Most common bad guy?

[Marius the Possessed]

Like the title says, who's the most common enemy that the Imperium of Man, as a whole, faces off against? I don't mean which faction mainly fights who, or who the most dangerous enemy race is, etc etc, but rather which is the one most fought by the Imperium?

To me, it's a toss-up: tyranids, orks, heretics (both Chaos and non-Chaos, ie seperatists). Tyranids are probably the most encountered in the east, Chaos heretics in the north, and non-Chaos and orks all over, with probably non-Chaos heretics having a slight lead.

Thoughts?

[Intrepid]

I'm pretty sure it's Orks, everywhere. Tyranids are a doomsday scenario; either you clean them off the planet or they eat the planet. Ork infestations aren't nearly so extreme. Chaos is the most dangerous threat but it's also the least encountered. Outside of hotspots like the Eye or Maelstorm, it's mostly cults and cells unworthy of dramatic intervention.

Non-Chaos heretics is too broad a category. The Imperium's feudal organization makes constant, low-intensity warfare normative so I wouldn't count such heretics as a threat. Even if they do cause havoc on occasion.

[Willance]

It is Chaos with out a doubt.

The real fighting is not verse other Chaos Marines but planetary governors that have gone rouge. Not to mention things like the Sabbot World Crusades. Whole Space Marine Chapters are dedicated to only fighting Chaos.

The only real Segmun (sp?) who's major threat is not Chaos is Segmun Obscurus and that is because it is to far East to get in on the action. And they have the Tau and Tyranids.

[Klajorne]

Yeah, I'd have to go with chaos. Tyranids and orks are pretty common, and orks have definite hot spots, but chaos is the threat that exists both within and without. It is the constant threat, throughout the Imperium. If you're deep into Imperium territory, you're probably pretty safe from external xenos threats, but you're never free from corruption taking root. Any place where the Imperium exists, chaos is there, just under the surface. Even it's greatest warriors are not free of its taint, for they can all fall at any time.

I do wish the chaos codex was beefed up, since it's such a huge part of the background, it'd be great for them to have the consideration they deserve.

[Col. Dracus]

I would have to believe it's Orks. Not only for their mentality about war but due to how hard it is to wipe them out. Chaos plans out their attacks and will therefor wait for the most opportune moments to strike in most cases. Orks are always looking for a good fight. They don't care when or where, they just want to smash some heads. So while Chaos is planning an attack the Orks are on the move just looking for someone/thing to fight all the time. Orks are also extremely hard to get rid of due to their biology. The fact that they are a fungus means that 1 Ork can turn in to hundreds/thousands in a relatively short period of time. One example is Armageddon, "there are still countless Orks infesting Armageddon and the war rages till this day. For the Orks, the war has become known as the "Big Scrap" and more Orks arrive to the system with each day as word spreads. (Orks Codex pg.25)"

[Kyriakos Kylimos]

Well Tyranids are not so common i think , they are so overkill that if they were so often crossed, the Imperium would be pretty devastated..well , even more devastated than it is already. Im pretty comfident that its the orks. They are the most common race on Milky Way and that says a lot if u consider mankind's population. They are everywhere , even in imperial planets and even if u kill them , they spread spores that grow into new orks. They can be considered nigh indestructible as a force imo. After all the Old Ones made them that way in order to defeat the C'tan and their Necrantyr servants. My guess is that , back then, these guys where a hell lot of better than the imperium , combat-wise.

[adamwelton]

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[Kyriakos Kylimos]

Chaos: Epic threat as they have endless resources but have their hands full keeping the other races off humanity whilst trying to enslave them.

Chaos with endless resources? Sir , im sorry but u couldnt be more wrong. Chaos has awefully low resources. Let me explain:

1) Marines: The 60% of the chaos marines are survivors of the Horus Heresy. They are not expendable and replacing one is terribly hard because they dont have recruiting worlds and the technology needed to create space marines is incredibly scarce , especially when you live in a space ship or a daemon world with no mechanicum and no resources. Not to mention that from the 100 aspirants , only one makes it into a space marine. The other 40% is either chapters who went traitors or space marines who ascended after the heresy. The later , as i said above are usually maddened or completely mutated because of the geneseed degeneration and the poor tech they have.

2) Gear: If you read chaos books ull see that they are so awefully out of gear that they take the armour and weapons of their fallen brothers. Again they dont have the privillage of forge worlds and an imperium backing them up. They are up on their own.

3)In-fighting: Chaos exists to fight its own and this works for the chaos marine warbands too. Your brother of today will be your enemy of tommorow. And i mean ur actuall legion brother , not just a space marine from an other warband.

4)War-machines: With all that outdated tech and the eternal war , a tank is a spoil to die for when it comes to chaos.

5)Daemons: They cant be trusted mainly cause they need to be close to the warp or a relic in order not to disapear like thin smoke. There are some rly devoted warbands that are able to put daemons in good use but we talk about chaos as general.

6) Traitor Guard/Cults: They lick the dust from the soles of loyalist forces any day. They are most commonly used as a distraction tbh.

And this is not even the beggining of the list lol....Chaos s in the worst shape possible and the ruinous powers are not known for their pity. It takes a huge amount of effort to raid the Imperium as a united force , this is why the black crusades are so few and notable. In truth the biggest threat from chaos are the traitors within , not the traitors without. I disagree with ur other opinions too , about the xenos but i felt l HAD to tell u this about chaos. Oh and i want to state that , im not a chaos hater , on the contrary , im a fan

EDIT: Propably the only warbands who suffer the least from all these are the Black Legion led by Abbadon ( not their tendrils though ) , the main iron warrior warband cause lots of dark mechanicum and titan legions joined them , thus they have some considerable tech resources and Death Guard due to the fact that they are so durable and need very little resources to fanction. Even these guys however are a million light years away from "endless resourcess". Think of this: chaos are rebels. Have u ever heard of rebels with good resources , even ENOUGH resources?

[Kyriakos Kylimos]

i'm pretty sure it's orks, everywhere. Tyranids are a doomsday scenario; either you clean them off the planet or they eat the planet. Ork infestations aren't nearly so extreme. Chaos is the most dangerous threat but it's also the least encountered. Outside of hotspots like the eye or maelstorm, it's mostly cults and cells unworthy of dramatic intervention.

Non-chaos heretics is too broad a category. The imperium's feudal organization makes constant, low-intensity warfare normative so i wouldn't count such heretics as a threat. Even if they do cause havoc on occasion.

this!

[adamwelton]

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