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How do!

Dunno about anyone else, but my copy arrived yesterday, and I’ve now finished reading it. Given GW didn’t particularly push this book, it seems people don’t really know much about it. So I’ll offer my thoughts, but try to steer clear of actual conclusions.

First up, the quality of the book. I for one am happy with it. Web bound, hardback with decently thick paper stock. The front and back covers (but not the spine) had reverse embossed designs. It’s a nice little tactile touch, and shows solid production values. And it comes in at a fairly satisfying 199 pages. So whilst not a hefty volume, at least it’s not all skinny. And as someone familiar with its predecessor volumes, the print is much easier to read, as it’s not presented in cursive. Whilst that might break immersion for some, I welcome it as it makes for a far more comfortable read.

Second, the art. Much of it is original (at least to my eyes, happy to be corrected) but a fair amount is repurposed from older books. Whilst perhaps disappointing, it is ultimately part for the course when it comes to GW, so I think we can at least agree it’s not unexpected.

Now....for the contents. As it’s inevitably going to be compared to its illustrious, rare and expensive predecessor, Xenology, I’d like to draw your attention to the books full title - Liber Xenology - observations from a Blackstone Fortress.

Why draw the attention there? Having read it, it’s a most suitable title. Xenology was billed as a Magos Biologis’ studies, following dissection of various specimens. Liber Xenologies is the observations of a Rogue Trader. Those are two very different points of view. And it means if someone was hoping for Xenology Vol 2, I’m afraid to say they’ll be disappointed.

If I had to compare this to a real world book? Probably something akin to the journal of a Victorian Gentleman Explorer. I say that as it certainly contains some truth, but all through filters of ignorance and arrogance. For instance, Tyranids and Genestealers aren’t presented in the same section. Indeed our author Janus Draik is entirely unaware that Genestealers are in fact another form of Tyranid. He’s likewise utterly incredulous of claims that Genestealers are a melding of man and Xenos.

At first, I found that a little jarring. Because surely a Rogue Trader of all people would be aware of this? But in hindsight, I thought it was quite cool. We know that Rogue Traders have near unlimited authority - but does that mean they’re given all the information? I dare say some might be more knowledgeable than others, but they do ultimately remain members of the citizenry, and not the command structure.

It’s also a different angle not often explored. In the general run of things, we get the perspective of someone utterly, hopelessly ignorant (citizen) or with most of the deck (Inquisitors etc). To be presented with a narrator only partially informed, and sometimes clearly misinformed is certainly a bit of a treat.

The book also introduces types of Xenos new to me, alongside others more familiar. I say new to me, as they may have been mentioned in RPG Sourcebooks, particularly the FFG ones which I know created a lot of cool new background I’ve not had the privilege to read.

Overall, I’d say that there’s a lot to enjoy, but I think I’d have liked to see at least some amateur dissections. Certainly there’s one point in the book where Draik mentions such skills. Certainly I’d say it’s a worthy companion piece to Xenology, if only for the differing levels of knowledge and perspective.

Can you list the alien species covered?

Sure thing...

Denizens of the Blackstone Fortress
Kroot
Abhumans
Eldar
Ur-Ghuls
Ptera-Squirrel
Denizens of the Death World (Catachan)
Greenskins
Squigs
Razorwing
Sslyth
Psycheneuin
Jokaero
Loxatl
Horrors of the Sump (Necromunda)
Psychic and Divinatory Companions
Ambull
Mjordhainn Raiders
Clawed Fiend
Sepolcrali
Zoat
Fedridian Althak
Vespid
Hrud
Djemja Falak
Tyranids
Cythor Fiends
Enslavers
Galg
Khrave Marauders
Khymerae
Medusae
Genestealers
Tau
Fire Scorpion (native to Baal)
Oretti
Barasonilash
Apcoryphum

Very good review! Fingers crossed it return to stores, because it has already sold out online. I'd be fine with a cheap softback version or E-book as well, as long as it's available.

This work is more Historia Augusta than Tacitus, then.

Darn it I'm still waiting for mine, but hopefully soon so perhaps Monday it will arrive


GW did say it would come to stores, but their lore/art books tend to always be a limited run of "grab em when you can". Heck who knows they might do a reprint/print on demand of the first Xenology book.

Further thoughts.

It’s clear that Janus Draik is a man of no small skill, but is also a pompous git.

Much of the prose is him puffing himself up, telling how clever and skilled he is.

Yet despite his arrogance and clear lack of knowledge in some areas, he still offers interesting insights because of that.

For instance, in the last section Apocryphorum, he singular dismisses Necron as being real, instead believing them to be an elaborate hoax.

At first thought, you sort of giggle and think ‘idiot’, thanks to the Hobbyist’s near god like knowledge of the setting. Yet.......we know for a fact he has walked a Blackstone Fortress and survived. We know he’s made studies of it, and knows it to be made of Noctolith, and what that is.

Yet....no mention of Necrons at all. Or finding their heiroglyphs (trust me, he’d have said!). So to us the reader, we’re closer than ever to confirming who or whatever built the Blackstone Fortresses, it wasn’t the Necrons - and unless their language underwent massive change, it wasn’t the Necrontyr.

On the Fortress itself? It seems it may be one of but thousands...and being made entirely from Noctolith, they’re either galactic salvation or damnation.

Indeed, there’s one section in the book which I shall spoiler for the casual reader, or person wanting to read it for themself...

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/02/19/step-inside-a-necron-tomb-world-with-art-and-lore-from-kill-team-pariah-nexus/

"Are those… the spindle drones from Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress? What are they doing in this picture of Necrons?"

So GW are basically being coy and doing "Are they or aren't they Necron related?"

They are reanimators not spindle drones, though it appears reanimators in that art have hover capacity.

The whole "is or isn't it Necron" is likely a thing GW runs with; we might never get the full answer

Indeed. That Draik doesn’t recognise any writing or runes in the Fortress isn’t much of a conclusion on balance.

Who built the Fortresses is likely (and hopefully) to remain a maddening mystery, with only contradictory breadcrumbs to tease us.

I mean, the community has previously been more or less convinced they were Eldar in origin, leftovers from the War in Heaven. But we’ve also been more or less convinced they were Necron/Necrontyr in origin.

That the Eldar refer to them as Engines of Vaul isn’t necessarily different to us calling the Moon the Moon. It is after all just a name, and not proof of ownership.

All we definitively know is that they’re unfathomably old, and made of Noctolith. We don’t truly know their purpose. After all, I can use a screwdriver as a hammer, just as a Blackstone can be used as an insanely powerful weapon.

I don't recognize several of the critter names, but the Ptera-Squirrel jumps out at me just for the little Rogue Trader nod.

Curious how the book wrote it up. In RT they were discovered and adopted as fluffy pets across a vast area. But it turns out they have an unknown generational trigger and after decades, the genetic switch happens and for several further generations they're bloodthirsty terrors (but, you know, still small fluffy pet sized). They're now considered a dangerous pest species, but they breed like rodents.

I doubt we'll see models of them like Ambulls or Zoats, but its a nice world-building touch that got buried and lost.

Voss wrote:
I don't recognize several of the critter names, but the Ptera-Squirrel jumps out at me just for the little Rogue Trader nod.

Curious how the book wrote the up. In RT they were discovered and adopted as fluffy pets across a vast area. But it turns out they have an unknown generational trigger and after decades, the genetic switch happens and for several further generations they're bloodthirsty terrors (but, you know, still small fluffy pet sized). They're now considered a dangerous pest species, but they breed like rodents.

I doubt we'll see models of them like Ambulls or Zoats, but its a nice world-building touch that got buried and lost.

All still there!

Iracundus wrote:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/02/19/step-inside-a-necron-tomb-world-with-art-and-lore-from-kill-team-pariah-nexus/

"Are those… the spindle drones from Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress? What are they doing in this picture of Necrons?"

So GW are basically being coy and doing "Are they or aren't they Necron related?"

Well, a) they're quite clearly not spindle drones. And b) we know with near certainty that the Blackstone Fortresses aren't Necron constructs, and have done for almost twenty years. There are even characters within the recent series of BF related fiction who identify Blackstone 7 as one of the Talismans of Vaul, containing a fragment of the god.

And whilst I remember, some downers about the book.

It explains encounters within the Fortress (such as Sslyth) which, to the best of my knowledge, aren’t represented in the game.

That I feel is a great shame, as it shows off potential not necessarily wasted, but certainly not realised. Could’ve just been a bestiary for including relatively random 40K models as optional swap outs for encounters.

It’s certainly well within the rooms of homebrew, but I feel such a volume would’ve widened its appeal further.

Voss wrote:
I don't recognize several of the critter names, but the Ptera-Squirrel jumps out at me just for the little Rogue Trader nod.

Curious how the book wrote it up. In RT they were discovered and adopted as fluffy pets across a vast area. But it turns out they have an unknown generational trigger and after decades, the genetic switch happens and for several further generations they're bloodthirsty terrors (but, you know, still small fluffy pet sized). They're now considered a dangerous pest species, but they breed like rodents.

I doubt we'll see models of them like Ambulls or Zoats, but its a nice world-building touch that got buried and lost.

Omg they are the bunny from Monty Python that is hilarious!

As someone who has read all the Blackstone Fortress books and i'm sad the way GW ended it authors had an amazing posibility of storytelling that sadly GW didn't capitalize properly.

 Lord Perversor wrote:
As someone who has read all the Blackstone Fortress books and i'm sad the way GW ended it authors had an amazing posibility of storytelling that sadly GW didn't capitalize properly.

How did it end?

Please spoil it for us that may not get around to it.

Yeah gradually reading through the book too. It is a fun little POV piece of Darik's adventures. A curiously large amount of info about Kroot, like 7 pages just dedicated to them.

 Lord Damocles wrote:

Iracundus wrote:
https://www.warhammer-community.com/2021/02/19/step-inside-a-necron-tomb-world-with-art-and-lore-from-kill-team-pariah-nexus/

"Are those… the spindle drones from Warhammer Quest: Blackstone Fortress? What are they doing in this picture of Necrons?"

So GW are basically being coy and doing "Are they or aren't they Necron related?"

Well, a) they're quite clearly not spindle drones. And b) we know with near certainty that the Blackstone Fortresses aren't Necron constructs, and have done for almost twenty years. There are even characters within the recent series of BF related fiction who identify Blackstone 7 as one of the Talismans of Vaul, containing a fragment of the god.

Yes, unless GW retconns them, they're supposed to be Old One/ancient eldar/eldar god constructs used to fight the war in heaven. So the opposite of the necrons.

Spindle drones have a somewhat organic design, which would certainly reference back to prehistoric eldar/old one designs rather than necron.

Perhaps they'll go with the talismen of vaul being the avatar equivalent of vaul, like the avatars of khaine. He split his essence across the thousands of talismen. There has been a little bit of a sense that GW might push the eldar towards a reformation of their pantheon (or at least some of the pantheon), with Isha revealed to be alive, Ynnead being born, khaine still in existence, cegorach hanging around whole.

Unless they pull a AoS style Slannesh defeat where souls are pulled out of it, Asuryan is unlikely to come back (Maybe Asurmen could attain apotheosis into a new Asurmen....).

But that;s still, Vaul, Khaine, Cegorach, Isha and Ynnead all possible.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
And whilst I remember, some downers about the book.

It explains encounters within the Fortress (such as Sslyth) which, to the best of my knowledge, aren’t represented in the game.

That I feel is a great shame, as it shows off potential not necessarily wasted, but certainly not realised. Could’ve just been a bestiary for including relatively random 40K models as optional swap outs for encounters.

It’s certainly well within the rooms of homebrew, but I feel such a volume would’ve widened its appeal further.

There was an expansion for BSF that came with a DE ship card. The ship had been stolen from Vect, and the Pilot was hiding out in Precipice. She could interact with the players through the mechanism of the ship, but she was never released as a miniature, or even given a White Dwarf spotlight. If there were Sslyth on the BSF, they'd likely be working for Vect, trying to find her.

And yeah, that was a crazy missed opportunity. I had always hoped for a DE release for BSF.

There will likely be another 40k Warhammer Quest game; Inquisition or Eldar would be good themes to build around. I think BSF came a year or year and a half after the AoS Warhammer Quest game (forget what it was called). Wouldn't be surprised if they repeat the pattern.

 NinthMusketeer wrote:

Voss wrote:
I don't recognize several of the critter names, but the Ptera-Squirrel jumps out at me just for the little Rogue Trader nod.

Curious how the book wrote it up. In RT they were discovered and adopted as fluffy pets across a vast area. But it turns out they have an unknown generational trigger and after decades, the genetic switch happens and for several further generations they're bloodthirsty terrors (but, you know, still small fluffy pet sized). They're now considered a dangerous pest species, but they breed like rodents.

I doubt we'll see models of them like Ambulls or Zoats, but its a nice world-building touch that got buried and lost.

Omg they are the bunny from Monty Python that is hilarious!

Sounds like 40K Gremlins or 40K Tribbles to me


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Sure thing...

Denizens of the Blackstone Fortress
Kroot
Abhumans
Eldar
Ur-Ghuls
Ptera-Squirrel
Denizens of the Death World (Catachan)
Greenskins
Squigs
Razorwing
Sslyth
Psycheneuin
Jokaero
Loxatl
Horrors of the Sump (Necromunda)
Psychic and Divinatory Companions
Ambull
Mjordhainn Raiders
Clawed Fiend
Sepolcrali
Zoat
Fedridian Althak
Vespid
Hrud
Djemja Falak
Tyranids
Cythor Fiends
Enslavers
Galg
Khrave Marauders
Khymerae
Medusae
Genestealers
Tau
Fire Scorpion (native to Baal)
Oretti
Barasonilash
Apcoryphum

There are certainly some species in that list I had thought GW had forgotten about (or that they've been erased).
Anything new about Hrud or Enslavers? I mean, they're actually rather important players in 40K but they never elaborated on them.

Also, concerning my other thread: Anything new or definite about the color of Squigs?

Thanks for the info. It was very infomative. I think I will skip this as I would prefer Xenology approach = more professional take on the theme rather than some (partially) ignorant view of an arrogant noble.

There are certainly new (no fresher than second hand) anecdotes about Hrud and Enslavers both.

I think the book is quite clever, because it does overall establish Draik as a definable unreliable narrator. Yet, there are things accepted as true (Tyranid guns growing out of the creature etc). So there is the question of how much, if any, of the unreliable stuff is perhaps actually true.

Certainly it adds to mysteries, rather than detracting from them by telling too much.

Even if you’re not set on buying it (provided it comes back in stock, fingers crossed on that one), I’d say it’s worth borrowing from a friend for a read.

Iracundus wrote:

 Lord Perversor wrote:
As someone who has read all the Blackstone Fortress books and i'm sad the way GW ended it authors had an amazing posibility of storytelling that sadly GW didn't capitalize properly.

How did it end?

Please spoil it for us that may not get around to it.

For those interested.



Brief recall of the ending somethings may be sligthy wrong as some months have passed since i read it.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
It explains encounters within the Fortress (such as Sslyth) which, to the best of my knowledge, aren’t represented in the game.

That I feel is a great shame, as it shows off potential not necessarily wasted, but certainly not realised. Could’ve just been a bestiary for including relatively random 40K models as optional swap outs for encounters.

On the contrary. I find the inclusion of non-game elements to be spectacularly refreshing.

I bought this book, and my friend picked it up from GW today (I won't have it 'til at least this weekend), but I was worried before seeing your list of contents that this book would be a bit like modern GW art - only focusing on what they made miniatures for. I was worried that alongside the Ambul and Zoat, we'd get treatises on Plague Marines, Poxwalkers and Traitor Commissars/Ogryn, things that are decidedly not xenos in origin, but present because those were part of BSF expansions.

I am greatly relieved to see that this is not the case, and that it contains a myriad of things that aren't even mentioned in BSF.

PenitentJake wrote:
There was an expansion for BSF that came with a DE ship card.

In what expansion was this?

The Eye of Vect is in Traitor Command.

Several of the stories in Vaults of Obsidian are centered around Dark Eldar.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
It explains encounters within the Fortress (such as Sslyth) which, to the best of my knowledge, aren’t represented in the game.

That I feel is a great shame, as it shows off potential not necessarily wasted, but certainly not realised. Could’ve just been a bestiary for including relatively random 40K models as optional swap outs for encounters.

On the contrary. I find the inclusion of non-game elements to be spectacularly refreshing.

I bought this book, and my friend picked it up from GW today (I won't have it 'til at least this weekend), but I was worried before seeing your list of contents that this book would be a bit like modern GW art - only focusing on what they made miniatures for. I was worried that alongside the Ambul and Zoat, we'd get treatises on Plague Marines, Poxwalkers and Traitor Commissars/Ogryn, things that are decidedly not xenos in origin, but present because those were part of BSF expansions.

I am greatly relieved to see that this is not the case, and that it contains a myriad of things that aren't even mentioned in BSF.

PenitentJake wrote:
There was an expansion for BSF that came with a DE ship card.

In what expansion was this?

I certainly agree, but I’m wondering if my quoted post muddied things. I’m very happy with Liber Xenologies. The disappointment and missed opportunity was intended to refer to the game. Reading it back, I don’t think I came across right in that bit

Are there any new revelations or tidbits of information about the major races that we don't already know from other sources?

I'm just a bit leery about potentially getting and reading another iteration of "Eldar are tricksy and Orks are brutes" which doesn't add anything new.

Kind of? Ish?

His views are significantly less dogmatic?