Pyschic Awakening: Speculation

[MegaVolt87]

 

This got posted in our WhatsApp group. Not sure on which forum he found it:

 

I got from what he was saying that this is leading to a new sandbox and the story will stop moving forward.

I don't like this and sort of don't believe this. There has been so many hints Fulgrim, Angron, Ghaz, new Nids (or is it Orks I forget whatever skar-something), and then the lack of loyalist counterparts for them just to stop. It would be a bad time to stop at this point. The reason why pre-Guilluman worked was that they Primarchs were almost a myth, and the imperium was stuck in constant give-take with everyone. Noone had expectations of it changing, and thus were happy. Now there is expectations to change, there is anger about "when will their Primarch return", the primaris armies feel incomplete, so many questions and the players deserve those answers

 

 

Yeah people seem to have come to terms with 40k advancing. Stopping now would be a big mistake. 

[b1soul]

Bring on Russ. The Emperor's Sword vs. the Emperor's Spear

 

I do wish they'd bring back some of the "lesser" primaries like the Khan, Corax or Vulkan before dropping the fan favourites like the Lion or Russ.

[chapter master 454]

The big thing we have established with PA series is that it isn't "EVERYONE gets psychic based stuff" and more just handing out toys to each faction really which is kinda nice. Again though...do feel the "Masters of the Chapter" stuff should of been base codex...oh well.

 

It does lead to some interesting thoughts as to what some races will get. Grey Knights most certainly I would wager have more psychic powers on their want list, Dark Angels wanting loyalty some of the stuff marines got and maybe just give them the starting of what they might get. Thousand Sons not too sure what they wish for...maybe some"body" to love?

 

Tau will be a bit of an odd detour...personally I am invested in them and the conflict with the Startide Nexus rings the biggest news really. Death Guard gaining control of it would be a disaster. Certainly hoping for some nice boosts to the Tau to help leverage more unit variety...instead of Triptide and their Daisy Chain Drones.

 

Finally we have Orks taking a good ol' swing at the space pups (or is it vice versa?) with this being the prime chance for them to release super Ghaz and give Space wolves some similar love to what Dark Angels want. This is also where we suspect the Imperial Guard will get their stuff too...though all they want is stratagems to use the god-tier amount of CP they can get to use on!

[sairence]

More varied Strategem's for my Guard would be nice, but a build your own regiment would toolkit wouldn't go amiss...if there's any army that is simply made for this system it's the Guard.

 

In terms of units there isn't much we'd need. Though some infantry-based fast attack option, be it on bikes (bring on the sidecars), jetpacks or segways would be pretty neat.

[Lexington]

Yeah people seem to have come to terms with 40k advancing. Stopping now would be a big mistake.

Acceptance, maybe, but I feel like engagement is pretty low. There was this whole huge worldwide campaign right after 8th Ed was released, but does anyone even remember it? Vigilus barely seems to have made much more of an impact. Even right now, as it’s happening, is anyone seemingly excited about the goings-on in Psychic Awakening? Everything seems to come out “meh.”

 

It’s nice to see the Studio recognizing that the whole Dark Imperium storyline has been handled poorly and left the setting in a bad place. Dunno if they can fix it, tho. I’m not sure anyone could.

[Panzer]

 

Yeah people seem to have come to terms with 40k advancing. Stopping now would be a big mistake.

Acceptance, maybe, but I feel like engagement is pretty low. There was this whole huge worldwide campaign right after 8th Ed was released, but does anyone even remember it? Vigilus barely seems to have made much more of an impact. Even right now, as it’s happening, is anyone seemingly excited about the goings-on in Psychic Awakening? Everything seems to come out “meh.”

 

It’s nice to see the Studio recognizing that the whole Dark Imperium storyline has been handled poorly and left the setting in a bad place. Dunno if they can fix it, tho. I’m not sure anyone could.

 

 

Fate of Konor you mean? That one was dumb. Just after Marines got new stuff and when CSM still had their Index iirc. GW apparently wants to forget about it as well since it never gets anywhere mentioned when other big events since Gathering Storm get mentioned.

GW just can't do global campaigns right because either they want to push a specific narrative but then the participation doesn't matter or they lack the people needed to turn the outcome of a global event into a good story.

 

I'm not sure what else you mean with engagement. People buy the books, read the fluff, use the rules. That's all the engagement possible with everything that's not a global campaign.

The fact that GWs big events never actually mean something and always end in stalmates or phyrrhic victories is a sad one but that's just how it is. GWs events just won't have as big of an impact as they should have. Nothing the community can do about it. Gathering Storm with the forming of the Great Rift and return of Guilliman is as far as GW is willing to go in that regard.

 

It's difficult to be particularly excited about Psychic Awakening since the fluff content of the books is pretty "meh" and since it's actually happening in the past since it's all before Plague Wars. It's just fleshing out what happened since Gathering Storm but isn't really going to move anything forward.

[Lord Marshal]

Fate of Konor you mean? That one was dumb. Just after Marines got new stuff and when CSM still had their Index iirc. GW apparently wants to forget about it as well since it never gets anywhere mentioned when other big events since Gathering Storm get mentioned.

GW just can't do global campaigns right because either they want to push a specific narrative but then the participation doesn't matter or they lack the people needed to turn the outcome of a global event into a good story.

Malign Portents went rather well, I think. They realised their mistake that like with the Imperium, Order/Sigmarines would inevitably crush every other Alliance through sheer weight of playerbase numbers. Rather than the usual "report your results for your faction... oh look, the side with the most players is winning who could've guessed!" they went for more of a Choose Your Own Adventure approach.

 

Your wins gave you a 'vote' on what action your vague, non-specific army would take towards an event. Now some of these were obviously nudged towards certain thematics BUT you didn't necessarily have to vote that way, especially if you believed it might have a malign outcome. Since it was Death's territory being invaded though, those players were voting for the outcome that DID seem the most likely to blow up in the other faction's faces.

 

Quite a bit of fun 'roleplaying' and 'tactics' went on about vote allocation as well. One week the decision was whether or not to risk saving a section of 'your' army that had been trapped and likely doomed. Those with more obviously heroic themed Your Guys and factions advocated for voting into saving them, others preferred just not caring and leaving them to their fate or that it was an OBVIOUS TRAP. Naturally, Death players were pushing votes to have the invaders take that risk, etc.

 

It was inevitably a lot more railroady than previous campaigns, but after how Storm of Chaos went- well, odds were GW would railroad no matter what anyway.

Edited December 10, 2019 by Lord Marshal

[Panzer]

 

Fate of Konor you mean? That one was dumb. Just after Marines got new stuff and when CSM still had their Index iirc. GW apparently wants to forget about it as well since it never gets anywhere mentioned when other big events since Gathering Storm get mentioned.

GW just can't do global campaigns right because either they want to push a specific narrative but then the participation doesn't matter or they lack the people needed to turn the outcome of a global event into a good story.

Malign Portents went rather well, I think. They realised their mistake that like with the Imperium, Order/Sigmarines would inevitably crush every other Alliance through sheer weight of playerbase numbers. Rather than the usual "report your results for your faction... oh look, the side with the most players is winning who could've guessed!" they went for more of a Choose Your Own Adventure approach.

 

Your wins gave you a 'vote' on what action your vague, non-specific army would take towards an event. Now some of these were obviously nudged towards certain thematics BUT you didn't necessarily have to vote that way, especially if you believed it might have a malign outcome. Since it was Death's territory being invaded though, those players were voting for the outcome that DID seem the most likely to blow up in the other faction's faces.

 

Quite a bit of fun 'roleplaying' and 'tactics' went on about vote allocation as well. One week the decision was whether or not to risk saving a section of 'your' army that had been trapped and likely doomed. Those with more obviously heroic themed Your Guys and factions advocated for voting into saving them, others preferred just not caring and leaving them to their fate or that it was an OBVIOUS TRAP. Naturally, Death players were pushing votes to have the invaders take that risk, etc.

 

It was inevitably a lot more railroady than previous campaigns, but after how Storm of Chaos went- well, odds were GW would railroad no matter what anyway.

 

 

Yeah that sounds like a much better approach.

Honestly looking at Malign Portants and 40k campaigns or AoS unit rules and 40k unit rules (even if it's the same unit like with Greater Daemons) it feels like the AoS team is the much more creative bunch while the 40k team is much more about numbers crunching.

[Archaeinox]

I am shocked we haven't received any PA: IV tidbits around the webz based upon some of the fluff stuff in Blood of Baal. 

 

I speculate that PA: IV will show the final fate of Baal and how it connects to what Magnus is doing (and why Mephiston is on Sortiarius ala City of Light novel cover)

Edited December 12, 2019 by Archaeinox

[Lord_Caerolion]

Given Psychic Awakening is more about sowing plot seeds rather than actually resolving stuff, I'd say that PA:IV is going to be more about Magnus setting himself up as a guide for the psychic development of the Imperium, with the Inquisition desperately trying to stomp out his influence and combat it with the forces of the Black Ships to try to clamp down on the evolution of humanity. Basically, Magnus will actually recognize what's happening, and the Imperium will either be trying to pretend it's business as usual, or be too hampered by the firebrands to take advantage of the changes occurring.

[Ishagu]

I hope the story keeps moving forward indefinitely. It's a much better reason to introduce new models as opposed to retconning them into the timeline.

[Doctor Perils]

I actually agree, but in that case, they have to:

- be prepared to kill off characters (especially those with models!) and potentially subfactions - while still providing full matched play rules for those models (in the form of relics, without the inherent rules of the character, and something similar for factions, like, if they kill off the Flesh Eaters have the blood angels codex include a way of taking extra red thirst + death company to still provide the option of playing in the style of the old flesh eaters)

- focus on different parts of the galaxy with different factions who fight on their own: instead of battle n°59 with Ultramarines or space wolves, give us battle n°2 which involves only the Salamanders on the Imperial side, fighting against the odds on their own, rather than having their thunder stolen at the last moment by the Dark Angels who happen to have found a Fallen on the planet

- move the plot along without plot armour (ie, show the Imperium taking real losses, and only show Chaos take a real loss a couple of campaign books later), but move the plot slowly so we can actually see stuff happening, give us suspense - will the Imperium lose this planet, and if so, will they be able to save the next planet on the hyperspace bypass warp route, or will they rally, cutting off a section of the enemy who now have to fight their way out of a box?!

[Triszin]

Pa 4 isn't till late Jan?

 

I'm not surprised Bout no leaks, don't expect anything till dec 25

[Dark Shepherd]

Theres a good few named/established space wolves characters that dont have models or rules, they could kill a couple of them off fighting orks

[Lord Marshal]

Pa 4 isn't till late Jan?

 

I'm not surprised Bout no leaks, don't expect anything till dec 25

 

Yeah, I'm guessing they're going to be saving anything 40k related for New Year Open Day at this point. It's probably total radio silence unti lthen.

[Chaplain Elijah]

Urgh the wait is killing me, just give me PA4 already

[DeadFingers]

 

Pa 4 isn't till late Jan?

I'm not surprised Bout no leaks, don't expect anything till dec 25

Yeah, I'm guessing they're going to be saving anything 40k related for New Year Open Day at this point. It's probably total radio silence unti lthen.

I'm willing to bet the New Year Open Day will be heavier on the AoS front. It's just a hunch, but with how much 40k has been happening for a while, and that they seem to be revealing PA4 on the 25th, I feel like they might dial it back a bit on the 40k front at that event and save the big guns for LVO and then AdeptiCon.

 

Of course I could also be 100% wrong and they reveal Ghaz, Ragnar, the new AdMech wave, and a diorama featuring Angron and Russ wrestling atop a Thunderhawk piloted by Yarrick, but I don't feel like they've done many reveals at the New Year Open Days before, and AoS supposedly has two new armies incoming, so I think the scales will swing that way.

[Triszin]

 

 

 

 

Pa 4 isn't till late Jan?

I'm not surprised Bout no leaks, don't expect anything till dec 25

Yeah, I'm guessing they're going to be saving anything 40k related for New Year Open Day at this point. It's probably total radio silence unti lthen.

I'm willing to bet the New Year Open Day will be heavier on the AoS front. It's just a hunch, but with how much 40k has been happening for a while, and that they seem to be revealing PA4 on the 25th, I feel like they might dial it back a bit on the 40k front at that event and save the big guns for LVO and then AdeptiCon.

 

Of course I could also be 100% wrong and they reveal Ghaz, Ragnar, the new AdMech wave, and a diorama featuring Angron and Russ wrestling atop a Thunderhawk piloted by Yarrick, but I don't feel like they've done many reveals at the New Year Open Days before, and AoS supposedly has two new armies incoming, so I think the scales will swing that way.

I half expect to see ghaz at New year's open.

 

And "Giants" for aos.

[Jorin Helm-splitter]

I would think Ghaz if we get him would be at LVO that's about six weeks before PA6 drops.

[DeadFingers]

I half expect to see ghaz at New year's open.

And "Giants" for aos.

Unless they also reveal what's in store for PA5, I don't think we will see him or anything related to PA6. They've been cutting it close a couple times, but so far we haven't seen the main course for a PA entry before the previous one has been properly covered. Again, I might be proven wrong immediately, but so far that seems to be the norm, so I don't think we'll see into PA6 until it's much closer.

 

Although I could see a teaser happening.

[Aramis K]

Wasn't there a hint of a big reveal on Christmas day?

[Chaplain Elijah]

Wasn't there a hint of a big reveal on Christmas day?

 

It's not a hint, PA4's content will be revealed the 25th December.

[NTaW]

 

 

Wasn't there a hint of a big reveal on Christmas day?

It's not a hint, PA4's content will be revealed the 25th December.

Not necessarily content, just its first trailer. In all likelihood it will be just as vague as the first trailers for the last three books but we'll know more at least.

[Archaeinox]

Here are SPOILERS from Mephiston stuff provided by a guy on reddit who has read all the recent stuff + Mephiston: City of Light

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-------------------------------------------

 

-Magnus and the daemon prince Zadkiel discuss the change in Mephiston and how will it benefit the kingdom come. We basically get a confirmation that the transformation that befell Mephiston was not Warp smoke and mirrors. The Angel of Darkness inside has placed itself within Mephiston. The dark fragment of the Blood Angel's primarch's soul has dig itself itself into Mephiston. With each rebirth, Mephiston gained a fragment of his gene-father's soul, ending with the Angel of Darkness. As established in "Madness in the Blood", Mephiston acts as a venting mechanism for the Angel of Darkness. If Mephiston falls, then all that have the blood of the Angel in them will be undone.

-Magnus' ultimate goal is to succeed where the Emperor failed. He will lead mankind towards its psychic awakening. He will create a kingdom in the galaxy of mutation and sorcery. A foothold for Tzeentch into this reality from where he can reshape existence into a chaotic realm of madness and sorcery. Magnus is projecting a magical call from Prospero and aims to expand its range. This call hastens the evolution of mankind resulting in rampant mutation and psychic awakenings in humans as well as Tzeentchian corruption.

 

Magnus and the daemon prince Zadkiel discuss the change in Mephiston and how will it benefit the kingdom come. We basically get a confirmation that the transformation that befell Mephiston was not Warp smoke and mirrors. The Angel of Darkness inside has placed itself within Mephiston. The dark fragment of the Blood Angel's primarch's soul has dig itself itself into Mephiston. With each rebirth, Mephiston gained a fragment of his gene-father's soul, ending with the Angel of Darkness. As established in "Madness in the Blood", Mephiston acts as a venting mechanism for the Angel of Darkness. If Mephiston falls, then all that have the blood of the Angel in them will be undone.

 

------------------------------------------

 

I think this provides valuable insight into the Bad News Bears stuff about to go down.

 

Edited December 16, 2019 by Triszin

[Doctor Perils]

Please use spoiler tags

[ spoiler] content

(Without the space after the first bracket)

 

Seems interesting -

I don't necessarily know all that much about blood angels, but this dark fragment in Sangui sounds like new lore