In The Beginning...

Every 40k player longs for the good old days. Back when women were women and men were geneticaly enhanced super soldiers. when brother fought brother and the GALAXY ERUPTED IN WAVES OF BLOOD THAT BROKE ON A SHORE OF SKULLS. Wait... what?




That's right, kiddies. Forge World just made a license to print money.

As if the Heresy-era Power Armors were not a big enough seller and everyone and their brother are trying to do a "Pre-Heresy" army. As if the Horus Heresy series of books are not the best selling novels that the Black Library has ever printed on dead trees or sent out over the interwebs. As if all that was not enough, I feel like I am being mugged by Forge World because I know and they know they I am going to have to beg, borrow or steal to buy these books.

I love the series on the Badab war even if it is a bit repetitive with ties pictures. It is an immersive campaign that I would love to play out. With the Heresy books, I expect the same. There is plenty of material that has been written over the past three decades or so (there is hardly a Codex out there that does not touch on the Heresy not to mention the Black Library books) about this era, so I am sure that these books will be jam packed with beautiful art, history awesome gaming ideas!

Needless to say, I love this idea. This is not only going to be a blast to read and play, but it will also really help out with the Pre/Post-Heresy Project where I do all the first founding Legions in their Pre-Heresy and Post-Heresy colors. It is hav been in the planning for at least 3 years and I am always glad that I wait. The bits and kits keep getting better and with this advent of these books (I am assuming that this is going to be a series because they KNOW people are going to buy them and why sell one book when you can sell three) I'll have lots of additional ideas for conversions and painting.

WOO!

Typhus Epic Post

Typhus the Traveller, Herald of Nurgle, Host of the Destroyer Hive is a Chaos Space Marine of the Death Guard legion.

History

After the Heresy, The Space Marines of chaos wore a lot of spikes and carries some pretty strange weapons. Before the Heresy, most of them wore plane armor save a few. Calas Typhon, the future Typhus, was one of those few. Really, you've got to wonder a little about your buddies when they start carrying giant scythes and wearing spikes on their face.

Heresy-era Typhon

This is actually rather telling. According to Lexicanium and the novel The Flight of the Eisenstein, Typhon willingly turned to Chaos before his Primarch Mortarion or even before the fall of Horus. He was converted to Chaos by Erebus, First Chaplain of the Word Bearers and used those powers to climb the ranks of the Death Guard legion to the dizzying heights of Captain of the 1st Company, the highest rank second only to that of the Primarch himself. By virtue of his rank, he was given undisputed command of the battleship Terminus Est a massive and powerful battleship.

His original name is also rather telling of his personality. "Calas" is a homonym of callus and callous. A callus is "... toughened area of skin which has become relatively thick and hard in response to repeated friction, pressure, or other irritation." This is certainly a good characterization of Typhus both before and after his fall.From what I remember of him from The Flight of the Eisenstein, he was constantly irritated by everyone including his Primarch. He hated Battle-Captain Nathaniel Garro and would have killed him in an instant if he had the opportunity to get away with it. If he had only known the troubles that Garro would cause (the escape and resultant humiliation, warning the Emperor and founding the Grey Knights), Typhon would have slain him regardless of the consequences.

Just finished Fulgrim

Over last weekend I finished Fulgrim and just have to write about it. The book is the 5th book in the Horus Heresy series and is written by the Scottish wonder Graham McNeil. It contains many different plots that tackle the evolution (or devolution) of The III Legion into Chaos Marines in the service of Slaanesh. There is the slow (very slow at times) twisting of the ideals of The Emperor's Children Legion (III) from seeking perfection to excess. Lucius's arrogance and price turns him in a corrupted reflection of himself. Fabius Bile begins modifying Space Marine's biological implants to make them more perfect. There is also the corruption of the Legion played out in the Remembrancers art work which culminates in Bequa Kynska's (with the light blue hair) Maraviglia performance.

Fulgrim and Ferrus in their final battle.

I liked the book but then again Graham could write the phone book and I would be enraptured. There were times when him A and C plots would go faster than his B plot and things would appear to stall out. For example, he frequently revisits the Remembrancers and their interactions with the Marines of the Legion. There were parts when the narrative flashes to one of the artists and they register horror at the excess that the Legions seems to be slipping into. then 50 pages later, he does it again. I get what he was trying to do but it moved a little slow at times.

One of my favorite parts was the brotherhood that Fulgrim had with Ferrus Manus his brother Primarch. It was just as touching to see the depth of their friendship as it was heartbreaking to see Fulgrim's betrayal.I would have liked to see more of this and earlier on in the book. Perhaps Ferrus and Fulgrim fighting a common foe in the first few chapters.

I really enjoyed seeing the events of Isstvan III from a slightly different perspective. In one of the other books (It might have been Galaxy in Flames), you saw the battle and betrayal from the perspective of the Death Guard Legion. In Fulgrim, you see it from the side of the betrayed Emperor's Children. Lucius' betrayal was also really well done and worthy of a movie. Visceral.

I would have liked to see more from the destruction of the Salamanders, Raven Guard and Iron hands on Isstvan V, but I don't know how that could have been possible without getting boring. I want to see and feel more of the horror and betrayal when the Traitor Legions turn on their brothers. I am sure that this pivotal moment in the Heresy will be revisited in the future.


Next up is Descent of Angels in the Horus Heresy series and, judging by the title, we are going to see some action from the two-faced Dark Angels. I can't wait to start it but I promised myself that I would intersperse 40k reading with other reading. I have picked out Death from the Skies by the Bad Astronomer Phil Plait. It should be light and fun reading and I should be off the 40k reading wagon in a few weeks.