Alpharius wrote:Pretty much that is what to dislike.

I hear there really isn't much in there for Imperial Fists, Raven Guard, etc.

Alpharius wrote:Pretty much that is what to dislike.

I hear there really isn't much in there for Imperial Fists, Raven Guard, etc.

H.B.M.C. wrote: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!

FFG wrote:A Most Cunning Foe

A preview of The Jericho Reach, an upcoming Deathwatch supplement.



“Every one of these worlds belongs to Him-on-Terra already; they merely require His servants to enforce that dominion over them. Any soul who claims otherwise is a coward and a traitor, worthless to the Imperium except as an example to others whose belief may falter.”
–Excerpt from Volume IV of Lord Militant Achilus’ memoirs

Last month, we announced the upcoming release of The Jericho Reach, a supplement for Deathwatch that provides in-depth information on the struggles of Kill-teams currently operating throughout the Reach. Each chapter delves into detail on the personalities, planets, and themes of a specific salient, while providing players and Game Masters alike with important resources for integrating the setting more deeply into their campaigns.



In our last preview, we looked at the Acheros Salient, where the Battle-Brothers of the Deathwatch wage a bloody war against the Chaos-worshipping forces of Stigmartus. Today, we’ll turn our attention to the Canis Salient and the Deathwatch’s struggle against the Tau. We’ll also get an early look at one of the most strategically important Imperial worlds in the Salient, Wrath.


Enemies on all sides

The territory covered by the Canis Salient includes dozens of worlds stretching from the edge of the Iron Collar to the Black Reef, with most of those worlds having been claimed in the earliest years of the Achilus Crusade. These territories, long established under Imperial rule in all but a few cases, are still far from stable and prosperous parts of the Emperor’s domain due to the sedition and unrest spread by the Achilus Crusade’s oldest enemy, the Tau Empire.

Now the Tyranid menace, which has so swiftly undone decades of triumphant conquest within the Orpheus Salient, presses upon worlds at the edge of the Canis Salient, threatening Imperial and Tau forces alike.

While some will give no quarter and show no mercy to the Tau even in the face of the Great Devourer, others have begun to feel that standing side-by-side with the Tau against the Tyranid menace may be the only way for the Achilus Crusade to survive. Such a heretical course of action has caused no end of controversy, and the Salient’s Lord Commander Ebongrave has begun a paranoia-fueled (and resource-draining) witch hunt to track down anyone subscribing to these beliefs.



But although the Tau menace is generally contained to the Greyhell Front, the planets of the Canis Salient still face threats from all sides. Instrumental in defending Imperial interests in the Salient, Wrath boasts a massive surveillance network capable of keeping tabs of dozens of worlds. Download our three-page excerpt (pdf, 1.2 MB) to learn more, and look for The Jericho Reach on store shelves in the first quarter of 2012!

narked wrote:I agree with the expecting more than probably should have with the Chaos Legion stuff. Once Christmas is out of the way I'll probably go and grab myself a copy of First Founding anyway, and look through it properly and fall in love with it, it's just that the first thing I wanted to check out in there I was left disappointed with (and possibly undeservedly so).

However it's enough for me to blow my money on Book of Judgement instead for the time being, as the Arbites are one of my favourite things ever, despite Deathwatch being my favourite system to collect books for. Also eagerly awaiting Hostile Acquisitions!

FFG wrote:Honour the Ruinous Powers
The Black Crusade Game Master's Kit is on sale via download.





“Make war upon the Imperium of Man? What is it you think the Legions have been doing for the last ten thousand years? War does not end with a single victory or a single planet. It is an eternal creature that outlives men and their tiny triumphs."
–Arzyn the Silencebringer, warrior of the World Eaters

Guide your players down the path of Chaos. The Game Master’s Kit for Black Crusade is now available for sale via download at drivethrurpg.com and rpgnow.com! This helpful resource features a pdf version of the Game Master’s screen, displaying stunning Black Crusade art on one side and a wealth of useful quick references on the other. In addition, The Game Master’s Kit includes a 32-page full colour booklet with a complete adventure, a selection of useful NPCs, expanded rules for running Black Crusade adventures, and advice for how to run an extended campaign.


On a warp-ravaged world

Challenge your players with the included adventure, which takes a group of Heretics to the shattered ruins of an infamous pirate empire. Once there, they’ll find a harsh reminder that the Screaming Vortex teems with other servants of Chaos, and in each one burns the same bloody determination to earn glory by any means necessary.
While on a hunt for a cultural relic of great influence that was lost in the wreck of a mercenary transport ship, the Heretics will begin a race for power against ruthless competition.

But rival fortune-seekers may not be the greatest threat they face; their prize is on the brutal world of Sacgrave, a warp-ravaged planet that’s home to marauding gangs, horrific mutants, and worse. Gather clues, coerce the local populace, and deal with the planet’s fickle overseer, and you’ll earn the favour of your dark masters.

Glory and power await those willing to learn forbidden knowledge. Head to drivethrurpg.com or rpgnow.com to download your copy today!

FFG wrote:Ruinous Rituals
A preview of Hand of Corruption, the upcoming adventure for Black Crusade



'To call forth the wraiths of flame and shadow, blood and darkness, the disciples must swear a compact; must act as one, their minds turned to one purpose. Let them swear their service in blood, not their own, but of the innocent, the righteous, and the unspoilt.'
– from De Orbis Mysteriis

Back in October, we announced Hand of Corruption, a full adventure in three acts for Black Crusade. Presented in one comprehensive volume, Hand of Corruption is an epic story that takes you and your fellow Heretics from the swirling depths of the Screaming Vortex to the far reaches of the Calixis Sector, and then to a parched and windswept Imperial penal world called Saint Annard’s Penance. There, you’ll attempt to perform an unholy ritual to drag the planet into the Screaming Vortex, an offering to the Ruinous Powers!

In our most recent preview, we looked at the planet of Saint Annard’s Penance, a bleak and desolate Imperial world that serves as both an important penal facility and a strategically placed industrial hub. We also saw how, if stolen away into the Screaming Vortex, Saint Annard’s Penance could become a vital base in your Black Crusade.

But how could such a feat even be achieved? Today, we’re pleased to offer another glimpse inside Hand of Corruption. Follow the link below or visit our support page to download details on the foul ritual required to drag a world into the darkness of Chaos, taken directly from the enigmatic pages of De Orbis Mysteriis.



De Orbis Mysteriis Ritual (print quality pdf, 9.9 MB)
De Orbis Mysteriis Ritual (web quality pdf, 752 KB)


A tome of sinister power



Without giving too much away, Hand of Corruption will see the Heretics recover an ancient tome entitled De Orbis Mysteriis early in the narrative, and it is from this source that the necessary ritual can be learned.

It is bound in rough, hide-like leather that appears to have been harvested from the face of some alien creature—vague features are still visible on the cover. The pages are of weathered vellum-like material. The majority of the writing is in a crabbed script, using inks of varied shades form sepia to jet-black. All of the material seems to be written in the same handwriting, but spacing varies between sections. The book is written in a number of different languages, including High and Low Gothic, but also Chaos Marks, Xenos Markings, and even Techna-Lingua. A number of pages have obviously been removed, some have been damaged, and in many places marginal notes have been added in a variety of different handwritings and languages.

Those who peruse the book (by passing the applicable skill checks) will quickly discover that the author was a genius, a lunatic, or some combination of the two. The ritual requires a number of exact components, each integral to success, and only after they’ve all been gathered (no small undertaking) will the Heretics be prepared to begin. Will you have the skill and fortitude to earn the favour of the Ruinous Powers?

Check back for more on Hand of Corruption in the coming weeks, and prepare to summon it to your Black Crusade campaign early in the first quarter of 2012!

FFG wrote:… and let not the worlds of light dwell away from darkness. Let them, instead, be bathed in the flame of cloying shadows; be called by the beckoning tendrils of Empyrean fire; be lured from the void by the hungry shades of Immaterium. To call forth the wraiths of flame and shadow, blood and darkness, the disciples must swear a compact; must act as one, their minds turned to one purpose. Let them swear their service in blood, not their own, but of the innocent, the righteous, and the unspoilt. From among them, from those sworn to this service, the Cantor must himself be chosen; the black soul whose voice will rise above his brethren in the words of power, supplication and sacrifice; he who will call the powers of darkness forth to swallow the worlds of the unfaithful.

Beside the devout shall mass the ranks of the fearful and the desperate. Souls numbering three and sixty, who might add their ragged voices to the choir of damnation. Atop a great height shall the faithful be arrayed, that their fell supplications might be heard beyond the boundaries of reality; carried by winds of madness through the infinite oceans of the Immaterium. About them shall be laid the circle of power, its construction utter madness and sheer perfection. Let no errant sigils mar its form, allow no deviation. The hallowed circle shall be drawn with the blood of the corpse-god’s own faithful, tarnished silver mixed throughout.

As the star of Chaos has eight cardinals, so too shall the circle; each marked with the fleshless skull of a traitor, sworn. Atop each skull shall rest a candle, a taper of wax, the powdered bones of the valiant slain, and the blood of martyrs. Their balefire shall illuminate the sacrifice and the light of the Empyrean shall flay the souls of the sacrificed. Upon the ground shall there lay the Souls of the Sacrificed. Four their shall be, to appease the Gods in turn. The Lords of the Immaterium demand their toll and for each shall be apportioned one soul. Charity to Khorne, who takes from all; Law to Tzeentch, who twists the galaxy to his whims; Piety to Slaanesh, who reveres naught but himself; Security to Nurgle, who brings low all in time.

Let these souls be bound in cords of flesh and steel that they shall know helplessness before the Gods of Darkness. Let them be laid before the Cantor, that his prayers might fall upon them and cause them to tremble. And when the last prayer is uttered, let their throats be cut with a blade of gold, that their blood might spill upon the runes of power and send the supplications of the Cantor screaming to that place of Empyrean light and warpfire. This done, the daemons shall surely know the Cantor for their own and shall draw him and his world into their dominion; and with this sacrifice, let us again tread the sublime paths of the Screaming Vortex...

Could it be? Could this rite truly pull a world into the Screaming Vortex?

FFG wrote:Terrors To Fill Your Nightmares

Announcing The Koronus Bestiary, an upcoming supplement for Rogue Trader.



“Do not waste your fear on the unknown, for in Koronus we have known terrors aplenty to fill your nightmares."
–Seneschal Venton Tiebolt

From the enigmatic Eldar to the ferocious Orks, alien races seek to halt Mankind’s rightful rule of the galaxy. Will you master these foul creatures and rule the void, or become another foolhardy Explorer lost to the Expanse?

Fantasy Flight Games is excited to announce The Koronus Bestiary, an upcoming supplement for Rogue Trader! The Koronus Bestiary is a detailed compendium of deadly beasts, hostile xenos, unholy daemons, and other dangers that fill the uncharted regions of the Koronus Expanse.

In addition to its many adventure seeds and plot hooks, this comprehensive tome features art and descriptions for a range of foes, including Shadowkith, Thornmaws, Void Krakens, and a host of others. Looking for even more vile enemies? The Xenos Generator rules allow players to create alien species as varied and dangerous as they can imagine!


To know your foe



Humanity may have settled untold worlds in the Koronus Expanse, but only the most audacious of Rogue Traders would dare claim that it asserts any true dominion over this lawless region of space. For every conquered planet there are dozens more under the control of vile aliens. Explorers operating in the Expanse are sure to encounter these threats in their journeys, either by accident or design, and must be ready lest their ship and their profits be lost.

Each of The Koronus Bestiary’s chapters concentrates on one type of threat, ranging from savage monsters to predatory alien races to the terrors that lurk beyond reality. Chapter one examines some of the more dangerous beasts found across the Expanse, while chapter two covers the major sentient xenos races in this lawless region of space (such as the devious Stryxis, brutal Orks, treacherous Eldar, ferocious Rak’Gol, and much more). Next, chapter three presents a different sort of threat: foul warp spawn that not only destroy an Explorer’s body, but rend his very soul. Finally, Game Masters can use chapter four’s xenos generator to produce unique beasts, dangerous plant life and even primitive sentient races ripe for exploitation and indoctrination.

Innumerable terrors populate the uncharted planets of the Koronus Expanse. Will you be ready for them? Keep checking back for more information, and look for The Koronus Bestiary on store shelves in the first quarter of 2012!

Shadow Walker wrote:Looks like something that should be done for Deathwatch [instead that Chaos manual called Mark of Xenos]. Definite buy for me. I am especially glad about big Ork section.

Kid_Kyoto wrote:Since I mostly buy for the fluff do I want the the Koronus Bestiary? Other monster manual type books have spent most of their pages on well-known subjects like Orks or Chaos and not really added anything new for me.

aka_mythos wrote: Theres nothing wrong with Chaos being in the book, as I'm sure they're more than happy to work with Xenos.