40k Book Review: Yarrick: Chains of Golgotha

     Time for another book review. This time, as pictured above, the review is of Yarrick: Chains of Golgotha by David Annandale. I had never read anything by this author before, but was too tantalized by the thought of an Ork-heavy story to pass it up.

PROS:

• Incredible and hilarious story. One of my favorite endings out of any 40k book thus far.
• If you love Orks, this is a priceless book. I have had a recent rekindling of my inner, Orky fire after reading this that makes me even more proud to own my lovable greenskins.

CONS:

• Short: especially for the $12 price tag.
• Perspective: I didn't enjoy the memoir-style-recollection type of storytelling used in the book. I've never really enjoyed first-person storytelling, but it was made worse in this case by the occasional switch to another's perspective. Luckily, each perspective change was labelled with the character's name at the start of the shift.
• Lack of character development. This may be a silly complaint, but it seemed like many of the characters in the story were introduced specifically for the purpose of dying. They were given a name, some history, and then killed off. They weren't developed well enough to convince me to care for their deaths, but in the context of 40k wanton death is the norm. For the purpose of this story (and the perspective it is presented in), I suppose it may have been less of an issue than in others.

     To summarize my thoughts on this one: if you love Orks or are a die-hard fan of Yarrick, pick it up. It'll be worth every penny. Otherwise you may want to pass on this one due to the specific taste I think is necessary to really enjoy it the way I have.

     As always, questions and comments are welcome and appreciated.

     Thanks for reading,

     -Symmaccus

40k Book Review: Lords of Mars

     Hey there, internet! Remember when I complained that there was no sequel to Priests of Mars in an earlier post? Turns out one released without me noticing: Lords of Mars, by Graham McNeill. I picked this up earlier this week and blew through it in a couple days. After reading this book, all of my gripes about the last book are rectified.

     I absolutely LOVED this book. There were some awesome moments in it that I would hate to spoil, but will highlight a little below.

PROS:

• Crazy plot with very unique characters.
• Considerable exposure to the mind of a titan princeps.
• Titan combat!
• Intrigue, treachery, and the collision of the two concurrent stories from the last book.
• A healthy length unlike some OTHER, similarly-priced Black Library books.

CONS:

• There is a third book and the wait might kill me. :C

     Questions and comments are appreciated and welcome.

     Thanks for reading,

     -Symmaccus

Only War: Impressions Thus Far

     After playing a couple games of Only War, I've decided to post up a collection of my thoughts on the game thus far to organize what I think of it and to get myself to think about it more critically.

     As a GM, the game seems to be easier to run than D&D 3.5. Of course, I could just be a particularly unskilled DM, but who knows. The planning process for Only War went much faster than when I had to plan for D&D and the system itself flows a bit better for it.

    I'm not gonna lie, I've found it difficult to adjust to the system as it took me years to get as good at D&D as I was. Only War only uses the d100 and d10 in place of the full set used in the d20 systems. At first I had thought this would result in a lack of definition as you couldn't possibly get the same results with fewer types of dice, but I find myself enjoying the simplicity of only having two different types to bother with.

     Only War's method of dealing with the DC for checks is probably my favorite thing in the entire system. Instead of planning a DC ahead of time and wondering if it will be too tough or too easy, it uses a modifier system that works much more intuitively and with less planning time. This system also makes choosing a DC on the fly much easier as well.

     The role-playing aspects of the system are limited due to the military nature of the game, but within that context there are a vast amount of possibilities that can be represented. From a small squad to just a small part of a continent-wide conflict, the system does well to handle it all. You can also run a vehicle-based campaign for armored regiments that I would love to give a try some time.

     Compared to D&D and its beloved "city-time" (our version of a character's personal time in a city to do whatever), Only War is short handed on opportunities to forward personal goals or advance your character's love interests. This restriction is probably my least favorite part of the system as "city-time" was one of my favorite parts of playing D&D. On the other hand, it means that I don't need to plan for it, which saves me tons of time and less time spent planning means less stress during the time between play-sessions.

     A possible alternative to running Only War as a straight-up Imperial Guardsman's life would be to use the rule set to simulate guardsman-like mercenaries in the service of someone like a Rogue Trader. In addition to greater freedom, this would also allow for possible "city-time" and loads of new role-playing opportunities. I may end up trying this in the future as it does sound like quite a bit of fun.

     I hope this didn't come out as being too scatterbrained for anyone to read. I'm more than happy to answer questions about the game or clarify what I meant above if anyone wants to know.

Thanks for Reading!

-Symmaccus

Trying Something New

     Hello again internet. It's been quite some time since I've done much of anything hobby related (let alone post on here!), but I'm feeling the urge to get back into the swing of things with both some table-top 40k and the wonderful rpg pictured above.

     I recently stumbled across Fantasy Flight Games' line up of 40k RPG's and was instantly drawn in by the concept. I mean, I love 40k and I love D&D, so how could a mix of both not be good? I proceeded to look over their games and picked out Dark Heresy and Only War as the two likely candidates to play. Then I found out that Dark Heresy was being re-released and was currently in beta... so there wasn't much reason to buy the old books. After some more digging, I learned that Only War is Fantasy Flight's newest game on the 40k front. I love guardsmen, so I decided to do some more digging to learn about how the system works.

     I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised by the smoothness and simplicity of (most of) the system. Almost everything struck me as streamlined and geared towards a fast and gritty playing experience, but there were a couple of things that I at least need to read more about before I could speak about their complexity. Vehicles, the logistics system (how gear is acquired by players), and psyker abilities are three such things. I may post again later on those topics once I have some games under my belt.

     There are rules to accommodate many different types of play-styles within the rulebook. From a small, stealthy team, to kilometer wide battlefronts, to Leman Russ squadrons: this book has got you covered. It also comes stock with the rules for many of the popular regiments in addition to rules for making your own.

     If I had one complaint about the system, it would be that the enemies lack a "challenge rating" to make building encounters easier for new GM's.

     I have yet to play a game yet, but am planning on running a test-game tomorrow with a premade mission-set called Eleventh Hour. I read through it a couple days ago to prepare and was amazed at the quality of the material. The game-style is very far removed from D&D's dungeons, allowing much greater choices to the players on how to confront problems or get where they are going. Obviously, this puts more strain on the GM, but the greater simplicity of Only War's system appear to remove quite a bit of the stress of making things up as you go. One such change is that there are no pre-assigned "difficulty checks." Instead, you make the call on the difficulty when the player goes to do something. Is it happening in the middle of combat? Subtract ten from their skill for the purpose of the test. Is the character being helped? Add ten to their skill for the purpose of the test.

     Overall, I'm really looking forward to giving it a try.

     On the miniatures side of things, I've almost bought enough Cadian minatures to get my regiment going. I'm a single platoon command squad short! I've still got a ton of painting to do on the guardsmen, but I'm excited to get them on the table. I'd like to pick up a single valkyrie and a couple basilisk tanks, but those can wait for a while: especially with the rumored release of both Space Marines and Orks right around the corner! So excited!

     Also, in case anyone was wondering, my Warhound Titan is pretty much complete. I still need to find some gratings to cover the engines with (it didn't come with them and I didn't order from Forgeworld, so no luck there) and haven't had any luck getting anything useful locally. The miniature was an absolute blast to paint and worth every dollar I spent on it.

     Well.. I think that's it for this update. Still haven't figured out a way to take decent pictures of my miniatures, so no pictures yet.. I really need to invest in some quality lighting and a photobox of some sort.

     Thanks for reading!

     -Symmacus

     P.S.- A few more 40k Book Reviews should be happening within a couple months as I usually buy books to read during the time between my classes.

Ideas for the Future

     Well, here is that post I promised about the ideas I have for the future of this blog. First off, once I have more books to read, I will do more 40k Book Reviews, but for now I want to cover another topic.

     For a while now, I've been wanting to construct a narrative 40k experience and feature it here on my blog. Once the armies are painted (hopefully sooner than later), I intend to go through with that plan. I've been working on back-stories, names, locations, and motivations for around a month now.

     There are several things that I know I want to feature in this series:

• Pictures of the armies, or at least of important units.
• A page full of background "fluff" for each army participating.
• Battle Reports with pictures and narrative bits.
• Battles that affect the outcome of the system's narrative.
• A broader selection of game-types and scenarios that give a more dynamic experience than "kill everything" or "hold that rock."

     The battle reports may prove difficult due to insufficient lighting where we play, but I can hopefully improve on that soon. I'm also working on getting a light-box setup for photographing the miniatures for each army as I type this. However, it will still be quite some time before I can actually start on this: there are still many miniatures to paint!

     Here's a list of the armies possibly involved (no special names yet):

• Chaos Daemons
• Dark Eldar (two forces)
• Eldar (questionable)
• Imperial Guard
• Orks
• Space Marines
• Tau

     I'll be posting updates as I get closer to having this project up-and-running. I would love to hear any suggestions about what you would like to see in this project!

     Thanks for reading!

     -Symmaccus

Hobby Update.. Er.. Post?

     I don't normally do this kind of post, but I'm planning on posting pictures of minis as soon as I have a light-box either ordered or made. Plus, I've never really made my hobby-doings very clear past the to-do lists on the right of my blog. As such, I'm doing this post to make future plans more relevant (and because I'm really excited about the near future of my hobby world!).

     Several pretty big things just happened for me in hobby-land and I'm pretty excited about the upcoming projects. :D

     The first thing is that I sold my 3000pt+ Necron army on Ebay. The Necron were my first army (back in 4th edition) and I used to really enjoy playing them, but with the 5th edition codex they felt stale to me. Maybe it was just a matter of time and the 5th edition codex really had nothing to do with it, but who knows. They spent the last couple of years sitting on a shelf and gathering dust (save for one game where they sided with Tau and eviscerated a Space Marine-Grey Knight team at the dawn of 6th edition) and I decided that it was time for them to go.

     The second big thing is that I've sold my Citadel Realm of Battle. I hauled it out to my FLGS to see if they could ask around for anyone interested (no way I could ship that thing!). They helped me take pictures of the board and offered to put it onto their Facebook after they asked the regular players if anyone was interested. It was a fully-painted Realm of Battle with the extra two tiles, all in snow colors and I was asking $430 to cover the cost of the board and the spray cans. After a couple weeks with no news, I was beginning to lose hope. I called up the store to get a quote on some new plastic crack with the money I made from my Necron selling, and they gave me the great news: They offered my in-store credit for the board at my asking amount! They said the players loved the board, but none of them wanted to buy it. So the store saw it as a great investment to keep people coming in and playing. I'm glad that I've helped them out and that I know the board has got a good home where it will see some use instead of sitting around in its case at my place.

     The combination of the first two things leads to the third. By selling the board I suddenly had a surplus of funds that I could devote to my hobbying. This quickly lead to me searching Ebay, innocently enough, for a Space Marine head to replace an un-helmeted one with. After finding one, I looked down at the other suggested items and noticed a Warhound Titan... Mars Pattern... The one I've wanted since.. well, forever.

     Not only was it a Warhound Titan, it was assembled (separable at the waist), unpainted, and nearly $150 (after shipping) cheaper than Forgeworld's price when I first found it. The seller is located in Russia, which after some investigation it seems that the Russians can get their hands on FW stuff cheap. So I compared the pictures and carefully read the description. The Warhound pictures matched Forgeworld's detail for detail, minus the paint and pose. The auction ended this morning (just a few minutes ago) and I won! The final price was $456 after shipping, but that's still almost $50 cheaper than Forgeworld and it comes fully assembled! The assembly process was one of the things that made me hold off on buying one for so long. Combine that I can order one cheaper AND assembled? I'm all in!

     So now my head is swimming with ideas of how to paint this dream-model of mine. I'm pretty sure that I'll go with the Legio Crucius design:

     I love the black and white stripes, and its a pretty rare scheme as far as I can tell. I've only ever seen two done in it. This one is fantastic: http://taleofpainters.blogspot.com/2013/04/showcase-warhound-titan.html

     Of course, mine won't look that good, but I can dream!

     Since this was supposed to be a post about my hobbying, I should also explain the armies I am currently collecting/playing and the armies I typically fight.

     My largest army by far are my Orks. I've got around 3300 points of the Green Menace with a lot more on my to-buy list. The Orks are my favorite army to play and collect by far, but not my favorite fluff-wise. The Dark Eldar hold that spot in my heart (that's ironic!).

     With this latest order, I've decided to get my Space Marines and Dark Eldar up to fighting strength before I let myself buy any more Orks. Well.. I did order Ghazgkull, but that's different! D:

     After the order, my Dark Eldar will sit around 1400 possible points (I have 3 HQ choices) and my Space Marines will total to nearly 1700 points.

     As for the armies I'm usually fighting, da Tau are da usual customa's, but we git some good scraps in wif' dem Chaos Daemons too.

     I plan on posting sometime soon with my plans for the future of this blog. I really need to get some more Black Library books..

     Alright, dat's enuf' Orkin' about, boyz.

     Thanks for reading!

     -Symmaccus

40k Book Review: Masque of Vyle

I cannot overstate my love for Andy Chambers' books. The Masque of Vyle is no exception to this love. While a little short, this story was very interesting as it details one of the things about Eldar I knew very little about: Harlequins. Featuring Motley (from the Path of the Renegade and Path of the Incubus stories), the plot is centered around a troupe of Harlequins seeking vengeance against an unknown someone who pillaged an entire Craftworld. Their chase leads them to one of the Dark Eldar realms, where they resolve to draw forth the culprit with a performance of the Masque.

PROS

• Very interesting plot, especially if you want to know more about Harlequins
• Fantastic writing style that is so typical of Andy Chambers!
• An unexpected setting, which I won't spoil.

CONS

• This story felt a little short, especially for the extra cost tagged onto it.

Despite the increased cost, I think that this book was entirely worth buying and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys Eldar, Harlequins, or Dark Eldar.

Thanks for reading!

-Symmaccus

40k Book Review: Hammer and Anvil

I'm not going to lie, this is probably one of my favorite 40k books now. This one really surprised me: I went into reading it with rather low expectations and received a fantastic story in return. To summarize, this takes the story of Sanctuary 101 (from the 3rd or 4th edition Necron codex, I can never remember what edition it was..) and expands it into a full-blown story by following up on the slaughter there with Sisters of Battle reinforcements. But there is so much more to this book! It is the most 'modern' look into Necron (as far as I am aware) as it makes use of nearly every new model from the newest codex. In addition to this, there is a ton of subterfuge and scheming done between the Sisters of Battle, the Ordo Xenos, and the Mechanicum. I would recommend this book a hundred times over to any fan of the Sisters, the Necron, or even those who appreciate the 40k universe as a whole. Obviously, if you are obsessive over Tyranids then you won't like this book!

PROS

• Wonderful story that kept me reading into the small hours of the night.
• Great view into the mindsets of the Adeptus Sororitas and the Necron
• A diverse and interesting cast of characters

CONS

• None. This book is great!

I would also like to add that this is the second book in a row that my favorite character has lived through. That makes it a new record as my favorite character almost always dies, especially in 40k books. Anyways, this book is an amazing read and well worth the money.

Thanks for reading and feel free to ask any questions you may have!

-Symmaccus

40k Book Review: Priests of Mars

When I picked out this book to read, I had done so out of curiosity. Before this book I hadn't read anything about the Adeptus Mechanicus outside what little is included in the codices for the game. This was a great vault of information about the Mechanicus, but it doesn't have a conclusive ending, which annoyed me.

PROS:

• Great idea for the plot with surprising side-stories.
• Wonderful insight for anyone who hasn't read much about the Mechanicus and wants to know more about them and their mindset.
• Colorful and varied characters.

CONS:

• Disappointing ending with practically no conclusion; No announced sequel that I am aware of.
• Two concurrent stories that I had expected to overlap at some point, but remained separate even at the end of the book.

In summary, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about the Mechanicus, but I would tag a warning about the ending to the end of my recommendation. An announced sequel would redeem this book for the most part, but the two concurrent stories were somewhat irritating in this book. I have read several books with concurrent plot-lines, but this one felt different for some reason.

Thanks for reading!

-Symmaccus

40k Book Review: Ahriman: Exile

I picked up this book on a whim as I rather enjoy the Thousand Sons, but know very little about them. Ahriman: Exile tells the story of Ahriman's path from his exile from the Thousand Sons to his current tabletop-gaming self. The book is full of unique and interesting characters (and my favorite character lived, which is new for books I read) and plenty of daemons.

PROS:

• Good, strong writing style
• Lovely setting in the Eye of Terror
• Mysterious characters with a strained trust held together only by a sense of survival and some malformed sense of honor
• Awesome psyker-fights that give a completely different impression as to what it takes to be a psyker in the dark future of the 41st millennium.

CONS:

• Seemed short, but it wasn't really. A better way to describe it may be that it left questions unanswered, which was probably necessary to leave Ahriman in his current codex-state.

In summary, this book is a great read. It is full of great fights, loads of chaos, interesting characters, and daemonic encounters that really shed light on the reality of life at the edge of the Eye of Terror. Of course, it is also very intriguing to 'meet' Ahriman outside of his codex-summary as the man he really is.

Thanks for reading!

-Symmaccus

40k Book Review: Path of the Incubus

I don't know how, but Andy Chambers has done it again! Path of the Incubus is a fantastic and satisfying sequel to Path of the Renegade. If you haven't read the first book you're already missing out, but there are also several short stories that accompany both books in this series: Bellathonis and the Shadow King, Treasures of Biel-Tanigh, and The Curse of Shaa-Dom.

To give a brief summary (without spoilers), Path of the Incubus follows the story of the Incubus, Morr (originally introduced in Path of the Renegade) as he tries to stop the dysjunction that is destroying the dark city. However, it also features several side-plots that run parallel to the main plot with several other characters from the last book (whose names shall be omitted for spoiler-issues).

PROS:

• Strong, satisfying writing
• Features Dark, Exodite, and Craftworld Eldar (and Harlequins too!)
• Provides a deep and intriguing insight into the structure of Dark Eldar society as it is falling to pieces around them.
• Also provides a view of the striking difference in mindset between the many types of Eldar.
• Decently long and full of delicious plot twists

CONS:

• Some people might have problems following the multiple simultaneous plot-lines, but I think that the complexity reflects the pandemonium of Dark Eldar society nicely.
• If your 40k universe revolves around the Imperium and its bland humanity, then this book is probably not for you.

To summarize, this book is a perfect follow-up to Path of the Renegade, maintaining the same dark, gritty feel of back-stabbing, treachery, and plotting that the Dark Eldar are so well-known for. In addition to this, it adds characters from the Craftworld and Exodite Eldar which set a great contrast to the Dark Eldar's malicious ways.

Thanks for reading!

-Symmaccus

(Hopefully there is another book in the series..)

40k Book Review: Mistress Baeda's Gift

     Despite the picture above, Mistress Baeda's Gift (Written by Braden Campbell and featured in the Fear the Alien anthology) has nothing to do with Orks.

     This short story features a Dark Eldar Archon who is lusting after a powerful woman and desperately wants her for himself. It is an interesting view into Dark Eldar romance and inter-gender relations among the high-ranking citizens of Commorragh.

     Being so short, it's very hard not to ruin it as any detail is important.

PROS:

• It's short, but the characters are authentic feeling and it feels concluded when it ends
• It presents an interesting perspective on Dark Eldar and 'Love'

CONS:

• It's short. It could have been a little longer and included more detail near the end concerning the actual emotions going on inside the heads of the characters. I didn't get as much of an insight into Dark Eldar 'Love' as I would have liked. It left me with one question: Was it really love, or just lust?

      In conclusion, Mistress Baeda's Gift raised the question of 'do Dark Eldar love?' but never really answered it concretely. It left me more thoughtful of the subject than before though, and that may have been the point.    

     Feel free to comment, I'm really interested in knowing what others thought about this one.

Thanks for reading!

-Symmaccus

40k Book Review: Path of the Renegade

     All I can say is wow. Path of the Renegade (by Andy Chambers) is the best 40k book I have ever read. Have you ever read a story in which there is a villain and a hero? Of course you have! Well this book takes an interesting twist because everyone is a villain: some are just more evil than others.

     This is one of those stories that you can't sit down. Centered in the dark city of Commorragh, it follows the tale of Dark Eldar conspirators trying to oust Asdrubael Vect, the current ruler of the city. Specifically, it follows two Kabals, a Wych Cult, and a rogue Haemonculus as they delve into dark and deadly secrets to bring themselves into power. The plot is filled with backstabbing, distrust, and an appreciation for pain that only the Dark Eldar could exhibit.

     I can't say too much else about it without ruining the plot, so I'll just get to the pros and cons. :}

PROS:

• Incredible setting in a massive and dark city
• Intense, conspiracy-centered plot
• Diverse and interesting characters
• Contains a Dark Eldar history lesson and tons of lore

CONS:

• This book NEEDS a sequel. There is a sense of completion at the end, but I'm dying to know what happens to several of the characters following the events in the book.

Also of note, this story has a short prequel/background story called Midnight on the Street of Knives (also by Andy Chambers) that is a must-read (in my opinion) before this book.

In summary, this book is an amazing insight into Dark Eldar society, culture, hierarchy, and mindset that isn't very common in the Imperium-centered 40k lore and I highly recommend this book to any fan of dark fiction  and/or Dark Eldar.

Again, thanks for reading!

-Symmaccus

40k Book Review: Imperial Glory

     Imperial Glory by Richard Williams tells the story of the weary veterans of the Brimlock Eleventh Imperial Guard as they near the end of their long campaign. Just when the Brimlock Eleventh thought they were off of the hook, they are sent to the jungle world of Voor in response to a distress call from the Planetary Governor concerning an Ork Rok that crashed down onto the planet's surface. The guardsmen expected to find dead Orks, but instead find themselves up against overwhelming numbers of feral Orks and an unwelcoming populace of anti-imperial colonists.

     The plot also features several internal power struggles within the regiment, but I won't ruin the excitement for you. :}

     To be honest, this best part of this story for me was the psychology of the veterans. Nearly all of the men presented have some form of erratic behavior or insanity developed over the course of their campaign. This book is as much a 40k story as it is an examination of the effects of warfare on the human mind and body.

     Also of note was a section of the book from the Ork perspective, including the life of an Ork from birth to Warboss. I hadn't expected this when I picked the book up (the book is titled Imperial Glory after all!), but it was a pleasant surprise and gave me a much better idea of Ork society and physiology.

PROS:

• Insight into the life of an Ork
• Colorful and interesting characters
• Focused and great plot

CONS:

• None really come to mind for this one.

     In summary, if you're looking for a good Imperial Guard book (or even Orks as there aren't many), I highly recommend this book.

     Next Tuesday I'll post a review for Path of the Renegade by Andy Chambers. 

Thanks for reading!

-Symmaccus

40k Book Review: Dead Men Walking

After reading another 40k book review (Blind Review by All Things Fett), I decided to try my hand at reviewing the last one I read.

Dead Men Walking by Steve Lyons is a wonderful read. It tells the story of the Death Korps deployed on Hieronymous Theta, a doomed world that doesn't yet realize its fate. Soon after the Death Korps arrive, all hell breaks loose on the planet's surface as the Necron rise from their subterranean tombs to retake their planet.

The story starts slow, but really picks up the pace and is full of action and death. Literally every page leaves you wondering what will become of the characters fighting for the imperium.

Speaking of the characters, the people presented in this book are believable and fully fleshed out. From a Death Korps Commissar to a lowly citizen of the planet's thriving cities, every character is a breathing and thinking being.

Both factions in this book are presented in intricate detail. The Necron are exactly as they should be: death incarnate. Squads of soldiers are killed at a time by these mechanical monstrosities, leaving nothing but ash and dust. The Death Korps are relentless and fearless in the face of these terrors, fighting to the death to achieve their superiors' goals. This book is full of epic battles and surprising twists as the city slowly falls from a beautiful haven of humanity to a ruined city filled with lurking metallic murderers.

PROS:

• Lots of battle with visceral detail.
• Masterful portrayal of the Death Korps and the Necron.
• Loads of supense and several heroic sacrifices for the Imperium.

CONS:

• Personally, I didn't feel the book was over when the pages ran out, but that might be because I could have read this story for weeks!
• Also, there were a lot of perspective changes. While that doesn't bother me, I think it might confuse some people as the story tracks several smaller stories within it.

In summary, I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Necron or the Imperial Guard (especially Death Korps). Even if you don't particularly like either faction, the book is still worth reading simply for the suspense and carnage of these two heartless armies facing off.

(Between this book and A Thousand Sons by Graham McNeill, I have a hard time picking a favorite 40k book!)

Again, the structure and inspiration for this review came from Blind Review by All Things Fett. Seriously, go give this review a read, I might go pick up the book now!

Thanks for reading, feel free to comment or ask questions!

Sym

P.S. - Let me know if there are any typos, had to type this up in a hurry!