[marine13]

Macharius' army wouldn't go in the Halo Zones because the Astronomican doesn't reach there. But the Halo Zone is pretty close to Terra according to this map.

http://www.joachim-adomeit.de/wh40k/spacemap/map.html

So what about the planets on the Eastern Fringe like Macragge and Ichar V. Do they have to travel blindly through the warp all the time? That sounds horribly dangerous.

[Wrathbringer6]

Not quite, the Astronomican reaches all the way to the Eastern Fringe, it's just that it's weaker and slightly more dangerous than usual. I'd imagine that they would have to take shorter jumps through warp space to make the trip safer.

As for the Halo Zone, they didn't stop because the Astronomican couldn't reach that far (which I think it could), and this is why:

At the edge of the galaxy Macharius prepared to move onwards but his armies, never beaten by the enemy, wavered and crumbled at the prospect of exploring the psychic darkness at the galaxy's edge. The conquests of Macharius came to an end.

http://uk.games-workshop.com/imperia...-characters/2/

[Calaban]

but.. doesnt the 'psychic darkness' they mention mean the light of the astronomicon was flickering, and any going any further would be a journey in the darkness without the light guiding them?? I think thats where the interpretation everyone gets comes from.


And I dont think the astronomicon shines throught the galaxy. For one thing, Terra is in the far bottom left corner of the galaxy, and the segmentums of the 'galactic empire' spread out over only 2/3 of the left side of the Galaxy in its whole (look at where the galactic core is). Add to that the Rogue Traders operating in the eastern fringe "far from the guiding light of the astronomicon" quotes, and it could be stated that the 'galaxy spanning light of the astonomicon' is merely bombastic propaganda of something much more limited in scope and scale.

;D whew ! why do I find so much fun in pointing out the limitations of the human "empire"??