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I don't start many threads, but I got to wondering what piece of fluff material drew you, as a fan to the 40k Universe or solidified your position as a fan of the fluff.

For me, while I had been a fan of the game for some time, Xenology was the piece that really made me start reading the books.

The invasion of tyran in the tyranid 2e codex was pretty influential for me. That and the codensed version of the horus heresy in the chaos 2e codex. Both encapsulated that grim horror and epic scale that the 40k universe is about (to me at least).

Or did you mean black library wise?

Personally, I always prefer any sort of game for the fluff.

My favorite 40k fluff is anything to do with the wars on Armageddon, especially with Yarrick and Ghazghkull.

The models drew me into the game.

The Thousand Sons fluff is the best.

I didn't have any particular fluff that drug me into the game, but one of the pieces that really sticks with me is from the guard codex. The warp is so perilous and the imperium is so cumbersome that "the only reason enough forces get to the right place in time is the result of the massive quantites sent out in the first place."

I don't think any other piece of fluff really gets across the haunting awfulness of the 40k world as much as this.

Tau fluff, IG fluff, Dark angels fluff and thousand sons fluff.

Those four have made me love this hobby. I have 1 of the great 4. One day i will have all four armies collected and painted and i can return to Valhalla, and slumber until the new tau codex gets released.

Had to be the Thirteenth Black Crusade that drew me to Guard. Such a massive battle on Cadia was a revitting experience I just had to experience from the dog soldier's point of view.

Off Topic: What's the code that crosses out words? I'm trying to find it but it doesn't want to be found...

Not all ways fluff, the the Rogue Trader Core book is what got me into 40k. Before that I knew of it, hard to be gaming twenty years and not hear of it, but had zero interest in it.

Horus Heresy. Its just so well known you just have to say "pre-Heresy" or " The Heresy" for people to know what you mean.

KplKeegan wrote:Had to be the Thirteenth Black Crusade that drew me to Guard. Such a massive battle on Cadia was a revitting experience I just had to experience from the dog soldier's point of view.

Off Topic: What's the code that crosses out words? I'm trying to find it but it doesn't want to be found...

[-s-][-/s-]
Just take out the dashes.

All of the Tyranid fluff blows me away, as well as every bit that pertains to the loyalist marines vs chaos marines dynamic.

The Dance Without End, WD 105, I think? I was always much more a fantasy-fan, more into Wood Elves and maybe some Skaven, but once I read the Harlequin fluff 40k had its hooks into me. I have Eldar and Slaanesh forces for most of GW's games.

It is defiantly a tie between the Battle of Tyrok Field from the Imperil Guard codex and No Retreat, No Surrender from the second edition Dark Angels codex. Both tell the tale of stubborn defiance in the face of impossible odds that leads to victory by my two, now favorite, armies.

Probably the Eisenhorn novels; 40k was a cool game with awesome-looking models before then, but those books got me to sit up and look into the story a lot more.

I'm going to go along with Eisenhorn as well. Despite the lack of the trademark power armor, it is a sensational read.

Eisenhorn is pretty good, but I'm honestly having a hard time with this. Dan Abnett as a whole is an amazing author. His contributions to the Black Library in the form of the Inquisitor series are some of the most informative background novels, and certainly the best non-Space Marine novels available. His work on the Horus Heresy is easily some of the best work in that series.

I'm also a huge fan of Aaron Dembski-Bowden. For years I was a huge hater when it came to Chaos. I thought Chaos Marines were the dumbest thing since Fonzie ramped the shark tank, but AD-B provided such amazing work that he completely turned me around. I love those novels.

I think, though, looking back, the piece that brought me firmly into the fold, and forever cemented me as a fan of the 40k fluff, isn't by either of those two men. It's a short story from Let the Galaxy Burn (ed. by Marc Gascoigne and Christian Dunn) simply titled Angels, by an author named Robert Earl, who hasn't produced any other 40k fiction that I'm aware of. It sums up everything that I love about the setting in a ten page story.

Ravenor was what really got me interested in 40k. To clarify, before I thought 40k was just bolter porn (Space Wolf), weird ass gak (Warrior Brood) or emos trying to seem grimdark and indepth (Soul Hunter) but Ravenor showed me that 40k had potential for actual good writing.

Reading about the Horus Heresy, Tyrannic Wars, etc. on the old 40k wiki. Before I discovered Lexicanum even.

Though it was the Dawn of War games which got me into 40k originally.

Definitely the Inquisition. My absolute favourite part of 40k fluff.

The Eisenhorn/Ravenor books are the only novels in the Black Library that I would actually consider reading. That said, I have too many books on my list to actually get to them in the first place.

This entire book is ultimately what drew me into 40k. I had liked 40k since I had joined, but when I found out about this book, everything changed. I now own a Chaos Marine force revolving around the models from this book. It's awesome. I mean, c'mon. Suggested for Mature readers? You gotta love that. If you want grim-dark, look no further than this book. Imperial Guardsmen are killed if they find out about Chaos. Marines are slightly more lucky, they only get mind-wiped! The Chaos Marines are legitimately creepy, not in a spiky way but in a "bad acid trip" way, which I think is what prompted this book in the first place.

I honestly can't remember what got me into it- so deeply at least,. The tidbits in the rule books have always fascinated me, and I've learned immensely from the codex's and some of the books, though they aren't always the best sources of fluff. I really want to write something someday that people can cite and answer this exact question and say: "Yeah, that Dominov guy... pretty flakkin' epic."

The second 3rd ed codex was the first 40k book I read, and it's what made me a fan. The Heresy summary and the tiny snippet about Chaos Lieutenants especially. "each one is ready to take the place of his master should anything 'unfortunate' happen to them." It just summed up the entire army for me somehow.

AnomanderRake wrote:Probably the Eisenhorn novels; 40k was a cool game with awesome-looking models before then, but those books got me to sit up and look into the story a lot more.

This, I quit 40k after the change from 2nd to 3rd... came back after 5th, was drawn back in by Abnett's novels, but mainly Eisenhorn.