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Warhammer 40,000 |OT| In the Grim Darkness of the Community Forum There Is Only War

Tacitus_

Member
Well easy is even more faceroll-y. You just don't have to care about the mechanics on normal and can A Move go victory. Then again, that is more preferable to having a random unit come out of the fog of war to murder half of your entrenched forces because they deal enough damage on their first volley to kill SPEISS MEHREENS in cover AND they charge after it.

Fucking Seer Councils were obnoxious in DoW2 eldar defense missions.
 

Karakand

Member
Yeah, after how frustrating I found Chaos Rising I don't mind that Retribution was a lot easier. Especially since I wanted to play every campaign.
 

Azih

Member
I think easy is for Warhammer fans who are at the O GOD HOW DID THIS GET HERE? Level of skill. You should maybe give The Last Stand a try for a place where you can enjoy an actual challenge.

I think the 'nids are the most single player campain overpowered race anyway though. Self sustaining, endless healing, almost unkillable main hero and I think the best starting ranged unit in the game.
 
So after moving about a year ago, I finally unpacked my small collection of chaos marines and friends to keep working on.

In the spirit of things, I want to check out some more of the lore. Looking on booktopia there's a few omnibuses around - blood angels, space wolf, bastion wars, night lords, path of the eldar, angels of death. The talon of horus is there as well, don't know if that's a one off or not.

There are two Ciaphas Cain collections in September which I've heard good things about, and while I'm interested in the Horus Heresy I don't want to leap straight into that series. Of the ones I've listed, is there anything there that is particularly good or anything I should probably avoid?
I will probably buy them all over the next six months.
 

Karakand

Member
Talon of Horus is the first book in a diptych that hasn't been finished. It's excellent, basically a spiritual sequel to the Night Lords omnibus which imo is the best 40K story told in multiple releases.
 

Karakand

Member
BTW I finished the latest Horus Heresy book. If you want to save yourself the time and money,
Vulkan lives
and
Numeon dies
.

Also
Vulkan
isn't insane like he was on
Macragge
.
 
BTW I finished the latest Horus Heresy book. If you want to save yourself the time and money,
Vulkan lives
and
Numeon dies
.

Also
Vulkan
isn't insane like he was on
Macragge
.

Does it get into
what happened with Grammaticus at all after the events of Unremembered Emprire?
 

Karakand

Member
Nope. The book is very frustrating in how little it moves the overall plot forward. There's a nonsense subplot about
Narek
being mindwiped and made to think
he's a Knight Errant
, for example.

The only megaton beyond what I already posted is that the Salamanders find out
Terra still stands
and
Secundus
need not exist. One of the principal conflicts they face is whether to
resurrect Vulkan
or go back and
tell the forces of Secundus to get their butts to Terra
.
 
I got interested in 40K thanks to DOW2, I've toyed with the idea of getting into miniatures but I'm not sure it's a good investment for me considering I'm unlikely to ever actually play the game. I thought it would be neat just to check out the rulebook but even that's expensive. I can pick up the 6th edition rulebook and a Space Marines for like $30 which is pretty reasonable, I'm thinking it might be a good place to start. Any thoughts? At the very least the lore and pictures would be worth it?
 

Karakand

Member
About half the content in a Codex is fluff and pictures, but I can't speak for the rulebook.

Yeah, definitely a codex.

BACK IN MY DAY that was the only way we could get our lore fixes without an Inferno! scrip. The struggle was never more real. You'd end up with codices for factions you never had any intention of playing.
 

Toxi

Banned
Talon of Horus is the first book in a diptych that hasn't been finished. It's excellent, basically a spiritual sequel to the Night Lords omnibus which imo is the best 40K story told in multiple releases.
I might have to check this out.

The Night Lords trilogy is so good. ADB does such a good job of characterization, especially for the Chaos Space Marines; they're always understandable, yet never heroic. Even Talos has pretensions of righteousness rather than actual virtue, which makes him a wonderful contrast to his more cynical and realistic brethren. And all of First Claw come across as individuals with their own virtues and vices, even Uvas. In a lesser book the Night Lords would have either been the sole focus or would have been a binary action alternative to the "real characterization" of the non-Chaos Space Marine crew, but ADB handles the balance well.

If Storm of Iron is the best written action in the Black Library (It's amazing just how good of a battle Graham McNeil can write), the Night Lords books are the best written characterization.
 

Karakand

Member
This is super dorky but w/e, I love the chapter in Blood Reaver that opens with Talos'
childhood
and concludes with his
intimate conversation
with
Octavia
.

What did you want to do with your life?’ she asked. ‘I told you the truth: I’d always dreamed of guiding such a warship, and for better or worse, fate gave me what I wished for. But what about you? Do you mind if I ask?’

Talos laughed again, that same whispering chuckle, and tapped the defiled aquila emblazoned across his chest.

‘I wanted to be a hero.’ A moment later, he masked his scarred face behind his skulled helm. Red eye lenses stared at her, devoid of all emotion. ‘And look how that worked out.'

mjcry1.png


The fall of
Tsagualsa
is also top shelf.
 
I did some googling. Seems like the 6th ed. rulebook does have a lot of lore so I went ahead and grabbed both. Will probably look for some other ones too if theyre good. I think if I ever decide to actually jump in to the game I'll wait till the day the 8th comes out. Seems like I have to take the Apple approach and buy day 1 because it gets you the best longevity before refreshes.
 

AlStrong

Member
In the spirit of things, I want to check out some more of the lore. Looking on booktopia there's a few omnibuses around - blood angels, space wolf, bastion wars, night lords, path of the eldar, angels of death. The talon of horus is there as well, don't know if that's a one off or not.
Definitely do the Night Lords.^^

I'd skip Blood Angels, personally. It's been a long time since I read it, but it didn't really leave a good lasting impression. *shrug*

Both Space Wolves omnibuses were a fun read. I enjoyed Soul Drinkers as well (1 & 2), though it doesn't seem to be finished yet.

Blood Ravens - had a few interesting bits, I guess. I read this before playing the Dawn of War games though.

Grey Knights - Might be one of those "love it or hate it" because they're the mary sues of the Imperium. I liked it for the badassness. Some of it was a bit cringeworthy. Dunno, might just be me.

Iron Warriors - pretty enjoyable.

Ultramarines 1&2 - not that bad. Went in expecting generic smurfs, but the protag seemed interesting. Somewhat similar to the the Space Marine game in character cast.

Eisenhorn & Ravenor - if you like inquisition, go for it. Final trilogy/omnibus (Bequin) is still under way.
 
Definitely do the Night Lords.^^

I'd skip Blood Angels, personally. It's been a long time since I read it, but it didn't really leave a good lasting impression. *shrug*

Both Space Wolves omnibuses were a fun read. I enjoyed Soul Drinkers as well (1 & 2), though it doesn't seem to be finished yet.

Blood Ravens - had a few interesting bits, I guess. I read this before playing the Dawn of War games though.

Grey Knights - Might be one of those "love it or hate it" because they're the mary sues of the Imperium. I liked it for the badassness. Some of it was a bit cringeworthy. Dunno, might just be me.

Iron Warriors - pretty enjoyable.

Ultramarines 1&2 - not that bad. Went in expecting generic smurfs, but the protag seemed interesting. Somewhat similar to the the Space Marine game in character cast.

Eisenhorn & Ravenor - if you like inquisition, go for it. Final trilogy/omnibus (Bequin) is still under way.

The Word Bearers omnibus is a pretty fun read as well. There's an interesting subplot in the first novel about a PDF trooper who gets captured and turned into a chaos slave against his will. The whole trilogy is actually really good imo.

Yeah that 2nd Grey Knights novel had my eyes rolling when
they were in the titan from the dark age of technology and it's AI construct became a daemon simply by the protagonist reminding him that he is one

I know it's a 40k book but c'mon.
 

Karakand

Member
There are some great "epic" moments in the the Ultramarines omnibuses but they lack a consistent cohesion as books.

I wish there was a way to read stuff like the siege of Tarsis Ultra or the Battle of Medrengard without the meh stuff around them.
 

AlStrong

Member
The Word Bearers omnibus is a pretty fun read as well. There's an interesting subplot in the first novel about a PDF trooper who gets captured and turned into a chaos slave against his will. The whole trilogy is actually really good imo.

Forgot about that one! I was looking at my shelf for omnibuses, but I guess I just have the original WB novels. lol

Definitely agree. :)


Yeah that 2nd Grey Knights novel had my eyes rolling when
they were in the titan from the dark age of technology and it's AI construct became a daemon simply by the protagonist reminding him that he is one

I know it's a 40k book but c'mon.

:D

Yes, this reminds me - Abnett owes us more... has anyone heard or read anything on him pulling his finger out on this?

He's got one more left, right?

There are some great "epic" moments in the the Ultramarines omnibuses but they lack a consistent cohesion as books.

I wish there was a way to read stuff like the siege of Tarsis Ultra or the Battle of Medrengard without the meh stuff around them.

mm... Fair enough. The continuity of his stray from the Codex was the main thing for a while, but yeah, at the end of the day I guess it was just a bunch of stories involving Ventris. I thought it was done well enough for the smurfs. :p

The uh... 4th Company stuff was neat, but I was kinda going wtf @
Legion of the Damned suddenly appearing to save the day.
Liek.... wat.
 

Mathi

Member
So far Abnett has only finished Pariah, the first part of the Bequin trilogy. No idea about the second book (Penitent), but I doubt it will be released anytime soon. As far as I know Abnett's next book will be "Warmaster", the new Gaunt's Ghosts novel, but there is no release date for this yet. He is also working on/planning the sequel to "Warmaster", "Dreadwing" (HH Dark Angels novel) and "I am Slaughter".
And that's just his Warhammer stuff, he is also doing lots of writing for Marvel and whatever else he has going on. So yeah, it might be a while before he finishes the Bequin books. :/
 

AlStrong

Member
So far Abnett has only finished Pariah, the first part of the Bequin trilogy. No idea about the second book (Penitent), but I doubt it will be released anytime soon. As far as I know Abnett's next book will be "Warmaster", the new Gaunt's Ghosts novel, but there is no release date for this yet. He is also working on/planning the sequel to "Warmaster", "Dreadwing" (HH Dark Angels novel) and "I am Slaughter".
And that's just his Warhammer stuff, he is also doing lots of writing for Marvel and whatever else he has going on. So yeah, it might be a while before he finishes the Bequin books. :/

ah... I only did a cursory search of Bequin, and Perihelion was just a short, right? Guess I've fallen into the habit of waiting for trilogies to be completed, so I didn't really keep up.

Derp. :(
 
Definitely do the Night Lords.^^

I'd skip Blood Angels, personally. It's been a long time since I read it, but it didn't really leave a good lasting impression. *shrug*

Both Space Wolves omnibuses were a fun read. I enjoyed Soul Drinkers as well (1 & 2), though it doesn't seem to be finished yet.

Blood Ravens - had a few interesting bits, I guess. I read this before playing the Dawn of War games though.

Grey Knights - Might be one of those "love it or hate it" because they're the mary sues of the Imperium. I liked it for the badassness. Some of it was a bit cringeworthy. Dunno, might just be me.

Iron Warriors - pretty enjoyable.

Ultramarines 1&2 - not that bad. Went in expecting generic smurfs, but the protag seemed interesting. Somewhat similar to the the Space Marine game in character cast.

Eisenhorn & Ravenor - if you like inquisition, go for it. Final trilogy/omnibus (Bequin) is still under way.

Thanks for the impressions! (You and everyone else). I've ordered Night Lords, Space Wolves, and Word Bearers while they're on sale. I'm keeping an eye on Ciaphus Cain and Eisenhorn, both of which have the second & third omnibus/book being (re?)released in the next month or two, so that could work out great.

Also bought more minis for my army! Hooray whittling away my free time.
 

Hex

Banned
Have some extra stuff that I am trying to unload.
For sale, US only.
(All sealed in box)
Eldar Hemlock Wraithfighter $50
Mortarch of Nagash $50
Space Wolves Stormfang $65
Eldar Wave Serpent $36
Space Marine Assault Squad $32

4802NQo.jpg
 

Showaddy

Member
Abnett has had some health issues for the past few years which has impacted his writing pace.

Patience, the books will come.

Yeah between his epilepsy and Marvel throwing work at him since Guardians of the Galaxy his 40k work has really slowed down. No doubt he'll deliver though and the way it's working out we should get the end of both Gaunt's Ghosts and Eisenhorn around the same time.
 

Karakand

Member
Such Kys. :p

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh

-------------------

I wonder if they're fucking about in Horus Heresy waiting for Abnett to do something on the loyalist side. The last loyalist book that really moved the story forward was what... Unremembered Empire? (I like Scars but it's pretty much just fleshing out a legion / chapter that was left to rot in the fiction until the Space Wolves were retcon'd from being posthuman bros to WILY EXECUTIONERS, now the White Scars are the posthuman bros with a sprinkling of wily.) I mean Deathfire was literally a regurgitation of Flight of the Eisenstein...
 
I've been chatting to the manager of my local GW about getting back into painting and my stupid decision to paint 30 Grey Hunters at once. He asked me to paint something up and take it in to show him, so rather than some faceless Space Marines I've decided to paint up something I'd really enjoy: a little history of Ghazghkull! Sorry in advance for both crappy iPhone photos and my very primitive painting ability - I'm back in the hobby after 15+ years away and still learning.

KgbAlxH.jpg


First off, the very first figure to bear the name Ghazghkull. This was a standard Goff (Nob?) back in the day which Andy Chambers took, customised slightly and named Ghazghkull. He took him through a bunch of battles for White Dwarf and eventually he was included in the game's lore.

Obviously this is a very early work in progress, I've only really got half the base colours on him so far.

6yDdttd.jpg


Next is the very first figure I was ever given and the one which kickstarted my love of both 40k and the Orks in general. I recently got this figure back from my brother who saved it from the bin about ten years ago without my knowledge when I thought I'd never play/collect 40k again. I stripped it down to the metal and started again, but I really wish I'd taken some photos of just how badly teenage me had painted it - I'd certainly feel a lot better about my current abilities as a painter if I had. I considered replacing the missing spike on his helmet but to be honest I have horrible memories of having to find and reattach that bloody thing every time teenage me took him to and from a battle, so I'm going to let him wear that battle damage with pride.

He's about 90% done so far, there are a few bits I need to touch up and some I want to recolour, but I'm happy with how he's looking. It was a lovely experience repainting as an adult something I really struggled with in my early/mid teens.

UdRah9m.jpg


Finally, the big guy. I mentioned earlier in this thread that I didn't want to get a finecast version of this model (it's one of those miniatures which needs some weight to it) so managed to find a metal one on eBay which wasn't missing the horns. It was an absolute arseache to fit together, so many parts were poorly fitting or warped in some way, but I still think he's a magnificent mini.

I'd say I've finished this one, but I think it's one of those minis I'll keep going back to and tidying bits up over years. Already I think his face and adamantium skull could use some work.
 

Leunam

Member
That's some fine work for being away for so long. The checkers look great and I think the skin is pretty much spot on.
 
Thanks :) it's a hell of a lot better than I used to paint back in the day but I'm seeing a lot of areas for improvement. My brother still has the very first miniature I ever painted, Ragnar Blackmane. I'm going to have to take some photos of how awful it is before I strip and repaint him.

I can't take credit for the middle Ghazghkull's chequered patterns, I actually used transfers for that one.

I'm completely open to any constructive criticism you guys might have.
 

Leunam

Member
One area that I think you can still work on are the lenses. Lenses are super easy to do so I doubt you'll have any trouble. It's a good chance to add a different color to the scheme as well.
 
As always, thin your paints.

This is something I never used to do back in the day and oh god does it show on my old stuff. I'm close to getting it right now, learning that as soon as I see bubbles it's way too thin, though I'm still getting it a little too thick at times.

One area that I think you can still work on are the lenses. Lenses are super easy to do so I doubt you'll have any trouble. It's a good chance to add a different color to the scheme as well.

The things on top of his armour, is that what they are, lenses? I'll be honest I had no idea what they were supposed to be so I just painted them solid red. I thought they might even be exhausts at one point. That's a good suggestion, thanks! Maybe I can get some blue in there.
 

Mindwipe

Member
Not before Ragnar Blackmane. That he's still an actual character in the current codex but is still rocking that old mini is just absolutely bizarre.

Bearing in mind Ragnar came out very shortly after the Ghazghkull model *before this one*.

Also Ghazghkull is still a perfectly good model. It doesn't need replacing. Ragnar is heavily constrained by not having many parts and molding tech at the time.
 
I agree on Ghazghkull not needing a new mini, but probably because I've been away so long and didn't even know he'd had a redesign until a few months ago, so his current model is new to me.

To add to the list of things which need a new model: Ork buggies and Wartrakk Skorchas. Still a legal unit in the current codex and still using the old Gorkamorka minis with the tiny little weedy grot-looking Ork drivers.

You can pretty much count on them getting new minis and and a big buff in the next Ork codex.
 

dan2026

Member
Yeah, I think they're supposed to be frag grenade launchers. I don't recall any Eavy Metal painters ever giving them the effects that they used for lenses.

Knowing Orks some Mek probably told him 'strap these on, they'll increase yer killin' power by at least 40%' and he just went with it.
 

Showaddy

Member
Not before Ragnar Blackmane. That he's still an actual character in the current codex but is still rocking that old mini is just absolutely bizarre.

I still can't believe they gave us Santa Logan before a new Ragnar model. Or a new Wolf Priest model. Or an Iron Priest model...

It's actually kinda surprising how poorly supported the Wolf HQ's in terms of models.
 
The new developer walk through video for Total War: Warhammer is
rejoice.png



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKPw86ivR7A

Just imagine a game like this set during the Horus Heresy
whoo.png


Leading in Imperator titans and the Dark Angels against the Emperors Children and the daemons of Slaanesh.

Having a company of chaos marines charge on me and I use an orbital drop right in the center of them
lawd.png


Thunderhawk strafing runs
lawd.png


Primarchs as hero units and terminator squads
lawd.png


I think Relic should keep 40k since astartes are limited in number for conflicts but a Horus Heresy game like this NEEDS to happen.
 

EYEL1NER

Member
I was on lengthy flights Monday and yesterday, so I started reading the Grey Knights omnibus. Grey Knoghts was fantastic, it made me immediately want to track down more of Ben Counter's work (good thing the Soul Drinker omni is so cheap). It's disappointing to see that the following two books are not as good, but I didn't really find any negative impressions of them, so I am still eager to get to them.
I also just saw that the 12-book Horus Heresy box set dropped below $70 on Amazon, so I bought one. I had my eye on it when it was ~$85 and thought it was a good deal. The current price seems like a steal.
Now that I have read my first 40K book, I want more. I need to breeze through the rest of this GK omnibus so I can get to the book that has had me really excited for months while it was held up at a post office: The Space Wolf omnibus. After I finish those and probably Soul Drinkers, I think I might get an IG omnibus, maybe the one that had Cadian Blood in it. Sucks that Eisenhorn, the Gaunt's Ghost omnibus,the Caiphus Cain omnibus, and the Salamanders omnibus aren't cheaper at the moment...

While I was in the states for the last seven weeks, a coworker up here volunteered to fully assemble and magnetize (for conversion and storage) a StormFang that I had ordered. It got here in June I think, but the magnets I bought from K&J in mid-June just showed up. So it's a bummer that it isn't ready because I was thinking I would paint it soon.
 
Anybody have any advice/suggestions for putting together your own battlefield/table? Only thing I'm sure of so far is that I'll be getting one of frontline gaming's mats.
 
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