Warhammer 40K: A Post-Imperium Grimdark
What would the Grimdark look like if the Imperium falls? It depends on how it all tumbles.
Warhammer Community wrote an article a while back called “The Imperium’s End” and it outlined 6 ways the end could come to the Imperium. It’s a good read and breaks down into the following:
- Chaos Daemons win via Psychic Overload
- Tyranids Eat Everyone
- Orks Overcome the Imperium
- Necrons Return to Overwhelm the Imperium
- Abaddon Takes Terra
- Internal Politics Cause Civil War
But let’s assume each these scenarios play out. What then? Will the ‘Victor’ be able to stay on their throne? Let’s go through them to find out.
Tyranids Devour The Galaxy
Personally, of the listed scenarios, I think the Tyranids devouring the galaxy seems like the most likely. It could take another 10,000 years but, as the article mentioned, they’ve already made a big dent and it’s “just the vanguard” of the Tyranids. We don’t know how many more fleets are on their way.
If they did manage to topple the Imperium, then I don’t think anyone else could stand up to them. Without humanity, Chaos loses too. Could the Necrons wake up fast enough to mount a counter? Maybe…but if they don’t react fast then the swarm would overtake them. Orks would probably put up the best fight but I still think it comes down to a numbers game. We simply don’t know how many more ‘Nids are waiting to pour in. If they win, the galaxy is devoured. The end.
Chaos Ascendant
If Chaos wins, the galaxy would be plunged into a very …chaotic setting. More so than it is currently, but they would then have to be the ones that dealt with the OTHER threats of Necrons, Tyranids, and Orks. If you ask yourself honestly, do you see Chaos being able to stop those threats and “save” the galaxy?
Without an Imperium to be a buffer, chaos wouldn’t be able to stop them. Between the Blackstone’s mysterious powers and the Shadow in the Warp, the Chaos Daemons are going to have a rough go of coming into the material space. And while the Chaos Marines under Abaddon might put up a good fight, they don’t have the numbers to stop both of those threats AND deal the Greenskins. Plus, you know Chaos would fall to infighting faster than you could answer “Which Chaos God is best?”
Plus there’s the whole “the warp is raw emotion made manifest” theory. Meaning, if there’s no creatures from the Grimdark to generate that raw emotion, what happens to the creatures of the warp? Will they be able to cross over and support the warp as well?
The Green Tide Washes Over All
Speaking of the Best, Ghaz and his Orks are another big threat. Under Ghaz, they do appear to be more and more organized. However, we still don’t know how or why Ghaz is able to seemingly teleport simultaneously to all these different sectors. This has been some new type of power that has been manifested due to the Psychic Awakening. Is this counterable with Blackstone? Is a ‘Warp’ thing? Without his leadership, the orks would also fall to infighting pretty quick. Would they put up one heck of a fight? Absolutely! But without a Warboss to rally behind, the orks don’t stand a chance. Even with Ghaz at the helm it doesn’t look good.
The Ork Empire would probably just devolve into a lot of fighting amongst all the clans. Heck, if Ghaz beats everyone, what does he do next? Leave the galaxy in search of a new enemy to fight? Hey – the Tyranids can cross the void between stars, why not orks?!
Necrons Awaken
As for the Necrons and them waking-up…this one is really going to come down to the Silent King’s long term plans. The Necrons are a big threat and they have this new “gloom” power where they can make people really sad and lethargic to the point of them just sort of giving up and going to sleep. It doesn’t sound scary but it’s been effective for them. They’ve taken over ships and set traps with this new power. Imagine what they could do to entire planets.
But suppose they did manage to cripple the Imperium and become the next major empire in the Galaxy – they’ve still got to deal with Orks, Chaos, and Tyranids. The Silent Kings knows that the Tyranids are a major problem and teaming up with Humans (or using them as shield) might be his best plan while he figure out how to stop them.
T’au & Aeldari?
While the T’au and Aeldari aren’t mentioned in the article we would have to assume they would also be players in the galactic power struggle. The Aeldari have been a “dying” race since forever. I suppose they just aren’t making enough babies to combat everyone else. They might end up being hold outs as well. Perhaps they know something that could aid other races in dealing with the Necrons, Tyranids, or Chaos – but they also just don’t have the numbers to stop any of these threats on their own. Good luck dealing with the Orks, too!
As for the T’au, they have seen pretty rapid expansion. They are the new up-and-coming race and they have also dabbled with warp travel. This is all an interesting development for sure. Their issue is what happens if they get focused on by any one of these threats. Can they deal with a Greenskin Waaagh! led by Ghaz? Can they stop multiple hive fleets simultaneously? What about Necrons and Chaos? They are a tiny-but-mighty empire…can they hold out without the Imperium acting as a buffer? I don’t think so – for now.
In a Post-Imperium Grimdark whoever rises up to take its place will still have to deal with the other threats – can they handle it? What do you think?
