FFG wrote:Hunting From the Shadows
A preview of Daemon Hunter, the upcoming Dark Heresy Supplement



Daemon Hunter, an upcoming supplement for Dark Heresy, will be on store shelves very soon. 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. Dark Heresy’s developer took the time to share some additional details on this exciting upcoming title.

Salutations Acolytes!

With Daemon Hunter hitting stores soon, excitement has been growing for all the new toys in the toy box. Last time, we previewed a few new tricks for GMs, so this time I thought I’d focus on what Daemon Hunter has in store for players.


Silent Killers

One of the most secretive orginisations in all of the Warhammer 40,000 universe are the Holy Ordos. With the three largest Ordos well established, it is high time to slip some of the smaller groups into Dark Heresy. Enter the Ordo Sicarius Initiate. Far from the training grounds of Imperial Assassins, the Ordo Sicarius has little presence in the Calixis sector, but that doesn’t mean their influence is unfelt. The Ordo Malleus certainly knows the usefulness of Acolytes trained by the specialists within their fellow Ordo. Check out this week's preview of the Ordo Sicarius Initiate!



Ordo Sicarius Initiate preview (pdf, 1.8 MB)


New Backgrounds and Cell Directives

Of course, new Alternate Career Ranks aren’t all that Daemon Hunter has to offer. Several new backgrounds can also be found in this tome of Daemon killing. These backgrounds serve as reasons for conscription into the Ordo Malleus. Be it Corporeal Sanctification, a horrific process by which a servant is prepared for battle against the Daemonic, or the dark souled Fate-Eaters, the new backgrounds in Daemon Hunter make creating a new Acolyte for a campaign a unique experience.

Lastly, of course, are the Cell Directives. One of the dark secrets of the Holy Ordos is that sometimes one of their own must be hunted down. The Ordo Sicarius Initiate, other Assassins, or skill Acolytes may form a cell of Carta Extremis Hunters. Tasked with bringing a fellow Inquisitor to justice, this dangerous task requires dangerous training. This Cell Directive and more await players in Daemon Hunter.

Look for Daemon Hunter, a supplement for Dark Heresy, on store shelves very soon!

LavuranGuard wrote:All this stuff looks super cool, wish I knew a group that played it!

For centuries, the starship Chains of Judgement served the Inquisition of the Imperium, transporting humanity’s most dangerous prisoners to their doom. Now, however, the Chains of Judgement is lost in the warp, and the imprisoned renegades have one chance to escape their grim fate. If they succeed, they’ll earn the favour of the Ruinous Powers, taking the first steps towards leading a Black Crusade against the Imperium itself...

Don’t forget! Free RPG day, an annual event that encourages RPG enthusiasts to demo current and upcoming titles, is this weekend...and you’re invited to play Broken Chains, an introductory adventure for Black Crusade! When the dark gods show you an opportunity to escape certain death at the hands of the Imperium, will you have the cunning and strength to seize it?

The Ruinous Powers await
This free introduction to Black Crusade includes a full adventure, four pre-generated characters, and a set of basic rules to help players and Game Masters become familiar with the Black Crusade roleplaying game. See if your local retailer is participating at the Free RPG Day Retailer Locator.

But what if you have a larger group? Today on our support page, we're pleased to offer two additional pre-generated characters for use in Broken Chains! Download them in preparation of this weekend's exciting adventure.

Broken Chains Bonus Characters (high res pdf, 15.7 MB)
Broken Chains Bonus Characters (low res pdf, 888 KB)

Do you live in the Roseville, Minnesota area?

In honor of Free RPG Day, the Fantasy Flight Games Event Center will be giving away free copies of Broken Chains, and RPG developers Sam Stewart, Ross Watson, Mack Martin, and Andrew Fischer will be in attendance to answer questions and run introductory sessions. Sign up now at the Event Center to play Black Crusade with a 40K RPG designer!

Miss Dee wrote:Ok link gets a 404, and where is the free rpg bit on the site?

FFG wrote:Hive Fleet Dagon
A preview of The Achilus Assault, the upcoming supplement for Deathwatch



“Though never a verdant world, the lifeless ball of rock that we discovered was unrecognizable as Tyran Primus. The creatures that did this are a threat to the galaxy and must be exterminated by the light of the God-Emperor.”
—Inquisitor Kryptman, concluding his report on the ruins of Tyran Primus

Last month, we announced the upcoming release of The Achilus Assault, a supplement for Deathwatch. This guide to the fires of war raging in the Jericho Reach, from the numberless tides of the Tyranids in Hive Fleet Dagon to the hellish legions of Chaos pouring forth from the Hadex Anomaly, provides Game Masters with a surfeit of antagonists and mysteries to confront a Deathwatch Kill-team. Today, we’re pleased to present a preview by contributing writer John Dunn.

The Deathwatch development team was kind enough to grant me an opportunity to work on the Tyranids of the Orpheus Salient for Achilus Assault. Specifically, I was asked to focus on the background and methodology that made Hive Fleet Dagon a distinctive force within the Jericho Reach. This meant an opportunity to delve into the rich history of previous Hive Fleets, and to identify those aspects that were special about the incursion within the Reach.

A Question of Scale

Space Marines of the Deathwatch have an opportunity to look at the world of Warhammer 40,000 from many perspectives. Within the Jericho Reach, a battle brother might face a lengthy discussion with a few Imperial officers, then later go to war with his companions against a swarm of thousands of Tyranid monsters. One day’s conflict might be fought on a barren world in its final death throes against the hive fleet, while the next deals with the incursion of a single Lictor upon a bastion of Imperial civilization.

The Hive Fleet Dagon section of Achilus Assault presents a timeline of events that occur when Tyranid forces attempt to devour a planet. With dozens of planets at different stages of the Tyranid invasion, just keeping track of the opposition can be a challenge even for veteran Game Masters. Successfully developing and executing scenarios that take advantage of the themes and worlds of the Orpheus Salient requires careful research, plotting, and a familiarity with the Tyranid swarm. Each stage is examined in detail, along with the goals for the attackers and for the desperate defenders. By using this section as a reference, a Game Master can more easily design scenarios that expose these differences and reflect the desperation of the Crusade forces throughout the Salient.

A Gradual Doom

While there is some variation between different invasions, the Hive Mind is generally consistent in the way that it attempts to devour a planet. Different organisms are used to identify a target system, infest the world, assault the resistance, subjugate the foes, and then absorb the world’s biomass. While a Lictor might play a key role in the earliest stages, the latter become far more dependent upon a Capillary Tower. Knowing which monsters are crucial at these different stages helps the Game Master to choose the foes and helps the players to know which enemies their characters might target to as they attempt to curtail the incursion. Of course, these stages may proceed at different rates, but they are most likely to proceed at a similar sequence throughout the Salient.



It is also important to consider how the attackers change life on a prey world. As the Hive Fleet attacks, there are clear ecological shifts, which typically occur in concert with the military actions. Defenders must be prepared for temperature changes, atmospheric shifts, and even the collapse of structures as biomass is absorbed from the planet’s crust. The very climate of their world may become another lethal weapon to overcome. At the same time, if Deathwatch Kill Teams can successfully target the crucial elements of the incursion, the ecological shifts may be substantially delayed, halted, or even reversed. Without the correct forces, the Tyranids are incapable of conquest.

The Deathwatch’s Challenge

The Achilus Crusade’s forces within the Orpheus Salient are already stretched far too thinly to be effective defenders. As the Crusade scrambles to try to find reinforcements, the Tyranid Swarm moves ever onward through the Reach. This leaves the Deathwatch as the only force capable of assuming responsibility for the xenos incursion. By observing different systems and selectively choosing their targets, the Deathwatch may be able to blunt or even halt the Tyranid attack.

The Orpheus Salient also presents a variety of different planetary systems, each with their own distinctive environments. From the toxic earth of Atonement to the water world of Manuxet, the xenos attacks are endless. By combining these different game worlds with the varied stages of the Tyranid assault, a Game Master can craft a broad range of distinctive environments to create diverse scenarios. By examining the consequences of the Deathwatch actions, he can also decide how quickly a prey planet might proceed along the invasion timeline.

The xenos threat represents the core of Achilus Assault. By presenting a snap shot of the different battlefronts, the book highlights the most key elements in the ongoing Crusade. By assisting the Achilus Crusade, the battle brothers might be able to turn the tide in the Imperium’s favour. Alternatively, if they fail in their actions, the Jericho Reach might soon be devoured by the overwhelming forces arrayed against the Imperium.

the_dunner wrote:Thanks for posting it so I knew that FFG had released it, H.B.M.C.!

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 on store shelves in the third quarter of 2011. Today, we’re pleased to present a few pages from the book itself, along with an overview from its lead designer!

Hello, Black Crusade fans! In Black Crusade, each player character starts with an Archetype from which his or her character develops. Last time, we previewed two Archetypes, the Forsaken and the Heretek. This week, let’s take a look at two more, the Sorcerer and the Apostate.

Mastery of Body and Mind

Chaos Space Marine psykers are often referred to as Sorcerers. Many are former Librarians, either from the original Space Marine Legions before the Horus Heresy, or more recent traitors from current Chapters.

The Sorcerer is a remarkably competent individual, as he is both a Chaos Space Marine (and thus a formidable adversary in combat) and a psyker. Due to his multiple genetic enhancements and Space Marine implants, the Sorcerer is more robust than an average psyker, and has a better chance of keeping the energies coursing through him under control. Though this does mean the Sorcerer is slightly less powerful than “unbound” psykers and wyrds, his innate force at arms makes up for any difference in psychic abilities.

Leadership and Persuasion

The Apostate’s powers, on the other hand, stem not from personal combat ability, but the talents to sway the hearts and minds of the enemy. Apostate is a general term for high-ranking leaders of men who have betrayed the Imperium (or were never a part of it in the first place). Now they lead grand armies (or a warband of their peers, for starters) against Humanity, or corrupt it from within as a rotten core in otherwise whole fruit.

To accomplish this, the Apostate’s skill set is focused more towards leadership and persuasion. Although these leaders can become as adept at skill of arms as their fellows, a good Apostate knows it’s always better when someone else is ready to die for you.


Sorcerer Archetype (pdf, 488 MB)

Apostate Archetype (pdf, 568 MB)

Keep checking back for more on Black Crusade!

FFG wrote:The Emperor's Wrath
Downloadable Deathwatch NPCs from Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie

“Chaos breaks men's souls. Chaos brings the pestilence of daemons. Every time we march from our beloved fortress home on Macragge, we march to face down Chaos, and banish it. Do you think you are ready to do that, Proteus?”
“Yes Captain, I do.”
–Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie



Responding to a distress call from an Imperial Shrine World, a fearless squad of Ultramarines are sent on a dangerous mission of investigation. But will they be ready for the foul minions of Chaos that await them?

Downloadable NPC character sheets, based on heroes from Ultramarines: A Warhammer 40,000 Movie, are now available on our Deathwatch support page! Add Proteus, Verenor, and even the revered Hammer of Macragge to your next Deathwatch campaign.



[url=http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/deathwatch/minisite/support/ultramarines/Deathwatch_Ultramarines_promo.pdf]Deathwatch Ultramarines NPCs (high res pdf, 9.5 MB)[/img]
Deathwatch Ultramarines NPCs (low res pdf, 504 KB)

The Galaxy Burns

Ultramarines is a tense science-fantasy action thriller set in the 41st Milleneum, when the galaxy is burning and there is nothing but war. Mankind's sole defence against the lurking alien races are the Space Marines, genetically enhanced super-warriors, for whom loyalty to their emperor is all. The most fearless chapter of this mighty army is the Ultramarines.

Based on the internationally successful futuristic table-top war strategy game Warhammer 40,000, Ultramarines uses state-of-the-art facial capture technology and stunning CGI animation to bring powerfully to life the Space Marines characters and their adversaries. With a voice cast led by Terence Stamp (Superman, Valkyrie), John Hurt (Alien, Hellboy) and Sean Pertwee (Event Horizon, Dog Soldiers), Ultramarines is the first-ever feature length movie interpretation of the Warhammer 40,000 universe.

Download these Deathwatch-compatible NPCs on our support page, and visit www.ultramarinesthemovie.com for more on this gripping new film!

Kid_Kyoto wrote:Got my Daemon Hunter, feel free to hit me with questions.

Ozymandias wrote:

Kid_Kyoto wrote:Got my Daemon Hunter, feel free to hit me with questions.

Oftentimes my household sponges accumulate and awful amount of buildup, what can I do to prevent this?