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2014/04/08 06:56:28
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
The thing that I find funny about peoples' support of GW's zero-canon policy is the implication that having zero obligation to adhere to the source material results in a better story. When has this ever (historically) been the case?
I mean, I would hardly consider Star Wars', Halo's or Gears of War's expanded universe material to suffer in story-telling quality because of their relatively strict adherence to canon. Granted, all three franchises have their crap books, but then so does 40K.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/08 06:56:47
2014/04/08 06:58:06
Subject: Re:Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Chaos Rising wrote: When I was reading Ahriman Exile it depicted Ahriman in an entirely different way to all the other fluff I've seen. He is a Tzeentch hating, self hating, rather kind hater of using rubric marines! He actually has the chance to use rubric marines in the book and is disgusted by the thought and declines! What is up with that?
That's actually fairly standard. The whole reason he was working on the Rubric was to save his legion from mutation, and while it worked the cost was far, far, more than he expected. When all you ever wanted was to save your brothers, turning them into almost mindless automatons would be rather depressing. Don't forget that Exile is a relatively early in the time-line occurrence, well before his codex entry, as you'll note that all the Sons including Ahriman were still wearing Red.
2014/04/08 07:44:13
Subject: Re:Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
viewfinder wrote: were you one of the guys who threw stuff at the TV when Star Trek messed up stuff from episode to episode? or did you just move on? and remember, they had continuity advisors and they would still mess up stuff...
it's fiction. don't get your panties in such a twist.
Shouldn't feed the troll but... not really into Star Trek [like the new ones though], but to go with your analogy, yeah, it's fairly important to me as a fan of 40k that they get titles right at least.Not as important as, say, global poverty, but I play a game of toy soldiers. I often rank them up and make pew pew noises, spend ridiculous amounts of money and time on them, and research the background to make sure I paint them in the right colour and they have the right symbols.
I'm guessing these things are pretty important to lots of other people who play 40k, otherwise there would just be Space Marines without any different chapters. GW must think it is important selling tool to have different flavours of armies too. If I buy into all that, the least these paid authors can do is spend 30 seconds googling the correct title. Plus, Phil Kelly has been with the company for years and should know better.
Phil's expertise is in Space Elves and Chaos though so I forgive him.
Yes, the expert who gave us the CSM book that is now Codex: Cultists and Baledrake, and Space Elves who are now Codex: Serpentshield.
2014/04/08 11:37:46
Subject: Re:Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
viewfinder wrote: were you one of the guys who threw stuff at the TV when Star Trek messed up stuff from episode to episode? or did you just move on? and remember, they had continuity advisors and they would still mess up stuff...
it's fiction. don't get your panties in such a twist.
Shouldn't feed the troll but... not really into Star Trek [like the new ones though], but to go with your analogy, yeah, it's fairly important to me as a fan of 40k that they get titles right at least.Not as important as, say, global poverty, but I play a game of toy soldiers. I often rank them up and make pew pew noises, spend ridiculous amounts of money and time on them, and research the background to make sure I paint them in the right colour and they have the right symbols.
I'm guessing these things are pretty important to lots of other people who play 40k, otherwise there would just be Space Marines without any different chapters. GW must think it is important selling tool to have different flavours of armies too. If I buy into all that, the least these paid authors can do is spend 30 seconds googling the correct title. Plus, Phil Kelly has been with the company for years and should know better.
Phil's expertise is in Space Elves and Chaos though so I forgive him.
Yes, the expert who gave us the CSM book that is now Codex: Cultists and Baledrake, and Space Elves who are now Codex: Serpentshield.
And got rid of Chaos Undivided, along with a lot of good chaos fluff in his purge of CSM and CD, though he fixed some things...Still better then Gav Thorpe, but..not really by that much.
2014/04/08 11:39:30
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Vaktathi wrote: Lets not forget atrociousness like a single Tac squad slaughtering thousands of Dark Eldar in close quarters, blowing up Dreads with overloaded Lasguns, etc in Abnett's works
Or 50 Guardsmen fighting through the lines of 10,000 cultists to get to an objective fuelled by the power of hope.
In the same book as the overloaded lasgun.
To be fair, I find his stuff entertaining enough. He just needs to learn how to end a fething book properly, not rush it in the last 10 pages.
Feel the same way.mi like his stuff for the most part, it's not literary genius but it's decent enough fiction. Thing is every book ends with a dues ex machina.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/08 11:46:22
2014/04/08 12:12:41
Subject: Re:Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
ClockworkZion wrote: (...)
Phil's expertise is in Space Elves and Chaos though so I forgive him.
1: Heldrakes & Culstists in every list.
2: Countless random charts even when they are completely pointless and ignores all established background (Warriors of Chaos), they slow down the game and affect the game too much (Warpstorm) or cause impossible to model situations (random gifts)
3: No more Chaos Undivided (both in the rules and the background section of both Codexes). Perturabo, Lorgar, Periclitor... countless characters and novels out of the window just like that
4: 95% copy paste previous background + add some completely senseless retcons.
5: Catastrophic internal balance.
6: 2++ invulnerable saves. That you can re-roll.
7: No Legions. No way to play the Legions.
... I will stop here.
I belonged to the Church of Kelly. I have lost my faith. He is still better than most of the others, but it is no longer because he is any good.
‘Your warriors will stand down and withdraw, Curze. That is an order, not a request. (…) When this campaign is won, you and I will have words’
Rogal Dorn, just before taking the beating of his life.
from The Dark King, by Graham McNeill.
2014/04/08 12:35:52
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Kilkrazy wrote: As regards Star Trek continuity errors, it's easier to avoid such errors when writing a book than when filming a TV series.
Especially when your books don't deal with alternate dimensions and time travel.
Fafnir wrote: Oh, I certainly vote with my dollar, but the problem is that that is not enough. The problem with the 'vote with your dollar' response is that it doesn't take into account why we're not buying the product. I want to enjoy 40k enough to buy back in. It was my introduction to traditional games, and there was a time when I enjoyed it very much. I want to buy 40k, but Gamesworkshop is doing their very best to push me away, and simply not buying their product won't tell them that.
2014/04/08 13:24:10
Subject: Re:Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
MajorWesJanson wrote: Yes, the expert who gave us the CSM book that is now Codex: Cultists and Baledrake, and Space Elves who are now Codex: Serpentshield.
ClockworkZion wrote: (...)
Phil's expertise is in Space Elves and Chaos though so I forgive him.
1: Heldrakes & Culstists in every list.
2: Countless random charts even when they are completely pointless and ignores all established background (Warriors of Chaos), they slow down the game and affect the game too much (Warpstorm) or cause impossible to model situations (random gifts)
3: No more Chaos Undivided (both in the rules and the background section of both Codexes). Perturabo, Lorgar, Periclitor... countless characters and novels out of the window just like that
4: 95% copy paste previous background + add some completely senseless retcons.
5: Catastrophic internal balance.
6: 2++ invulnerable saves. That you can re-roll.
7: No Legions. No way to play the Legions.
... I will stop here.
I belonged to the Church of Kelly. I have lost my faith. He is still better than most of the others, but it is no longer because he is any good.
You know, this thread is about fluff, so why would I be aiming a comment at his rules? Seriously, I was talking about his fluff expertise is generally in Eldar and Chaos not Loyalist Marines.
And EVERY codex is 95% copy and paste with small updates and tweaks.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2014/04/08 13:25:59
2014/04/08 13:27:30
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
tyrannosaurus wrote: Listening to the Damocles audiobook and in it, Kor'sarro Khan is referred to by other Imperial leaders [including other space marines] as 'Captain Khan'. Khan is the White Scars name for captain, so they are calling him 'Captain Captain' . Ok, I'll still listen to the rest of the book, but it's pretty laughable that Black Library [and Phil Kelly in particular] don't know their own fluff, and kind of destroys the immersion of the book.
40k's canon is there is no canon.
Everyone is free to make up whatever they want about it, so Phil probably just decided he had free run to put whatever he felt like in.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
BlaxicanX wrote: The thing that I find funny about peoples' support of GW's zero-canon policy is the implication that having zero obligation to adhere to the source material results in a better story. When has this ever (historically) been the case?
I mean, I would hardly consider Star Wars', Halo's or Gears of War's expanded universe material to suffer in story-telling quality because of their relatively strict adherence to canon. Granted, all three franchises have their crap books, but then so does 40K.
Consistency from those EUs?
Disney also effectively dumped out the entirety of EU canon concerning the post ROTJ era and 343's Halo canon policy seems to also be a complete mess.
As for GoW...eh I don't know the first thing about GoW.
Black library fluff is pretty much gonzoes a lot of the time, including acrobatic terminators and pedophile farseers.
I don't even want to know.
Both are C.S Goto elements.
The first was silly and goofy but it was mostly so bad it's good.
The second bit though was creepy as all hell.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
Vaktathi wrote: Lets not forget atrociousness like a single Tac squad slaughtering thousands of Dark Eldar in close quarters, blowing up Dreads with overloaded Lasguns, etc in Abnett's works
7000 Word Bearers, a million cultists, an unknown number of daemons, 14 capital ships, and one titan demi-legion vs 14 billion guardsmen, a dark age fort functioning at 30% capacity, and 300 space marines.
The first side was the one gaining ground and only considered the last bit of the Imperial side a problem.
And then both get the crap beaten out of them by a single Tomb Ship's worth of necrons.
This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 2014/04/08 13:36:21
Midnightdeathblade wrote: Think of a daemon incursion like a fart you don't quite trust... you could either toot a little puff of air, bellow a great effluvium, or utterly sh*t your pants and cry as it floods down your leg.
2014/04/08 16:36:12
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
tyrannosaurus wrote: Listening to the Damocles audiobook and in it, Kor'sarro Khan is referred to by other Imperial leaders [including other space marines] as 'Captain Khan'. Khan is the White Scars name for captain, so they are calling him 'Captain Captain' . Ok, I'll still listen to the rest of the book, but it's pretty laughable that Black Library [and Phil Kelly in particular] don't know their own fluff, and kind of destroys the immersion of the book.
40k's canon is there is no canon.
Everyone is free to make up whatever they want about it, so Phil probably just decided he had free run to put whatever he felt like in.
How does calling someone 'Captain Captain' develop character or add to the novel? It's just lazy writing which detracts from the story.
I'm fully expecting Horus to win when BL finally get around to the Siege of Terra [if I'm still alive by then] because it makes for a better story. I mean, why stick to the canon?
2014/04/08 16:37:12
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
tyrannosaurus wrote: Listening to the Damocles audiobook and in it, Kor'sarro Khan is referred to by other Imperial leaders [including other space marines] as 'Captain Khan'. Khan is the White Scars name for captain, so they are calling him 'Captain Captain' . Ok, I'll still listen to the rest of the book, but it's pretty laughable that Black Library [and Phil Kelly in particular] don't know their own fluff, and kind of destroys the immersion of the book.
40k's canon is there is no canon.
Everyone is free to make up whatever they want about it, so Phil probably just decided he had free run to put whatever he felt like in.
How does calling someone 'Captain Captain' develop character or add to the novel? It's just lazy writing which detracts from the story.
I'm fully expecting Horus to win when BL finally get around to the Siege of Terra [if I'm still alive by then] because it makes for a better story. I mean, why stick to the canon?
It's a Catch 22 reference to Major Major.
Midnightdeathblade wrote: Think of a daemon incursion like a fart you don't quite trust... you could either toot a little puff of air, bellow a great effluvium, or utterly sh*t your pants and cry as it floods down your leg.
2014/04/08 18:07:52
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
To be fair, 50 Guardsmen of a specialist light infantry unit against 10,000 Cultists who don't know their arse from a hole in the ground, or which end of the weapon to point at the enemy makes sense. There's plenty of real-world examples where a very small number of professional soldiers slaughtered many, many times their number of irregular militia/undisciplined rabble.
It is best to be a pessimist. You are usually right and, when you're wrong, you're pleasantly surprised.
2014/04/08 18:47:37
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Psienesis wrote: To be fair, 50 Guardsmen of a specialist light infantry unit against 10,000 Cultists who don't know their arse from a hole in the ground, or which end of the weapon to point at the enemy makes sense. There's plenty of real-world examples where a very small number of professional soldiers slaughtered many, many times their number of irregular militia/undisciplined rabble.
It's also a question of who breaks and runs first.
10,000 hormagaunts or Orks is terrifying because they will fight to the last so long as there is synapse or as long as they think they've got enough boyz with them.
10,000 cultists may start having second thoughts and running away even when they could win if they kept pressing onwards.
Midnightdeathblade wrote: Think of a daemon incursion like a fart you don't quite trust... you could either toot a little puff of air, bellow a great effluvium, or utterly sh*t your pants and cry as it floods down your leg.
2014/04/08 19:00:55
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Exactly that... and a disciplined, professional military force like the Tanith First-and-Only is not going to be the first to run when facing a mob of drugged-out, Warp-crazed hippies who are running around in small circles, waving their hands in the air.
It is best to be a pessimist. You are usually right and, when you're wrong, you're pleasantly surprised.
2014/04/08 19:04:35
Subject: Re:Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
ClockworkZion wrote: (...)
Phil's expertise is in Space Elves and Chaos though so I forgive him.
1: Heldrakes & Culstists in every list. 2: Countless random charts even when they are completely pointless and ignores all established background (Warriors of Chaos), they slow down the game and affect the game too much (Warpstorm) or cause impossible to model situations (random gifts)
3: No more Chaos Undivided (both in the rules and the background section of both Codexes). Perturabo, Lorgar, Periclitor... countless characters and novels out of the window just like that 4: 95% copy paste previous background + add some completely senseless retcons.
5: Catastrophic internal balance.
6: 2++ invulnerable saves. That you can re-roll.
7: No Legions. No way to play the Legions. I belonged to the Church of Kelly. I have lost my faith. He is still better than most of the others, but it is no longer because he is any good.
You know, this thread is about fluff, so why would I be aiming a comment at his rules? Seriously, I was talking about his fluff expertise is generally in Eldar and Chaos not Loyalist Marines.
Fair enough.
Fixed.
I am mostly a background / fluffy player, don´t care much about the rules as long as they get along with the background. His "fluff expertise" regarding Chaos is abyssmal. He just copy pasted most of the previous Codex and then add lame stuff and brutal retcons. Looking at the new stuff, I reckon he didn´t even read the Codex: Chaos Daemons neither before nor after copy - pasting it.
And EVERY codex is 95% copy and paste with small updates and tweaks.
Tyranids, both Chaos, the last IG (according to rumors supported by pictures): yes.
Dark Angels and Tau: I don´t think so.
Space Marines NO WAY IN A THOUSAND YEARS.
Sisters: I wish they did. I wish they just copy pasted 95% of all the stuff from second and third edition, added Liber Sororitas and release it.
Eldar: perhaps, I have heard some Eldar players saying that, in spite of the competitive players being so happy with the blatantly broken units.
Let´s move to 5th edition:
Necrons. Sisters. GK. Dark Eldar... every single codex changed a lot of stuff. With one exception (Sisters) all of them added new things.
I think that after GK & Necrons they got scared and stop doing big changes. There was a time when a new Codex was good news, I don´t think this apply anymore. In spite of that, they keep adding "5% stupid retcons and silly stuff" in most they do, apparently only to annoy veteran players.
To summarize, the "95% copy-paste and costing twice the price" is the new black. But it was not always like that, with the Necron / Grey Knight / Dark Eldar releases being examples of what a new Codex is supposed to be. And some armies still get good stuff. Also, did you notice that nowadays every Codex has less units than the Codex it is "updating"? And it doesn´t fix any problem.
Anyway, I am not complaining because he copy pasted 95% of good material. I am complaining because the 5% that he added is awful, contradicts the rest of the background or are brutal retcons of material I like. It was a lazy work.
‘Your warriors will stand down and withdraw, Curze. That is an order, not a request. (…) When this campaign is won, you and I will have words’
Rogal Dorn, just before taking the beating of his life.
from The Dark King, by Graham McNeill.
2014/04/08 19:08:58
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Psienesis wrote: Exactly that... and a disciplined, professional military force like the Tanith First-and-Only is not going to be the first to run when facing a mob of drugged-out, Warp-crazed hippies who are running around in small circles, waving their hands in the air.
Yes, the Roman legions beat Barbarian after Barbarian not because they were better fighters or had better gear (though they often were/had) but because the Romans would hold for far longer than other armies of the time due to their iron discipline. This meant that the other guy's morale would break first and then they'd start fleeing, and the Romans butchering them as they routed.
Even later; armies that should have won battles ended up losing when they simply lost the stomach to keep on fighting.
A cultist, being ill disciplined, untrained, and generally new to this whole warfare thing; may very well just lose the heart for the fight if they think it's turning against them (as suffering massively disproportionate casualties to better trained and equipped soldiers in a superior position would make them believe) and they find out that the "glory of battle" isn't really all that glorious. And the thing about routes is that panic is a pretty infectious emotion. What starts as one squad panicking and running may lead to herd mentality kicking in as more and more people start following their example; leading to the entire group running away (and thus presenting easy targets).
Midnightdeathblade wrote: Think of a daemon incursion like a fart you don't quite trust... you could either toot a little puff of air, bellow a great effluvium, or utterly sh*t your pants and cry as it floods down your leg.
2014/04/08 19:11:32
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
The new Sisters book does include some more fluff. It fleshed out the Major Orders somewhat, and gave us a couple more battles.
Too bad it also Turined Saint Silvana and put Saint Arabella in a hole in the ground. Arabella riding out of the Eye of Terra on Russ' back, guns blazing in each hand was one of my favourite made up mental images of the End Times.
"That time I only loaded the cannon with powder. Next time, I will fill it with jewels and diamonds and they will cut you to shrebbons!" - Nogbad the Bad.
2014/04/08 19:34:20
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Disney also effectively dumped out the entirety of EU canon concerning the post ROTJ era and 343's Halo canon policy seems to also be a complete mess.
Yah, consistency from EU. Halo and Star Wars canon are both largely consistent with their expanded universe, and both have "canon bibles", so to speak. They both have their inconsistency duds, Star Wars especially, but then Star Wars by this point has upwards of hundreds of expanded universe material by now.
Sorry bud, but outliers don't make the rule.
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2014/04/08 19:35:34
2014/04/08 19:36:19
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Disney also effectively dumped out the entirety of EU canon concerning the post ROTJ era and 343's Halo canon policy seems to also be a complete mess.
Yah, consistency from EU. Halo and Star Wars canon are both largely consistent. They both have their inconsistency duds, Star Wars especially, but then Star Wars by this point has upwards of expanded universe material by now.
Sorry bud, but outliers don't make that rule.
I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of the EU saying that apparently every missile fired by the gunships in Attack of the Clones actually had a 100 kilotons of firepower or that in Halo, that distinctly unimpressive "MAC guns, in atmosphere!?" cutscene actually had 1.17 teratons of force behind it.
Midnightdeathblade wrote: Think of a daemon incursion like a fart you don't quite trust... you could either toot a little puff of air, bellow a great effluvium, or utterly sh*t your pants and cry as it floods down your leg.
2014/04/08 19:50:41
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Furyou Miko wrote: The new Sisters book does include some more fluff. It fleshed out the Major Orders somewhat, and gave us a couple more battles.
Too bad it also Turined Saint Silvana and put Saint Arabella in a hole in the ground. Arabella riding out of the Eye of Terra on Russ' back, guns blazing in each hand was one of my favourite made up mental images of the End Times.
Actually, the Major Orders fluff is mostly from an older issue of White Dwarf (back when it was worth something). I'd love to tell you which issue, but the copy I own is at my parent's house in another state.
40k is 111% science.
2014/04/08 19:53:32
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
I'm sorry, I can't hear you over the sound of the EU saying that apparently every missile fired by the gunships in Attack of the Clones actually had a 100 kilotons of firepower or that in Halo, that distinctly unimpressive "MAC guns, in atmosphere!?" cutscene actually had 1.17 teratons of force behind it.
Not an inconsistency.
I think you might be confusing yourself. The "SciFi Writers Have No Sense Of ____" trope and inconsistency aren't the same thing. Describing a bullet as having a kinetic force of 50 quadrillion kilotons in one book and then having it get stopped by a bullet-proof vest in the sequel isn't an inconsistency within the Universe, it's an inconsistency with physics.
Because sci-fi writers tend to not be physicists and like to pull numbers out of their ass.
This message was edited 5 times. Last update was at 2014/04/08 20:02:35
2014/04/08 20:33:45
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Furyou Miko wrote: The new Sisters book does include some more fluff. It fleshed out the Major Orders somewhat, and gave us a couple more battles.
Too bad it also Turined Saint Silvana and put Saint Arabella in a hole in the ground. Arabella riding out of the Eye of Terra on Russ' back, guns blazing in each hand was one of my favourite made up mental images of the End Times.
Actually, the Major Orders fluff is mostly from an older issue of White Dwarf (back when it was worth something). I'd love to tell you which issue, but the copy I own is at my parent's house in another state.
White-Dwarf-293-UK The Liber Sororitas.
‘Your warriors will stand down and withdraw, Curze. That is an order, not a request. (…) When this campaign is won, you and I will have words’
Rogal Dorn, just before taking the beating of his life.
from The Dark King, by Graham McNeill.
2014/04/08 20:44:50
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Furyou Miko wrote: The new Sisters book does include some more fluff. It fleshed out the Major Orders somewhat, and gave us a couple more battles.
Too bad it also Turined Saint Silvana and put Saint Arabella in a hole in the ground. Arabella riding out of the Eye of Terra on Russ' back, guns blazing in each hand was one of my favourite made up mental images of the End Times.
Actually, the Major Orders fluff is mostly from an older issue of White Dwarf (back when it was worth something). I'd love to tell you which issue, but the copy I own is at my parent's house in another state.
White-Dwarf-293-UK The Liber Sororitas.
Which has needed to be in the codex since 3rd edition.
2014/04/08 21:03:24
Subject: Re:Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
If you get the second edition Codex, the Liber Sororitas, the Forgeworld units (Tauros Venator, Lighting, Avenger, Repressor...), the Codex WItchhunters and some Ecclesiarchy stuff (frateris militia to begin with) you will get more than enough stuff for a 104 pg Codex, and boy they would be an awesome army...
‘Your warriors will stand down and withdraw, Curze. That is an order, not a request. (…) When this campaign is won, you and I will have words’
Rogal Dorn, just before taking the beating of his life.
from The Dark King, by Graham McNeill.
2014/04/08 22:37:03
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Kilkrazy wrote: There is a character in Catch 22 called Major Major.
What rank do you think he is promoted to?
In the Army every once in a while you run into a Sergeant named Major....and anyone who knows about rank structure knows that Sergeant Major is also a rank.
Automatically Appended Next Post:
viewfinder wrote: were you one of the guys who threw stuff at the TV when Star Trek messed up stuff from episode to episode? or did you just move on? and remember, they had continuity advisors and they would still mess up stuff...
it's fiction. don't get your panties in such a twist.
I have a book I found at a used book store for like $5:
So yeah, nitpicking silly things doesn't just happen on the internet. We've been doing it before then too.
Automatically Appended Next Post: Oh and stealing from 1d4chan:
Kheradruakh the Decapitator is a Dark Eldar special character mandrake, and just a creepy fething donkey-cave. Kheradruakh isn't his real name, but a title that means "He Who Hunts Heads" or "Decapitator" in the Evil dialect of Eldarese, meaning that "Kheradruakh the Decapitator" is one of those redundant translations like "chai tea.
Apparently redundant names are a thing Phil gets a kick out of?
The big difference between the rants on this site about how poorly the writers maintain continuity and the Nitpicker's Guide is that when he wrote the nitpicker's Guide, he admitted he did it for fun. On here, you'd think that the books were super serious literature.
you automatically lose points for using the trite gamer-isms: balanced, meta, Mat Ward, etc.
2014/04/08 22:38:20
Subject: Do Black Library authors bother to read up on the fluff? [or, Phil Kelly, wtf?]
Psienesis wrote: To be fair, 50 Guardsmen of a specialist light infantry unit against 10,000 Cultists who don't know their arse from a hole in the ground, or which end of the weapon to point at the enemy makes sense. There's plenty of real-world examples where a very small number of professional soldiers slaughtered many, many times their number of irregular militia/undisciplined rabble.
That would be fine if the situation was described as such. But the Cultists were obviously knew how to operate weapons, having support platforms set up in defensible backlines (we know this because the Bluebloods used some of them). They were never described as breaking, but turning to fight once they knew the threat was there. 10,000 armed militants, not breaking, but turning to shoot at 50 men moving through their lines. No real guerilla warfare employed, 50 men pressed between 10,000 armed militants with no morale problems mentioned at all.
It was a poorly written piece trying to emphasise the heroism of the Imperial force that doesn't really work - Abnett even references this himself that it made no sense in a later part of the chapter. But it's pretty similar to much of Abnetts book endings, with miraculous escapes happening just because he can't finish a book properly.
. Ok, I'll still listen to the rest of the book, but it's pretty laughable that Black Library [and Phil Kelly in particular] don't know their own fluff, and kind of destroys the immersion of the book.
