What should 40k END-TIMES look like?

[@woopwoop-pc5dk]

Tzeentch has been targeting Imperial logistics for quite some time. If he pulls it off, he'd starve out forge & hive worlds who supply the empire with war materials. Even Holy Terra relies on food shipments. I'd imagine any apocalypse senario would see mass starvation and material shortages. I can only imagine how the other Dark Gods would contribute in the final battle

[@survivalist8290]

Best ending would be that in the grim darkness of the far future, there continues to be only war

[@woopwoop-pc5dk]

The real grimdark was the friends we made along the way

[@survivalist8290]

Ong bro

[@jmgonzales7701]

I have thought of a similar thing. Concept: Fragmented Galaxy and Stagnation Overall Theme: Stagnation & Fragmentation: The galaxy has entered a period of extreme stagnation. Once-great empires and civilizations, such as the Imperium of Man and the Eldar, have fallen into irreparable decay, unable to reclaim their former glories. Humanity survives, but only in a fragmented state, never reaching the Emperor's dream of domination or enlightenment. This scenario retains the grimdark atmosphere of Warhammer, but with a twist that the galaxy’s conflicts have diminished into smaller, more personal struggles. Imperium of Man: State of Decay: The Imperium is a shadow of its former self. The grand ambitions of the Great Crusade are long gone, and the Imperium is fractured into countless splinter factions. Each Primarch, space marine chapter, or planetary ruler operates independently, no longer unified under one banner. Communication between these factions is rare, and even the name of the Emperor is spoken with fading reverence. Eternal Survival, Not Victory: Humanity endures, surviving countless crises, but no longer seeks to dominate the galaxy. The dream of an evolved, enlightened human race led by the Emperor is never realized. Instead, survival is their only goal-though in many places, even the memory of the Imperium has faded. Fragmentation of Cultures: Different pockets of humanity develop their own cultures and ideologies, disconnected from each other for so long that many don’t even recognize the existence of others. No overarching empire or authority governs the human race. Eldar: Withering Civilization: The Eldar, once a powerful race, are reduced to near extinction. Their numbers are so few that encountering an Eldar becomes a myth, almost like finding a long-lost relic of history. They never regain the height of their civilization, and like the Imperium, they are scattered and struggling. Slow Decay: Though not extinct, the Eldar are dwindling. They have retreated to their remaining craftworlds, far removed from the affairs of the galaxy, slowly fading away as their numbers shrink. Tyranids and Chaos: Diminished Threat: The once-galaxy-threatening forces of Chaos and Tyranids are now weakened to the point of engaging only in small-scale skirmishes. Neither faction holds the power to affect the galaxy on a grand scale any longer, though their presence still lingers like a dark shadow. Constant Skirmishes: Rather than massive campaigns, Chaos and Tyranids now harass the scattered human settlements, their threat ever-present but manageable. The Imperium no longer faces existential crises from these enemies, but they also cannot fully rid themselves of these threats. Philosophical Core: Humanity’s Survival, But at a Cost: The idea here is that while humanity survives all the horrors of the 40k universe, it does so at the cost of its own unity, progress, and potential. Humanity spreads so far across the stars that no force-be it xenos, Chaos, or internal threats-can ever fully destroy them. However, this scattering and fragmentation means that each human group is isolated, without any hope of reuniting. Humanity lives, but the dream of a unified, powerful, and dominant race is forever shattered. Each isolated human faction is unaware of the others' survival, giving rise to myths and legends about lost human civilizations in distant reaches of the galaxy. Influence from Dune’s "Scattering": The concept borrows from the idea of Dune’s "Scattering," where humanity spreads out to escape any potential threat or regime. In this case, after facing millennia of war, stagnation, and threat, humanity is scattered so far across the galaxy that it becomes impossible for any external force-be it xenos, Chaos, or other humans-to dominate or eradicate them. Endgame Scenario: Lonely Victory: In the far future, humanity outlives most alien races. Tyranids, Chaos, and other xenos threats eventually fade away, but the price is eternal fragmentation. Humans become the sole intelligent species in the galaxy, but each group remains unaware of the others' existence, effectively living as isolated islands of civilization that will never interact or know if they are truly alone. Conclusion: This setting delivers a grimdark atmosphere with a twist-there is no grand, climactic war to end all wars, no final victory or defeat. Instead, the galaxy enters a long period of quiet stagnation, where survival becomes the only constant. The threat of annihilation is ever-present, but no faction has the strength to threaten the galaxy at large. Humanity, while still alive, has lost its unity and purpose, surviving only as scattered, isolated factions that will never reach their full potential.

[@lonejurtbeltcher4659]

I'm not a super big lore head and I don't think GW would do an end times scenario. However I do think its an interesting idea. My take, and excuse any inconsistencies, would to to have a big huge galaxy wide fight with the full might of the Tyranids that eventually leads to forced cooperation between most of the factions. Since the Tau are getting their own more or less ubiquitously good warp god and the Emperor of Mankind starting to stir again (not to mention the theories about there being things in the warp that are fighting for mankind/ other non chaos factions) maybe there is a chance for the warp to be calmed. The constant assault by the Tyranids on everyone weakens chaos enough so that by the time the Emperor becomes a warp god and the new tau god + other deus ex machina entities are able to have a heckin wholesome marvel team up against Chaos. The defeat of Chaos calms the warp but the effort took staggering universal casualties. The Necrons trap the Tyranids in the milky way galaxy and the decimated survivors of this most recent war in heaven take refuge in the now calmed warp to wait for nids to starve to death and pick up the pieces. That's about as close to a bittersweet but not corny ending as I can think of.

[@jmgonzales7701]

I have thought of a similar thing. Concept: Fragmented Galaxy and Stagnation Overall Theme: Stagnation & Fragmentation: The galaxy has entered a period of extreme stagnation. Once-great empires and civilizations, such as the Imperium of Man and the Eldar, have fallen into irreparable decay, unable to reclaim their former glories. Humanity survives, but only in a fragmented state, never reaching the Emperor's dream of domination or enlightenment. This scenario retains the grimdark atmosphere of Warhammer, but with a twist that the galaxy’s conflicts have diminished into smaller, more personal struggles. Imperium of Man: State of Decay: The Imperium is a shadow of its former self. The grand ambitions of the Great Crusade are long gone, and the Imperium is fractured into countless splinter factions. Each Primarch, space marine chapter, or planetary ruler operates independently, no longer unified under one banner. Communication between these factions is rare, and even the name of the Emperor is spoken with fading reverence. Eternal Survival, Not Victory: Humanity endures, surviving countless crises, but no longer seeks to dominate the galaxy. The dream of an evolved, enlightened human race led by the Emperor is never realized. Instead, survival is their only goal-though in many places, even the memory of the Imperium has faded. Fragmentation of Cultures: Different pockets of humanity develop their own cultures and ideologies, disconnected from each other for so long that many don’t even recognize the existence of others. No overarching empire or authority governs the human race. Eldar: Withering Civilization: The Eldar, once a powerful race, are reduced to near extinction. Their numbers are so few that encountering an Eldar becomes a myth, almost like finding a long-lost relic of history. They never regain the height of their civilization, and like the Imperium, they are scattered and struggling. Slow Decay: Though not extinct, the Eldar are dwindling. They have retreated to their remaining craftworlds, far removed from the affairs of the galaxy, slowly fading away as their numbers shrink. Tyranids and Chaos: Diminished Threat: The once-galaxy-threatening forces of Chaos and Tyranids are now weakened to the point of engaging only in small-scale skirmishes. Neither faction holds the power to affect the galaxy on a grand scale any longer, though their presence still lingers like a dark shadow. Constant Skirmishes: Rather than massive campaigns, Chaos and Tyranids now harass the scattered human settlements, their threat ever-present but manageable. The Imperium no longer faces existential crises from these enemies, but they also cannot fully rid themselves of these threats. Philosophical Core: Humanity’s Survival, But at a Cost: The idea here is that while humanity survives all the horrors of the 40k universe, it does so at the cost of its own unity, progress, and potential. Humanity spreads so far across the stars that no force-be it xenos, Chaos, or internal threats-can ever fully destroy them. However, this scattering and fragmentation means that each human group is isolated, without any hope of reuniting. Humanity lives, but the dream of a unified, powerful, and dominant race is forever shattered. Each isolated human faction is unaware of the others' survival, giving rise to myths and legends about lost human civilizations in distant reaches of the galaxy. Influence from Dune’s "Scattering": The concept borrows from the idea of Dune’s "Scattering," where humanity spreads out to escape any potential threat or regime. In this case, after facing millennia of war, stagnation, and threat, humanity is scattered so far across the galaxy that it becomes impossible for any external force-be it xenos, Chaos, or other humans-to dominate or eradicate them. Endgame Scenario: Lonely Victory: In the far future, humanity outlives most alien races. Tyranids, Chaos, and other xenos threats eventually fade away, but the price is eternal fragmentation. Humans become the sole intelligent species in the galaxy, but each group remains unaware of the others' existence, effectively living as isolated islands of civilization that will never interact or know if they are truly alone. Conclusion: This setting delivers a grimdark atmosphere with a twist-there is no grand, climactic war to end all wars, no final victory or defeat. Instead, the galaxy enters a long period of quiet stagnation, where survival becomes the only constant. The threat of annihilation is ever-present, but no faction has the strength to threaten the galaxy at large. Humanity, while still alive, has lost its unity and purpose, surviving only as scattered, isolated factions that will never reach their full potential.

[@h3rbsman]

Every faction and xenos and demon all come together in space to kill each other only for trazyn the infinite to swoop in and add this battle as his magnum opus for his collection

[@jmgonzales7701]

I have an idea thou its a bit anti climactic. In this concept, the galaxy has entered a period of stagnation and fragmentation, where once-great factions like the Imperium of Man and the Eldar have decayed beyond repair. The Imperium is splintered into countless independent groups, each operating in isolation, and the dream of the Emperor's evolved humanity is forever unrealized. Humanity survives, but without unity or purpose, scattered so far across the stars that they rarely, if ever, encounter one another. Similarly, the Eldar wither away, and the threat of Chaos and Tyranids, while still present, has been reduced to mere skirmishes, no longer capable of galaxy-wide destruction. Drawing inspiration from Dune's "Scattering," the fragmented state of humanity ensures survival but at the cost of progress, leaving them as the sole intelligent species in a galaxy where no group can dominate or unite. The grimdark atmosphere is maintained, not through grand battles, but through the slow decay of civilizations that can no longer reclaim their former glory.