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Post by: Ravenblade666
Here's the new 40k roleplay from FFG
They are the thin line that protects the Imperium from complete and utter destruction. They are the Imperial Guard. Announcing Only War, a Warhammer 40,000 roleplaying game!
link here
http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=3185
EDIT, now with more info
(Kid Kyoto)
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“The men and women of the Imperial Guard sacrifice more and gain less than perhaps any other arm of the Imperial Armed Forces.”
–Commissar Ibram Gaunt
Fantasy Flight Games is thrilled to announce the upcoming release of Only War! In this all-new standalone Warhammer 40,000 roleplaying game, players take on the roles of soldiers in the Imperial Guard, the galaxy-spanning armies of the God-Emperor. Fully compatible with FFG’s other Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay titles, this comprehensive game system explores a previously unseen side of life in the Imperium of Man.
In Only War, each player takes the role of a Guardsman, a member of the Imperial Guard and one of the countless billions of hardened conscripts constantly fighting on myriad fronts at the whim of the Adeptus Terra. In control of this martial alter ego, players go forth at the behest of their officers to fight the eternal and implacable foes of the Imperium – the foul xenos, the mutant, the heretic, and the dark forces of the Ruinous Powers.
Bound by Honour
As Guardsmen, you will be ordered to engage the enemy with a myriad of tactics. Your squad might be responsible for guiding an important dignitary through a perilous warzone, or instructed to infiltrate a besieged fort to deliver important intelligence. With missions as varied as the galaxy’s innumerable warfronts, you and your squadmates must often rely on nothing but your own grim determination and your faith in each other.
Take the role of a Guardsman with one of twelve distinct Specialties, offering unique skills to your squad to complement those of your comrades. Will you bring the light of the God-Emperor to the battlefield as a Ministorum Priest, or will you wield the Imperium’s most cutting-edge technology as a fearsome Storm Trooper? Perhaps you’ll tend to the machine spirits of the Guard’s many war machines as a Tech-Priest Enginseer, or lead the charge as your squad’s Sergeant. Whatever your function, you’ll be a vital part of the Imperium’s vast war machine.
Your Service Begins Soon
Throughout the course of their service, Guardsmen may fight on a thousand nameless worlds, often outnumbered and outgunned by their enemies and fighting in some of the worst conditions that history has ever known. And yet, despite immense opposition (or perhaps because of it), these fearless soldiers are bound to each other by a code of brotherhood and honour. They are the thin line that protects the Imperium from complete and utter destruction. They are the Imperial Guard.
Learn more on our Only War description page, and Check back in the coming weeks. Then, look for it on store shelves in the third quarter of 2012!
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Post by: Charax
Another one? just seems like they're cashing in now
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Post by: Kanluwen
Charax wrote:Another one? just seems like they're cashing in now
Really? That is the comment you choose to post in this thread?
Each of the RPGs, while able to be interlinked, do present themselves differently.
That said:
Hell yes. It's about time the Guard get some real love.
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Post by: Morathi's Darkest Sin
Yeah I've been waiting for this one for a while, sorta paused my Dark Heresy game because I wanted it as we are focusing so much of it around a Guard regiment.
Aurelia is playing a SoB Hospitalier, attached to the Guard Regiment in my Sig.
Must buy for me.
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Post by: English Assassin
Might be fun, particularly if played in the vein of Paranoia.
[BLAM!]
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Post by: Charax
Kanluwen wrote:Charax wrote:Another one? just seems like they're cashing in now
Really? That is the comment you choose to post in this thread?
Each of the RPGs, while able to be interlinked, do present themselves differently.
I'm sure they do, but the last RPG they released was, what? 6 months ago? It just seems like they're selling whole new RPGs when sourcebooks would do.
And yes, I am perfectly aware that this criticism is levelled whenever they release an RPG, I've been there since the beginning, but this is the point where I, personally, go " do we need this?". That's why I chose to post that comment.
but if that offends your delicate sensibilities, let's just fill the thread with mindless "ooh, shiny, can't wait" comments
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Post by: aka_mythos
I'm kinda surprised, this one I heard was going to just be an in depth Dark Heresy expansion... I guess it grew too much for that.
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Post by: Brother SRM
Neat! That cover art is miles ahead of the actual IG codex cover art too.
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Post by: Johnny-Crass
Everyone starts out with 25 characters..... One of them is bound to make it through the first mission
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Post by: juraigamer
Might be interested, will have to wait and see.
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Post by: Ravenblade666
aka_mythos wrote:I'm kinda surprised, this one I heard was going to just be an in depth Dark Heresy expansion... I guess it grew too much for that.
Maybe it will cover all the canon IG regiments perhaps?, would be ace to find out more about the Death corps of Krieg.
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Post by: Death By Monkeys
English Assassin wrote:Might be fun, particularly if played in the vein of Paranoia.
[BLAM!]
"The Emperor is your friend!" ?
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Post by: BrookM
Holy feth yes I do want in on this action.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, OP, edit the thread title to PROPERLY REFLECT what this is all about.
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Post by: Ahtman
Johnny-Crass wrote:Everyone starts out with 25 characters..... One of them is bound to make it through the first mission
It is always nice to meet an optimist.
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Post by: aka_mythos
Ravenblade666 wrote:aka_mythos wrote:I'm kinda surprised, this one I heard was going to just be an in depth Dark Heresy expansion... I guess it grew too much for that.
Maybe it will cover all the canon IG regiments perhaps?, would be ace to find out more about the Death corps of Krieg.
When you look at Dark Heresy's breakdown of the types of worlds in the Imperium for establishing your origin, those seem just as applicable here. It strikes me that this game will need an even greater break down of background to distinguish characters.
I wonder if they'll include Ogryns, Ratlings, and other abhumans.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Johnny-Crass wrote:Everyone starts out with 25 characters..... One of them is bound to make it through the first mission
Haha!  That'd actually be really funny and be a neat way to do a game that's the opposite of Deathwatch's one marine vs a horde... now you're a horde vs. a single marine.
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Post by: warboss
I don't see why they didn't do this as a supplement for DH instead of a stand alone game but it works either way.. a core book just allows them to charge more for the book since they'll have to include the original rules necessitating a larger page count.
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Post by: BrookM
Doing this as a separate range does allow for more fluff and that's something the Guard could use more of seeing as that piece of gak codex is hardly a proper information tome these days. I'd pay their prices for books on the big regiments, special formations and whatnot. Don't really need a vehicle book, I've got Forge World for that.
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Post by: ph34r
Interesting. I hope this is at least in part compatible with Dark Heresy.
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Post by: Kroothawk
Does every character class of Dark Heresy now gets its own RPG before we see playable Xeno races (except the three classes in RT)?
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Post by: Morathi's Darkest Sin
Heh, sadly true. All I know is I'll be using the futurama 'shut up and take my money' image as soon as we have Orks and Eldar based books arriving. 
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Post by: Noir
Hell yeah, a RPG were dieing is the only real outcome. I'm on board.
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Post by: MajorWesJanson
I thought Only War was going to be a DH splatbook, but I guess it grew. I get these mainly for the art and fluff, so this is a must buy for me.
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Post by: automatonsleuth
An RPG where you just shoot things and quote B-movies? This would, I think, be much more suited to the level of subtlety and role-playing ability that my erstwhile DH group possesses...
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Post by: warboss
BrookM wrote:Doing this as a separate range does allow for more fluff and that's something the Guard could use more of seeing as that piece of gak codex is hardly a proper information tome these days. I'd pay their prices for books on the big regiments, special formations and whatnot. Don't really need a vehicle book, I've got Forge World for that.
Even though it says that it's compatible, the usage of books from between the various "compatible" lines is a clunky and inelegant process at best. I see yet another "core" rpg in a world where 4 already exist as too many unless it addresses something that hasn't been covered in depth with the others (like a xenos specific or Heresy-era RPG core game). You can easily do IG with the DH and RT books already announced whereas separate regiments could be added to the lore with a future book. Constantly fragmenting the userbase isn't a good thing IMO and adding a 5th "core" rpg book to the mix is my personal tipping point.
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Post by: Morathi's Darkest Sin
Not a WoD fan warboss?
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Post by: aka_mythos
I think its too easy to just say this game is "just shoot things" but if that's how your games go its wholely the fault of the Gamemaster. Even if you only look at war and action movies, many of those create drama by having moments when the characters have to figure out when not to shoot. You're the IG and not the Inquisition, so immediately purging that Colony on LV-426 for playing with some xenos isn't your first response, otherwise you might be pulling a dead child from the airduct and choosing not to land but to just nuke the site from orbit on a whim.
To put it another way, when you work for an Inquisitor you know you're going somewhere dangerous. When you're a Guardsmen, you're the poor SOB (and I don't mean Sororitas) who found out it was dangerous just so the henchmen knew they were going into a dangerous situation.
The game can have drama... how does your group investigate when they think their Lt. has turned to Chaos? How do they react when ordered to fight alongside Xenos mercenaries? What ends are they willing to go when their supplies run out and their working alongside other IG from another planet that they find out are hording?
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Post by: ShatteredBlade
Sadly, I was never impressed with the 40k RPG
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Post by: warboss
Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:Not a WoD fan warboss?
TBH, I never played them despite starting to play RPGs in their heyday. The WoD art style just turned me off to them completely.
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Post by: Morathi's Darkest Sin
Fair dues, just raised it due to their own fragmented games, something as a fan of WoD I am used to.
If you never picked it up, I can see your point more clearly.
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Post by: George Spiggott
I wonder if there'll be any women in it? 
No. Seriously, some good I.G. fluff and artwork featuring a mix of the sexes could do with working its way back into the mainstream IG milieu.
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Post by: Kanluwen
George Spiggott wrote:I wonder if there'll be any women in it?
No. Seriously, some good I.G. fluff and artwork featuring a mix of the sexes could do with working its way back into the mainstream IG milieu.
Look at the cover. The flamethrower is being carried by a woman.
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Post by: MeanGreenStompa
Whilst I am sure that it will be a rich source of new and great reading/background/source material... I'm not sure how the heck it will be fun to play if it's true to Imperial Guard portrayal as a bunch of regular dudes, under equipped, who get massed and marched at the enemy.
I'd have much preferred 'XenMerc', the tale of a ragtag group of alien mercenaries in the 40k universe (dark eldar, blood axe ork, kroot, hrud, talerian dog soldier, human pirate etc) in the manner of the dirty dozen.
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Post by: George Spiggott
Kanluwen wrote:Look at the cover. The flamethrower is being carried by a woman.
That's a fine start.
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Post by: MeanGreenStompa
Well, if memory serves, Cadia is an equal opportunities employer...
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Post by: Azure
Positively thrilled about this. Never played a game of any of the RPG's, but the fluff and pictures in them are worth the cost by far
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Post by: George Spiggott
MeanGreenStompa wrote:Well, if memory serves, Cadia is an equal opportunities employer...
Not according to GW's miniatures.
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Post by: Kanluwen
George Spiggott wrote:MeanGreenStompa wrote:Well, if memory serves, Cadia is an equal opportunities employer...
Not according to GW's miniatures.
Yes, but according to the sculptors of those miniatures(and the artwork relating to such) the differences between seeing a Cadian female and male in full combat gear are pretty much nonexistent.
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Post by: skrulnik
A separate core book is fine with me.
It lets them break away from the rule concepts that Dark Heresy uses and go with the ones they have developed since.
From what I remember, there are things such as Psyker powers that are very different between DH and RT.
Plus they can integrate ideas that came out of the Black Crusade development.
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Post by: Kid_Kyoto
Not sure the IG really need their own game system, like others I thought this was a Dark Heresy supplement that was on its way.
Still about 70% likely I'll buy it thought. FFG stuff has just been really good.
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Post by: Deathmachine
Yeah ive been hereing about this game for awhile fantasy flights is a pretty cool game store i suggest anyone who is passing through Minnesota to check them out. And the crew there knows what there doing.
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Post by: MeanGreenStompa
I'll likely buy it for background and reading, but, as I mentioned before, playing a grunt in endless combat situations doesn't appeal. I like a bit of cerebral and social to my roleplaying.
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
Months! Months I have been keeping quiet about this game!
I have endured thread after thread and post after post saying "Is Only War cancelled?" "When is Only War coming out?" "What do you want to see in Only War?" "Do you think we'll ever get Only War?" "Only War doesn't fit with Dark Heresy's investigation theme!!!" and now the wait is over.
Finally they announce it, so I can finally talk about it beyond the odd cryptic "Only War hasn't been cancelled".
On the bright side, at least y'all now know why it was delayed. 
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Post by: Alpharius
MeanGreenStompa wrote:I'll likely buy it for background and reading, but, as I mentioned before, playing a grunt in endless combat situations doesn't appeal. I like a bit of cerebral and social to my roleplaying.
Maybe it will be more like a Gaunt's Ghosts novel rather than a Generic Trooper #234909 Meatgrinder thing?
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Post by: Maxstreel
The fluff will be the key to whether it's worth plunking down the money. It does get boring playing regular tabletop40k when just about everything can kill us by looking at us sideways. At least the cover art makes the guard look like they're trained soldiers, not just conscripts.
We'll see...
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Post by: Oakenshield
Kanluwen wrote:George Spiggott wrote:MeanGreenStompa wrote:Well, if memory serves, Cadia is an equal opportunities employer...
Not according to GW's miniatures.
Yes, but according to the sculptors of those miniatures(and the artwork relating to such) the differences between seeing a Cadian female and male in full combat gear are pretty much nonexistent.
I like this point of view. I hate when artists feel the need to shape a womans body armor to show off her guzungas. Women aren't going into battle wearing push up bras. Women of the IG =/=Jim Lee drawings.
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Post by: George Spiggott
Kanluwen wrote:Yes, but according to the sculptors of those miniatures(and the artwork relating to such) the differences between seeing a Cadian female and male in full combat gear are pretty much nonexistent.
That's a cock and bull story and you know it. We were both looking at the same picture of the IG flamer girl right? Or this?
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Post by: Kanluwen
George Spiggott wrote:Kanluwen wrote:Yes, but according to the sculptors of those miniatures(and the artwork relating to such) the differences between seeing a Cadian female and male in full combat gear are pretty much nonexistent.
That's a cock and bull story and you know it. We were both looking at the same picture of the IG flamer girl right? Or this?
Actually, I'm going off statements that Forge World's sculptors (notably: Brian Nelson who also did the Cadian Shock Troop plastics) made a few years back when questioned about the possibility of female trooper upgrade kits. He said that when in full combat gear(like the art of the IG flamer girl) you'd be hard-pressed to tell a difference unless you purposely exaggerate specific features(i.e. the breasts/hips/facial structure)--which can lead to a pretty bad looking model.
I'm not sure why you linked a Catachan model from awhile ago for this line of discussion though.
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Post by: George Spiggott
Kanluwen wrote:Actually, I'm going off statements that Forge World's sculptors (notably: Brian Nelson who also did the Cadian Shock Troop plastics) made a few years back when questioned about the possibility of female trooper upgrade kits. He said that when in full combat gear(like the art of the IG flamer girl) you'd be hard-pressed to tell a difference unless you purposely exaggerate specific features(i.e. the breasts/hips/facial structure)--which can lead to a pretty bad looking model.
It's still a cock and bull story (I never intended to infer it was your cock and bull story). Unless I missed all those anatomically correct - with no purposely exaggerated specific features - scale models of Cadian Guardsmen that GW released in plastic. I only remember these:
They're nice minis (apart from the heads), I own a few of them but scale models they aint. TLDR His answer is bull.
Kanluwen wrote:I'm not sure why you linked a Catachan model from awhile ago for this line of discussion though.
It's a female IG model.
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Post by: Kanluwen
George Spiggott wrote:Kanluwen wrote:Actually, I'm going off statements that Forge World's sculptors (notably: Brian Nelson who also did the Cadian Shock Troop plastics) made a few years back when questioned about the possibility of female trooper upgrade kits. He said that when in full combat gear(like the art of the IG flamer girl) you'd be hard-pressed to tell a difference unless you purposely exaggerate specific features(i.e. the breasts/hips/facial structure)--which can lead to a pretty bad looking model.
It's still a cock and bull story (I never intended to infer it was your cock and bull story). Unless I missed all those anatomically correct - with no purposely exaggerated specific features - scale models of Cadian Guardsmen that GW released in plastic. I only remember these:
They're nice minis (apart from the heads), I own a few of them but scale models they aint. TLDR His answer is bull.
They might not be scale models, but his answer still isn't "bull" by any measure. Look at the conversion kits people do for Cadian female kits. Huge backsides and breastguards.
Kanluwen wrote:I'm not sure why you linked a Catachan model from awhile ago for this line of discussion though.
It's a female IG model.
Which is old and from a line which was absurdly out of scale.
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Post by: George Spiggott
Kanluwen wrote:They might not be scale models, but his answer still isn't "bull" by any measure. Look at the conversion kits people do for Cadian female kits. Huge backsides and breastguards.
IIRC the heads were also quite poorly sculpted compared to GW minis. There's a reason why the 3rd party kits had huge backsides and breast guards and it isn't because GW style anatomical exaggeration would make them look ridiculous.
Kanluwen wrote:Which is old and from a line which was absurdly out of scale.
Considerably less so than the male Crapachans and well within acceptable limits for a GW figure of the period.
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Post by: Holycrusader27
Who cares about how female guardsmen are represented in model form you want female troopers there is a army for that called.....Sisters of battle.
Book looks great but I like to see either D/Eldar or tau get some RPG love. I'm a bit burnt out with imperial 5th edition already. Hell id even settle for a Ork RPG .
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
Really? We're going to turn this announcement into an argument about how boobs should look in armour?
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Post by: Kanluwen
I could always mention a certain technology and its ministers, H.B.M.C. 
On a scale of Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer to the Imperial Guard Codex; how essential is this book for a Guard fan?
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Post by: BrookM
Chances are: NDA prohibits him from talking about it.
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Post by: Balance
Morathi's Darkest Sin wrote:Not a WoD fan warboss?
The thing about he oWoD, at least for me, is that the multiple game lines made the most sense if I considered them as alternate versions of the same setting, but with different protagonists. In Vampire there were werewolf creatures with stat blocks for enemies, but they were very different from the warrior-hippies of Werewolf. Play Werewolf, and there were some generic vampire-ish creatures statted out, but they weren't quite the broody schemers of the Vampire game. Repeat, although perhaps less so, for the Mage, Changeling, etc. game lines. Interoperability was an afterthought, and not a major concern.
I'm not sure if this quite works for the 40k RPGs.
Something to consider, though, is I get the feeling that Dark Heresy might be the crudest being the earliest, so perhaps Only War is an effort at unifying them or at least resetting the 'baseline' power level rules.
Military games can be good or bad in my mind, though. Having a chain of command can lead to very rail-roady plots if the GM isn't willing and interested in having the chain of command either removed or putting the PCs in situations where they have to consider breaking the chain themselves. "Go fight through that battlefield, into the enemy's base and recover the MacGuffin" can get boring if overused. There needs to be occasional twists like "The MacGuffin is going to cause horrible tings to happen if it's recovered. How do we tell the boss we had to destroy it and not get killed?"
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Post by: Kanluwen
Maybe, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
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Post by: Deacis657
I was always told not to judge a book by it's cover. It looks good. Now to figure out how in incorporate it into my Death Watch campaign for the people who like being bait
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Post by: Alpharius
Strangely enough, the illustration of the female IG soldier on the cover of "ONLY WAR" does show a difference!
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Post by: George Spiggott
Alpharius wrote:Strangely enough, the illustration of the female IG soldier on the cover of "ONLY WAR" does show a difference!
No it doesn't. Brian Nelson said so. 
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Post by: Kanluwen
Alpharius wrote:Strangely enough, the illustration of the female IG soldier on the cover of "ONLY WAR" does show a difference!
Not to start anything up, but...
When you look closely, there's actually not a difference. The artist used the shadows to exaggerate the chest proportions and make it clear that it is--in fact--a female.
Look at the face, notice the lack of hair hanging down from the helmet, etc.
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
Kanluwen wrote:On a scale of Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer to the Imperial Guard Codex; how essential is this book for a Guard fan?
It's a book about the Imperial Guard, with parts of it written by me, so that puts it pretty high on the 'must buy' scale IMO.
In all seriousness though there’s nothing I can say that won’t sound incredibly biased, so instead I’ll just say this:
If you’ve bought other FFG books just for the fluff/artwork, then this is a good book to get. It covers a lot of Guard-flavoured ground, and if you’re as big a Guard fan as me, then I wouldn’t miss it.
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Post by: Kanluwen
H.B.M.C. wrote:Kanluwen wrote:On a scale of Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer to the Imperial Guard Codex; how essential is this book for a Guard fan?
It's a book about the Imperial Guard, with parts of it written by me, so that puts it pretty high on the 'must buy' scale IMO.
In all seriousness though there’s nothing I can say that won’t sound incredibly biased, so instead I’ll just say this:
If you’ve bought other FFG books just for the fluff/artwork, then this is a good book to get. It covers a lot of Guard-flavoured ground, and if you’re as big a Guard fan as me, then I wouldn’t miss it.
Excellent.
You gave the Kasrkin a good accounting, of course?
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Post by: George Spiggott
Kanluwen wrote:When you look closely, there's actually not a difference. The artist used the shadows to exaggerate the chest proportions and make it clear that it is--in fact--a female.
Look at the face, notice the lack of hair hanging down from the helmet, etc.
What's causing the shadow? Female IG combat soldiers won't have long hair and yet the face looks female without it.
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Post by: Alpharius
Kanluwen wrote:Alpharius wrote:Strangely enough, the illustration of the female IG soldier on the cover of "ONLY WAR" does show a difference!
Not to start anything up, but...
When you look closely, there's actually not a difference. The artist used the shadows to exaggerate the chest proportions and make it clear that it is--in fact--a female.
Look at the face, notice the lack of hair hanging down from the helmet, etc.
You're something else Kan!
Maybe you need to look a little closer:
And even if you're right (!) and FFG is playing a game of shadows, they are in fact admitting that there needs to be a visual difference because... there is one!
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Post by: Kanluwen
George Spiggott wrote:Kanluwen wrote:When you look closely, there's actually not a difference. The artist used the shadows to exaggerate the chest proportions and make it clear that it is--in fact--a female.
Look at the face, notice the lack of hair hanging down from the helmet, etc.
What's causing the shadow? Female IG combat soldiers won't have long hair and yet the face looks female without it.
The arm stabilizing the flamer. I don't know if the artist did it intentionally or not, but that is what emphasizes it.
Compare that to this:
Both are very clearly female, however one is a flat representation where the visual cues which you could do with a 3D model are not necessarily going to be the same.
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Post by: BrookM
Not to mince words, but I see boobs. Titties. Gazongas. Insert your own term of description for the pretties here. But Kan has taken a stand and you chaps know what that means ait?
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Post by: Kanluwen
It means I'm right, by virtue of being right!
Or something like that, aye Brook?
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
Yeah. The armour's got curves Kan. No amount of "But it's a Tech-Priest'-ing from you will change that.
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Post by: Kanluwen
H.B.M.C. wrote:Yeah. The armour's got curves Kan. No amount of "But it's a Tech-Priest'-ing from you will change that.
The answer dawns on me...
The Tech-Priests in the white robes did it!
When it gets closer to release, you know the question I want answered though.
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Post by: George Spiggott
Kanluwen wrote:The arm stabilizing the flamer. I don't know if the artist did it intentionally or not, but that is what emphasizes it.
The one that's below the shadow with the light shining from behind? Nice try.
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
Ask away (and I will ignore you and/or give vague hints about already revealed details).
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Post by: Kanluwen
*shakes fist in impotent fury at H.B.M.C.*
Do you know when this will go up for preorder?
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Post by: kenshin620
After reading several IG novels and Comics, I can see this being kinda fun
And I'm sure your characters will make it out fine. Unless they're under the command of a certain Colonel Schaeffer....
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
Remember Kan, I don’t work for FFG, I work with them, so I’m not privy to release dates or pre-order dates. Given they said third quarter, we’re looking at a Gen-Con release (just like Black Crusade last year and Deathwatch the year before). So probably around that time if I had to guess.
But whatever the pre-order or final release date ends up being, there is one thing I can say for certain:
Don’t trust Amazon.
To illustrate this point, here is a story I’ve held off telling because I had to wait until Only War was announced. It’s not anything to do with the development of the book, just something funny related to Amazon:
A few weeks into the writing of Only War I got an E-mail in my inbox from Amazon. It was the usual thing from Amazon – X is out in Y days! Pre-order now to have it shipped on the day its released (which in Amazon-speak means 4 weeks after its released). The subject of this particular Amazon E-mail was Only War, the upcoming supplement for Dark Heresy! Better yet, according to the E-mail, it was due out in 10 days! I wondered how we were going to finish, proof, test, edit and print the book in 10 days. Maybe Tzeentch could help?
In the end we had a good laugh at Amazon’s expense and all accepted the fact that you never ever listen to Amazon when it comes to release dates or shipping times and all that other nonsense. They don’t know what they’re doing!
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Post by: Kroothawk
Still this is a missed chance, as you can already play groups of guardsmen (plus a psyker as on the cover). Just calling your boss "General" instead of "Inquisitor" doesn't make a difference, only that you have to find a reason why all characters and allies are NOT exactly the same. Mindless shooting adventures were already covered in Deathwatch, so nothing new there either.
Everyone is waiting for a core RPG where you can all play Xeno characters. And being allowed to be one odd mistrusted Xeno on a 50k human crew Rogue trader ship is not enough. I am running out of patience with FFG.
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Post by: Kanluwen
H.B.M.C. wrote:Remember Kan, I don’t work for FFG, I work with them, so I’m not privy to release dates or pre-order dates. Given they said third quarter, we’re looking at a Gen-Con release (just like Black Crusade last year and Deathwatch the year before). So probably around that time if I had to guess.
That works just fine for me. Right around my birthday.
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
Kroothawk wrote:Still this is a missed chance, as you can already play groups of guardsmen (plus a psyker as on the cover). Just calling your boss "General" instead of "Inquisitor" doesn't make a difference, only that you have to find a reason why all characters and allies are NOT exactly the same. Mindless shooting adventures were already covered in Deathwatch, so nothing new there either.
The fact that you think Deathwatch is a ‘mindless shooting adventure’ proves how quick you are to jump to conclusions.
Kroothawk wrote:Everyone is waiting for a core RPG where you can all play Xeno characters. And being allowed to be one odd mistrusted Xeno on a 50k human crew Rogue trader ship is not enough. I am running out of patience with FFG.
Your comment from earlier in the thread made me laugh a bit, the whole “I wish they’d do Xeno Careers (apart from the Xeno Careers they’ve already done of course!)”. Might as well say “I wish I had a Ferrari (y’know, besides the Ferrari I’ve already got!)”.
The other thing is your comment is blatantly contradictory.
On one hand – You can already play as Guardsmen in DH! Why do we need a whole came about that?
On the other – Why do we have to be 1 xenos among a crew of thousands of humans?
One argument has you using DH to play a group of Guardsmen (certainly possible and completely valid), whereas with the other you’ve failed to make the leap that you can play entire crews of Xenos using the Xeno careers. Haven’t you thought about playing an Ork crew using the Ork career? I know it was one of the first things we thought of.
I get it Kroot – you like the Xenos elements of 40K, have an intense dislike for Space Marines (hence you writing DW off as a ‘shooting adventure’), and want to see less focus on the Imperium. That’s fine, and it’s a perfectly valid opinion to hold (other than your opinions on Deathwatch, which are flat out wrong). But some people want a war or squad-based RPG that doesn’t focus on super-human super-soliders, and some people don’t want their investigation/conspiracy-based RPG turned into a war/squad-based game.
Someone said to me that Baneblades have no place in Dark Heresy. They were absolutely right. Maybe, if we’re lucky, they will find a home in Only War.
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Post by: aka_mythos
H.B.M.C. wrote:Ask away (and I will ignore you and/or give vague hints about already revealed details).
HBMC... old buddy... pal.. friend... Let me ask this in a less direct way... abhumans are they the sort of thing you'd expect in the corebook or something you'd expect from the follow up book (the equivalent of Rites of Battle to Deathwatch)?
Kroothawk wrote:Still this is a missed chance, as you can already play groups of guardsmen (plus a psyker as on the cover). Just calling your boss "General" instead of "Inquisitor" doesn't make a difference, only that you have to find a reason why all characters and allies are NOT exactly the same. Mindless shooting adventures were already covered in Deathwatch, so nothing new there either.
Everyone is waiting for a core RPG where you can all play Xeno characters. And being allowed to be one odd mistrusted Xeno on a 50k human crew Rogue trader ship is not enough. I am running out of patience with FFG.
Kroothawk, in fairness to FFG, I'm fairly certain this started out as an expansion that simply grew too big, in that regard its not as if they were intentionally trying to disappoint you.
At the same time I have to warn you... there is apparently a long list of core games they want to do before they do the first xenos book:
-Fist of Justice: Roleplay the lowly beat enforcer as he attempts to bring down kingpins, cultists, and gangs alike, all the while you learn in depth the underpinnings of the Imperium's legal system.
-The Hold of the Blackship: Roleplay the final days of the damned psykers destined to feed the Golden throne, will you find escape or are you just fated for doom?
-Spyers of the Hive: Roleplay the children of the wealthiest nobles of the hiveworld Skulmegedon as they attempt to gain favor in through competing for trophies in the underhive.
-Ex Machina - Roleplay a servitor in his pursuit of penance in service to the lords of Mars, utilizing a new punch card to program system!
-Arena of the Dark City: Roleplay the poor HUMAN mortals who's lot is to battle out the rest of their lives in the arena's of Commorragh, become a Gladiator Champion and you might find freedom.
-Astronomicon: In this 41st millenium version of "telephone" must roleplay the Imperiums galactic operators. Would you like to take a collect call?
-Xenos: Finally roleplay ALIENS doing alien THINGS!
I actually want to see a Xenos based RPG... just giving you a hard time.
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Post by: FM Ninja 048
ok, so from the descriptive text I picked out FFG wrote:Take the role of a Guardsman with one of twelve distinct Specialties, bringing unique skills to your squad to complement those of your comrades. Will you support your team as its Medic, rushing headfirst into fire to perform life-saving feats, or will you draw on the energies of the Warp as a fearsome Sanctioned Psyker? Perhaps you’ll protect your squad with suppressing fire as a brawny Heavy Gunner, or become the team’s Commissar and “motivate” them to greatness at the barrel of a bolter. Whatever your function, you’ll be an important part of the Imperium’s efforts to protect humanity.
FFG also wrote:Take the role of a Guardsman with one of twelve distinct Specialties, offering unique skills to your squad to complement those of your comrades. Will you bring the light of the God-Emperor to the battlefield as a Ministorum Priest, or will you wield the Imperium’s most cutting-edge technology as a fearsome Storm Trooper? Perhaps you’ll tend to the machine spirits of the Guard’s many war machines as a Tech-Priest Enginseer, or lead the charge as your squad’s Sergeant. Whatever your function, you’ll be a vital part of the Imperium’s vast war machine.
so: sanctioned pkyker heavy gunner commissar medic priest storm-trooper tech-priest sergent + 4 more, any speculation? sounds good, I love the gaurd so this will probably end up on my bookshelf. However the one thing I cannot shake is the tiny guardsmen jumping out of the chimera on FFG's site, it looks wrong, that would make a chimera massive (I know they are, just look at the picture before you comment)
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Post by: aka_mythos
I'd guess a Scout of some sort. I also don't think Commissar and Storm-Trooper would necessarily be starting classes...but some preceding equivalence instead.
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
ala_mythos wrote:HBMC... old buddy... pal.. friend... Let me ask this in a less direct way... abhumans are they the sort of thing you'd expect in the corebook or something you'd expect from the follow up book (the equivalent of Rites of Battle to Deathwatch)?
Commissars are awesome.
ala_mythos wrote:Kroothawk, in fairness to FFG, I'm fairly certain this started out as an expansion that simply grew too big, in that regard its not as if they were intentionally trying to disappoint you.
I also suspect that this is the case. I can’t say for certain, so I’m not stating that it was or wasn’t – by the time I got involved in the book that decision had long since been made – but I do think this began as a book that might’ve had a few extra careers in it, tank rules and some other things for squads and then they realised that it was robust enough to do an entire game and/or the only way to do the subject justice was to do a complete game.
ala_mythos wrote:At the same time I have to warn you... there is apparently a long list of core games they want to do before they do the first xenos book:
-Xenos: Finally roleplay ALIENS doing alien THINGS!
You forgot:
“It’s 6 in the morning, you’ve been working for the past 18 days with barely an hour’s sleep, you’re thirsty, hungry and dirty, and the air-conditionorium broke down a century ago, but those 80 million ration requisition requests must be filed correctly and in the right order, and colour coded, signed in triplicate and then re-forwarded by hand to the relevant parties in the Departmento Munitorium! Only you and the 8000 other scribes like you can complete this in the next hour. Will you take the challenge? Will you be the front line of the universe’s greatest bureaucracy? Will you play... Aministratum X-Streme!!!”
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Post by: Johnny-Crass
"Or your squads ratling and learn the limits of you culinary expertise!"
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Post by: Byte
Excellent artwork!
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Post by: Ahtman
H.B.M.C. wrote:“It’s 6 in the morning, you’ve been working for the past 18 days with barely an hour’s sleep, you’re thirsty, hungry and dirty, and the air-conditionorium broke down a century ago, but those 80 million ration requisition requests must be filed correctly and in the right order, and colour coded, signed in triplicate and then re-forwarded by hand to the relevant parties in the Departmento Munitorium! Only you and the 8000 other scribes like you can complete this in the next hour. Will you take the challenge? Will you be the front line of the universe’s greatest bureaucracy? Will you play... Aministratum X-Streme!!!”
Can I make a Bureaucrat named Hermes?
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
Iron Hands Chef – the new RPG from FFG.
Lead your team of Ratlings to victory in the grimmest and darkest cooking RPG of all time. The losing teams get immolated!!!
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Post by: the_dunner
Yay! It's finally bit announced.
I was also lucky enough to get to work on this one, actually fairly closely with H.B.M.C. for bits of it.
While I understand (and can relate to) the plea for a xenos-focused game, I think don't think folks will necessarily find this one disappointing. The Imperial Guard have a galaxy full of rich traditions. There's going to be a whole lot of material in that core book.
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
The question then John is when do we get our copies? I only just got my copy of Fallen Suns!!!
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Post by: shasolenzabi
Ah, another book to drool over! Personally I found Deathwatch to be a bit too easy. The five of us dealt the Wrath of the Emprah to nearly 3k of Orks in one mission, with me taking a single scratch.
Whereas in DH, every fight was a true danger to the party!
Now, seriously DKoK based on the Vraks campaign and the Dead Men Walking are as flat and mechanical as they come, they don't seem to do much except go fight and or die.
Other IG regiments can be more colorful to play, and the fact that they are pretty much normal humans allows for a party member to be enlisted by an Inquisitor for a DH game from this book if all is as it should be, and they work out the compatability, and the points values are right. (Been avoiding the old 400pt build rule as all the other games start at 5k for build.)
It shall be interesting to see what they have inside.
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Post by: Quintinus
H.B.M.C. wrote:Kanluwen wrote:On a scale of Imperial Infantryman's Uplifting Primer to the Imperial Guard Codex; how essential is this book for a Guard fan?
It's a book about the Imperial Guard, with parts of it written by me, so that puts it pretty high on the 'must buy' scale IMO. In all seriousness though there’s nothing I can say that won’t sound incredibly biased, so instead I’ll just say this: If you’ve bought other FFG books just for the fluff/artwork, then this is a good book to get. It covers a lot of Guard-flavoured ground, and if you’re as big a Guard fan as me, then I wouldn’t miss it.
I hope you guys snuck in some sort of demeaning reference to Robin "Arby" Cruddace Kind Regards,
Vladsimpaler
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
Honestly that never crossed my mind.
There’s one quote that I wrote for one section that I hope against hope makes it in in-tact. I guess we’ll find out in Aug/Sep/Oct.
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Post by: Quintinus
H.B.M.C. wrote:Honestly that never crossed my mind.
There’s one quote that I wrote for one section that I hope against hope makes it in in-tact. I guess we’ll find out in Aug/Sep/Oct.
Regardless of whether it makes it in or doesn't (though I'm hoping it does), you need to tell us which one it is. 
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
If it does make it through I'll both tell you which one it is and the history behind it.
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Post by: haroon
I would like to try playing a commissar and summarily executing other PCs who didn't do their job. Although i suspect i might not get invited to the next game session after that ><
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Post by: Chrysis
I suspect this is not so much a separate core game as Dark Heresy mk. II. A way to backport the Black Crusade rules adjustments to Dark Heresy without issuing an errata as big as the original rulebook.
As was pointed out, calling the guy giving you the mission "Inquisitor" or "General" is pure fluff so it wouldn't take much reflavouring to essentially turn it into Dark Heresy v2.
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Post by: Happygrunt
So, I have never bought a FFG book. And I am probably going to get this. Too bad I don't know how I will convince my 40k group to play any RPG that doesn't say "Dungeons and Dragons" on the cover.
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
No. I’m telling you right now that this book is not a stealth Dark Heresy 2.0. ‘General’ is not analogous to ‘Inquisitor’ in the slightest. Don’t even think that.
Furthermore you’re forgetting that every game has its own specialist core mechanic or mechanics (other than Dark Heresy***) that defines the structure of the game.
Rogue Trader has Profit Factor/Acquisition and Endeavours.
Deathwatch has Solo/Squad Modes and Renown/Requisition.
Black Crusade has Corruption and Infamy (and stretching a bit further, Chaos God-specific advance schemes).
Now I can’t go into the new mechanics that come with Only War for obvious reasons, but I’m certain that they will go over it in detail over the coming months with each new preview. Suffice to say it, it is not Dark Heresy 2.0 and the game is – and I can’t believe this needs to be said – rooted firmly in the organisational structures of the Imperial Guard (as one might expect from a game that deals exclusively with the Imperial Guard).
This game has as much to do with Dark Heresy as the other three 40K RPG’s, and it’s not an ‘update’ to anything. And for anyone looking at the various character classes that they’ve revealed (Guardsman, Storm Trooper, Commissar, Priest, Tech-Priest, Psyker) and is thinking “Well all of them are in DH!” well, yeah, most of them are in RT as well (Confessor, Explorator, Arch Militant, Astropath, etc.) and that’s obviously not a ‘stealth update’ to DH now is it?
***And technically once Book of Judgement hit, Dark Heresy got its investigation rules. Were I re-doing Dark Heresy as a 2.0 I’d put them in the Core Rulebook.
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Post by: Insurgency Walker
So H.B.M.C, can you comment on if it has special large scale battle rules?
Personally, I'm doing the happy dance. I think I can get a lot out of a guard style game. Just look at the Cain books. I'm already picturing the campaign setting concept. A battered veteran regiment that earns garrison duty on a theoretically peaceful world......
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Post by: Teufelhunde
H.B.M.C. wrote:
Someone said to me that Baneblades have no place in Dark Heresy. They were absolutely right. Maybe, if we’re lucky, they will find a home in Only War.
Really? They have no place? Cause my DH group found an excuse to use one last sunday
I guess thats what happens though...our GM decided to begin an all-out Chaos invasion of the planet we were on at the time.
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
You may be right. I thought that full-scale combat didn’t really belong in Dark Heresy, then I played the first section of The Chaos Commandment and it completely changed my point of view.
Of course, with Only War, playing the other side of that conflict would be interesting – rather than a group of Acolytes tagging along with a company of Guardsmen, you’re the Officer (and a few other important people) escorting a group of Inquisitorial Agents across a warzone. Same scenario, just played from a different angle. Could be fun!
Insurgency Walker - Honestly? I don't know. I have no clue as to what the final state of the mass combat rules look like, or even if there are any. I presume there are, but I have to hold my hands up to ignorance here. I have not seen the final book so I don't know what's in it or in what form.
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Post by: porkuslime
This sounds like such a neat thing..
Congrats HBMC!
I also gotta wonder.. does character creation have anything in common with the original Traveller RPG? Is there a chance that your character will fail to make it thru Basic Training and just flat out die?
Would be true to the setting, if not terribly frustrating!
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Post by: Centurionpainting
I'm getting it just for the fluff value.
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Post by: ph34r
Kanluwen wrote:It means I'm right, by virtue of being right!
Or something like that, aye Brook?
Uh, dube, just look at the armor. Stop focusing on the shadow and look at the left side. You know, the part where you can clearly see the curved form of the armor. You know, the curved form that the male IG flak armor does not have. That one?
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Post by: BrookM
Not a question to the writers, but rather a silly hope in general: I do hope that the fluff is discussed is more of the good old Pete Haines/Andy Chambers codex and not the Arby variant, where Guardsmen are stupid and need to be shouted at a lot.
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
I don't think I'm giving anything away saying Andy Chambers was involved in this book. I mean he works with FFG now (he's doing the DUST Warfare stuff), so that's no secret.
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Post by: BrookM
Andy? To say the least, this pleases me. 
edit.
Loved Battlefleet Koronus, so this will be a keeper.
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Post by: Shadow Walker
I am so happy that it turned to be separate game instead DW book and it has best cover from all corebooks.
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Post by: BrookM
Dark Heresy, not Deathwatch.
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Post by: Ouze
For the love of god, lets take the discussion of female Guardsmen and the lack therof to their own thread.
So, on-topic. I never played these sorts of games. Is it more like, say, dungeons and dragons where the focus is on a narrative and telling stories? Or is it more like, say, Arkham Horror (which have played)?
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
More the former than the latter. They're PnP table top RPG's.
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Post by: BrookM
I wonder, will I also get XP from my donkey-cave GM for properly roleplaying guard duty?
Then again, with the options listed in the article I kinda feel a dirty dozen sort of vibe coming up in me.
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Post by: CadianCommander
I'm so excited I could cry.
I love 40k rpg. I love IG.
As for female guard, there was the special games day release female commissar. Though the stupid bint is wearing a stupid corset.
There are ways to make female guard that don't have inappropriate clothing and are overly endowed. I may do a platoon of them one day but for my Black Crusade character (a female guardsman) we used Cadian legs, a DEladar torso and head, and painted her in standard Cadian colours (please excuse the lack of face, the Chaos Gods obviously didn't want her image shown):
Can it be out now?! NOW!!
<weeps>
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Post by: BrookM
Personally I'd either use kapitan Ivanka from Raging Heroes (below) or that female commissar from that french site I can't remember from the top of my head.
Myessss, commissar McBigscabbard would make for an excellent GM character, perhaps a bit harsh, but the perfect character to force the PC's into doing things they might.. not.. do.. otherwise..
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Post by: CadianCommander
Rogue Trader has Profit Factor/Acquisition and Endeavours.
Deathwatch has Solo/Squad Modes and Renown/Requisition.
Black Crusade has Corruption and Infamy (and stretching a bit further, Chaos God-specific advance schemes).
And compacts? (in place or endeavours in RT, I mean).
All the games have a very different feel. All are on a different level. All do different things, even if you can play similar-ish classes and concepts. So you can play a ex-Guard combat PC in BC, RT and DH. But you're not playing an actual active Guardsman. Here you can, you can really do your funky thing, if that's what you wanna play. I think it's an awesome idea, and it prevents people playing bastardised versions of the kinda character they really wanna play because FFG have provided an outlet for it.
And for those who seemed to be sarcastically suggesting "what next, xeno outside of RT?"
Well, why not? Seriously why not? Those of us who play Imperial armies get all the fluff lovin'. Round out the other races more, lots of damn good fluff comes out of the FFG RPG books. Tau, Orks, Eldar would make great RPG PCs. The only ones I don't think would be viable would be 'nids and Necrons. I've kinda been expecting those games to come out for a while.
<gets down off soap box>
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Post by: BrookM
Aliens are a hard subject to tackle, just look at how long it took BL to get proper Eldar novels out there that are great sources of information about the subject.
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Post by: CadianCommander
But plenty of other RPGs have done it. It shouldn't be that hard. They've already got a strong, strong basis to work from with 40k universe. And I really dont get why it took so long to get the Eldar books out there by BL.
I'm Guard player through and through, for the Emperor and all that, my loyalty doesn't waver (except when playing BC of course). But I want my non-Imperial playing mates to get as much out the universe as I do.
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Post by: BrookM
40k is easier to tell and explain from an Imperial stand point, just look at the Imperial Armour books.
Anyway, back on topic, Baneblades might a bit too overkill, but a Leman Russ sounds like fun.
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Post by: tinfoil
I play DH, and buy other FFG 40K books purely for the fluff. Glad to hear this one may be worth purchasing on that basis!
One question: if the other Warhammer games ascend on a spectrum of bad-assery of player characters from DH to RT to Deathwatch/Black Crusade, where will Only War fall on the spectrum. Will players be grunts/acolytes (etc.), or mid-tier operatives (etc.), or super-heroic space marines (etc.)?
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
BrookM wrote:Anyway, back on topic, Baneblades might a bit too overkill, but a Leman Russ sounds like fun.
Who says either are in the book?
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Post by: CadianCommander
First thing my b/f said when I told him about IG RPG was "can I play a leman russ?"
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
It's nice that he attributes human aspects to tanks... but they're not alive sadly.
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Post by: CadianCommander
But..but...but what about the machine spirit!? :-| Don't tell the mechanicum. They may excrete saline solution from their visual receptor ducts.
It's more that he isn't quite dancing around the house, squeeing and bouncing off the walls with excitement over an IG RPG.
When BC was announced, that was a different matter
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Post by: Necros
I'm not a RPG guy so I don't really know much about these FFG RPGs.. but, would this also be like a "sourcebook" kind of thing for IG? or is it just a big rulebook with a little fluff thrown in? Like is it worth buying just because you're an IG fan, even if you know you'll never ever play the RPG?
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Post by: Kanluwen
These RPGs do usually have quite a bit of good fluff for the topics they're on, yes.
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Post by: CadianCommander
Sourcebook with a "lot" of fluff thrown in
There needs to be, quite a number of people don't play 40k but play 40k rpg, so FFG don't assume everyone's read or has access to the codex.
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Post by: BrookM
For the best, the current codex is a poor representation of what the Imperial Guard is all about.
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Post by: Alpharius
H.B.M.C. wrote:BrookM wrote:Anyway, back on topic, Baneblades might a bit too overkill, but a Leman Russ sounds like fun.
Who says either are in the book?
They both better be!!!
I still wish FFG had a set of rules that worked seamlessly for all systems, but, so much for that water under the bridge!
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Post by: Insurgency Walker
I would be surprised if LRBT were not well represented in the rules. In fact, when I run the game if the party ends up having some mechanized element I think I will treat that in a similar method to DW power armor, or even ships from RT. Asuming the game mechanic is not already in place.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Also, given how much equipment the guard have, what do people think the first supplement will be? An adventure, or more equipment/career book? Maybe a detailed regiments book?
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Post by: BrookM
The equipment book better be called the Munitorum Manual or something like that.
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Post by: Tibbsy
BrookM wrote:The equipment book better be called the Munitorum Manual or something like that.
http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Imperial-Munitorum-Manual-Warhammer/dp/1844165027 We already have a Munitorum manual 
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Post by: BrookM
Duly noted, mine didn't cost well over seventy quid thankfully.
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Post by: Tibbsy
BrookM wrote:Duly noted, mine didn't cost well over seventy quid thankfully.
Feth I didn't even notice the price , I just knew one had been released and that was the first link from a Google search
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Post by: BrookM
Tibbsy wrote:BrookM wrote:Duly noted, mine didn't cost well over seventy quid thankfully.
Feth I didn't even notice the price , I just knew one had been released and that was the first link from a Google search
It's a fun booklet to have and a great companion piece for either copy of the Uplifting Primer. Shame that those greedy witches have to ruin it for others again though.
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Post by: alphaecho
But will it contain advice to a Guardsman on what to do if vented to space?
On topic, some of the preview artwork has potentially sold it to me even if I never play an RPG. The piece that shows what I presume to be Mordians charging from the Chimera looks ace.
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Post by: CadianCommander
I still wish FFG had a set of rules that worked seamlessly for all systems, but, so much for that water under the bridge!
If wishes were horses...(then I'd have more than I already do :s must stop getting horses) but remember that they inherited that rule set and were locked into using it until BC.
....which is why a lot of BC's rules are so much better >.<
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Post by: Grot 6
Johnny-Crass wrote:Everyone starts out with 25 characters..... One of them is bound to make it through the first mission
It's cthuhlu- like in its simplicity.... I like it.
Now now...... I can see playing a group of Last Chancers, lead by lee marvin.... er Col. Shafer.
That rogue squad running through that firezone in that little shore story in deathwing, only to find that they need to keep going at the end of it.
Playing a squad of First and Only's....
Commissar Duties await hmmmm.... the fun to be had. 
then the little dity of being a rogue squad of survivors dropped on Angelis. fighting over scrap and building better buggies....
I really like the idea of this book. does this mean that all of these books are interchangeable?
Chaos take thier souls!!!!!  Automatically Appended Next Post: Necros wrote:I'm not a RPG guy so I don't really know much about these FFG RPGs.. but, would this also be like a "sourcebook" kind of thing for IG? or is it just a big rulebook with a little fluff thrown in? Like is it worth buying just because you're an IG fan, even if you know you'll never ever play the RPG?
Oh yes....
Mine read like a sourcebook with some rules thrown in for laughs of the books I have.
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Post by: DarknessEternal
Where's the R come in at for this RPG?
Since when do guardsmen have anything resembling a life of their own or choice in what they do?
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Post by: BrookM
DarknessEternal wrote:Where's the R come in at for this RPG?
Since when do guardsmen have anything resembling a life of their own or choice in what they do?
Read a BL novel about them, we'll talk later.
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Post by: DarknessEternal
BrookM wrote:Read a BL novel about them, we'll talk later.
Feel free to point out one that doesn't involve them being in a warzone or traveling to one.
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Post by: CadianCommander
Where's the R come in at for this RPG?
Since when do guardsmen have anything resembling a life of their own or choice in what they do?
You mean like Space Marines go off and do what they wants and aren't constantly acting under another's orders, or like DH characters aren't doing what an inquisitor wants, or beginning level D&D characters aren't hired by the local authorities to go rescue the princess, or L5R characters aren't under the orders of their Daimyo or....
Lotsa games you don't get a choice about what you do or don't do and they're still fantastic roleplaying. Others, it's up to you to make the plot and decide what you're going to do. Which is also fantastic roleplaying. There are games out there that focus on the combatants. The roleplaying is up to you. If you don't think you are capable or bringing personality and life to a jarhead (and obviously haven't watched Starship Troopers, read any IG novels or seen any war movies) then don't. Go play something else.
Personally, I have always really like playing a stock standard combat character. Not because I like to hit and shoot enemies, gimme loot and xp, but by doing that, then I can focus more on the characters' quirks and personality. That's just me.
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Post by: swampyturtle
screw playing a standard guardsman, Im gonna be playing the Tech priest. My Dark Heresy Character can now see front line combat! ( GM always prefered sneaky sneaky roles )
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Post by: Commissar Stein
On Female Guard:
Being a female fan of the 40k world, I find it can at times be an isolating experience. I won't get into why but I did overhear story of a friend quoting an employee at one of my favourite GW workshops, saying 'I don't like women in the store because it 'distracted from the hobby.'
I haven't been back there since but I can't say it won't keep me from the store forever... (I'm pretty sure I know which employee it was - he was never very nice to me).
That said - I have noticed some of the faces of the IG looking quite unisex, and I try to give these faces a bit of a lighter look in the hope that it makes them a bit more feminine. One GW employee was examining my miniatures, and noted "this one looks female!" I guess it's sort of working...
In terms of this game in general: I'm quite excited about this game... I'm not sure if the idea is that we simply play a squad, or if we play the HQ of a squad - and assume the roles of Sergeants, Commanders, Commissars, and so on. Maybe the system allows for both - which would be a cool option in and of itself. In any case, the fluff and art alone should be great... I hope.
Cheers,
K
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Post by: shasolenzabi
Commissar Stein, with all due respect, you ought to go with some friends who also play and make that misogynist as uncomfortable as possible , maybe then he will walk out as he so deserves.
I would like personally to see more female wargamers/RPG'ers as they bring unique perspectives to both sets of games.
Besides, have you ever seen a guy try and RP a female? so much fail there!
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Post by: BrookM
DarknessEternal wrote:BrookM wrote:Read a BL novel about them, we'll talk later.
Feel free to point out one that doesn't involve them being in a warzone or traveling to one.
Not sure if.. Ah forget it.
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
Commissar Stein wrote:I'm not sure if the idea is that we simply play a squad, or if we play the HQ of a squad - and assume the roles of Sergeants, Commanders, Commissars, and so on. Maybe the system allows for both - which would be a cool option in and of itself. In any case, the fluff and art alone should be great... I hope.
Just to clear this question up - Only War is still very much a traditional RPG in the sense that you have a character - singular - who represents 'you' (so to speak) within the game. Yes, OW has squad-based elements simply due to the context of the game (it is about the Guard after all), but you don't play a squad, as you put it. You still have one guy (or gal!) that is your character.
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Post by: BrookM
I like to think that the GM is the CO or Commissar going "Let's go cannonfodder, we need to take that patch of mud, preferably before lunch."
Seriously though, I'm more and more looking forward to this one, especially if you get the option to start off as a white shield or the like (cog boy, orphan, altar boy, whatever) and grow over the course of several campaigns into something more, be it veteran, tank ace or whatever they've got in store for us.
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Post by: Commissar Stein
H.B.M.C. wrote:Commissar Stein wrote:I'm not sure if the idea is that we simply play a squad, or if we play the HQ of a squad - and assume the roles of Sergeants, Commanders, Commissars, and so on. Maybe the system allows for both - which would be a cool option in and of itself. In any case, the fluff and art alone should be great... I hope.
Just to clear this question up - Only War is still very much a traditional RPG in the sense that you have a character - singular - who represents 'you' (so to speak) within the game. Yes, OW has squad-based elements simply due to the context of the game (it is about the Guard after all), but you don't play a squad, as you put it. You still have one guy (or gal!) that is your character.
Ah! See how type-o's get you into trouble. I meant to write "in a squad" - as in a soldier in a squad. : )
In Rogue Trader you play integral members of a crew who are responsible for overseeing and commanding the work of the crew and units on your ship. I wonder if Only War will have a similar setup.
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Post by: BrookM
Commissar Stein wrote:H.B.M.C. wrote:Commissar Stein wrote:I'm not sure if the idea is that we simply play a squad, or if we play the HQ of a squad - and assume the roles of Sergeants, Commanders, Commissars, and so on. Maybe the system allows for both - which would be a cool option in and of itself. In any case, the fluff and art alone should be great... I hope.
Just to clear this question up - Only War is still very much a traditional RPG in the sense that you have a character - singular - who represents 'you' (so to speak) within the game. Yes, OW has squad-based elements simply due to the context of the game (it is about the Guard after all), but you don't play a squad, as you put it. You still have one guy (or gal!) that is your character.
Ah! See how type-o's get you into trouble. I meant to write "in a squad" - as in a soldier in a squad. : )
In Rogue Trader you play integral members of a crew who are responsible for overseeing and commanding the work of the crew and units on your ship. I wonder if Only War will have a similar setup.
According to the site you pick a specialist career so to speak. You can be hangman, bolt magnet, toy soldier, stitcher, heavy weapons operator and cogboy to name a few things. I'm sure you can also go with regular (wo)man in flak and work your way up from there.
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Post by: Minsc
About Guardsmen retiring: I can think of at least two examples. One, a short story from Into the Maelstrom, talking about how the planetary governor was a Guardsman who managed to serve long enough to reach retirement. Another, Sabbat Martyr, has one of the major side characters as a retired Guardsman on a pilgrimage. Both are also by separate authors, no less (oh, yeah, I also think that there's a bunch of Veterans in one of the Eisenhorn short-stories who retired, but a bunch went loopy).
So, yeah, IG can retire. Even Commissars can (if I recall right, Cain's teaching at the Schola was post-retirement), so it's not like they are shuffled around until they die.
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Post by: CadianCommander
Commissar Stein, being a female having played lots of 40k rpg over the last few years, there's never any probs playing female chars, unless you wanna play Speth Mahweens (well, derr). After all, the Emperor and Chaos Gods are all equal opportunity employers And I'm a bit horrified at your experience with your store. We've always got at least a few girls playing and painting in all our GW stores here.
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Post by: Grot 6
Commissar Stein wrote:On Female Guard:
Being a female fan of the 40k world, I find it can at times be an isolating experience. I won't get into why but I did overhear story of a friend quoting an employee at one of my favourite GW workshops, saying 'I don't like women in the store because it 'distracted from the hobby.'
I haven't been back there since but I can't say it won't keep me from the store forever... (I'm pretty sure I know which employee it was - he was never very nice to me).
That said - I have noticed some of the faces of the IG looking quite unisex, and I try to give these faces a bit of a lighter look in the hope that it makes them a bit more feminine. One GW employee was examining my miniatures, and noted "this one looks female!" I guess it's sort of working...
In terms of this game in general: I'm quite excited about this game... I'm not sure if the idea is that we simply play a squad, or if we play the HQ of a squad - and assume the roles of Sergeants, Commanders, Commissars, and so on. Maybe the system allows for both - which would be a cool option in and of itself. In any case, the fluff and art alone should be great... I hope.
Cheers,
K
From the look of it, you pick out a guard character, and go for it.
You can already be the commisar, sergeant and commander, this one is more of a war game/ character driven.
You might have a few minions, but more or less, you get the regualr joes as cannon fodder, so to speak.
"As Guardsmen, you will be ordered to engage the enemy with a myriad of tactics. Your squad might be responsible for guiding an important dignitary through a perilous warzone, or instructed to infiltrate a besieged fort to deliver important intelligence. With missions as varied as the galaxy’s innumerable warfronts, you and your squadmates must often rely on nothing but your own grim determination and your faith in each other.
Take the role of a Guardsman with one of twelve distinct Specialties, offering unique skills to your squad to complement those of your comrades. Will you bring the light of the God-Emperor to the battlefield as a Ministorum Priest, or will you wield the Imperium’s most cutting-edge technology as a fearsome Storm Trooper? Perhaps you’ll tend to the machine spirits of the Guard’s many war machines as a Tech-Priest Enginseer, or lead the charge as your squad’s Sergeant. Whatever your function, you’ll be a vital part of the Imperium’s vast war machine."
-Paraphrased from the website.
Needless to say, fifteen hours is all you need.
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
Grot 6 wrote:Needless to say, fifteen hours is all you need.
More like fifteen hours is all you'll get.
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Post by: DarkTraveler777
I am eagerly anticipating this book. I was not aware of it until this thread but now I can't wait to purchase a thick tome of IG fluff.
Of course in the one in a million chance that some Praetorian fluff is included in the book FFG would have ended up making my gamer year.
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Post by: BrookM
If the book has Mordians you can bet on FFG also doing something on the Praetorians, especially with FFG being so full of former GW staff.
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Post by: Kid_Kyoto
I thought GW decided to bury the Praetorians in whole next to the squats? Something about being just a bit too Historicals in Space?
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Post by: BrookM
McNeill wrote about them in the Munitorum Manual, a fairly recent publication, I'd say they are far from dead.
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Post by: Kid_Kyoto
BrookM wrote:McNeill wrote about them in the Munitorum Manual, a fairly recent publication, I'd say they are far from dead.
That's cool. The Praets were never my thing but I know they have their fans.
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Post by: Melissia
My group is eagerly awaiting this book, for sure.
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Post by: Insurgency Walker
Johnny-Crass wrote:Everyone starts out with 25 characters..... One of them is bound to make it through the first mission
Does anyone remember the RPG, ares magica or something that involved a core wizard character, and a pool of thugs that was used as a game mechanic?
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Yep. Grogs, that's what they were called, they still have web site. Atlas games.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
I don't think that would be the best way to handle a guard platoon, but example of what out of the box thinking can do.
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Post by: Melissia
People exaggerate the expendibility of the Guard way too much.
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Post by: Happygrunt
I wounder of playing as DKoK will be an option?
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Post by: BrookM
From what I've heard from a local playtester, Only War will have a certain system going that fits right in with the whole Guard theme.
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Post by: Melissia
From what I've heard, they're bringing in some features from Black Crusade.
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Post by: Kroothawk
BrookM wrote:From what I've heard from a local playtester, Only War will have a certain system going that fits right in with the whole Guard theme.
Quick character generation?
41203
Post by: Insurgency Walker
Doh! I have never read over Black Crusade, I guess I'm too loyalist. Automatically Appended Next Post: Melissia wrote:People exaggerate the expendibility of the Guard way too much.
Perhaps.
I blame WWI. A fair amount of IG fluff has that strong win by attrition feel, and then throw in a good dose of propaganda driven training/morale boosting and the result is guardsmen are expendable. Also, much like WWI casualties could be attributed to misunderstanding the 20th century weapon reality, much fluff in which guardsmen are slaughtered with reckless abandon is portrayed as being caused by misunderstood filthy zeno tech. (or superior filthy Zeno tech )
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Post by: H.B.M.C.
Books like 'Fifteen Hours' don't help that image either.
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Post by: Insurgency Walker
Neither did 'Desert Raiders' or ' Imperial Glory'. Though they didn't have the full blown crazy of 'fifteen hours'.
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Post by: Melissia
And you get some stories where the Guard takes less casualtise than Space Marines do. BL books zig-zag across the line as much as a drunkard on his sobriety test.
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Post by: Manchu
Aside from DH 2E, my biggest wish from FFG right now is a Tau-centric RPG game. If any xeno species gets its own book, I think it should be the Tau. Orks would be too comedic and much more suited to the beer & pretzels mode. Eldar are better off for being mysterious and otherworldly. But I think Tau are just sympathetic enough to be playable while still being strange.
And just think of the dual-campaigns you could have with Only War! A cross-over campaign book called "Damocles Gulf" would be killer.
And speaking of which, why haven't we seen any crossover books yet?
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Post by: BrookM
Maybe because the subjects handled by the books are a bit too far apart for them to properly tie in or cross over? Dark Heresy and Rogue Trader kinda sorta tie in to one another as in they take place in neighbouring systems with nods to one another.
Only War though could very well be a great start of it tying in to other future RPG ranges, Damocles Gulf is indeed a good example of how it could be done.
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Post by: Manchu
I think you could do some great dual campaigns as between DW and RT or especially between DH and BC.
123
Post by: Alpharius
More detail on Tau would be awesome as I need more crunch as I crunch them up!
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Post by: BrookM
Not sure how Rogue Trader and Deathwatch would mesh together, seeing as they are opposites of one another: One being about making money, the other about being huge and having huge guts.
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Post by: Manchu
The idea is not to mesh them together but rather to have concurrent parties.
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Post by: Melissia
We do that with DH and RT-- a DH party and an RT party that are in the same sector, both witnessing the same subsector-wide events but from different perspectives.
Adding Only War to the mix would be GOLDEN.
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Post by: BrookM
Only War + RT with a teleportarium gives a whole new meaning to "Commissar Black and his squad of buddies are beaming down, take a wild guess who aren't coming back this time."
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Post by: Manchu
Melissia wrote:We do that with DH and RT-- a DH party and an RT party that are in the same sector, both witnessing the same subsector-wide events but from different perspectives.
Yes, this is exactly what I mean. Now imagine a 200+ page published dual campaign.
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Post by: Melissia
It would be interesting material to draw from at least, although we never follow a campaign exactly from the book.
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Post by: BrookM
Neither do we, we use them more as guidelines if anything else, especially the way FFG writes their stuff sometimes.
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Post by: Alpharius
BrookM wrote:Neither do we, we use them more as guidelines if anything else, especially the way FFG writes their stuff sometimes.
No kidding!
Some of those FFG writers writers are wack!
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Post by: Manchu
The important thing would be to have professionals showing you how to interweave the different rules and "styles" of each titled game.
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Post by: Melissia
Manchu wrote:The important thing would be to have professionals showing you how to interweave the different rules and "styles" of each titled game.
Or how not to, as the case might be. Never know with official campaign modules.
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Post by: BrookM
Agreed, hit and miss with those things. For every Lure of the Expanse there's a Warpstorm trilogy.
494
Post by: H.B.M.C.
Alpharius wrote:No kidding! Some of those FFG writers writers are wack!
Note to Self: Whenever given the chance always ensure that the Alpha Legion are portrayed as a bunch of dedicated Chaos-worshiping evil moustache-triwling villains.
41203
Post by: Insurgency Walker
Now I'm picturing some SOB tied to a railroad track.
Thanks H.B.M.C Automatically Appended Next Post: Maybe I should have phrased that " a SOB"..... Nope still reads wrong
494
Post by: H.B.M.C.
Great idea.
I'll have FFG get a piece of art-work commissioned that has a Sister of Battle tied up and in the path of a Squat Land Train, a cackling Alpha Legion Marine standing nearby (with a stylised moustache painted on his helmet!).
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Post by: Alpharius
H.B.M.C. wrote:Alpharius wrote:No kidding!
Some of those FFG writers writers are wack!
Note to Self: Whenever given the chance always ensure that the Alpha Legion are portrayed as a bunch of dedicated Chaos-worshiping evil moustache-triwling villains.
Ack!
I was only kidding!
Insurgency Walker wrote:Now I'm picturing some SOB tied to a railroad track.
Thanks H.B.M.C
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Maybe I should have phrased that " a SOB"..... Nope still reads wrong
Hang on a second...
H.B.M.C. wrote:Great idea.
I'll have FFG get a piece of art-work commissioned that has a Sister of Battle tied up and in the path of a Squat Land Train, a cackling Alpha Legion Marine standing nearby (with a stylised moustache painted on his helmet!).
I can't believe I'm saying this, but that would be pretty funny...
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Post by: Melissia
It would be more funny if it was an Ork I think.
Do we have any more information about Only War? I heard a partial list of classes in it, but not a whole list...
494
Post by: H.B.M.C.
Well FFG have only revealed what was in that announcement, the main 'description' part of the OW website, plus the details about the Free RPG Day booklet that will act as an intro to Only War.
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Post by: Kroothawk
H.B.M.C. wrote:I'll have FFG get a piece of art-work commissioned that has a Sister of Battle tied up and in the path of a Squat Land Train, a cackling Alpha Legion Marine standing nearby (with a stylised moustache painted on his helmet!).
... brofisting a Grey Knight whose armour is full of blood
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Post by: Insurgency Walker
Melissia wrote:It would be more funny if it was an Ork I think.
Do we have any more information about Only War? I heard a partial list of classes in it, but not a whole list...
Ok, an Ork and a sister of battle, tied to the tracks of the squat land train. Yep, defiantly more funny!
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Post by: Melissia
The chaos lord is tied to the caboose of the train so that his head is dragged along the earth as it goes.
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Post by: Melissia
Any further news about this? I'm still wondering what the classes are, only heard a few of them. Guess I'm used to more constant updates than this, hehe.
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Post by: Kid_Kyoto
H.B.M.C. wrote:Great idea.
I'll have FFG get a piece of art-work commissioned that has a Sister of Battle tied up and in the path of a Squat Land Train, a cackling Alpha Legion Marine standing nearby (with a stylised moustache painted on his helmet!).
Will there be skulls?
494
Post by: H.B.M.C.
Melissia wrote:Any further news about this? I'm still wondering what the classes are, only heard a few of them. Guess I'm used to more constant updates than this, hehe.
When there is more news I will be sure to post it in the combined 40K RPG thread.
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