General Discussion Secundus

[TheBlindPrimarch]

oh hey Sims, I don't know if you've gotten a chance to read the unit descriptions for the Terra Heredes, but if you have I'd like to know what you think...I've got a little tid bit of fluff you might find interesting.

[Kelborn]

While we are surprised that Azus has an artifical hand/ arm I realized that there is alot I can't remember. Therefore we should type down 50 facts about our legions. And gather.them in our starting thread.

 

Yeah, this I approve. It's like the summary of our Primarchs I've mentioned earlier. :)

[simison]

oh hey Sims, I don't know if you've gotten a chance to read the unit descriptions for the Terra Heredes, but if you have I'd like to know what you think...I've got a little tid bit of fluff you might find interesting.

 

Okay, I'll try to get to that later today, if not at some point during this week.

 

Same applies to your admiral, but here's a down payment:

 

Admiral B.T.P.

One unlooked for advantage for new officers in the Imperial Navy was how rapidly one could climb the ranks given the utter destruction of the Insurrection. During the Great Crusade, promotion, which had begun with a quick pace given the on-going creation of new Expeditionary Fleets, had gradually slowed in the late Great Crusade as most of the known galaxy submitted to the Imperium's might. Two years before the Day of Revelation, it was estimated that the average time for a new fleet officer to command his first ship-of-the-line was twenty years. 

 

Not so during the Insurrection.

 

~~~

 

To everyone else, I have a question regarding book development after we issue the Preview of Insurrection. Currently, my plan was that we continue working on factions and other Alpha phase tasks. That way we could introduce everyone before moving into the campaigns, along the same vein of thought of packaging the rules for the DA, BA, and WS in Retribution but from a fluff perspective. 

 

However, given the new trilogy format, do we want to continue with other previews since we've broken things down into mini-books? That would be 24 previews. Or should we only do previews of entire trilogies? Or would it be wiser to switch back to the more traditional publishing style of completing an entire book before moving onto the next one? (Though that would still mean that we would have to pioneer Legion rule translation into 8th without a FW precedent.)

 

Thoughts?

[Talonair]

I'd say previews per trilogy

 

 

To Talonair and Blind, preferred era and side? 

 

 

Could I request a Crusade-era Rogue trader? :P

[simison]

I'd say previews per trilogy

 

 

To Talonair and Blind, preferred era and side? 

 

 

Could I request a Crusade-era Rogue trader?

 

*blinks* Can Rogue Traders become Admirals?

[bluntblade]

Think so, but best you ask in AoD

[Talonair]

During the Great Crusade the Rogue Traders acted as vanguards and forward scouts of the Great Expeditionary fleets. Many of them were former leaders of worlds conquered by the Imperium, given the choice of a Letter of Warrant or death. Dangerous, but extremely lucrative, work, given how far ahead they could range from the wider fleet and the fact that they are the first into the unchartered regions of space

[Talonair]

I've also seen suggestions (not that I've been able to verify mind) that the original pre-Heresy Letters of Warrant were hand-written by the Emperor (or at least dictated by him) according to the needs of the moment as opposed to the more standardised variants that appear later on.

 

It's also worth mentioning that Letters of Warrant are not equal to one another. Each one is different dependent on the wording. The best example of this would be the Haarlock Warrant from Fantasy Flight:

 

 

“Bring the truth of the God-Emperor of Mankind and punish the foes of man in the darkness beyond.” It authorizes the raising and maintenance of a private fleet and army, going so far as to grant (with certain caveats) title to request arms, vessels, and support from the “Emperor’s Servants.”

[TheBlindPrimarch]

Love it Sims, just don't have me dying right away lol

[Demus Ragnok]

Dumb question.

 

Were Admirals a thing in the crusade era?

 

Reason for asking is from my understanding the Army and Navy were one unified force pre heresy in canon.

 

For some reason I remember "Fleet Master" being a thing.

[bluntblade]

Fleetmasters were a thing. I recall Lords Commander, but not admirals.

[Demus Ragnok]

Fleetmasters were a thing. I recall Lords Commander, but not admirals.

Lord Commanders were in overall command of Expeditionary Fleets. The highest military rank outside of the primarchs.

[bluntblade]

I assume fleetmasters were the equivalent to admirals, imtegrated into the Excertus Imperialis.

[bluntblade]

For fluff purposes, this might be interesting:

 

http://bloodofkittens.com/blog/2013/12/06/40k-buying-guide-ranking-imperial-jetbikes/

[simison]

Dumb question.

 

Were Admirals a thing in the crusade era?

 

I think Horus kills an Admiral during his invasion of Molech. A Lord Admiral, I think, but I might not be remembering it right.

 

And, for some odd reason, I can't start new threads. I think the agency wi-fi is to blame, but I can't ask AoD about the Rogue Trader Admiral idea. My thought would be that a Rogue Trader with a large enough personal fleet could simply claim the title of Admiral. 

[Talonair]

Rogue Trader Militant I think is the typical title, but they functionally perform the same role, the only exception being that the Admiral would be answerable to their immediate superior, whilst a Rogue Trader is theoretically only answerable to Terra itself

[simison]

Glanced through the wiki article. Yeah, Militant looks like the official title, but I don't see any rules for what title one takes for oneself. Or, another possibility is that the Admiral was former Imperial Army who prefers this version of 'retirement'. Which, do you prefer, Talonair?

[Talonair]

Rogue Trader militant if that's alright, career one as opposed to 'retirement'

[simison]

Admiral B.T.P.

One unlooked for advantage for new officers in the Imperial Navy was how rapidly one could climb the ranks given the utter destruction of the Insurrection. During the Great Crusade, promotion, which had begun with a quick pace given the on-going creation of new Expeditionary Fleets, had gradually slowed in the late Great Crusade as most of the known galaxy submitted to the Imperium's might. Two years before the Day of Revelation, it was estimated that the average time for a new fleet officer to command his first ship-of-the-line was twenty years. 

 

Not so during the Insurrection. Given the intensive and bloody void engagements between Loyalists and Traitors, and later Suzerains, any display of even moderate skill was enough to catapult junior officers into higher and higher responsibilities. While this intense pace claimed quite a few new officers, those who endured and persisted never lacked in opportunity.

 

One such blazing star was a man who simply went by the initials B.T.P. 

 

~~~

 

Rogue Trader Militant "Admiral" Debonair Talon

While not official military, Rogue Trader Militants shared a unique relationship with the Imperial Army. Possessing a Warrant of Trade, in theory, allowed any Rogue Trader to request the support or to serve any Expeditionary Fleet as the Militants could often provide valuable intelligence by acting as either a scout force or a vanguard to the Imperium. In practice, there was considerable nuance, depending on various factors as the nature of the Warrant of Trade, the commander of the Expeditionary Fleet, the kind of service involved, how much wealth and power the Militant commanded, and the character of the Rogue Trader. 

 

Enter Debonair Talon. Once a fleet officer of the Antaran Confederacy, he had surrendered himself and his ship to the Imperium once diplomacy had failed and compliance had begun. Although offered a commission with the Imperial Navy, Talon refused. Instead, he pushed and received a Warrant of Trade and transformed himself into a Rogue Trader, utilizing his ship [ship name] as the first vessel of what would become one of the largest Rogue Trader fleets.

Edited September 26, 2017 by simison

[simison]

Blunt, in regards to your latest addition to the Stories thread...

 

"[iAbaethan" [And there are at least three other ship names that aren't italicized, two of them are the Dragon and one is a Bear warship.]

 

"The Harbingers marched down..."

 

"But what to make of the news from Nikaea, then?"

 

Also, I'm extremely confused by Black Library's capitalization rules. "Space Marines" and "Legions" are capitalized, but not "legionaries" or "primarch". What's up with that?

 

Next, I've been trained that you never use a comma between the verbs in a compound predicate, like this: "She could just about see the specks of menials and tech-priests at work on the Firewolf, and fancied that she could..." "See" and "fancied" are both verbs being performed by "she". The comma is actually interrupting the action. Is this a UK thing?

 

To answer your timeline question, the Insurrection begins in 031. So, I think 017 is fairly solid, just no later than 020.

 

~~~

 

Now, onto the positive. 

 

I love the opening set-up of the Mournival. It's a sly wink to the canon crowd before it is adapted and ultimately discarded by BotL. 

 

I respect the growing list of Iron Bear names, can't be easy to write them, and I'm sure Redd enjoys helping make new ones. 

 

I appreciate the conversation about philosophical differences in the use of destroyers. Also, I fear I've been butchering Slynnat's name. 

 

It was amusing that the Berserkers always show up as though they're about to start a fight. Furthermore, it was really cool to see the true extent of Raktra's sight, and how he can use it to essentially to beat the crap out of someone through mere looks. 

 

Given my current fluff writing for the Berserkers, I greatly appreciate the section devoted to their boarding party. That'll help give me ideas when I write them. 

 

I love how you managed to put some Kroot into this story. It's a very effective hint how they'll become part of the Xenos Auxilia. 

 

I was amused by the feces bit. It has an extra layer of meaning since it can be seen as a symbol about how the Lighting Bearers took their primacy for granted, and how they feel about the current situation. 

 

Finally, I love the other seeds you've planted Blunt. We see how a simple choice has created an ugly dark side within the Lightning Bearers. How Icarion is slowly losing control over his resentment, and how even Alexandros' efforts are simply not enough to prevent some level of bureaucracy taking over the Imperium, which only further aggravates Icarion. We also see how intelligent and eloquent (in his barbaric way) Raktra can be, and how it makes sense that the Berserkers would be willing to serve under the Stormlord's banner. Poor Daer'dd might have seen hints of what was happening to his brother, but whatever efforts were made later to counteract Icarion's growing resentment would now come too late. 

 

And, again, I love the fact that everyone acknowledges that the Great Crusade is nearing its completion. Another reason the Emperor might have chosen a Warmaster is that he only needed Horus/Alexandros to oversee the final years of the Great Crusade. Ullanor/Qarith was supposed to be the end of the last great threat to the new Imperium. With no enemies that could challenge a Primarch, let alone the Emperor, he might have felt confident that one of his could handle the war now that the hardest work had been done.

[MikhalLeNoir]

Speaking of Raktras sight. What dies he see, when he is confronted with a pariah?

[Raktra]

I've kind of portrayed it/had Blunt portray it as struggling with high-level psyker/warp entities. The Emperor, for example, just causes raw agony to use the Cutter's Sight on, whereas a Greater Daemon or Icarion prior to his ascension would be as if they were a photo in negative - manageable, but harsh to try and follow.

 

So following from that, maybe a Pariah, depending on strength of their affliction, could be like viewing an old photograph, sepia and faded?

[MikhalLeNoir]

Wouldn't ne the opposite direction the way to go? So a high lv psyker would be Overexposed/dense and the blanks are.the negative? Makes more.sense.at least to me ^^

[Raktra]

It's a poor analogy on my part. Basically Warp stuff appears suuuuper bright and harsh on the sense, so I figured a muted blur might work better for a Pariah :)

[MikhalLeNoir]

Hehe. I like the photo metaphor. It explains everything to know. Normal beeings are sharp. Psykers too bright, pariahs too blurry or as a negative.