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Black Library Advent Calendar 2016


DarkChaplain

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I get you, I'm not going to name names either, we all know which books/lines/legions are, within our echo chamber, lamented.

I just dont think it matters, if those books sell, and they obviously sell enough, or said authors would not be continuing to put out those books/lines/legions.

In contradiction to any logic, sanity, whatever - some truly horrible books (99% of readers thought the, horrible) eventually sold well. So more followed. How the heck could that happened?

Thats the thing, we on these forums (much like any other fandom that is engaged at this level) are not reflective of the majority.

Most of the fan base reads little, doesnt care about the nuance in a book, and thinks 7th edition was fine (lol).

Most of the players in my own group, need me to educate them on upcoming releases, changes, FAQ's, and so on. Most people simply are not engaged at our level, and think a book is fine, when in our echochamber, we pick it apart.

Look at what happened with Master of Mankind. Page after page after page about the Emperor calling the Primarch's numbers, WHO CARES. Well the echo chamber did.

Totally missed the grander points of the book, and I was shocked when I finally read it myself (never pre-order folks, its a waste of time) that the numbers thing is a total throw away, within the context of the book its minor in the extreme when we are reading about the loss of the Emperor's dream for humanity.

Some of us are a direct reflection of our communities. They could differ - from a hundred of teenagers or young fellas to a company size pub society of an old wise vikings biggrin.png

'Most of the fan base reads little, doesnt care about the nuance in a book, and thinks 7th edition was fine (lol).' - that's, that's just soo fethingly true, lol biggrin.png

'Most of the players in my own group, need me to educate them on upcoming releases, changes, FAQ's, and so on. Most people simply are not engaged at our level, and think a book is fine, when in our echochamber, we pick it apart.'

- well, I do feel your pain brother. That's exactly the combination of Grandpa Nurgle and Slaanesh torture chamber msn-wink.gif

That's exactly why NO ONE at GW takes forum criticism seriously. There could be 1,000 complaints about a product, but that likely means 49,000 more people bought it and were perfectly happy with it, or at least didn't say anything.

 

A unanimous board is less than a drop in the ocean, I'm afraid. The measure of whether or not something is successful has nothing to do with the online community opinion, but everything to do with sales.

That's exactly why NO ONE at GW takes forum criticism seriously. There could be 1,000 complaints about a product, but that likely means 49,000 more people bought it and were perfectly happy with it, or at least didn't say anything.

 

A unanimous board is less than a drop in the ocean, I'm afraid. The measure of whether or not something is successful has nothing to do with the online community opinion, but everything to do with sales.

We all know that sales rule the world :)

It still boggles my mind that they're making another Transformers movie, and another new Turtles.

After so many garbage movies, you'd think that people would stop going to cinema for them. But they don't. That stuff continues to make crazy money even though it's trash. Horrible ratings don't deter the audience, mostly because only a fraction check out reviews (and fewer still actually read them instead of just looking at scores).

The financial failure of the new Ghostbusters is even more impressive in that context to me.

 

In other news, Alpha Legion are back as of yesterday against the Inquisition!

 

Day 22:

Unearthed by Rob Sanders

 

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Images/Product/DefaultBL/xlarge/BLPROCESSED-Unearthed%20cover.jpg

 

When his inquisitor master is killed by the Alpha Legion, Interrogator Kiefer swears revenge. He marshals a force, a band of Attilian Rough Riders and a cohort of Ogryn Auxilia, and tracks the killers to Grendl's World. Here in the dust of the deserts and the carcass of a derelict freighter, a deadly game of cat and mouse begins, with neither side prepared to back down or accept defeat. With overwhelming force and the element of surprise on his side, Kiefer's confidence grows, but the Alpha Legion are seldom outmanoeuvred easily...

 

Rob Sanders weaves a tale of a grieving and overconfident interrogator who takes on the might of the Alpha Legion. Probably safe to assume it's not going to end brilliantly for him…

 

And today we got another Blood Bowl story:

 

Day 23:

Da Bank Job by Andy Hall

 

 

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Images/Product/DefaultBL/xlarge/BLPROCESSED-Da%20Bank%20Job%20cover.jpg

 

Brobag, captain and owner of the Big ‘Uns, is in trouble. His lacklustre orc team has never won a single match, they’re running out of money, and they’re on the verge of being relegated. A local invitational gives him the opportunity to change the team’s fortunes, but there’s one big problem – they have to fight their way past all the other challengers, then play the Reikland Reavers, one of the most famous Blood Bowl teams in the Empire! There’s just one option left to Brobag – bend the rules big time (and hope he can keep his pet squig under control).

 

Cheating is obviously an integral part of playing Blood Bowl, but even by the game's standards, Brobag's plan to (literally) improve the fortunes of the Big 'Uns is audacious…

 

 

It still boggles my mind that they're making another Transformers movie, and another new Turtles.

After so many garbage movies, you'd think that people would stop going to cinema for them. But they don't. That stuff continues to make crazy money even though it's trash. Horrible ratings don't deter the audience, mostly because only a fraction check out reviews (and fewer still actually read them instead of just looking at scores).

The financial failure of the new Ghostbusters is even more impressive in that context to me.

 

In other news, Alpha Legion are back today!

 

Day 23:

Unearthed by Rob Sanders

http://www.blacklibrary.com/Images/Product/DefaultBL/xlarge/BLPROCESSED-Unearthed%20cover.jpg

 

 

When his inquisitor master is killed by the Alpha Legion, Interrogator Kiefer swears revenge. He marshals a force, a band of Attilian Rough Riders and a cohort of Ogryn Auxilia, and tracks the killers to Grendl's World. Here in the dust of the deserts and the carcass of a derelict freighter, a deadly game of cat and mouse begins, with neither side prepared to back down or accept defeat. With overwhelming force and the element of surprise on his side, Kiefer's confidence grows, but the Alpha Legion are seldom outmanoeuvred easily...

 

Rob Sanders weaves a tale of a grieving and overconfident interrogator who takes on the might of the Alpha Legion. Probably safe to assume it's not going to end brilliantly for him…

 

One of the best shorts of Advent calendar. Special thanks to Rob Sanders.

Just finish The Last Son of Prospero and......wow.

 

It's a must read.

 

Gotta agree, it's the only advent story I've bought (too rich for my blood although I assume they do well as they keep happening) but it is an excellent piece of writing and a great short story.

It's got some pretty hefty implications, too.

 

 

So the warp is a place beyond time. This is something I've wondered about before, but would a Daemon Prince be able to influence or be summoned to periods of time in the mortal world before the time that they ascended? And whatever the shards of Magnus are - Daemon, just scattered fragments of his psychic might, both at once - would it be possible that some or all of the tutelaries were actually aspects of Magnus himself? Just "Ianius?" There are a lot of possible explanations, and I bet more answers will just lead to more questions. Great little short, regardless.

 

I really don't have enough money for the advent shorts at all Can anyone tell me what happens in the Heresy shorts? Valerius, Painted Count, Last Son?

Valerius

 

 

Valerius has a crisis of faith while on Beta Garmon. He confides in Pelon that he doesn't get any more visions from the Emperor, and Pelon tells him that visions aren't the only gifts the Emperor has given him. Remoralized because of this, he successfully lures a Warlord, several Reavers, a batallion of tanks and three companies of SoH into a trap before detonating the reactor of his Capitol Impearalis. The epilogue has a tank discovering him in the crater with him declaring it's a miracle. Overall you could have guessed what hapenss from the blurb and his survival just comes off as cheap

 

 

The Painted Count

 

 

Skraivok is in a political knife fight with Equerry Shang over who gets to rule over one of the surviving NL fleets. The damned sword is still him, and he tries getting rid of it by throwing it out of a void lock. When he returns Shang has him tranqed and thrown into the labyrinth built for Vulkan. He wakes up to find the sword back with him. He leaves it alone and tries to escape but finds himself going circles. Desperate, he draws the sword. It starts to guide him through the labyrinth, and he manages to escape. Once he does so he immediately proceeds to to the bridge where he challenges Shang to a duel. With Skraivok having a daemon sword it's easy to guess who wins. After he kills him he gives a speech telling the gathered NL captains that the beings from the warp are not to be feared but used. He finishes the speech by telling them they'll be rejoining the march on Terra. Terrified and impressed, they bow and declare him leader

 

 

I haven't read last son though, sorry

Wait a second...

 

did I get it right that

 

 

 

Ianius is the name of both, Arvidas tutelary AND the shard of Magnus, implying that they are one and the same? The whole time?

By the Emperors balls!

 

That is more than mind-blowing! Does that imply that every tutelary was indeed a shard of the broken future Magnus? And I always believed them to be lesser demons?!

If I think this further....that would mean that Gyre of Talon of Horus is as well a shard of Magnus?....holy crap!

 

So now Arvidas body changed and is now host to a being consisting of both, Arvida and the shard of Magnus?

 

Let us think even further. Ianius = Janus would explain a lot of the little hints and clues about the first Grey Knight being more than a normal Astartes, right?

 

 

I'm completely mind-blown...seriously, what a short story!  Its the first advent release I bought and damn it was worth it!

This little masterpiece deserve its own thread to discuss its outcomes.

I love how the Khan shows up again. He's on his way to become my most favorite Primarch (which is kind of odd as Leman was always my number one ^^).

 

If someone from the BL crew could take this message to him: Kudos, Chris! More than well done! :tu:

I'm not sure the tuetelaries are all shards (cos them exploding some of their owners would get sketchier in that context). I guess this ties into French's implied stuff about tutelaries, wonder what it means for Ahriman if Aetpiao ever catches up to him. To me it seems more that the shard consumes the tutelary as it merges into Arvida

It's got some pretty hefty implications, too.

 

 

So the warp is a place beyond time. This is something I've wondered about before, but would a Daemon Prince be able to influence or be summoned to periods of time in the mortal world before the time that they ascended? And whatever the shards of Magnus are - Daemon, just scattered fragments of his psychic might, both at once - would it be possible that some or all of the tutelaries were actually aspects of Magnus himself? Just "Ianius?" There are a lot of possible explanations, and I bet more answers will just lead to more questions. Great little short, regardless.

 

 

 

I'm not sure the tuetelaries are all shards (cos them exploding some of their owners would get sketchier in that context). I guess this ties into French's implied stuff about tutelaries, wonder what it means for Ahriman if Aetpiao ever catches up to him. To me it seems more that the shard consumes the tutelary as it merges into Arvida

 

 

 

 

 

Well, I do believe that they COULD be shards of Magnus. Why else should the Ianius-shard say "As a Corvidae, you always knew the answer." after Arvida said "We never asked them what they were"

 

IMHO this doesn't sound like simple or lesser demons anymore. Even Malcador said that Magnus spirit became legion. Enough for his entire Legion? Did the shards tried to protect their sons in the end?

Maybe they are still demons. Maybe not. Don't know what to believe in anymore. ^^

 

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