Black Library The Scouring Series Announced - Ashes of the Imperium (Chris Wraight)

[redmapa]

If they focus more on the small corners of the setting and tell more personal stories about small characters caught up in the whirlwind thats the Scouring then they can definitely keep the feeling of  a more mythic and unkown time in the history of the setting while also exploring this particular bit of history, imo thats what made the best BL stories feel like they were breathing life into a setting and making feel more lived in, like there was this history in everything. Obviously they wont because the cat is out of the bag and all the Primarchs and first captains need to have their stories continued into this new chapter.

 

I like the cover and I love what Chris Wraight does so I'll read it eventually.

[Evil Eye]

4 hours ago, Antarius said:

I am somewhat torn on this. On the one hand, I don't really feel we need another mega-series and I am also somewhat apprehensive of what Evil Eye calls the "demystification" of the setting (or the setting's past, as it may be).

 

On the other hand, the Scouring is a potentially interesting setting that we don't know all that much about - in my wildest dreams, I could see it kicking off a lot of interesting and creative things from the community; who knows, maybe we'll see the Scouring as a popular setting for fans to explore on their own (before the potential game, if it turns out like the Heresy). Actually, I could almost kinda-sorta see myself doing a Scouring army instead of a Heresy army, as I'm not very keen on what we've seen of HH 3rd ed. and I have a lot of Heresy stuff lying around.

 

Right now, I find myself swinging like a pendulum from "eh, whatever" to "hey, this is exciting!", which is pretty unusual for me.

That's a fair take; I think I'd be more interested in an expansion for Horus Heresy* into a full "40K historical" game that covers pre-Indomitus conflicts, with The Scouring being the first era they tackled. If it opened up the sandbox a bit more, gave us some more delicious plastic crack and threw us just enough extra fluff and information about the era to get people's imaginations working that'd be fantastic. As it is, doing another Horus Heresy-style "enormous book series that explains in detail every single event and thoroughly rips back the veil on the era" just doesn't do it for me.

 

As much as I liked the Horus Heresy books I read (even Battle for the Abyss, which was honestly a really fun story and I don't understand why everybody hates it so much!) I feel it would have been better had it stayed a series of snapshots from the period, both major and minor in importance, rather than a full "definitive" account of the entire Heresy. Speaking purely for myself, I think it would have been better if the entire series had an "unreliable narrator" element where the books intentionally contradicted each other, thus preserving the "barely-remembered era of myth and legend" feeling of yore. 

 

That said, if this gives us upscaled Mk. VII models I'm OK with that.

 

 

 

*Or I would if HH 3rd Edition wasn't what it was...

[roryokane]

Chris Wraight writing politicking Demi-gods? Pump it into my veins!

[grailkeeper]

15 hours ago, CL_Mission said:

What's most interesting about the cover artwork is it shows Roboute can stand on two different step properly, unlike his father.

 

Gulliman has to have one foot on a higher step to be able to make eye contact with Dorn.

 

Once again Ultracels be seething over Fistchads. 

Edited yesterday at 11:35 AM by grailkeeper

[Marshal Rohr]

If you had told young me, right after reading Horus Rising, we would one day get a Scouring series and I’d be more wary than excited I would not have believed. 

[grailkeeper]

1 minute ago, Marshal Rohr said:

If you had told young me, right after reading Horus Rising, we would one day get a Scouring series and I’d be more wary than excited I would not have believed. 

If you had told young me, right after reading Horus Rising, that the series would continue to pump out books when I was almost 40 I would not have beleived. 

[Captain Idaho]

Ah I'm all over this! It's the logical extension to the HH game and so I reckon the game changes are designed to factor in new armies.

 

Scouring Orks and maybe even a new faction.

 

Still not happy with the HH army specific rules, but happy if we get to a true 40K of rules that aren't Primaris and Cawl clumsy background.

 

This is the start.

[Deus_Ex_Machina]

13 hours ago, Orange Knight said:

Whilst I'm always thrilled to see a book release from Chris Wraight, I can't help but feel GW are milking all this a bit too much.

 

It's starting to feel like Disney just creating shows and films to tell stories set between other stories in which we already know the full outcome like what happened with Star Wars.

That´s why they will be bringing back dinos from the Horus Heresy book series. Back in the day you would go watch Jurassic Park in the cinema. Nowadays you have ´em in the Black Library. It´s entertainment for the whole family!

[Marshal Rohr]

56 minutes ago, Captain Idaho said:

Ah I'm all over this! It's the logical extension to the HH game and so I reckon the game changes are designed to factor in new armies.

 

Scouring Orks and maybe even a new faction.

 

Still not happy with the HH army specific rules, but happy if we get to a true 40K of rules that aren't Primaris and Cawl clumsy background.

 

This is the start.

It’s just going to be more contrived “ackchully the guys defending us are just as bad as the traitors” plot mixed in with the bolting on of the Primaris project. 

[Agramar_The_Luna_Wolf]

So this is an "extension" of the Horus Heresy...maybe as long as War of the Beast?

We will see, but for now the writer of the first book is a solid one and the cover is truly amazing l 

[Marshal Rohr]

The Terrible Angel incident didn’t occur for at least seven years after the siege so this will have to start with a considerable time skip. If I have to endure a Guy Haley Iron Cage I’m going to commit sudoku. 

Edited 23 hours ago by Marshal Rohr

[Dornfist]

Well, this is hardly a surprise announcement. I really only want to read about the breaking of Caliban and the Iron Cage. Everything else, not so much.

 

I'm also surprised this series is launching before the Horus primarch novel lol.

[Aramis K]

I love the full artwork, the space and light across the throne and down the steps highlighting the missing Emperor. A classic.

 

I do find the light top left behind the Khan curious though, bright teal when everything else is shaded. And under it, touched with teal, a White Scar looking directly at the viewer.

 

Hi Omegon

[Iron Lord]

I'm wondering where Corax is.

[MoriyaSchism]

2 hours ago, Marshal Rohr said:

with the bolting on of the Primaris project. 

Not looking forward to that. The Primaris Project cheapens any Imperial effort to try something different and the consequences that come from that. Cawl should go colonize the Sun, I'm sure his brilliant scientific mind can handle that problem. 

[Cerbero666]

29 minutes ago, Iron Lord said:

I'm wondering where Corax is.

 

He was at the rearguard with the guerrilla that was cutting the traitors supply lines since his legion was almost extinguished at Istvaan V. So as opposing to Guilliman, Russ and Lion El'Jonson he was not on his way to Terra. 

[Inquisitor_Lensoven]

Is another 20 year series really something a lot of people are excited about? 
I feel like as the primarchs disappear from the story lines a lot of interest in the series will be lost.

[dalmer]

Super pumped for this, as I was super pumped for the Horus Heresy series and the Siege of Terra series...

 

I for one love the "demystification" of what basically started out as a reason Adeptus Titanicus was possible.  I get that lore can be contradictory/shaped/changed/etc. over time but then again, I chalk that up to "... if we knew back then what we know now."  I like reading the story line and how drawn out it is.  Love that more-than-main-characters are fleshed out.

 

Oh, and I love the cover art.  Dorn is royally peeved, probably because Bobby G tried to confront Dorn's emotion with his cold, tactical logic.  And I'm truly excited to see how the authors write up how the Dark Angels, Space Wolves, Iron Hands and even the Ultramarines were following their own agendas during the scouring.  That artwork and the expressions and positioning of the assembled folks made me think of that first and foremost.  Look at Russ in the background.  Look at the Lion.  Oh this is gonna be great!

 

And I'm really hoping that my beloved Legion I gets a nice write up on their retribution tour.  ha

[Iron Lord]

So the theory is that the cover scene takes place very soon after the Battle of Terra where Corax hasn't had a chance to catch up with everyone else - rather than at the moment Dorn and Guilliman quarrel over the Breaking Up Of The Legions? Makes sense. 

 

Corax and the Khan (and possibly the Lion)? do specifically support Guilliman against Dorn, Russ, and Vulkan (though Corax argued for a better fleet for the Astartes than in Guilliman's original proposals, and a compromise was reached) - so Corax does need to be there at some point to have his say.

[roryokane]

2 minutes ago, Iron Lord said:

So the theory is that the cover scene takes place very soon after the Battle of Terra where Corax hasn't had a chance to catch up with everyone else - rather than at the moment Dorn and Guilliman quarrel over the Breaking Up Of The Legions? Makes sense. 

 

Corax and the Khan (and possibly the Lion)? do specifically support Guilliman against Dorn, Russ, and Vulkan (though Corax argued for a better fleet for the Astartes than in Guilliman's original proposals, and a compromise was reached) - so Corax does need to be there at some point to have his say.

I would expect this to be the case, given the emphasis on the contrast between Dorn’s battle-damaged armour and Guilliman’s unblemished plate.

 

I always assumed the breaking of the legions happened after the Scouring was largely complete, partially because they wanted to get on and pursue the traitors, partially because a massive military reform while half the galaxy is on fire isn’t always a good idea in the aftermath of what was pretty much the end of the world as the loyalists all knew it.

Also the additional casualties among the legions incurred during the scouring would almost certainly make breaking them up more practicable.

Therefore, unless Dorn refused to have his armour fixed for a few years, this being just after the Siege makes the most sense. 

[Magos Takatus]

As much as I'd like to celebrate this, I burned out of the Heresy series about halfway through and still haven't got back  into reading. I still don't know what happened to that Horus guy. 

[Nephaston]

44 minutes ago, Magos Takatus said:

As much as I'd like to celebrate this, I burned out of the Heresy series about halfway through and still haven't got back  into reading. I still don't know what happened to that Horus guy. 

I think he went to get that therapy he needed and had a good talk with his dad.

[Cerbero666]

Knowing Guilliman, the scene is probably him taking authority because he believes he knows better than anyone else. Obviously, that wouldn’t sit well with those who bled during the Siege. Dorn was as close as Wasmaster as one could be during the whole Heresy, Guilliman stepping in and saying "Let me do it because my way is better and you're exhausted" would mean conflict from the day one.

 

[Deus_Ex_Machina]

27 minutes ago, Cerbero666 said:

Knowing Guilliman, the scene is probably him taking authority because he believes he knows better than anyone else. Obviously, that wouldn’t sit well with those who bled during the Siege. Dorn was as close as Wasmaster as one could be during the whole Heresy, Guilliman stepping in and saying "Let me do it because my way is better and you're exhausted" would mean conflict from the day one.

 

G-Man always comes off as the teacher´s pet.

[Nephaston]

27 minutes ago, Cerbero666 said:

Knowing Guilliman, the scene is probably him taking authority because he believes he knows better than anyone else. Obviously, that wouldn’t sit well with those who bled during the Siege. Dorn was as close as Wasmaster as one could be during the whole Heresy, Guilliman stepping in and saying "Let me do it because my way is better and you're exhausted" would mean conflict from the day one.

 

 

It's probably gonna be an argument about recuperating and planning vs hunting each and every traitor down and putting their heads on a pike.