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New classes are fine and dandy, but it's the fluff I'm looking forward to the most with this one!

So I can review it now?

“Doesn’t contain enough stuff for ships.”
– A review by Baron “I love ships and am totally bias towards ships” Iveagh

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
“Doesn’t contain enough stuff for ships.”
– A review by Baron “I love ships and am totally bias towards ships” Iveagh

LOL No, it doesn't have enough stuff for ships, but that's a very small part of it and we both know it. And of course I'm biased. I busted my ass helping with BFG FAQ 2010. We put a years work into ships, and by God, they should be used!

So is Only War shipping or not?

Brook's managed to forge a shipping note, but beyond that we don't know.

He's just jealous that his copy won't be reaching him in some time. Stars of Inequity is also listed as Ready to Ship, bit sceptical about that one, but Only War and the Navis Primer are both on their way to me.

Hellooooooo~ Navis Primer, feels good to have some new RT fluff again.

And OW?

Not yet sadly, this makes me sad. The Navis Primer came in a padded envelope with the regular mail, so I'm guessing they put OW in a box, as it's a thicker book and wouldn't fit through the mailbox. A few days more I'd say, as my X-wing dice came in with the parcel service later today, which were in a small box as well.

Sadly the Primer is a bit dinged around the edges due to rough handling, but it should keep me occupied until OW arrives. I'm liking it so far, especially the Chaos God specific threats, in particular the Carrier, a lazy voidsman blessed by Nurgle, who could be a real threat to the Imperium, but as the book put it: "..he would be one of Nurgle's most powerful servants if only he could be bothered."

I get dinged corners on half the books I order. Post services must like throwing parcels around just for kicks.

Tell me about it, it's pretty awful around here ever since they privatized it and had trouble getting enough people to deliver it.

 BrookM wrote:
Tell me about it, it's pretty awful around here ever since they privatized it and had trouble getting enough people to deliver it.

NO! Privatization is GOOD! Government services are SOCIALISM!!!! Haven't you read Atlas Shrugged?

 BaronIveagh wrote:

 BrookM wrote:
Tell me about it, it's pretty awful around here ever since they privatized it and had trouble getting enough people to deliver it.

NO! Privatization is GOOD! Government services are SOCIALISM!!!! Haven't you read Atlas Shrugged?

I've played Bioshock. /philistine.

Sorry, while yes, privatization is good, Atlas Shrugged is just plain bad. Unless you put the boring protagonist of the novel in a game of Jagged Alliance 2.

Back on topic, Ivy, your thoughts on the Primer?

 BrookM wrote:

Back on topic, Ivy, your thoughts on the Primer?

It's actually not that bad. I liked the expanded familiar rules and the rules and rites of various navigator houses. What I didn't like were the rules for ork weirdboy's, which felt tacked on and out of place with the rest of the material. This probably would have been better with the rest of the Ork material in previous books. I think that Eldar would have been a better choice for this section, as they would have felt less 'out of place'.

Odd choice of words - 'tacked on'. I've always felt that the Weirdboy rules made perfect sense for a book about psykers in RT. Yes it would be nice to get an Eldar career, but in a book about psykers that leaves you with Warlocks and Farseers, and I don't think we should have characters that powerful as playable characters. Including some general profiles for Warlocks and Farseers was the better choice, and they did that. They compliment The Kornus Bestiary Eldar sections quite well.

Plus just generally I think the Weirdboy rules are great, and we have full rules for the Culexus assassin!

I'm loving The Navis Primer.

Can't comment on playability/rules stuff, since I don't play Rogue Trader.

But the narrative/background stuff is weird and wonderful -- elaborately developed, gothic, grotesque.... in sum thoroughly 40k. The material on the different Navigator Houses, the ideas about how astropaths and astropathic choirs work and so on.... what a feast! My mind is spinning. Very highly recommended.

Some interesting alternate classes as well, especially the Colchite servo-master, that one is just screaming to be used for special encounters and the like with strange servitors that move a bit too natural and intelligent..

From the depths of page three I summon thee!!!

Some news, The Outer Reach and The Navis Primer are now available at DriveThruRPG.

My hard-copies are still on their way. I hope they're here by next Monday.

I have a second Navis Primer if you're interested.

Why do you have two? I mean I have three copies of The Lathe Worlds, but there's a reason for that. What made you get two Navis Primers?

And has your Only War shown up yet?

Mail order mishap, I'm not that full of myself just yet.

And Only War is somewhere in the mail, along with three other parcels that are almost a month in transit now, I am worried.

Yeah, as I thought. Forged shipping note.

As before, you just jelly.

Trade you a Navis Primer for a Lathe Worlds?

So Brook, where's that "copy" of OW that you "ordered".

And where did you order it from. I'm getting enquiries.

I said Miniature Market, are you being an ass for the sake of being an ass again?

 BrookM wrote:
And yet, Miniature Market has it shipped out to me, tracking number and all, ta-daaaaa!



Shipped out alongside the Navis Primer, double joy for me!

Ah, thanks. I can let them know.

I saw the Outer Reach on Friday at my local store's Black Friday sale. I had no idea it was out yet! It's the third book I have worked on for FFG and saw in the store before I even knew it was released. I am hoping my contributor copy arrives sometime soon!

I am curious to what people think of the Outer Reach. I wrote the first half of the Dead Cabal section (background, history, a few NPCs). I would like to know what you guys think!

Jeff

 JHall wrote:
I saw the Outer Reach on Friday at my local store's Black Friday sale. I had no idea it was out yet! It's the third book I have worked on for FFG and saw in the store before I even knew it was released. I am hoping my contributor copy arrives sometime soon!

I wouldn't get your hopes up. Contributor copies always seem to take forever to arrive.

 JHall wrote:
I am curious to what people think of the Outer Reach. I wrote the first half of the Dead Cabal section (background, history, a few NPCs). I would like to know what you guys think!

Well our group play-tested the book over a couple of sessions, and we were very happy with it. I knew what to expect with the Necrons (as I'd worked with the guy who wrote them for Tome of Fate), but the Dead Cabal stuff was fantastic. I love 40K mysteries that are kinda sorta known but not quite, and the Dark Pattern is one of those mysteries. Yes, we "know" it's the Necrons, but in-universe we don't know, and that makes it fun. The Dead Cabal itself is a wonderful secret society that we all latched onto, with two of us playing as Dead Station Vigilants by the end.

Overall The Outer Reach is one of my fav DW books (The Jericho Reach remains at the top!), and it was very popular with our group. And I'm waiting for my copy to arrive as well!

And now a new OW preview by my fellow contributor Nathan Dowdell!

FFG wrote: A Hundred Million Soldiers for Every Star in the Sky
A Preview of Only War by Contributing Writer Nathan Dowdell



“In any army balance is the key to success. A commander who puts his faith in heavy weaponry alone will be outmanoeuvred. A commander who relies on close combat without support will lose his force to enemy fire. Each element must work in harmony, so that the effectiveness of the army is greater than the sum of its parts."
– Extract from the Tactica Imperium

In April, Fantasy Flight Games announced Only War, a standalone Warhammer 40,000 roleplaying game in which players take on the roles of soldiers in the Imperial Guard, the galaxy-spanning armies of the God-Emperor. Today, we return to a series of previews examining the Only War play experience.

In our last preview, contributing writer Andy Hoare gave a glimpse into the game’s war-torn setting, the Spinward Front. Today, contributing writer Nathan Dowdell continues our series with a look at Regiments and their importance to the game.




Strength of Unity

Amongst the most central defining factors within any Guardsman’s existence, the nature of the Regiment to which he belongs will define much of how he looks, how he thinks, and how he acts. In most ways that matter, a Guardsman identifies with his Regiment in much the same way that a Space Marine identifies with his Chapter – it is a home, a gathering of like-minded souls, and it represents the strength of unity.

Just as it should be, a character’s Regiment in Only War is a major part of character creation, so much so that the subject of Regiments has an entire chapter devoted to it, and it is expected that a group will collectively determine their Regiment at the start of a campaign, using it as the starting point from which many other choices will flow.

[/img]

Each regiment in Only War includes a sidebar that shows how it was created using the Regiment Creation Rules. Click the image above to read about the [url= http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/ffg_content/only-war/news/preview-2/50-51.pdf ]Maccabian Janissaries (pdf, 1.4 MB).

This chapter provides a number of notable regiments from across the galaxy – particular regiments from Cadia, Catachan, Krieg, Elysia, Mordian, Tallarn and Vostroya – along with a unique regiments hailing from the Calixis Sector: the Maccabean Janissaries. Each of these provides an assortment of starting benefits and advances that suit a regiment’s focus and purpose, as well as a selection of standard issue equipment that every Guardsman from that Regiment will carry.

This, however, is only part of the chapter. Each of the notable regiments already mentioned was created using a robust system of Regiment Creation, which is included in all its glory within the second half of the chapter. Using this system, players and GMs alike can create an enormous variety of possible Regiments for their games, and in turn create a wide range of different campaigns – the missions undertaken by Light Infantry will be quite different to those undertaken by tank crews or Siege Infantry.

Worlds Apart

When creating their own Regiment, the players start with an allocation of points. They then use these points to purchase different aspects of their Regiment. First, each Regiment hails from a particular kind of world – the Guardsmen produced by a Death World will differ in many ways from those who hail from a Fortress World or a Hive World. Home world has an effect on the characters’ starting wounds, skills, and talents, and can grant them special abilities relating to their nature.



Second, the players select their Regiment’s Training and Doctrines, which determine the type of Regiment being created, the particular ways in which they are trained, and sometimes even the kind of equipment they’re armed with. Next, the nature of the Regiment’s Commanding Officer is determined, for the officer’s nature influences that of the men under his command, granting them unique social talents and skills.

Finally, a Regiment’s standard issue equipment is determined, determining the different types of equipment and vehicles the characters will start the game with (every Armoured Regiment has tanks; every Infantry Regiment has lasguns, and so forth).



To begin the Regiment Creation process, a player has 12 points to spend. With these, he selects a Home World, Commanding Officer, Regiment Type, Doctrines, and Equipment.

Using this method, not only are the characters given a common identity and origin, but the nature of the campaign is defined. A Regiment of footslogging line infantry may form part of a massive frontal assault through no-man’s land after months in the trenches, while a courageous drop-trooper regiment may find themselves performing high-speed raids behind enemy lines that last only hours before they fly back home.

Thanks, Nathan! With a hundred million soldiers for every star in the sky, the variety of possible Regiments is only limited by your imagination. Check back for more in the coming weeks, and look for Only War on store shelves later this quarter!

I really hope that guy wasn't planning on muzzel-loading that grenade 'cause... that won't work.