The Macharian Crusade trilogy (spoilers abound)

[Apothecary Vaddon]

Dunno if anyone else has picked up Fist of Demetrius yet (e-book version is out already, as usual, a month ahead of schedule). Bill King's series is pretty damn well written IMO, and offers a lot of insight into who Macharius was and his character arc. 

I loved the inclusion of Logan Grimnar, in his early days (the novel never says that he was in command of the company, just that he'd act as a liaison to the Guard units). 

The end was sort of a let down, in that the Fist of Demetrius wasn't ever worn by Russ, although there does seem to be some rumor of an artifact called the Fist of Russ, or Gauntlet's of Russ, of a variation thereof. Grimnar ended up recognizing the gauntlets as being worn by some Space Wolf of yore, but not Russ. Names were not named.

Favorite line was probably right after the let down:

 

Drake looked haunted, as he had done ever since we saw the Fist of Demetrius. He nodded as though Macharius had simply confirmed what he had suspected. ‘At least we made it out,’ he said.

Macharius nodded grimly. ‘And it means I have returned in time to ensure the slaughter of the xenos.’

Haha, Macharius is beast. The dude out-thinks the dark eldar, trolls them with faster than bullet-time reactions, AND can march for days on end through the webway and just go on and return to the fight.

As Marshawn Lynch once said - "You can't go home and say 'I'm gonna get in beast mode ' .... naw, Beast mode is already inside of you..."

[Marshal Rohr]

So that makes Grimnar over a thousand years old...

[WatchCaptainAzrael]

Spoiler tags, mang. ;_;

[Conn Eremon]

So that makes Grimnar over a thousand years old...

How? The Crusade is in the 390s.M41. That's only 600 years prior to "present day."

[Marshal Rohr]

The Macharian Crusades are in M40

[Kurgan the Lurker]

The Macharian Crusades are in M40

Macharian Crusade ran from 392 - 399 M41.

[No Foes Remain]

It lasted from 392 to 399.M41. Thats either in C:IG or the Rulebook.

Edit: Goddamn nija'd by Kurgan.

[Marshal Rohr]

Must be a retcon.

[Conn Eremon]

According to the Lexicanum, it was White Dwarf 240 and the 2nd edition Imperial Guard that provides the majority of dates. I know its always been that way for long as I've been reading about it, but that's only been about 4, 5 years.

[Marshal Rohr]

It's not a big deal to me or anything. It's cool Grimnar was there for the biggest crusade since Ullanor. This just means the Donian Crusade gets bumped up in the timeline as well.

[Apothecary Vaddon]

Spoiler tags, mang. ;_;

That's why I put 'spoilers abound' in the title.

[WatchCaptainAzrael]

 

Spoiler tags, mang. ;_;

That's why I put 'spoilers abound' in the title.

You have spoiler tags for a reason. So that people can have the conscious choice to not read plot revelations and focus on reading about any other thing pertaining the book.

[Apothecary Vaddon]

I also have a thread title for a reason - I mean, the thread essentially is one big spoiler. Easier to just leave the tags out and let peeps know at the top.

 

So, one thing I like about this series is the depth and inclusion King gives to Assassins. Specifically Anna. The insights she offers, directly or indirectly, to the main character are pretty interesting and hint a lot at a wider universe of intrigue surrounding Macharius and his war machine. I'd have to say that parts with her in it are some of my favorite parts in the series. Anyone else have an overwhelming favorite part(s) of the series?

[WatchCaptainAzrael]

I also have a thread title for a reason - I mean, the thread essentially is one big spoiler. Easier to just leave the tags out and let peeps know at the top.

Do you also lack the basic capacity of reasoning for a reason?

[Spinsanity]

So, you walked into a thread that came with a huge "spoilers" warning in its title, saw there were no spoiler tags anywhere, and still read trough it?

 

Seriously, I don't want to be rude, but who's the one "lacking basic capacity for reasoning" ?

[Conn Eremon]

In a forum where people have the easy ability to hide such info away and are encouraged to do so, a thread title claiming spoilers lets potential readers know that it is a thread in which hidden away spoilers are going to appear, not that such info will be fully revealed without any attempts to cover them. Threads such as this would be filled with information that aren't spoilers. The discussion on the timing of the Macharian Crusade proves this pretty adequately. The spoiler tags are there so that the relatively little information that are spoilers can be hidden away and those who choose to read them have that option. I don't think its a rule or any such thing, but it is good manners. After all, even threads specifically about particular spoilers will be filled dominantly by various other information and discussions and only a small portion of that thread would constitute as spoilers.

[Apothecary Vaddon]

 

I also have a thread title for a reason - I mean, the thread essentially is one big spoiler. Easier to just leave the tags out and let peeps know at the top.

Do you also lack the basic capacity of reasoning for a reason?

I can see I hit on a soft spot. If spoilers are eye-gougingly offensive to you, then I'll put spoiler tags around them to help you sleep better at night. But don't expect me to send you a night-light, or a teddy bear. Too expensive.

[Kurgan the Lurker]

Well this thread turned to garbage quickly. Cooling it off for a bit. If at some point we feel people can behave themselves it will be opened again.

[Brother Tyler]

Okay, we've had plenty of time to cool off on this.

As far as spoilers go, the topic title provides sufficient warning to potential readers that there are spoilers inside. As a matter of fact, it should be understood that every topic about a GW/BL product in this forum is potentially filled with spoilers and should be avoided by anyone that wants to be surprised.

So I've removed all of the silly debate replies about whether or not to use spoiler tags. If you don't want to read spoilers, don't read the topic.

Now let's move forward with a constructive discussion on the book and forget the silliness. Assuming, of course, that there is still interest in the discussion.

[PATemplar]

I've actually just started reading it so I can't comment on it in total. What I did notice is that it changes the timeline length of the crusade. Previously fluff had Macharius having come to the end of his crusade after just seven years. Of course during those seven years his forces reclaimed a thousand worlds for the Imperium.

 

This book is however set ten years after the first book in the series and has both the crusade still going on and having "just" conquered hundred of world ,not that conquering hundreds of worlds is a little thing but it's taking more time than previous fluff about Macharius's lighting fast success in taking so many worlds.

[Veteran Sergeant]

According to the Lexicanum, it was White Dwarf 240 and the 2nd edition Imperial Guard that provides the majority of dates. I know its always been that way for long as I've been reading about it, but that's only been about 4, 5 years.

240 had dates. C:IG2E did not.  The 2E codex was very vague about everything and made it seem like he was a figure from the long past. Once they made a figure for him in 1999, the decision was probably made to have his story be more "contemporary" to the setting so he wouldn't seem anachronistic if in an army with other named characters.