It's worth clicking the button to get them to email you when stuff is out of stock online- stuff like marine upgrade sprues go in and out of stock all the time. I've been after a Ravenwing sprue for a couple of weeks but all the Dark Angel players keep jumping on it whenever they make any :D
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I read far more than I play so can help you out here :-)
A good one to start with is Dark Imperium by Guy Haley, but it's OOP at the moment and almost certainly being rebranded to fit with the newer books as a 'current storyline' book. It covers Roboute Guilliman, a 'primarch' (essentially a demigod son of the Emperor) going into stasis shortly after the end of the Heresy (30k) and then moves forward to a century after his reawakening, after the Indomitus crusade (40k's 'current' setting). He's in a position to have a wide view and opinions on the broken state of the Imperium as a whole.
Spear of the Emperor by Aaron Dempski-Bowden is a good start as it's standalone (although begging for a sequel). A marine chapter with a distinctly Celtic feel is cut off from the Imperium and fighting for survival.
Otherwise, Gaunts Ghosts (Dan Abnett) is like the defining Imperial Guard saga. Start with Ghostmaker, it follows a regiment throughout campaign after campaign as they get worn down, merged with other units, internal strife etc.
Ciaphas Cain (Sandy Mitchell) is also really good. Start with For the Emperor. It's a comedy take on the Imperium based on the Flashman books, in that it follows a Commissar who, by his own admission, is a fraud. The thing is, it's written by an Inquisitor organising his memoirs, and while Cain is harsh on himself, they are actually full of warmth (far more than George McDonald Fraser's original books), he's more human (and competent) than any number of zealots and the sheer pettiness of his observations makes them really good reads. Lots of observations on what the Guard think of general Imperial administrations, xenos, etc. They don't really link into wider lore very much (beyond the odd half-hearted reference to this or that 'big' character in order to needle them) and I love them for that, the sense of satire and knowing takedowns of Imperial bureaucracy, incompetence and nobility underpin what I loved about the setting in the 80s, and feel out it's roots in 2000AD etc really well.
More recently, I've really enjoyed Chris Wraight's books set on Terra, as an introduction to how horrific it is there. Vaults of Terra: The Carrion Throne is great, an Inquisition team picking away at stuff on the throneworld.
For an epic Space Marine saga, Dante followed by Devastation of Baal is a fun introduction to marines as the Blood Angels and their successors face off against a massive tyranid invasion at the start of the Indomitus era. Mark of Faith by Rachel Harrison covers the Adepta Sororitas in the Indomitus Era too, that's a fun story too.
The Horus Heresy series is basically 40k's founding myth that has been kinda retrofitted to underpin the whole setting into a more coherent (well, for 40k) narrative for good or ill, following the shattering of the Emperor's plan for humanity 10,000 years previously. It's a huge series, and I'd probably avoid it until you get your head around the current setting. Pretty much everything is foreshadowing. Although, what is a good read that works almost as a stand-alone, miniaturisation of the Heresy is Know No Fear by Dan Abnett, that shows the Ultramarines led by Guilliman as they see the betrayal firsthand.
One thing that is worth doing is reading a brief introduction to all the factions- either in the main rule book or by looking around online. The novels follow the factions available in the wargame, either as protagonists or antagonists, and some far more than others. Although to be fair most Imperial troops will only have a slightly skewed view of what any of the xenos actually are until they start getting shot at by them :D The vast majority of the books cover one Imperial faction or another, and they make for a good introduction to the setting as a whole as, unlike Warhammer Fantasy, everything revolves around the decaying Imperium far more than it ever did The Empire. Still, there's also some really good viewpoints from elsewhere. Gav Thorpe's Eldar books are much better than his Dark Angel ones. I like Aaron Dembski-Bowden's chaos marine books, and the Necron stories are also interesting as it shows both where they are similar (raw pettiness, jealousy etc!) and how much they differ from humanity.
There are literally hundreds of books, going from relatively shallow battle-after-battle stuff and character studies of how weird everyone and everything is, to procedural thrillers with the investigative characters. 40k is a complete rabbithole of lore. if there's anything specific you're after in a book beyond a good intro to the setting, give me a shout. Otherwise, have a look at which factions appeal to you, and read their better stories :-)
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Keep an eye on eBay and other selling sites. The Dark Imperium Death Guard appear there all the time. The prices can be a little chaotic, ive seen the entire group go for as low as £30 and as high as £75 but if you keep checking you will eventually get a good deal on them.
Oh i shouldve been more clearer
I meant the FANTASY Warhammer ^^;
I already have a list of w40k books but will add any missing from the ones you mentioned thanks^^;
Oh, sorry. I'm not too keyed up on WFB these days (or even AoS). Still, anything by Dan Abnett is likely to be good, and the early Felix and Gotrek books remain my favourite 'Old World' tales.
Ring round smaller independent game stores as an option.
Also I imagine the miniatures from that set will go on to form a Start Collecting box for Death Guard in the near future.
yeah i feel the same; very glad I got my order in
Fantasy is in a weird place; Vermintide is set in the original Warhammer Fantasy world. They ended that setting (literally blew it up in the story) and replaced it with the new Age of Sigmar setting. AoS has some links to the Old World, but is a lot different too, much more fantastical. All new novels are in the new setting, but some of the old ones are still available under the "Warhammer Chronicles" imprint.
Unfortunately, I haven't read any of the old stuff so can't make recommendations there; I will say that the new AoS stuff I have read is kinda mediocre (although I understand newer books are better)
The Genevieve novels by Jack Yeovil (actually film critic Kim Newman under a pseudonym) are legitimately good pulp horror/dark fantasy. They're from the 80s/early 90s era when GW were a lot more experimental, so bits of them will have been retconned away since, but they're probably the best-written thing ever published under the Warhammer label.
The Ciaphas Cain novels are written by Alex Stewart under the the pseudonym Sandy Mitchell. I wonder why these guys do that? Stewart's pseudonym is kind of pragmatic because I have read people claim Sandy Mitchell was a female author and you can tell because the Cain novels are so different from everything else in 40k. I wonder if he chose that name and writing style that on purpose?
Sometimes it's because they don't want licensed work associated with their other work if a reviewer or editor goes looking through their back catalogue. Sometimes it's for a modicum of anonymity/separation (like not having 40k fans spamming your main professional twitter with memes when you use it to talk about other stuff).
It's true that sometimes female authors use a male-sounding name to sell stuff that 'appeals to men', sometimes editors/publishers even recommend it. I think Rachel Harrison might have done that with earlier stories? It's a shame great authors might feel they have to do that but it just goes to show how many readers just look at the cover art, author name and title, and how those things can often have little to do with the book, it's all marketing, backed by analytics. Either that or it's just cynical publishers crediting their customers with zero intelligence.
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How is the tier 1 books in this bundle at least?
Fanatical
www.fanatical.com
I bought this bundle but have only read a few pages of Spear of Shadows so far. Having said that, I have read other works by Josh Reynolds (he wrote like 6 of the books in tier 1) and generally liked them.
Cool, I MIGHT also bite on the 2nd tier as well XP
For that matter, anyone read the stories in this one?
www.blacklibrary.com
Tempted to get it by the cover art alone XP
For that matter, anyone read the stories in this one?
Black Library - Inferno! Volume 4
www.blacklibrary.com
Tempted to get it by the cover art alone XP
I just want the books in tier 3 :(How is the tier 1 books in this bundle at least?
Fanatical
Looking good Kharnete. I'm loving all the bit swapped conversions for these Space Marine characters. Taking notes for when I get around to mine. Also enjoying the progress pics and battle report pics. I'll be sure to take some of mine.
I watched Play on Tabletop's intro video to 9th edition yesterday. They're premiering their first 9th edition battle report in an hour as well. Gonna get the last 15 Necron Warriors put together tonight so I can prime em all on Thursday.
I watched Play on Tabletop's intro video to 9th edition yesterday. They're premiering their first 9th edition battle report in an hour as well. Gonna get the last 15 Necron Warriors put together tonight so I can prime em all on Thursday.
Gotta say I've been really impressed with the quality of the Indomitus models, looks completely on par with non-push fit models and the sculps are great. Left the hobby in 5th edition so I'm glad GW has improved so much with this technology.
Is Mark Strong voicing the main character?
If not, why not.
Not shocking, they've been doing a huge mixed-media expansion. Was only a matter of time.
I'd bet on them taking another swing at Space Marine.
If not that my next guess would be an Inquisitor RPG ala Mass Effect. Or if not that some sort of Hive World based open world game.
Hm, I don't actually know how I feel about that first one. I LOVE ME, but it feels like kind of a poor fit, somehow.
Open world game set in a Hive would be sweet, though.
I was thinking something like what 1313 would have been with a lot of verticality and differences between levels. Moving between Hive Nobles, mid level admistratum and manufactories, lower hive gangs, then the wierdness of the Underhive. If we get to explore the fringe societies and towns outside of the Hive all the better.
Yeah, that sounds excellent - more of an oldschool open world game where it's more a series of connected hubs rather than a singular giant level.
Forgeworld the store is now mostly BIG vehicles/monsters and infantry accessories with a sprinkling of Custodes. They also used to offer Imperial Guard special armies but most of those have been retired.
Short answer:
Generally they are making a far smaller number of kits in resin at a higher price point, aimed at collectors and people interested in playing a Horus Heresy variant of 40k.
Long answer:
Forgeworld started out providing more esoteric large kits in resin for 40k, aimed at dedicated collectors. At the time (~20 years back) casting in resin allowed for much sharper, more intricate detail on vehicles than the metal upgrades on plastic chassis that most of the tank variants allowed at the time. Not to mention that super-heavy vehicles just weren't practical in metal, their digital design for plastics weren't at that stage yet either, and nor was the demand. So resin filled that spot for, like, Imperial Guard collectors at the time that were happy to pay a premium for a centrepiece for their army. Lots of units now available in plastic as part of the main 40k line were originally only feasible in resin from FW, and have crossed over due to popularity- stuff like the Hydra flak tank started out as an air defence unit in Epic (6mm scale 40k ~30 years ago), then had a Forge World resin kit, then moved to plastic from the main design studio as the ability to do so arrived, 40k increased in scale and fliers were introduced.
These days, plastics, digital design and demand has come along to the point where the main studio is putting out super-heavy kits themselves, and even Forge World has moved to plastic for some kits. While FW still makes lots of low-demand, interesting resin pieces you can use in 40k, their main business these days is Horus Heresy, which is aimed at super-dedicated 40k players who love the background lore of the 30k setting. Having a series of ~60 novels talking about different units, characters and formations, inspiring people to make armies for it doesn't hurt either. This is why you often see Horus Heresy armies in White Dwarf- it's aimed at people who've spent decades steeped in the setting and, rather than an army of Indomitus Primaris Marines, are collecting something like 'The Dark Angels force that was opposing the Night Lords in the galactic east in the middle-years of the Heresy'. (That's HH book 9, 'Crusade', out later on this year, for which kits like this are being made for.)
A lot of the HH vehicles are based on 1980s sculpts of original space marine kit- the early power armour variants, and the first Rhino, Land Raider, Dreadnought, Rapier and Tarantula kits, so it's also a link into nostalgia for ageing 40-something players like me, on top of all the new stuff they keep making. It's also even more expensive than GW's 40k plastic kits. Really it's aimed at people who've been playing a long time and are happy to pay a premium for 'historical 40k' treated like it's an actual historical wargame, if that makes any sense! Basically 'the old kits reimagined to look like how we thought they looked as kids, super-cool rather than a bit naff'. A bit like the better indie games that invoke the visuals of retro 8-bit computer games, while still doing stuff they couldn't do then, and with modern game design :D
I think the middle ground in the marketing between GW's 40k line and Forge World's HH line is some of their specialist games like Adeptus Titanicus. A very old tabletop game set in the heresy, but reimagined with modern game design, with the iconic hunched look of the Imperial knights and titans something that older players have a real fondness for. You can see it in the knight kit for 40k, where Jes Goodwin talks about the appeal of the aesthetic to people who always wanted a 'titan' in 40k and so a lot of design aesthetics from the 1980s models trickled down into both the current Adeptus Titanicus kits and the modern 40k knights.
VoxCast – Episode 16: Jes Goodwin and Knights
Jes Goodwin shares his recollections of more than 30 years designing the Knights of the 41st Millennium, from the original metal Epic Knights to the plastic ...
www.youtube.com
Bonus round:
When they released the Adeptus Titanicus/Space Marine wargames in the late 80s, which had basically one sprue of titans and one sprue of 6mm marines (plus rhinos/land raiders) respectively, the Heresy became a thing as it was a reason to have two similar armies fighting each other- they only had to make one set. The marine sprue had tactical/devastator/assault/terminators/bikes, which pretty much underpinned almost the entire marine range and chapter organisation long before the first 40k marine codex and for the next 30 years until all the Primaris stuff. All the modern interest in the Heresy, the reworking of it as underpinning 40k's mythos and narrative, the way marine armies had been so static for so long, Forge World's modern business model and customer base, it all goes back to basically two sprues :D
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Nice work! Love the cracked mud technical paint. Is there anyone using the head that guy comes with? I swear every one I've seen has used a different one :DFinished my Judiciar. I may tackle the Bladeguard next.
I was tempted! I really like it, but once I started to change the other bits it just didn't fit.
Gorgeous.Finished my Judiciar. I may tackle the Bladeguard next.
Oh no worries, I know I tend to waffle at length about this stuff, apologies to anyone who finds my essays tedious :-)
I've started work on some Dark Angel Intercessors to round out my Indomitus box when it arrives. I've been experimenting with glazes to get a nice smooth blend from the deep Caliban Green in the middle of each panel to a final highlight of Moot Green. Still not quite there yet- my eyesight is working against me now I'm in my 40s, I think I need reading glasses :D
How do you do the light green? By painting or dry brushing ?I've started work on some Dark Angel Intercessors to round out my Indomitus box when it arrives. I've been experimenting with glazes to get a nice smooth blend from the deep Caliban Green in the middle of each panel to a final highlight of Moot Green. Still not quite there yet- my eyesight is working against me now I'm in my 40s, I think I need reading glasses :D
Just painting with the edge of the brush. If it's too light I just tint it back with another glaze of medium+Warpstone Glow.
I didn't even realise that was a thing! Thanks very much, I shall investigate!
That looks great already tbh. That is one tacticool bolter though haha!I've started work on some Dark Angel Intercessors to round out my Indomitus box when it arrives. I've been experimenting with glazes to get a nice smooth blend from the deep Caliban Green in the middle of each panel to a final highlight of Moot Green. Still not quite there yet- my eyesight is working against me now I'm in my 40s, I think I need reading glasses :D
I know right. It seems so impractical. That shoulder strap doesn't even go over his shoulder and having the spare grenades on it flapping around, rather than at his waist, thus seems a bit foolish. I kinda like the idea that Intercessor squads use a frag/krak launcher as a standardised way of giving them extra options to deal with hordes/armour the way the old special/heavy weapon option did, but the downside with grenade launchers is they always feel a bit 'terrible at everything' rather than the ace up your sleeve that the odd meltagun or plasma cannon was.
I'm back with another beginner question:
I might be able to grab my first 40K box next week, I'm still deciding between a starting set with 2 factions (like No Fear or whatever it's called) or a start collecting box. But are those models still playable with the 9th edition available?
I'm not sure if I should just wait for the new starter sets to be available.
Edit: also can you mix different space marines factions when playing?
And is there some way of knowing how a specific minifigure plays without buying a codex ?
I might be able to grab my first 40K box next week, I'm still deciding between a starting set with 2 factions (like No Fear or whatever it's called) or a start collecting box. But are those models still playable with the 9th edition available?
I'm not sure if I should just wait for the new starter sets to be available.
Edit: also can you mix different space marines factions when playing?
And is there some way of knowing how a specific minifigure plays without buying a codex ?
Any models in the 8th Edition starters are perfectly valid in the new edition (and it's been speculated for a while that those will become part of future Start Collecting Box Sets for Primaris Space Marines and Death Guard).
Don't forget though any rules in the box will be out of date.
Personally, I would be asking myself "which army do I WANT to start, regardless of what is or isn't in a starter". It could be you think the models look good, or perhaps the general play style, or the background of the faction.
Thanks !
I want to build a Space Marines army with maybe some blood angels thrown in there because they look cool. Would that be possible ?
This is absolutely the right way to do it. Look at a summary of each faction, or a review of the miniature ranges (there's loads on YouTube). Which ones really speak to you? Which faction do you want to command, and which ones do you want to paint? Generally you'll spend way more time building, painting and prepping a force for battle than you will playing, so choosing a force you aren't that fussed about (or worse, ignoring the one that your mind keeps drifting back to!) is a surefire way to end up with a ton of unpainted plastic.
If you do like marines, do any of the supported factions appeal, or do you want to make your own up? The latter can be really rewarding.
To answer your question, generally units have keywords, and your army special rules and characters will boost units with those keywords, so you're kind of incentivised to play as a single faction/chapter. Nothing saying you can't though, if you're imagining a crusade where a bunch of marines from different chapters are all allied together, more power to your elbow!