Grey Knights Chapter composition and character listing

[Madmaardigan]

I'm starting a personal goal/project I expect it to last the next 3 years and plan but I'm going to submit a list here and the army list section, and would love anyone's knowledge and suggestions I'll be writing some of my personal research on fluff, but before anyone get bent out of shape, I want to make it known that I find because so little is really out on grey knights, that best guess/ intuition on what makes sense is what I've done, idea is whole universe is about to explode from chaos and draigo has no choice but to use "the terminus decree"

 

So starting from the Top;

 

Info gathered from following pages

 

http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Grey_Knights#.UkI7noYjJa8

 

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Grey_Knights

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhpOLHq8-5k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IXrjFHXwr0

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MawochHc04

 

Grey knight Codex 5e

 

As well as info. from all 4 Grey knight novels

 

- Lord Kaldor Draigo is the supreme grand master, this rank can only be achieved by a unanimous vote from the grandmaster council

 

GrandMasters:

 

- There are 8 Brotherhoods in the chapter representing the 8 Astartes picked by Malcador the Sigilite, according to legend he did this on the emperors request 

--> Each brotherhood contains roughly 100 battle brothers not including officers

-->Each brotherhood contains a mix of terminator, strike, and purgation squads, numbering between 3 and 7 of each squad type (ex: 4 termy of 10, 3 strike of 10, 3 purgation of 10)

 

- each Brotherhood is lead by 2 people The brother captain and the Grandmaster, (really annoying how mrany people argue this point, let me clarify it) The Brother-Captain is a stand in while the grandmaster is attending meetings at the chapter council made up of all the Grandmasters "oaken table", the brother-captain oversees almost everything that goes on with the brotherhood. The Grandmaster takes direct command of his brotherhood, or brotherhoods, when the mission is decided to be exceedingly important/ brother-captain is thought not equal to the task or the comming battle involves one of the specific 101 named greater daemons in the "Conclave Diabolus." Grey Knight Codex 5e, pg 12

--> The Grandmasters also have a secondary responsability to one of the chapters logistic support groups i.e. fleet, armoury, etc... this is mostly an honourary title though as the grey knights need very little oversight as a whole

 

Possible current Grandmasters:

 

1) Grand Master Vorth Mordrak Shouldnt need to explain much, soul survivor is followed by his dead brothers ghosts, relentlessly pursues huron black heart to bring his brothers peace, but not at the expense of his duty.

 

2) Grand Master Drystann Cromm led four GK brotherhoods in "The Raxos Civil War" in 841.M41

 

3) Grand Master Vardan Kai led his grey knights to reclaim a dangerous demonic tome from the agri-world of sondhiem V from both Daemonic forces un M'kar the reborn, and hive fleet leviathan

 

 

Brother Captain Stern - This in my opinion supports the grandmaster idea I've stated above, Stern has a personal battle of wills going on with a daemon who always comes back from the warp to kill Stern, because of the heavy costs to Stern's brotherhood, he has refused promotion to grand master despite being the longest and most highly decorated brother captain of the chapter until he has vanquished the daemon M'kachen. with this in mind as I said the brotherhood stern serves under has a brother captain in comd. AND he is already been told he will be a grand master the second he either decides to take it or defeats M'kachen

 

Brother Captains - have complete control over their personal brotherhood, unless the council decides a grandmaster is need, almost aways selected from the Pallidins

 

Brotherhood champion - chief trainer of thier respective brotherhood and acts as bodyguard to the brotherhoods brother captain

 

Purifiers - are considered a seperate brotherhood from the rest, their numbers are usually around 40 purfiers total, and their leader is Castellan Garren Crowe, Captain AND Champion of the purifiers, this is explained by Crowe's warden ship of "the blade of antwyr" such is the hate of the blade that crowe needs to do battle with it himself, and would not want anyone else around to possibly be corrupted by the blades promises of power. the purifiers are considered the grey knights pinnacle of spiritual purity.

 

Paladins - Paladins are taken from the terminator ranks (reasoning for this will be stated in terminator section) they are volunteers that when accepted are put through 8 of the hardest trials the imperium can offer with the final quest being to vanquish one of the six-hundred and sixty six, named daemons armed only with his nemsis force sword and the beasts name gleamed from the iron grimoire. As the purifiers are the example of the grey knight faith, the paladins are the epitome of the grey knight martial prowess. Paladins have two basic tasks, first being the bodyguards of Grandmasters, and apothecaries, and second is to fight when needed where the battle is thickest and most perilous. There is no set number as to how many paladins the chapter has but with this description I would say there should be at least 9+1 Apothecary per Brotherhood and 10 for Draigo, which would equal out to be 90 Paldins

 

Terminator/Strike/Purgation squads - make up of the brotherhood, rough split of 3 min. and 7 max, of anyone one squad type in each brotherhood

 

FIRST PORTION DONE WILL BE POSTING HQ/ 1ST BROTHERHOOD AND 2ND BROTHERHOOD idea for tomorrow

[Quozzo]

I would disagree with the roles the Captain and Grand Master take. In C:GK p.12, the first paragraph states the brother-captain is in active command, while the last paragraph states the Grand Masters chief responsibility is on the battlefield. This leads me to believe the captain does take part in battles, unless he wishes or would more advantageous than remaining behind, but instead commands the troops from a command centre of sorts, such as a strike cruiser in orbit perhaps directing any orbital bombardments the GM issues. It further goes on to say that GMs only take a command role if the captain lacks the experience required for the mission.

 

The second to last paragraph states that chapter council contains 8 GMs and that they are crucial in appointing the SGM so no tainted battle-brother may take charge of the chapter. This means, to me, that as soon as one falls in battle, another takes his place, possibly the brother-captain. Admittedly I have yet to read the battles involving the Grey Knights from the C:GK but can you cite any references for several brotherhoods under the leadership of one GM.

 

EDIT: stupid text editor, I've yet to one I haven't made myself that actually works.

[Madmaardigan]

I would disagree with the roles the Captain and Grand Master take. In C:GK p.12, the first paragraph states the brother-captain is in active command, while the last paragraph states the Grand Masters chief responsibility is on the battlefield. This leads me to believe the captain does take part in battles, unless he wishes or would more advantageous than remaining behind, but instead commands the troops from a command centre of sorts, such as a strike cruiser in orbit perhaps directing any orbital bombardments the GM issues. It further goes on to say that GMs only take a command role if the captain lacks the experience required for the mission.

 

grey knight codex, pg 23 Brother-Captain description in paragraph three stats: Upon the battlefield a brother-captain's place is in the very heart of the fighting..... it goes on to say thing like who can lead from the rear, and other things.

 

The second to last paragraph states that chapter council contains 8 GMs and that they are crucial in appointing the SGM so no tainted battle-brother may take charge of the chapter. This means, to me, that as soon as one falls in battle, another takes his place, possibly the brother-captain. Admittedly I have yet to read the battles involving the Grey Knights from the C:GK but can you cite any references for several brotherhoods under the leadership of one GM.

 

After writing this statment I found about 4 more GM's in Lexicanum, bringing the total to about 7, just saying I dont think they appoint unless they have proved themselves worthy enough to the rank. just my opinion not a fact, and with a supreme grand master already in charge there's not a need for a full, 8, just because in the book it says the chapter contains 8 GM's I dont think its states that 8 are always at the appointed rank all the time example would be Brother-aptain Stern, his profile says he is refusing the promotion to GM, until the threat of a persona daemon vendetta is gone, which makes me think the council actually does sit at less then 8 members, how can can he keep his promotion on the back burner with 8 people on the council?

 

EDIT: stupid text editor, I've yet to one I haven't made myself that actually works.

[Gentlemanloser]

There's a few more mentioned I'm sure.

 

I think Grandmaster Janus is one.

 

Then of courses there's Nathaniel Garro, Iacon Queze (spelling?) That Libraran, the World Eater and *cough* Cerberus *cough*

Garviel Loken

 

 

 

As well as info. from all 4 Grey knight novels

 

I don't like the Ben Counter ones for fluff. :(

 

But then you have That Chaplian, Aurilius (spelling?), Torgadon (or something like that), and the Justicar Inquisitor Alaric.  Among others.

[Madmaardigan]

There's a few more mentioned I'm sure.

I think Grandmaster Janus is one.

Then of courses there's Nathaniel Garro, Iacon Queze (spelling?) That Libraran, the World Eater and *cough* Cerberus *cough*

Garviel Loken

As well as info. from all 4 Grey knight novels

I don't like the Ben Counter ones for fluff.

But then you have That Chaplian, Aurilius (spelling?), Torgadon (or something like that), and the Justicar Inquisitor Alaric. Among others.

Janus was the first supreme grand master of the Grey knight long dead

The fluff isn't always that amazing of compelling but it allows for certain insights ex: if I make a Justicar Alaric model, I can make certain of things i.e. a haldberd needs to be wielded, his shoulder heraldry is a black and white field, with a single start burst commemorating inquisitor leira (unsure if that her exaact name)

but in terms of the names I was talking about I know there are many named character like Chaplain aurilius, I was speaking more so of the GM's for heads of the 8 brotherhoods, I could only track down i think 7 GM's who may be still alive some have no info attributed to them just a name and rank

BTW sry if my response sounded douchey it wasnt mean to be at all thanks for replying at all gentle, and quozzo

[Gentlemanloser]

You want Current names?

[jeffersonian000]

I love the idea. My personal project is the 300 Terminator force that fought on Armageddon, using the current named characters leading legal FoC, for a home grown Apocalypse formation ("The 300").

 

In my research, I noted that Strike Squads, Interceptors, and Purgation Squads exchange their Tactical Dreadnought Armor for Powered Armor to better facilitate their roles, i.e., Strikers = scouts, Interceptors = fast attack, Purgation = mobile fire support. As such, I've always envisioned the 100 marines per brotherhood to all be Terminators, with PAGK squads being re-tasked from TDA squads to fulfill other needed roles as the case may be. As an addition, Paladins and vehicle crew are not counted among the 100, yet are counted in their brotherhood. Purifiers constitute their own "9th" brotherhood, although unofficial and definitely off the record.

 

Of course, that's just my impression from the background material.

 

SJ

[Madmaardigan]

The grey knight have there own forge world given to them by the adeptus mechanicus, by using the most advanced of mechanicus technology they transported the forge world to Titan, I mention this because I've heard a few people say GK's run around in terminator armor all the time but I don't think this is the case for two reasons

 

1) I forget where exactly but in the codex there is a paragraph that states somthing like "due to the GK's need for the deadliest and most secret of weapons and armor they have access to everything the imperium can make this is somthing each and every grey knight has access to." It goes on to say every grey knight owns a piece of terminator armor, doesn't say they dawn it.

 

2) I think it's under either the grandmaster, or brother captain portion but this says under rare circumstances grey knights that have been promoted to this level from a purgation squad will still use their incinerator or Psycannon to full effect as this ex specialist can't just forget what he trained for

[Quozzo]

grey knight codex, pg 23 Brother-Captain description in paragraph three stats: Upon the battlefield a brother-captain's place is in the very heart of the fighting..... it goes on to say thing like who can lead from the rear, and other things.

Indeed it does, but how often a brother-captain take to the battlefield is up to him.

 

After writing this statment I found about 4 more GM's in Lexicanum, bringing the total to about 7, just saying I dont think they appoint unless they have proved themselves worthy enough to the rank. just my opinion not a fact, and with a supreme grand master already in charge there's not a need for a full, 8, just because in the book it says the chapter contains 8 GM's I dont think its states that 8 are always at the appointed rank all the time example would be Brother-aptain Stern, his profile says he is refusing the promotion to GM, until the threat of a persona daemon vendetta is gone, which makes me think the council actually does sit at less then 8 members, how can can he keep his promotion on the back burner with 8 people on the council?

That's true, maybe he hasn't declined the position just delaying it until the council revokes the decision, or his task is complte. It does take years, or longer, for astropathic messages to traverse the galaxy after all. But it does indicate they always try to recruit a GM to make up the 8 leaders of each brotherhood as soon as possible. A GM can only be appointed "by the will of those whos ranks he would join" but with captains, Paladins and obviously Justicars available for promotion it would seem they have plenty of choice. Being a GM-less brotherhood is a far bigger blow than a Justicar-less squad, who can be appointed by another in that squad. Just my logical assumption, of course there is no concrete evidence either way.

Purifiers constitute their own "9th" brotherhood, although unofficial and definitely off the record.

I've always thought of their "order" as a cult of sorts within the ranks of the GK, similar to the Orisons of the Exorcists. With Crowe being a brother-captain and head of the purifiers would give him almost twice as many troops than any other brother-captain. My reasoning is that Crowe merely appoints Grey Knights into the purifier order, their commands comes from the brother-captain in charge of the brotherhood which they are assigned to, which might be Crowe anyway.

The grey knight have there own forge world given to them by the adeptus mechanicus, by using the most advanced of mechanicus technology they transported the forge world to Titan, I mention this because I've heard a few people say GK's run around in terminator armor all the time but I don't think this is the case for two reasons

 

1) I forget where exactly but in the codex there is a paragraph that states somthing like "due to the GK's need for the deadliest and most secret of weapons and armor they have access to everything the imperium can make this is somthing each and every grey knight has access to." It goes on to say every grey knight owns a piece of terminator armor, doesn't say they dawn it.

 

2) I think it's under either the grandmaster, or brother captain portion but this says under rare circumstances grey knights that have been promoted to this level from a purgation squad will still use their incinerator or Psycannon to full effect as this ex specialist can't just forget what he trained for

Titan in next door to Mars, why would they need to outsource production? But I do agree they don't don TDA all the time.

 

1) Hyperion and his squad donned their terminator armour instead of their more familiar power armour and personal teleporter before taking on a Greater Daemon, in The Emperor Gift. Also terminators are troop choices and the chapter can almost fully outfit every GK in their entire chapter with TDA.

 

2) It's under brother-captain, although if the GMs decide who to appoint as another GM then they could chose anyone. But all HQs (except the brother-hood champion) don TDA and yet they all still (mostly) have access to the heavy weapons.

 

Sorry for the wall-of-text format, but this editor is starting to dislike me.

[Valerian]

Quozzo, Castellan Garran Crowe is not a Brother-Captain, as you stated above; he as a Brotherhood Champion foremost, and also leader of the Order of Purifiers.

 

As I interpret the fluff from the 5e codex, it works like this:  Everyone is in one of the 8 Brotherhoods (with a few exceptions).  Each Brotherhood is o/a 100 Marines, not counting officers, just like Battle Companies of Codex Astartes-adherent Marine Chapters.  Each Brotherhood is commanded by a Brother Captain, although one of the Grand Masters has overall responsibility (this is the part that is wonky for me; as command is the very definition of responsibility.  I assume that the council of 8 Grand Masters that run the Chapter along with the Supreme Grand Master (who is always notably absent, lately) are tasked with monitoring and "oversight" of each Brotherhood to ensure no issues, problems, etc.  They can step in and take over, however, if the situation is dire enough to warrant it).  Each Brotherhood has a Champion who pulls double-duty of acting as a "master-of-arms" if you will, and serving as principal combat trainer, as well as acting as the personal bodyguard to the Brother Captain (I think that it is important to note that he specifically guards the Brother-Captain, who command the Brotherhood, vice guarding the Grand Master).

 

There are two groups of Marines, however, that do not fall in the structure of the Brotherhoods, although certainly their members were drawn from them: the Purifiers and the Paladins.  Those champions that successfully complete the requisite trials are promoted out of the Brotherhoods and into the ranks of the Paladins, who act primarily as bodyguards to the Grand Masters.

 

The Purifiers are different, and a little harder to pin down.  They would also be drawn from the members of the various Brotherhoods, based on personality, spirit, and purity*.  "Membership of the Purifier order is not granted through skill, valour, or a tally of the grim deeds soaked in blood."  Once selected, however, it is clear that the Purifiers act as a battle formation that is completely distinct from the 8 Brotherhoods from which they were drawn.  

 

Now, Castellan Crowe is both the head and the Brotherhood Champion of the Purifier order; he is not, nor could he be, a Brother-Captain of a Brotherhood.  It is never specified, but I theorize that perhaps he had already established himself as the Brotherhood Champion of a "regular" Brotherhood, when he was inducted into the Purifier order (as there is no set/established timeline or mechanism for joining the order), and based on skills and leadership (and purity) established himself, or was chosen from within to be the order's leader.  The Brotherhood in which he originally served would have had to replace him with a new swords-master when Crowe was lost to the Purifiers.

 

Valerian

[Wolf Lord Barak Ironwolf]

Hmm, maybe it is easier to think of the Grand Master and Brother-Captain as 'Captain' (GM) and '1st Lieutenant' (B-C), rather like a contemporary Infantry Company.  The Brother-Captain would certainly have a battlefield command role, but when things really got tense, the GM would take over.

[Valerian]

Hmm, maybe it is easier to think of the Grand Master and Brother-Captain as 'Captain' (GM) and '1st Lieutenant' (B-C), rather like a contemporary Infantry Company. 

I don't think that works.  In contemporary companies the XO isn't a commander, and he only takes over if the CO gets killed or incapacitated.  The way the two roles are described in the codex, I don't think that there is a contemporary analogy that fits.

[Seahawk]

I love the idea. My personal project is the 300 Terminator force that fought on Armageddon, using the current named characters leading legal FoC, for a home grown Apocalypse formation ("The 300").

 

 

SJ

There were only 100 terminators + the character. Should reduce the amount of purchases you need to make. ;)

[jeffersonian000]

 

 

I love the idea. My personal project is the 300 Terminator force that fought on Armageddon, using the current named characters leading legal FoC, for a home grown Apocalypse formation ("The 300").

 

 

SJ

There were only 100 terminators + the character. Should reduce the amount of purchases you need to make. ;)

Pretty sure it is noted as 300 Grey Knights in Tactical Dreadnought Armor fought in that campaign, as an obvious reference to the 300 Spartans at Thermopile.

 

SJ

[Gentlemanloser]

 

During the First War for Armageddon the Great Wolf Logan Grimnar lead 300 Space Wolves alongside 100 Grey Knights under the command of Brother-Captain Taremar Aurellian against the World Eaters' Daemon Primarch Angron and a diabolic horde of Khornate Berserkers and Khornate daemons.

 

 

It was now that the Imperium unleashed his secret weapon. When Logan
Grimnar realized the nature of their foe, he called for the support of
the Grey Knights, as only the Chapter Militant of the Inquisition's daemonhunters had the ability to truly defeat a daemonic entity as powerful as Angron.

The Grey Knights dispatched one hundred and nine^[3a]Terminator Assault Marines who attacked Angron directly, along with the Cruor Praetoria, his bodyguard of a dozen Bloodthirsters,
by teleporting into the center of the daemon army. At the same time,
the Space Wolves led a massive Imperial counter-attack. Initially Angron
and his escorts decimated the Grey Knights, the Primarch wiping out
five Grey Knights Terminators with a single stroke of his Black Blade. However thanks to the psychic might of the young recruit Hyperion, the Black Blade was shattered and the Grey Knights were now at a significant advantage.^[3b] Soon after, Brother-Captain Taremar Aurellian
was killed while personally banishing Angron back to the warp for a
hundred years and a day. The loss of their leader, coupled with the
surprise assault from the remaining imperial forces, led to the
near-complete annihilation of the chaos forces on Armageddon. Though
the final battle was a major Imperial Victory, only thirteen^[3b] Grey Knights survived.

 

All I could find with a quick search.

[Seahawk]

Nope, never was 300, only 100. 

 

"Flickering arcs of blue energy leapt and danced above the glassy slag of the trench top and made the air taste electric. Then, with a crack of displaced air, the lightning vanished, and in its place stood perhaps a hundred warriors in suits of burnished blue-steel Terminator armor."

 

"Logan Grimnar watched the ten Grey Knights kneel in prayer around the fallen body of their captain and bowed his head in respect."

 

So, about 100 teleported in and only 10 survived. 

 

Frankly, I don't know where lexicanum got 109 and whatever other crazy details are in there. I'd sure like to know though! For instance, this "Hyperion" never existed, Angron's blade wasn't broken, and it was Brother Captain Aurellian and the terminators who summoned a massive holocaust that led the way to victory that day. The forces of chaos were never at a disadvantage until Angron was banished. Ten Grey Knights survived, not thirteen. 

 

Source: US WD 277

[thade]

Frankly, I don't know where lexicanum got 109 and whatever other crazy details are in there. I'd sure like to know though! For instance, this "Hyperion" never existed, Angron's blade wasn't broken, and it was Brother Captain Aurellian and the terminators who summoned a massive holocaust that led the way to victory that day. The forces of chaos were never at a disadvantage until Angron was banished. Ten Grey Knights survived, not thirteen.

Everything you know is a lie.

 

Source: basically every book in the entire mythos.

 

Also, Hyperion is a boss.

[Seahawk]

Non-existent and not helping :lol:

[Valerian]

Seahawk,

 

I haven't read it, but I believe the details that were provided above all came from "The Emperor's Gift", which is one of the Black Library books written by AD-B. As usual with BL novels, they took stuff from Studio background material (the old codices and White Dwarf material that you and I are familiar with), and expand on it; often what was "known" is outright changed.

 

Before Emperor's Gift, there was no fluff on a Grey Knight named Hyperion*, but he was created by the author to be a protagonist in his novel. As a novel's protagonist who got his start in the Battle for Armeggedon, he obviously had to contribute something noteworthy in the showdown with Angron, hence the breaking of the Black Blade, etc.

 

*As a side note, AD-B confided that the protagonist was originally Valerian, but he had to change the name (as well as several other aspects of his story) when the 6e Codex for Grey Knights was released, just prior to his novel. He had to make the cnange due to the invention of the new Inquisitor Valeria special character that had just been introduced.

 

Now imagine you were halfway through a novel when all this new lore dropped, and had to restart from scratch.

The thing about it that torks me off about it, is that he was going to name one of the Grey Knights, perhaps the protagonist, Valerian, and he had to change it when Inquisitor Valeria popped up out of nowhere in the new codex, too.

Totally true. Hyperion was Valerian until the codex dropped.

[Seahawk]

Well that's depressing on multiple levels. At least he didn't mess with the fluff too much; just enough to make the Brother Captain a bit less awesome.

Makes me wonder how Aurellian died then if he wasn't stabbed in the gut.

[thade]

Honestly, I'm a huge fan of "The Emperor's Gift"; I see it as the definitive representation of what it means to be a Grey Knight, as it's creative, well presented, and far easier to swallow than even the 5th Ed codex itself. Some people feel quite the opposite about that work. Both feelings are valid.

 

There is no canon. There is just a loose arrangement of in-universe superstitoins that we find ourselves in...or a giant pig-pile of contradictions and ridiculous coincidences...and SM+Xeno bro-fists.

 

A. D-B.'s diatribe on canon is maybe of some value here.

 

You do get to cherry pick what you do and don't like, what you do and don't find sensible, reasonable, likeable, whatever when it comes to canon. It works best of course if the people you play with at least agree with most of what you assert, or at least take the "The truth in 40k is unknowable" approach which can make even Draigo and a certain half-Eldar Ultramarine Librarian kind of work. Every single Imperial element lies to everybody else, including themselves. It's impossible to know the truth about even the most fundamental aspects of the IP, let alone how to weigh two contradicting bits of fluff against one another.

 

So, not a one of us has really any ground to point at any element of fluff and say "Obviously bologna." Best we can do is say "Kinda silly, even for a universe where a species loads their weapons with imagination, paints their vehicles red to speed them up, and uses their teeth as currency."

 

It is interesting to me that A. D-B. admitted that conflict there: it casts a small light on what is very obviously a very difficult problem to tackle. Writing in an I.P. space that is as old, as massive, and has sustained as many cooks as 40k has simply presents little opportunity for a universal truth. You know, other than "Everything you know is a lie."

Which is true. Or a lie. You decide.

[Grand Master Caloth]

So how does it rank next to Ben Counter's botched GK attempt?

[Gentlemanloser]

I find it, silly, that 40k is the only game that suggests this mutable 'you choose' canon.

 

Purely because GW are unable to keep a steady, internally consistent, universe.

 

We deserve better.

 

Or I'll post some Fan-fic about the GK, and you all best swallow that! :P

[boreas]

I'm also annoyed at this "everything you read might be false because the Imperium is so full of deceit". I'm not living in the 40k universe. I'm not reading some internal paperwork. I bought a book and I expect it to tell me "facts" about the universe this book is set in. Now, as a litterary style, lying to the reader for a while in order to introduce some mystery is ok. But if everything I read about a fictionnal universe is possibly "false" in that universe's setting, I think it's lazyness...

[thade]

The scope of the setting is absolutely massive: consider how many decades and books exist on the topic; how even the different releases of the core rules themselves have retconned, altered, or omitted things from previous editions.

 

The Marvel universe kept things pretty well locked down and consistent for a long time...but they finally dropped it. The reasons they did may be the same reasons that GW never enforced it: it's a massive, massive undertaking (costs work hours) and slows the entire creative process down (slowing development) all costing money; also, it ends up severely hindering creativity as anything you might want to add to the universe needs to be checked and ratified by everybody.

 

I'd like it to be huge and consistent too, but it's not and it's probably never going to be. Being miffed about it solves nothing and, honestly, I like the setting for what it is: the Grim Dark is a really cool idea. And there is one mechanic that cleans it up: "Everything is a lie." In a universe where even the Inquisition elements deceive one another, it doesn't strike me as odd that even outside observers have trouble making sense of it. Even the Old Ones and the C'tan just couldn't hold out, despite all their knowledge and power.