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 H.B.M.C. wrote:
I never cared about Ward's rules (although he did break Fantasy with his Daemons book). I only cared about the fluff.

His naming conventions were beyond silly, and the Draigo stuff really is that bad. I don't care whether they were hopelessly broken or completely incapable of winning against the lowly Tau - the writing was silly!

40K has a certain silly element, but Blood Fists and Bloodshard Rounds and Bloodstrike Missiles and Nemesis DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM Fists were a very silly bridge too far.

That was just following the lead of Codex: Space Wolves by Kelly.

So, on the subject of mr Merrett, I heard on the grapevine today. He left GW this morning.

No verification yet, but if so, that might be the final step in the new dawn of a post kirby GW.

Will be interesting to see if that is true.

Then the question becomes did he jump or was he pushed?

NorseSig wrote:After what Matt Ward did to my Iron Hands, I have nothing but loathing and HATE for the man.

That is pretty petty. I mean to hate and loath someone over fiction or how plastic toy soldiers play? While I have been harsh on Cruddace (sorry forgot his first name.) I don't hate the man or loathe him. He can be a great person, just like Matt can be a great person.

To loath and hate a human being, wow man, just wow.

Merrett going?! Now that is good news! Bloke was toxic beyond belief

 zedmeister wrote:
Merrett going?! Now that is good news! Bloke was toxic beyond belief

No promises, but I am trying to verify with second source now.

We shall see, but post chapter house I think he showed his hand a little much.

THAT particular news deserves its own thread - and this one isn't it!

Also, keep in mind RULE #1 here - and there too!

 JonWebb wrote:


We shall see, but post chapter house I think he showed his hand a little much.

Indeed, his behaviour during chapter house was quite the eye opener. He's referred to GW fans as goobering and there's been plenty of gossip about his negative antics over the years. If anyone deserves criticism, it's him.

OFF TOPIC POSTS DELETED.

RULE #2 IS...

...STAY ON TOPIC.

*Starts Collecting Sisters of Battle*
*Matt Ward posts that he has returned to GW*
RIP me and SoB

commander dante wrote:
*Starts Collecting Sisters of Battle*
*Matt Ward posts that he has returned to GW*
RIP me and SoB

Matt Ward tells you what army to collect?

Is every body missing that he said GW was his client. That means he is freelance. As far as I am aware they don't have freelance rules writers. It is much more likely that he is doing something for black library.

Post edited by moderators. Please avoid personal attacks. Thanks.

Chikout wrote:
Is every body missing that he said GW was his client. That means he is freelance. As far as I am aware they don't have freelance rules writers. It is much more likely that he is doing something for black library.

Considering the prime reason a lot of people have a low opinion of him is his terrible, high school kid writing in his notebooks next to the TOTEZ METAL BRAH doodles of skulls etc-level fluff writing, that's not as reassuring as you might think.

 Yodhrin wrote:

Chikout wrote:
Is every body missing that he said GW was his client. That means he is freelance. As far as I am aware they don't have freelance rules writers. It is much more likely that he is doing something for black library.

Considering the prime reason a lot of people have a low opinion of him is his terrible, high school kid writing in his notebooks next to the TOTEZ METAL BRAH doodles of skulls etc-level fluff writing, that's not as reassuring as you might think.

Possibly but a black library novel is easily ignored if it is not good. If they happen to coincide with a campaign they are normally written around it not the other way around. There are plenty of novels which I ignore due to their bad reputation. They have absolutely no impact on the good ones, even if they are part of an ongoing series like the Heresy or the realmgate wars. They literally put out 20 books a year these days anyway. The only way someone could read everything is if they had an excess of both money and time.

 Dryaktylus wrote:
I don't think Ward will be involved in anything 40k or AoS. A novel is a good guess. Or maybe stuff for LotR.

 nels1031 wrote:

 Fenrir Kitsune wrote:
Blame matt ward for everything. No wait, blame Jervis. Wait, no, it was Gav Thorpes fault. All of it.

Meanwhile, C.S. Goto lurks out there in the darkness, forgotten by all but a few haggard, crusty veterans who mumble incoherently about his reign of terror.

Brother-Captain Vermillion from the proud chapter of the Rainbow Warriors discovers an evil conspiracy inside the Holy Ecclesiarchy. Can he and his brothers stop the vicious Sister Sin and her minions from creating female Space Marines with the stolen gene-seed of their chapter?

I'd root for Sister Sin!
Anyhow I don't know why but I hope he will push for more SoB stuff.

Also, I have not yet seen this mentioned :

Matt Ward wrote:For the folk asking what I'm working on for GW, you get the same answer my wife gets: I can't tell you. That shouldn't be a surprise.

https://twitter.com/thetowerofstars/status/760853978607484928

Davor wrote:

NorseSig wrote:After what Matt Ward did to my Iron Hands, I have nothing but loathing and HATE for the man.

That is pretty petty. I mean to hate and loath someone over fiction or how plastic toy soldiers play? While I have been harsh on Cruddace (sorry forgot his first name.) I don't hate the man or loathe him. He can be a great person, just like Matt can be a great person.

To loath and hate a human being, wow man, just wow.

Especially considering that Iron Hands is a studio army and not his! They can change what they like about them.

 JonWebb wrote:
So, on the subject of mr Merrett, I heard on the grapevine today. He left GW this morning.

No verification yet, but if so, that might be the final step in the new dawn of a post kirby GW.

Will be interesting to see if that is true.

Icanlivewiththat.jpg


I have no codizes or armybooks from the Ward era afaik, but I greatly disliked the move to single authors per codex. Hire more staff or slow your releases, geez, you made £16 million of profit, you can hire a few more low pay creative types.

Chikout wrote:
Is every body missing that he said GW was his client. That means he is freelance. As far as I am aware they don't have freelance rules writers. It is much more likely that he is doing something for black library.

I know. I posted this a few pages back....

"He was hired by GW, as a freelancer, to do a (unknown) project. He's not "back at" GW, just hired by GW for some project....

From Linkedin -

Matthew Ward
Author / Freelance Writer / Creative Consultant
Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, United Kingdom
Writing and Editing
Current The Tower of Stars

Freelance Writing Services / Creative Consultancy
The Tower of Stars
November 2014 – Present (1 year 10 months)
- Providing bespoke, quality writing in a range of fields, to suit clients' needs.
- Experienced creative direction, refining world, characters, concepts and narratives.
1 project
Vermintide
Crafted story and dialogue for the immersive and critically-acclaimed action adventure set in the iconic Warhammer: End Times.

Vermintide
November 2014 – May 2015
Crafted story and dialogue for the immersive and critically-acclaimed action adventure set in the iconic Warhammer: End Times. "


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Oh, here is a link to HIS company -

http://thetowerofstars.com/




Automatically Appended Next Post:
From HIS website, what he has done for GW -

Codex: Blood Angels (2nd Edition)

Codex: Grey Knights (1st Edition)

Codex: Iyanden (1st Edition)

Codex: Necrons (2nd Edition)

Codex: Sentinels of Terra (1st Edition)

Codex: Space Marines (3rd Edition)

The Lord of the Rings: Battle of Pelennor Fields

The Lord of the Rings

Fall of the Necromancer

The Lord of the Rings: Gondor in Flames

The Lord of the Rings: Harad

The Lord of the Rings: Ruin of Arnor

The Lord of the Rings: Shadow and Flame

The Lord of the Rings: Shadow in the East

The Lord of the Rings:
The Scouring of the Shire

The Lord of the Rings: War of the Ring

Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook (5th Edition)

Warhammer 40,000 Rulebook (6th Edition)

Warhammer End Times: Nagash

Warhammer End Times: Khaine

Warhammer End Times: Archaon

Warhammer Rulebook (8th Edition)

Warhammer: Daemons of Chaos (1st Edition)

Warhammer: Daemons of Chaos (2nd Edition)

Warhammer: Dark Elves (4th Edition)

Warhammer: High Elves (5th Edition)

Warhammer: Orcs & Goblins (3rd Edition)

Warhammer: Storm of Magic

Warhammer: Wood Elves (2nd Edition)

Warhammer: Wood Elves (3rd Edition)

commander dante wrote:*Starts Collecting Sisters of Battle*
*Matt Ward posts that he has returned to GW*
RIP me and SoB

That is more about you than Matt. If this is suppose to be sarcasm I don't see it. This is just petty.

Now why not say "GW please make Sisters of Battle, I would love to spend a lot of money on it, but if it has bad rules/fluff, I feel like I can't justify buying it then." But nope you just said something petty. I guess that shows you how much you really like your SoB.

Chikout wrote:Is every body missing that he said GW was his client. That means he is freelance. As far as I am aware they don't have freelance rules writers. It is much more likely that he is doing something for black library.

It doesn't matter. We geeks and nerds are worse than bullies. We hide and cower behind a monitor being anonymous and make death threads. You really think we would see "client"? After all we can't focus on real life writing, only focus on the make believe writing.

RazorEdge wrote:Mat Ward should rest in Hades!

Again, wow. That speaks a lot of your character right there mate. I keep reading Matt Ward is a really nice person, and guy you would love to have as a friend. So to say someone should rest in Hell over plastic toy soldiers when he is a great person on real life is just shameful.

So you are saying he should sit right along besides Hitler and people who rape and murder and do other atrocities? Wow so shamed to be a nerd/geek/dork now.

Davor wrote:

commander dante wrote:*Starts Collecting Sisters of Battle*
*Matt Ward posts that he has returned to GW*
RIP me and SoB

That is more about you than Matt. If this is suppose to be sarcasm I don't see it. This is just petty.

Now why not say "GW please make Sisters of Battle, I would love to spend a lot of money on it, but if it has bad rules/fluff, I feel like I can't justify buying it then." But nope you just said something petty. I guess that shows you how much you really like your SoB.

Chikout wrote:Is every body missing that he said GW was his client. That means he is freelance. As far as I am aware they don't have freelance rules writers. It is much more likely that he is doing something for black library.

It doesn't matter. We geeks and nerds are worse than bullies. We hide and cower behind a monitor being anonymous and make death threads. You really think we would see "client"? After all we can't focus on real life writing, only focus on the make believe writing.

RazorEdge wrote:Mat Ward should rest in Hades!

Again, wow. That speaks a lot of your character right there mate. I keep reading Matt Ward is a really nice person, and guy you would love to have as a friend. So to say someone should rest in Hell over plastic toy soldiers when he is a great person on real life is just shameful.

So you are saying he should sit right along besides Hitler and people who rape and murder and do other atrocities? Wow so shamed to be a nerd/geek/dork now.

Looks like your stuck on the Moral High Ground
We might have to launch a rescue....

I am wondering if it's time for this thread to be locked. Like this is why we don't have authors name on rule books and codices now because of hate like this and death threats being made.

If "resting in hades" is not almost like a death threat then I guess anything is acceptable on Dakka.

Please keep in mind that Rule Number One Be Polite doesn't just apply to people posting in this thread. Keep criticism impersonal. Thanks!

Back on Topic:
Matt Ward did add some cool things to the fluff
Castellan Crowe and Trazyn the Infinite are such examples

Well, if we're going to have Ward write an overpowered Codex (which it doesn't look like he'll be doing), they might as well have him write a new Sisters of Battle Codex and turn them into Amazons that can cleave Marines in twain with one swing of a weapon. If they put out new Sisters miniatures, I'm sure they wouldn't mind some overpowered rules to help sell the models. And, the way things seem to be going, even if it's overpowered when it comes out, it won't be overpowered by the time the other updated codexes roll out.

Sorry, a little something popped in my mind right now... So, Ward got tons of mockery and insults for the Dreadknight, which is a high-tech hexoskeleton piloted by a trained space marine, and protected with a force field...

...yet people gloss over the Penitent Engine, which is a gas-guzzling walker with a common human strapped on the front, wearing just a robe and chains?

One difference is penatent thingie isn't supposed to be safe or sensible. Criminal is expected to diex he's sacrificial. Grew knight isn't

tneva82 wrote:
One difference is penatent thingie isn't supposed to be safe or sensible. Criminal is expected to diex he's sacrificial. Grew knight isn't

That was odd. The engines were described as holy relics; ancient and sacred. One of the things you don't expect is that they use them as suicide equipment for sinners where they are destroyed most likely.

Matt Ward wrote:For the folk asking what I'm working on for GW, you get the same answer my wife gets: I can't tell you. That shouldn't be a surprise.

"What did you do last night?"
"I can't tell you."
"Is this lipstick on your collar?"
"I can't tell you."
"Did you take out the trash?"
"I can't tell you."
"How do I look in this dress?"
"I can't tell you."
"What kind of nerdy stuff are you doing for Games Workshop?"
"I can't tell you."


Guess we'll have to wait and see.

tneva82 wrote:
One difference is penatent thingie isn't supposed to be safe or sensible. Criminal is expected to diex he's sacrificial. Grew knight isn't

And the Dreadknight is supposed to operate against enemies who don't use snipers, such as Chaos Demons and rarely Chaos Space Marines. So, again, the design of the Dreadknight is flawed because Matt Ward (who simply wrote the detailed lore and the rules, and didn't design the model nor its basic lore) while the Penitent Engine is a wonderful demonstration of the baroque, gothic aesthetic of the 40K?

I think there's way too much negative bias for that guy. Am rather pleased he's working with GW again. Plus, Centurions look far more clunky and awful...

I thought his fluff was silly but that's more or less GW's MO with 40k lore the last many years. Otherwise he seemed enthusiastic about the universe, so I'm happy for him.