HappyDaze said:

H.B.M.C. said:

Small things sneak in there now, and by next edition they'll be paving the way for further shifts. The setting certainly isn't what it was 20 years ago, and in a few more years I can hope it'll shift to something else again. Perhaps the Squats will be fully represented by time of the next edition…

Hmm…I'd be comfortable with nids "allying" with just about anyone made of organic nonwarp matter but orks and crons, fluffwise represented as "widespread low-generation genestealer infiltration"

Kshatriya said:

Genestealer cults as allies for Tyranids never made sense to me, personally - afterall, the genestealer cultists (like everything else on that planet) are going to be devoured indiscriminately. The cultists may be praying for that, and will likely have been working towards it in their own way (behind the lines sabotage and subversion, etc), but the notion of brood brothers and hybrids fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with true Tyranids has always seemed jarring.

Face Eater said:

What do you mean by this?  I assume they haven't literally listed 995 of the 1,000 chapters.

 Face Eater means that Codex: Imperial Guard represents ALL of the regiments of the Imperial Guard, loyal, traitor, and everything in between, and that Codex: Space Marines (theoretically) represents all of the chapters of Space Marine except for the Black Templars, the Blood Angels, the Dark Angels, the Grey Knights, and the Space Wolves.

Gaire said:

Precisely, of course the number is less than 995 because if you wanted a successor of the 5 named above you youd be likely to class it as them. But beyond that all chapters they've mentioned, or even your home made chapters would use the standard rules in Codex Space Marine but their individual opinions of other races and other Imperial forces vary dramatically.

So, here I've made a primlinary list of ally treatment for the Deathwatch its self:

Battle Brothers: Black Templars, Blood Angels, Dark Angels, Imperial Guard, Space Marines, Space Wolves
Allies of conveience: Grey Knights, Sisters of Battle
Desperate Allies: Eldar, Tau
Come the Apocalypse: Chaos Deamons, Chaos Space Marines, Dark Eldar, Necrons, Orks, Tyranids

N0-1_H3r3 said:

Genestealers themselves are driven to escape the coming tyranid tide after attracting it, this self-preservation instinct is what allows them to spread on fleeing vessels and thus lure the Swarm to a new target. However the Hive Fleet itself does spawn organisms like genestealers and lictors as vanguard organisms to sow terror and chaos and further weaken defenses. Sort of a weird dichotomy.

And the genestealer hybrids, i don't think they care for their own survival at all. Only trueborn stealers and broodlords do, and they're driven to escape a planet they're destabilized before the eating begins. That being said if they can't, I imagine they would turn to destroying any holdouts as well.

Face Eater said:

I agree.

Although instead of saying GK or SoB, I would put in Ordo Malleus and Ordo Hereticus, just to allow for the Ordo inquisitors and their retinue's, which may include guardsmen, and perhaps even Astartes.

E

Gaire said:

In that case it doesn't make sense either since traitor guard would be battle brothers with CSM and CD while Gue'vesa would be battle brothers with the Tau.

Face Eater said:

Doesn't really fit when around 69% of the Space Marines that make up the Deathwatch are BB (battle brothers/best buddies) with the Tau. Okay, that's a bit unfair since it doesn't make sense that they are battle brothers at all either. Personally I would also move the Eldar to the Allies of Convenience. The Deathwatch always struck me as an organization of pragmatists and they and the Eldar share a lot of common enemies. Or maybe they shared, now the Eldar are best buddies with their torturing and soul-devouring brothers. Emperor, I hate daemons of Retcon.

 Well they approach the whole getting away from Slannesh [the Eldar as a whole] differently, but at the core they are the same culture. The Eldar are not cuddly bunny loving elves, they are ancient, unknowable, scheming things and we humans are little better than angry cattle to them so budding with their darker cousins doesn't seem so far fetched when, it only become odd when you look at them through human eyes.

Mjoellnir said:

Possibly, but traitor Space Marines don't a good record of respecting human life so I can certainly imagine that they wouldn't have a massive amount of mutual respect and Gue'vesa would have been steralised by the Tau and otherwise be treated as second class citizens.

Mjoellnir said:

Well, I used a simple system.for the Xeno's, seeing as the Deathwatch motto is suffer not the Xeno to live i thought their general stance would be never to ally with them, but the Eldar and Tau could conceivably team up with against a worse foe. Should there be more Eldar Tau love? What do you guys think?

UncleArkie said:

As far as I remember the Eldar collect souls to form a new god who can kick Slaanesh's ass while the Dark Eldar constantly allow Slaanesh to siphon off their soul energy while they replenish it from other sources. That seems like a tiny conflict of interest to me.

Face Eater said:

Still, traitor guard would often be under the command of a CSM chaos lord. And I'm pretty sure that the Tau don't sterilize everybody, only those who don't want to serve the greater good. Since they are able to include Kroot and Vespids without problem I think Gue'vesa would be as much part of their army, regardless how brainwashed they are.

Face Eater said:

Well, "Suffer not the alien to live" is mainly an Imperial motto, the Deathwatch were just the ones who were supposed to hunt primarily aliens. Personally I think they would have no problems to ally with Xenos to kill other Xenos without any desperation needed. It's convenient. For example allying with Eldar to defeat Necrons means that you split the losses with them and when you have to fight them later there are less Eldar to worry about.

Mjoellnir said:

The Eldar hide their souls in soul stones when they die for them not to be eaten by Slannesh, Dark Eldar hope to appease the Dark Prince by offering up suffering, pleasure and souls to him. Two different approaches to the same conundrum, don't eat my soul please.

UncleArkie said:

From Lexicanum (http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Ynnead#.UAL6rfWnJ-w): "Ynnead represents the last hope of the dwindling Eldar race. They believe that when the Infinity Circuits hold all the spirits of their race, all of the Craftworlds will unite into one Infinity Circuit, and the collective spirits of the Eldar will join to form a new Power in the Warp that will battle and subdue Slaanesh, so that Eldar spirits may once more be able to merge with it and form a single, balanced entity. By doing so, if such a thing is possible, they hope that this will allow the Eldar race to be reborn into a better form. Meanwhile the Craftworlds and the spirit stones must be guarded from harm and continue to survive, so that all Eldar can see and form in their own minds a concept of the Eldar virtues that will enter along with their spirits into the Infinity Circuits."

Craftworld Eldar try to merge into a god that can defeat Slaanesh. Dark Eldar constantly feed Slaanesh therefore making her stronger and increasing her chances to do with Ynnead what she did with the other Eldar gods which means that the essence of all the Eldar who "hid their souls in soul stones" would be devoured by her. If I were an Eldar I would try to kill as many Dark Eldar as possible, capture their souls and bury them in the Black Library. Because in the long term they were trying to feed my soul to Slaanesh. Not mentioning the whole deal of them devouring Eldar souls too whose essence is then again drained from them by Slaanesh.