ACman said:
Longshot said:
ACman said:
Military/paramilitary/intelligence and associated services then. The interesting bit is the Adeptus Administratum who seem to control planets and military. and in the back-ground even they sound like inhuman monks.
Supposedly this system of governance has been going controlling the entire human galaxy for 10,000 years; which sounds like a situation where you'd have sections of the administratum fall under the control of local princes al la europe after the Roman Empire. But no, the empire is stable despite constant war.
Hence I think it would be more interesting for the empire to fragment. Hence my previous Catholic/Protestant/Orthodox analogy.
The Administratum is also everything civil matters. Infrastructure, civil services, health care that sort of thing. It's a really broad umbrella, and another reason why your chart isn't that good at describing how the society functions.
For an example, the military branch of the administratum is a section in itself, called the munitorium. While I concede war and a militaristic mindset is weaved closely into the societys structure, it is a necessity born out of constant conflict. On any number of fronts.
The empire can't fragment. If it were ever to cease functioning as it does now, humanity would perish. Which would not make it very interesting at all, since it would mean the end of the setting.
Yes. There is only war. Not as in every planet is constantly engulfed in strife, but humanity as a whole is at constant conflict, and it is barely holding. If it were to become divisioned, if the warmachine was not fed, it would falter in its defense. And if the public was not constantly scrutinized for signs of heresy, it would crumble from within. Not because not being a fervant churchgoer is a bad thing, but because chaos must be held at bay at all costs.
Who say's that humanity would perish? The Imperium's propaganda?
If you defy the Imperium you will fall to Chaos (Ie. go to hell.): Theocratic
If we don't work together for the Imperium the imperium will fall: Fascism
It's all propaganda to support these two systems. Two types of government that I and I imagine people in the future would buck against or would be corrupt enough that people would carve out domains of their own. And I said fragment. Not fall apart. Did Europe stop working just because the Roman Empire fell? No. They became a system of feudal nationstates that paid homage to the former imperial power the papacy.You cannot tell me that a galaxywide inefficient theocratic empire wouldn't fracture.
The setting would be more interesting and dynamic if these problems or the tensions that lead to these problems were highlighted but most of the back story focuses on how space-marine chapters were formed and how they behave. And I'm with Yahtzee. Sapce Marines are boring sexless monks devoid of humanity. Interesting as part of a setting but so over emphasized that the everything else falls into the background.
Edit: I don't hate the setting just thing that the actual humanity could be a dynamic and colorful as the superhumans that inhabit it.
No, that's pretty much fact. The thing is, if chaos is not kept properly in check, it will swallow up the whole galaxy. Humanity is barely holding as it is now, and that' thanks to the system.
For one thing: How does a fractured Imperium maintain the Imperial Guard? How can the Inquisition operate, and with what authority? Where does the Mechanicum ship its manufactured arms, and what does it do with the titan legions?
Of course, measures can be taken to maintain these forces, The Guard can be something akin to the UN or Nato forces, the Inquisition a kind of Interpol, the Mechanicum can be independant manufacturers selling their weapons. The problem is that it would make everything function much less smoothly. Politics would interfere with the protection of the imperium, noone would be able to do their job properly. Humanity would be destroyed, as noone would be able to properly organize, for an example, the defense against Hive Fleet Leviathan, by Inquisitor Kryptman. Imagine the UN trying to solve that situation, and having to take those hard decisions, for an example, virus bombing an entire imperial planet out of necessity. I can see where you are coming from, but it is not possible in the setting. If you would prefer such a setting, fair enough, but its not possible to change the W40k to one such, without making major changes to EVERYTHING, all factions, and the underlying lore. You would have something very much not 40k.
As for humanity not being varied and colourful... it IS. While the government that connects systems may be a strict, unchanging, dystopian fascist oppressor, individual planets have individual cultures. Reading the books will show that. Hell, you can even see it in the Wargame itself. Tallarns differ vastly from Cadians differ vastly from Valhallans.
EDIT: I just reread your post to add something: Chaos and the threat it poses is not imperial propaganda. It's very, very real. Same goes for the xenos. It's not propaganda that the Necrons are awakening, that we've only yet seen scouting parties of the real Tyranid Hivefleet, that the Tau have advanced past humanity in terms of tech, that the Orks are an unstoppable destructive force that could slaughter everything if they worked together, etc. In fact, it is not used for propaganda at all, mostly being kept a secret as much as possible. While the imperium utilizes propaganda, the threats that beset them are very much real.
