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I've played 40k since the RT days but really got into it with the second ed box set. Lately, I've been thinking about the sense of fun and wonder I felt at going through the three books in that set as well as the sense of nostalgia I have for the 40k of that time. So here's my question -

For any of you that have been around that long AND read the 40k books, have there been any novels that made you feel that same sense of nostalgia from having read them?

I can't say that I have, but I find going back and reading through the Rogue Trader rule book and other old sourcebooks, evokes the same feelings they did years ago. That's good enough for me.

Not a novel, but the 3rd edition rulebook has a special place on the shelf.

Yep, I have my old Rogue Trader and Realm of Chaos books in pristine condition and like paging through them from time to time.
You can tell the game designers were having the time of their lives putting this stuff together and putting it out.(Rube Goldberg scenarios, anyone?

I would say the first set of Tanith first and only books i think came out in 2000 reminds me alot of third ed whenever I read them, as do the few old copies of inferno magazine I have

Odd ones for me, but these bring a true feeling of nostalgia:

Rogue Trader
White Dwarf 149
White Dwarf 154
Space Hulk 1st Edition Rulebook
Codex Titanicus (the one that came with Titan Legions)
Oh and the Battle Manual!

The Ian Watson books.

There are certain pictures in certain books that evoke the good ol' days for me, mostly in old White Dwarves or rulebooks. The other day I was looking at the 4th ed rulebook and it's amazing how much terrain and basing have changed! A green mat with some trees and a couple of huts used to suffice but now everyone has epic, battle-scarred cityscapes to play on, and the bases are way more elaborate than a bit of static grass.

 Azreal13 wrote:
The Ian Watson books.

The thing I remember from those was how precious bolster shells were illustrated to be when the inquisitor was gifted with a few by the old lady. Good stuff that underscored the value of the Imperium equipment.

 Azreal13 wrote:
The Ian Watson books.

Definitely! I still have problems thinking of Ordo Malleus as just the daemonhunting department, and not the inner circle of the Inquisition.

Dang kids and their newfangled fluff!

Wow! Thanks for the responses so far! I wasn't sure how much discussion this thread would generate. I didn't even know about those Ian Watson books! I'll be looking those up right quick!

Keep'em comin' guys!

I was given some old White Dwarfs a few months ago. I enjoyed reading again about how the Ultramarines were founded in M32 to put down a local rebellion.

I started in 2nd edition, however my 3rd edition rule book still gets me excited about the game. I still look at it regularly to see how much things have changed...or haven't. My second edition SoB book is also good for a read every year or so.

Outside of that, my Armageddon codex that included rules for Templars and Salamanders has a really special place in my heart. I never played as much 40k as I did that summer/year.

The Jaq Draco books(from Ian Watson) definitely show how weird and wonky the old school Imperium was. I am with whoever said it above, the Ordo Malleus is a secret inner circle leading the Inquisition as a whole from the shadows, not run of the mill daemon hunters.

Into the Eye of Terror is another great early book on 40k if you can find it, my of my favorites that vanished during one of my moves in years past.

Love Ian Watson's Space Marine. That is how I see the Imperium!

Anything from Dan Abnett, A D-B, and James Swallow are good reads, really grabbing at my nostalgia heart strings.

SJ

+1 for Ian Watson. The inquisition war books are a burst of condensed nostalgia.

I really want to read Space Marine! Too bad it's way out of print and the Black Library website doesn't get along with my bank. Sigh.

Woah, I've just seen what used copies are going for on Amazon!

Blood Bowl second edition.. when they were actually genuinely talented with charisma and were funny rather than "trying to seem funny"... as all the others were

Incidentally 2nd edition blood bowl is the best game gw ever made. The garbage that came after was because when you accidentally make the perfect game you can't sell addons.. so they broke it to be always about new minis and the next upgrade.

Breaks my heart that no-one ever believes me when I tell them that. But it is true, I promise.

#remember2ndedition

What version was the video games based on Conan? Ruleset-wise?

ConanMan wrote:
Blood Bowl second edition.. when they were actually genuinely talented with charisma and were funny rather than "trying to seem funny"... as all the others were

Incidentally 2nd edition blood bowl is the best game gw ever made. The garbage that came after was because when you accidentally make the perfect game you can't sell addons.. so they broke it to be always about new minis and the next upgrade.

Breaks my heart that no-one ever believes me when I tell them that. But it is true, I promise.

#remember2ndedition

We have some good games with Blood Bowl here that we mainly run as a league during the regular football season. We finish up the season with a playoff lasting a few weeks for the group.

The thing that really gets my nostalgia going is the deployment method 'Hammer and Anvil,' because when I first started playing in early 3rd, my friends and I apparently could not read and deployed in this manner with footslogging armies comprised mostly of Rapid Fire guns and assault units. We also didn't understand turn limits and would just continue playing until one side tabled the other (as a result our games were often veeeery long.)

riburn3 wrote:
Outside of that, my Armageddon codex that included rules for Templars and Salamanders has a really special place in my heart. I never played as much 40k as I did that summer/year.

And this. Salamanders out of that codex were my first army.

When you say 2nd Ed Blood Bowl, you do mean the astrogranite version with the Dungeonbowl supplement, not the version played these days, right?

Relapse wrote:
Yep, I have my old Rogue Trader and Realm of Chaos books in pristine condition and like paging through them from time to time.
You can tell the game designers were having the time of their lives putting this stuff together and putting it out.(Rube Goldberg scenarios, anyone?

Yeah, definitely these two books.

Also, the amount of text and rules combined in these two books would fill like, 10 current edition codexes There was a table for freakin' everything. Gotta love the old Gifts of Chaos tables. Oooo my guy STINKS! Sweet.

imperial robot rules

This has been a great thread for some things I haven't thought of in a while.

 Ratius wrote:
What version was the video games based on Conan? Ruleset-wise?

it's actually easy to answer that it is 3rd edition. the reason it is easy is the 2nd edition is set in a THIRD games workshop story line

one is whfb (set in the olden days, like tolkein) - you know it as WARHAMMER FANTASY BATTLE but there were pother things in it like :TALISMAN BOARD GAME and WARHAMMER FANTASY ROLE PLAY

one is 40,000 year in the future (set in the far future)- you know it as WH40k but there were other things in it like BATTLE FLEET GOTHIC and SPACE HULK

one was set in a contemporary 1980's USA- probably the BEST idea ever but they ONLY USED IT FOR BLOOD BOWL 2ND ED

they killed the last one, that last one was blood bowl 2nd edition. so NO MORE 1980's META IN GW!!.

the minis look like real american footballers from the 1980's and elves watch the elfheim eagles on tv (I am not joking)

these are the 1980's world elves (YAY)



which became these ugly ducklings fantasy battle timescape (urgh)



these are the dark elves in 1980's world 2nd edition (YAY)



this is them ever after stuck in bloomin fantasy battle timescape (urgh)





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 Fifty wrote:
When you say 2nd Ed Blood Bowl, you do mean the astrogranite version with the Dungeonbowl supplement, not the version played these days, right?

bingo

I still have my custom converted Lizardmen Blood Blood team, and multiple sets of the game board, cards, and Dungeon Bowl tiles. That game was epic, we use to run a league for each of the four cups, and an all-star game at the end comprised of two teams filled with each of the players' MVPs. Now that is what the hobby is all about!

SJ

The Night Lords series is pretty good, IMHO. Reminds us that some traitor marines are still fighting for the cause they believed in millennia ago, and not daemon-worshipping baby-eating spike-toting bad guys.

Read Storm of Iron if you want to recall the hey-days of Epic 40k where you threw your worthless infantry at the enemy just to distract them so you could move your Titans into a better position.

Execution Hour was a good reminder of Battlefleet Gothic.

The one Tanith novel Honour Guard goes a lot into detail about combined arms tank-and-infantry fights, some in urban environments. Very "Cities of Death"-like when it first came out, IMHO, also back when every IG player had like a ton of Leman Russes.