Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Just finished the novel that accompanies the campaign. Great read but a bit worried about the direction of the story at the end. Blue on blue doesn't even cover it... very brief, disjointed, summary in the spoilers below.

Updated to clarify a couple of points.

Wait wut? Why loyal chapters would bomb Fenris like that? It's not like SW have a doubtful alliegance.

That smells like a big, smelly pile of bad fluff.

The quality of the fluff will not matter if it becomes canon and trigger some sort of End Times.

Or the OP is just trolling?

 RazgrizOne wrote:

Or the OP is just trolling?

Not known for it mate.

Seriously - the Dark Angels geting upset about someone killing their scouts when they do it all the time to other Chapters.............

This isn't the first time those "loyalist" wolves where in open conflict with loyalists.
Just look here. http://wh40k.lexicanum.com/wiki/Months_of_Shame

On top of that take a look at the 6th edition allies table they haven't been the closest mates all the time with all of the other loyalist factions.

 Mr Morden wrote:
Seriously - the Dark Angels geting upset about someone killing their scouts when they do it all the time to other Chapters.............

You mean the Dark Angels are massive hypocrites? Shocking!

This does all sound a bit odd... I mean, it makes sense if the SW have actually been declared Excommunicate Traitoris, but I can't see them going that far. I can definitely see the DA taking the first chance they get to point out that someone else has potential Heresy issues, it takes the scrutiny off them and settles their old grudge with the Wolves in explosive fashion. Just seems extreme for GW to essentially be setting up an Imperial Civil War (some Chapters are bound to take the side of the Wolves if this escalates, either out of loyalty or to settle scores of their own against other Chapters)

Unless something's got lost in translation, and the bombardment of Fenris is a precursor to an attempt to relieve the Space Wolves who are under siege by the Chaos incursion...

And then there's The Rock (presumably with the Lion still inside) and the rumours of the return of Russ... could the Primarchs, who were ultimately quite close in the end, be about to emerge and yell 'STOP FIGHTING!' before an epic team-up against Magnus and the Thousand Sons? Or are they going to exacerbate things further, and lead to an actual Heresy 2: This Time It's Personal? Or is it all mumbo-jumbo, and we're never going to find out?


If written well, I could see this being a really tragic tale, the SW watching their allies turn on them for something that's ultimately no fault of their own, while the DA are trying to start a fight and everyone's secrets and weaknesses start coming to the fore...

If I am not mistaken these are exactly the space wolves that went on killing grey knights the last time they where in real space.

Does it indicate how much time between this and the Pandorax incursion?

Cos the Rock was at that too....

 RazgrizOne wrote:
It's not like SW have a doubtful alliegance.

Really? They're known for doing their own thing and they haven't exactly been on good terms with the inquisition or the ecclesiarchy. I'm honestly surprised the Imperium has put up with them for as long as they have.

SideSwipe wrote:
Does it indicate how much time between this and the Pandorax incursion?

No mention of Pandorax at all.

Really? They're known for doing their own thing and they haven't exactly been on good terms with the inquisition or the ecclesiarchy. I'm honestly surprised the Imperium has put up with them for as long as they have.

Yep but having troubles with a said chapter is utterly different with mobilizing 15 other chapters to (it seems) invade their homeworlds. Even though the SW had questionable independency regarding Adeptus Terra' standards, they are known to fight for the Imperium. No one is wondering whether they are chaos worshippers or not. The episode of the months of shame has happened but it is more linked to prerogatives disputes than a true allegiance problem (even though the Inquisition is quick to say the former is the same as the latter).

That is what surprise me. The quick summary makes me feel like "well, that escalated quickly".

Does the Alpha Legion show up in the novel?

Fair enough.

Is it true that Bjorn is dead now? I remember reading somewhere that Bjorn was getting killed off, which I'd imagine would be mentioned in the novel.

 RazgrizOne wrote:
The quick summary makes me feel like "well, that escalated quickly".

Yeah that'll be my "amazing" summarising skills coming into play... There is a fairly quick escalation to it within the story but not as instantaneous as I fear I made it look. The DA, spurred on by the Changeling, believe that the Fenrisian systems have fallen to a daemonic incursion brought about by the fall of the Wolves. The implication is that they and their allies are rocking up to purge everyone, not just the Wolves.

The Wolves don't do themselves any favours by treating the Wulfen with the same secrecy as the Dark angels treat the Fallen. The hypocrisy is not lost on me. The Grey Knights, well Stern really, seem to be the arbiters of reason is this.

 Tainted wrote:
Is it true that Bjorn is dead now?.

He's mentioned a fair bit but in the end Ulrik simply says he can not be roused

 cadak wrote:
Does the Alpha Legion show up in the novel?

Indeed but in a smaller role than I would have thought.

Would seem to be going in an end times direction, hell, If you go look at the black library page..

http://www.blacklibrary.com/warhammer-40000/40k-novs/curse-of-the-wulfen-ebook.html

Just look at the 'Read it because' blurb, that sounds like they believe it is more than just another 40K novel.

I'd still be shocked if they did it, but who knows with GW these days.

As far as I can remember, ALL of the recent (like last 5 years) fiction for the 41st millennium Space Wolves (other than the limited stuff which I haven't been able to read) has had an undercurrent of tension between the Wolves and the organizations of the Imperium. I don't like the idea of "THE END TIMES" very much*, but GW has done a good job of building a plausible dynamic tension between the Space Wolves as "Heroes of the Imperium" and "Dangerously Free-Minded Warriors Touched By Chaos".



I feel like they have been trying to build up for a confrontation between the Wolves and the greater Imperium ever since the novel that explored the first Armageddon war (which also put the Grey Knights in a difficult position between the dictates of the Inquisition and the strongly independent decisions of Logan Grimnar). I hope they don't do something rash and stupid (like an actual End Times), but I do like the fact that they've been ratcheting up the tension in multiple books by multiple authors for years.


*I hate the "End Times" for the same reason that I would hate a World War I novel where the defeat of the Germans ended all militarism everywhere on earth, forever. Wells called it "the war to end all war", and heck, he may have believed that at one point, but that was what he called it, not what it actually was. It's fine for the despairing citizens of the Imperium to believe that they are living in the End Times, but it smacks of putting the cart before the horse to then take that phrase and actually run things that way. Of course, I couldn't believe that anyone would have blown up the Old World either, so my meter of rational decisionmaking is not GW calibrated, obviously.

Da Butcha wrote:
As far as I can remember, ALL of the recent (like last 5 years) fiction for the 41st millennium Space Wolves (other than the limited stuff which I haven't been able to read) has had an undercurrent of tension between the Wolves and the organizations of the Imperium. I don't like the idea of "THE END TIMES" very much*, but GW has done a good job of building a plausible dynamic tension between the Space Wolves as "Heroes of the Imperium" and "Dangerously Free-Minded Warriors Touched By Chaos".

Spoiler:

Stormcaller continued the story of a pack with a returning member of the Deathwatch and a nascent psyker touched by Chaos. It had a conflict with an Ecclesiastical authority that escalated into open conflict, and maintained a story with a shadowy faction manipulating the deaths of Space Wolves and a series of deployments that strained them to their limits (and sounded a lot like the shadowy manipulation of the Celestial Lions). The story (can't remember the name) that featured the Wulfen had them being manipulated into attacking loyalist marines in self-defense, all as part of being the pawns of another.

I feel like they have been trying to build up for a confrontation between the Wolves and the greater Imperium ever since the novel that explored the first Armageddon war (which also put the Grey Knights in a difficult position between the dictates of the Inquisition and the strongly independent decisions of Logan Grimnar). I hope they don't do something rash and stupid (like an actual End Times), but I do like the fact that they've been ratcheting up the tension in multiple books by multiple authors for years.


*I hate the "End Times" for the same reason that I would hate a World War I novel where the defeat of the Germans ended all militarism everywhere on earth, forever. Wells called it "the war to end all war", and heck, he may have believed that at one point, but that was what he called it, not what it actually was. It's fine for the despairing citizens of the Imperium to believe that they are living in the End Times, but it smacks of putting the cart before the horse to then take that phrase and actually run things that way. Of course, I couldn't believe that anyone would have blown up the Old World either, so my meter of rational decisionmaking is not GW calibrated, obviously.

I Really hope that it turns out to be Magnus's shadow organization (Tzeentch, and all that), which turns out to be the Alpha Legion, which turned out to be Alpharius, which turned out to be Magnus in disguise! The Space Wolves' enemies are Tzeentchian Traitors, after all, might as well make their destruction Tzeentchian.

While on the one hand I would not mind seeing the SW's destroyed and removed from the background (given how atrocious they've become as a faction), it feels both lazy and anti-climactic to have this occur as a result of loyalist forces turning on them, if it's going to happen, the Thousand Sons *should* have that victory...that's really the only way to wrap up that story "correctly".

BlackLibraryWebStore wrote:This is the biggest, most galaxy-changing event the Warhammer 40,000 universe has seen for years. The truth about the Wulfen is out, and things for the Space Wolves will never be the same again

Yeah, don't get too excited about that. The whole galaxy isn't going to end. It is just some corrupted marines doing what humans do. I would be surprised if any xenos faction at all would even see this as a minor event in their history.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
The return of the brain boyz, the arrival of large tyranid fleets, full awakening of necron fleets,radical paradigma shifts in eldar cultur, the death and rebirth of the emperor those things would be galaxy-changing events. I haven't read the book. but even if they killed of all grey knights and space wolves the galaxy would not be that changed at all.

Daayuum, so do you really think they will start destroying the Wolves? Russ said there will be a time when the chapter is dying, as he is. Could this be the chapter beginning to die?

I guess the clock just turned a second closer to midnight. Honestly though I love advances in fluff, will have to get this book. Even though I dont want to see 40k end as in a definitive end times, nothing beats the feeling of impending doom.

Going by this:

Yeah that'll be my "amazing" summarising skills coming into play... There is a fairly quick escalation to it within the story but not as instantaneous as I fear I made it look. The DA, spurred on by the Changeling, believe that the Fenrisian systems have fallen to a daemonic incursion brought about by the fall of the Wolves. The implication is that they and their allies are rocking up to purge everyone, not just the Wolves.

it's not exactly the makings of a civil war (although that would be awesome, I think), more Chaos manipulating things; I imagine there will be that moment of realisation where all these Chapters realise they've been had, and team up to go all Avengers on the demons and Tsons... which is a shame, as I really like the sound of where it initially seemed to be heading, but maybe there will still be hints of that. Once the current crisis is dealt with, there's still the small matter of the Space Wolf mutants running around.

Did the novel mention the absolutely vast amount of void and orbital assests that the last codex suddenly gave to the Wolves (and never had before) - hundreds of warships, multiple Star Fortresses, etc etc?

Their Fleet makes the entire Ultramarines fleet look like a mere squadron.

If the Codex was accurate - they would need all those Chapters listed and whatever vast fleet the Dark Angels got given in the last Codex to even try and achieve void superiority

About bloody time someone cleansed that filth.

One chapter against the imperium? Hardly a fair contest for end times...

It's the Wolves though, they'll probably win.

It's not exactly the Imperium though. It's one chapter fleet and SOME support which could be one ship. Hardly the whole Imperium...

Indeed, which is why the Wolves will win - since they have enough naval assets to destroy every fleet the Imperial Navy has in the whole Segmentum Obscurus at once, and still fend off a Ork Waagh...

 unmercifulconker wrote:
Daayuum, so do you really think they will start destroying the Wolves? Russ said there will be a time when the chapter is dying, as he is. Could this be the chapter beginning to die?

I guess the clock just turned a second closer to midnight. Honestly though I love advances in fluff, will have to get this book. Even though I dont want to see 40k end as in a definitive end times, nothing beats the feeling of impending doom.

I don't think the "End Times" in 40k will go the same way as they did Fantasy. But there will be major changes in the setting. At least, that's my gut feeling.


That is if GW actually advances the setting to amount to anything.


And the Wolves? The Sons of Russ won't die that easily.