What Would You Like To See From The Scouring?

[bluntblade]

In the interests of keeping the Siege thread clear, what do people want?

 

My preference is very much for Tales From The Scouring than a comprehensive series. As for events, there are one or two things I'd like to see:

 

- The Council of Medusa. C'mon, one last chance for 30K Iron Hands to look cool.

- A proper look at the shadow empire that Horus' Dark Compliance campaign built. Let's see the Empire of Iron or Port Maw.

- A glimpse of a Loyalist faction from a Traitor Legion dealing with what comes next after years fighting against their brethren. Ideally the Death Eagles or Kyr Vhalen.

[Marshal Rohr]

A tastefully done examination of the politics between Dorn, Russ, and Guilliman. Guilliman pushing for his reforms, Dorn refusing to change from the Emperor’s original vision, and Russ pushing for the empire to be broken apart between the remaining Primarchs. Very little battles and combat. Almost purely intrigue and exposition.

[Kelborn]

- Codex Astartes & the Primarchs

- Scouring of some worlds (sometimes I need some bolterporn :P)

- way more Blackshields and how to deal with them / how the Imperium will handle them

- unsure about the Primarch's disapearance and if it should be displayed

- Shadow Imperium left after Horus' death

- rise of Xenos

- Second Founding

- Grey Knights foundation

- Sevatar! ;)

[bluntblade]

I'd skip disappearances, but have their implications dealt with in some of the politicking stories.

[DukeLeto69]

Loving these ideas. I too would want a loose setting / time period rather than a sequential series or story. BL could emphasise this by being blatantly non chronological (though that could be an additional editorial and lore nightmare.

 

I would want some of the key events too such as Iron Cage. Second founding problems as legions split up and not everyone happy! Eskrador needs to be covered too.

 

Would also like to see them revisit Tsagualsa (even though ADB did that in the Night Lords books, it would seem weird to not have it).

 

Also politics and intrigue as various factions jostle for power with the Emp out of action, Malcador dead, the Primarchs starting to disappear or preoccupied etc. Plus birthing pangs of the Inquisition.

[Chapter Master Valrak]

Sigismund and his crusade of retribution... 

[Indefragable]

All of the above sounds great.

 

In general, I think it’s an opportunity to tie up loose ends from HH while also start showing how things end up in 40k. I emphasize “start” b/c GW has a tendency to do A, B,Z without remembering that all the other letters of the alphabet are also in there, and maybe “K” is lost to time, so that’s why everything is mispronounced (or something like that).

 

I would also like to see a juxtaposition where the surviving Loyalist Primarchs are united at first, but then drift away and disagree more and more....kind of like what happened with the Traitors under Horus. They push the traitors back to the Eye of Terror, but then disagreements arise between those who want to pursue and those who prefer to focus on rebuilding.

 

It would also be interesting to see the seeds of the Codex Astartes forming: how Legion tactics and organizations just don’t cut it anymore b/c Space Marine forces need to be quicker on their feet and more spread out then ever before. And how maybe a contingent or two grow restless and decide to go rogue, again, showing where Gulliman’s mindset comes from.

[Ryltar Thamior]

- A glimpse of a Loyalist faction from a Traitor Legion dealing with what comes next after years fighting against their brethren. Ideally the Death Eagles or Kyr Vhalen.

I definitely second this - particularly as applies the IVth Loyalists, of whom no doubt there would be a not inconsiderable number scattered in garrisons all across the former Imperium. Indeed, there could be some rather interesting opportunities for Marines and other exploratory forces that'd been sent off before everything went downhill, and return to find the Imperium - if not still 'in flames' then at least smouldering. 

 

I'd also be rather interested to hear about what the XXth Legion was up to - both in terms of what the 'shadow' Loyalists under Omegon were doing, whether they still *were* loyal, or running hte longest of cons .. or, perhaps, all and nothing and both , as per usual ... and with that in mind, seeing waht the truth of incidents from the fluff that we've known about for like a decade and a half such as Eskrador was. I mean, at this stage, we don't even know if it actually happened ... or who was really there, etc. 

 

Also, now that I think about it ... the Iron Cage incident and such. 

 

However, the risk with these kinds of events being properly detailed is that it makes it more difficult to run the 'multiple theories' approach that's been so integral to how cool the old Index Astartes takes on things were - like, apart from the potential for Eskrador to have been a psy-op on multiple levels, the subtle differences of implication between the Imperial Fists' understanding/take on the Iron Cage, versus the Iron Warriors' (IMO rather more .. plausible) take on it. Could be interesting to play out both sides of some narratives with viewpoint characters on each side of an engagement , who may eventually meet 'in the middle'. 

 

ADB's covered in some detail the Chaos Marines' perspective on things following the failure of HOrus's efforts; however there may still be room for more on the 'traitors' so to speak , who aren't out and out 'Chaos', - somewhat like how he wound up writing the relevant Night Lords ten thousand years later - and who're therefore pretty nonplussed about their notional confederates.

 

In addition to this, there's a pretty huge area that MUST (imo) be explored concernng teh Knights Errant and the Agents of the Sigillite turning into the Inquisition we all know and love - not least because this is really their time to shine. 

 

Lots of scope for whole worlds being put to the sword due to ongoing doubts about thier loyalty based on flimsy, circumstantial (deliberately planted?) evidence .. also working out whta to do with the 'new' knowledge about the Warp, daemons, chaos etc. that these Imperial servants now must acknowledge and collect and deploy as necessary.

 

The Ecclesiarchy's rise in the aftermath of the Imperial Truth as a very recent - even still enforced in some places, no doubt - thing. 

 

Working out what to do about Blackshields; local regional commanders who may have remained loyal but be too 'brashly' independent ; 

 

that usual air of pathos and tragedy inherent in forces which *are* demonstrably loyal being executed, killed in less official ways {"ork snipers" you say..} etc. because their ongoing existence is "inconvenient" ... 

 

worlds and 'pocket dominions' that have quietly seceded from the Imperium in the anarchy of the Heresy, wanting only to be left alone in the darkness ... really not being. 

 

 

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

The Ultramarine vs Imperial Fist stand off would be fantastic to read, and I'm lying it if said I didn't wanna see Russ and Bjorn lay down some beatings for the damage the Wolves took during the Heresy.

 

Also, I'm not sure if its Scouring or not, but the Fall of Bjorn. The Second Great Wolf's fall and the impact it had on the now Chapter

[calgar101]

The scope for a Scouring series is huge and lots of several juicy stories to be had! I want to read about the following;

Iron Cage

Eskrador

Fall of Calliban

Mechanicum

And just in general how the Imperium changes and develops after the Siege of Terra is over.

[Knockagh]

A tastefully done examination of the politics between Dorn, Russ, and Guilliman. Guilliman pushing for his reforms, Dorn refusing to change from the Emperor’s original vision, and Russ pushing for the empire to be broken apart between the remaining Primarchs. Very little battles and combat. Almost purely intrigue and exposition.

This would be a great series. I’m not keen on a scouring series but I would be first in the queue for this.

[Brother Lunkhead]

I would also favor of something like Tales From The Scouring as opposed to a long comprehensive series...… perhaps as a collected anthology of short stories and novellas. It could be published annually to avoid burn out ala Horus Heresy. Some GW/ FW campaign books (i.e. Iron Cage) rather than battle novels might be fun too.

[Brother Lunkhead]

The Ultramarine vs Imperial Fist stand off would be fantastic to read, and I'm lying it if said I didn't wanna see Russ and Bjorn lay down some beatings for the damage the Wolves took during the Heresy.

 

Also, I'm not sure if its Scouring or not, but the Fall of Bjorn. The Second Great Wolf's fall and the impact it had on the now Chapter

 

Chris Wraight's very fine audio drama Parting of the Ways covers the fall of Bjorn and his rebirth quite nicely.... I highly recommend it

[Mellow]

I would have thought that Black Library would have already planned roughly what they will include in a Scouring Series but then again they only recently had their Siege planning sessions and that series is probably going to run for another few years I imagine.

 

Maybe BL have already decided what they want to cover in the Scouring or maybe they aren't going to do any of it. Other current series probably have priority. Post GS also needs more "bedding in" to improve customer understanding too!

[DarkChaplain]

 

The Ultramarine vs Imperial Fist stand off would be fantastic to read, and I'm lying it if said I didn't wanna see Russ and Bjorn lay down some beatings for the damage the Wolves took during the Heresy.

 

Also, I'm not sure if its Scouring or not, but the Fall of Bjorn. The Second Great Wolf's fall and the impact it had on the now Chapter

 

Chris Wraight's very fine audio drama Parting of the Ways covers the fall of Bjorn and his rebirth quite nicely.... I highly recommend it

 

 

Ditto. Parting of the Ways also has the full scene of what we saw in Two Metaphysical Blades, just that the Blades story has a different angle on it and doesn't feature the middle dialogue or Bjorn's perspective.

[bluntblade]

An Iron Cage novel by French would be high on my list.

 

Also, I'd like to see some Traitor Blackshields, if only for a Legion warband to look at in disgust and say "that's what we're becoming."

[Kelborn]

What blunt said. Anything IW or Fists related by John would be on my toplist, as well.

 

Another thing: Loyal Primarchs, who have to deal with lured, tricked, disillusioned, renegade sons, who either joined Horus or became blackshields.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

 

 

 

 

The Ultramarine vs Imperial Fist stand off would be fantastic to read, and I'm lying it if said I didn't wanna see Russ and Bjorn lay down some beatings for the damage the Wolves took during the Heresy.

 

Also, I'm not sure if its Scouring or not, but the Fall of Bjorn. The Second Great Wolf's fall and the impact it had on the now Chapter

Chris Wraight's very fine audio drama Parting of the Ways covers the fall of Bjorn and his rebirth quite nicely.... I highly recommend it

Ditto. Parting of the Ways also has the full scene of what we saw in Two Metaphysical Blades, just that the Blades story has a different angle on it and doesn't feature the middle dialogue or Bjorn's perspective.

No wonder I missed it, I'm not a fan of audios...I'll have to see if it's been in print yet

[Marshal Rohr]

If the major battles of the Scouring became like the Battle for the Fang/Helsreach and were just self contained with potentially the author returning to carry on the characters - that would be cool

[Fedor]

The remnants of the Iron Hands ruthlessly covering up the fact they backed out of the war to avoid being purged.

[Marshal Rohr]

I've thought about this a lot recently as more time has passed since Alan's death and I've been able to properly formulate my thoughts without being hyperbolic or childishly upset about the death of someone I never met in real life and selfishly concerned about how it effects me and my hobby instead of the crippling loss of a friend and good person, something the world lacks these days. I think, in regards to the Scouring, that we took the wrong lessons from Forge World's Horus Heresy series. By we, I mean the fan base. The Ship and its Crew. I wouldn't want those mistakes to be carried over into a Scouring series. Black Library and Forge World do two very different things, but because the subject matter is the same  - they naturally blend together in our minds. This isn't anyone's fault. It's just how it is with any big Licensed Fiction. If GW did do the Scouring, I think it would benefit from refocusing on individual campaigns and battles. That is what we misunderstood about the FW Black Books the first time. Its not about the Heresy. Its books about things that happen during the Heresy. If we got a Scouring series, I'd want that to be emphasized. It's not here to tell us about every year of the Scouring. It just tells us about events. The Iron Cage. The Terrible Angel Incident. The Second Founding. Self-contained stories, tied to a time period. 

[Moonreaper666]

Traitor Blackshields from Loyalist Legions

 

And for a Chaos Warband to form up from these Chaos Blackshields that survive up the M42 Millenium

[b1soul]

The Unification Wars/Conquest of Sol, Great Crusade, Horus Heresy, Scouring, Forging, Nova Terra, Age of Apostasy could easily be treated as expansive settings.

 

I would love Beast-like series (around 12 volumes) covering conflicts like Rangda and Badab.

[m_r_parker]

I suppose this comes down to different wants from different people, but for me I would want maybe a trilogy of books focusing on the resultant fallout on Terra of the fall of the Emperor, and how the various elements of the Imperial Court / High Lords start to manoeuvre themselves into gaining more power. Much like the Horusian Wars series that John French has done for the Inquisition, but focusing on the non-Astartes elements of the Imperium and their reaction to the events of the Heresy. I think it would be interesting to see how these initial events start to bring about the stagnation and decline in the Imperium of Man, and how much the Emperor was actually uniting mankind’s various factions and what it resorts to without the Emperors guidance.

 

That’s not to say that I don’t want battles or Bolter-porn, I think there’s plenty of headline conflicts to be covered (the fall of Calliban, IF vs IW, and plenty more), but for me there’s a lot more to be explored around the shift away from the Astartes and their Primarchs as the figurehead of the Great Crusade, and wanting to minimise the chances of another Heresy happening again.

[Marshal Rohr]

Traitor Blackshields from Loyalist Legions

 

And for a Chaos Warband to form up from these Chaos Blackshields that survive up the M42 Millenium

The Black Legion