Horus Heresy Reboot.

[grailkeeper]

The Horus Heresy is not being rebooted.

 

But if it was how would you do it?

 

I posted earlier in one of the threads about the End and the Death saying its a pity they didnt keep to the original 10 book structure. They could do a reboot and trim a lot down. Realistically if its ever going to be done for TV that will be a reboot- this is the most likely chance by far. 

 

A lot of criticism of the heresy was bloat. I think there's scope for a lot of things to be cut out. I doubt many would shed a tear for the perputuals storyline going. I was at a talk by Graham McNeill roughly around 2010 where he said that the Salamanders, Iron Hands and Raven Guard were all dead and wouldnt get any books following Istvaan. It might have been better if it stayed that way.

 

How would you see a TV series going? I could see

 

Season 1: Horus being turned to chaos and the Istvaan 3 Massacre

Season 2: Istvaan 5 and its lead up (including events of First Heretic) 

Season 3: Mid heresy stuff- (Wolves v !k Sons, Betrayer, Path of Heaven)

Season 4 Siege of Terra

 

(Although realistically it would be season 1: Horus, season 2: massive budget cuts, season 3: no season 3.)

Edited November 12, 2023 by grailkeeper

[Scribe]

Man, this is a 'post Volume 3 SoT finished' introspective I think but its been simmering I think in a lot of our minds.

 

Honestly? Just.Play.The.Hits. You could so easily cut out vast portions of the bloat, with zero meaningful impact.

[Helias_Tancred]

I'd have Eldrad play a bigger role and save the Imperium ;)

 

Edited November 12, 2023 by Eilio Tiberius

[Noserenda]

Yeah it was bloated, and it still managed to skim over or miss things entirely... I think the main thing, and probably the least plausible, is getting a strong editorial vision and plan from start to finish, let it flex a bit but try to avoid hair brained side stories or authors/executives going wildly off brief.

But otherwise, a numbered list: 

1. At least one novel for every faction relevant enough to have a tabletop army, and preferably at least one unknown and one known recurring character from each too. A trilogy across the whole war would be ideal but it wouldnt always be necessary.

2. Chuck in a collection of short stories every so often for side stories, test runs for new authors, possibly check ins with characters you havent seen in a while.

3. All formats release at the same time every time, less of the fomo nonsense.

4. If you have to do a tie in to a tabletop product, make it the headline of a short story side book rather than a total mess. Keep it relevant to where you are in the story. 

 

[Marshal Rohr]

-No Novel Series

 

-One large lore book for each legion and their opposite, nine books total, around 300 pages A4 size. Dark Angels/Night Lords, Emperor’s Children/Iron Hands, Iron Warriors/Imperial Fists, White Scars/Death Guard, Space Wolves/Thousand Sons, Blood Angels/Sons of Horus, World Eaters/Ultramarines, Salamanders/Word Bearers, Raven Guard/Alpha Legion. These books would cover the black book backgrounds, every campaign, and every exemplary battle from that legions perspective. Opposite accounts from the traitors would be written differently like the old Iron Cage descriptions in Index Astartes. 

-Two Core Books: Rulebook and Army Book. Army Books: Traitor Legions, Loyal Legions, Imperialis Auxilia (Solar Aux, Imperial Aux, Imperial Militia), Warp Cults and Daemons, Mechanicum and Dark Mech, Agents of the Imperium (Sisters and Custodes)

 

-Two Rules Expansions: one book is game variants (Planetstrike, Cityfight, Zone Mortalis, etc) and one book is campaign systems (major story campaigns, planetary empires, integrating Titanicus, Aeronautica, Legiones Imperialis, and Battlefleet Gothic). 

 

[Bung]

If you would reboot you would regardless what you do the following basics:

- a competent lead writer

- a plan how that Story progresses 

- charakter boards for consistent Charakters through the series 

- better Authors than the current BL writers especially replace Dan Abnett

 

 

[sarabando]

not kill off ferrus on day 1. 

[MegaVolt87]

On 11/13/2023 at 11:32 AM, Marshal Rohr said:

-No Novel Series

 

-One large lore book for each legion and their opposite, nine books total, around 300 pages A4 size. Dark Angels/Night Lords, Emperor’s Children/Iron Hands, Iron Warriors/Imperial Fists, White Scars/Death Guard, Space Wolves/Thousand Sons, Blood Angels/Sons of Horus, World Eaters/Ultramarines, Salamanders/Word Bearers, Raven Guard/Alpha Legion. These books would cover the black book backgrounds, every campaign, and every exemplary battle from that legions perspective. Opposite accounts from the traitors would be written differently like the old Iron Cage descriptions in Index Astartes. 

-Two Core Books: Rulebook and Army Book. Army Books: Traitor Legions, Loyal Legions, Imperialis Auxilia (Solar Aux, Imperial Aux, Imperial Militia), Warp Cults and Daemons, Mechanicum and Dark Mech, Agents of the Imperium (Sisters and Custodes)

 

-Two Rules Expansions: one book is game variants (Planetstrike, Cityfight, Zone Mortalis, etc) and one book is campaign systems (major story campaigns, planetary empires, integrating Titanicus, Aeronautica, Legiones Imperialis, and Battlefleet Gothic). 

 

 

I think the real issue with HH books is, they need uncapped page limits. Not all BL authors can cook properly with arbitrary page counts. Mabye one author can tell an effective narrative in 275 pages, while one needs 325 pages to have the same level of impact. For example, Konrads primarch book was the right page count for what it did, while Pert's book could have been longer, by including that short story with the rembrancer added asking about Perty and meeting the statue guy, more detail on the legionary accompanying them etc. 

[EverythingIsGreat]

I don't know exactly how it could be done, apart from removing the bloat. But I would start with Lorgar and the Word Bearers just before Monarchia. Nothing happens unless they fall imo. This has to be shown as the primary mover before drilling down to detail or moving up to the overall setup/causes.