In reference to introducing the IG being lore breaking, considering the marines are already here, isn't having 4 chapters of marines present lore breaking anyway for a single planetary conflict, normally speaking 1 chapter would be enough and chapters like the Space Wolves defiantly wouldn't share. There are other ways of introducing IG, a warp tunnel/rift opening to a planet that they are already present on, possibly already in conflict with Necrons or Dark Eldar, thus not having them sent to help but suddenly connected with the planet that we are battling for. The story line could even be as simple as an IG space hulk spat out of warp space (after battling Chaos and being dragged into the warp) and crash landing on the planet that we are on. So long as the IG are not sent to help the astartes then there is no conflict in lore, I'm sure there are plenty of way they could turn up by accident.
Well, your arguments are good and I must admit that you get the point from a logical perspective. However, I still can't agree with the idea for its unlikeness and, like you, I really hope that if the Astra Militarum gets implemented it would be at least as the Adeptus Astartes chapters allies. On the other side (back on topic) Chaos could get Blood Pact soldiers and cultist, orks get Freebooterz and gretchins, and eldar get corsairs and rangers.
I worry though, that the Freebootaz are too similar a playstyle to the Orks (think the gretchin are already confirmed to actually be in EC, probably not playable though) and the crosairs/rangers are to similar to the Eldar playstyle as well. IG and the Legion of the Damned will dwarf the newcomers choices in popularity and we will either get a massive imbalance towards the Imperium or you will force the Imperium to constantly need to face Nids more than any other race. To the great dislike of players who bought this game to primarily PvP, not be forced to stave off NPCs 60% of their playtime.
There is also an issue of the troup reinforcement: you can't keep fighting a crusade without a minimum of supply, which means that their must be some communication with the outside world. In this case, for the space marines, everything is fine: they do not need to ask anyone to receive what they want; but the Astra Militarum on the other hand has to ask the Munitorum each single time they need fresh troops and new equipment (cf. Ciaphas Cain books), which means that if the Astra Militarum gets embroiled for some time in this conflict and gets supplied for it, the Imperium MUST be aware of what's going on there.
Why not simply just expand the solar system, add a new planet in with the new factions on it and Necrons as the NPC race instead of Tyranids, this would give the new factions a fresh starting point without having to fight off established strongholds, force existing factions to travel in their ships to reach the new planet (and vice versa) making it just that little more difficult to establish yourself there. Then over a period of time the 2 planets would eventually meld together as factions travelled backwards and forwards.
I think that's a non-issue, I think you're simply delving to far into background fluff, if you want to go that root then none of us should be able to respawn, we must die a reroll fresh units.
LOL the shitty gritty life of a guardsmen. Never sent to save the day and usually there by accident or miscommunication. I think that other factions can be added in this way with expansions and just story arcs developed in game and progression. Playing off what you said maybe they crash land in another continent of the same planet. Create another story arc with a different pve presence. There will be some lore thrown into the wind here but..I would gladly give up lore in order to create balance in a game.
Blood Pact are one of the few things from the "Abnettverse" which I think are very awesome, so +1 to that suggestion. Yeah ... it's an understandable thought, but personally I don't think the game will actually attempt to imitate a conflict in such a detailed manner that it would track how much time has passed. Call it a hunch based on how previous MMOs handled their continuity, but I have a feeling EC will be stuck in "Year 1" for as long as it's kept alive. Besides, if we'd go by GW fluff, even the Space Marines depend on Imperial supply lines when dealing with prolonged warfare. Just like with the IG, they don't bring their manufacturing capacities with them - it just usually is not an issue because they are the Imperium's firefighters, normally never staying long enough for stuff like ammo shortage to even become an issue. "As the first phase of the campaign drew to a close, and the Season of Fire approached, a ceasefire of sorts was achieved, with both sides digging in to weather the coming storms. Many Space Marine Chapters withdrew, as their lightning attack style of warfare was of less relevance in this new stage of the war. First to withdraw were the Relictors, who, with no explanation whatsoever, emerged from the jungle, boarded their Thunderhawk gunships and simply left. Imperial Navy picket ships in orbit challenged them, and a violent confrontation between supposed allies was only narrowly averted when Commander Dante ordered the picket ships to stand down and allow the Relictors' ships to rendezvous with their fleet. The next time the Relictors were seen was one month later, when they arrived at the orbital shipyards of Belis Corona and demanded a complete resupply of their entire fleet. After some tense altercations with officious Departmento Munitorum officials, the Chapter's demands were acceded to and their ships resupplied." - White Dwarf recap: The Third War of Armageddon
the main problem is that, per player, space marines are just outright better than guardsmen. while you can say it can be balanced by making them weaker, people don't really want to play a race that is straight up weaker and relies on having more players. the orks are an exception to this, methinks. and even if normal guardsmen were made F2P--one, that negates the advantage the orks have with their F2P option, and makes it less of an advantage for both, and two, what are you going to have the classes be for players who have payed for the game? stormtroopers? even they are not on par with marines.
