The Black Library are popping out
AoS bits every day up to Christmas, so thought it might be an idea to keep track of them here, and get people to post reviews on them if they pick any up. You can see all of the advent items here:
http://www.blacklibrary.com/call-of-chaos
As a quick summary, these are the Must Reads: Path to Glory, The Unending Storm, Daemon of the Deep, Lord of the Cosmic Gate.
And now for the reviews...
Path to Glory: A Chaos warband generator and mini-campaign system. I like this idea a lot and, if you have a bunch of Chaos models lying around (and given the price: £2.49), there really is no reason not to grab this.
The Unending Storm: Fiction, all about a Khorne champion going up against the Stormcast. Now, this ended up being quite a good one - yes, it is all about a Khorne guy facing the Stormcast. However, he keeps killing a specific Eternal, who then keeps coming back to face him, over and again. For someone who wants to collect skulls, this is quite stressful
You also see the direct effect of being reforged over and again. This one is worth a look...
Khorne Painting Guide: Not going to pick this one up, as I already have quite a bit of Khorne painted
However, looks like it provides variant schemes other than the Goretide, so might be worth a go if you haven't painted your Khorne yet and, like me, you paint by numbers!
Edit: Okay, I did pick this one up. It only has two colour schemes, one of which is in the
AoS starter set. I do like the variant, and may even use it, but there is not too much to this guide beyond that, especially if you do have the starter set.
By The Horns: More fiction. This one is about a Slaaneshi champion, so you get to see things from their perspective in terms of a missing god. The setting is interesting enough (the land constantly changes) but the story... I found it less so. Grab if you want a Slaaneshi view, otherwise can safely skip.
Battleplan: Monolith: Obviously, a Battleplan. If you are using the Path to Glory campaign system (see above), this has direct links into it (both from a game and narrative point of view). In common with other Battleplans, however, it can be used for any forces. It has shades of The Ritual but is sufficiently different to be interesting. If you are doing Path to Glory, you will want this. If not, it is worth picking up if you are after a variant Battleplan - certainly nothing wrong with it.
The Gift of Khorne: Fiction. A Khorne Lord beats up on a city (of Free Peoples, though you do not see much of them) and gets beaten once too often. Khorne punishes him. And that is about it. If you are after a Khorne-fix, The Unending Storm was, I think, better.
The Blasted Wastes: A terrain guide, meaning 'here are some cool ways to paint terrain'. However, it has to be said it covers just two pieces of terrain - the battle boards (turning them into the Blasted Wastes) and the Dreadhold. Now, I actually quite like the colour scheme they have for the Dreadhold in this - but I have already done mine, so that is out. Also, they seem to be working on a wall section that has not been released (or has possibly been converted, but there is no mention of that in this ebook), as it has tentacles sprouting out of it! Final analysis: if you are desperate for a new colour scheme for a Dreadhold or Battle Boards, then this may be worthwhile. If you are not... you can probably skip this one, to be fair.
Daemon of the Deep: Fiction. This is an interesting one, and has shades of some of the 'off piste' stories from the Old World (it has a dash of flavour from the old WFRP Death on the Reik as well). Bottle, if you are reading this, this may be the story you have been waiting for - it is about the little people in the Realms! There are no Stormcasts in this story and while Chaos is certainly present, the only champion you will read about is one of the little people who is kicked around by the rest and cast out of their society. I didn't think I would like this one, but it is a solid entry into the
AoS library. Recommended.
The Blasted Wastes 1: This is a Time of War sheet (well, two actually, with apparently with more to come) covering two really nasty areas of Chaos-warped terrain, one for Khorne and one for Nurgle. We can guess who will be covered in part two... They are evocative enough, and have links to the Path to Glory campaign (easy enough to use without it though), but to do them justice will need some terrain building. The Nurgle area is a vast swamp, and I am not sure how many people have more than one or two pieces of swamp/march terrain, while the Khorne one is a huge (and I mean HUGE, with millions of slaves over a continent) forge to Khorne. Think
AoS-style Forge World. This ebook is also fairly short, with 1 page for background, 3 pages for the Time of War rules, 1 full page picture, and 4 pages for the
AoS core rules, which have kinda been tagged onto the end. If the ideas of the specific areas of terrain grab you, then this is going to be worthwhile. But it might be a bit of a stretch to build an entire table to serve this ebook
The Last Gift: Fiction. One Chaos champion meets another. They used to be friends. One kills the other, the other gets the last laugh. That is about it. Very short, you can safely skip this one.
Nurgle Painting Guide: Okay, I am
really not going to pick this one up - from the preview, it has two different ways of painting up Blightkings, I have already painted up Blightkings, and I don't really fancy doing more in a different colour... Sorry, but you guys are on your own for this one. If it is anything like the Khorne painting guide, it may be worth a look if (like me) you effectively paint by numbers and (unlike me) you are about to dive into a Nurgle force.
The Prodigal: Fiction, and perhaps the shortest story yet - the copyright, licence and 'about the author' sections total almost as many pages on my Kindle. However, size is no sign of quality, as they say. This is certainly a reasonable entry into the series, veering towards good. Its value, though, comes as preview material. This is the first real look that we have of the Realm of Light (albeit of just a city and its surroundings), and the first real mention of Tyrion. In this story, he is portrayed as a god, and the city in question is dedicated to him. When a Khorne warband attacks the place, they wheel out a Luminark, though one manned by Tyrion worshippers (so, Luminarks are still a thing, but have now been divorced from the old Empire). Also, right at the end, it is clear the Stormcasts are on their way. I am guessing this story is a little prelude to the Stormcasts entering the Realm of Life in the storyline, and of the elves as well (though no elves actually appear in this story - the Tyrion worshippers appear to be human). So, very short, and the story is a vehicle for the preview. But if you want to see what is coming, it is probably worth 99p to find out...
Trial of Champions: This is a four player Battleplan, with straight four player rules (a couple of paragraphs on how to handle turns within a Battle Round). For most, that is about it - the hook on this one is that it also ties directly into the Path to Glory campaign system and there are HUGE bonuses for winning this one, namely a ton of Favour points (especially if your patron hates the opposing gods) and three triumphs for the overall victor. Solid, but only special if you are playing Path to Glory.
The Crystal of Fate: Fiction. Short, but interesting. Set (initially) within the Hanging Valleys of Anvrok, a Tzeentch sorcerer and a bunch of Chosen are trying to bring Kairos Fateweaver back (things did not go well for him when Ghal-Maraz was found). Tzeentch-style tricks and twists follow. Gives a view on the plans of Tzeentch forces after the Stormcasts made their mark in Chamon, as well as a look at Kairos' own domain within the Realm of Chaos. Not brilliant, but not bad by any stretch.
Slaanesh Painting Guide: Well, with this and By The Horns, it seems clear that Slaaneshi followers, at least, are still a thing. I grabbed this painting guide because while I am not currently doing a Slaaneshi warband, I imagine I will be at some point (I've done the other three gods) and I could use some ideas for colour schemes. Unfortunately, the first suggestion, the Clamour of Bliss, is exactly how I do my Tzeentch warriors, just swapping the blue wash over Leadbelcher for a Druchii Violet one. Could probably have worked that out for myself and the end result is a bit drab. However, the next (called the Court of Vain Rapture) is a much stronger pinky-type of scheme, and is now likely to be the one I use - so, the guide is not a waste at all! One interesting point - there is some Slaaneshi-based artwork in this guide that I do not
think I have seen before.
GW are not going to commission this kind of art just for an ebook painting guide, so maybe this is a possible hint of something Slaaneshi waiting in the wings (don't get too excited, might just be a Battleplan...)?
Gorechosen: Fiction. This one is from a relatively new writer I think (though he is on
GW's staff as a background writer) and, in terms of writing, plot and characters, it is a good, solid entry. Rival heroes in a Khorne band (a Slaughterpriest and an Aspiring Deathbringer) are having an argument about whether they should go an help Lord Khul face the Stormcasts in the Brimstone Peninsula. It is nice that this story builds on existing events, rather than operates in a vacuum and, as I say, it is well written. It also has an interesting location to set your own games if you have a Khorne army. Don't expect any big revelations of the Mortal Realms, and this would probably be worth a look.
The Blasted Wastes 2: Well, we knew this one was coming, and that it would cover tables (using Time of War sheets) for Slaanesh and Tzeentch. Be warned, though this is an 11 page ebook, there are only 3 pages of actual rules for Time of War, and no descriptions of what such tables would actually look like (which might be fair enough, use your own imagination when it comes to putting together terrain). Slaanesh gets Mount Hedon, which boils down to a perfumed wind coming out of orifices round the table (I am serious). Tzeentch gets the Crystalline Shore which can benefit wizards big time and there is a chance that the Firetide comes rolling in. That one might be a very good looking table, if someone were so inspired. Both get Triumphs tables, of course. If you absolutely must have every Time of War sheet for the game, these are worth a look (certainly nothing wrong with them), but their use would be limited.
The Eighth Victory: More Khorne-based fiction, this one has a Khorne Lord trying to get to be a Daemon Prince. Decent enough twist in the tale, another solid entry in the series.
The Rewards of Chaos: This is a fun-looking Battleplan. Four Chaos Shrines go on the table, each one dedicated to a specific god. Two Chaos warbands fight, but get benefits if they can grab the shrine for their own god - this one ties heavily into the Path to Glory campaign and I would strongly recommend it if you are looking to play it (and why wouldn't you, eh?).
Godless: Slaaneshi fiction (which probably sounds more pervy than it really is). This is a background piece, putting things into context rather than making any big reveals - what is life like for a Chaos worshipper if their god is gone. It has shades of the Slaaneshi Battleplan in the Seraphon Battletome, though the Slaaneshi side is purely mortal. Solid, interesting, but no big reveals, so not an essential addition.
Lair of the Beast: Battleplan, and quite an interesting one - two warbands happen upon a monster's lair and try to steal a baby (so they can raise and tame it) while avoiding the attentions of the angry mother. If you are also doing the Path to Glory campaign, you get to keep the baby monster in your army and watch it grow (and become more powerful!).
The Sacrifice: Fiction. Short but sweet. You might see the twist at the end coming right from the beginning, but there is a solid battle of Chaos vs. Orcs in between. You cannot really go wrong with that!
Tzeentch Painting Guide: Not going to pick this one up, but I believe we can guess the contents, going by the previous ones - two colour schemes, both of which are on the front cover of the ebook. That being the case, one of the schemes is the same as in the Ghal Maraz hardback (and is the one I used for my own Bleak Horde, funnily enough). The other scheme does not seem especially inspired so, if you already have the hardback, I would suggest skipping.
Lord of the Cosmic Gate: Fiction. Fair bit of meat on this one - a sorcerer of Tzeentch thinks he has cracked the key to become mightier than Archaon and make Tzeentch the greatest of Chaos gods. So, that is obviously going to work out well. There is a massive battle with the Seraphon, and a decent enough twist at the end. The writing style reminded me a lot of the 'flowery' prose of 'classic' fantasy, which may leave you wondering whether the author had a Thesaurus next to him as he wrote this. If you are a fan of that sort of writing, this will chime well with you, and it is also worth a look if you want to see how the Seraphon go about their business in the Mortal Realms. Recommended.
and would love to see what your army looks like. Beastmen sound like a very cool addition, I also love those models!