Skipped the details of chapter creation to get at the Deeds, Distinctions and Specialties first. But from what I skimmed the Successors are just modifications of their progenitor chapters. Yes, the Flesh Tearers are there.
I like all the cool ammo rules that the Shotgun gets. Slug ammo is fun. I might have to start bringing an Astartes Assault Shotgun with some Ignis Rounds just incase we run into something that needs to be set on fire. And the Crozius rules are cool as well.
Plus loads of random new weapons - Astartes Executioner's Axe, Astartes Power Claymore, and so on.
Ignis Rounds. Changes the damage to Energy, and those hit by them must pass an Ag Test or be set on fire. You need fairly decent Renown to get it though (Famed). And they're 10 Req.
What else is there... Breaching Rounds. Changes the Damage to Explosive. Penetrator Rounds give +5 Pen, but the Shotgun loses Scatter (but you can put them into Autoguns and Autopistols, so an evil GM can make some dangerous Hordes that way). Razorwebs for Webbers are nuts - every time you try to escape, whether its successful or not, does 2D10 Rending Damage, Pen 8! Shredder Rounds gain +1 Pen and Tearing. Slug rounds gain Tearing and Felling (1), which is NUTS, but lose Scatter (obviously). Slug Rounds only cost 4 and you don't need a Renown rank to get 'em. Wonderful things.
Anti-Plant Grenades/Missiles are back, for all the Old-Skool players out there. Very happy to see them myself. Would have been DAMNED useful in the game we played yesterday, hunting down Traitor Guardsmen in a huge dense forest where we had -40 to all our Awareness Tests thanks to the foliage. Concussion Grenades/Missiles, which is cool. Something called a Cryo Grenade. No idea what that does... but sounds... COLD. And new stats for the Meltabomb - 6D10+7 E, Pen 15, Blast (5) and cost 12 Req rather than 25.
I sort of skipped over Chapter creation beyond a cursory skimming for now but it appears substantial. It's ~30 pages of details on everything from determining your chapter's founding date, details on it's home world, how it wages war, gene-seed issues, its' demeanor, tables for advances, determining solo/squad modes, etc.
sonofruss wrote:I am guessing someone is gonna make Alpha Legion marines
Well, believe it or not I was thinking more about some Raven Guard marines.
OK, and yes, some Alpha Legion too!
Darknite wrote:I sort of skipped over Chapter creation beyond a cursory skimming for now but it appears substantial. It's ~30 pages of details on everything from determining your chapter's founding date, details on it's home world, how it wages war, gene-seed issues, its' demeanor, tables for advances, determining solo/squad modes, etc.
~Alpha legion... really makes me think there should be an expansion book for playing as Chaos space marines. There is certainly enough fluff. Unlike with Deathwatch for loyalists, there is even less need to explain the ambitious greed driven reasons why Chaos marines of different origins gang up.
It just gives you Hatred ([Whatever you are fighting]) and makes it very hard for them to take a defensive stance. Plus it does better damage than a Power Sword, which is nice.
H.B.M.C. wrote:It just gives you Hatred ([Whatever you are fighting]) and makes it very hard for them to take a defensive stance. Plus it does better damage than a Power Sword, which is nice.
You mean it doesn't shoot some sort of beam weapon out of it, like in the Ultramarines movie? Colour me surprised
I've had mine since last week... its a good one... a real good one. I wish they had more about the first founding chapters, but still a must have book. My favorite part was the rules for the different armor variants. The prestige classes were fun too. I think the only glaring unforgivable problem I had was the name "Kill-marines"... seriously you guys couldn't come up with something better?
You gain more and more fellowship the older the variants age... but lose points of armor and equipment... like no Respirator on the Mk1 and only has an armor value of 6/7. The Mk1-Mk3 have big negatives to stealth. The Mk1 also allows normal size disadvantage against a Marine. The Mk6 is effectively the same as the Mk7 but with different weight and only +5 fellowship... compared to the Mk1's +25 and if I remember a boost to leadership. The Mk8 has the neck guard give a chance for head blows to be directed to the torso. The heresy armor I believe had more of a trade off effect... negative in one thing possitive in another... since its a reminder of bad times. All the suits weigh progressively less, till you get to the Mk8 which weighs only moderately more.
There are also rules for having mixed and matched portions of armor.
I also like the rules for not wearing a helmet. They should have just been titled the "Because I'm badass" rules.
I'm especially taken with the little ideas for combining DW with the other two systems -- notes on the differences in the psychic powers as well -- and the background about the captured aliens and general awesomeness of Watch Fortress Erioch.
aka_mythos wrote:You gain more and more fellowship the older the variants age... but lose points of armor and equipment... like no Respirator on the Mk1 and only has an armor value of 6/7. The Mk1-Mk3 have big negatives to stealth. The Mk1 also allows normal size disadvantage against a Marine. The Mk6 is effectively the same as the Mk7 but with different weight and only +5 fellowship... compared to the Mk1's +25 and if I remember a boost to leadership. The Mk8 has the neck guard give a chance for head blows to be directed to the torso. The heresy armor I believe had more of a trade off effect... negative in one thing possitive in another... since its a reminder of bad times. All the suits weigh progressively less, till you get to the Mk8 which weighs only moderately more.
There are also rules for having mixed and matched portions of armor.
I also like the rules for not wearing a helmet. They should have just been titled the "Because I'm badass" rules.
thanks for the quick reply. i'd heard some stuff online about the armors having different effects but nothing about the fellowship boosts. i'd probably be interested in the mkIV and VI stuff mainly for the look of the armor. i heard that they packed the beakies with extra sensors for a perception boost too but i'm not sure if the mark IV gets anything special. hopefully friday my store will have the book on the shelf..
edit: do they have some nice art of the variant armor (full color pics) or just the simple b&w line drawings of armor like in the core book?
Just the simple b&w. I think there is one random picture in that section of a non-Mk7 suit.
The fellowship thing is all about everyone being awed and inspired by such relics.
The Mk4 has the least going on. They treat it as the first modern power armor. So it doesn't have any of the first 3's disadvantages and weighs less than the Mk3, but none of the advantageous of later armor.
Mk6 has one other advantage I forgot to mention, it has bonus for landing with a jumppack... I forget how they justify it... seems written for Ravenguard.
The older armors are only in there for roleplay purposes, anyone looking to make themselves "uber" is going to be disappointed. My Imperial Fist Don Quixote wannabe on the other hands stomps around in a combination of early Mk1 thru Mk4 hobbled together armor... going on about "back in the days when the Emperor walked among us."
My copy of Rites of Battle shipped yesterday. Looking forward to it. You can do some amazingly stupid stuff with the random chapter name generator, but other than that the book (from what I've seen of it) is solid.
Its a very thorough system for creating your own chapter. Its just an all around solid book. Simply, if you're playing or panning on playing DW, you'd be stupid not to get it.
And the Chapter Creation rules are excellent. Now I can finally have Brother-Tech-Marine Antarius of the Emerald Vipers in a kill team without homebrewing everything!
so i had a chance to look at the book at the FLGS yesterday (unfortunately, they only had one book for two of us wanting to buy and i lost out!) and i have to say that some of the stuff in there is definitely overpowered if you simply LET your pc's pick and choose to min/max instead of rolling. an example is the Mk8 armor... i can't see ANY disadvantage over getting it compared with the mk7. it's got better chest armor, the ability to deflect head shots, and a disadvantage compared to mk7 of... nothing! the mk6 beakie has a +10 agility (+5 i could live since it mimics an armor ability) and +5 perception for -1 chest armor; i'd say that it definitely in the plus category but it at least has some disadvantage. in addition, there is a deed that lets you pick for 300pts an armor ability instead of rolling for one and you could easy simply pick a Mk8 armor chest for your mk6 and get a chest armor of 11, +10 agility, and +5 perception compared with a Mk7 set. in the end, none of this is absolutely gamebreaking and easily houseruled so no huge deal but definitely an eyebrow raiser.
The mk8 weighs a little more... one day your GM will come up with a long narrow bridge that can only take soooo much weight and the guy with the Mk8 will be responsible for the ropes breaking.
Well those early armors weigh more than Mk8. In the description it says Mk8 tends to be reserved for veteran... if it really matters the GM can always restrict something. Otherwise what armor you start with is determined randomly, where 50% of the time you'll get Mk7... but after that you still roll on two other charts that further modify the armor.
warboss wrote:so i had a chance to look at the book at the FLGS yesterday (unfortunately, they only had one book for two of us wanting to buy and i lost out!) and i have to say that some of the stuff in there is definitely overpowered if you simply LET your pc's pick and choose to min/max instead of rolling. an example is the Mk8 armor... i can't see ANY disadvantage over getting it compared with the mk7. it's got better chest armor, the ability to deflect head shots, and a disadvantage compared to mk7 of... nothing! the mk6 beakie has a +10 agility (+5 i could live since it mimics an armor ability) and +5 perception for -1 chest armor; i'd say that it definitely in the plus category but it at least has some disadvantage. in addition, there is a deed that lets you pick for 300pts an armor ability instead of rolling for one and you could easy simply pick a Mk8 armor chest for your mk6 and get a chest armor of 11, +10 agility, and +5 perception compared with a Mk7 set. in the end, none of this is absolutely gamebreaking and easily houseruled so no huge deal but definitely an eyebrow raiser.
The min-maxing you mention requires a lot of favorable rolls, or expenditure of xp, to accomplish. In the end the it'll be the lascannon you don't see that will make this point moot.
warboss wrote:so i had a chance to look at the book at the FLGS yesterday (unfortunately, they only had one book for two of us wanting to buy and i lost out!) and i have to say that some of the stuff in there is definitely overpowered if you simply LET your pc's pick and choose to min/max instead of rolling. an example is the Mk8 armor... i can't see ANY disadvantage over getting it compared with the mk7. it's got better chest armor, the ability to deflect head shots, and a disadvantage compared to mk7 of... nothing! the mk6 beakie has a +10 agility (+5 i could live since it mimics an armor ability) and +5 perception for -1 chest armor; i'd say that it definitely in the plus category but it at least has some disadvantage. in addition, there is a deed that lets you pick for 300pts an armor ability instead of rolling for one and you could easy simply pick a Mk8 armor chest for your mk6 and get a chest armor of 11, +10 agility, and +5 perception compared with a Mk7 set. in the end, none of this is absolutely gamebreaking and easily houseruled so no huge deal but definitely an eyebrow raiser.
The min-maxing you mention requires a lot of favorable rolls, or expenditure of xp, to accomplish. In the end the it'll be the lascannon you don't see that will make this point moot.
warboss wrote:so i had a chance to look at the book at the FLGS yesterday (unfortunately, they only had one book for two of us wanting to buy and i lost out!) and i have to say that some of the stuff in there is definitely overpowered if you simply LET your pc's pick and choose to min/max instead of rolling. an example is the Mk8 armor... i can't see ANY disadvantage over getting it compared with the mk7. it's got better chest armor, the ability to deflect head shots, and a disadvantage compared to mk7 of... nothing! the mk6 beakie has a +10 agility (+5 i could live since it mimics an armor ability) and +5 perception for -1 chest armor; i'd say that it definitely in the plus category but it at least has some disadvantage. in addition, there is a deed that lets you pick for 300pts an armor ability instead of rolling for one and you could easy simply pick a Mk8 armor chest for your mk6 and get a chest armor of 11, +10 agility, and +5 perception compared with a Mk7 set. in the end, none of this is absolutely gamebreaking and easily houseruled so no huge deal but definitely an eyebrow raiser.
The min-maxing you mention requires a lot of favorable rolls, or expenditure of xp, to accomplish. In the end the it'll be the lascannon you don't see that will make this point moot.
not really... just one roll for armor (you have a 40% chance of getting a mk6 or 8 total so not miniscule either). the deed costs only 300xp which is a pittance (and incidentally less than a third of what you start with at character generation to customize your PC). saying it doesn't matter because a lascanon kills them dead doesn't really mean or solve anything... i could randomly give a player an extra 30pts to any attribute of his choice other than toughness... he still gets killed just as easily by a lascannon but that doesn't make it fair for the other players, right? in the end, this is just tweaking more than anything and to be expected (unfortunately). One of FFG's new-ish RPG writers used to work on Rifts books so i guess he took a bit of that horribly unbalanced and completely unplaytested system to heart.
PrimarchX wrote:
The min-maxing you mention requires a lot of favorable rolls, or expenditure of xp, to accomplish. In the end the it'll be the lascannon you don't see that will make this point moot.
I think it should also be pointed out that min-maxing is a manipulation of the meta-game... where by you're gaming the system and not playing the game. Unless the GM is doing something "special" and tells the players to try and break things... the moment you start trying to manipulate the meta-game of an RPG, you have ceased roleplaying the game and instead playing the stats. Its ok for a player to aspire to getting a particular armor or combination, because its better, but it should fit into their characters rationale and the motivation should be played out in a way that isn't about min-maxing.
It is the difference between saying I want this armor because "it is a symbol of my service and duty to the Emperor"... or "with this I can better serve the emperor"... and saying I want this armor because "it has that extra point of armor, and these cool rules." I realize we all do this from time to time, its not a sin, but its the difference between poor and quality roleplaying. When I GM, I award extra XP or whatever based on the quality of the players roleplay, a player who goes too off that deep end wouldn't be rewarded.
Here we're talking about the random generation of armor, in which case yeah there some highly beneficial roll combinations, but its no different than playing D&D and rolling multiple 18's for stats. In roleplaying thats are there to help establish the role, and while no one wants to play a weakling, to the same degree no one should want to start off as unstoppable, or the very best possible character that can be generated. Both ignore the fact that, this is why RPG's have GM's to mitigate the inequities through the framework of the adventure.
Ok I think I may have found myself another supplier for the book, and it was listed as "in stock" so hopefully I will get a cope here sooner rather than later.
btemple0 wrote:Ok I think I may have found myself another supplier for the book, and it was listed as "in stock" so hopefully I will get a cope here sooner rather than later.
I'm surprised you're having trouble finding it. Maelstrom has had it on sale for close to two weeks now. It's where I ordered my copy.
And speaking of my copy... it just arrived! Ahahahahaha!
A lot of sites are blocked here...... But I got me a copy.
I checked your site H.B.M.C. and I can actually go there, and next time I will make sure to go there for new releases, even if I have to pay a ton to have it shipped to the middle of nowhere.
Well I guess in my desire to own a copy of the book I did not care, but I think my game will be over due to librarian using Push over and over, I almost killed him with perils of the warp today.....
Ignore it. If you look at the next section of the rules it lists all the rules that a Dread can use. This list includes a whole stack of the Talents you can only get if you are a Psyker, including Psy-Rating. I think that the 'No Libby's Allowed' was a late addition, an afterthought, or something they forgot to remove.
Given the amount of mistakes throughout Rites of Battle it is unsurprising as small as this slipped through. Fun Fact: That's not the only mistake on that page. See if you can find them all!
Are there any requirements for becoming a Dread or could the characters ingame just forget everything they know and go derp until they are mangled enough to be upgraded?
I would imagine there are quite a few, but not having the book yet, and my stupidity I got 2 copies on the way now thanks to a belated birthday gift. If there are not, then I am going to need to make some up because I am not just going to give a dreadnought body away. But I would think that there are some disadvantages to bieng a dread anyways.
Then I guess since I am going to have 2 copies I am just going to destroy those pages really quick and let the players look at that copy of the book, because one of my players will still purposely try to become a dread.....
Ok, I thought it was like in D&D ( hart to tell without a copy in hand ) where all you needed to do was say: "hey I meet these prerquisites, I am just goona do this" , which then causes my whiny players to say the game is not fair because I cannot do that.....
My players do not use Squad Tactics. I have to say that I've noticed to be placing too much easy stuff for their first set of missions. I was able to give them serious troubles on the later part where they faced angry Taus, but that's all.
They never had the necessity of using squad tactics. They abhore the thing saying that is sensless to choose a squad commander (they are veteran 40k players). They are slightly changing though..
They were always lucky though... especially the Assault Marine Blood Angel that literally shred in pieces a Tau Commander in armor with a tremendous amount of damage due to Righteous Fury... he took the Tau commander to -100 something I was shocked.
Also I'd like to know how do you manage Chaos and Insanity... from my own point of view, these are really hard to obtain :\ Any suggestion ?
For the Dreadnought : being a Dread means that you have serious flaws with abilities, no more human, no more contact, it's a hell of a nightmare to play IMHO. You could use it for a mission only, but is it real fun playing a body attached to a machine ? How do you role play it ? Of course, you can take ideas from fluff, books, videogames (DoW 2) and the BT comic... but it has limits. They suggest in fact to use it as a support NPC charachter time to time.
Even if my player are veterans of the 40k universe with the tabletop gaming, the game has improved A LOT only lately. But there is the problem of using the Space Marine as a soldier without dreams or wills... they just follow the "normal wargaming fluff" of the 40k universe, wich is a shame IMHO.
Chances are I'll set up one-off scenarios for Death Watch if the group ever gets together again. I'll probably leave out the part that states they have to elect the squad leader and instead give that honour to my lovely friend, who will no doubt play the excellent bio-engineered ham squad commander, complete with list of generic one-liners that Astartes seem to spout all the time. I'll also be going with the tried and tested "Wing It" system where I'll just give them a mission, a secondary objective or two and let them decide on how to tackle it. Maybe I can get some use out of that drop pod at long last.
Reason for bieng so low, is because some players want to quit due to one of those TFG players we happen to have stumbled across. I enforce carrying capacity and whatnot, he thinks he should be able to carry as much as he wants, whenever he wants, and also whines because the game is "unbalanced".
That was already the consensus of all the players and myself, I am just in here for the insight on the books, speaking of which, are there any new books coming that I should be ready to pre-order or find a good source ( IE Maelstrom ) to ship me a copy?
Only reason I ask is because I have no access to FFG's website.
Kanluwen wrote:I get my copy of Rites of Battle today, provided UPS isn't lying...
At least I'll have something good to read while waiting for paint to dry!
out of curiosity, where are you getting it from? since its mailed i'm assuming its not from a local store and most of the online book sellers don't have it in stock yet.
The Warstore has it in stock.
It shipped on Tuesday(order was placed on Monday, only reason it shipped on Tuesday was I made a BW Bitz order for a pair of Devastator sprues that I'm doling out to my DA Successor's Devastator Squads).
ahh, thanks. my FLGS was only able to get a single copy in stock and that took two weeks after release as well as calling 5 different distributors (lol, code for i don't think i'll get another in stock soon).
btemple0 wrote:Reason for bieng so low, is because some players want to quit due to one of those TFG players we happen to have stumbled across. I enforce carrying capacity and whatnot, he thinks he should be able to carry as much as he wants, whenever he wants, and also whines because the game is "unbalanced".
In general, I haven't been really 'concerned' about carrying capacity in an RPG for over a decade. It is, generally, not-fun record-keeping.
The TFG needs to either find an RPG that is run the way he apparently wants (a precise tactical simulation of being a Space Marine) or learn to enjoy your game's style. There's room for all styles... I personally am not into ultra-abstract role-play only games as I like having some tactical-challenge fun, too.
btemple0 wrote:Reason for bieng so low, is because some players want to quit due to one of those TFG players we happen to have stumbled across. I enforce carrying capacity and whatnot, he thinks he should be able to carry as much as he wants, whenever he wants, and also whines because the game is "unbalanced".
In general, I haven't been really 'concerned' about carrying capacity in an RPG for over a decade. It is, generally, not-fun record-keeping.
The TFG needs to either find an RPG that is run the way he apparently wants (a precise tactical simulation of being a Space Marine) or learn to enjoy your game's style. There's room for all styles... I personally am not into ultra-abstract role-play only games as I like having some tactical-challenge fun, too.
i'm surprised that its a problem in deathwatch. marines can carry so much that it hasn't been an issue when we test calculated loads in the first game. if anything, i think the ability to carry a number of items within easy reach is more of a limiting factor than the actual Kg load. a marine can physically carry a missle launcher, heavy bolter, and plasma cannon (without backpack ammo for two of them of course) but that doesn't mean he can easily reach them to use. as a gm, the only time i'll ever even try to calculate it again is if a player is literally carrying another marine too sick to move on top of his normal gear and then wants to pick up something else.
this car is technically *carrying* all that but what you need in the heat of battle might be 10 minutes worth of unpacking in the middle.
Kanluwen wrote:My FLGS just doesn't stock FFG stuff, so I tend to get the books to read mostly.
that's a bit strange. is it a full service store or just a comic shop that carries a few things? FFG is a huge name in the board game market (probably the biggest seller outside of catan) and the third biggest RPG seller for the past year or so according to ICV. i can understand stores not carrying the smaller indie stuff but they're a fairly well known company in the hobby niche.
I like all of the RPG's for this thread, partially because of their modular nature, but then again I do lke how RT works with my gaming group.
And by capacity, I mean how much you can carry and still have useable, I do not see one space marine carrying 7 weapons and bieng capable of using it all within reason. Think of an actual person in the military carrying full combat load, plus an assault pack, anything you are carrying attached to your vest you have access to rather quickly, it is all within reach, anything in the ruck you have to actually have to stop, find the item, and that is entirely impractical in a firefight, personally I like to reward creativity, not see how much a player can buy and carry into a firefight.
btemple0 wrote:Reason for bieng so low, is because some players want to quit due to one of those TFG players we happen to have stumbled across. I enforce carrying capacity and whatnot, he thinks he should be able to carry as much as he wants, whenever he wants, and also whines because the game is "unbalanced".
You sneek up behind him and do a GIBBS (slap around the back of the head)
Hopefully it is a bit larger than Creatures Anathema, I would like to have a book with a ton of enemies in it, rather than Google-fu everything I want to have in an encounter. Not that the book was bad, I was just expecting a bit more IMHO.
I wrote that without a book, but I had to nix that, because the ultramarine whining would be enough of a gift to the chaos gods, and the titan would die of laughter.
Just bought "Rites of battle" the marine make-your-own-chapter addon.
Been holding on with space marine RPG all this time since deathwatch came out since I wanted to do a Salamanders or Raven Guard character but no salamanders or RG are to be seen in rites of battle, just a bunch of successors for the already-in-there chapters. Wow, thats logical indeed.
What a bummer!!!!
it's really not too difficult and you can frankly specialize *too* much (read: cheese out) your custom chapter rules to suit an existing chapter. i've made up ravenguard rules and they were equisitely good at matching the novels (in that they were very perceptive and stealthy). i'd suggest letting the gm design the rules for existing chapters to make it a bit more fair. in our group, i will be designing the chapter rules for players along with the other co-gm instead of the players doing it themselves. we're still planning on allowing the custom rules for rolls but that will be strictly for player created chapters... they'll have to roll on all the tables (with a single reroll allowed at the end) to determine what their custom chapter gets and then build the fluff to match that.
I hope someone who takes the time to come up with all those combinations to represent different chapters puts a list up at some point. Its likely to be a while before FFG does anything like that.
there are actually a bunch of threads @ FFG's forum on the custom stuff for various chapters (ravenguard seem to be *VERY* popular for this somehow... can't complain seeing as how i did just that as my first one too!). It's probably not appropriate here in the news thread but you could always start up a separate thread here in the RPG subforum and i'd post my thoughts/ideas there.
Even reading through the Imperial Fist section you can tell it was written for the main rulebook but obviously cut due to space restrictions.
Still illogical.
I mean what is the sane thing to do with limited page space, release other first founding chapters that contribute to the DW for a vider variety of play and choices or cram up a bunch of halfarshed successors to some already existing chapters in the DW book. All of which can be played using their parents rules with minor alterations.
Instead of making white scars, rven guard, salamanders etc, all very varied they just added onto the blood angels and included ten different shades of red.
That just strikes me as plain dumb.
there are actually a bunch of threads @ FFG's forum on the custom stuff for various chapters (ravenguard seem to be *VERY* popular for this somehow... can't complain seeing as how i did just that as my first one too!). It's probably not appropriate here in the news thread but you could always start up a separate thread here in the RPG subforum and i'd post my thoughts/ideas there.
Do anyone have or know how to properly create Salamanders?
Thank you sir. Well I guess that will be fun for my creative type guy in the party, I could imagine him playing a sorcerer of Tzeentch or Nurgle, well more along the lines of nurgle, because his favorite spell from D&D is contaigon.
Anyone know what the real release date for The Citadel of Skulls is going to be? I don't see it listed as 'On the Boat' on FFG's site, but Amazon and a few other retailers are swearing it will be released March 10th.
Amazon are hopeless when it comes to release dates. They still had March listed for Rites of Battle when people were talking about having just received their copies. And this is a few weeks ago.
I'd say we're looking at the next 2-3 weeks for it (and Battlefleet Koronus for that matter).
Kanluwen wrote:Part of it is that FFG's hopeless with their release dates.
The Warstore, where I got my copy of Rites of Battle from, still actually had it listed as "preorder, shipping in April".
And that's a week after I had my copy in hand.
And a lot of that comes from printing in China. You not only have printers who might not be 100% honest about their ability to hit deadlines, you also have a couple weeks on the Pacific Ocean.
A lot of companies over pad their release dates because they risk fines from retailers if they don't hit them.
The oddity is that no release date seems to exist other then amazon's. FFG haven't announced anything, and usually they're pretty good about 'Next month send us your hard earned bucks because this will blow your mind!' at least once pre-release.
FFG only gives rough estimates and no exact release dates.
Black Crusade is listed as a "summer 2011" release and being at the printers (http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_upcoming.asp about half down the page).
Amazon seems to get their share AFTER the FLGS and other smaller sellers got them, so their release date is mostly too late.
I've heard the same. So what it comes down to is FFG is small enough they've had to choose to allow you to get your books from Amazon or everywhere else. FFG's chosen the latter
aka_mythos wrote:I've heard the same. So what it comes down to is FFG is small enough they've had to choose to allow you to get your books from Amazon or everywhere else. FFG's chosen the latter
Which would, frankly, be fine if my damn FLGS would actually stock the stuff
As it is, I just get them from Amazon or The Warstore depending on prices.
The ever charming and helpful Mr. Hoare, who as I'm sure you know has been doing some delicously sublime work for FFG and Deathwatch and the like, has a blog he started a little while back. His most recent post concerns some of the interesting additions to the Inquisition
Friday, 25 February 2011Existential cogitations on the Inquisitorial Ordos
Scanning the interwebs recently I came upon a discussion on a minor piece of background (sand-boxed to the Fantasy Flight Games setting) relating to an arm of the Inquisition that I myself am responsible for creating, and it was interesting to see people’s reactions to it and their theories as to just why it was created. The discussion reminded me of my own chain of thought during the writing of the piece in question, so I thought I’d write a blog entry on the subject.
The arm of the Inquisition in question is the Ordo Chronos, and it first appeared in the Dark Heresy: Ascension supplement. It came into existence not as a random whimsy or any desire to introduce a Time Lord-like archetype into Warhammer 40,000, but, initially at least, as a response to a design challenge. When we wrote Ascension, Games Workshop’s Manager of Intellectual Property, Alan Merrett, provided us with an overview of the current standing of the Inquisition. Alan’s document was thorough and presented a guide for writers working on any subject relating to the Inquisition, ensuring we all knew which themes were worth pursuing and which weren’t. One piece of wisdom addressed the question of Inquisitorial Ordos, stating that there are three which we really care about and should focus on, but that others do exist, if only for a short time or specific place.
This got me thinking, because I’ve always felt that the three Ordos cover between them every single threat to the Imperium we could possibly imagine. What enemy of Mankind couldn’t be encompassed within the mandate of the Ordo Hereticus (the Enemy Within), the Ordo Xenos (the Enemy Without) or the Ordo Melleus (the Enemy Beyond)?
In the past, both writers and players have invented other Ordos, but to be honest, they’ve never really ringed true to me. We’ve had the Ordo Sicarius, established to look out for and deal with rogue assassins, but wouldn’t that be a job for the Ordo Hereticus? We’ve had other Ordos described as dealing with all sorts of other things, including Plague Zombies, which to me would fall under the remit of the Ordo Malleus, being products of Chaos. To me, the three main Ordos exist to combat truly existential threats to the Imperium and to Mankind, and so any new ones we invent should do so too, and be clearly delineated.
So what existential threats might exist beyond the three already covered by the main Ordos? I could think of two, and I’m quite sure others will be able to come up with more. The first is the notion of time distortion, a phenomenon already seeded into the Warhammer 40,000 oeuvre via the hazards of miscalculated warp jumps. That’s why I created the Ordo Chronos – not as some huge, fanfared plot device, but as a nice little example of the sort of threat that should, in my view, merit an Ordo all its own.
To return to the discussions I was reading about the Ordo Chronos, some people did seem to view them as one-dimensional, 40k Time Lords. That’s not the case at all, as after all, existing to combat the effects of time distortion doesn’t mean they bring it about. However, as Inquisitors they would be just as subject to factionalism as their peers. Perhaps Puritan Ordo Chronos Inquisitors (‘Time Hunters’?) ruthlessly hunt down anyone who has fallen prey of a mistimed warp jump, just in case anything happens to alter the Imperium’s fate. Equally, perhaps Radical Time Hunters seek to utilise heretical technologies, and consider changing the course of history a valid way of keeping the Imperium alive? Just imagine the wars that these two factions could be fighting without the rest of the Imperium ever even knowing about it!
Sounds cool to me, so as a hobbyist, I want to know what these guys might look like. Perhaps they’re a bit steam punkish, with cog emblems, huge mechanical goggles, idiosyncratic technologies and eccentric costumes? Maybe the Radicals are accompanied by all sorts of riff raff washed up by the tides of space-time? I can certainly picture a little ‘Victorian sci-fi’ here, but maybe that’s just me!
What of the other existential threat then? Well, this one is a little vague, but Stewart Brand once said something along the lines that ‘information wants to be free’, and in the Imperium, the ultimate oppressive state, that would make it pretty dangerous. Dangerous enough to warrant an entire Ordo to keep it under control? Maybe! Who do you think it is that goes around deleting files in the Imperium’s archives? They don’t just get corrupted, they get wiped, from everywhere, and that’s some undertaking! I have a tongue in cheek name for these guys – the Ordo Redactor – and I imagine them as grey-suited, blank-faced agents who ensure information is kept under control. Maybe the Puritans believe in hiding the truth away, deleting it even, so that it never escapes. Perhaps the Radicals believe it better to hide it in plain sight, as many conspiracy theorists believe actually happens today?
Anyway, those are my thoughts on the relevance of the Ordos and the existential threats they combat. Hopefully this whimsical diatribe also reveals something of my thinking too (though maybe not!) I’d be very interested in hearing if anyone else can think of some more
I must admit the passing mention of this branch of the Ordos did pique my interest when I read about them. I think it's a very cool concept, especially in/for a RPG.
Some writers though have Ordos that aren't really Ordos. Dan Abnett had the Ordo Heclian, and I myself have the Ordo Aquila in our DH setting. In both cases these weren't new Ordos designed to combat a specific threat, but just all the Inquisitors within that Sector (or sub-sector) combined, a bit like how you can have houses of parliament that all make up "The Government".
So my Ordo Aquila has Hereticus, Malleus and Xenos members, and even my special 'Watchers of the Watchers' Ordo Spectatoris is made up of the three main Ordos.
I just consider 'Ordo' to be a far broader term than just the main three.
Well, I always felt that, and I believe it was Sicarius, that also dealt with Rogue Inquisitors, was a good idea as it allowed enforcement to be separate from the politics of the organizations it was investigating. In principle, this means that an investigation of the ordo hereticus activities was free of the politics of the ordo hereticus activities.
More from FFG, and this time from Andy Chambers himself:
Hello Rogue Traders,
This week to help preview the upcoming Battlefleet Koronus, we asked writer Andy Chambers to pass on a few thoughts about his work on the book. For Andy, Battlefleet Koronus was an interesting opportunity to revisit topics he had touched on in some of his earlier games, including Games Workshop’s Battlefleet Gothic. Take it away, Andy!
Battlefleet Koronus was a welcome opportunity to expand on some of the ideas in Battlefleet Gothic, mainly long talks with Gav Thorpe and Jes Goodwin back in the day. We talked about how creepy it would actually be if you were on an Imperial ship—some thousand year old flying fortress/monastery/cathedral/mausoleum powered by leaky plasma reactors and hurtling through the daemon-infested void. You'd have to have a lot of faith, that's for sure.
Chain of Command
That's about when ships getting corrupted by Chaos all the time really starts to make sense. How long would it take being adrift in the warp with daemons clawing at the hull before you'd sacrifice someone just to be left alone? How long before you start making deals with the devil to bring you home from the void?
One of the discussions I had with Sam Stewart on Battlefleet Koronus was whether to term the crew of Imperial Navy 'shipmen' or 'voidmen.’ I wanted to mention an older name for the common voidman, a shipman: man of the ship. After all, the ship is their world and the void is something outside it, always predatory and hungering. As part of the background for Battlefleet Koronus we created a rank list from the lowliest Rating to the Lord High Admiral, a pleasingly arcane and bureaucratic mess with overlapping ranks, temporary elevations and weird asides to cover strike craft crews that feels like just the kind of thing you'd expect in the ten thousand year old Imperium.
We also got into digging around about naval ship design, specifically 17th/18th Century when the broadside was king. Extrapolating how that might apply to adamantium plated starships was particularly facinating, since Warhammer 40,000 starships have strong ties to the wooden warships of yester-year. Taking a more in-depth look at the different kinds of decks aboard a ship offers great opportunities for planning adventures, from fine dining in the Nobilite towers to hunting xenos vermin in the bilges. Ships in the 41st millennium make fantastic adventure settings, each one is a mobile city with its own collection of characters, problems and plot hooks.
The whole thing was lots of fun to write, I hope you enjoy reading it. For those of you interested in such things, much of my inspiration came courtesy of C S Forester, Patrick O'Brian and Dudley Pope which all make my recommended reading list, and from the hefty and exhaustive 'The Fighting Ships of The Royal Navy 897-1984' by E.H.H Archibald (which is, you'll have to admit, one hell of a name).
I've ordered my copy already. Hopefully it won't be too long!
And more for Black Crusade, putting the rest the idea that this book won't deal with the four Chaos Gods as well as Undivided:
Shades of Grey
“We live for Chaos so that we may die for ourselves.”
—Grand Marshall Angelica Benoit of the Free Systems Coalition
Last week we announced the upcoming release of Black Crusade, a remarkable roleplaying game that offers players a new perspective on the conflict between the Imperium of Man and the forces of Chaos. In this exciting new addition to FFG’s Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay line, players have the unprecedented opportunity to play as a Disciple of the Dark Gods, whether as a Chaos Space Marine or a human Servant of Chaos.
Chaotic Morality
Players will find that Black Crusade brilliantly lends itself to the creation of deep, dynamic characters with complex motivations. After all, one of the fascinating things about the Warhammer 40,000 setting is there are no “good guys.”
There are, of course, good individuals: lone heroes fighting against an unjust and uncaring universe, striving to make a difference. But in the grand scheme of things, there are no virtuous and ethical organizations. The Warhammer 40,000 universe is a cruel, lonely place where any faction or race finds itself alone, beset by a host of enemies. Even those with the best intentions may frequently find themselves compromising their ideals to survive. The Imperium of Man, the galaxy-spanning human empire, is one of the most brutal and totalitarian regimes ever known. It sacrifices thousands to feed its Undying God-Emperor, uncountable millions in its unceasing industry, and trillions in its endless wars. It conducts bloody purges of any other races it can find, while its faith preaches a creed of righteous hatred of all that is not human.
In past games, you’ve been able to play those who work within the Imperium. Whether as an Acolyte of the Inquisition, a Rogue Trader, or a Deathwatch Space Marine, you’ve operated within the auspices and strictures of the Imperium of Man. You very well might have been one of those lone heroes, fighting from within to make your little corner of the galaxy a better place. Or you might have been a loyal servant of the Imperium, seeing the acts done in the God-Emperor’s name as one more necessary evil so that humanity could survive against its myriad enemies. But always you worked within, aligned at least on some level with the Imperium of Man.
Now, Black Crusade provides the chance to leave that servitude behind. As a Heretic in Black Crusade, you are beholden to no one but yourself. You can taste true freedom: the freedom to travel where you will, become whom you choose, and destroy the crumbling monolith that once crushed you beneath its oppressive weight. The freedom of Chaos.
The Devil in the Details
From the perspective of those within the Imperium, the forces of Chaos are terrible, bloodthirsty monsters, defined by the Gods they swear allegiance to. Those who fight for Khorne, the Lord of Skulls, are blood-crazed killers who slaughter all they come across. Devotees of Slaanesh, the Dark Prince, are debauched degenerates who indulge in the most hideous perversions imaginable. The Disciples of Nurgle are disgusting, filth-soaked creatures the presence of whom would cause immediate retching. Finally, the worshipers of Tzeentch are scheming plotters constantly conspiring to destroy.
Though these charges are undeniably true, they are only facets of a much more nuanced picture. Khorne is the God of bloody slaughter, but he is also the god of martial pride and honour, setting oneself against the most dangerous foes and winning against the odds. A devotee of Khorne is as likely to be an honourable champion in combat as a blood-crazed slaughterer.
Slaanesh is the God of hedonism and excess. But this is true in all things, not just carnal pleasures. Those who desire to indulge in the finest culinary delights, the most beautiful artworks, even the most sensual clothing, could all be amongst Slaanesh’s disciples. Just an importantly, Slaanesh is also the god of perfection. The singer striving for the most beautiful song or the warrior who seeks the perfect fighting techniques, both could be devotees of Slaanesh.
Nurgle is the god of death and decay, to be certain, but he is also the god of rebirth. After all, decay is simply one part of the cycle of life, without which no new life could grow. In the same way, Nurgle is also the god of perseverance and survival. While those who wish to spread decay and corruption are certainly amongst his followers, there also those who wish to endure, to become tough enough to handle the threats of an uncaring universe.
In many ways, Tzeentch is both the best and least understood of the Dark Gods. Almost everyone knows he is the God of Fate, plots, and schemes, as well as the god that exemplifies the ever-changing nature of the Warp. However, Tzeentch does not plot towards some end (at least none that can be comprehended); he schemes simply to scheme. He is constantly building, even as his devices unravel under their own complexity. At the same time, he is the god of knowledge and comprehension, and his devotees may be those who seek an understanding of an enigmatic universe.
The Road to Hell...
Suffice it to say, the motivations of the Disciples of the Dark Gods are as complex as the Ruinous Powers themselves, and cannot be distilled down to murder, destruction, and depravity. In fact, few characters in Black Crusade even see themselves as “evil.”
While it’s true that devotees to Chaos are out for personal glory, it is in their individual justifications that they are subtly defined. Characters may be ideologically attracted to Chaos, reasoning that it’s the natural state of the universe, and that the Imperium represents an unnatural state for mankind. In many cases, a character’s path to corruption may begin with noble intentions, as with a would-be ruler who believes he’ll remain benevolent and just. Some may even be fully aware of the temptations Chaos presents, but pridefully believe themselves morally strong enough to master its influence. Whatever the reason, these tragically deluded figures ultimately find themselves actively opposing their own kind.
Not that the universe’s alien races are much better. Whether ancient xenos that see humans little more than vermin, mindless species that see them as food, or upstart newcomers on the galactic scene that feel it’s their manifest destiny to rule the galaxy, humanity has no friends amongst the stars.
I'm kinda puzzled. That doesn't really spell out "We're looking at all four Gods in depth!".
It seems more like "Here's the different Gods, you can pick one!".
Either way: It's nice to see the 'martial honour' part of Khorne return. I'm fething sick and tired of this idea of every single devotee of Khorne being a World Eaters Berzerker.
Kanluwen wrote:
Either way: It's nice to see the 'martial honour' part of Khorne return. I'm fething sick and tired of this idea of every single devotee of Khorne being a World Eaters Berzerker.
Yes, it is, though I guarantee someone will start screaming that FFG cannot write canon and that Khorne *must* never change (or change back in this case) as it violates some central tenant of their views of the 40k universe.
All I want is, that among the various cameos that FFG tends to load these things with...
I doubt he'll show up in any significant form (sadly). FFG seems to give us more subtle hints to Internet memes. Unlike, say, Relic, who have gone bat-gak insane with /tg/ references in the latest DoW Game.
H.B.M.C. wrote:I doubt he'll show up in any significant form (sadly). FFG seems to give us more subtle hints to Internet memes. Unlike, say, Relic, who have gone bat-gak insane with /tg/ references in the latest DoW Game.
H.B.M.C. wrote:I doubt he'll show up in any significant form (sadly). FFG seems to give us more subtle hints to Internet memes. Unlike, say, Relic, who have gone bat-gak insane with /tg/ references in the latest DoW Game.
OK, I have to ask - how?
What have they done?!?
Things like when the Commissar is in a vehicle, he'll say "Drive me closer--I want to hit them with my sword!" or when the Guardsman infantry squads are upgraded with weapons, you'll hear "It's dangerous to go alone--take this".
Or just internet memes. Assuming they haven't been photoshopped, there's a Choppa where the discription is "It's been Chopped!" or when the Ork Warboss calls the Blood Ravens 'theiving Magpies" (a meme on /tg/ was calling the Blood Ravens the 'Blood Magpies' because they seem to steal everything as all their wargear is from somewhere else). There's a weapons called a Double Shooter that, in its description, is listed as 'intense' (much like a double rainbow).
H.B.M.C. wrote:Or just internet memes. Assuming they haven't been photoshopped, there's a Choppa where the discription is "It's been Chopped!" or when the Ork Warboss calls the Blood Ravens 'theiving Magpies" (a meme on /tg/ was calling the Blood Ravens the 'Blood Magpies' because they seem to steal everything as all their wargear is from somewhere else). There's a weapons called a Double Shooter that, in its description, is listed as 'intense' (much like a double rainbow).
And lots of stuff like that.
There's no doubt about that.
But for every meme-related addition, there's things like this:
I think it must be the Orks getting most of the meme attention, because I've not seen too much on the Guard side.
This week I’d like to take a few minutes about some of the new things in Battlefleet Koronus, the upcoming supplement for Rogue Trader. This extensive sourcebook is all about about the starships that traverse the Koronus Expanse, and today we’ll look at two new classes of them: the battlecruiser and the grand cruiser.
The Big Guns
Battlecruisers, like their name suggests, are upgunned cruisers. In the Imperial Navy cruisers are the warships that do most of the work: patrols, garrison duties, convoy escorts, and when full-fledged fleet engagements break out, they’re the ships forming the battle line. Battleships, on the other hand, are few and far between. Though tremendously powerful, they are inflexible in their roles, and usually reserved for fleet flagships or key roles in the largest fleet engagements.
However, a gap exists between cruiser-sized vessels and full battleships, and the the battlecruiser fills that gap in the Imperial Navy. Battlecruisers share the size and maneuverability of a cruiser, but sacrifice space to fit more, longer-ranged weapons. Beyond new macrobatteries and lances powerful enough that they require the specialized fittings and hull design of a battlecruiser, these powerful warships usually sport dorsal weapon mounts, giving them even more combat flexibility. Most importantly, while almost no Rogue Trader could afford to operate and maintain a battleship, a battlecruiser might barely be within one’s means.
Of course, since battlecruisers don’t have any more space than an average cruiser, the additional weapons do mean that battlecruisers may be less flexible for other endeavors. A Rogue Trader with a battlecruiser is likely one anticipating a great deal of combat.
Ponderous and Powerful
While a battlecruiser is a modified cruiser, a grand cruiser is a different beast entirely. Ponderous, slow, and powerful, grand cruisers are an ancient relic of a bygone age. Once they filled the gap between cruiser and battleship in the Imperial Navy, but now most are relegated to reserve fleets, mothballed in storage, or granted to the occasional Rogue Trader wealthy enough to afford them.
Interestingly, though the Navy finds the less costly and more agile battlecruiser a more potent warship, many Rogue Traders find the grand cruiser a more useful vessel for their needs. Though very heavily armed, grand cruisers have so much space that a Rogue Trader can outfit his vessel for almost any task, from decade-long voyages of exploration to full-scale planetary invasions.
One of the few drawbacks of grand cruisers is that they’re outside the price range of almost every starting group. However, this provides something for a group to work towards. Grand cruisers should never be common in the Koronus Expanse, and the group that manages to obtain one shows themselves to be a force to be reckoned with.
Later this month, watch the shelves of your local game store for Battlefleet Koronus!
My copy has been pre-ordered for weeks. What about the rest of you?
H.B.M.C. wrote:Or just internet memes. Assuming they haven't been photoshopped, there's a Choppa where the discription is "It's been Chopped!" or when the Ork Warboss calls the Blood Ravens 'theiving Magpies" (a meme on /tg/ was calling the Blood Ravens the 'Blood Magpies' because they seem to steal everything as all their wargear is from somewhere else). There's a weapons called a Double Shooter that, in its description, is listed as 'intense' (much like a double rainbow).
And lots of stuff like that.
If you put the Commisar Lord inside of a Chimera, he actually says "Drive me closer to them, I want to hit them with my sword!"
temprus wrote:
I wonder how much the Dark Hersey Daemonhunters book and the Grey Knights codex will conflict on fluff.
Not much at all.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Good old FFG
Greetings, Deathwatch fans! Today, we’re pleased to present new, free downloadable content for Deathwatch. In celebration of the recent release of Rites of Battle, please enjoy The Nemesis Incident, an 8-page .pdf focusing on the various mysteries and enigmas that shroud the history of many significant Space Marine Chapters.
The Space Wolves, for instance, are known to voyage out into the stars searching for their missing Primarch, Leman Russ. Known as Great Hunts, these journeys have so far found no sign of the Primarch, but have nevertheless brought the Space Wolves great glory and renown for the deeds they have accomplished and the enemies that they have cast down whilst pursuing a Great Hunt.
But seeking the trail of a Primarch is just one example of a Chapter Mystery. To find out more, download The Nemesis Incident below, or on the support page:
The Nemesis Incident (web quality pdf, 2 MB)
The Nemesis Incident (print quality pdf, 27.7 MB)
Deathwatch is a roleplaying game in which players take on the roles of the bio-engineered super-soldiers known as Space Marines. United with their battle-brothers, players will complete extraordinary missions involving some of the greatest heroes and deadliest opponents the Warhammer 40,000 universe has to offer.
This week I’d like to take a few minutes about some of the new things in Battlefleet Koronus, the upcoming supplement for Rogue Trader. This extensive sourcebook is all about about the starships that traverse the Koronus Expanse, and today we’ll look at two new classes of them: the battlecruiser and the grand cruiser.
The Big Guns
Battlecruisers, like their name suggests, are upgunned cruisers. In the Imperial Navy cruisers are the warships that do most of the work: patrols, garrison duties, convoy escorts, and when full-fledged fleet engagements break out, they’re the ships forming the battle line. Battleships, on the other hand, are few and far between. Though tremendously powerful, they are inflexible in their roles, and usually reserved for fleet flagships or key roles in the largest fleet engagements.
However, a gap exists between cruiser-sized vessels and full battleships, and the the battlecruiser fills that gap in the Imperial Navy. Battlecruisers share the size and maneuverability of a cruiser, but sacrifice space to fit more, longer-ranged weapons. Beyond new macrobatteries and lances powerful enough that they require the specialized fittings and hull design of a battlecruiser, these powerful warships usually sport dorsal weapon mounts, giving them even more combat flexibility. Most importantly, while almost no Rogue Trader could afford to operate and maintain a battleship, a battlecruiser might barely be within one’s means.
Of course, since battlecruisers don’t have any more space than an average cruiser, the additional weapons do mean that battlecruisers may be less flexible for other endeavors. A Rogue Trader with a battlecruiser is likely one anticipating a great deal of combat.
Ponderous and Powerful
While a battlecruiser is a modified cruiser, a grand cruiser is a different beast entirely. Ponderous, slow, and powerful, grand cruisers are an ancient relic of a bygone age. Once they filled the gap between cruiser and battleship in the Imperial Navy, but now most are relegated to reserve fleets, mothballed in storage, or granted to the occasional Rogue Trader wealthy enough to afford them.
Interestingly, though the Navy finds the less costly and more agile battlecruiser a more potent warship, many Rogue Traders find the grand cruiser a more useful vessel for their needs. Though very heavily armed, grand cruisers have so much space that a Rogue Trader can outfit his vessel for almost any task, from decade-long voyages of exploration to full-scale planetary invasions.
One of the few drawbacks of grand cruisers is that they’re outside the price range of almost every starting group. However, this provides something for a group to work towards. Grand cruisers should never be common in the Koronus Expanse, and the group that manages to obtain one shows themselves to be a force to be reckoned with.
Later this month, watch the shelves of your local game store for Battlefleet Koronus!
So IN and Chaos heavy cruisers like the Cardinal and Hades classes won't be in, huh? That sucks. But we'll get the Mars class, (if the picture is right, and those are turrets on top that Dictator hull)) who's fluff states it's ridiculously rare even by Navy standards, production having stopped entirely 4k years before present. Meaning that Murders are more common in IN then this thing is.
You know, one thing I've long pondered. In fluff, the appearance of IN ship minis is a peculiarity of the Gothic sector. So why is it that they always look like that no matter WHERE the ships are, anymore?
BaronIveagh wrote:You know, one thing I've long pondered. In fluff, the appearance of IN ship minis is a peculiarity of the Gothic sector. So why is it that they always look like that no matter WHERE the ships are, anymore?
There isn't any other examples of non-Gothic sector ships aside from a few light cruisers. It's best if they stick to "canon" ship designs, rather than make up a whole new architectural style.
The Space Wolves, for instance, are known to voyage out into the stars searching for their missing Primarch, Leman Russ. Known as Great Hunts, these journeys have so far found no sign of the Primarch, but have nevertheless brought the Space Wolves great glory and renown for the deeds they have accomplished and the enemies that they have cast down whilst pursuing a Great Hunt.
A voyage "into the stars" would imo be a very very hot, least to say short one.
Either way: It's nice to see the 'martial honour' part of Khorne return. I'm fething sick and tired of this idea of every single devotee of Khorne being a World Eaters Berzerker.
I know it's a serial post but: Dark Reign is finally starting to release the winners of their Rogue Trader short story contest. Head over and check em out.
Picked up my copy of Battlefleet Koronus a little while ago. WOW!
This opens up a whole new avenue of play - complete integrated space/ground campaigns. It's all there. Haven't had much time to soak in much but there are 20 new Imperial hulls and many new components. Comprehensive ship listings for Orks, Eldar, Chaos and a couple of minor Xenos - essentially NPC vessels with some customization capabilities, not a build-system as you have with Imperial ships. Torpedo, Strike Craft and Nova Cannons as promised with lots of options. Squadron actions, including how to run your subordinate NPC ships. Definitions of ranks, background and key ships of Battlefleet Calixis and Koronos. Methods for determining refitting based on PF & system-specific qualities. Ground and atmospheric air force rules including guidelines for Titans and Adeptus Astartes.
From beyond reality, Daemons incessantly scrabble and claw at the minds of mortal men. The evil bubbling forth in the souls of the heretical constantly strains at the seams of the very fabric of space and time. From one breach, enough foul beasts may pour forth to consume and damn billions of Imperial souls.
Fantasy Flight Games is pleased to announce the upcoming release of Daemon Hunter, a supplement for Dark Heresy. The Inquisitors of the Ordo Malleus and the Space Marines of the Grey Knights are the chosen warriors of the God-Emperor, tasked with keeping humanity from falling into darkness. They hunt tirelessly to rid the Imperium of their collective prey: Daemons.
Daemon Hunter is a powerful resource for any Dark Heresy campaigns featuring the servants of the holy Ordo Malleus of the Inquisition. With information and background on the Ordo Malleus in the Calixis Sector, the Daemon hunter’s trade, and the Malleus armoury, Daemon Hunter is the perfect companion for players and GMs alike who wish to craft exciting campaigns for Dark Heresy.
Learn the ropes of daemon hunting with an extensive look at the origins and status of the Ordo Malleus. Then, take up arms as an acolyte in service to the Ordo Malleus by becoming a Banisher, taking the fight to the daemons. Also, learn the tools of the trade by studying the Malleus Armoury, which presents new tools for every tier of character.
Finally, Daemon Hunter includes everything players and GMs need to include Grey Knights into their Dark Heresy campaigns!
Developer Mack Martin took a moment to share his insights on the design process of Daemon Hunter:
Salutations Acolytes,
Throughout the development and testing process of Daemon Hunter, the Dark Heresy Development Team was embarrassingly giddy over the stories that the talented pool of writers created for the Ordo Malleus in the Calixis Sector. From the Scholariate at Arms (a new faction within the Ordo Malleus) to the Grey Knights, every page has as much information as we could fit onto it. New Acolyte alternate career ranks, cell directives, and equipment fill this hefty tome.
Of course you can’t have Daemon Hunters without daemons! The Daemonic Incursion chapter (written by Charles May and Ross Watson) gives GMs the tools to generate daemons with a variety of power levels and horrible tricks. Lesser Daemons, Heralds, and Greater Daemons are all as easy to create as an Acolyte, with a wide range of theme and combat strategy. Whether the GM needs a Bloodletter forged from blood and brass to challenge a group of Acolytes or a Keeper of Secrets to fight a squad of Grey Knights, the GM will never run out of daemons.
Oh... did we mention Grey Knights? The Warhammer 40k Roleplay community has had a lot of fun taking up the mantle of a Deathwatch Space Marine, and now they get the chance to take on the role of a Grey Knight. Daemon Hunter presents rules compatible with Dark Heresy for both PC and NPC Grey Knights. There are also additional rules and advice for including Grey Knights in a campaign using the Deathwatch Rulebook instead.
As we get closer to release we hope to discuss these topics in more detail, but until then, remember... “Innocence Proves Nothing.”
Thanks, Mack! Say alert, more information on Daemon Hunter is coming soon!
I am something of a captain obvious, here's my next obvious observation: All we need to do now is cleanse the GW studio of this Wardism and have some of the FFG people rehired by GW.
You have more common sense than GW, so why not? You can tackle the Death Watch books and finally write in that army you've got! I'll take over Rogue Trader and my first project will be a source book dedicated to the much underplayed costume porn the game has. It needs more lace and tricorn hats damn it!
In all seriousness, I called my FLGS and demanded they put me on top of the list for BattleFleet Koronus, I want it more than ever after I found out that the man behind BFG and a lot of Imperial Navy fluff has helped writing it.
definitely a cool cover; i think i would have preferred that one on the GK codex instead. my biggest worry is that the GK rules won't be completely compatible and usable in deathwatch instead of just ascension level dark heresy which it seems the book is for. can you convert stuff over? sure... but it tends to feel a bit shoehorned when you do.
I'm fairly confident that the GK rules in this new book will be compatible with Deathwatch. I mean, FFG are generally very good with the cross-over nature of their games.
lasgunpacker wrote:I wonder if BF Koronus could be used to add some more depth to a BFG campaign? Or would it be too detailed for that?
It could be used. You could even do whole fleet battles using just the Rogue Trader system (and quite well now that it will include Torpedoes, Strike Craft and Nova Cannons). Not every hull will be there (as far as we've seen Rogue Trader tops out at Battlecruiser - so sadly no Emperor or Retribution-Class Battleships).
Or if you were playing a campaign and wanted some ultra-detailed rules for 1-on-1 ship battles or special missions, it could work for that as well.
A bit like the old days of Inquisitor where people tend to forget that a laspistol was a lethal weapon, people tend to forget that even the smallest ship can pack quite a punch.
Unless they are captained by idiots. They deserved those near-deaths and burning of their Fate points.
I'm sure the really, really big hulls will show up in a later supplement. Or crafty players can come up with their own rules.
warboss wrote: my biggest worry is that the GK rules won't be completely compatible and usable in deathwatch instead of just ascension level dark heresy which it seems the book is for.
Just a quick word after reading much of Battlefleet Koronus...
Very nice Navy info. There's just about nothing you can't run here aside from Battleships and extrapolating them from existing RT and BFG info should be a snap. I'd like more info on planetary defenses and orbitals but no big deal. The xeno ships, particularly the Eldar, are done in loving detail and can be easily customized as needed.
The Ground Combat info is a bit sparse, IMHO. There are rules for making units with Power Factors, Morale, etc, etc. But it could really use a few more examples of use and sample units. One thing I don't get is that units of the same type seem to have the same Damage output, regardless of size (squad, company, division), though they do differ in 'wounds'. Huh? I would think a Division would have a lot more offensive output than a unit 5% its' size. Perhaps they missed something.
Which makes it the fourth company to be using GW's IP effectively and communicating/advertising it in a manner that makes it more attractive to customers.
Pick which one out of these five aren't doing that:
BaronIveagh wrote:Much to my irritation I just received a notice that Amazon will not be carrying Battlefleet Koronus, and my pre-order has been canceled.
H.B.M.C. wrote:Which makes it the fourth company to be using GW's IP effectively and communicating/advertising it in a manner that makes it more attractive to customers.
Pick which one out of these five aren't doing that:
Games Workshop
Black Library
Forge World
Fantasy Flight Games
THQ
*Hint, it's not any of the last 4!
i'd say its not the middle three more accurately. THQ has been very tight lipped about the space marine game coming out for pc/xbox with their "official" website for the game containing less text than an average FFG blog post and a single video from last august as the entirety of its content. :(
and a pre order of $30. Make sure to point the price guarantee out when you call them. Don't try to pull a fast one of your own, they will check your previous orders.
BaronIveagh wrote:Much to my irritation I just received a notice that Amazon will not be carrying Battlefleet Koronus, and my pre-order has been canceled.
I gave up on Amazon before Deathwatch was released. I'm glad I did now.
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warboss wrote:i'd say its not the middle three more accurately. THQ has been very tight lipped about the space marine game coming out for pc/xbox with their "official" website for the game containing less text than an average FFG blog post and a single video from last august as the entirety of its content. :(
At the last E3 THQ (and Relic) showed up with people in costume to promote Space Marine. IIRC they did it again at PAX prime.
At the last Gen-Con Games Workshop brought... oh... wait... they weren't at the last Gen-Con.
BaronIveagh wrote:I'm trying to get them to sort this out. Seems that soemthing is up.
I know Amazon tends to get it later than the gaming shops to drive business there (worked in my case!) but I don't know why they'd cancel you when they still have it on their schedule.
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H.B.M.C. wrote:Which makes it the fourth company to be using GW's IP effectively and communicating/advertising it in a manner that makes it more attractive to customers.
Pick which one out of these five aren't doing that:
Games Workshop
Black Library
Forge World
Fantasy Flight Games
THQ
*Hint, it's not any of the last 4!
Forge World? Really?
I unsubscribed from them when, instead of pictures of new stuff, they started emailing jigsaw puzzles for us to put together.
BaronIveagh wrote:I'm trying to get them to sort this out. Seems that soemthing is up.
I know Amazon tends to get it later than the gaming shops to drive business there (worked in my case!) but I don't know why they'd cancel you when they still have it on their schedule.
Well, it's not that it's a later release, it's that they were trying to get out of their price guarantee.
See, originally, they had a lower price then the actual MSRP of the book, and then the pre-order discount. FFG released the book higher, and Amazon canceled the pre-orders, and re-listed it to try and avoid losing their shirts on their pre-order price guarantee.
BaronIveagh wrote:I'm trying to get them to sort this out. Seems that soemthing is up.
I know Amazon tends to get it later than the gaming shops to drive business there (worked in my case!) but I don't know why they'd cancel you when they still have it on their schedule.
Well, it's not that it's a later release, it's that they were trying to get out of their price guarantee.
See, originally, they had a lower price then the actual MSRP of the book, and then the pre-order discount. FFG released the book higher, and Amazon canceled the pre-orders, and re-listed it to try and avoid losing their shirts on their pre-order price guarantee.
warboss wrote:i'd say its not the middle three more accurately. THQ has been very tight lipped about the space marine game coming out for pc/xbox with their "official" website for the game containing less text than an average FFG blog post and a single video from last august as the entirety of its content. :(
At the last E3 THQ (and Relic) showed up with people in costume to promote Space Marine. IIRC they did it again at PAX prime.
At the last Gen-Con Games Workshop brought... oh... wait... they weren't at the last Gen-Con.
i'm not saying GW is GOOD at marketing just that THQ is NOT. they were at e3 last summer and that is the video i'm actually talking about in my quote above. we have basically one trailer and one gameplay video for a game that is coming out in 3-5 months (listed as summer), neither of which was released in the last 6 months.... and a website with about as much info as can fit on the back of a console game box... that's not great marketing IMO. still not as bad as gw who would simply deny the game is coming out (ala space hulk) but i expect more by this point. one possibility is that its delayed again and that's why they're not releasing stuff about it yet.
Regarding Space Marine: Game Trailer TV has more stuff on the game, if you can stand their stupid interviews and horrible attempts at caring about the game they are asking about.
Space Ships are cool Brook, and now they are flying through the Warp. Maelstrom informed me this morning that my copies of Battlefleet Koronus are on their way (plus my copy of The Frozen Reaches).
Got my copy of Battlefleet Koronus.And am very pleased indeed -- top work everyone involved.
Lots of lovely juicy background, famous ships, famous actions, details on ranks in the Battlefleet. Very useful rules too, boardering ( sorry couldn't resist) on the essential for a RT campaign perhaps.
Especially enjoyed the stuff about "The White Sorrows" from a quick glance through, can't really comment on the rules in the book yet really, but certainly a cursory glance has them clearly placed and findable ( a lost art in too many rulebooks still, alas ) and thorough.
.. *waits to get shot down on that point*
And overall the book has quite an.. old school 40k feel to much of the background presented that nicely captures the scale and scope of the subject matter delightfully well.
If I had money I'd buy the whole stack and sell them like a soulless donkey-cave for thrice the price on ebay. But feth it, no money, no books. The store owner got called about it by FFG and they were cool with it. They aren't GW.
Still waiting on Koronus to arrive though, the owner was a bit annoyed about that. Here he has a book a month in advance and the other releases are once more way behind.
I still deciding on whether or not to buy Battlefleet Koronus at this point in time, then again I do not see the point in giving my PC's more books to look into yet, as one still is not handling the whole "Necrons are not known to the Imperium" thing so well.
I dunno. The lack of a Murder or Hades, and breaking fluff on the Repulsive...
Actually, fluff got broken a lot in this one, I notice. Some much to my amusement, some not so much. What I don't understand is IN BCs are just upgrades to existing hulls. Why didn't they just make an upgrade package for cruisers and put more cruiser hulls in????
LOL private, non-admech, shipyards... lol At the moment, some people in the BFG forums should be screaming about now in horror. It just sank their arguments *against* SM lances...
LOL! I even made a Necron Lord who goes about as a huge Rogue Trader(Many may mistake him for a retired SM or other oversized(Feral worlder) type of guy.
Second of the RT Adventure Book Trilogy has just been announced. I have this odd feeling that Rogue Trader releases come out way faster than the other two lines.
Treasure Awaits
“A right dangerous place, to be sure. Only a madman would make it a habit to travel there...but as the saying goes, only the insane truly prosper!” -Sarvus Trask, Rogue Trader
On the hunt to discover the cause of vanishing settlements, increased xenos sightings, and aggressive confrontations between the Rogue Traders and a mysterious group of raiding pirate vessels, you and your fellow Explorers are thrust on a perilous journey. The key to your quest lies hidden at the Casket of Secrets, in the very heart of the Citadel of Skulls, Karrad Vall’s home. Prepare to attempt the ultimate heist: stealing a priceless artefact that belonged to a legendary starship from Karrad Vall’s vault. No sane person has ever risked entering the Faceless Lord’s inner sanctum, let alone stealing from him...until you.
Fantasy Flight Games is excited to announce the upcoming release of Citadel of Skulls, the second adventure in The Warpstorm Triology for Rogue Trader! A great beast has awakened from beyond the edges of the Koronus Expanse, hungering to fulfill its dark purpose. Before you and your fellow Explorers can attempt to seek it out and ultimately destroy it, you must uncover what and where it is. Finding the answer is a nearly impossible undertaking, pitting you against an infamous pirate lord blessed by Chaos.
A Maze of Dangerous Ordeals
Can you and your fellow Explorers navigate safely through your impending expedition? Your journey begins with strange developments, untrustworthy guides, and the awakened mysterious force shadowing your every step. The way to Vall’s seat of power is blocked by potential hazards and a sky full of raiders, slavers, and reavers. Plot your course through Vall’s dark cathedral, past quivering slaves and brutal enemies, bloody chambers, and the ossuaries full of bones that give the Citadel its name. And once you reach the Casket of Secrets you’ll meet “the Archivist.”
Citadel of Skulls can be played as a standalone adventure or connected to the events introduced in The Frozen Reaches. An epic adventure of exploration, combat, and acquisition of wealth, Citadel of Skulls will be a suspenseful and thrilling journey.
Will you be able to withstand the voyage? Get ready to take your place in the events that will shape the future of the Koronus Expanse!
Isn't Citadel of Skulls a little redundant? I mean, it's 40K... what else is it going to be a Citadel of?
“The tome you see before you now is the result of our discussions regarding the myriad threats that our Kill-teams have faced amongst the worlds of the Jericho Reach...Of particular note to your Ordo, honoured Inquisitor, is that a number of the threats detailed in this tome are not, in fact, alien in origin. Rather, these enemies are heretics, traitors, warpspawn, or worse...Thus, when I asked for the reports to create this tome, these reports included the threats that were judged worthy of the Deathwatch’s interest in all aspects of war.”
-Codicier Taelon of the White Scars
Though Codicier Taelon would not live to complete his life’s work, having been among the fallen at the Battle of the Darkspire, many Watch Captains have taken heed of his wisdom and his tome has been highly praised by Inquisitors Ghraile and Quist of the Ordo Xenos. For within the war-torn Jericho Reach only the intervention of the Deathwatch Kill-teams can tip the balance in the Imperium. Taelon’s knowledge-laden book, minutely depicting the enemy, aids the Deathwatch in striking back against their greatest foes.
Mark of the Xenos, a bestiary of the monstrous, is the upcoming supplement for Deathwatch. Today we’ll be looking at an overview of Mark of the Xenos, the tome created by the Deathwatch Librarian Taelon, that includes commentaries, advice, and vital information.
Mark of the Xenos is separated into four chapters, each focusing on a different breed of threat that you may face in the course of your duties: The Alien Threat, Radicals and Heretics, The Forces of Chaos, and Advanced Adversaries. The subdivisions within the chapters feature enemy profiles with movement values and weapon damages, presented with options and variations for a Game Master to modify as is required for his game. Also included are ready-made adventure hooks that a GM can use to drop the monsters directly into his Deathwatch campaign.
The Alien Threat
“Let me tell you son, when you hear that sound, you’ve got three seconds to grab your lasgun and then they’re on you.”
-Corporal Hahnsen of the 45th Scintilla Guard
Chapter one centres around the Enemy Without, the primary enemies of the Deathwatch. No enemy is more central to the purpose of the Deathwatch than the numerous hostile alien races scattered throughout the galaxy and beyond. Discover over 35 alien predators that exist within the Jericho Reach!
This chapter features some better-known aliens such as the Tyranids of Hive Fleet Dagon, the Tau forces of the Velk’han Sept, Orks, as well as more minor species like the shapeshifting Lacrymole, and more. Immerse yourself into the minds of the aliens inimical to human life and emerge better able to fulfill the Deathwatch’s main purpose, eradicating such xenos.
Radicals and Heretics
“When the box sings a pretty song; when it saves you from all that’s wrong; when it adds a sudden price, you bless it once to be cursed thrice.”
-Children’s rhyme from the Jericho Reach
The Imperium of Man seethes with anarchy, rebellion, and murder. In the Jericho Reach, hidden from the Light of Terra for thousands of years, billions of souls have wandered far from the salvation of the God-Emperor of Mankind. Including a brief history of heresy in the Jericho Reach, this chapter discusses the enemy within that abounds on the cursed worlds of the Jericho Reach.
Codicier Taelon contended with the Deathwatch about the dangers of even a single heretic or radical, arguing that sometimes the most dangerous threat is the most simple: an idea...subtle, insidious, and difficult to destroy. Within this chapter recidivists misled by the rantings of Apostate Cardinals, the deadly machinations of a Radical Inquisitor, and the horrific constructs of tech-heresy are laid bare.
The Forces of Chaos
“Better to pluck out your eyes and fight blind than to look upon such a vile, blasphemous monstrosity.”
-Chaplain Trakus, White Scars Chapter
The Ruinous Powers command Daemons, warpspawn, Chaos Space Marines, and corrupt hordes of humanity daily; Chaos is the ancient enemy of Mankind and those ensnared by it become a threat of ruination to Mankind. Impossible to destroy, Chaos being an unalterable fact of nature, the Deathwatch can only attempt to quell the growing plague. As the Hadex Anomaly spews forth armies of corruption into the Jericho Reach, every gained detail about the tide of evil depicted within this chapter will strengthen any Kill-team’s cessation techniques.
Prepare your mind for the horror. What follows is a glimpse of the gruesome tales that await you in Mark of the Xenos. An excerpt from the Plaguebearer section:
“Brother Librarian,
When you asked me to share anything I knew about the enemies we regularly confront in the Reach, one incident in particular came to mind. I led a Kill-team on a mission...to an orbital station above a world in the Acheros Salient...we faced a group of daemons, each with a single rheumy eye and a black, twisted horn. These daemons were extremely difficult to destroy...for these daemons are seemingly immune to any pain or discomfort, even from missing limbs or wounds that would otherwise despatch an enemy. Eventually, we purged the station by opening that chamber to vacuum, then re-sealing it and cleansing each room with flamers.”
Advanced Adversaries
“They came without number and without remorse. They came from every side and at every hour. They came hungry for our blood, and they just kept on coming. Every one that came... we killed.”
-Battle-Brother Glarus of the Crimson Fists
A Battle-Brother facing enemies equal to his numbers is a rare occurrence; nothing exemplifies the strength and power of the Space Marines like their ability to deal with a foe that vastly outnumbers them. Of course, this is what a Space Marine expects on the field of battle. Presenting new rules and guidelines, the final chapter details how to utilise adversaries in a Deathwatch campaign, including the proper use of Hordes which will allow a GM to turn any kind of foe into a mob or combat formation of even thousands of individuals, Horde tactics, the rules for scaling up to even larger conflicts, and more.
With a detailed understanding of the specifics of warfare, a GM can better manage his games. Take a peek at a discussion of one of the keys to encounters and actions in larger conflicts with an excerpt from the chapter:
“Battles are seldom fought to the last man and in many cases the victor is determined not by size, strength or skill of a force, or even the stalwart leadership of its commanders, but by fate and a few chance encounters and actions amidst a much larger engagement. These key moments in a battle are sometimes known as turning points, and can influence the entire outcome of a combat.”
Be vigilant! More previews are imminent in the coming weeks. This Spring, get ready to know your enemy like never before in Mark of the Xenos.
The Black Sepulchre, an adventure for Dark Heresy, is available
The hand appears to have a fraction of malign intelligence within it. It speaks to those it believes it can corrupt. Attempts to silence its voice have proven useless. Currently Savant-Militant Grendel is engaged in a struggle of wills with the dark entity that now takes home within. He is one of the fair few trained in the psychic arts required to hold the beast at bay. I have sequestered the acolyte Grendel in an airlock aboard the Righteous Indignation. I am monitoring him as I decipher Thrungg’s journal and should he lose control I will jettison him into the void and instruct the captain to purge his remains. It will not be a permanent end to the artefact, but it will buy us, according to my research, a thousand years and a day. – From the correspondence of Binder Morgaine
When a decadent noble uncovers a heretical artefact of dark origins, the Inquisition is sent on an investigation from his palace to a lost fortress on a distant world. Can you solve the mysteries of the Haematite Cathedral before it’s too late, and uncover a conspiracy that threatens to set the Calixis Sector ablaze?
Uncover the Mystery
The Black Sepulchre, an adventure for Dark Heresy, is now on sale at your local retailer and through our webstore! This gripping story tasks Acolytes with solving the riddle of an ancient and powerful structure. In the process, they’ll uncover a truth so dark, the Calixis Sector may never recover from its discovery...
The Black Sepulchre is the first installment of The Apostasy Gambit, a Dark Heresy campaign that takes a cell of Acolytes from investigating the tragic history of a warped Cathedral to crusading against a conspiracy at the heart of one of the Imperium’s most vaunted organisations. The Black Sepulchre can be played on its own, or it can form a part of the grand Apostasy Gambit campaign. What’s more, this adventure is designed for all levels of play, so beginners and veterans alike can explore its varied paths to success.
Head to your local game store today and discover the dark mystery that awaits!
This new trilogy holds more interest for me than the previous one. Why? Well, for a variety of reasons.
FFG wrote:
Into the Screaming Vortex A preview of Black Crusade, the upcoming Warhammer 40,000 Roleplaying Game
Black Crusade, an upcoming roleplaying game that offers players a new perspective on the conflict between the Imperium of Man and the forces of Chaos, will be corrupting players this summer. Today, we’re pleased to present a preview from Andrew Hoare, one of the writers for Black Crusade. Among other contributions, Andrew wrote about the various regions in which your Black Crusade campaign might take place. Thanks, Andrew!
Black Crusade takes a departure from Dark Heresy, Rogue Trader and Deathwatch, presenting its own unique corner of the Warhammer 40,000 universe – the Screaming Vortex – but wrapping its questing pseudopods about the Calixis Sector, the Koronus Expanse, and the Jericho Reach too. The Screaming Vortex is a warp storm, situated between the Calixis Sector and the Jericho Reach, and within its boiling heart, Chaos rules supreme!
Campaigns of Black Crusade can be set in any of these four locations, or all of them. Each offers a different sort of game, providing a grand arc that can see characters rise from ambitious aspiring champions all the way up to mighty Chaos warlords.
While the Calixis Sector, the Koronus Expanse and the Jericho Reach are all detailed in their own core rule books and supplements, the Black Crusade rule book presents the Screaming Vortex. Players and GMs are free to begin their campaigns wherever they like, drawing on the information presented in any of the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay books, but the Screaming Vortex is designed as the ideal jumping off point. After all, what would-be champion of Chaos would not seek to gain dominance over his rivals before turning his fell attentions onto the hated Imperium of Man?
Where Chaos Reigns
The Screaming Vortex is the ideal setting for beginning characters to gain skills and experience and, most importantly, garner the dark blessings of the Ruinous Powers. So anarchic is the region within the Screaming Vortex that no coherent system of governance exists, though many warlords have sought to impose their will upon it. Instead, each world stands alone, the savage populations masters, or victims, of cruel fate.
While a region of tempestuous and random energies, the interior of the Screaming Vortex can be divided into three broad categories. No map or star chart can ever describe the true configuration of the vortex, for it exists as a hybrid of the real and the unreal, and is subject to no natural law. The ebb and flow of its tides can be imagined as a vast celestial whirlpool, the tides of the Sea of Souls wild and heaving on the outer edges and becoming increasingly rapid and perilous nearer the centre. The outer edges are host to a myriad of planets known as the Gloaming Worlds. These are accessible via the 13th Station of Passage, a hidden portal located deep within the Koronus Passage, and each is a savage place of anarchy and war. Past the Gloaming Worlds is the so-called Inner Ring, where the interface between the real and the unreal truly breaks down. The worlds of this region are places of insanity and Chaos, nightmarish regions shaped by the will of mad gods and brutal warlords. Beyond the Inner Ring is the Lower Vortex, a region entirely steeped in the raw stuff of the Warp. Here, the only planets to be found are horrific Daemon Worlds, where the servants of the Ruinous Powers make eternal war upon one another. At the heart of the Lower Vortex lies the Frozen Heart, and the Ascendant Spiral, a route by which a mortal strong or insane enough to have looked upon that which lies at the centre of the Screaming Vortex might escape, if the Ruinous Powers will it.
Games set within the anarchic Screaming Vortex are all about power. The player characters seek to gain dominance over their rivals, earning as they do so the dark blessings of the Ruinous Powers. Adventures within the Vortex can encompass a massive range of types, including simple battles for territory to complex and involved conspiracies. The deeper one travels into the Vortex the more power one might amass, for the worlds within the Inner Ring and the Lower Vortex hold secrets millions would, and indeed have, died for. Artefacts of terrible potency await those with the strength to seek them out, and beings of incalculable power dwell on the Daemon Worlds of the Lower Vortex. Of course, the ultimate goal of any truly worthy champion of the Dark Gods is to unite the disparate factions within the Vortex and to lead them in a Black Crusade against the unsuspecting Imperium, smashing through the 13th Station of Passage and descending on the weakling defences of the Calixis Sector.
The Unholy in a Pilgrim’s Land
Those who choose to take their campaigns outside of the Screaming Vortex will find a setting at once familiar and alien. If the Calixis Sector is a threatening environment for an Inquisitorial Acolyte, consider it from the point of view of a Disciple of Chaos! Institutions that appear from within as crumbling and impotent are to the outsider vast, cyclopean edifices of galactic domination. Players of Black Crusade get to see the Imperium afresh, through the eyes of those who hate it and seek to tear it down. But beware, for the agents of the Inquisition are everywhere, and no one can be trusted!
The Koronus Expanse is a region ripe for conquest, and one where those who tread the Path to Glory can carve out entire empires beyond the light of the hated Emperor. With countless worlds and resources just waiting to be discovered and claimed, and numerous secrets predating the rise of man buried beneath the surface of long-dead worlds, the Koronus Expanse offers unlimited possibilities.
Lastly, there’s the Jericho Reach. Here there is only war. The worlds surrounding the stellar phenomenon that is the Hadex Anomaly are completely under the sway of Chaos, and their peoples have rejected the crusading Imperium. Upon the scorched battlefields of a hundred war worlds and more, the servants of Chaos face the greatest champions the corpse-god Emperor can muster, and slay them in the name of the true powers – the Gods of Chaos.
Yay! The game has a setting!
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And now for some news that's far more exciting than GW's own half-hearted attempt at a Grey Knight Codex...
FFG wrote: Tragic Ends A look at Daemon Hunter, the upcoming Dark Heresy supplement
Two weeks ago, we announced Daemon Hunter, an upcoming supplement for Dark Heresy. A powerful resource for campaigns featuring the servants of the holy Ordo Malleus of the Inquisition, Daemon Hunter features information and background on the Ordo Malleus in the Calixis Sector, the Daemon hunter’s trade, and the Malleus armoury. Today, Dark Heresy’s developer took the time to share some additional details on this exciting title.
Daemon Hunter gives Game Masters and players the ability to tell stories that have deep and powerful themes. In a universe as grim as the 41st Millenium there are tragedies every day. The death toll of any given day in the Warhammer 40,000 universe is uncountable, and wars rage on inexorably. In such a world, what could possibly qualifies as tragic?
A Never-Ending Battle
Real Heroism is easy to recognize in Warhammer 40,000. It’s those who stand against the unstoppable tide of the Warp, and through opposition stall it, if only for a moment. A Hero is someone who fights, knowing that his enemy can never be truly defeated. Tragedy, therefore, are the events that occur when a guardian fails. The lives that are lost when a lone squad of guardsmen can’t hold the line that crucial moment. The souls devoured by chaos when the Acolytes fail to stop the sorcerer’s ritual.
Few tragedies, therefore, are as grim as when a champion must become the monster to rectify his own failure. What man could keep his grasp on sanity when he must snuff out the lives of every human being on an entire planet... because he failed.
That is the nature of the Exterminatus. It is a last resort in the Inquisitor’s toolbox used to hold back the hands of midnight for a decisive minute. A terrible choice that Inquisitors must face when their servants falter against the daemonic, heretical or alien. In Daemon Hunter, the writing team was able to tackle this horrific choice, discussing how the Inquisitors in the Calixis sector choose to enact such an action, and how they go about it.
The Weight of Worlds
The brutal pragmatism required of an Inquisitor can drive even the strongest of minds into insanity, and the Ordo Malleus within the Calixis sector has taken steps to alleviate some of this burden. An Inquisitor is not alone in his decision to declare an Exterminatus. He has the Collegiate Exterminatus to consult. Comprised of Banishers, Inquisitors, high ranking Ecclesiarchal figures and members of the Scholariate-At-Arms, this group advises Inquisitors, shouldering for them, to some small degree, some of the terrible burden they carry.
Of course situations may demand quick action, and an Inquisitor must sometimes act quickly. With Daemon Hunter these tragic legends can be told. The story could begin with a cell of Acolytes who choose to pay dearly, buying a critical moment against an inevitable Daemonic Incursion. The tale can continue with an Inquisitor leading Grey Knights against the legions of Chaos swarming the doomed planets Imperial cities. Finally the saga ends with a desperate Inquisitor aboard his strike cruiser, sending his Acolytes once again into certain death, to activate a Virus bomb before the bridge of their vessel is breached by the forces of Chaos.
Daemon Hunter gives GMs the tools they need to tell these stories in the “Grim Darkness of the Far Future”. Players take on the roll of Heroes holding a torch in the infinite blackness of insanity and the warp. Will you survive long enough to be counted among the myths of Warhammer 40,000... or will you be just another statistic in the logs of some Adeptus Ministorum logician?
I do so love that GK picture. That Cultist is seriously fethed.
Last time, we looked at an overview of Mark of the Xenos. This week, the Mark of the Xenos design team is pleased to present the second preview for the book: the menacing Dagon Overlord. This massive Tyranid Hive Tyrant has gained a reputation amongst the forces of the Orpheus Salient as a powerful and deadly threat, a Tyranid leader that arises time and again to attack the forces of the Imperium in the Jericho Reach.
The Dagon Overlord is a great tool for GMs who want to showcase Hive Fleet Dagon and personify the Tyranid menace in a single form; created by Owen Barnes, this deadly being is just one of the many xenos organisms found in Chapter I: The Alien Threat.
Read about this vicious predator in Dagon Overlord (pdf, 956 KB), available for download on the support page, and gain the upper hand for your next foray into battle.
We’ll have more previews over the new few weeks. Stay alert for your chance to study the enemy, and look for Mark of the Xenos this spring!
As the battle for Castobel rages on and the remaining hive cities fortify themselves, the Dagon
Overlord appears again at the Battle of the Nine Bridges, crushing an entire Planetary Defence Force
regiment and sweeping the defenders from the field. Hazy pict images gathered after the battle from a
servo-skull show what seems to be a mountain of corpses gathered at the feet of the Overlord.
I think Khorne is gonna be preeeeeeeetty ticked off
I do hope they do designer diaries on the other parts of the book before it gets released.
Indeed, I'm always interested to hear about the thoughts that went into the writing process and then what, if any changes, were made later.
I find that's the most frustrating aspects of, for example, the WD designers articles : they hint at this sort of process but never really go into the nitty gritty of why X/Y/Z was done. Most annoying.
Not least as it leaves the impression that changes are made without such a process, which you'd think would be something they'd be keen to dispel.
The reason I'd love them to focus on the non-Xenos aspects of this book in their designer dairies is that I feel most DW players might gloss over the 'Heretics' section they talked about in the previous Designer Diary for no other reason than 'ZOMG! Tyranids & Tau!'. I know the book's called Mark of the Xenos, but there appears to be much more than just some Tyranid and Tau stats in there.
Anyway, this is the book I'm looking forward to the most in the whole upcoming line up. Ok... second most. Church of the Damned is the one I want the most, but that's for completely different reasons.
reds8n wrote:Indeed, I'm always interested to hear about the thoughts that went into the writing process and then what, if any changes, were made later.
Yeah. It would be so awesome to know the process that went into writing, testing and changing these rules.
For GW perhaps (maybe next time they can use M. Night Ward as the dart board), but not the FFG guys. They seem to care more about the integrity of their work and less about pushing whatever's out next.
I don't trust Amazon. They're hopeless at just about everything, especially estimated shipping times and release dates.
That said, Maelstrom does put it to 25/06/11, and Maelstrom usually has their release date anywhere from 4 weeks to 1 week behind the general release date. So sometime in June I'd say.
Liesure Games UK seems to get them first (or is one of the first to get them), so it's best to go off them.
H.B.M.C. wrote:I don't trust Amazon. They're hopeless at just about everything, especially estimated shipping times and release dates.
That said, Maelstrom does put it to 25/06/11, and Maelstrom usually has their release date anywhere from 4 weeks to 1 week behind the general release date. So sometime in June I'd say.
Leisure Games UK seems to get them first (or is one of the first to get them), so it's best to go off them.
With Amazon, they(meaning Amazon proper) don't get their shipments from FFG until everyone else does.
Makes sense, Amazon sells at a discount undercutting the stores that build their games. It's big enough they have to sell to AMazon but they make AMazon wait so the real frothers like me go out any pay full retail.
reds8n wrote:Got my copy of Black Sepulchre yesterday, only really had a brief flick through, but seems the usual high quality FFG product.
I ordered my copy today.
I've heard from a pretty reliable source that the second part of this series is going to be more awesome than the first part - possibly even the most awesome book FFG has ever put out. Can't for the life of me think why though...
Love it. I love the two different reactions that Captain Scipio will give you. I'm definitely going to have to get Dark Heresy now after reading through this tiny little adventure book and getting some serious scenery ideas.
Spoiler:
The Black Sepulchre wrote:"Men of the Protectorate!" yells Captain Scipio, hanging onto one of the handholds mounted overhead. "We drop in thirty seconds! Come down fighting and check your targets!" He shoots you a nasty look, "And you. You're coming down in the false chapel. Find the proof you need and try not to get yourself killed!"
That's if you're a 'new' Acolyte.
High ranking characters get the last part replaced with:
"Sirs, the battle plan has you coming down in the false chapel, I leave it to you to find the proof you need and we will try not to get in your way.'
You all make me jealous... Living in a combat zone sucks 
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