Kroothawk wrote:Ecclesiarchy? Grey Knights? Arbites? I guess a lot of people will be excited, including me!

BaronIveagh wrote:....what legacy is that? The legacy of failed products that have come before now, or starting with Dark Heresy?

Alpharius wrote:

BaronIveagh wrote:....what legacy is that? The legacy of failed products that have come before now, or starting with Dark Heresy?

I'm pretty sure that he means starting with DARK HERESY and moving forward!

BaronIveagh wrote:....what legacy is that? The legacy of failed products that have come before now, or starting with Dark Heresy?

warboss wrote:is there a confirmed release date for this? i remember a while back there was a late summer estimate but it has been a while since them. i periodically get coupons for online book stores and i wouldn't mind picking this up.

H.B.M.C. wrote:No confirmed dates, mainly because if they confirm a release date and miss it, lots of people get angry at them.

So they'll give a general idea of when it might be out (Q4, 2011), and then leave the specifics for closer to the date. It's the same thing Catalyst does with BattleTech releases, and it sure beats the pants off never telling you what's coming up like a certain other workshop that makes games.

Profit and Plunder

Presenting a preview of upcoming Rogue Trader titles
Rogue Trader | Published 15 July 2010



The Koronus Expanse spreads out before you, as mysterious and promising as the future itself. But now both have become a little clearer, and a wealth of riches await those brave souls willing to claim them.

Head to our support page and check out Profit and Plunder (pdf, 2.4 MB), a Rogue Trader preview offering glimpses of products for the coming year!

Greetings, Deathwatch fans!

This week, I have not one, but two special previews of the Deathwatch RPG, both having to do with the Jericho Reach. This war-torn region of space forms the core setting for Deahtwatch, involving the massive effort of an Imperial Crusade, ancient mysteries, hostile aliens, and much more.



In the Deathwatch core rulebook, the Jericho Reach is examined in detail, from the myriad domains of the Deathwatch (including the massive Watch Fortress Erioch and a number of other Watch Stations) to the three main salients of the Achilus Crusade, to the enigmatic alien-held worlds and other planets that lie on its frontiers.


One of the key elements of the Jericho Reach for the Deathwatch RPG are the roleplaying opportunities this setting presents. The Achilus Crusade is a massive push to re-conquer the Jericho Reach for the Imperium, and this backdrop provides numerous possibilities for a Kill-team to become involved, from the lofty heights of the Warmaster’s council to the lowly Imperial Guardsman on the front lines.

More significantly, the Deathwatch can have a significant impact on the Crusade’s efforts in the Jericho Reach. There are many worlds that lie in the balance, where the actions of a handful of Space Marines can make the difference. Your choices are the ones that can change the fate of millions... and only the Deathwatch stands between them and utter annihilation.

Jericho Reach Previews

The first preview for this week is a map of the Jericho Reach itself, detailing the various salients of the Achilus Crusade and the holdings of the Deathwatch.

Jericho Reach map (pdf, 984 KB)

The second preview presents an overview of the region, straight from the Deathwatch rulebook. Download the pdf below for a sneak peek into this exciting setting for Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay!

Jericho Reach chapter preview (pdf, 672 KB)

BaronIveagh wrote:Huzzah to Battlefleet Koronus. Too bad it's not till next year.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Release Schedule + Delays = Unhappy Gamers.

Unhappy Gamers = Complaints.

Complaints = Less likely to reveal release dates.

Less likely to reveal release dates = Secrecy in development.

Secrecy in development = Stupidity.

Stupidity = GW



So unless you want FFG to turn into GW, I'm quite happy with "Product X in Q4 2011" being as specific as they get.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Release Schedule + Delays = Unhappy Gamers.

Unhappy Gamers = Complaints.

Complaints = Less likely to reveal release dates.

Less likely to reveal release dates = Secrecy in development.

Secrecy in development = Stupidity.

Stupidity = GW



So unless you want FFG to turn into GW, I'm quite happy with "Product X in Q4 2011" being as specific as they get.

BrookM wrote:I'd like to see it be released on schedule instead of more enticing previews, all they do is build up more and more suspense only to kill it and taunt me as they take forever to release it. I'm willing to bet we'll be getting at least one pic of the devs posing in a warehouse full of Deatwatch books giving the "nyeh nyeh" look.

H.B.M.C. wrote:Yes, hopefully that GM kit isn't just a Warwick Kincade Copypasta-Desasta like the RT one was.

I do know it comes with a small adventure where you get to kill Tau, and that's always a bonus.

“What I cannot crush with words, I will crush with the tanks of the Imperial Guard!”
–Lord Solar Macharius

Hello Rogue Traders!

This week I’d like to talk about an exciting part of the upcoming Into the Storm—vehicle rules.

Vehicles are an integral part of many Rogue Trader operations, from the sturdy Halo Barges and Arvus Lighters that haul their goods into orbit, to the Rhino APCs, Air Yachts, and Scout Bikes used to get around on a planet’s surface. Therefore, they were an obvious choice to include in a player’s sourcebook such as Into the Storm.

When designing the vehicle rules, I had several goals in mind. The first was that the vehicle rules should be able to integrate into the existing ruleset, specifically the existing combat rules. After all, if players were going to get vehicle rules, they were going to want to fight with them.

The second goal was to make the rules easy to use. Rogue Trader isn’t a game about vehicles, vehicles are simply one aspect of the game. I wanted a ruleset that someone familiar with the system could pick up and use without any confusion, allowing the GM to seamlessly throw a high-speed chase or a shuttle landing gone awry into an adventure. Of course, I also wanted to make the rules fun and exciting.

Vehicles in Rogue Trader come in five different types—ground vehicles, walkers, skimmers, flyers, and spacecraft (spacecraft, by the way, covers only the smaller spacecraft such as shuttles, guncutters, and voidfighters, not true interplanetary or interstellar vessels). Each vehicle type has certain rules—flyers, for example, have a minimum speed they have to keep moving in order to stay aloft, while spacecraft can exit the atmosphere of a planet. Each vehicle also has certain characteristics including speed, armour, structural integrity, carrying capacity, manoeuvrability, and size. These characteristics share similarities with a starship’s characteristics, but are scaled to a level where they work with individual characters.

In combat, vehicle rules integrate into the existing combat system, with half and full actions involving driving, evasive manoeuvring, and even ramming. Shooting vehicle weapons follows many of the same rules as firing any other ranged weapons, while shooting at vehicles works the same way as shooting at a character. Reduce armour by penetration, roll damage, and tally up how much gets past the remaining armour. There is also a new vehicle critical chart that works similarly to character critical hit charts, with results ranging from Jarring Blow to Explodes!

To make the critical hit chart more integral to the game, I also made Righteous Fury work differently for vehicles. Instead of dealing extra damage, confirmed Righteous Fury generates minor critical results from the critical hits chart.

Aerial combat, of course, had to work slightly differently, as fighters moving at supersonic speeds couldn’t really operate on the same playing field as people who move several metres every round. The rules for aerial combat operate similarly to the rules of space combat—though not the same, as we’re dealing with agile flyers, not lumbering, kilometre long spacecraft.

Finally, the vehicle rules had to include some sample vehicles. The Warhammer 40,000 universe is full of vehicles, and there was no way to include them all in a single book. So I included a spread of vehicles that a Rogue Trader would find useful, ranging from those familiar to any fans of the setting (the Rhino APC and Sentinel Walker), to new designs found in the Expanse (the Hephaestus Ore Seeker). I even got to add in a vehicle that has featured into Warhammer 40,000 lore from the days when Games Workshop first released Battlefleet Gothic—the sleek, deadly, and powerful Fury Interceptor. No Void-Master should be without one.

So until next time, Rogue Traders, may all your endeavors bear profit.

Rogue Trader is a roleplaying game set in dark gothic far future of Games Workshop's Warhammer 40,000 universe. Players take on the roles of explorers aboard a Rogue Trader's ship, searching for profit and adventure while discovering new alien cultures and threats in the uncharted regions of space.