Upcoming BL Stuff 2026

[darkhorse0607]

13 minutes ago, Felix Antipodes said:

I was about to post that there is nothing new this week, then thought maybe I should wait a couple of days noting GW’s recent track record. 

Check back tomorrow when they will have added Scouring 2, Black Legion 3 and Watchers of the Throne 3 to the preorders without even saying anything oopsie

[Nagashsnee]

9 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

Check back tomorrow when they will have added Scouring 2, Black Legion 3 and Watchers of the Throne 3 to the preorders without even saying anything oopsie

You joke, but when they drop the news about Hive part 3 of the 2 part Hive mini series you are going to feel pretty pretty silly.

[grailkeeper]

11 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

Check back tomorrow when they will have added Scouring 2, Black Legion 3 and Watchers of the Throne 3 to the preorders without even saying anything oopsie

They're all ready to go.

 

My friend works for Gw and managed to sneak this photo of thr warehouse keeping them.

 

[Lord Marshal]

Guess we got our Armageddon tie-in novel.

 

 

Quote

Armageddon is dying. Hive Tartarus will fall. In Armageddon: Season of Fire, Major Ambrosius Roth of the Steel Legion, Sister Superior of the Order of Our Martyred Lady, and Brother Gavriel of the Blood Angels face impossible choices as they try to hold back the Ork advance. 

 

This is a look at one of the key battles on Armageddon and how it’s been fought over the generations, told from three perspectives – Astra Militarum, Adepta Sororitas, and Space Marines. 

 

Warhammer Community: What was it like writing the tie-in novel for the launch of a new edition of Warhammer 40,000?

Jude Reid: Tremendously exciting! It feels like such a big thing trying to capture that feeling that comes with a new edition of the game, and of course, Armageddon is such an amazing and longstanding setting to write about. I sometimes wonder what my teenage self (saving up to buy blister packs of Sisters of Battle) would have thought if she'd known I'd be writing the tie-in novel to 11th edition – I hope she'd have been pleased as well as surprised!

 

WarCom: How did you prepare for writing about such an (in)famous warzone as Armageddon, and was there anything that drew you to Hive Tartarus?

 

 

Jude: Armageddon is a unique setting, and it's one that really reflects the wider 40k setting in a very concrete way. The whole reason for its existence is this total, grinding, ongoing war, and the way the narrative stretches out over the centuries gives it a real weight of history. With all that's gone before, the first thing I had to do was read (or, in some cases, re-read) the existing novels set there, to get a feel for how the various characters and events move in and out of the narrative. And without giving too much away about the plot, Hive Tartarus has had a key role in some of the other stories, and the chance to weave a new narrative amongst those pre-established events was absolutely too good to resist. 

 

WarCom: Can you tell us a little more about Major Ambrosius Roth, Sister Superior Sabreen, Brother Gavriel, and their different motivations?

 

Jude: From the start, this novel was always going to be a love letter to Armageddon throughout the ages, so I really wanted to tell a story that spanned generations, but was one where we could see the chains of history, of cause and effect, and how the deeds of one person ripple down through the years. When we meet Roth, he's very much a man at the end of his career, bowed down by the weight of everything that's gone before and with pretty much nothing to lose, and only his loyalty and sense of honour keep him going in a hopeless world. 

 

 

Later in the narrative we meet Sabreen who's still a Battle Sister in her prime, but she's also no stranger to the war for Armageddon and everything that it's cost as it tests her faith over and over again – and then Gavriel, who we meet third out of the three of them, is very much a fresh pair of eyes, and a young Space Marine with potentially centuries of service ahead of him, here to put an end to the war for good. So it was really refreshing to get to see Armageddon through three very different pairs of eyes, and I took tremendous enjoyment in seeing how the three skeins of their fates wove together as the story went on. 

 

WarCom: How was it writing the orks as antagonists?

 

Jude: One of my favourite things about 40k is the different ways the different authors write about orks – as the POV characters in the hands of authors like Mike Brooks and Nate Crawley – they can be hilarious, complex characters, but for me the real draw is their complete and total inhumanity. I set out to write them like monsters in a horror film – but monsters who the characters continually underestimate. They're not just dangerous because they're huge, powerful, alien and incomprehensible – they're dangerous because they're also smart. 

 

Edited May 4 by Lord Marshal

[DarkChaplain]

WarCom be like "#New40k - Novel revealed". Much wow. As much care promoting it as I've come to expect...

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

"Throwaway Edition Launch Tie-In Novel" achievement unlocked.

[darkhorse0607]

3 hours ago, Nagashsnee said:

You joke, but when they drop the news about Hive part 3 of the 2 part Hive mini series you are going to feel pretty pretty silly.

 

Cleverly named HIIIVE or Hive³, or "Surprise: Enuncia in the Hiiive"

 

36 minutes ago, DarkChaplain said:

WarCom be like "#New40k - Novel revealed". Much wow. As much care promoting it as I've come to expect...

 

I am enjoying going back through the last week of articles to compare the effort put into even random articles versus "Novel Revealed"

 

I need to know, before we all go to the great book store in the sky, what is the deal between GW main and BL. Why? What is the cause of the garbification or what seems like low effort attitude?

[Nagashsnee]

To be fair i like what i see, tie in sure but it seems like a actual novel, with a story. I mean it features steel legion as a main character! The dudes they keep trying to make us forget about. 

 

I like that the book seems to want to tell a actual story, that it seems marines are only 1/3 of the focus. It makes it much more of a edition tie in novel rather then a box tie in novel, and thats really what killed the last couple of these. 

[LemartesTheLost]

*Sigh*, that's my parade rained on. I wasn't expecting much from the tie-in novel, but having Jude Reid try to balance Space Marines, Sisters, and Guard in the same novel when we know she has issues with scale is just bewildering. This is Armageddon of all places (I still hate that we even have a continuing narrative there, I hope the Orks capture/blow it up for good this time), it needs to feel apocalyptic and Reid just hasn't delivered on that feeling in any of her books yet imo. I was really hoping for Haley, even though GW probably has him grinding on the Scouring at this moment. If he was locked in a room until he updated us on the Dante/Lion situation in Nihilus I wouldn't be mad, GW owes us BA fans that at the least if this novel turns out to not be good. I hope I eat crow, but I doubt I will.

 

P.S. (Rant) I know that Corporate told the Studio (or vice versa) "Put the Red Marines on the box, it's time to go 2nd Ed. nostalgia farmin'", but I'm terribly miffed that the Blood Angels are on Armageddon in the first place. Armageddon is in Sanctus; the Blood Angels are in Nihilus. I guess they could pass through the Attilan Gate depending on exactly when this takes place, but even so, why would Dante send his brothers across the galaxy when he's still trying to put out a complete dumpster fire on his side of the Rift? It makes zero sense. I suppose warp shenanigans could spit out a Company in Sanctus, but unless that's addressed, I'm probably going to struggle suspending my disbelief for this book. 

Edited May 4 by LemartesTheLost
spelling

[darkhorse0607]

58 minutes ago, LemartesTheLost said:

P.S. (Rant) I know that Corporate told the Studio (or vice versa) "Put the Red Marines on the box, it's time to go 2nd Ed. nostalgia farmin'", but I'm terribly miffed that the Blood Angels are on Armageddon in the first place. Armageddon is in Sanctus; the Blood Angels are in Nihilus. I guess they could pass through the Attilan Gate depending on exactly when this takes place, but even so, why would Dante send his brothers across the galaxy when he's still trying to put out a complete dumpster fire on his side of the Rift? It makes zero sense. I suppose warp shenanigans could spit out a Company in Sanctus, but unless that's addressed, I'm probably going to struggle suspending my belief for this book. 

 

 

I mean it is just another indication of the fact that GW only considers the lack of stable warp routes a thing when they need a reason for a conflict (i.e. this kind of invalidates the whole stable warp routes plot from the recent Cawl novel given that massive Crusade fleets can get through no problem, not to mention a fleet the size of Ghaz's). 

 

My pet tin-foil theory is that the reason the Blood Angels are there and the fact that GW has invented a new company marking (unless I have missed a gold company marking before, but I went back and checked and it's not on the list) is that it's a special task force assembled from folks that were on the other side of the rift. Which, I realize is a stretch, and probably puts more effort into it than GW will with the probable explanation of "this is a special force sent by Dante" but still. It is interesting that every time that the Blood Angels are involved in anything recently, GW doesn't put much effort in (from both the model and lore side). Makes me a bit sad really because they were my OG favorite chapter before things started going south, but I still have a massive soft spot for them. 

[LemartesTheLost]

1 hour ago, darkhorse0607 said:

My pet tin-foil theory is that the reason the Blood Angels are there and the fact that GW has invented a new company marking (unless I have missed a gold company marking before, but I went back and checked and it's not on the list) is that it's a special task force assembled from folks that were on the other side of the rift. Which, I realize is a stretch, and probably puts more effort into it than GW will with the probable explanation of "this is a special force sent by Dante" but still. It is interesting that every time that the Blood Angels are involved in anything recently, GW doesn't put much effort in (from both the model and lore side). Makes me a bit sad really because they were my OG favorite chapter before things started going south, but I still have a massive soft spot for them. 

 

I actually like that theory, but I think it has a major hole in it. If there were still Blood Angels across the Rift at the time of the Fall of Cadia, then they would still be Firstborn unless some random Torchbearer fleet with BA geneseed/primaris tech found them and gifted them extra marines. Even if that did happen, who knows if Captain/Sargeant/Chaplain "What's-his-face" would feel comfortable taking the reinforcements. I doubt Seth's views on the Primaris were exclusive to him among the Brotherhood of the Blood, and the officer in charge of the Task Force wouldn't know of the Devastation yet, so inclined to receive he might not be.

 

At the end of the day though, we could have avoided this entire cluster if GW had just picked a different planet that was within Nihilus if they were set on Blood Angels or given a different Chapter the poster boy treatment. It would have been cool to watch Tu'Shan actually lead the defense of Armageddon and get the recognition he deserves. If only someone at GW had the same foresight as Sanguinius....

 

3 hours ago, Nagashsnee said:

To be fair i like what i see, tie in sure but it seems like a actual novel, with a story. I mean it features steel legion as a main character! The dudes they keep trying to make us forget about. 

 

I like that the book seems to want to tell a actual story, that it seems marines are only 1/3 of the focus. It makes it much more of a edition tie in novel rather then a box tie in novel, and thats really what killed the last couple of these. 

 

I actually agree with this as well, I'm just hesitant to fully trust Reid with the execution.

[darkhorse0607]

2 hours ago, LemartesTheLost said:

At the end of the day though, we could have avoided this entire cluster if GW had just picked a different planet that was within Nihilus if they were set on Blood Angels or given a different Chapter the poster boy treatment. It would have been cool to watch Tu'Shan actually lead the defense of Armageddon and get the recognition he deserves. If only someone at GW had the same foresight as Sanguinius....

 

Not to mention why the separated Angels wouldnt try to make it back across with the Crusade fleets.

 

But yeah, I am torn on the Armageddon of it all. On one hand, I think they bit off way more than the GW studio is capable of chewing with the 4th Tyrannic invasion, as much as I was excited for it and thought it would be really engaging for storytelling.

 

On the other, I am honestly kind of tired of Armageddon. I get it because it it has name recognition and the nostalgia, plus its ADB and he wrote Helsreach. Blood Angels was also kind of a weird choice. Especially since the Ultramarines are also there and apparently it was all Calgars idea according to the new lore. I think honestly Crimson Fists would've been better, especially with the rumored refresh. That way it would be a new concept for them on the planet but still nostalgia with Crimson Fists vs Orks

[wecanhaveallthree]

Black Library Try Not to Give Adepta Sororitas Stories to Female Authors Challenge (impossible) (absurd) (just vastly unlikely to the point it's not even worth considering)

 

I'm starting to suspect the reason we never got another Raine story is that Harrison refused to turn her into a Seraphim. 

[LemartesTheLost]

6 hours ago, darkhorse0607 said:

Blood Angels was also kind of a weird choice. Especially since the Ultramarines are also there and apparently it was all Calgars idea according to the new lore.

 

This in itself is beyond the pale. I get that Calgar is a super genius and Dante himself probably has bigger fish to fry, but my boys in crimson-clad can't even have the stage for 5 minutes before they get bailed out/baby sat/subordinated by the Ultramarines or somebody like the Lion. I mean, for goodness' sake it seems like they need help and/or permission to tie a shoelace, and it's been that way for NEARLY A DECADE. "Yeah fellas! We put you on the box art and everything!! Just don't dare to think y'all can behave independently of whatever our smartest Smurf cooks up!" 

[Nagashsnee]

2 hours ago, LemartesTheLost said:

 

This in itself is beyond the pale. I get that Calgar is a super genius and Dante himself probably has bigger fish to fry, but my boys in crimson-clad can't even have the stage for 5 minutes before they get bailed out/baby sat/subordinated by the Ultramarines or somebody like the Lion. I mean, for goodness' sake it seems like they need help and/or permission to tie a shoelace, and it's been that way for NEARLY A DECADE. "Yeah fellas! We put you on the box art and everything!! Just don't dare to think y'all can behave independently of whatever our smartest Smurf cooks up!" 

 

Look i 100% agree with you. I was hoping FOR YEARS that GW would get the message from the Badad War mega success to see that with a tiny tiny bit of work and investment you can have TONS of people start new armies of minis they already have in different colours. That actually exploring non first founding chapters and instead building up the lesser know ones is a investment that pays back.

 

But simple fact is we are lucky its not Ultras 100% and it is a mere 99%. GW studio/marketing shows time after time that it doesnt really want/consider it worthwhile to actually expand and showcase other chapters. Best case one of the other mini holding lines get a little love every now and then, but even the non mini holding first founding are mostly ignored.  They even killed FW so any future things like the Red Scorpions will now never happen. 

 

These campaigns SHOULD be excuses to explore and expand 2-3-4-any founding chapters. To make the new Charcaradons, and Minotaurs, Mantis Wariiors or any other flavour of new and fun. 

 

Lore wise its not even worth mentioning. It combines all the problems of modern 40k, that is to say sudden instant travel, hyper focus on a few named characters, and consant SUPER DEATH BATTLES where no one really wins and no one dies. 

 

Blood Angels get more attention then most. They Dark Angels and Space Wolves at least get regular new lore to complain about. 

[LemartesTheLost]

2 minutes ago, Nagashsnee said:

 

Look i 100% agree with you. I was hoping FOR YEARS that GW would get the message from the Badad War mega success to see that with a tiny tiny bit of work and investment you can have TONS of people start new armies of minis they already have in different colours. That actually exploring non first founding chapters and instead building up the lesser know ones is a investment that pays back.

 

But simple fact is we are lucky its not Ultras 100% and it is a mere 99%. GW studio/marketing shows time after time that it doesnt really want/consider it worthwhile to actually expand and showcase other chapters. Best case one of the other mini holding lines get a little love every now and then, but even the non mini holding first founding are mostly ignored.  They even killed FW so any future things like the Red Scorpions will now never happen. 

 

These campaigns SHOULD be excuses to explore and expand 2-3-4-any founding chapters. To make the new Charcaradons, and Minotaurs, Mantis Wariiors or any other flavour of new and fun. 

 

Lore wise its not even worth mentioning. It combines all the problems of modern 40k, that is to say sudden instant travel, hyper focus on a few named characters, and consant SUPER DEATH BATTLES where no one really wins and no one dies. 

 

Blood Angels get more attention then most. They Dark Angels and Space Wolves at least get regular new lore to complain about. 

 

I guess what I'm saying is that I'd rather my faction not be involved with any event/lore at all instead of whatever this pocket holding act is. Let the Ultras get shoved down so many throats that the company suffers for it, it'll happen eventually. 

 

Ending the salt here as to not sidetrack the thread anymore, this should be a mostly positive place. Sorry y'all, real life has been an absolute you-know-what and hobbying hasn't been going great either. Hopefully I can get a review of Chem Dog out as soon as I finish it, as it really has been one of the few bright spots for me in general in the past few weeks. Much love 

[Tolmeus]

I’m also very sceptical about how this novel will turn out, as the companion novels so far have been rather disappointing (though *Dark Imperium* is, of course, an exception) and my last experience with her work (*Fulgrim* was, in my opinion, a total let-down) wasn’t exactly positive. Besides, I’m not entirely sure about having three protagonists.

 

Nevertheless, I liked what I read in the WarCom article.

 

In particular, what Reid said about her approach to the Orks:

"I set out to write them like monsters in a horror film – but monsters who the characters continually underestimate. They're not just dangerous because they're huge, powerful, alien and incomprehensible – they're dangerous because they're also smart."

 

(Just as with the Nurgle daemons, I don’t like it when these Xenos are portrayed as a comedic parody in the grim-dark universe of Warhammer 40k)

 

And I am interested in the concept of it being a novel describing the charcters through many years like the Krieg novel by Steve Lyon.

"From the start, this novel was always going to be a love letter to Armageddon throughout the ages, so I really wanted to tell a story that spanned generations, but was one where we could see the chains of history, of cause and effect, and how the deeds of one person ripple down through the years."
 

So, as always, there is potential ^^

Edited May 5 by Tolmeus

[theSpirea]

I’m confused about why Reid is getting another “big” novel. All her previous work has been mediocre at best. Her Crime short stories were decent, but that’s about it. Fulgrim was one of the worst books I read last year, and her other novels were so boring and generic that I can’t even recall what they were about.

[SvenIronhand]

...I like the cover art, is all.

[DarkChaplain]

4 hours ago, LemartesTheLost said:

 

This in itself is beyond the pale. I get that Calgar is a super genius and Dante himself probably has bigger fish to fry, but my boys in crimson-clad can't even have the stage for 5 minutes before they get bailed out/baby sat/subordinated by the Ultramarines or somebody like the Lion. I mean, for goodness' sake it seems like they need help and/or permission to tie a shoelace, and it's been that way for NEARLY A DECADE. "Yeah fellas! We put you on the box art and everything!! Just don't dare to think y'all can behave independently of whatever our smartest Smurf cooks up!" 

 

Are we forgetting that Armageddon is basically the poster planet for global Multi-Chapter wars? 

 

The first war was only about Angron and his entourage of Bloodthirsters, with Space Wolves & Grey Knights. Guard was purged afterwards.

The second war had Guard, Blood Angels, Ultramarines, Salamanders, plus Yarrick taking on Ugulhard by himself.

 

The third war had Old Man Yarrick back, with Space Marines from the Blood Angels (rip Tycho), Space Wolves, Black Templars, and Grey Knights, but also elements of numerous other chapters like the White Scars, Marines Malevolent, Relictors, Flesh Tearers, Mortifactors... I'm probably forgetting a bunch.

 

It makes complete sense that multiple major Chapters are involved with Armageddon's fourth war. Heck, we can go back to when it was still called Ullanor. The War of the Beast had a lot of stuff hinging on a big assault on the planet, and it originally was conquered during the Great Crusade as part of the war against the Orks of old, then razed to the ground to make a parade ground for Titans so the Emperor and his kids had a spectacle to celebrate Horus being made Warmaster.

 

Armageddon is a big deal. The only thing I'll be inevitably disappointed by is that BL no longer does stuff like Space Marine Battles shorts/novellas that allow multiple authors to cover the new war, allowing for many different perspectives and warzones to be showcased.

[System Sound]

19 hours ago, grailkeeper said:

They're all ready to go.

 

My friend works for Gw and managed to sneak this photo of thr warehouse keeping them.

 

You can easily tell that this image is fake, because GW/BL only have broom closet for BL stock...

 

[DukeLeto69]

28 minutes ago, System Sound said:

You can easily tell that this image is fake, because GW/BL only have broom closet for BL stock...

 

I can confirm you are correct brother. The closet is next to the toilet which is handy when paper costs get too high as they can use the loo rolls for the next book!

[Ubiquitous1984]

It’s a shame that they didn’t cajole ADB to write the tie-in novel.  Would have made sense considering his resume.  

[cheywood]

4 hours ago, theSpirea said:

I’m confused about why Reid is getting another “big” novel. All her previous work has been mediocre at best. Her Crime short stories were decent, but that’s about it. Fulgrim was one of the worst books I read last year, and her other novels were so boring and generic that I can’t even recall what they were about.

Aren’t these new edition tie-ins usually commissioned on short notice and written by less popular authors? Makes sense they’re choosing someone like Reid who seems to be pretty prolific and happy to work with the studio to coordinate her writing with whatever new release they’re doing. I don’t think she’s written a single novel that isn’t clearly connected to a specific miniature, usually a recent release. 

[Tolmeus]

20 minutes ago, cheywood said:

written by less popular authors?

"Dark Imperium" by Guy Haley = 8th edition
"Indomitus" by Gav Thorpe = 9th edition

 

Two prominent authors of Black Library, even at the point of time when they were comissioned to write the tie-in-novels

Edited May 5 by Tolmeus