sucked into the mix. A reborn Eldar race without the fear of Slaanesh is something the Imperium , Necrons, and Chaos most of all would fear.
Misc Xenos. Sometimes it sucks to be the bit players on the stage. I have zero idea where GW will take the Orks, Tyranids and Necrons, but as we have seen in past eras, when the Imperium is distracted dealing with a mortal threat (Abaddon), all the hooligans start causing trouble all over the place. I would expect big areas of the Imperium to crack up and be lost to Xenos domination.
Oh yeah – I almost forgot – Cypher. He’s gonna show up at the foot of the Golden Throne with that sword before this is all over…
~What much of a shakeup would you get behind for your favorite faction to liven up a new edition of 40K?
