It might sound stupid but from the WFRP I know that there are big differences in the game worlds. I haven't read much about Orcs or Tyranids or whatever in the published books - and by not much I mean "nothing I can remember" - is there any rumour about the known TT menaces featuring in the RPG?

The eldars have made an appearance. But else?

Depends which books you read. I read alot of dan abnetts writing.

In his books there are hints, in the gaunts ghosts series they are maining fighting chaos cultists, but on one occasion they fought orks. In Eisenhorn, his apprentice Ravenor actually had dealings with the eldar. In Ravenor, he was sent to a world invested by tyranids as a trap that neerly killed him.

Most inquisitoral novels wont deal with the tabletop "military" forces, as they are the problems of the imperial navy, astartes, the imperial guard, ect ect. But their meer mention makes it clear that not only are they known, but they are feared.

in Jaq Draco's trilogy they fight genestealers and the tyranids are said to had been defeated by space marines.

my fault i forgot the eldars There is a war with the eldars on a planet and a lot of info about eldars are told ..as they profecy and the book of destiny ( the Rhana Dandra or something like that) and the web they use in place of the warp ) for space travel.

The thing to remember is that while both the TT and RPG happen in the same galaxy, that galaxy is very big. The TT deals with the frontier, the parts of the Imperium that are in constant contact with the big xenos menace, and in a state of almost constant war. You are dealing with big problems that are normally solved with armies and fleets.

The RPG deals with much smaller problems, no less serious in their capability to do damage to the imperium, but those that are more likely to be solved by a group of basically freelance operatives who have to win by using their brains (normally) and not a vast amount of High Explosive. In the RPG the threat comes from your fellow citizens, which in my book is probably scarier than a charging ork.

www.lexicanum.com

The above link is a wiki for EVERYTHING or ANYTHING you want to know about the Warhammer universes.

To answer your question about Xenos being brought into DH, the thing you have to keep in mind is the location of the Claxis Sector. On the galactic map, the Claxis Sector is in Segmentum Pacificus relatively near the the edge of Segmentum Obscurus and the Eye of Terror. As such most of the Xenos races would be able to be brought in as they're spread across the galaxy. The only ones excluded are the Tau who only have a small sphere of influence on the fringes of Imperial space in the Segmentum Ultima. The Eldar, Orks, and Necrons are spread across the whole of the galaxy, and the Tyranids are coming into it from several points. Then again I suppose you could argue Kroot or Farsight Enclave (Both Tau if you're unfamiliar) mercenaries could have some how found themselves hired for things on the opposite side of the galaxy, but that's a little bit of a stretch.

Whether Fantasy Flight intends on including them, I haven't the slightest. They may very well just be saving them for the Rogue Traders and Death Watch games.

Also an interesting little fact since someone mentioned Eisenhorn. The Claxis Sector is actually near the Scarus Sector where both the Eisenhorn and Ravenor books took place.

Thx for all your answers. Ironically, shortly after having posted this question a review of Creatures Anathema popped up on rpg.net where this was answered. So Orcs and Tyranids and whatever are "canonical" to the RPG, too.

Someone suggested that Dark Heresy takes place earlier in the 40K timeline than than the 40K table top game, but so far, I haven't been able to find any proof of this in the books I already own. That could explain some of the differences if it's true. However, we should receive stats for several of the creatures you associate with Warhammer 40K in Creatures Anathema. I'm pretty sure the design team said their will be stats for the Lictor and Genestealer in that book as well several kinds of daemons that are not in the core book.

dwraley said:

As is made clearest in the timeline , the 'start date' for Dark Heresy's default setting is 815.M41, while official 40k timelines in the last few editions of the game have gone up to the very last days of 999.M41, some 184 years later.

N0-1_H3r3 said:

It gets more confusing though in that the events of "Scourge the Heretic" (the first novel released to support Dark Heresy) takes place in 993.M41. But I just figure that's an editorial blunder.

I have a question...

What is TT?

...Idless

*This post was to short to be posted to these forums, so this filler line had to be added

Nerd King said:

Or something that simply hasn't happened yet in the DH timeline. As far as I can tell, the only major significant event in the last years of the 41st Millennium that is likely to influence the Calixis Sector is the 13th Black Crusade (during which, an Ork invasion conquered the neighbouring Scarus sector), which I imagine would force the Calixis Sector to start mobilising troops to help in the defence of the Sectors surrounding the Eye of Terror.

TT = Table Top as in 'Warhammer 40K', but could also apply to Inquisistor, Epic 40K, Space Hulk, ...

In Eisenhorn "Xenos", there is a three Children of the Emperor (Chaos Space Marines) which are fought. One is fought by Eisenhorn directly, one fought mano y mano straight up by a Space Marine and another mentioned. As written there, "ordinary" humans have no chance against them, even talented Inquisitors like Eisenhorn are generally not up to taking them on. So figure, min max your character to 14999 points, get them equipped, call them an Inquisitor, then make something tougher than that and you have the inkling of power a Space Marine may have.

Well, that's only kind of true. If the opponent is a psyker, or has equipment that's built for the job (like a multi-melta emplacement on a tripod) then a normal human may drop an astartes no problem (well, once the shot/attack lands it's no problem, hitting the fraggers is a seperate issue). A well coordinated team that gets the drop on one might as well, as long as they had weapons capable of penetrating the armor with enough punch to do real damage. In melee you're only going to survive if you've got some very special equipment or tricks up your sleeve, and then you're most likely going to just escape if you pull everything off right.

Like Cain holding off the Chaos Marine when they attacked on that planet with the Slaanesh cult.

Letrii said:

Yes, in game terms here's how that may have played out:

Marine attacks, Cain is on full defensive and parries.

Cain disengages from melee

Everyone (yes, everyone) shoots the marine (numerous las bolts, a melta, and some other ordinance IIRC). Marine takes critical damage, many penalties are assigned...

Cain finishes stunned and brutalized marine off with a chainsword all-out attack.

So sure, a highly skilled swordsman (which Cain is, it is repeatedly made clear he is an amazing duelist) can hold a marine off for a round, maybe two, before eventually giving way to their superior power. Having a couple squads of fire support unload on him for you helps.

All else fails run in with a melta bomb.