40K: What Happens After Vigilus?
Vigilus is a dynamic and important battle between the Imperium, Chaos, and Xenos forces in the Sector. But what happens after the dust settles?
In Vigilus Defiant, we saw the return of Marneus Calgar leading the Ultramarines to save the system from the clutches of the double threat of Orks and Genestealer Cults. We had the Adeptus Mechanicus, Astra Militarum, and a slew of other Space Marines involved in the fighting, too. This system was way too important to ignore. And at the very end of the lore section in the book we had the arrival of Chaos, led by Haarken Worldclaimer.
We’re on the brink of the second part of the Vigilus story. On Tuesday of next week, we’ll be at the 80 day mark. We’re probably going to see some pretty BIG changes heading our way soon. Heck, we know Chaos and the Space Marines are both getting some pretty big reinforcements with the Shadowspear box that’s probably around the corner, too.
We know the Warmaster is coming. This conflict has set the stage to pit Calgar vs his old foe Abaddon once again. But it feels like the stakes are a little bit higher this time and I wonder if GW has written themselves into a bit of a jam. Allow me to explain.
We’ve basically got two options for how this plays out in the long run: Either Calgar beats Abaddon or Abaddon beats Calgar. Both of those options could really skew things in the future.
Think about it – let’s say Calgar wins. That’s a BIG deal. Abaddon has been on a winning streak since Cadia. Sure, you can believe the Imperial spin on things, but the Warp-scar says that Abaddon was the winner there. Plus he’s getting a new model! So you want to keep that hype train for Chaos rolling as we are most likely going to get a new Chaos Space Marine Codex/book of some type soon. That doesn’t bode well as Abaddon is once again reduced to the 14-time loser of the Black Crusade Challenge.
On the flip side, let’s assume that Abaddon is victorious. Well, that makes Calgar appear equally as bad. And he just got all Primaris-sized and fancy. If he loses at Vigilus, that’s just more fodder for the OTHER Space Marine Characters to not take the plunge. If the other characters don’t get the Primaris treatment, then GW can’t sell you new models – and we know that’s not how they stay in business. Maybe Calgar calls in Guilliman? That still doesn’t make Primaris Marines seem good, does it?
Also from a purely lore perspective, if Chaos wins the sector, then one of the only safe space lanes has been taken. That splits the Imperium in two! What would happen if that played out – would we end up with a split Imperium faction in the long run? Who knows!
How Will They Get Out of This Mess?
So how do you make this problem go away? How do you make it so that both side come out of this as victors and are able to save-face? Well, I think that answer lies with the Xenos factions. We’ve got Orks on the planet after-all and they LOVE a good crumpin’! But we’ve seen that resolution before, haven’t we…
Two champions going toe-to-toe only to get the fight interrupted by a third party and thus sparing BOTH combatants? Nah…never seen that before.
Only this time, I don’t think it’s going to be Ghazghkull Thraka showing up to “save the day” – I think we’re about to see the Tyranids go full-on snack time on the system.
Remember the video for the Genestealer Cults release? They showed off a LOT of things making planetfall. Now, those things could have been for another planet…but what if it was a hint at what’s to come. The Ascension Day plans might have happened a little sooner than they would have liked, but it sure seems like they were ready to strike, doesn’t it? The Genestealer Cults have already fired-off that psychic beacon signaling dinner time for the Tyranids. What better way to end it in a draw than to have the Tyranids invade the system?
The Orks will keep fighting them and it’s too valuable for the Imperium to just stop fighting for it. Will Chaos want to give up their shiny new Flesh-werks on Nemendghast? Everyone has a reason to stick it out and the injection of the Tyranids means this war can just keep going.
The Xenos factions are the wild card. GSC vs Orks vs Imperium vs Chaos. What happens after the dust settles on Vigilus? I don’t think we’re going to find out how that battle ends for a long time…
What do you think? Will Calgar claim victory? Will Abaddon’s arrival be too much for the Imperial defenders? Are we going to see a Deus Ex Tyranids situation? Maybe Ghaz WILL teleport in and punch someone in the face! Let us know your theories in the comments!
