Dark Heresy - Rogue Trader - Death Watch - Black Crusade - Only War news and rumours

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**warboss**

Alpharius wrote:Yeah, but the Alpha Legion is the Most Loyal of All Legions, so what do you make of that, hmmmm?

But loyal to whom? Their primarch, their favorite taco stand, or themselves individually??

**Alpharius**

Yes, of course and yes.

And, don't forget, The Emperor and Humanity - just not necessarily The Imperium...

**H.B.M.C.**

Depends who you ask and when you ask them I'm afraid.

Remember that old Inquisitorial saying 'Everything you have been told is a lie'. I think it should apply to the Alpha Legion as well.

Also keep in mind how arbitrary the fluff often is and how you can have a mysterious chapter of super-elite warriors called upon in only the direst of circumstances one moment, only to have a herp-a-derp contradictory cavalcade of Draigo-flavoured fail the next.

**narked**

Had a quick look at First Founding yesterday and wasn't massively impressed, and had been looking forward to it massively. The Chaos background section would have been better off left out altogether for what was in there. So my rpg money this month is definately going on Book of Judgment instead

**H.B.M.C.**

First Founding is still worth it for the new Chapters, or if you play Space Wolves (the Wolf Scout and Wolf Priest are great specialities). But yeah, the book could've been so much more. Another 100 pages and it would have been fantastic. Ah well - just wait for The Jericho Reach. That book more than makes up for any of First Founding's shortcomings.

But Book of Judgement is a lot of fun. The investigation rules are ace, the armoury has loads of fun stuff in there, and the new careers and background information is very useful. The book's only real downside is the NPC appendix at the back for the adventure. There are so many God-damned mistakes in there it's not funny.

**kronk**

H.B.M.C. wrote: Ah well - just wait for The Jericho Reach. That book more than makes up for any of First Founding's shortcomings.

Yeah. I really wish my group was into this game. The little "preview" or summary of Jericho Reach in the basic rule book makes me want to run a campaign there.

Oh, well. If wishes were horses we'd all ride in style. Or something. Or we'd all need feed bags and a giant pooper-scooper.

**Miss Dee**

Temporal wassnames use them

**BaronIveagh**

So what book will have a contemptor in it?

I mean, after all, we've covered most other dreads.

**warboss**

BaronIveagh wrote:So what book will have a contemptor in it?

I mean, after all, we've covered most other dreads.

The furioso librarian dread was only just covered in First Founding and that came out over a year before the Contemptor was first previewed. HBMC might be able to shed some light on the lead time books take from playtesting to actually being announced and then finally released (which doesn't include the initial development time). My best guess would be to expect it around summer/fall of next year.

**H.B.M.C.**

Beats me. But given how rare Dreads are within the Deathwatch, and how rare Contemptors are in the Imperium, I doubt that a Deathwatch Contemptor would be anything more than a named NPC rather than a speciality rank or anything like that.

**warboss**

H.B.M.C. wrote:Beats me. But given how rare Dreads are within the Deathwatch, and how rare Contemptors are in the Imperium, I doubt that a Deathwatch Contemptor would be anything more than a named NPC rather than a speciality rank or anything like that.

How long did it take from the time you got your mitts on First Founding (as an example) till it was released last month? Is that type of info covered in the NDA?

**BaronIveagh**

H.B.M.C. wrote:Beats me. But given how rare Dreads are within the Deathwatch, and how rare Contemptors are in the Imperium, I doubt that a Deathwatch Contemptor would be anything more than a named NPC rather than a speciality rank or anything like that.

Meh, they're more common then, say, Wolf Priests or Hearts of Iron. Based on the number of 'chapter specific' ones in the new IA and the fact there are 'relic' and 'non-relic' models...

I'd say they're are rare as some land raider variants.

**H.B.M.C.**

I’m afraid the NDA covers the development cycle (including cut content, which is a shame, ‘cause there’s usually some great stuff that’s left on the cutting room floor). I can only really talk about stuff that’s been officially revealed (which is also a shame, ‘cause I’d love to tell you guys about all the cool stuff I’m writing!).

**warboss**

No worries... I figured that might be the case.

**aka_mythos**

H.B.M.C. wrote:I’m afraid the NDA covers the development cycle (including cut content, which is a shame, ‘cause there’s usually some great stuff that’s left on the cutting room floor). I can only really talk about stuff that’s been officially revealed (which is also a shame, ‘cause I’d love to tell you guys about all the cool stuff I’m writing!).

I have a question... how many of the published books have you been involved with?-and which ones?

I don't think it would violate your NDA, but in your best estimate (without going into what the material is) how much material would you guess ends up "on the cutting room floor"?-I realize it varies from book to book, but more in general...

**H.B.M.C.**

I think I should only comment on products that have been officially announced/released, so the list would be:

The Achilus Assault
Mark of the Xenos
First Founding
The Jericho Reach
Black Crusade
Black Crusade GM Kit
Fallen Suns
Church of the Damned
The Chaos Commandment
Book of Judgement
Daemon Hunter

And... that's it as far as I can go into. Most of these titles I 'worked on' in a play-test capacity, with the exception of The Achilus Assault and Fallen Suns, where I was hired as the proof-reader, and Church of the Damned, where I wrote a tiny bit of it (really tiny - just one page - and I'm very proud of my one page thankyouvermuch!

).

Also I can say that I have nothing to do with Hostile Acquisitions or that upcoming Black Crusade adventure book (the name escapes me). I do have them on pre-order from Maelstrom though!

As for cut content, I have no estimates. I often only learn of it when I get the final published book and NDA's prevent me from discussing cut content any further, so that's all I can say.

That's all I'm going to go into for the time being on this subject. As before I will continue to comment on what I can, but only when things are announced officially via the FFG website. In the meantime rest assured that I am just as excited about getting The Jericho Reach as the rest of you should be, and, as a disclaimer, my words are my own and I do not speak on behalf of nor represent FFG!

**Lucifer216**

Out of curiosity, does anyone else feel that the Mentor Talent available to Wolf Priests is a tad overpowered? The party effectively gets a flat +10 bonus to all skills the Wolf Priest is trained in. That seems a bit too much of a boost for 1000xp.

**Alpharius**

So we have YOU to blame for First Founding then!

**Grarg**

First founding isn't that bad. Yes it didn't have a lot of detail about the traitors, but that's most likely going to come for BC (at least it should, FFG would be silly not to do one for BC).

Some of the weapons are really cool, UMs can get a power sword that adds +30 to parry (including balance). The flushing out of the remaining legions was nice, some of the fluff is irritating, but that's just my opinion. They could've left out the traitor legions and added more specialties for the new legions.

Unfortunately, our game is too far in too have us change chapters.

I'll wait for Jericho Reach though as HBMC says, if that sucks then we can blame him

**Alpharius**

Because it wasn't obvious, I guess, I was joking.

Go H.B.M.C. Go!

**Grarg**

Oh i knew you were joking

**warboss**

Alpharius wrote:Because it wasn't obvious, I guess, I was joking.

Go H.B.M.C. Go!

It's never obvious with the Alpha Legion. If they know that you know that they know you're joking, you're not posting it right! And, yes, go HBMC!

**H.B.M.C.**

And now for some happy news - competition winners!!!

FFG wrote:Standing Apart
Announcing the finalists and winner of the 2011 Deathwatch adventure contest!

Back in October, we announced the 2011 Deathwatch Adventure Contest, a chance to share your campaign creations while competing to win a signed copy of First Founding. To present the results, here’s a word from Deathwatch’s lead developer:

Greetings, Deathwatch Fans!

This week, I am pleased to present to you the winners for the 2011 Deathwatch Adventure Competition. We received a number of unique and outstanding entries this year, and our judges had a hard time selecting just three finalists to post to the website. But of these three extraordinary adventures, just one stood out as our winner. Thank you to everyone who submitted to the contest; every year we look forward to seeing your creativity and enthusiasm for the Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay game lines.

Runners-Up:
Deception (pdf, 200 KB)
by: Klaus Huthmacher

This mission throws the Space Marines right into an elaborate deception authorized by a radical Inquisitor. The whole mission seems like an ordinary incident involving Tyranids, but it becomes anything but ordinary when an overly ambitious Watch Captain from the Ultramarines becomes involved. In truth, the Watch Captain is carefully chosen by the radical Inquisitor, and the mission is a huge distraction to cover the Inquisitor’s true actions.

Deception features a daring mission in which the Kill-team performs a raid on a heretical Magos Biologis. The Judges liked how open the adventure was to letting the players choose their own path, and the deceptive twist at the end.

Righteous Fury (pdf, 832 KB)
by: Chris G. Dawson

Assailed on both sides by the insidious xenos forces of the Tau and the Tyranids, and ravaged on all fronts by the Forces of Chaos, the Jericho Reach is a region of constant war. Now an age-old menace is growing again; the Orks are massing in the Slinnar Drift, preparing for a Waaagh!

Righteous Fury is an action-packed adventure that sees the Kill-team venturing deep into the heart of an Ork Waaagh! to take down a powerful Ork war machine. The Judges enjoyed the climactic final battle, as well as the comprehensive backstory for Watch-Captain Vavus.

And finally, the winner:
The Emptied Coffin (pdf, 196 KB)
by: Dan Shook

The Emptied Coffin takes place primarily on the far away and mysterious world of Jove's Descent. The events are centered around a series of occurrences, starting with a chamber of the enigmatic Omega Vault opening and drawing the Kill-team to the wasted ruins of the Ghanathaar to uncover the forces that originally wiped the race of xenos out, and to stop a similar fate from befalling the Imperial forces of the Achilus Crusade. The mission is complicated by a series of mishaps that initially seem coincidental, but later betray the inhuman intellect that is the driving force behind a burgeoning apocalypse.

The Emptied Coffin is a complex adventure featuring many different adversaries as the Kill-team attempts to follow a mysterious clue unveiled by the Omega Vault. The judges really liked the adventure’s unique take on one of the lesser known xenos races of the Reach, as well as the Watch-Captain integration within the overall plot.

Make sure to stop by the support section of the Deathwatch website to download these adventures, if you haven’t already. Thanks again to everyone who participated, and congratulations to the finalists!

Please note that all fan created content, set in the world and universe of Warhammer and Warhammer 40,000, and hosted on the FFG website is subject to Game’s Workshop’s Submission policy. Please read this in relation to this material.

I've snipped GW's little disclaimer at the bottom as I don't think we need to read it again.

Anyway, congrats to the finalists and the winners. Not everyone gets to work with FFG because they're a loud mouth on the Internet, some get picked because they're actually good at this sort of stuff - just look at Andrea Gausman - so maybe this will be a start for these three!

**BaronIveagh**

I will not even comment on 'Game's Sweatshop's Submission Policy'....

**H.B.M.C.**

I think you just did...

**BaronIveagh**

H.B.M.C. wrote:I think you just did...

No, not really. If I had, moderators would be running in a panic as the profanity filter exploded. Those that read it would fall screaming to the ground as their souls shrived within them and their bodies dissolved into black smoke, the final, ultimate manifestation of blasphemy, words of such vileness as would rend the universe apart and leave even the ruinous powers quaking in fear on their thrones as the warp itself was rent asunder by TRUE EVIL would ripple on the screen and leave any that survived to cower in the blessed ignorance of a new Dark Age while the souls of Jervis and his cronies wee borne into another dimension where they would look back on being merely flensed alive as being an eon before their suffering TRULY BEGAN.

**warboss**

BaronIveagh wrote:
H.B.M.C. wrote:I think you just did...

No, not really. If I had, moderators would be running in a panic as the profanity filter exploded. Those that read it would fall screaming to the ground as their souls shrived within them and their bodies dissolved into black smoke, the final, ultimate manifestation of blasphemy, words of such vileness as would rend the universe apart and leave even the ruinous powers quaking in fear on their thrones as the warp itself was rent asunder by TRUE EVIL would ripple on the screen and leave any that survived to cower in the blessed ignorance of a new Dark Age while the souls of Jervis and his cronies wee borne into another dimension where they would look back on being merely flensed alive as being an eon before their suffering TRULY BEGAN.

I get it.. you've got mixed feelings about the matter.

**H.B.M.C.**

He's clearly on the fence over the whole issue.

**Katie Drake**

Just got my mitts on First Founding. Though there wasn't a lot there for the Traitor Legions (I expected very little, but there was even less than I had thought) overall I think it was a good book. I really like the new specialties and wargear and some of the squad mode abilities are pretty fancy too. Also nice to see the Raven Guard, Iron Hands, Salamanders and White Scars get some attention even if it isn't as much as the other "main" Chapters. The rules for Followers are pretty nifty too.

Not really sure what there is to dislike about this book. =/

**warboss**

Katie Drake wrote:Just got my mitts on First Founding. Though there wasn't a lot there for the Traitor Legions (I expected very little, but there was even less than I had thought) overall I think it was a good book. I really like the new specialties and wargear and some of the squad mode abilities are pretty fancy too. Also nice to see the Raven Guard, Iron Hands, Salamanders and White Scars get some attention even if it isn't as much as the other "main" Chapters. The rules for Followers are pretty nifty too.

Not really sure what there is to dislike about this book. =/

Probably the only thing I "dislike" (and that's probably too strong of a word) about the book is that it's a bit too small. I was expecting it to be one of the relatively thicker tomes in terms of page count of the Deathwatch series similar to Rites of Battle. I also had the unrealistic expectation that the chaos legions would get the full chapter treatment and not just a blurb each... FFG never said they would but it seems like we all just got swept up in the announcement that it would have chaos legion info and started coming up with our own expectations of content.