Heresy Weekender News and Discussion

[b1soul]

Yeah, I would say none got retconned other than Legion numbers, actually. It's very faithful to both ATS and PB.

 

The historian does speculate on quite a few reasons for why the defenses were down.

Glad they're not tossing out PB and ATS (other than legion sizes, which is to be expected)

 

The info is that the SoS and the Custodes join later on...is actually a pretty good explanation of this passage in PB:

 

 

 

This was how battles must have looked when only gods and their demigod offspring walked upon Terra. Humanoid giants in regal armour, some dark and pelt-clad like sky deities of boreal Aesir, some golden and haughty like scholar gods of Faeronik Aegypt. Immense blows were landed by warriors of either side: men were smashed off their feet, or cut apart, bodies were rotated hard, heads snapped around. Fenrisian blades hammered into Prosperine armour, Prosperine force burned back into Fenrisian plate. The line faltered in both directions as it compensated for the force of collision. Then it seemed as though the carnivorous lust of the Vlka Fenryka would entirely overwhelm the warriors of the Fifteenth.

That was the moment we started to die, my brothers. That is the moment we started to die in any significant numbers. The Thousand Sons unleashed their maleficarum, the poison in their veins Electrical discharge leapt from staffs and fingertips. Radiant filth, like the unlight of the warp, spilled out of eye slits and speared from warding palms. Wolves were torn apart by the touch of their battle magic, or thrown back, mangled and scorched. Some were petrified into smouldering attitudes of excruciation. Their weapons charged with sorcerous power, fuming with helsmoke and sick light, the accursed traitors launched into our assaulting ranks.

Threads were cut in swathes, like scythed corn. Threads were more than cut. Some were torched back along their lengths, so that men did not merely die; the lives they had led before their deaths burned away into forgetfulness. Some were left as smears of blood, or haphazardly butchered carcasses. Some were pulled limb from limb by invisible wights and the sprites of the air. Some were left as nothing but heaped white bones and scads of blackened armour.

Oje died there, turned inside out by a warlock’s gesture. I saw Svessl too, split in two by an invisible blade. His blood came out of him with great, explosive force, like liquid from a pressurised cask. Hekken: cooked inside his armour. Orm Ormssen: exsanguinated. Vossul: blinded and pulped. Lycas Snowpelt: gutted and decapitated. Bane Fel: engulfed in a cold blue fire that consumed him but would not go out. Sfen Saarl: withered to a vile powder. Aerdor: transmogrified into a twisted, steaming, inhuman stump.

Too many. Too many! The accounts needed for all their sendings off would last for months. The kindling needed for all their funeral pyres would exhaust an entire great year’s supply.

I felt vindication, for the maleficarum of the Thousand Sons was everything it had been accused of being. Our prosecution was legitimised. But I felt fear, for I did not believe we would win or even live. For all our fury, for all our might as warriors, we would be exterminated, proving that the Thousand Sons of Prospero were monsters and warlocks.

I did the one thing a skjald should not do. I looked away. I averted my gaze so that I did not have to witness the fall of the Rout.

 

I missed, therefore, the beginning of salvation. I missed the first glimpse of the Null Maidens pouring down the black heaps of burning rubble into the fight. Their blades were bright. Pulsing beads and beams of energy spat from their weapons. They uttered no war cry or challenge.

The blankness of them washed across the line. The rank clouds of maleficarum burned away, or blew aside like fog in a night wind. The warlocks of the Fifteenth choked on the abominable words of their conjurations. They gagged on the pestilential utterance of their spells. I saw them stagger back, clutching at their throats, pawing at the neck seals of their helms. I saw blood spurting and leaking through visor slits in stringy ropes. I saw arcane gestures and motions seize up and cripple hands into palsied, arthritic claws.

 

Seconds after they had stunned and disempowered the traitors of the Fifteenth with their insidious silence, the sister-warriors struck. They surged through the recoiled mass of Wolves and began to hack and slice with their longswords. Their assault was an odd mixture of frenzy and elegance. Every stroke, every cut, every turn was the skilled action of an elite swordfighter, yet it was driven along by a berserk mania, a hysterical orgy of wounding and killing.

 

The Wolves did not hold back either. Released from the hammerblow onslaught of magic, they set in beside the Sisters, matching them blow for blow and kill for kill. The war was physical again. It was kinetic, concussive, visceral and explosive. Blood lay like dew upon what was left of the grass, and hung in the air like a mist.

 

Custodes had appeared with the Null Maidens. Their golden forms gleamed amid the swirling scrum of fighting bodies. Released into battle from their normal, solemn duties, they were as unrestrained as any Wolf. The blades of their halberds were thirsty for blood—

 

 

The only truly "new" info is that SoH are present on Prospero. Do we have their number? If the number was very small, then Inferno would clash less with ATS and PB.

[Athrawes]

 

The only truly "new" info is that SoH are present on Prospero. Do we have their number? If the number was very small, then Inferno would clash less with ATS and PB.

 

 

A single Battalion, according to the force disposition pics, 5000 legionaries of the XVI.

[b1soul]

A single Battalion, according to the force disposition pics, 5000 legionaries of the XVI.

That's actually a pretty sizeable force

 

Perhaps they operate separately from the main SW force

 

Also...would just like to say that 3000 SoS and 980 Custodes are not piddly numbers

 

You could make an argument that 980 Custodes is equivalent to 5000 plus SM

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

Aren't the numbers on the loyalist traitor's side mostly from the Prospero Guard, which melted like butter infront of the SW onslaught.

 

85,000 soldiers.

 

Until I read Inferno, I'll remain skeptical if 85,000 soldiers melted like butter.

I have no doubt they were all slaughtered, but between grenades and heavy weapons would have taken a toll on their foe

[1ncarnadine]

 

Aren't the numbers on the loyalist traitor's side mostly from the Prospero Guard, which melted like butter infront of the SW onslaught.

 

85,000 soldiers.

 

Until I read Inferno, I'll remain skeptical if 85,000 soldiers melted like butter.

I have no doubt they were all slaughtered, but between grenades and heavy weapons would have taken a toll on their foe

 

 

Yeah, they definitely don't just get totally slaughtered. They are not an Imperial Army formation but are definitely directly equivalent to Solar Auxilia. They have a neat formation called the Prosperine Templars that have Solar Aux equivalent armour and power axe khopeshes, just like Solar Auxilia power axe Veletarii. They're pretty heavily involved throughout the fighting.

[Biscuittzz]

Quick Q: any idea what part of Earth "Old Alba" is supposed to be? Couldn't quite tell based on descriptions I read online. One map (that looks really off) seemed to make it out to be Canada?

It's hard to say because there are no oceans anymore, but a... piece of land? a city? a hive? all of the above? near where the British Isles were, at one point. It could be the former British Isles, it could be land that was formerly ocean... anywhere around there in the Atlantic? It's hard to say. And again it could be all of the above.

Old Alba is most definitely present-day Scotland and possibly incorporating the majority of Britain.

Alba is Scottish Gaelic for Scotland. Being Irish I can see any Gaelic language derivative stick out like a sore thumb.

[1ncarnadine]

But it's Old Albia, not Alba. So possibly alluding to other names like Albion etc

[Brother Aiwass]

But it's Old Albia, not Alba. So possibly alluding to other names like Albion etc

Which is similar to Albión, which is what here used to call the British Isles (The Perfidious Albion :P )

[Sandlemad]

And in Magnus: Master of Prospero he quotes from Shakespeare, referring to him not by name but as the dramaturge of old Albia. I think there's definitely some deliberate confusion and ambiguity meant to represent linguistic and cultural drift but looks like it's broad brush British isles.

[1ncarnadine]

I'm not saying it's not (and never have), I'm saying it's possibly more. It's very reasonable to assume that if it's not strictly the British Isles it's very close. But there are 28,000 years of scifi future that have gone by. Mountains may have been leveled, land-masses moved, the seas are gone, etc. In 10,000 years, people may have forgotten where old borders were or the borders of a place itself could have changed drastically. It could be a place that was a nation that now includes the land stretching out to Iceland. Hopefully that makes my angle on this make more sense now?

[Jarkaira]

Doesn't they actually mention a lot of times that Albia was warmongering people and a lot of wars started from there. Also if I remember right there was a direct mentioning into first great war starting near Albia which would be WWI. It would direct into Albania and it's regions and therefore meaning Balkan region.

[Excessus]

 

Aren't the numbers on the loyalist traitor's side mostly from the Prospero Guard, which melted like butter infront of the SW onslaught.

 

85,000 soldiers.

 

Until I read Inferno, I'll remain skeptical if 85,000 soldiers melted like butter.

I have no doubt they were all slaughtered, but between grenades and heavy weapons would have taken a toll on their foe

 

 

If I remember my ATS properly it alludes to the fact that the Prosperine Guard would hardly even slow down the wolves.

[Anamnesis]

Any one of you when the preorder for inferno will be up on the FW site?

Couldn't find the info

[m_r_parker]

Any one of you when the preorder for inferno will be up on the FW site?

Couldn't find the info

 

Around 5 weeks according to one of the staffers at the event. It would appear that the put a rush order on around 250 in order for them to be available at the Weekender, and the rest are still somewhere on a boat making their way to the UK.

[Black_out]

Is eBay my only resort for getting my hands on that sweet 'stached custodes model?

[Anamnesis]

 

Any one of you when the preorder for inferno will be up on the FW site?

Couldn't find the info

 

Around 5 weeks according to one of the staffers at the event. It would appear that the put a rush order on around 250 in order for them to be available at the Weekender, and the rest are still somewhere on a boat making their way to the UK.

 

Ah thanks for the info, god damn 5 weeks is long....

[RedFurioso]

Please tell me what the colour scheme is for Legio Xestobiax? That emerald/copper colour scheme of Zhao-Arkhad automata is great.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

 

 

 

 

Aren't the numbers on the loyalist traitor's side mostly from the Prospero Guard, which melted like butter infront of the SW onslaught.

85,000 soldiers.

 

Until I read Inferno, I'll remain skeptical if 85,000 soldiers melted like butter.

I have no doubt they were all slaughtered, but between grenades and heavy weapons would have taken a toll on their foe

If I remember my ATS properly it alludes to the fact that the Prosperine Guard would hardly even slow down the wolves.

Yeah, the same book that had the Wolves either getting slaughtered or doing the slaughtered on every other page. Seriously go back and look at it. It's so inconsistent it almost hurt.

 

Besides, according to LetsYouDown above, the Prosperine Guard have been fleshed out and actually do some damage before getting chopped down

[Runefyre]

The Thousand sons better be absolutely shattered, or else the severe casualties of the Wolves are gonna feel really empty.

 

I like the idea of two legions basically fighting on even ground, kind of. The Wolves have their primarch in the fight the whole time, the Tsons have Tzeentch boosting their powers plus homefield advantage.

 

Not a huge fan of the Custodes being the turning point. I want all the glory for the Wolves.

[Jareddm]

The Thousand sons better be absolutely shattered, or else the severe casualties of the Wolves are gonna feel really empty.

 

I like the idea of two legions basically fighting on even ground, kind of. The Wolves have their primarch in the fight the whole time, the Tsons have Tzeentch boosting their powers plus homefield advantage.

 

Not a huge fan of the Custodes being the turning point. I want all the glory for the Wolves.

To be fair, the Custodes and the SoS being the turning point has been around since ATS.  It's not something that was new to Inferno.

 

As for casualties, the Wolves seem to have lost around 33%, but more importantly used up a huge amount of their ammo, and the Thousand Sons lost around 85%, not counting the forces that were off of Prospero.  At least that's what I'm getting from the numbers being thrown around.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

I always thought the Sisters were the turning point, not the Custodes

 

I remember a scene from A Thousand Sons were the TS were blasting the Custodes off of their jetbikes with ease

[m_r_parker]

Is eBay my only resort for getting my hands on that sweet 'stached custodes model?

It appears to be an event exclusive miniature - so any event at which ForgeWorld are attending should have that mini for sale.

[grand_master85]

The miniature is also going to be available at Warhammer World as well, if you can get there. I recommend it; I snagged it at the Weekender and it's rather gorgeous.

[betrayer41]

I always thought the Sisters were the turning point, not the Custodes

 

I remember a scene from A Thousand Sons were the TS were blasting the Custodes off of their jetbikes with ease

I just listened to it again last week, it was the sisters. Otherwise the sons were just doing as they pleased

[Skalpynock]

And then there's that pair of Army regiments that just happened to be refueling at Prospero at the worst possible moment...