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Deano, yes, it's a complete story, and while I think it's a cop-out to choose practically a "what-if" setting and then make it almost all just populated by chaos goons, I'd be okay with that except that they charge a ton for each of those expansions and wonder, do they think we're hooked on the story so they can jack up the price? Personally, this is one of the worst experiences I've had with GW cynical behavior in a long time, and I wouldn't buy a sister title.

Damocles, seriously, the little profile illustration looks like a closer update from the old BFG illustrations than Primaris does to normal marines or when they did those awkward Crimson Fist updates on RT illustrations, enough that at a glance it immediately registered as referencing the original. Over the ~20 years since they came up in BSF, illustrators and writers have had their own takes on it, in a setting known for kinda poor consistency and a bit of artistic freedom, by a company with what feels like a whole forum devoted to people who are dissatisfied with their attention to rules details.

The reason (I'm assuming) Baronlveagh expressed confusion is because the question is bizarre. You (a given player) are in a shape-changey magic space pyramid labyrinth and spooky gak happens to you and your friends who might not be your friends (except there's no semi-coop in the game except glory hogging)! It's ~mysterious~ (in wavy halloween font). You (the specific person) are looking for conspiracy clues in a kind of lazy board game.

I guess there's a location element to it. In the UK the expansions have been broadly in line with what you'd pay for similar board game expansions elsewhere but:

1) We get GW stuff cheaper than in the US
2) We pay more for other board games than in the US

Someone mentioned Shadows of Brimstone earlier, the smaller BSF expansions cost as much as a deluxe enemy pack or mission pack for Brimstone (£30-£40)

The two larger expansions were less than the deluxe Other Worlds for Brimstone. (~£55 vs ~£65)

I personally felt the small expansions were a bit light on actual gameplay content but the larger ones were a decent amount of stuff for the price.

Those prices in the UK yeah aren't terrible. Here, the larger expansions are $110 vs. SOB cores which are $100, if that puts things in perspective.

The U.K. prices being inclusive of 20% VAT while North American prices are exclusive of sales tax doesn’t help the pricing disparity.
I loved BSF and would have happily gobbled up every expansion but the pricing was a joke. The Ambull compared so poorly with the Necromunda Ambots (two models at a lower price) that I couldn’t justify any of it. I switched all my focus to Underworlds and had a blast (although GW is now trying their best to reduce that game’s value by jacking the starter set up by 25% and the new warbands up by 28.5%)

 spiralingcadaver wrote:

Damocles, seriously, the little profile illustration looks like a closer update from the old BFG illustrations than Primaris does to normal marines or when they did those awkward Crimson Fist updates on RT illustrations, enough that at a glance it immediately registered as referencing the original. Over the ~20 years since they came up in BSF, illustrators and writers have had their own takes on it, in a setting known for kinda poor consistency and a bit of artistic freedom, by a company with what feels like a whole forum devoted to people who are dissatisfied with their attention to rules details.

So when you claimed, 'The rulebooks clearly show that it basically looks like the other BSFs', you actually were referring to the line-silhouette which is 14mm across (yeah I measured it).

I mean, I'm not so caught up on the description being poor to the point of ambiguity; but you were the one making the claim that there wasn't a question here...

 spiralingcadaver wrote:
The reason (I'm assuming) Baronlveagh expressed confusion is because the question is bizarre. You (a given player) are in a shape-changey magic space pyramid labyrinth and spooky gak happens to you and your friends who might not be your friends (except there's no semi-coop in the game except glory hogging)! It's ~mysterious~ (in wavy halloween font). You (the specific person) are looking for conspiracy clues in a kind of lazy board game.

Yes - it's kind of lazy! That was my claim! And that's not ok!

It being lazy is a problem. Trying to justify that; either by saying it's supposed to be lazy; or just claiming that problems don't exist because tiny marks on a map look a bit like the profile of something else which is explicitly described differently (size/exterior); serves nobody.

If a new player comes to a game (and then buys into the 'extended universe' fiction for that game), they presumably want to know something about where they are. Even if there was something which said 'the new Blackstone is exactly like the Gothic Blackstones', somebody who doesn't know what a Blackstone Fortress actually looks like is still out of luck.
In the same way as someone playing D&D presumably want's to know more about their environs than 'It's a dungeon. Like a castle or something. And monsters. What more do you want!?'

And for somebody who is already familiar with the broader setting, just having the background be 'Spooky mysterious wOoO' is deeply unsatisfying.
If Blackstone 7 is the same as the Gothic Fortresses, is in the active or dormant configuration? Could it be potentially be controlled by the Eye of Night/Hand of Darkness? How come its so difficult to navigate if its essentially just eight arms? How is the interior so much larger than the exterior? Who cares?! It's a mystery - don't bother to think about it!

It's not like GW don't already have multiple art assets of Blackstones which they could have copy-pasted into one of the booklets which come with the game if it's supposed to be the same as the Gothic Blackstones... so it's not as though it would even have taken any extra effort.

Dude, I don't remember where it is. There've been a lot of pictures of it and some of them are big, certainly bigger than a half-inch. It takes like 10 seconds to image search it, and the game is already going out of production. GW often leaves gak open-ended and frankly when it doesn't come to rules I think it's a fine approach.

You'veclearly got way more invested in this than I do. I don't care, so I'm not going to get any further into this nit-picking about an average board game.

New quest for Blackstone Fortress - WD 457

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/10/02/white-dwarf-preview-issue-457/

-keeps an eye open for more info-

TryfanIronsword wrote:
New quest for Blackstone Fortress - WD 457

https://www.warhammer-community.com/2020/10/02/white-dwarf-preview-issue-457/

Maybe there will be another Annual to cap off all things BSF?

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
Maybe there will be another Annual to cap off all things BSF?

Watch, there will be something like Battlefleet Gothic did and have a chapter weirdly grafted into another book in an effort to Boost Sales.

 H.B.M.C. wrote:
If you want them, get them. And quick. And start with the most recent one.

If it's the last expansion in a product line, it means it'll have the least reprints (if any), meaning it'll be the first to run out.

That was just over a month ago. Looks like only the core game, Escalation and Ascension are still available (well, the former two currently out of stock, but at least still listed) alongside the 2019 Annual and Cultists figure-only set. No sign of the others on the webstore anymore.

I hope everyone who wanted a Zoat got theirs already, he certainly wasn't long for this world...

I remain quietly hopeful we’ll see periodic availability for BSF. I only need the Abominable Intelligence cards, and extra baddies myself, but I want fellow completist weirdos to have their non eBay opportunities.

At this point I'm not bothering with the cards. I missed them at the time, and I doubt they're really all that necessary.

Personally I'd be happy with a 2020 annual to gather everything that's been in WD since the 2019 annual.

The Zoats gone (although still on ebay, so I'm tempted to finally get one), and the renegade guardsmen box has been gone for ages. Of all the models to go OOP, that's the one that bugs me the most. They're great models, and unlike the zoat, chaos guardsmen could easily fit into a 40k army, at least proxied as cultist if nothing else

Given their cross over in white dwarf articles, its possible Kill Team could relaunch in a new form with elements incorporated from Blackstone Fortress. This would allow it to take pages out of Warcry's book, such as a setting, beasts and game specific models.

And both games seem to be coming to a close...hmmm.

Considering the size and scope of a BSF, I still think it would make a great setting for future games.

I'm honestly surprised we haven't got a 40k equivalent to Underworlds yet. It'd be a good excuse to make random and obscure models from the 40k universe, and all they'd need are some cards and stats basically.

Thats a great idea for a 40K Underworlds.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
Considering the size and scope of a BSF, I still think it would make a great setting for future games.

I'm honestly surprised we haven't got a 40k equivalent to Underworlds yet. It'd be a good excuse to make random and obscure models from the 40k universe, and all they'd need are some cards and stats basically.

Until the third expansion is three easy build Plague Marines....


You're right though. Ex IG preacher, Arbites Canid handler and so on.

Just asked GW customer services regarding the availability of Blackstone Fortress, and confirmed that they are indeed making more copies of the core game.

They hope to have them ready before Christmas but haven't been given a specific date. I forgot to ask about it, but I would assume that would be the case for the Escalation expansion as well.


So with that confirmed, I've decided to take the plunge and join you all. For the moment I'm only interested in the core game, dreaded ambull and the 2019 annual. Not sure if I will go with further expansions( should they become available ) and will probably save the cash for whatever the follow up Quest game will be.

With things being quiet right now I would venture a flamboyant purchase of BSF: Ascension but apparently it requires Escalation. If that requirement is only for the sake of an odd mission I'd probably get it, but otherwise I'm not prepared to fork out for two £65 expansions, even with 20% discount.

While Ascension is the final expansion, I'm wondering if they will drop a 2020 annual that features exclusive necron content. The Blackstone material has been mentioned quite a bit of late in necron related stuff and I guess Necron Overlords will go full on Disney to protect their property! A Royal Warden might take some warriors & scarabs to give any squaters the boot...

 Lord Damocles wrote:
On a related note, it's amazing with how many expansion booklets, novels, short stories etc. GW has produced for Blackstone Fortress, just how little background there is on the setting - for example, what does the Fortress actually look like from the outside?
Like a lot of things GW does, it all looks very swish from an overview, but there is very little in the way of depth.

In the latest blackstone fortress novel, Ascension, at the end of chapter 9, there is more descriptions for the space fortress. Its described to be as big as a small planet and is warp capable. Also It is only half emerged in real space, making it only the tip of the iceberg, which i found interesting. People on Precipice look down from orbit and see that the blackstone fortress is so massive that they can't comprehend its true shape. I imagine they see it as a flat black surface . Other features include its massive gravity well that precipice uses as artificial gravity and the space debris that orbit the fortress

Speaking of which, were any of the books worth reading?

I'm enjoying the novels. It is a good stand alone series. I notice that the Ascension book assumes the reader is familiar with the expansions. Its a shame the robot only has 2 short stories. He is the best character. No contest

Yes the robot is one of the more interesting characters. Can't wait to get him assembled.

A copy of Deadly Alliance was in stock today on Wayland Games so I snapped it up for £30.

Not sure how far I can use the contents with the core game itself without Escalation, but the Zoat model will at least see use in other games such as Kill Team, 40K and Rogue Trader.

I liked the novel and all the little short stories. Despite never getting round to the game.
Regret not getting it in some ways (though I truly wished I had bought that Kill Team box with the Gellerpox).
But probably wouldn’t get round to playing anyway..

Yes, sadly Rogue Trader has now disappeared from the GW site. It looked like the best expansion for Kill Team but the Nurgle models were an immediate turn off, even though well sculpted.

Thats the only problem with this hobby; it takes a bit of hard graft and games & grey models will tend to sit on the shelf, rarely venturing outside of their boxes...but we stare at them in adoration...

Same reason I didn’t do this. Warcry. Necromunda.
I love all the awesome models. But usage is low.
I already went too deep into Underworlds..

Oh dear. The Deadly Alliance order was cancelled by Wayland today, as they didn't really have it in stock.

Bit depressing but hey, life goes on. At least the Annual arrived tonight, so thats something.

Thaaaaaaaat’s Wayland!

Sucks you missed out though. That is on GW alone.

It certainly seems that way. I'll just put the credit towards the core game when it comes back in...or...maybe a titan if not? Maybe two...?

Commence operation Air Guitar!