Upcoming BL Stuff 2025

[darkhorse0607]

Circling back because I'm still not over it 

 

I rest my case 

[wecanhaveallthree]

I liked Titus in SM1. I am very suspicious of Newriel Ventris. 

[Nagashsnee]

On 11/9/2025 at 2:11 AM, Lord Nord in Gravis Armour said:

 

 

Otherwise, as I said - the Blood Angels lost four of their company captains along with their two non-company captains who led the chapter fleet. They lost their Deputy High Chaplain and almost all of their Sanguinary Guard. The survival of most of the rest was due more to completely avoiding the Devastation than surviving it.

 

 

So if i am reading you right, they lost all the characters on baal who were wearing red shirts armor? 

 

Dante-Gold so died but got better in a classic spock twist.

Mephiston red but trapped off screen (he wasnt available for filming).

Astorath red but not there.

Corbulo white so safe.

Lemartes black so safe.

Karlean red but not there.

 

If only the rest of the chapter characters had know the Tyranids were playing by Star Trek rules (this is a joke please dont @ me about how the sanguinary guard died or the death company wear black, etc). 

 

Jokes aside they lost everyone who doesnt have a mini/doesnt get novels. Some of them make more sense then others, but really it cements the Named Special Characters are the safest job in 40k. If you have a mini your practically impossible to kill, best case you get kidnaped or 'reported lost'.

 

 

 

 

[DarkChaplain]

9 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

Circling back because I'm still not over it 

 

I rest my case 

 

Damn, that actually put into perspective why I have such a "meh" feeling about Titus becoming more prevalent since the SM2 success. I liked him a good amount in SM1, but it's definitely retreading a lot of the Ventris beats at this point, while egging out established characters who should be doing those jobs instead.

 

Considering that the Uriel Ventris mini was pulled from sale, too, just before Titus gets his second (after the awful first model), it leaves a bad taste. Frankly, anything to do with the Nightbringer should have been Uriel's job. Heck, Swords of Calth is basically opening that arc for him already!

[theSpirea]

And it might explain why McNeill wasn't asked to write more for Uriel. Titus is the name now that people are familiar with, especially those new to the hobby so of course that's going to sell better

[darkhorse0607]

35 minutes ago, theSpirea said:

And it might explain why McNeill wasn't asked to write more for Uriel. Titus is the name now that people are familiar with, especially those new to the hobby so of course that's going to sell better

 

Yeah I was thinking about that last night after I posted the meme. I don't think they went to McNeill and said "yeah, thanks for your work but we're taking this for someone else"

 

but 

 

It does kind of feel like that a little bit, and regardless if it was said or not, McNeill isn't blind and tends to be online quite a bit, so I doubt he's going to go long without seeing the comparisons. I can't imagine that writing a character since 2002 just to have another one basically take his story would feel great, especially as he's waiting for the greenlight to do another Ventris trilogy. And then even if he does get the go ahead, there's going to be a lot of "oh this guy is just like Titus" even though it's the reverse

 

_{in my conspiracy theory mode, they're going to take the proposed trilogy and have it be about Titus instead}

[cheywood]

8 minutes ago, darkhorse0607 said:

 

Yeah I was thinking about that last night after I posted the meme. I don't think they went to McNeill and said "yeah, thanks for your work but we're taking this for someone else"

 

but 

 

It does kind of feel like that a little bit, and regardless if it was said or not, McNeill isn't blind and tends to be online quite a bit, so I doubt he's going to go long without seeing the comparisons. I can't imagine that writing a character since 2002 just to have another one basically take his story would feel great, especially as he's waiting for the greenlight to do another Ventris trilogy. And then even if he does get the go ahead, there's going to be a lot of "oh this guy is just like Titus" even though it's the reverse

 

_{in my conspiracy theory mode, they're going to take the proposed trilogy and have it be about Titus instead}

I think part of working in IP fiction is accepting that you have minimal to no control over your creations. Lots of creators couldn’t do it. Can you imagine someone like James Cameron or Thomas Pynchon surrendering control of their work? But McNeill’s spent decades working across various IPs, I can’t imagine this is the first time he’s experienced being a cog in a much larger creative machine. 

[wecanhaveallthree]

Quote

I think part of working in IP fiction is accepting that you have minimal to no control over your creations.

 

I think it's a little different when your authors often come from in-house rather than being 'mercenaries', so to speak. Numerous BL authors have been present for many years in the company outside of the fiction. I think it's also reasonably clear that certain authors have been able to stake out space, for various reasons. Is anybody else going to write Gaunt's Ghosts or Eisenhorn? Seems unlikely (and attempts like Honourbound to recapture that lightning in a bottle appear to have gone nowhere, for no visible reason). Is somebody else going to write Black Legion 3? Hell, there was a lot of wailing and gnashing of teeth re: Bile getting a big release in Genefather beyond Reynolds. Nobody's eating Kyme's lunch re: Salamanders or the Marines Malevolent. So on and so forth.

 

We've seen a long-running history of loyalty to BL from GW, particularly to those who came from in-house. We've heard a lot from the authors themselves about talking to other authors when they're writing established characters or factions. There is a clear and well-documented effort to collaborate.

 

I'm really wrinkling my brow on this now. Swords of Calth, as mentioned, was the 'return of Uriel Ventris'. It was pretty standard comfort food - I felt like McNeill, like Abnett with his return to Gaunt, struggled a little to regain his authorial 'voice' for the character, but it wasn't bad. Now we put Titus and Ventris side-by-side, Titus truly does feel like he's stepping into the shoes of a legacy character (two of them, really, though Cato has obviously gotten a lot of development and his own direction e.g. Iron Kingdom). Where does Ventris fit into the Ultramarines hierarchy post-Titus? I think, just as importantly, where does McNeill fit into the greater weave of Black Library? He's the Ultramarines guy - he doesn't seem to have been tapped for a Titus story (which one assumes we'll get). What's going on with McNeill, and why? 

[NTaW]

A housekeeping article from GW on the captaincy of the 2nd Company over the years:

 

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/2uwxtd2k/500-worlds-how-did-titus-become-captain-of-the-second-company-again/

[wecanhaveallthree]

Quote

Chairon

 

The Mark of Calth is running still. o7

[DarkChaplain]

3 hours ago, NTaW said:

A housekeeping article from GW on the captaincy of the 2nd Company over the years:

 

https://www.warhammer-community.com/en-gb/articles/2uwxtd2k/500-worlds-how-did-titus-become-captain-of-the-second-company-again/

 

That article is actually making me pretty upset. It's such a blatant display of mental acrobatics to retcon him into a "he's always been here!!!" role as Captain of 2nd, preceding and succeeding Sicarius.

 

And AGAIN this infringes on Uriel Ventris's turf. You know, the guy who ascended to captaincy of 4th Company, reluctantly following from the noble sacrifice of his mentor, then going on to do a bit of Ultramarining until he gets demoted for potential corruption/renegade tendencies due to.... actually very uncontroversial actions on Tarsis Ultra (I believe it was?), gets exiled for a bit doing his thing in the Eye of Terror before coming back, "buddying up" with some Grey Knights, who confirm his purity, and then returning to the Chapter to be reinstated to his Company eventually.

 

Just that Ventris wasn't gone for centuries, enough for two other Captains to have centuries-spanning careers of glory and fanfare, like Cato Sicarius - who, as we recall, not only took part in the Damocles Gulf Crusade, but he was THE Ultramarine hero on Medusa V, the big summer campaign almost 20 years ago. Sicarius was Captain for at least 250 years before Acheran even took over, for heaven's sake. He's been Suzerain of Ultramar for 150 years before the Rift even opened. He was a Captain at the Assault of Black Reach, he encountered M'kar (who is QUITE a bigger deal than only-just-ascended Nemeroth, having been the doom of Calth 10 millennia ago), then went on to join in the war against Shon'tu, before defending Damnos from the Necrons. Just to do it again in 999.M41.

And then we have the whole Invasion of Ultramar as shown in the Ventris books and Codexes, all before the Rift and the Terran Crusade.

 

So we're now to believe that Titus was just... returned to his new-old post after almost three centuries of being gone, with two genuine heroes of the Chapter doing the actual work keeping the Chapter alive in the meantime? Heck, they had to set Titus's birth back to 660.M41 even just to give him some time with the captaincy, with how long Cato held it. They even retconned a throwaway name of Chapter heroes in Veil of Darkness to be about this Titus?

Heck, the original description for Titus on the old SM1 website even refered says " Titus became company commander when his predecessor died in battle. He was by his mentor's side when he fell, and still feels the weight of taking over his mantle." - it was just Ventris even then, I guess.

[Fedor]

Calgar's sweating right about now. We're witnessing the rise of a new legend.

[darkhorse0607]

1 hour ago, DarkChaplain said:

 

That article is actually making me pretty upset. It's such a blatant display of mental acrobatics to retcon him into a "he's always been here!!!" role as Captain of 2nd, preceding and succeeding Sicarius.

 

And AGAIN this infringes on Uriel Ventris's turf. You know, the guy who ascended to captaincy of 4th Company, reluctantly following from the noble sacrifice of his mentor, then going on to do a bit of Ultramarining until he gets demoted for potential corruption/renegade tendencies due to.... actually very uncontroversial actions on Tarsis Ultra (I believe it was?), gets exiled for a bit doing his thing in the Eye of Terror before coming back, "buddying up" with some Grey Knights, who confirm his purity, and then returning to the Chapter to be reinstated to his Company eventually.

 

Just that Ventris wasn't gone for centuries, enough for two other Captains to have centuries-spanning careers of glory and fanfare, like Cato Sicarius - who, as we recall, not only took part in the Damocles Gulf Crusade, but he was THE Ultramarine hero on Medusa V, the big summer campaign almost 20 years ago. Sicarius was Captain for at least 250 years before Acheran even took over, for heaven's sake. He's been Suzerain of Ultramar for 150 years before the Rift even opened. He was a Captain at the Assault of Black Reach, he encountered M'kar (who is QUITE a bigger deal than only-just-ascended Nemeroth, having been the doom of Calth 10 millennia ago), then went on to join in the war against Shon'tu, before defending Damnos from the Necrons. Just to do it again in 999.M41.

And then we have the whole Invasion of Ultramar as shown in the Ventris books and Codexes, all before the Rift and the Terran Crusade.

 

So we're now to believe that Titus was just... returned to his new-old post after almost three centuries of being gone, with two genuine heroes of the Chapter doing the actual work keeping the Chapter alive in the meantime? Heck, they had to set Titus's birth back to 660.M41 even just to give him some time with the captaincy, with how long Cato held it. They even retconned a throwaway name of Chapter heroes in Veil of Darkness to be about this Titus?

Heck, the original description for Titus on the old SM1 website even refered says " Titus became company commander when his predecessor died in battle. He was by his mentor's side when he fell, and still feels the weight of taking over his mantle." - it was just Ventris even then, I guess.

 

This anger is feeding me.

 

On the Sicarius side, you could even make the argument that he would be a better fit for reclaiming the lost worlds than Titus. He once (and still is, even without his Captaincy) was a senior leader in the Chapter. And not just the Chapter, but a senior leader in Ultramar itself. He's known by most worlds, or at least their Govenors, has fought campaigns all over the system, etc. It would make more sense for Guilliman to detach him from the Victrix Guard and send him out with some Ultramarines (especially since Sicarius has now spent more time learning from Guilliman himself) than take a guy that's spent half(ish) of his service not even in the Chapter. Even going by his newly found Captaincy, should be patrolling around the secured sectors with the Second rather than going out and reestablishing the original borders.

 

If he goes to Damnos, since that has kicked off again, and re-secures the world I will lose it

 

Also, at least to me, this is ripping off Agemann's story a little bit. Invictus dies after the First volunteers for an isolated mission in the polar fortress. They're unable to get reinforcements until after the battle, and the reinforcements see that they fought to the last man against the Tyranids. Then Agemann takes over the First and is charged with rebuilding it while helping to secure the sector against the Tyranids. Now, Acheran volunteers for an isolated mission in a hab zone. They're unable to get reinforcements until after the battle. Reinforcements get there and see that the detachment fought to the last man against the Genestealers (also why not just have it be the Necrons so it could tie this to SM2 and to the upcoming campaign?). Titus now comes in, rebuilds the Second and is tasked with securing Ultramar.

 

But on the whole, this is just another part in a trend that we have discussed more and more over the last few years. GW is determined to have new characters take the center stage in the lore and rather than building them up over increments as it was done in the past, they're just bulldozing their way through. 

 

Edited Tuesday at 08:59 PM by darkhorse0607

[Nagashsnee]

What do you people want them to do? Not focus on Ultramarines again? Put effort into keeping track of the characters stories and keeping them all unique and logical?? Not keep pushing out ultramarine marine special characters like they are the antitode to a poison that was introduced in the BL air vents???

 

Personally they could have solved this by making marine companies post rift have 2 captains and 1 ULTRA captain. So its 4 lieutenants, 2 captain and 1 ULTRA per company (full caps every time its in the codex).  Should tide everything over for another 5-10 years and explain the model releases, then we could do 6 lieutenants, 4 captains, 2 ULTRA captains and one.... MEGA ULTRA CAPTAIN per company around 2035 when the % of the ultramarine chapter to named characters hit 3-4%. 

 

I love how they killed off 2 computer game only characters to make some room for the new characters who are also from computer games.  Quick online article off screen deaths too, ' they went on a normal mission and died. Too bad so sad'.  Like damn give them a short story or something, i want you to get rid of tons more but do it with dignity and style.  And all this to fail to explain why Titus is leading the 500 worlds caimpagn instead of anyone else of the many many better and more logical choices.  

 

 

 

[RedFurioso]

20 hours ago, DarkChaplain said:

 

That article is actually making me pretty upset. It's such a blatant display of mental acrobatics to retcon him into a "he's always been here!!!" role as Captain of 2nd, preceding and succeeding Sicarius.

All this mess could have been avoided if Relic had named him captain of any company — Third, Sixth, whatever — just not the Second. But it is what it is.

[Casual Heresy]

Steering us back to books, but still firmly in the realm of Ultramar: new interview with Rob Young posted on WarComm about Master of Rites. Can't watch myself as I'm hot desking out of the office without headphones.

 

Learn more about the upcoming novel Master of Rites in this video interview with the author. - Warhammer Community

Edited Wednesday at 04:22 PM by Casual Heresy

[wecanhaveallthree]

Quote

Sixth Company described as a finishing school

 

Heh heh heh.

 

Quote

...sort of saying, he's fought in the Dawn of Wa- Dawn of Fire, he's fought in the Indomitus Crusade...

 

HEH HEH HEH.

 

No offence to Mr. Young, but the video is three and a half minutes of him saying 'my guy is very tough and war is hard and this book will be about how tough he is and if war is too hard for him (it isn't because he is so tough)'. There aren't any details beyond that except, possibly, that Ferren might be struggling with his role as exemplar and example to 'younger' Ultramarines after the wretchedness of Dawn of Fire and the Plague Wars. A somewhat interesting hook, but egads, blink twice if you're being threatened with having Sixth Company rolled into the Second under Titus.

[DukeLeto69]

1 hour ago, RedFurioso said:

All this mess could have been avoided if Relic had named him captain of any company — Third, Sixth, whatever — just not the Second. But it is what it is.

I always wondered why GW allowed him to be 2nd Company. Is there some lore reason why only the 2nd Company Captain is “cool”? 

[Sothalor]

I bet it's the color scheme: the UM second company gold trim has been the default "show" variant for ages. It's possible they wanted to have that "iconic" scheme front and center.

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

21 minutes ago, Sothalor said:

I bet it's the color scheme: the UM second company gold trim has been the default "show" variant for ages. It's possible they wanted to have that "iconic" scheme front and center.

 

It's this exactly, This is the same reason that they wound up with Acheran supposedly being lost at Nemendghast along with at least a large chunk of his company and then no further mention being made of it afterwards. Acheran was just fine and there wasn't any signficant loss of numbers in his company either.

 

Because it SHOULD have been 10th Company going to Nemendghast. But because they had to present any model or unit not specifically assigned to another company in that crowd-pleasing gold trim, suddenly Acheran and his battle company needed to dress up as Vanguard and be sacrificed... and then immediately show back up with no explanation.

[Lord Marshal]

Looks like a sequel to Harrowmaster's coming. And the site it seemingly leaked from, for 07.04.2026.

 

[neOh (AV)]

1 hour ago, Lord Marshal said:

Looks like a sequel to Harrowmaster's coming. And the site it seemingly leaked from, for 07.04.2026.

 

Interestingly, an artifact called the Pillar of Dreams appeared in one of Mike's old stories, Tear of Selevia, where it was hunted by an inquisitor from the navigator series. Perhaps Mike wants to combine these elements somehow and create his own Abnettverse.

[FabiusV4lcoran]

7 hours ago, Lord Marshal said:

Looks like a sequel to Harrowmaster's coming. And the site it seemingly leaked from, for 07.04.2026.

 

 

Harrowmaster is sitting on my shelf; I haven't read a whole lot of Mike Brooks but given what I've seen said of his writing elsewhere, and the fact that he's the main Ork writer.....

 

I feel like maybe he shouldn't be the guy writing conspiracy Alpha Legion stories.  How did you like Harrowmaster?

[Roomsky]

13 minutes ago, FabiusV4lcoran said:

Harrowmaster is sitting on my shelf; I haven't read a whole lot of Mike Brooks but given what I've seen said of his writing elsewhere, and the fact that he's the main Ork writer.....

 

I feel like maybe he shouldn't be the guy writing conspiracy Alpha Legion stories.  How did you like Harrowmaster?

Brooks is by his nature YMMV. But personally, I think his Alpha Legion work is his best stuff; he honours the legion's characterization in all its facets and does well with the mind-gamey nature of how they operate. Personally, I consider Harrowmaster to be the pinnacle of post-Heresy Alpha Legion writing.

[DarkChaplain]

Brooks' Alpharius: Head of the Hydra was excellent and I love it to bits, too. Unifying a lot of elements from other authors' works while giving his own spin that intrigues and excites.

 

  

6 hours ago, neOh (AV) said:

Interestingly, an artifact called the Pillar of Dreams appeared in one of Mike's old stories, Tear of Selevia, where it was hunted by an inquisitor from the navigator series. Perhaps Mike wants to combine these elements somehow and create his own Abnettverse.

 

He's already had elements from Rites of Passage appear in Harrowmaster, so it'd make sense for further connections to be built across his works.

Edited yesterday at 05:38 PM by DarkChaplain