Velvetears said:

Erm... because they've already been killed off in the canon? Kinda hard to bring them back after GW have not only said they had no interest in bringing them back, but they killed them all too.

As for the above post, I agree, Squats were dumb, and the way GW have done most abhumans is just silly. Meanwhile, the totally xenos Demiurg actually seem to be what I'd be after in "space dwarves". Having them be abhumans was doing them a disservice anyway.

I wouldn't mind seeing more realistic humans from light/heavy gravity worlds. I think squats/orgyns/ratlings just break with reality on how long evolution takes to work.

Hey, I have no problem with people finding the Squats "Silly." Personally, I find a lot of Ork stuff "silly" (squigs, football hooligan attitude, clan logos, snotlings etc etc) and choose not to buy Ork miniatures or background. I also have no problem with people finding ratlings "silly" and choosing not to buy stuff relating to them.

But just because I happen not to like an army, it doesn't mean I should retrospectively destroy them so no one else can use them in the setting!

NIce one, GW. Clap

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The primary trouble with The Squats (besides some superficial design choices) was the background. In a game ALL about UNENDING WAR the Squats were written as being far too stable in their little corner of the universe.

-They understnd technology, capable of engineering feats beyond even the Mechanicus (neo plasma reactor powered by a warp core held in thrall in a zero-energy containment field anyone).

-Their worlds are universally inhospitable, with little in the way of life, the only thing of worth being minerals. Now minerals dont lend themselves to very dynamic storytelling do they?

-Oh but they are incredibly well defended fortress worlds, nigh on impregnable and universally dangerous environments. So none going to have much luck attacking them are they?

-They are entirely self sufficient thanks to algal food and beer, so no real need to trade or raid other worlds for essentials...

-Long lived and tougher than normal men...

-Even their Psykers are stable, protected from the warp, able to control their powers reliably...

The only hint of a weakness is their 'brutal manner and fierce tempers' and tendency to not let go of a grudge...

So in a game about WAR the Squats are securely placed, extremely difficult to attack, with little reason to interact with the other worlds (other than their own ridiculous grudges). Doesnt really sound like a recipe for an endless war... Basically to bring them back you need to rewrite the background to give them some strong motivation for fighting EVERYONE, which they are essentially lacking.

The obsession with canon and continuity did the Squats in really. GW just left them alone for a long time...but people just keep asking and begging and needing to know what happened to them and where they are now, so dont be surprised when GW gives you an answer at long last...It'll get rewritten again anyway when there are new writers in the future.

In games of DH though Squats still have a point, a fun counterpoint to the AdMech, and a really cool heretical threat to mind and sanity of any right thinking Imperial citizen They are not gone from the universe just gone as an army.

As I have said alot of this Squat business could be solved by giving them shorter lives than regular humans on average. Just look at the Jinxians from Known Space. They're descended from colonist that made a heavy gravity world. While they're industrious people and quiet scientific in the books, they are driven by their short lifespans to succeed.

Now why they have short lifespans, its quite simple due to a variety of heart and circulatory problems that occur during natal development that lead them to generally shorter lives. Sure they can bend a steel girder but the it really shapes their culture in cool ways with the whole mortality thing.