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Tulon In reply to ??? [2013-08-17 08:18:36 +0000 UTC]

The vast distances and unique peculiarities of interstellar communication within the setting indeed can often serve as a cop-out to explain certain differences, especially when the Imperium has always been described as being rather "laissez-faire" in how its member worlds handle themselves as long as the tithe is paid. The Imperial Guard's rather motley appearance is testament to that.

In other cases, however, the contradictions are too obvious - either because an organisation has been described as being very uniform (such as the Sisters, who in GW's original material all take their vows on Holy Terra, and are very networked with a lot of transfers from one Order to another), or because the description is about a very specific occurrence or functionality (the Sisters' Acts of Faith cannot simultaneously be obvious divine magic *and* merely ambiguous).

That said, you actually raise a very good and true point! In the time since I wrote the comment you were replying to, I've discovered some statements from the people who actually write the material, and even had the opportunity for a short discussion with Black Library author Aaron Dembski-Bowden. What it boils down to is that, basically, the franchise as a whole treats its various sources of fluff as unreliable possibilities, as if the books we as gamers and readers are consuming are works of history, influenced and twisted by a potentially biased or simply non-omniscient historian. So maybe it's true. Or maybe not entirely. You as the individual reader get to decide and cherrypick. Personally, I would prefer a more consistent setting, but by now I have learned to cope with it. This approach at least allows us to simply dismiss the things that may not fit into our interpretation at all.

If you'd like to read more on that, I have collected a few quotes (with links to their sources) in this short forum post: www.dakkadakka.com/dakkaforum/…

Of course I'd recommend reading the entire source; the quotes are really just what I feel are the most important bits.

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LoneStranger In reply to ??? [2012-02-09 23:00:38 +0000 UTC]

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Raven913 In reply to ??? [2012-02-09 21:56:52 +0000 UTC]

Sooooo cuuuuuuute...

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