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Hello Fraters! Having lurked and occasionally posted over the last few months I have decided to create a WIP log to document my re-entry to the hobby. This was going to be a Raven Guard-based log as I have a Strikeforce to build but I have already paused that plan, bought Kill Team Octarius and started some terrain painting. This is very much WIP as I test out washes and contrast paints and basically learn to paint. I only painted a few minis when I was at school, I think it must have been around 1989/1990. Edit: title updated to reflect that I have now bought two KT boxes and have been painting Genestealers to refresh my v.1 Space Hulk game.

Starting a thread for it since it's still a new release Da Big Dakka - Mike Brooks (Audiobook) Brooks' third ork book, and his second Ufthak Blackhawk book, is here. Released to much fandom excitement and much fandom ire because it was basically the only pushed release for this year's Black Library celebration. I don't think either is super fair to it; like most works by Brooks it's a very solid "good." The orky bits in particular are more refined than ever. This time, we have Dark Eldar as our foil POVs. While they're still perfectly entertaining, I think it's a bit of a step down from Brutal Kunnin'. That book, to me, read like half of an actual Mechanicus novel that also had Ork chapters. I know that didn't work for many people, but I thought it created a uniquely entertaining read that showed exactly why Orks are such a fun faction. These Dark Eldar, by contrast, read like Dark Eldar in an Ork novel; it's all much more obviously tongue in cheek and they don't seem to have much reverence for their own culture, which is odd because of their supremacist views. The book is more evenly humorous because of this approach, but I think it takes away some of the charm and dilutes any really funny bits. The orky stuff, as mentioned, is the best from Brooks so far, even with the plot failing to meaningfully endanger Ufthak at any point. Brooks' writing isn't the most refined in the stable, but he has a unique talent for making fight scenes engaging. Better authors than Brooks have still managed to deliver complete snoozefests because their fight scenes ended up being poetically rendered filler. Brooks' style of giving us a play-by-play of everyone's decisions as the fight progresses means keeps every moment of this book's very frequent battles enjoyable. This is especially fun for Ork POVs, who doesn't love some good Ork logic? Ufthak describing humans as essentially Orks who are bad at being Orks was a personal favourite. I will say I noticed how often he lent into the "it was believed that X, but of course Y was true" style of exposition a bit too often, I hope he reins that in a bit next time. As expected, Snaggi is back as well. Despite my problems with the Dark Eldar here, I still found this book was back to the balance of opposing POVs that I thought made Brutal Kunnin' so much better than Warboss, so by extension I preferred this book's Snaggi content. At times, he reads like the only POV with legitimate stakes. Also, big shoutout to Harry Myers' narration. He's got a great range to his performance and I quite liked his Dark Eldar, despite his "unrefined" accent. That man can go deep and menacing when he wants to. Overall, super fun book that never had me bored. Probably what you want out of a running Ork series, eh? 7.5/10 To Taste because it's Brooks. The man's becoming to me what Guy Haley seems to be to other people: workhorse author with a strong respect for continuity, who also never fails to deliver something worse than "good." Now somebody crack the whip on a sequel to his Alpha Legion work.

2nd ed Kommandos 3rd ed metal nobs set 3rd ed dreadnought All on MTO this coming Saturday [27th] Personally I'll be grabbing kommandos and nobs - I've way too many dreads already and have been after the kommandos for a while. https://www.warhammer-community.com/2024/04/21/sunday-preview-the-tau-empire-needs-you/

Make it Orky.

Da Ork Showcase Welcome one and all, from snotling to warboss, grots to nobs, and all boyz from all clans, to the Bolter and Chainsword Ork Showcase Gallery. We invite you to upload photos of your completed models in this thread. Completed is a subjective term, and the only requirements are that YOU think your model is complete. Whether it's for display pieces or your kid cousin's first miniature, all completed models are welcome. They can be posted on display or tabletop; we will not turn anyone away. Please don't use this thread for WiP projects; any such posts will get split off to their own topics.

Codex etc up for pre order this coming Saturday. Very dull box compared with the current one. Huge step backwards.

Hi Folks, Still progressing on my Plodding, with this time the Mekboy Workshop done. Barricades and piles of scrap were already painted in January, and I lately completed the workshop itself. It might be an offense to Mork (or to Gork, I dunno), but I wanted to get rid of some orkiness, so I focussed on a limited colour pallet and did not stressed on too much on icons and mess. I also decided not to install the Ork totem on the bridge so that the model can insert smoothly in a more "imperial outpost" environment. And here it is: Its a set that cover some serious area on the table. 10th Ed rules make piles of scrap less useful, but, anyway, it is a good space filler. Some close ups of the workshop, heads and tails: And some other "larger" views shots: While I am tipping these words, Brass scorpion is drying on my last Ryza Pattern hab bunker (from the Moroch set). I will then pass to the antena and shrine. I also still have to finish gantries from the Bheta Decima set. But these are in a stop status: I do not like painting Gantries. BUt I already comented this a couple of time already. See you once stuff will be progressing.

I recently wrote about selling my pile of shame and how it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Then I went on eBay and picked up two more Ork box sets in addition to the Combat Patrol I already had. It's not the same though, this isn't a pile of shame. It's a pile of potential. Let me explain. First and foremost, they were excellent deals. The Beast Snagga army set was £100 and the Imperium Premium Kit was £35. That's value you simply cannot turn down. Secondly, I have a plan. Instead of having everything sat in the boxes for months on end, I'm going to build them ASAP. It's all part of my new model-building system based on an incredibly complicated excel spreadsheet. I'm going to build all of these models, then prime them, then drybrush them, then paint them, then base them and then actually play a game with them. I swear, that's what I'm actually doing. I've already built 5 models! When this process is done I'll have well over 1000 points of Orks to take to the table. My old method of spending 10+ hours painting each mini was too slow so I'm going to try the slapchop method with the 2.0 speed paints from the army painter. A friend does the same technique for their 'nids and they always turn out pretty awesome - so with a little extra detailing I'm confident I'll have an army that I can be proud of. The hardest part is staying away from eBay and Facebook marketplace. It hurts me to know there's probably some great deals out there that I'm missing out on. Maybe if I check every now and again it won't hurt anyone... right?

I got back into 40K 10th edition after a break during 8th and 9th. Life happened - you know how it is! When I came back, it's safe to say I got a bit too excited buying new models. I had over 3000 points of Primaris Space Marines in a nice, juicy pile ready and waiting. I had such good intentions - I really was going to paint and play with them all, however as time went on and my rate of painting stayed at it's traditional slow pace, those models started to feel like a burden. Towards the end of 2023 I was thinking about New Year's resolutions and wanting to clear my conscience, so I'd originally planned on painting like a madman and getting through a huge chunk of my unbuilt models. Then the first week of 2024 came and went without me so much as looking at the models and I knew I had to make a change. We've all heard this advice before - "don't buy any new models until you've painted what you already have!" If I had any hope of actually painting all my models and playing a game of 40K in 10th edition, I knew I'd have to do something drastic. After sleeping on it, I decided to put all my Space Marines on eBay (see the attached image) and pick up an Ork Combat Patrol instead. I got rid of all my Orks during 7th (again, life happened) and I missed my green bois... although I don't miss their twerking models. So far I've been able to resist trawling eBay and Facebook marketplace for deals on Ork models. Once the Combat Patrol arrives and I've actually got something to be getting on with, I may well turn it into a challenge - perhaps a hobby streak? Anything to avoid me creating a new pile of shame and having to go through another hard reset!

To avoid burying the lede, the TL;DR is that I'm switching to Necrons. ----- Every game of 10th that I have played has been with Orks. I've managed to track every game since my third in the (excellent) Tabletop Battles app. You can see my stats below: As you can see, I've now played thirty games of 10th. And while I have a lot of thoughts about the edition in general, this post is about my experiences playing Orks, and my plans for the foreseeable future. Evolution of a List A quick rundown of how to win a game using the Leviathan mission deck: Ok, so scoring points and winning games with tactical secondaries is about putting units on objectives, surviving on those objectives until you can score, having units that can be in the right place at the right time and, of course, killing the enemy as needed. While you don't have to score the full 90 to win every time (just have to have more than your opponent, afterall), it's generally safer to have a plan on how to get the max. You can win the game by tabling the enemy, but you can also lose after tabling the enemy. You cannot lose by scoring the max number of points (though you can tie, hilariously enough), and you can max score without killing a single enemy unit (though that is so incredibly unlikely to occur). Over time, I learned these facts. I started early with Mozrog, pound-for-pound the best beatstick in the index, but I quickly grew so enamored with him that I had to add another Squigboss. I bought, assembled, and (barely) painted a unit of Flash Gitz, and converted a counts-as Kaptin Badrukk, after I played another Ork and saw how deadly that unit's shooting was (especially their overwatch, a tool I otherwise don't think Orks can make use of). I went from three trukks to four, then five, and eventually six, and I think if there wasn't a limit, I would have kept going. They are the right combination of fast, durable and cheap, and they consistently score me secondary objectives. And I've expanded my Squighog Boys unit from being mobile objective doers to being the primary hammer of my list. Some things haven't worked for me: Beastsnagga Boyz and the Beastboss. I've used this unit in the vast majority of my games, but I just can't help but feel like it doesn't do enough. Often, the best thing about it was the OC, which I can get cheaper from regular Boyz. The Beastboss has been especially disappointing, as he is so reliant on generating Devastating Wounds in order to do any damage, and even against vehicles, it's pretty easy to have a bad turn and not get enough 4+s. At least the Squigbosses are durable enough that when they whiff, they can be expected to stick around and get another shot at it. This is a recent drop for me, but I can't imagine I'll miss them. Nobz and the Warboss. I've gone back and forth on these guys, from running a full 10-man, to having none, to having two 5-mans (each with a warboss), and most recently, back to a full 10-man. The truth is, they are the best source Orks have for a large quantity of AP-2 attacks, something we sorely need. But they suffer from being too easy to kill; -1 to-be-wounded is nice and all, but 2W and no innate invulnerable save just make them too soft, and we can also slap a -1 to-be-wounded on any non-vehicle unit. This is a high-finesse unit and one I've been really trying to use well. Anything that shoots other than Flash Gitz. We just don't have enough support, our weapons are good enough, and we can't field enough of it to matter. In the end, this meant I've found the most success by making lists that focus on staying power over offensive burst; a few units can lay down the hurt, but the vast majority of the list isn't interested in killing the enemy as much as it's just trying to find points to score. And even those best, most deadly units, the Squigbosses and Squighog Boyz, are really about being ultra-durable and forcing the opponent to over-invest in killing them, lest they let my stuff get to them. That means it's very viable for me to keep my units on objectives but out of Line-of-Sight and force the enemy to over-commit to clear the objective. It's simple, it's effective, and frankly, it's a lot of fun. But, there's a problem. The Problem Sitting back on objectives and forgoing charging into the enemy isn't very Orky. There's room for kunnin' and I'm a Blood Axe at heart, but still, it will never feel right to go "my Squighog Boys are not going to move to charge that Dreadnought" and instead just score points by sitting there. But, that's what I'm often doing! And, again, I like it! Playing the game tactically and for the win is an enjoyable experience. It's just not what I signed up for when I selected the greenskins. There's a couple more: I cannot paint Orks fast enough to react to changing metas and my own preferences. I paint every detail on my Orks and use a lot of colors, and it just takes me forever, which isn't ideal when you want to quickly swap and add units. I hate the movement rules in the Charge and Fight phases. I just don't find it fun to do, and those phases being so key to my army's (meager) offensive output actively saps my enjoyment. So, what's the solution? The Solution Enter the Necrons. They have it all: Primarily a shooting army, so no need to perform charge/fight phase movement a dozen times per game. A quick paint scheme that I can bang out fast when my list needs to change. Similar overall strategy of holding objectives and just surviving the onslaught to score points. But most importantly; They play competitively like they are in the fluff. Currently, competitive Necrons are all about using "bricks" of either Warriors or Lychguard (or even one of each!), getting them on objectives in No Man's Land and just outlasting everything. They get killed and then just get back up, an implacable force that laughs at the puny weapons of the younger species of the galaxy. Their esoteric and arcane technologies allow them to make the laws of physics into tools for acts akin to magic, such as the teleportation of troops. And so on and on, fluff reflected on the tabletop in a manner that isn't just faithful, but is also good. It's for these reasons that I'll be switching to Necrons, a faction I didn't even consider at the beginning of the edition, as the name of this blog implies. In fact, other than painting the Indomitus set three years ago, and another five Immortals as a palette cleanser some time later, I never seriously thought about collecting the army, let alone playing them as my main faction. But then again, 10th is my edition of trying new things, so I should be less surprised. But for now, the Kharezt dynasty awakens, and marches to war.

Hello all! Please allow me to introduce myself I'm a man of wealth and taste OI! -clears throat- Okay, now that the silliness is done, you've probably seen the beginnings of my Waaaagh in my general WIP thread. Well, this is the start of the PROPPA Orky WIP thread. Orcs have always been one of my favorite fantasy races, and the ones in 40k take what I find awesome about orcs and adds a healthy dose of Mad Max. That's going to be very important, because this is the start of Speed Freeks army first and foremost. However, it's not solely Evil Sunz. This army will be lead by three Big Bosses, Zapwazza Grimdakka 'da Skorchmasta' (Evil Sunz, overall boss), Anzagg Nazgrim 'Manyteef' (Bad Moons, not named after the WoW character . Brings the teef and Dakka. And you'll see why he has hos sobriquet when the model I needed for him comes in tomorrow....) and Wirgoz Studskragga (Deathskulls Mekboss, the brains of the operation). All three of these bosses will be heavily converted. And big. Very, very big :lol: Now, I suppose I should show some of the models then yes? Some Nobs: Flash Gits (likely going to be Bad Moons, possibly not Freebooters): Burnas and a Spanner: The start of Mekboss Studskragga's recovery vehicle (a Battlewagon of some sort, based on the War Rig from Fury Road): And finally, the newest vehicle being added to the Orks stable of Trukks: Yes, that's Christine (1958 Plymouth Fury) being looted. That model kit is a PAIN because of how it goes together. The hardest part will be the final assembly once she's all painted. That and finding a way to get a driver in it

Hello I have tried to find some Killteam info. on Orks but without any luck. My plan is to build an ork Killteam and then hopefully still be motivated to paint a 40K ork army. Should I just use boyz or are any of the other units viable ? Thanks. Kind regards Kim

Sorry for the cheesy title. For Father's Day, my 16-month-old son got me a Gorka/Morkanaut (my wife swears she had nothing to do with it). I'm very excited, as I think the model is hella cool, and just the thing I need to help get my average ETL vow up this summer. But the question is, which one should I build it as? From first read, I'm thinking the Morkanaut. 3d3 KMK shots are mean, plus the KFF on that large base is going to cover a massive area. On the other hand, the Gorkanaut has been seeing some high-level play, such as Ben Jurek's Freebooterz, and I've just heard anecdotally that the Gorka is the way to go. I'm considering a list with 3 Battlewagons/Bonebreakas and 2 'nauts, presenting 80+ toughness 8 wounds, and greatly reducing how many models I have to move every game. I was originally going to go double Morka, but maybe one of each? The Dread WAAAGH! specialist detachment provides a stratagem to double fire, so having one of each 'naut would give me the flexibility to double fire the Gorka when facing hordes and the Morka when up against knights/heavy armor. And what clan? My initial thought was Deffskullz, which for Morkanauts is excellent, but the Gorkanaut would benefit more from Bad Moonz. Alternatively, Blood Axes would make the 'nauts more survivable, though against most things that would be targeting them, it probably wouldn't matter vs. the KFF. Freebooterz is the single strongest for shooting, but it requires an activator, and that can be hard against some armies.

Hey! I started an Ork Killteam when Killteam in 7th came out, and converted my Orks into Apes, becuase I thought it would be fun to have a Planet of The Apes and/or hotrod themed army, and decided I should post what I have for my current Killteam. It's Commander is Warboss Big Tommy, who is wearing the pirate hat and weilding the dreaded Power Barrel (Bug Choppa). The leader is Chimp Guevera, a Grot leader, who has killed a Plague Marine with a single shot. The Apes dressed in Batman costumes are my kommandos, and WAAAAAAAGHluigi is a nob with a big Choppa and kombi flamer. I am looking into contrast paints to make painting them go faster, since the conversion work takes quite a while haha so if anyone has any good experience or suggestions on that, I'd much appreciate it!

Hey there you gitz as I will take part in the upcoming ETL on the side of Chaos, I might only be able to post something OoC for the Orks during the ETL. But I really need some motivation to paint some of my Orks. So I thought an own Painting Event for Orks would be the best oportunity to give my Orks the look they deserve. I opened this thread to discuss how we could organize such an event. First of all we need to decide on a time frame. I would suggest something after ETL VII. Maybe with one month pause between? We also need some Event-Medals for the signature of our fellow Warbosses. Will this event also consists only of painting or also of building? ... There are a lot of things to discuss, and as I never started such an event, I have no clue what we will need. But I would really like to hear your thoughts about this. Let us show the other Xenos who the real Boss is.

I've had a chaos army for...well, every. I've decided they needed an overhaul, mostly because my ADD seems to not allow me to work on one project at a time. So, these guys were dusted off, unboxed and painted dark brown. Here's the paint test 'dummy'....though I don't call him that too his face. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MCd9rnCyCbo/T8bn0RSEAnI/AAAAAAAAAbQ/wWzqXs1GeYQ/s1600/TemplarDm001pip.jpg I have about 27-30 or so of these marines, converted to be a bit nurgly. I'm going to use them as regular marines with a Nurgly icon. I've got some other toys I'll be showing you in the near future. But the overall concept is as it has been since the last codex came out- stinky,nasty Nurgly... with a bit of Khorne. Here's one of my Nurgle champions, painting in progress. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qO6pB2eiiMU/T8botOHcKbI/AAAAAAAAAbY/zwt8KIUo0Zs/s1600/ChampNurg001pip.jpg More foolishness on MY HOBBY BLOG if you want to check it out. Cheers ya'll!

Edit: I suppose an introduction is in order. I've been a member of the B&C Community since 2009. I've been playing 40k since 2004, when a friend of mine had been gassing on about "Orks with a K, because those LotR Orcs aren't big enough." I finally asked him what the hell he was talking about, and he gave me a copy of Codex: Orks (the one written in 2000 by Andy Chambers). One read through and I was hooked. Greenskin for life. Orks have remained constant through thick and thin in 40k for me; my Astartes armies have been a riotous roulette wheel of color (Ultras, Salamanders, Black Templar, Crimson Fists, and finally Alpha Legion). Anyway, that's the boring part. What I love about Orks: big mobs of boys supported by ranged grots. Brutal close assaults, Nob assassination squads, trukks filled with specialists whizzing by and lightning the whole world on fire/replacing the air with rokkits. I'm going with Goffs due to Mek Boss Buzzgob. I love (and will always cherish) the Dreadmob list and will do it again as soon as Kastorel-Novem is updated. However, it somehow slipped my notice that he was a Goff! Whatever works, this means I get to toss Ghaz into my lists when Grokgor is asleep, or something. Speaking of: my Waaagh's background. Back when I was in college, I used to play a buddy who had a Salamander army led by Vulkan He'stan. One day, my warboss managed to beat He'stan down three different games in a row, using different army lists. After the third time, my friend disgustingly said: "I hate your warboss. He's a Salamander-killer." I had been flirting with the name "Grokgor" (Grok being my WoW ork warrior's name, "Gor" meaning "bad"), but on that day, Grokgor Wyrmsmasha was born. I did a head swap with a Finecast Ghaz and an original metal warboss (helmetless one with a big choppa), and his legend began. He's been given a bike, mega armor, and I occasionally flirt with the idea of going back to the original model, but Grokgor shall remain. Below is a picture of the first Goff I've done. A simple slugga boy, not yet dry from the wash. Pictures and updates will come as models and units are completed.

So I have a few pics of some games this week. I have had a super busy week so excused the rushed report, but here are the short notes: It was a 2K Maelstrom game.... it was pretty intense. More so than I thought it would be with Orks. Basically here's what I brought, unfortunately since the new codex came out I haven't had the heart to rip arms off of my sword Strikes, (which hardly got used in 7th), and put on Falchions, but two of the squads were WYSIWYG and 2 were Falchion loaded. One NDK is just a heavy, the other is a GMNDK. Razorback (missing turret) is an Assault Cannon. 2 Purgation squads are in there too. (Psilencers x2 and Psycannon x 2) The rest is pretty vanilla... 4 Pals, 1 Apothecary w/Cuirass. Voldus, and Draigo. The Orks army. I have to say it was not one of his stronger lists, but it had a good mix. He's played a lot of the massive body count armies... very annoying, but this was more trukks, more elites for him, and therefore less bodies, but he has been testing a Gorkanaut (I think it's called). Anyway I do get first turn. He's lined up poorly in my opinion though and this could be where I get a huge advantage if I don't mess it up. Beginning of the game: My first turn I alpha the heck out of him to retain some slight advantage. He has lots in trucks and I see the limitations of my non-Lascannon oriented force immediately... here I was hoping to Stormbolter him to death. The GMNDK comes down and Voldus launches Vortex. ! I love that about this edition... my Vortex is back baby! Take that dirty , green space mushrooms! The Vortex is a big one! It doesn't get the extra mortal wounds, but it is bin in the way it hits 4 squads including a Dread, and the Gorkanaught. I baby smite as much as typically can be done, and a well placed Purge Soul rips more off of the Gorkanaught. I don't waste most of my shooting on the Gorkanaught... because I need to wittle down some units. And I do. I get first blood at this point on a truck, and I think I've got a huge advantage here with his deployment so I get the GMNDK into CC with Gorkanaught... oh they will write such great prose about this moment on Titan... won't they???? Yea, so .... Not really! The Grandmaster waltz's in and hits but only does two D3 wounds!!! (Since I can only roll as low as a 3 that's as good as it gets for me)!!! That hammer needs batteries or something. I even blew a command point. So as you can clearly see the Gorkanaught had it's way with the GMNDK! The Gorkanaught pulled back and out of it's gut comes the Nobs with Heavy axes....But hey I remember this! In 7th I wiped these guys no problem..... Well frag grenades aren't needed in 8th, and ANYTHING can adjust a Terminator (2+ save). So the Nobs come out, and they are.. shocking S6 with these axes, 2 wounds each, and -1 AP!!! When did this happen? They come out with a banner dude, and lay the beat down, and the Gorkanaught easily finishes off the GMNDK. So now things have changed. I move up everything and try to crack vehicles, but the Orks are now in the lead, and have Slay The Warlord. The Paladins move in and do not let the image of their based in GM slow them down.... - My NDK (Heavy) does some good work here, we look really good now as the Paladins and Voldus start to take down boys, but they are cheap... dispensable. - I have some points from this, but he's still leading. The weird thing is the game keeps swaying HUGELY back and forth. I finally have the tipping point I feel when I get the Morkanaught down BUT it explodes on the way down!!! - The ensuing explosion causes 12 wounds on my stuff!! Insane. He's laughing now. Voldus took 2 (after killing the robot) and the Apothecary took a few.... very bad... Strikes went down... it was bad. - I get some points around the board, his copters come in flanking and steal a few points... I have to react, and it looks like I'm going to have to table him. - My Purgation squads are big in this game. I sit them in front of the Razorback and spew out Psilencer shots, and Psycannon shots (the Psycannons weren't worth it in my opinion. The Assault Cannon just does more for the buck). - I gun down the Nobz with axes... they are incredibly good now and cheap (too cheap?) At this point the NDK hops across the board with Gate, and I am down to the Razorback about 2 squads of 3 model Strike squads.... Voldus, and one NDK. I get the points I need literally in the last turn to pull off a crazy narrow victory! Orks are a lot different. Anything affecting saves is hard, but one thing I forgot to mention in this battle was a squad of Rocket Boyz in a Truck.... after I got through an assault with my Paladins they just got VAPED by the Rockets! -AP plus each unsaved wound is 3 Damage! So every lost save is a dead Strike, or a dead Paladin. That was incredibly rough, and made me really doubt the continued use of Paladins. But I have to hand it to my Ork opponent, this felt nothing like 7th edition Orks vs. GK.

Greetings fraters, I´d like to present the concept of my personal space marine chapter here, which I carry around with me for years now (I actually made an IA under another name for them quite a time ago, but I think it´s now deleted (which is totally ok)). Anyways, let´s start: https://imgur.com/v6JlAWC (standard colour scheme) Twilight Wardens Chapter Name: Twilight Wardens Founding: 23rd Founding (Sentinel Founding) Homeworld: Enoch (Feudal World) Ultima Segmentum (bordering to the Ork Empire of Charadon and in relative proximity to the Forgeworld Metalica) System: Enoch System Geneseed: Unknown/ Imperial Fists (debated) Fortress-Monastry: Greatshield Colours: Fawn, sky-blue eyelenses, colour variations of the helmet based on battle-field role ("huts") Chapter Insignia: A feline paw, claws reaching through a sun, tips touching an encircling crescent moon Specialty: Scouting and stealth, Preferred enemy: Orks Strength: ~ 700+ Chapter Master: Chidi Tinashe Battle-Cry: "For our fathers, for Enoch, for the herd among the stars!" About: The Twilight Wardens are Space Marine Chapter of the 23rd Founding. Hailing from the world of Enoch, their main initial purpose was to protect the regions surrounding the Ork Empire of Charadon, eventually they were deployed in other warzones, mosty fighting greenskins and ocassionally other Xenos, if their absense is justifiable. They are a highly spiritual, some might say superstitious chapter, with many traditions rooted deeply in the culture of their homeworld. Quite frequently their own homeworld is attacked by Orks, but the invaders could always be fought back so far. Homeworld: Enoch is a hot, arid world, with a size roughly two thirds of Holy Terra, a hard place to live, but not as hellish as a typical death world. It was re-discovered at some point after the Great Crusade by the same name, but was of little importance, until it became the Twilight Wardens homeworld at some point early to middle M38. Though this particular individual is all but forgotten and the Wardens have full sovereignity over the planet and it little star system, it has never been re-named, because they see names as something holy. The landscape consists of savannahs, deserts and wastelands and the inhabitants are forced to change their place of living several times a year to sustain their herds of cattle. The Fauna brings forth several predators which could been found on Old Earth, like lions, hyeanas and even crocodiles which inhabit the few regions whith permanent water-supplies, as well as anitolopes, rhinos and more. It is debated, if those animals had been imported to be hunted in the Age of Strife or even before that. At present Enoch has a population of estimated 8- 12 000 000 inhabitants. The people of Enoch Inhabited by dark-skinned, tough peoples who mostly live of semi-nomadic herdsmen it´s technological level is generally quite low, but the population is capable of producing steel for weapons and low-tech firearms are not unknown, but cannot be reproduced. The main way of living is semi-nomadic, the tribes being herdsmen staying as long as possible on a place to sustain their cattle and then travel on established routes, claimed by them by tradition. A "Twilight Warden" is the honorary term for able-bodied men, guarding the herds for the dangerous period of twilight at dusk and dawn, then the gods sleep and hyenas, lions and other dangerous predators stalk the Night, ready to slay and eat the animals of their precious herds. Armed with a warriors equipment, a great round or ellipctic shield made of cow-hide and wood and a great spear, the Assagai. It is the main source of a mans honour to fulfil this honour and only men who fulfilled it with valour can hope of one day leading their clan or even great-clan. The societies are ordered in unities of family, clan, great-clan, and tribe, with the level of loyalty and allegiance being more significant and important, the closer an actual blood-relation is. Each family, clan, great-clan and tribes has it´s nominal leader, but is committed to the council of the priests and elders. Generally they live rather peacefully, while wars are not uncommon, solving conflicts with bloodshed is rare, because of the common knowledge that the waste of ressource and peoples in fights are simply very unreasonable in this hard and dangerous environment. Mostly rivalries between competing leaders and conflicted over conceived ill-behaviour, such as the stealing of cattle, are fought out in ritualized one-on-one, unarmed fights at the gahterings of tribes. Two exception of this general rule occur: Firstly, the inhabitants of regions known as the "shadowlands", there criminals, cannibals and other banished live are mostly attacked on sight, because they are believed to be cursed and to have lost the favour of the gods. Every couple decades or sometimes centuries the planet is attacked by Orks, hailing from Charadon. The tribes then band together under the leadership of the Twilight Wardens to meet this threat and destroy it for good. Though none as vigiliant defenders of their realm of space, the Twilight Wardens travel as fast as possible to their homeworld and it´s regulary the only occasion they reject distress calls from other theaters of war. This is also the only time the shadowborn, the inhabitants of the shadow-lands are somehow tolerated and sometimes fight with the main population against the deadly threat of the Ork hordes. The shadowlands and its inhabitants The "shadowlands" are a collective term used for a number of regions in which the unwanted of the societies of Enoch´s tribes are banished for one reason or another. They gain their common name from it´s location being often in wastelands under the shadow of big mountains, the most unhospitable places on the planet, salt seas and the most unrelenting deserts. The people living there are all outcasts for various crimes or shortcomings. Cannibalism, murder and other offences to the gods are either sentenced by death or banishment to the shadowlands. In turn cannibalism is mostly excepted there, mostly because the living conditions are so dire, that it is often a neccesity. There isn´t much organisation of a social life there, because herding is mostly impossible there, most live as hunter-gatherers and the only social entity of any value is mostly a nuclear family or small groups only hold together by the strength of a feared leader. Sometimes one part of a pair of twins are left and exposed to the elements after birth, because of the difficulties to raise two children at once in an unforgiving environment. Those found and raised by the shadowborn (if they aren´t just killed and eaten) then naturally become shadow-born itself. Other banished are individuals, showing psychic abilities, which are seen as foul witchcraft by the rest of the population. The shadow-born have a sinister, vile reputation and said to have an ill temper. Religion of the peoples of Enoch The people of Enoch are deeply spiritual and have many myths concerning the earth, animals and natural phenomena. Their pantheon is vast with a myriad of spirits, animal gods and an extensive cult of mythic forfathers and ancestors. Two vastly important gods which can be found with any tribes though, are the twin gods (who are also husband and wife) Nami and Iman. Mani, known as the Great Father, or the Demanding brings hardships to make his children, the people of Enoch strong, while Iman the Great Mother, the Caring, gifts them out of love. When both are honored through good, just living and their respective rituals an ideal state is preserved if not, ill will befell the people in one way or another. Mani shows himself through sunshine, storms and drought and is peronated by the sun, Iman through rain (or floods) and is personated by the moon, clouds and the birth of livestock, Manis time is the day, Inam´s the night. Dusk and dawn, when lions and other dagerous animals prowl to hunt cattle and kill men, is the time when both of them sleep and so men have to fight against nature in order to survive. "White Obsidian" A mysterious very durable, yet light material, dubbed "White Obsidian", is to be found on the planet, venerated as a holy substance by the locals and prized by the Wardens as a decent alternative to ceramite and sometimes used instead of it by the chapter serfs to repair damaged battle-armour or even used by Techmarines as a base material to produce suits of Artificer Armour. It is however, other than the name suggests, not very sharp in its natural form and - as it, just like ceramite, conducts almost no heat or other energy - unsuitable to be crafted into power-weapons. However splinters of it, formed into shards on a molecular basis and applied on combat knives or chainswords are a good way to give a weapon a very durable, decently deadly edge. White obsidian, reduced by extreme heat to a molecular level and compressed under great pressure several times, can even be a replacement for Adamantium, though the means to do it are most often beyond the chapter and it´s techmarines and can sometimes be made on Metalica, but for a hefty prize, mostly in the form of large amounts of this rare substance and so this method is only very rarely done. The population is organized in somewhat hierarchical structures such as families, clans, great-clans and tribes, with loyalty being more relevant the farther an actual blood-relation is present. Though conflicts do occur, they are rare, as people see the necessity of avoiding bloodshed as it is seen as an evil which most of timeonly cost scarce ressources in menpower and strength. White Obsidian plays a role to distinguish highly honoured persons, both in the Chapter as in the general population of the men of Enoch, aswell as their distinctive religious practices. As it is deemed to holy to be altered in it´s physical form by the people of Enoch, but the chapter sees it´s enorm potential as too valuable to totally miss it out, it is only crafted on the planets space station (and outer arsenal) Assagai. History: The Twilight Wardens were founded as part of the Sentinel Founding to protect neighbouring regions from the Arch-Arsonists of Charadons hosts. Requested in particular from Metalica to help protect it trading routes, they engaged in conflicts as they helped fight of greenskin attackers at the surrounding worlds. One on of this occasions by trying to defend a well-populated world, fighting at the for-front, the chapter lost it´s entire first company, which was at this point consisting of veterans in tactical dreadnought armour, like in a codex-chapter. Even worse, the rest of the accompanying forces of the Wardens suffered greatly, too, trying to hold an entry point to a town there the bulk of the population had entrenched itself. This brought a great change in the chapters organization, each company would know have access to veterans and specialists from this point on and tactics changed from direct engage to tactics of sabotage of supply lines and command structures, feint attacks and tactical retreats, if necessary. Culture: Opposed to many other chapters, the Twilight Wardens have no problem in considering the Emperor a god. Deep in their hearts though, they have a problem in considering him the only god, they still rever Nami and Iman in secret. Knowing that this would inevitably lead to conflicts with the Ecclessiarchy and the Inquisition, they have a policy of either denying their existence to outsiders or as telling others that they are simply figures of thought and very similiar to the Promethian Cult of the Salamanders. They also honour ancestors and dead battle-brothers greatly. They believe they live on in their songs, the war-poems, which are composed and sanctioned by the Chaplains, which enjoy even higher honours as in most other chapters. The singing of a war-poem can be initiated in battle by the squads leader and lead to a trance-like state of the squad, evoking past patterns of warfare. It can decrease heart rate, metabolism and even act as a surrogate for normal sleep to a degree increasing the Wardens overall fighting prowress in the long-term, helping them to stay in action over longer times. There is also a custom of claiming family relations among officers and troops, battle-brothers claim there captains as their nominal father, taking sometimes ven his last name. It has been noted that the Twilight Wardens also practice similiar bonds with warriors of other chapters and even guardsmen which impressed them with their valour and courage, claiming them as nominal brothers and including them in their ever expanding myths over time. Regiments or chapters with such members are often more likely to receive aid in need from the Wardens. The life of the Wardens is regulated with a lot of rituals and ceremonies for their gods, and a set of highly honoured chapter serfs, which are un-augmented priests of Nami and Iman always travel on their ships. They perceive themselves primarily as guardians and defendders of menkind, as their former flock as regular humans were cattle, goats and sheep now they watch over the citizens of menkind, the herd among the stars. Geneseed: The Geneseed of the Twilight Wardens shows little to no mutation .An exception is the often malfunctioning Betcher´s Gland. Its origin isn´t entirely clear, though the Administratum list them as Ultramarines successors, the chapter commands claim to be of Imperial Fists descend, specifically being founded by the nearly-extinct Celestial Lions, which they see as spiritual forbears. Though most imperial authorities see this as rather unlikely, it is unwise to denounce this openly while adressing the Wardens, who hold the Celestial Lions in highest regard. Beliefs: The Twilights Wardens rever the Emperor as a god (though it is unclear, if he is revered in the ideal way as wished by the Ecclessiarchy), as long with the local gods Nami and Iman, among many other divine beings, (though practices of worship to those are mostly hold in secret and this is not revealed to outsiders). They also believe heavily in fallen battle brothers becoming semi-divine beings, in an unique manner: After a period of time determined by the Chaplains they hold ceremonies, in which the bones of the fallen are burnt. Their legacy is then immortalized in war-poems. At this time their names are purged from official records and forbidden to be used in common language. Instead they are believed to live on in their poems and their names can only be sung. In this way they live on as spirits guiding their brethren. Organisation: Since losing their entire first company, while trying to save a great amount of civilians in a battle against the Greenskins, the former codex-adherent chapter changed tactics and organisation considerably. Using scouting tactics and infiltration as an important element of their battle plans, it maintains a regular scout company, but the other five companies contain ideally marines for every battle role, meaning Devastators, tanks, tactical squads and veterans are all part of a regular company, as well as a companies own scouts (which are mostly more experienced than their regular counterparts in the scout company). Each regular company is called a Kraal-Company, living as a nominable "tribe" and operate on strike cruiser. The Kraal Company consists of several clans, based on equipment and battle-field roles, named after predators of Enoch, which are the following: jackals are scouts (while the scouts of the "regular" scout company are sometimes dubbed "Fenneks" or "desert foxes"), Tactical Marines are leopards, Devastators and tank personel are Hyenas, Assault Squads, Bikes and Land Speeders are "Cheetas". Each of those units forms a close bond in their respective companies and are referred to as a "hut" (e.g. "the cheeta hut of Kraal Tinashe). A Marine spends the most time of his daily life with his hut and members mostly share a friendly rivalry. A special entity of the chapter is an elite corps of Greenskin-Hunters, mostly composed of Vanguard Veterans and Assault Terminators, the Eclipse Lions. Those Veterans hate and expertise in killing the Xenos, excels those of their common brethren, by they have also tendencies of recklessness and value human life sometimes less, than other Warden Claws and have a more sinister reputation among the majority of the chapter and the population of Enoch. Current status: Numbers are stressed by near constant campaigns against Orks and other Xenos, but do to a quite high recruitment rate, remain relatively stable. Equipment: The chapters tanks, mostly manufactured and maintained on the fortress-satellite Assagai, surrounding Enoch is of little to medium size and mostly of more common vehicles due to the chapters rather backwater status. It contains a considerable amount of Landspeeders though and keeps it number of drop pods high to quickly engage in battle in the various conflicts and distress calls it has to answer. Vehicles of note: Lion´s Paw: Landraider (mostly used as personal transport for Chapter Master Chidi Tinashe Rainbringer: Whirlwind Crack-Jaw: Hunter tank Lightening Spear: Landspeeder of the Cheetah hut of Chidi Tinashe Kraal Companys leader Abidemi Abessi Adisa Thunderstrike: Venerable Dreadnought Retribution of Mani: Land Raider Redeemer Chapter Relics: - Mercy of Inam: Stalker Bolter - Mask of Nami: Artificer-Helmet, used by the chapters Master of Sanctity, currently Samore Mussa - Beasts´ Woe: Power weapon, great spear ("lionspear") - Devourer of the Wicked: Heavy Flamer Arsenal: Fortress-Monastery: Greatshield is a 30,000 ft high mountain, with a flat plateau on it´s encrested with built in encampments and forticifcationss. Part of the chapters arsenal is kept in the mountain itself. It´s top can be "sealed" with overlapping great plates of bronze-coloured metal with an adamantium core, if needed to shield it from enemy forces from above. When attackers come, it is a bastion which can hold a large proportion of Enochs weak, children, women and elders. As I am already writing for hours, I call it a day, now. Hope you enjoyed my creation so far. Will fill in the blanks as soon as possible! Greetings, Velype!

Work's getting super crazy for me but I want to quickly get this out there, because I haven't reported any of my recent Thousand Sons games, and this was the result of a conversation I had on the forum with some of you about using Magnus because I had been getting kicked around pretty good with my Thousand Sons. If you recall, I wasn't sure if going full Magnus was something I'd regret or not. Well some of you may know I like to start my batrep's with a critical moment.... and that would be right about here.... + " Hold my spear... I got this...." + So here we go: It's Orks vs. Thousand Sons. His list is experimental, he's been having good success with a Morkanaught. He uses a few trucks, and puts 10 boyz in each one. He has a repair dude on a bike to help fix the Morkanaught, and a few Choppas in reserves. Here's my list: Setup and Game: - It's my basic list, but with Magnus this time. I'm sure it was illegal now that I think of it because I put 9 blue horrors and one 1 pink horror as a squad. I haven't really used them in 8th and thought I'd throw them into the list for something to try. They are my 4th troop choice. I guess I could have made it legal by simply making the Rubrics an elite choice. Oh well... no biggy. - We play Spoils of War, and I go first because I'm awesome. Spoils of War dictates you can never throw away "secure Objective X" cards. (not to be confused with "Defend Objective X" which I see some people still accidentally putting in the same category). - The deployment looks like this: + There be green men on Mars, but they ain't martians. Ahriman surveys the battle ground. The Tzaangors spread out. Magnus is off camera to the left, and some Orks aren't quite in the picture. + Early Game: + I figure I should hold Magnus back. I explain him to my opponent. I decide in turn 1 NOT to use Magnus. I move him with his beautiful acid trip looking wings, but no psychics, no Weaver of Fate, no Warp Time. This would be a severe under estimation on my part, and I should know by now. + My lascannon Preds open up on the Dorkbot, and I do nothing. T8 isn't that bad, but out of 4 lascanons, and 3 Autocannon shots I do 3 damage total. This doesn't look good. + I score one point for grabbing an objective, but I don't even get first blood. I have to advance a bit with Tzaangors or as usual Orks will dominate the table space. + In his turn he picks up first blood, and a point.for something else, but he puts out horrendous firepower while advancing his trucks. He smokes a squad of Tzaangors... a squad that Ahriman cast Fate on and even with rerolling 1's, I lose all but 2, and Ahriman is assaulted T1. I thought I was deep enough to protect him, I know that Orks can, advance + assault, but I didn't think it would end up on Ahriman in T1. He dies quickly to a pile of attacks. Slay the Warlord goes to Orks. I'm losing 2-1. + After the Orks kill off Tzaangors and Ahriman, I get the Rubrics out and with 4 flamers, and bolters and I kill only about 10 orks in total. They get around the moral test ,and the orks are fine. I realize the trucks are advancing on my endges, trying to leverage the Predators. I fire on them.... get this... I finally get a Pen- 6 DAMAGE, and he Ramshackles it down to 1 DAMAGE! He does it again on another lascannon shot from 5 DAMAGE down to 1! Ugh. Man is that ramshackle annoying when it kicks in. + I realize after the Morkanaught finished firing, and his army finished assaulting, I was out gunned, and probably out assaulted, but I had the psychics. On the right flank my disk sorc went to town on some dreadnoughts, but I really had trouble killing them. I had to rely on SMITE a LOT this game for vehicle damage. Too many walkers, and trucks. + Magnus is angry, and I can't blame him, I still do not cast Fate on him because I just want to see what happens.... He swoops in and joins a pile of Tzaangors in the middle. I've been here before and if you don't contain Orks early they will own the real estate and you can't get them off of stuff with Warbosses and large mobs around. + I decide to drop in the Scarab Occult (7 termies) in behind the scene to set up some reinforcement for Magnus.... + Magnus, Goats, and Scarab Occult! Now we have a game going.... or do we? + Well Magnus does what he can but the trucks are all full, and the Orks on the ground are wasted pretty good. I thoguht I'd try to put some dents into the Morkanaut but the Orks keep repairing him about as much as I can damage him. Magnus spanks down a large mob, and surprisingly the bladed Tzaangors blow up a trukk... but 10 dudes come out without losing a guy. + + The Scarab Occult fire up Smite, Hellfyre Missiles, bolters, and Soulreaper cannon.... on the Morkanaut and do one damage. Ouch. This is looking uglier and uglier. Late Game: + The Orks counter with everything they can. What this does is buy my back lines some time. I knew he'd do this... he has to, but this way I have some breathing room. I get some valuable points. He has very doable cards though, but he can't do them without killing some stuff first.... + The Ork Morkanaut opens up it's belly button and a squad of Boyz with Big Choppa's comes out. I hate these things.... sure enough he piles them into my Scarab Occult termies..... + And here we are.... the Morkanaught pours everything into Mangus..... + + The Morkanaught hits a ton. There's an Ork banner I cannot get to that has him re=rolling 1's in a radius. He hits Magnus pretty hard, and he's quickly down to half wounds even with my Invulns, re-rolling 1's. + + Magnus interrupts and splits his attacks against the two most damaging units I can see.... two Warbosses with fists. He kills both of them... barely. But the Orks continue with boyz galore, and a dreadnaught. Even without fists, Magnus goes down. + The Scarab Occult get owned pretty hard. This is why I don't like Terminators in 8th. Everything affects them... heavy bolters, fire, assault cannons, etc. In this case a cheap squad of boyz... with Big Choppa's hits a ton, and they are S7 I believe, wounding easily, reducing my save to a 3+. Each Big Choppa does 2 Damage. The Scarab Occult are easily diced up here. + So things are going pretty bad for the Thousand Sons as usual.... but it's okay, I still have... .Tzaangors! And predators (which have done nothing even with prescience running). They plink some more wounds off of the Morkanaut. The Disk Sorc I have gets me "scour the Skies" by killing a chopper, and he directs Tzaangors to take down some cheap troops for another victory point. + I'm playing for points here, it's all I have.... the Rubrics use good ol' fashioned Rhino wall to stay alive... I'm still shocked people don't play more Rhino's. This Rhino literally keeps the Rubrics alive for 2 additional turns. + The demise of Magnus has acted as distraction keeping my Rubrics alive.... The Rhino blocks the Morkanaught buying me 2 turns+ + I snag a few more points here. The Morkanaught cannot get through to the Rubrics who are roasting the Orks trying to get close... I can't kill them all, but he can't get within 8" of me for the assault without melting..... + so here we are at the end. I've been down a Primarch since T2, and I have the points to win.... I'm purely playing the objectives, and somehow my Rhino lasts through all shooting... down to 1 wound, this forces the Morkanaught to assault the Rhino instead of the Rubrics which he desperately wants to kill to so he can move around mid table easily, but it won't happen... the game ends and Thousand Sons literally win by one point.... wow, what a close one. I never thought I had a chance. Thanks for checking out the batrep!

This topic is about The Eye of Ezekiel, but strictly speaking it's not limited to it. I want to talk about this novel, but also what it means where Black Library writing is concerned. I like to think I'm objective in the criticism or praise I offer to the various authors and novels that feature in Black Library. I don't forget that writing fiction is very difficult venture, and doing so for a living is even harder. I don't believe that I come as knowing better. With that in mind, I try to avoid verdicts like, "this story is bad," or, "this author is poor." I know what I like, but I also recognize that everyone has their own cup of tea, if you will. With all that having been said, I think this verdict is harsh but fair: The Eye of Ezekiel is lazy. It feels less like an original story and more like running a bunch of names through a Warhammer 40k Siege Story checklist. It demands that its reader just go along with the ride and never question the numerous inconsistencies that pop up throughout. The author's need to advance the plot trumps the story being consistent or believable (within the context of the setting, of course). Character growth is minimal. I've seen some readers defend similar, earlier entries in the Space Marine Battles series. "They're aimed at a specific audience," I'm told. "They're a specific genre and we shouldn't ask for them to be something they're not." Again, I accept that different folks have different tastes, but this nonetheless feels like kind of a cop-out. I don't see the point in apologizing for what feels like playing it safe and recycling tropes. Space Marine Battles novels and a deep plot with nuanced characters are not mutually exclusive concepts. I can think of no better example of what a SBM entry can be than Helsreach. The wonderful thing about that novel is that the war for Armageddon - itself one of the most prominent conflicts of the setting - simply serves as the backdrop for the actual story, which is about exploring who Grimaldus is. The truly frustrating thing about The Eye of Ezekiel is that it's clear C.Z. Dunn was capable of coming up with a far more interesting story. The loss of Ezekiel's precognitive powers, the manner in which they were taken, and the struggle to cope with their absence in the midst of war make for a much deeper proposition than what we got. The bionic artifact Ezekiel inherits - and, more specifically, the way it seems to... attach itself to individuals with certain abilities - is likewise not something we often see in this genre. Ultimately, these hooks (and others besides) took a back seat to a mailed-in, by-the-numbers conflict that we've seen play out in dozens other Black Library novels, featuring the same bland stereotypes. The Eye of Ezekiel, as most know, is about the eponymous Librarian and the battle he and the Dark Angels Fifth Company wage on the planet Honoria against a greenskin invasion. They are compelled to do so by Arch Magos Diezen, who has called upon an ancient treaty between their Chapter and the Adeptus Mechanicus. SPOILERS FOLLOW! Much of the novel takes place within or around Aurelianum, the capital of Honoria. Dunn makes an attempt at distinguishing this bastion of mankind from other places in the Warhammer 40k universe, but in practice it is no different than most every other fortress shown in most every other story about most every other siege fought in this universe. Honoria is a planet that has been cut off from the Imperium for ten millennia. It's human inhabitants have been preparing for war for all that time. In the process, the Honorians raised fortresses of incredible scale. Eighty percent of the planet is covered by fortresses like Aurelianum, making Honoria's surface a sort of cityscape geared around war and the industry needed to sustain it. Nary a word is "wasted" in showing exactly how dystopian, militaristic, and outright bizarre a society would be after preparing for a war that didn't come for ten thousand years, though. We are not introduced to a single Honorian, and are never given an idea of how they think. As is the case with every other Honorian city-fortress, Aurelianum can only be approached by trench systems that extend for kilometers beyond gates that are topped by weapons arrays that can be (actual quote from the novel) "whatever they need to be." That's not an exaggeration; in their introduction sequence, these weapon arrays seamlessly transition from blasting a large asteroid entering the planet's atmosphere to striking a company-size Ork element on the planet's surface, kilometers away. These weapons arrays, incidentally, are why Diezen brought the Dark Angels to Honoria. He could not care less about the human inhabitants; the weapons that protect their cities are of a type unknown to the rest of the Impeirum, and the Arch-Magos is desperate to save them from destruction. None of the above matters, though. All the artifices of man that are meant to make Honoria distinct end up being nothing more than a MacGuffin. The fortresses of Honoria might cover 80-something percent of the planet's surface, but all of the Orks conveniently manage to land outside the walls. The height of the walls doesn't matter, because the Orks simply use giant bulldozers to pile their dead high enough to climb over them. The magic automated tower weapon arrays don't matter, because when Groblinik decides to drive a captured Land Raider up to one of the gates as an improvised battering ram, the author demands they don't do anything about it. I mean, forget high action; more than anything else, this is what that particular scene brought to mind: Making matters worse, the narrative of the battle is confusing and/or contradicts itself at several key points. A particularly glaring instance of this coincides with one of the major turning points in the campaign. Despite suffering the loss of Master Zadakiel and Interrogator-Chaplain Puriel in the initial battle, the Dark Angels are able to repel the Orks from the mighty walls of Aurelianum without significant casualties. Groblinik's subsequent willingness to sacrifice countless numbers of his Orks doesn't surprise the Dark Angels, but they are nonetheless unable to ascertain his actual plan. It is only after it is reported - almost as an afterthought - that one of the city's fortress-gates isn't responding that the Dark Angels notice - by sense of smell - that the Forge associated with that sector of Aurelianum has been restarted. When the Dark Angels send a strike force to investigate, they discover that tens of thousands of Orks somehow infiltrated the capital, managed to gain access to one of its Forges, and started up production without anyone so much as sounding an alarm. By the time the Dark Angels respond, the Orks have produced an army's worth of giant bulldozers. Their purpose? To stack the countless bodies of Orks outside the walls of Aurelianum, so that the rest of their horde can use them as massive ramparts with which to climb over. No mention is ever made how these Orks infiltrated Aurelianum to begin with. No mention is ever made as to why the Orks didn't simply attack en masse through the compromised gate, either. Point of fact, no mention is ever made as to what happened with that gate to begin with! That shouldn't come as a surprise, though, because this is well after Groblinik already used a Land Raider to batter down another gate, remember? What happened to THAT gate? How did the Dark Angels and the Astra Militarum contain that breach? Who knows? But that's the thing about The Eye of Ezekiel and other books like it. Forget about nuanced storylines that challenge how you view this universe or the characters that inhabit it. This story doesn't even bother with explaining how or why things are happening. What passes for the big challenge to our protagonists is Orks bulldozing dead Orks into piles big enough to climb over 100-meter walls. It's considered thematically apropos for that faction, and that's all that matters. Whether the concept itself is absurd, or the steps taken to set up up sensical, is irrelevant. When it's not focused on the battle for Aurelianum, the novel turns its attention to Captain Ladbon Antilov, a Vostroyan officer determined to rescue his lover Marita, and protect her from the Orkish invasion. It is an underwhelming story, at best, and is undermined by the fact that we can all guess Antilov's true purpose by the crude augmetic eye he wears and his own secret precognitive powers. Sadly, the characters that populate this story don't get much better treatment than the plot itself. Take Danatheum, for instance. Despite Ezekiel's incomprehensible might, Danathaeum holds the office of Chief Librarin by virtue of his experience. That, in and of itself, is just fine, but for whatever reason Dunn felt like he to really make their dynamic different, and thus has Danatheum inform us that he is "outstripped in power" by even the most recent recruit of the Dark Angels' Librarius. Thus, the second-most important position in the Chapter, if not the Unforgiven as a whole, is held by a warrior whose greatest asset is tenure. Mind you, it's not a case of Ezekiel being almighty but young and rash; he is around four hundred and fifty years old at this point. It would be one thing if Ezekiel had yet to prove trustworthy enough to the Inner Circle, but no such context or back story is given. In fact, Danatheum argues the contrary. 
Ezekiel himself becomes victim of the need to ham-fistedly push the Dark Angel theme of secrecy. He keeps secret the fact that he has lost his divination powers, despite the fact that we are constantly reminded how important they are to his Chapter and how they wage war. Turmiel, the Lexicanium whose powers Ezekiel uses as a crutch also feels comfortable keeping this secret, even though both of them know he's right less than half the time. The worst part of this is that Ezekiel's diminished state is only really used when he inevitably makes bad decision after bad decision. It never leads to any real conflict; not between him and the warriors who put faith in his abilities, nor internally (in the sense of him feeling guilt for the consequences of his choices). Where it all comes apart for both characters is the very end. Danatheum reveals he knew from the beginning that Ezekiel had lost his precognitive powers. He nonetheless sent him to Honoria, knowing full well that he would be a detriment and a danger to his fellow officers, none of whom knew what he was dealing with. 
Really, where Dunn does his best work is with the Vostroyan Firstborn. None of the squad he uses as a supporting cast is a particularly strong character, and most of them are little more than the one distinctive trait the author bestowed on them (one is Astartes-tall, another is an albino, another is a mute, and so on). Some very apropos concepts are introduced, however. For instance, there are of course Vostroyans in their regiments who aren't firstborn; regardless of the reason for their enlistment, though, they are seen as lesser. Arguably the character with the most potential other than Ezekiel himself is the Vostroyan Allix, Ladbon's second-in-command. Allix is also easily the most wasted character of them all. Allix appears to be nothing more than an aggressive Guardsman who enjoys Ladbon's confidence until we get nearly to the end of novel, at which point we find out that Allix is really a she. More to the point, Allix is a she who mutilated herself - or had herself mutilated, removing her breasts so that she could pose as a man. The reason for this? To protect her two older brothers (one mentally handicapped; the other "prone to fits") from the Vostroyan Tithe. It is arguably the most powerful reveal other than Ezekiel's, and made me wonder why an author capable of dropping that kind of bomb was wasting his time and mine with the banal, boring concepts that make up so much of the rest of the novel. 
Anyways, to the action itself. As you might expect from a Space Marine Battles novel, combat occupies a central place in the story. Like the setting, though, the fighting is more or less a collection of 40k-specific tropes. We see this from the moment the Dark Angels arrive at Honoria. No sooner does the Sword of Caliban translate to real space than things start getting questionable. The Imperial Navy is outnumbered ten to one, so Master Zadakiel orders them to withdraw lest they be annihilated. Unmolested, the Orks mass their fleet and proceed with the invasion of Honoria. Once the Orks make themselves busy with landing their forces, the Imperials counterattack and succeed in annihilating the xenos fleet - to the point where they run out of targets. Subsequently, nothing happens. The endless millions of Orks are stuck out in the open for days before they finally gain entry to Aurelianum, but none of the Imperial vessels make a move against them. Hold on to this for later. Soon after, Groblinik reveals himself to be a formidable, cunning, and surprisingly augmented warlord. I was left with mixed emotions by the way he dispatched both Master Zadakiel and Interrogator-Chaplain Puriel. On the one hand, the battle is written in a way where the characters' actions feel fluid and dynamic. On the other hand, the effectiveness of their attacks feels arbitrary. There were better ways, I think, of demonstrating Groblinik's overwhelming physicality than by him shrugging off a power fist to the face, especially when he then proceeds to tear apart power armour by hand. Making matters worse is that both Dark Angels ultimately lost their duel by underestimating Groblinik. Zadakiel can perhaps be forgiven; Puriel, who steps in to save the Company Master after watching the entirety of their duel, cannot. From there, we get a lot of passive accounts of the fighting on and around the walls of Honoria. In detailing them, Dunn commits a sin I find in too many Warhammer 40k novels. That is to say, that while technology is technically present, it is dumbed down and ineffective to the point where the battles are no different than what you'd see in, e.g., The Lord of the Rings movies. No matter how much Dunn tries to impress us with the unique and devastating defenses of Aurelianum, in practice it feels like you're reading about the battle for Minas Tirith - not a place with weapons capable of shooting down spaceships. 
Sadly, the combat action that held the most potential - the infiltration of the Forge captured by the Orks - is either handled rather lazily. Dunn tasks Techmarine Serpicus with letting us know that the Forge will be too loud for the Orks to hear bolter fire. It's a convenient excuse and removes the need to write something rich with tension. 
Still later, as the Orks use their newly-manufactured army of giant bulldozers to pile their dead into ramparts capable of reaching to the top of 100-meter walls, another reveal is somewhat lazily thrown at us. Honoria's defenses can track ships in orbit, but apparently neither they nor the returned Imperial fleet are aware that the Orks also landed a massive aerial force that inexplicably failed to attack earlier in the novel. Dunn employs this Orkish air force rather awkwardly. As is typical with Orks or Tyranids, this air force is conveniently numberless: there are enough to win. It's also conveniently vague: the author does not feel the need to dress it up with anything other than an impression of the entire sky being covered by aircraft. The Ork pilots eventually do destroy all the Honorian weapon arrays of the outer perimeter in "off-camera action," but the only one we see them taking out they do so by accident. That same air force is, of course, unable to take out the fewer weapon arrays of the inner ring of Aurelianum's fortifications. This reinforces another typical 40k trope: the author decides at what range war can be effectively fought, and both the minimums and maximums depend on what he needs done. Making matters worse, as the novel grinds on it feels as if Dunn is losing patience with his own story. In earlier sequences, there is a real effort in trying to show the danger a single Ork can pose to a squad of veteran Guardsmen. The story stays consistent on that count up until two thirds through, where the killing of this previously fearsome enemy starts becoming an afterthought. By the time we get to the end, the action is on auto-pilot: Marita, Honorian nurse and resident sniper, is dropping Orks left and right with her lasgun.
 Again, I don't know why any of this is. Dunn handles Groblinik's penultimate and ultimate duels with skill. Balthasar fights the Ork warlord the way Puriel probably should have - shrewdly and with respect for a foe who has revealed himself to be more than he seemed - and when he nonetheless loses it doesn't feel like author's fiat. When Ezekiel enters the fray for the final battle, Dunn truly captures how mighty the future Chief Librarian is. It's all too short, and feels kind of like an afterthought compared to the first duels, but you see Ezekiel's power on display in many different ways. Ironically, when the decisive battle is fought and won, the Dark Angels reach out to their fleet and order them to start bombarding the retreating Orks. Why was this not possible earlier? Simply put, because it doesn't serve the story. It's another instance of dismissing parts of the setting rather than trying to integrate them in the story. 
The Eye of Ezekiel ends with several interesting moments. Some, as is the case with most Dark Angels fiction, simply raise more questions. Are Ezekiel's powers his own now, for instance? Are they a product of the Eye, or something more sinister? Other moments make me wonder if there was a better tale that could have been told altogether. When the destiny of Marita's baby is revealed, it struck me that such a confluence of fates could have played a larger role throughout the book. There's no buildup to it, or any foreshadowing regarding the importance of the pregnancy. In the end, it feels like something special tacked on to something that wasn't. And, finally, it couldn't have been a Dark Angels novel without mention of one of the Fallen. For whatever reason, the treaty between Dark Angels and Mechanicum isn't reason enough to bring the Unforgiven to the defense of Honoria. Arch Magos Diezen also happens to have pict footage of a Fallen in action. He tries to use this evidence to have Techmarine Serpicus - who, unbeknownst to him, is the one Dark Angel officer there that doesn't know of the Fallen - to do his bidding. Of course, Diezen has decided to commit blackmail without any sort of failsafe plan, conveniently confessing to Serpicus that he has no other copy of that footage elsewhere right before the Techmarine executes him.
 I don't know what drives novels like The Eye of Ezekiel. I think the easy and obvious answer is that Black Library doesn't mind having a certain number of titles that are just mailed in. That's not to say that I don't think Dunn can write a good yarn. There are several times in The Eye of Ezekiel where he showed he is capable of writing something far better. The fact that so many of the more boring, contrived tropes he employed are also prevalent is so many other novels does lead me to believe, however, that the use of stock material, themes, and concepts is tolerated and perhaps even expected. This is problematic to me. I know the Warhammer 40k setting is based on a game. I know that much of said setting finds its origins in often absurd material. I know that much of the current material is itself absurd. I know that much of what is sold needs to take into account a young customer base just as much - if not more so - than an older one. Nonetheless, I don't believe that this is the setting's ceiling. I think it's unfortunate that we have less books like Helsreach or the Path of Heaven and more books that give rote service to the setting. I don't believe that a teenager would rather read about future space war rendered down to the lowest common denominator than complex characters and nuanced plot lines. The Eye of Ezekiel could have been something special, with ties to even more special things to come. Instead, I'm sad to say it feels only a little more memorable than the paragraph-sized Codex timeline entry it was based on.

"Listen up ya gitz! Mork may have tried ta eat us, but I'z too ard and too flash for dat. Now he'z gone and spat us out into da biggest fight any Ork's ever seen! Dem oomies may be busy duffin each other up, but we'z gonna show em how ta do it proper! Now quit yer bellyaching and get ready for krumpin! WAAAAAAGH!" - Attributed to Warboss Nazgit Flashdakka. Thought destroyed by the formation of the great rift. Later seen leading an assault on Proxima Cragallum. Record sealed by inquisitorial order. Greetings fellow bosses! With the new edition of 40k, a new waaaagh was in order (after selling my last army at the beginning of 7th.) That meant a batch order of green and yellow paint, a ton of Boyz and most importantly of all version 3.0 of Nazgit Flashdakka! Nazgit has been my boss since the beginning of Gorkamorka, when he started out as just another Morka nob. His trusty Klaw and bionic bonce have been with me ever since, tearing up the tables through most of fourth and fifth edition, before taking a breather for sixth and seventh. Now, with the galaxy in utter chaos, Nazgit and da lads are back and ready for a fight! http://i.imgur.com/6MnodJx.jpg Next on the table is a mob of thirty slugga boyz, that just need their bases finishing up. So an update will be coming soon. Until then, stay flash!

My second game of 8th edition. Deathwing vs Orks. We're both still learning the rules so mistakes were made (like forgetting to use CP's) We played 1500 pts because it's better to start lower. One funny thing: Altough both lists were 1500 pts (ish), the ork list had 20+ power level difference. My List: Battalion detachment Belial Chaplain in TDA: Crozius and SB Apothecary Ancient 2x 5 DW terminators with AC 1x 5 DW Knights 3x5 scouts with sniper rifles Ork list The mission was the relic. I deployed Scouts, Apothecary and Standard bearer, kept rest in reserve. I managed to steal the Initiative, so I moved only the terminator characters. The DWK appered close to the relic, with the Characters close by. The game was shakey in the beggining because the DWK took the brunt of the fighting. They managed to survive with the relic, always retreating and with the rest of the DW making a wall between them and the relic. I managed to face the mobs one at a time with Terminator shooting, Belial CC prowess and re-rolls and Ancient extra attack. Overview Scouts. Those pesky Sniper rifles took out both HQ's, a couple of storm boyz and some wounds in Trukk, Warbikes and other boyz. Thanks to Belial re-rolls the accuracy was kept high.. Apothecary: He healed single wounds and revived 3 dead terminators. He is definately a keeper in this sort of army because every model count. Ancient. Not only he was a force to be reckoned with in CC, giving the extra attack to the rest of the Terminators. DW terminators: AC was ace and at 12" those 4 SB shots made dents, paired with re-rolls from Belial. In CC they were no slouches . Belial: Buffed the army and everything he touched in CC, melted. Chaplain: Gave re-rolls to Belial and other squads and pulled his weight in CC. DW knights. They only soaked fire. I missed them not having firepower. I see no reason to have them instead of normal terminators at this moment. Maybe because they had to keep relic safe and I didn't want to risk them, but in such a small army, the Firepower of another DW squad would have helped much more. Having 2 wounds per terminators makes them more resilient but stuff like missile launchers have to be cleared from the table because they'll make short work of multi-wounds. All in all a fun game to learn 8th Ed. Thanks for reading.

Tactics Time! :D Now, I am no Orks expert, nor even an Orks player yet. But they are very much on my radar at the moment (I have two "Start Collecting" boxes in my cart right now). And 8th Edition rules are such a drastic departure from 7th that a clean slate has been applied to the game, giving everything a degree of playability. It's a great opportunity for us to playtest units, weapon options and army lists. It's also past time we got an Ork Tactics thread started. :) For some added benefits, here's a link to Da WAAAGH!'s Tactics forum: http://www.the-waaagh.com/forums/index.php?showforum=4 To kick things off - the Brigade Detachment. At 2000 points, it is definitely a possibility, as every compulsory slot has units that cost <50 points. This allows you to meet the minimum requirements whilst still creating a themed and competitive army. 12+ Command Points is nothing to sneeze at! So my question is this... What would you take in a Brigade Detachment?

So I fairly recently got my entire Ork backlog painted up; only took me 3ish years to do it! This is the current state of the Waaasgh! And yeah, there's probably more coming eventually. All of the pics are with my phone, so they're not super great, but should give a sense of my skillz. I've broken up the pics into "sets" First up, Characters: