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Hey everybody,

I'm working on collecting a 30k Salamanders army, and would like to learn even more of their lore.

I searched the Black Library and found many Salamander related books. I'd like to take a bit of a short cut and ask here what books are the most recommended.

So... what books containing Salamanders lore would you highly recommend?

Whichever ones are on fire at the time

I kid

Your best source is going to be the Salamander's write up in FW's HH book 2: Massacre.

Sadly, the only good story I would recommend is Meduson, but it's a Warhammer World exclusive. It's a shame because I found it excellent and felt it did more interesting things with the Salamanders than any other Horus Heresy book. Certainly more than Vulkan Lives, Deathfire, or Damnation of Pythos.

Ok thanks for the ideas.

I'll definitely be combing through the HH 2 book for some initial fluff.

Are none of the BL Salamander books any good?

It's not that they're not good, it's more that Nick Kyme is not that good, and with very few exceptions, he's the only one who deals with Salamanders-centric stories. Conceptually, they're not bad, I just found them to be not very engaging and a slog to get through.

I'd personally say some of the most interesting facets of 30k Salamanders lies in a few different areas.
The Terran Salamanders had a strong tendency towards suicidal last-stands and almost kamikaze-esque tactics and brutally. In some way they were closer to the War Hounds (pre-Angron World Eaters) or the White Scars (well known for their unreliability during the Great Crusade) than any other legion. They were hotheaded and always willing to sacrifice themselves for the mission, even when there may have been a better alternative. Vulkan really tempered that aspect of the legion and did his best to put into perspective the importance of seeing the greater purpose to battle, to defeat those who would do harm to those you care about.

The other interesting area is in the possibility of varying interpretations of the Promethean Cult by different Nocturne city-states, the guiding principle that Vulkan instilled into the legion, or even the possibility of it being subverted if you're interested in some traitor Salamanders (remember, all legions had some marines on all sides, no exceptions).

Lastly, there were far more relics of Vulkan than just those that are mentioned in 40k. Hundreds more, in fact. Everything from perfect daggers and support weaponry, to one of a kind vehicles and voidcraft.

 miniwargaming wrote:
Ok thanks for the ideas.

I'll definitely be combing through the HH 2 book for some initial fluff.

Are none of the BL Salamander books any good?

Nick Kyme writes the Sallies, meaning he's the only option, and he's the kind of author that gives you Super Saiyan Space Marines (a Librarian at one point literally turns into a Super Saiyan), Vulkan being a complete hypocrite, and many dry characters with little flesh or life to them. It's really a choice of whether you can deal with utterly insane/silly events and some incredibly uninteresting characters you wish would just step down.

 Wyzilla wrote:

 miniwargaming wrote:
Ok thanks for the ideas.

I'll definitely be combing through the HH 2 book for some initial fluff.

Are none of the BL Salamander books any good?

Nick Kyme writes the Sallies, meaning he's the only option, and he's the kind of author that gives you Super Saiyan Space Marines (a Librarian at one point literally turns into a Super Saiyan), Vulkan being a complete hypocrite, and many dry characters with little flesh or life to them. It's really a choice of whether you can deal with utterly insane/silly events and some incredibly uninteresting characters you wish would just step down.

Guy Haley wrote the Salamanders stories in Meduson, and they were great. I hope he continues to write Salamanders. Hell, I hope he continues write HH period.

Really looking forward to seeing your 30k stuff start off too Matt. You should make project blog for each of the armies assembly thru painting and etc in a similar style to Beasts of Wars Vlogs; that'd be a treat for the rest of us that don't get to look at FW stuff that often.

Things get kind of tricky with the Salamanders and Vulkan during the Heresy, as far as reading the journey of the Salamanders during this time in Chronological order because they are mentioned in bits and pieces in several different HH novels.

If I recall correctly Vulkan and the Salamanders or Salamander battle actions aren't really introduced proper until the battle at Isstvan V. I forget which novel covers the Isstvan V massacre, Fulgrim I believe? Help me out here guys.

After that Vulkan Lives should be your next read, then Unremembered Empire. Though Unremembered Empire is not centered around the Salamanders, it fills in some perplexing blanks to their storyline, and they do play a role in this novel. This novel is also a great link between Vulkan lives and the next novel, Deathfire. Trust me, read Vulkan Lives then Unremembered Empire, you will have one of those "no f...ing way!" revelations as the two novels compliment each other magnificently. Unremembered Empire also ties up some loose ends between Vulkan Lives and Deathfire and flows perfectly into Deathfire. I believe there's a 3rd novel in the series that's planned(Vulkan Lives, Deathfire, ???)

There might also be some novels or novellas that cover Conrad Curze of the Night Lords and his interactions with Vulkan and the Salamanders. It's been a while since I've read through these novels and cannot recall exactly which novel or novellas with Curze overlap with the Salamanders.

These novels are all set in during the Heresy, so if you want the earliest Lore on the Salamanders, this is the place to start. So my recommended MUST reads would be(in order):

1. Fulgrim
2. Vulkan Lives
3. Unremembered Empire
4. Deathfire


I have the Deathfire print from Black Library. It's amazing.