The background that annoys you most

[Storyteller]

Although Sigmar has been the patron deity of the Empire for almost as long as there's been an Empire, I think the political and ideological dominance of Sigmarism at the apex of the Empire's henotheistic society really took off after Magnus the Pious. His faith and his vision saw off the Chaos Hordes and reforged the long-fragmented Empire by normalising unity of Sigmarism and State throughout the politics of the Empire. So Sigmar = the Empire = Unity = Victory.

Prior to Magnus, although Sigmarism was endemic, it seems that the vision of Sigmar had little traction with the warring nobles of the Empire.

I really enjoy this interpretation - the idea of a very prevalent Sigmarism pre: Magnus but that the alignment of church (of Sigmar) and state became that much more solid in the wake of Magnus the Pious. Perhaps it was more a matter of returning to this state of play though after a number of years of disunity? Sigmar has always (well, since the Empire's founding more or less) been a 'State Deity.'

Well I think the dominance of the Sigmar faith is less recent than people think. The cult of sigmar gets three votes in the electoral system of the Emperor, I don't know when this came about but it is not necessarily recent.

This is the impression I get from what I have read (though I never feel the need to constrain myself to things I read which don't 'work' for me).

My original thinking about the burning/exclusion of magic users from Imperial Armies pre: Magnus was that I get the impression that the Witch Hunters were given (or just took) free reign to burn ANY magic user prior the founding of the colleges. Since Magnus the Pious both magic (in the form of the Colleges) AND the Witch Hunters have been reigned in a bit under Imperial control. The Witch Hunters are officially servants of the Emperor (the temporal representative of Sigmar?) and they now have to live with the Colleges of Magic: some perhaps think they are a Sigmar-sanctioned necessary evil to use against Chaos, others perhaps miss the old 'burning times' and think all magic should be purged.

What year are we supposed to be up to know in Warhammer, 2512 I.C.?

The griffon wielding a hammer, the very image that adorns the Theogonist's war altar, is Magnus' own emblem, which shows his importance to both the religion and politics or of the Empire.

As far as I know we are meant to be 2522 imperial count. We were 2512 in Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 1st ed (don't know if that translates to FB at the time). Mordheim was 1999 which I think coincided with the Time of the Three Emperors.

Thanks for the info about Magnus - I had always wondered where the religious significance of the Griffon for Sigmarites comes from.

Aye, I suspect, in fact, that the cult of Sigmar actually served as a divisive influence on the Empire historically rather than a unifying one. The core of Sigmarite support is in a handful of southern provinces (Reikland, Stirland, arguably Wissenland and Averland, and historically probably Drakwald), with a bit of an anomaly in Ostland, which could be alienating for northern provinces which are already hacked off about various other issues, and leads to a greater investment in "local" gods like Taal and Ulric. It's not surprising that the Empire fractured along broadly religious lines in the second millennium.

Yeah, I've always thought of most people in the Empire worshipping the entire pantheon of deities to varying degrees depending on their social station (Shallaya when sick, Sigmar for protection, etc.) but that the priesthoods jockey for the position of their deity within that pantheon and in terms of temporal influence and this is where the divisions come into play, especially when they map onto divisions between the Electors.