The 9th Age

After Age of Sigmar killed the Warhammer Fantasy universe I kind of lost my love for the warhammer fantasy setting; compounded by a significant increase in work commitments I stopped most of my hobbying. Having only recently discovered the significant and impressive work and community that now exists for The 9th Age fantasy battle i'm more invigorated and determined to get back into the hobby then ever. As part of a motivating aspect I'm looking to restart the blog focusing on varied aspects of 9th age. Assembling my Dwarven Holds, Warriors of the Dark Gods and Vampire Covenant armies.

Part of the interesting (though not entirely good) aspect of the current status quo is how much lore/fluff exists for certain armies. Given the amount of time it takes to put out the very high quality books they've done so far, there is only a trickle of information to potentially theme ones armies around. Having recently listen to an older episode of Ammertime podcast  (https://soundcloud.com/ammertime-podcast), I found myself entirely in agreement with regards to a strong desire for more lore for the armies. I read somewhere on the 9th age forums that part of the process was to limit the amount of lore given to players so as not to restrict their ideology and background for their armies. Which is definitely a safer route when players will be getting models from a variety of sources now and may very much want to build to a specific theme, which if strongly discouraged in the fluff could be off-putting for people.

I started thinking about what defines the people, characters (monsters and creatures) which make up the army itself. In particular I focused on Dwarves and how much of what I envisage their characters to be was defined by GW's setting. Initially I looked at the lore on the wiki pages for dwarves relating to GW's universe, after a little bit of tweaking I ran it through a Worlde (I think) online software which highlighted in a decrease size the prominent words used in a given volume of text. I missed a few things (like edit), but a lot of what came up did highlight things which are important in the history of the Dwarves. Karak= their hold and homes, Chaos, Elves, Skaven, Greenskins all prominent. Magic and Lore and Runes and grudges all instantly noticeable as well. It's far from a perfect analysis tool but it highlights that much of the Dwarves history is shaped by it's interactions with other races.

Secondly I used something called Coggle, which allows you to make mind maps, and although the basic online software is a bit fiddly to start, its a free software and i'm sure the paid for one does some cool things. Anyways I tried listing out the core driving mechanisms, or character defining aspects of how I envisage Dwarves, and unsurprisingly it matched up very heavily to GW's ideals.

I don't know what's going to happen when the army book for the Dwarven Holds comes out, but I'm intrigued to see if they move away from any or many of these core facets.  Looking at the previous comment on how historical interactions impact on their development makes me wonder if changes to other armies might be the first indications of alterations. Obviously Dwarves aren't GW's creations but it will be interesting to see if certain aspects of their presentation need to be curbed to not be so similar as to draw IP issues. Their current Fireslayer model range in AoS seems to rely heavily on that aspect of their creation, which is unsurprising as Slayers are probably their strongest dwarf IP standpoint. I wonder if Avatar of War's "Slayer Models" i.e. Berserker's, are perhaps where the lore may end up to avoid this possible issue. Of course the Fireslayer's themselves are some kind of mix of Romanesque (with the hair tuffs), Slayers' and Infernal dwarves (I truthfully haven't looked too much into their fluff, my initial delving returned a less than appealing background), so maybe the Slayer basic persona isn't defensible from an IP point of view.

The only particularly notable piece of information which at present seems markedly different from the GW lore is the three names given for the Holds. Instead of Karak -something, there is Nevas Vanez, Nevas Derom and Nevaz Barim. Nevaz doesn't to me correlate to any language as I read it, but Ben Nevis is a mountain in Scotland (the highest in the UK, not that that's saying much), so perhaps they are leaning towards a more Scottish Dwarf (which might be very safe from an IP point). I have some Dwarf models which are quite Scottish in nature, from the Clan McFiggin Dwarf Brewers from Oathsworn Miniatures (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/oathsworn/clan-mcfiggin-dwarf-brewers). Similar in style to his previous Kickstater, they have a lot of character and I can see me trying to incorporate them in some capacity to the army, especially if the lore does go Scottish.

Runes have also gone visually, at present, down a different route. The below image, courtesy of the Dwarven Holds rulebook, come from the Battle runes (a new introduction which i'll talk about in a later post). Thet have a almost Mayan/Aztec crop markings kinda feel. The linear/angular aspect of them is in essence Dwarvish but i think the very long/tall nature feels ....alien from Dwarvish writing (at least for me).

Lastly looking over the map shown at the top, it is interesting to note that as there aren't a more Easternly facing mountain as in the Old world, and thus interactions with Ogre's would likely be less, but perhaps interactions with Infernal Dwarves would be more. These sorts of changes can add to lore and stories more in the future development of the Dwarven Holds.  Ultimately I'm excited to see what they come up with in the end, but as I expect it will be a long time coming (there's about 10+ army books due for release), I shall patiently move towards an army that can fit into whichever theme I think is coming.

False Gods, Horus Heresy book 2

Where Dan Abnett's initial novel for the starting trilogy of the Horus Heresy lays the groundwork for the characters, the universe and possibly most importantly draws you in to care and value the people involved, it is not until Graham McNeil takes over with False Gods does the actual start of the Horus Heresy truly take place (ignoring certain facets pertaining to the Word Bearers etc if we are being pedantic).

False Gods predominately looks at the events on the moon of Davin where the Warmaster returns to a previously "complaint" system under the information given by Erebus, First Chaplain of the Word Bearers. What unfolds is often a well known piece of information for warhammer 40k enthusiasts (so anyone who isn't and genuinely wants it to be a surprise should look away now). Horus is struck by a weapon which harms him unto death, and the only aid that can potentially save him is in the care of the Davinite Priests.  The outcome leads to Horus's change in allegiance from his father to the forces of chaos. But the specifics as we've been told have often been shrouded in mystery. Why would they have trusted the priests with someone as precious to them as Horus? What lead to the rebellion against the Imperium on the Davin moon in the first place? How could someone as previously so utterly devoted to the Emperor fall so far. These were the questions people were looking for in False Gods, and Graham McNeil does, in my opinion, a pretty sound job of it.

All throughout (for most of us) you know what's coming, but you want so much to believe there is still a chance, that things might change, that people will survive the events as they unfold. I'd like to say its down to good story telling that even in the face of the inevitable you still can desire for a different outcome if the pull of the story teller is strong enough. The path the Luna Wolves take alongside their accompanying Remebrancers builds this attachment and hope, even to some of the ones you might know fall along a darker path. Following on from the trend in Horus Rising, it's often the smaller, not previously discussed members or events which often draw the most attention. Who is this person? What role do they play? Is there any likeliness they will survive? and probably most importantly whether they are a source for good, evil or quite often both.

(Aerion the faithful (http://aerion-the-faithful.deviantart.com/art/The-Mournival-113448588) has made some fantastic Horus heresy/Gw artwork. genuinely some lovely stuff (I believe this piece is technically property of Chris Borer, so all rights etc belong to him.)

Ultimately I probably preferred False Gods to Horus Rising, but then again I knew a lot more of what to expect from this novel, as Horus Rising laid down the ground work and this is more familiar territory. Obviously all three novels are intertwined to the point that their major differences comes simply from each different author's style. I think the settings and characters just see some growth and development in this book, and ultimately the environment was one I found more interesting and enjoyable on a personal level.

False Gods- 8.0 (8.5)/10-8.5 in relation to Horus Rising

A Thousand Sons vs. Prospero burns (Horus Heresy Book 12 vs. Book 15)

I decided to cover both books in this review because it made sense to investigate their positives and negatives on the same page. It may also have been to save writing two entirely separate reviews where I regularly made references to the other story.

I read A Thousand Sons first as that was the way it was published (despite being a die hard Space Wolves fan). Graham McNeil is the author, and proceeds just like in previous Horus heresy novels to delivery an intriguing insight story. This one delves into the life and world of the Thousands Sons space marine chapter, and their Primarch Magnus the Red. It travels through their exploits leading up to the calamitous events of the beginning of the Horus Heresy.

As with most of these stories it often tells the story from the point that there end result is already known to the viewer. So the majority of the story telling is down through explaining the journey, not the destination. I've always liked the Thousands Sons as a Chaos space marine chapter, as they often have this tragic story which make them seem significantly less evil then their other chaos marine counterparts.  I think also their very human search for truth and knowledge of everything is something that rings true with many of us (and certainly an influencing.factor over me). They happen to be quite a visually impressive army, predominantly made up of dark blue and golden army with heavy Egyptian aesthetics. They also happen to be the Space wolves most hated enemy, Which meant that unsurprisingly the story would be told from two sides. That of the Thousand sons, and that of the Space wolves. Ultimately I walked away from A Thousand Sons feeling sadly at the ultimately very human nature to their fall, the hubris and losses that could have been avoided if only things had been slightly different.

Prospero Burns is the story from the viewpoint of the Space wolves. Told by Dan Abnett,  the story should have been in good hands...and I say good hands because even having finished it after what I felt was a difficult start, by the authors standards I personally feel this is his weakest work I've read. So I've had a difficult time with it. I think I went into the book with a large number of heavily influencing pre-expectations regarding how it would play out, and it just didn't really do much or any of that. I think some of it was a common mistake I sometimes make which was going into the book expecting the same quality or style of another author, in this case William King and Lee Lightner's Ragnar 6 novel series. I love those books and the way the space wolves are portrayed, and this book has a very different feel.

The book takes the main perspective from a human (commonly remembrancers in other novels, this one is some what of a difference as he is not officially a remembrancer, though in many ways takes exactly the same form). He as a character is reasonably interesting, and a plot that runs the length of the novel is certainly one of the highlights of the book. Some of the Space wolves involved in the story are also interesting. Notable inclusions are Bear and Long Fang. The obvious inclusion of the Primarch of the Space Wolves Leman Russ where in my opinion some of the more interesting ones, but my comparison to A Thousand Sons I felt a little lacking. As a incredibly intelligent, powerful but also a very different character by comparison to the other Primarchs, I felt and opportunity was missed by not allowing a insight into his thinking and feelings. 

Probably one of the most notable additions is the introduction of the term "Vlka Fenryka" or Wolves of Fenris. Now I love the idea of using Norse influencing heavily in the mythology of the Space Wolves, but I feel it has gotten to the point in some circles to no longer actually refer to them by that name, but by Vlka Fenryka. Currently their is a lot of rumours going around that Imperial guard and Space marines will be getting a re-naming with the newer codex's. Whilst I understand from a legal perspective why GW might be interested in changing the names for IP reasons, I would hope everyone wouldn't start actually stop calling them Imperial Guard or Sisters of Battle. This seemingly persistent alteration to there supposed perspective of themselves is in my own opinion unnecessary and frustrating

Secondly is how the wolves are portrayed. In the Horus Heresy (so far from my reading) they've been represented as the final straw. The executioners (to quote the book). But whilst in other novels they have been portrayed as sometimes uncouth, or feral in there behaviour and mannerisms, they were never presented as borderline evil. Also atleast in 40k they are often loved by those systems that are under there protection, as Logan Grimnar is considered one of the if not the best loved warrior in the galaxy, so why is it that everywhere they go the wolves are considered something the Emperor should have never even created? Ultimately for me it feels like discontinuity in the overall story. I tried to tell myself that the 31st millennium is a different place from the 41st , but it was still hard to get to grips with. Ultimately I hope another novel portraying the Space Wolves comes out, one which shows a different time or place, or even just against a different foe and with only Space wolves, so you're not constantly getting the perspective of someone trying to understands them, but as one who ALREADY understand them.

I'm a pretty die-hard Space wolves fan, and I'm a big Dan Abnett fan, and so this novel should have really culminated in something really memorable from my perspective. But it just wasn't. I appreciate there are some pretty big fans of it out there, which i can completely understand is down to different experience or perspective, but it just wasn't right for me. I really enjoyed A Thousands Sons by comparison, even though it was portraying the Space Wolves as the villain, which I hope goes a long way to encourage people to read it.

A Thousand Sons- 8.5/10
Prospero Burns - 7/10

Fulgrim - Horus Heresy book 5

Graham McNeil presents his 2nd novel in the Horus heresy series. Fulgrim, somewhat unsurprisingly,  tells the story of the Primarch Fulgrim and his legion, the Emperor's children.

Before I immersing myself in the Horus Heresy novels the only Graham McNeil books I had read were the Sigmar Times of Legend trilogy.  Overall their pretty good books,  including lots of barbarian/celtic/norse-esque elements to the people in the stories (which compared to modern day Empire which are more Renaissance/Prussian-like).  Often the books show the birth of certain changes in the Empire, such as warhorses breed to wear armour, the discovery of black powder, the origins of flagellants and more. If you can over look certain bits of the story as being a manipulation of canon then the book reads very enjoyably (ok SPOILER: ill admit, I got caught up with Sigmar already having got Ghal Maraz his hammer and him not being chieftain of his tribe or even the Empire when it clearly states otherwise in many of the general warhammer rulebooks etc)

So barring that all in mind I find Graham McNeil stuff always enjoyable and fun, he keeps to the spirit of most of the Warhammer universe. So with Fulgrim, it's important remember that the story tries to encompass lots of different sections in the Fulgrim story, and so it is actually broken down in a large number of increasingly smaller chapters as the story goes on. Fulgrim as a Primarch doesn't terribly interest me, but I did find that I wanted to see into his personality, his relationship with his brother Ferrus Manus, and their polarity and yet similarities at the same time. The Iron Hands chapter plays a regular role in the story telling, and it was nice to read some of their story. Like with many of the Horus Heresy books covering the traitor chapters, it is all about telling the interesting story of their fall, how they were manipulated by force greater then themselves.

I think I read somewhere that reading Horus Heresy novels was often akin to watching a train wreck in slow motion, which given the obvious end out come that's not entirely surprising. But sometimes you forget that along that journey you might feel like a carriage here or there might some how miraculously arrive unscathed at the end, if shaken. I think Graham McNeil, and many of the other Black Library authors do a pretty excellent job of willing you to believe that some how there is a bright light for these victims in the play out, no matter how much you might know about their final outcome. If you're a fan of Emperor's children, Iron hands, stories involving the Primarchs or just the Horus Heresy it is definitely worth a read. For someone knew to it you've hopefully read the first 3-4 novels in the series anyways, in which case you're probably already hooked. One of the many nice things about the Horus Heresy is that Forgeworld produce some pretty exquisite models (if terribly expensive), but it's often nice seeing first hand how the giants of the stories looked.

Overall I'm given Fulgrim a 7.5/10. It sometimes is a little long (though for Emperor's children fans this is probably a good thing), however I do feel like it covers a lot of the important points about their history and evolution as followers of chaos.  For a fan of them i'd probably give it a 8.5-9/10.