Thanks FL, this is very helpful! I knew that my poor knowledge of 40K lore could be problematic for this project, and I do want to stay within the existing universe as best as possible!

The Necron suggestion is great and I agree that it is a fresher take than "Chaos did it"!

A few quick questions / points;

From what I've read in the Lexicanum, the Necron seem to be unstoppable. Is it reasonable to suggest that The Exiles could have defeated them? They do have superior technology to Marines/IG but although I haven't set it out yet, their technology is simply a more advanced version of what is already established for the Imperium. Perhaps the world could have been a Necron outpost (is/could there be such a thing?) rather than a Tomb World if that would make The Exiles victory more feasible?

You referred to the stasis vaults - presumably these are deep underground, undetectable from the surface? I was thinking perhaps that in mining for minerals The Exiles may have discovered the tombs and awoken the Necrons then (although this has some echoes of LOTR "The Dwarves dug too greedily and too deep. You know what they awoke in the darkness of Khazad-Dum. Shadow and flame.")

On review of the basic set up of the 40K geography (if I can call it that!), The Exiles found themselves in the Eastern Fringe. If anyone wants to make it any more specific than this, please let me know, preferably with a suggestion as to where!

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With the latest codex, necron fluff is all over the place. Not at all unreasonable for the necrons on a world to have already been damaged by 60 million years of stasis, for their leaders to have gone nuts and be unable to coordinate their forces in an effective way (making them kind of extremely dangerous random raiders rather than an army). Basically, there are any number of ways to explain why this particular necron world is only a serious challenge instead of a boot crushing an ant.

The balrog parallel is certainly one way to go. You could also have necron seismic sensors detecting heavy construction on the surface, the exiles colonizing a new landmass on the planet or even just have the necrons alarm clock going off.

Eastern Fringe puts them close to the Tau Empire and the Ultramarines but very far away from Terra. If you would rather they didn't interact with the Tau (who are also a more high-tech, sci-fi race and who would be quite open to friendly relations with an advanced group of humans) then probably shift more north east. It would probably be a good idea to explain what contact they have had with the Tyranids as well. While it is vaguely conceivable that an interstellar society has been completely missed by the 'nids, I think it would lack authenticity.

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Once Upon a Midnight Dreary....

I'd prefer that The Exiles were not known to the Ultramarines, but like the idea of having had dealings with the Tau. When the Exiles encountered the Tau, it was requested that they work together. The Exiles sensed that the Tau would attack their world if they refused the offer and so have co-operated with them ever since to preserve their independence and survival from the Tau.

I notice that the Tau have only been about for 6,000 years so this would be a late development for The Exiles who have been in the Eastern Fringe for much, much longer.

About the Tyranids; I'm a bit stumped on that one because if the 'Nids knew of The Exiles, why wouldn't they attack and overwhelm them?

I suppose the size and scale of The Exiles needs to be clairified. Perhaps 100 planets? Does this seem too big / too small?

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If you really wanted to mess with people's heads, add some vague hints that the Exiles actually had a hand in the development of the Tau. Tau background is full of hints that some outside force either outright created them, or has been subtly manipulating them for most of their history. Theories about who and why abound, Eldar are probably the most common theory. If you wanted to do that, you would need to come up with a good reason why the Exiles wanted to rapidly uplift a new race in their neighborhood though.

As for Tyranids. They attack and consume any world that they find. They have vanguard organisms that try and infiltrate good candidates, but the whole process is kinda random. The Tau have fended off a hive fleet, so it is doable. If the Exiles learned of the threat somehow, or were attacked by a small splinter fleet and they are formulating a defense against this new threat, or maybe they are being real Cads and actively seeding Imperial worlds with genestealers in order to divert the hive ships away from their own planets and toward the Imperium's.

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Once Upon a Midnight Dreary....

Believe it or not, this fits in nicely with other points I was thinking about as I read about the Tau...

I had planned for The Exiles vehicles to have sheilding, initially I was thinking Void Shields but the Deflector Shields that the Tau have are better suited to the game (from a NetEpic POV at least). Given that The Exiles are the decendants of the great scientific minds from the Dark Age of Technology and still have a lot of data from that time, I was thinking that the AI tech that the Tau use would also be theirs.

I had already been thinking that The Exiles would have wanted to have created a subservient warrior class to protect their world after the encounter with the Necrons. At first I was thinking that these would be something along the lines of the Space Marines, created millennia before the Emperor got into the process of creating the Marines themselves.

So the Tau were created by The Exiles to aid them in their quest to expand their empire, sent in to clear worlds before the Exiles themselves arrived to terraform and inhabit them. The "Greater Good" philosophy is one that The Exiles instilled in their slave race as these intelligent humans would look to provide their creations with some sort of code of morality.



I love the idea of The Exiles being b*stards and seeding human worlds to divert the hive ships! While they are generally "good", The Exiles naturally feel alienated from the rest of humanity and still harbour resentment towards their fellow man for their exile millennia ago.

I'm going to redraft this further later on today - by all means if you want to have a go and rework anything, please do!

Cheers!

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Chaps, this is brilliant stuff! The idea of Tau being a subservient, genetically bread, military force and ally is a great explanation. Also a lost Necron outpost would explain a lot. Could it also be feasible that an Exile surveying expedition have found traces of Necron technology in the past. Over the years PAL has had a minor break through in replicating their technology, hence giving their weapons a better edge at destroying Necrons over the likes of SM and IG. Could the necrons had fought the tyranids in the past and defeated them? Sending them away with a bloody nose (or should that be tentacle or snout?) This could be why the planets/system are neglected by the tyranids since as the Hive know of other necron stasis tomb worlds populated by the Exiles. What would they gain by awakening the nerons again...they cant be consumed by the Hive after all (or can they??) This would explain the stripped and barren planets that needed terraforming in the first place?

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Whoa! I like where this is going

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How about:

An Exile expedition team, sent out to a carry out geological survey for raw material extraction uncovered what was a damaged metallic skeleton and a weapon. These were taken back to the scientific elite for study. During the tests PAL carried out, it inadvertently reactivated the Necron and its weapon. This gave PAL the chance to partially interface with it, gleaming some of the Necrons secrets. Unbeknown to the Exiles, upon reactivating the Necron, it sent out a distress call to its own kind, hidden deep underground in stasis. The dilapidated Necron force were all that remained of a victorious force who had fought and won against a Tyranid attack, millennia past.

The Necron force, however, was still strong enough to inflict heavy losses on the unaware Exile military. Targeting and wiping out many major tactical instillations. PAL and the scientific elite were turned to to find a solution to combat the Necrons. It was at this point PAL devised a hybrid technology, based on ancient human weapons and the new Necron data it had recovered. A small elite force, the remains of the Exiles special forces, were equipped with these new prototype weapons. Over the coming weeks, and numerous skirmishes, the small force managed to destroy the remaining Necrons. However, the Necrons had destroyed almost all of the Exiles military capability in the conflict. Once again, PAL was turned to for a solution.

The following is a possibility? Though this would introduce a second new race...do we want this at this time?

The solution: to take the DNA from the Exile elite and splice it with the DNA of an indigenous primate of one of the Colony worlds. This was the creation of a race designed to help repair and re -establish the Home world whilst also protecting the fringes of the Exiles colonies whilst they re established a new formidable and stranger military force.

Could the Exiles then either a) wipe out the hybrid race years later after they rebelled/were consumed or infected by tyranids? this would get rid of them totally or b) the hybrid race then interact with the Tau at a much later date being located on the fringe worlds of the Exiles empire, introducing the Tau to the Exiles? Then become infected by Nid's and the Tau wipe them out prompting tensions between Tau and the Exiles?

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Hmm I think its a bit too much to create a new race that actually created TAU. GW fluff might reveale their origin someday and then there is a conflict.

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Good point Knowing them, they probably will. I've edited the last piece to remove this point....so anyone reading this will wonder what we were talking about

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Hehe yup

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This will have them thinking now

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This is a bit of a jump in the Exiles possible future, but for them to become known again to the Imperium, could one of their cargo ships have been crippled and left for dead to drift in space by pirates , only to be found by the Adeptus Mechanicus? They then realised it was lost technology, found star charts and trade route's in the ships data banks, leading back to the Exiles Empire. The AM sent a large force to retrieve PAL, war broke out, AM retreated and now scene is set for the introduction of the Exiles in the Universe.

Again, this can be completely rehashed and padded out. Just another quick thought

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I just blend them into the existing paradigm ... I have DRM, Exodus Wars, Microworld, CinC, Old Crow, etc. in my forces ... Generally humans go to the IG. Lizard [DRM, EW, CinC] types allied with Orks. Tau can have a number of allies, like CinC's Felids are with mine. Android(DRM Andys & EW Edenites) types with my Necrons. CinC is going to release a mix of Alien Mercs [ Reptiles, Apes, ETs, etc., etc.]. In the original Epic rules the Orks could use Freebooterz(Mercs) and Chaos could too ... I think those would be a good fit for CinC Felids, Alien Mercs, etc. ... If my OLD CROW/GZG Slammers are not hired to fight the IG and Squats, they are hired by IG and Squats to help out with those pesky aliens of all sorts. Orks, Chaos, Necrons, Bugs, etc., etc. ... Dare I say, the new 6mm Quar line by Zombiesmith, could work for Tau allies, or even IG allies/Abhumans, like Ogryn and Ratlings ... OR ... Chaos Cultists ...

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That's a perfectly acceptable way to go about it. I just thought it would be good fun for us to let our imaginations run riot and see where it took us! Anyway, where were we?

I loved FL's idea about The Exiles becoming the creator of the Tau just because it all seemed to fit together nicely... but that said, LS is right to point out that if GW ever reveal where the Tau came from it could mess up our fan fluff! Part of me thinks to hell with what GW do, but I'm sure most players would prefer we created something that stayed true to the source material...

I like psypher's idea of "the hybrid race then interact with the Tau at a much later date being located on the fringe worlds of the Exiles empire, introducing the Tau to the Exiles?" The obvious choice here would be the Kroot for which we could use Onslaught Miniatures' Avians, but I'm not sure I like the idea of The Exiles creating the Kroot as much as I did their creating the Tau. Are there any other forces on the market that we need fluff for?

I also like psypher's idea of the Imperium discovering the presence of The Exiles and hunting for them to exploit / destroy their advanced technology.

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