Horde enemy getting repetitive!

[rusty1109]

Hi all,

I've just finished thoudans suns and was very impressed, it picked the series out of what for me was a bit of a slump.

 

Despite liking the book am I the only one who is sick to the back teeth of the following:

"They fought bravely against the seemingly endess swarm of weak enemies.... for every one they killed (insert number between 10 and 100 here) rose to take their place"

 

It's been in every HH book so far I'm sure!

[Aegnor]

Apart from when fighting traitors, that's pretty much how life is for a marine. The enemy will always outnumber them massively, and they'll always be thrown in where the fighting is thickest.

[Sons of Horus]

well I'm sure there are some pretty hard xenos out there. Any author could easily write them up then exterminate them later on

[Aegnor]

Like the interfex? Or the Laer?

[GooseDaMoose]

Like the interfex? Or the Laer?

 

Horde, and horde.

[Doghouse]

I feel the same way actually. It personally seems to come across like there seems to be a standard battle scene template emerging which is a shame.

[Aegnor]

Like the interfex? Or the Laer?

 

Horde, and horde.

 

Really? The interfex were pretty elite by non-Astartes standards, as were the Laer. There's no way I'd consider them horde in the way the Orks or Nids are, or even from the same book the Megaarachnids are. They were technologically advanced forces with - in some ways - superior wargear (armour that stops a bolt round, and weapons that go through power armour) to the Marines. They outnumbered the Marines well and truly, as a product of the Marines having invaded their home planets.

[Ethrion]

I seem to remember (might have been in First Heretic) the Word Bearers were fighting a non-horde army. This was just after the Custodes had started accompanying them.

 

In another book a Space Wolves strikeforce fight against the Dark Eldar who are oppressing the the local human population - only for the humans to reject the Imperium as soon as the Dark Eldar threat is eradicated.

[Dominicus]

First off, just to clarify, they fought the Interex. And with the Laer, once inside the Temple, it wasn't much of a fight. It was the Emperor's Children slaughtering some aliens participation in fulfilling their own pleasures rather than fighting the invaders.

Secondly, Space Marines will always be outnumbered by cults, tyranids, and orks. It's just the way life is.

Thirdly, it always fun to read about Marines hacking their ways through unskilled hordes.

[GooseDaMoose]

Thirdly, it always fun to read about Marines hacking their ways through unskilled hordes.

 

I strongly disagree ;) I mean yes, it's a bit of mindless fun, which is nice from time to time but I really enjoy when the battle seems more like an actual challenge. The only challenge Space Marines seem to have when fighting enemies (even other Space Marines!) is that their arms might get tired from pwning too much. If anyone's ever read The Raven Chronicles and Legends of the Raven, I think these books have really great descriptions of fights. When it's a swirling battle melee then obviously stuff is confusing and fast-paced but in these books there still seems to be some skill involved, even when it's a cavalry charge there is a chance that the enemy dodges the lance rather than just stands there or runs onto the main characters' blades. The enemies in Space Marine books seem just like really bad AI, like the writer only considers the main characters to be conscious, living things while the bad guys are there to be killed.

 

Wow that turned into way more of a rant than I intended. My apologies.

[Dominicus]

Thirdly, it always fun to read about Marines hacking their ways through unskilled hordes.

 

I strongly disagree :P I mean yes, it's a bit of mindless fun, which is nice from time to time but I really enjoy when the battle seems more like an actual challenge. The only challenge Space Marines seem to have when fighting enemies (even other Space Marines!) is that their arms might get tired from pwning too much. If anyone's ever read The Raven Chronicles and Legends of the Raven, I think these books have really great descriptions of fights. When it's a swirling battle melee then obviously stuff is confusing and fast-paced but in these books there still seems to be some skill involved, even when it's a cavalry charge there is a chance that the enemy dodges the lance rather than just stands there or runs onto the main characters' blades. The enemies in Space Marine books seem just like really bad AI, like the writer only considers the main characters to be conscious, living things while the bad guys are there to be killed.

 

Wow that turned into way more of a rant than I intended. My apologies.

That was quite the rant, but hey, we all do it sometimes.

 

I agree on the fact that is does get boring after reading about untrained cultists being thrown at a Space Marine battle company, but when the horde is much more skilled, say that of the orks or tyranids, it gets interesting, as the Marines need to think tactically about the situation, and the best way to approach it.

 

Personally, with the cultists, land mines everywhere would work great.

 

I majorly contradicted my earlier post, but after reading the last book of "The Lost" omnibus, I am starting to realize the boringness of the Blood Pact hordes. The next book after, Ironically called "Blood Pact", was much better, with more single combat.