Pyschic Awakening: Speculation

[DeadFingers]

The "human but not" stuff has been known to be a Vect plot since Phoenix Rising. Nothing to do with Fabius.

Really? What was it then? And was there a reason for them to be on an Emperor's Children ship?

Edited March 10, 2020 by DeadFingers

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

So Fabius is definitely getting an update, and possibly the Emperor's Children as a whole. Very cool. Vs. Harleys would be good for me, now that I have some, so I'm excited for that too by default.

[Lord_Caerolion]

 

The "human but not" stuff has been known to be a Vect plot since Phoenix Rising. Nothing to do with Fabius.

Really? What was it then? And was there a reason for them to be on an Emperor's Children ship?

 

 

Vect had his haemonculi devise a way to turn Drukhari into almost exact copies of humans, and started using it both as a way to punish people, and also to seed misinformation into Imperial worlds/forces. A drukhari spy will give itself away from appearance alone. A spy fleshcrafted into being human? Well, you could fill the vital crew of an enemy ship with these without much difficulty, and then have them sabotage it at the opportune moment. Basically, it's the fluff explanation for the Agents of Vect stratagem.

 

It's described in the "Ghodri Falsehood" insert in the Dark Eldar fluff section. Relevant parts below:

 

 

The Prophets of Flesh, those who studied under the demented flesh-sculptor Urien Rakarth, had devised a new punishment - to take a transgressor and reshape them, melding their mortal clay until they looked, walked, and even smelt like a human being. All Drukhari found this horrifying, for to them a human form was ungainly and ape-like, a cruel mockery of a biped in comparison to the lithe and alabaster-skinned Aeldari anatomy. This was a horrific punishment for a people so vain and haughty as the Drukhari, and those subjected to the treatment cried out that they would do anything at all to have it reversed. In these 'false humans', Vect saw opportunity - one so twisted and sadistic that Urien Rakarth agreed to orchestrate it on his behalf.

 

It then goes on to describe the Drukhari successfully attacking a meeting of the Ynnari with the Alaitoc representatives by seeding these false humans into the Imperial Guard of that planet, and having them influence the Imperial response.

Edited March 10, 2020 by Lord_Caerolion

[BitsHammer]

So Fabius is definitely getting an update, and possibly the Emperor's Children as a whole. Very cool. Vs. Harleys would be good for me, now that I have some, so I'm excited for that too by default.

Keep the expectations for a full EC update low. Khârn didn't herald a full WE update after all.

 

Plus Lucius is more the face of the EC. Bile is more the Undivided renegade element of Chaos since he's more like an unaligned mercenary who is more interested in his own projects than anything else.

[DeadFingers]

Vect had his haemonculi devise a way to turn Drukhari into almost exact copies of humans, and started using it both as a way to punish people, and also to seed misinformation into Imperial worlds/forces. A drukhari spy will give itself away from appearance alone. A spy fleshcrafted into being human? Well, you could fill the vital crew of an enemy ship with these without much difficulty, and then have them sabotage it at the opportune moment. Basically, it's the fluff explanation for the Agents of Vect stratagem.

I see, so the scurrying not-humans were in fact Dark Eldar given a makeover in the opposite way. At least that's one answer to the many unanswered things in Psychic Awakening. Although I'm still pretty curious about the Haemonculus seen with them, and them all being on an Emperor's Children ship, of all places. It's quite an intriguing place for them to be, specially with all the other mentions of the Emperor's Children in Psychic Awakening, particularly that one where they ignore vulnerable Imperial worlds to go after Eldar fleets.

 

I'm not gonna go full Pepe Silvia and say that it all means they're about to drop an Emperor's Children range right now, but all the continuous mentions and mysterious behaviour are enough to raise an eyebrow. I'll be quite baffled if they don't lead somewhere, even if at least narratively.

 

And although I'm not expecting them and the new Bile model to be related at all, I will be surprised if, of all the Psychic Awakening volumes, this one doesn't mention them or Fulgrim. Bile may have made it clear that they're his former Legion, but they still have a past, and now that Fulgrim's on the loose again, he may have something to say to his wayward son.

Edited March 10, 2020 by DeadFingers

[Lord_Caerolion]

It was a Haemonculus extracting his/Vects valued assets from danger on board an enemy vessel. The wider Haemonculi may have had an alliance with Fabius Bile, but the Emperors Children are still Slaanesh's champions, and thus are worthy of being under observation by Vects new toys, standing ready to act as the situation demands.

[Panzer]

 

So Fabius is definitely getting an update, and possibly the Emperor's Children as a whole. Very cool. Vs. Harleys would be good for me, now that I have some, so I'm excited for that too by default.

Keep the expectations for a full EC update low. Khârn didn't herald a full WE update after all.

 

Plus Lucius is more the face of the EC. Bile is more the Undivided renegade element of Chaos since he's more like an unaligned mercenary who is more interested in his own projects than anything else.

 

 

Aye, so far Bile is his own identity in the eye. He uses anyone from any legion or race as long as it fits him, pleases all four gods equally but unintentionally while actively denying them and has plans beyond what any of the legions, including the Black Legion, are trying to do and is more in line with what the Emperor tried to do. Securing the supremacy of humans in the galaxy. Though where the Emperor could actually see into the future and learned it would happen via psychic awakeningTM and that the would have to cut of the chaos gods before that happens, Bile is focussing mainly on the physical aspect of stronger, faster and more durable bodies. Both know however that Marines are just tools, not the future.

 

He used to lead the EC for a while when he was trying to bring them back together, but these days realised it was a pointless attempt to cling to the past and that he has more important things to do. Hell he even realised that the Harlequins were trying to make him be part of the EC again because it would distract him from what he's been up to.

Not to mention that he acknowledged the "primarch aura" and how difficult it is to resist it for Marines of that Primarch's geneseed when he faced the successfull clone Fulgrim and only safed himself from bowing to his will by making Trazyn snatch the clone away, so he'd do his best to stay the hell away from Daemon Primarch Fulgrim.

 

Basically everything we've learned about him. His motives, his personality, his everything. All of it makes it clear that joining EC under Fulgrim's lead is pretty much the last thing he'd ever do unless there's some big revelation/plot twist/whatever.

 

 

 

Lucius on the other hand, he is the champion of Slaanesh. The second most favourite mortal of Slaanesh (though I'm not sure it's right to call either of him or Fulgrim mortal anymore :P ). When he gets a new model I'd look out for an actual EC Codex release in the near future.

 

 

 

That being said, Bile did create the Noise Marines and actively uses them so it's not unheard of that he could be accompanied by some, aka new models. Perhaps even an improved version since he never stops tinkering and now found a new thing to tinker with in form of Primaris. Though I'd prefer it if he'd come with a bunch of even further improved New Men instead to be honest. It's more his thing.

[Panzer]

 

Vect had his haemonculi devise a way to turn Drukhari into almost exact copies of humans, and started using it both as a way to punish people, and also to seed misinformation into Imperial worlds/forces. A drukhari spy will give itself away from appearance alone. A spy fleshcrafted into being human? Well, you could fill the vital crew of an enemy ship with these without much difficulty, and then have them sabotage it at the opportune moment. Basically, it's the fluff explanation for the Agents of Vect stratagem.

I see, so the scurrying not-humans were in fact Dark Eldar given a makeover in the opposite way. At least that's one answer to the many unanswered things in Psychic Awakening. Although I'm still pretty curious about the Haemonculus seen with them, and them all being on an Emperor's Children ship, of all places. It's quite an intriguing place for them to be, specially with all the other mentions of the Emperor's Children in Psychic Awakening, particularly that one where they ignore vulnerable Imperial worlds to go after Eldar fleets.

 

 

Imagine there's a plot twist and Bile is doing the exact same thing as Vect, just the other way around. :D 

[jaxom]

Alternative wild take: Bile will be part of a Lost and the Damned mini-faction as an HQ choice. He’ll be Heretic Astartes, but not Emperors Children and he’ll buff baseline humans (Renegades, Traitor Guard, Cultists). The BSF models, cultists, and him will be enough to make a detachment so it’s a legit option to have them in a larger chaos army until the range is expanded.

[Ishagu]

Is there any word on the Death Guard featuring in a PA book?

[Captain Idaho]

Who are we missing that haven't been rumoured/confirmed for a future release?

 

- Adeptus Custodes

- Necrons

- Deathwatch

- Death Guard

 

Anyone I've missed? Technically Sisters of Battle but they surely don't need an update (at least in GW's eyes) so it will be interesting to see what happens with these armies.

 

I feel both Adeptus Custodes and Necrons need a rules and model refresh/additions so it'll be interesting to see if GW does anything about that.

[NTaW]

None to speak of, Ishagu. They were a story footnote in and around PA6 but that is all so far.

[jaxom]

Custodes should be getting something based on comments in a Warhammer Community article about Valerian and Aleya.

 

“ However, you need not worry, for it won’t be long before both factions will be able to fight as one once more, when the Talons of the Emperor join the epic battles of the Psychic Awakening…”

[Panzer]

Not mine but it got posted in our Warhammer Whatsapp group. 

[jaxom]

Predictions:

 

7: Engine War - as announced.

 

8: War of the Spider - More chaos rules (Bile and friends), Harlequins (because they like messing with Bile and friends), Talon of the Emperor rules (Custodes delivering new Primaris tech and gene-seed, as per lore, getting attacked by Bile for said gene-seed and tech).

 

9: Blackstone War - Necrons and Deathwatch ('nuff said), more Mechanicus rules (any of the new units not released with Engine War).

 

10: Plague War - Deathguard, Sisters of Battle (assuming their codex released during PA doesn't count as getting new rules during PA), Kroot sub-faction for Tau, more Orks. Those last two are wishful thinking.  

[Panzer]

Iguess this topic is close enough; I'm thinking about the upcoming Wolf vs Ork box, and two things keep bugging me: 1.- Ragnar is Ragnar, sure, but is it an even fight for a "mere" company commander (or Wolf Lord in this case) to go up against THE biggest, orkiest ork there is? If the ork menace had an absolute leader, Ghazkhul would be it. You'd think it takes at least the equivalent racial super-leader like Guilliman or Abaddon to go toe to toe against him? 2.-Damn that SW retinue looks plain. One kind of unit, and even that feels inappropriate for the wolves. Those infiltrators or whatever would fit more in a Raven Guard force, no? They could at least have made them reivers, if they are set on the phobos armor. Those would feel more like blood claws, but then you've got the problem of fighting against the choppiest ork in close combat...

 

Before it was about equal apparently, but after both got their upgrade? Nah, Ragnar doesn't come even close anymore. Ghaz alone will wipe the floor with the whole Space Wolf side of the box.

 

Infiltrators fit just fine with Space Wolves. Keep in mind they aren't just a brute melee force. They are also expert hunters and trackers. Reivers would have fit better, but Reivers have been in a lot of boxes already and Infiltrators/Incursors are still "new".

[jaxom]

Incursors are also melee-ish (fitting for Wolves) with the double knifes and terror tactics against Ghaz are arguably worthless. I think the problem is that the non-character minis in the box don’t have a good visual fit for what should portrayed. The infiltrators look like observers from a distance and the orks look static. Neither seem invested in combat (unlike the characters).

[taikishi]

10: Plague War - Deathguard, Sisters of Battle (assuming their codex released during PA doesn't count as getting new rules during PA), Kroot sub-faction for Tau, more Orks. Those last two are wishful thinking.  

 

It doesn't. This is from GW's facebook page a few days ago:

 

https://images-ext-1.discordapp.net/external/ndIKxm1dDUssP9fjQnv1gftOJo5su43tDkm9Js2y9mE/https/www.belloflostsouls.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/GW-facebook-sisters.jpg

Edited March 20, 2020 by taikishi

[DeadFingers]

That's good information to have. Unless they throw more curveballs like Bile into the mix, now we know there's 5 factions plus Bile left to assign to what I can only assume will be the final Psychic Awakening books.

 

Despite six factions being enough to fill three books, I still believe it'll be two instead, for a total of nine. Could be three per book, could be four and two. Depends on the amount of rules each faction is getting and the model releases associated with each book.

Edited March 20, 2020 by DeadFingers

[taikishi]

Keep in mind, too, they hinted that Custodes and Sisters of Silence would be combined into "Talons of the Emperor" for their PA book. If I were to make my own predictions:

 

Harlequins vs Necrons vs Deathwatch -- two ancient foes facing off in Eldar vs Necrons and the Chamber Militant of the Ordo Xenos hunting down both

Talons and Sisters vs Death Guard -- direct involvement of Mortarion requiring the Emperor's "finest" in the Custodes as well as two forces dedicated to facing down witches in the Sisters of Battle and Sisters of Silence

[Karhedron]

Infiltrators fit just fine with Space Wolves. Keep in mind they aren't just a brute melee force. They are also expert hunters and trackers. Reivers would have fit better, but Reivers have been in a lot of boxes already and Infiltrators/Incursors are still "new".

The fluff talks about Ragnar trying to sneak into Ghazzy's lair so Infiltrators are kinda fluffy I think.

 

Just from a personal POV, I don't have any yet but I have been toying with the idea of getting some so this set works for me. I am assuming they can also be made up as Incursors. Does anyone know for sure?

[Tyriks]

 

Infiltrators fit just fine with Space Wolves. Keep in mind they aren't just a brute melee force. They are also expert hunters and trackers. Reivers would have fit better, but Reivers have been in a lot of boxes already and Infiltrators/Incursors are still "new".

The fluff talks about Ragnar trying to sneak into Ghazzy's lair so Infiltrators are kinda fluffy I think.

 

Just from a personal POV, I don't have any yet but I have been toying with the idea of getting some so this set works for me. I am assuming they can also be made up as Incursors. Does anyone know for sure?

 

I believe the article said they can.

[Zephaniah Adriyen]

 

Infiltrators fit just fine with Space Wolves. Keep in mind they aren't just a brute melee force. They are also expert hunters and trackers. Reivers would have fit better, but Reivers have been in a lot of boxes already and Infiltrators/Incursors are still "new".

The fluff talks about Ragnar trying to sneak into Ghazzy's lair so Infiltrators are kinda fluffy I think.

 

Just from a personal POV, I don't have any yet but I have been toying with the idea of getting some so this set works for me. I am assuming they can also be made up as Incursors. Does anyone know for sure?

 

Looking at them, there's no Helix Adept - they're the multi-part ones. If I get the box, I'll be building half Infiltrators, half Incursors and mixing some chainswords in.

[Karhedron]

Looking at them, there's no Helix Adept - they're the multi-part ones. If I get the box, I'll be building half Infiltrators, half Incursors and mixing some chainswords in.

To be honest the only bit that marks out the Helix Adept is the arm. You could probably paint one guy up with a white helmet and call him your Adept if you want.

[Lord Nord in Gravis Armour]

 

 

Just from a personal POV, I don't have any yet but I have been toying with the idea of getting some so this set works for me. I am assuming they can also be made up as Incursors. Does anyone know for sure?

 

Looking at them, there's no Helix Adept - they're the multi-part ones. If I get the box, I'll be building half Infiltrators, half Incursors and mixing some chainswords in.

 

 

Yeah, it's definitely the multi-part kit. Aside from all of the giveaways on the models themselves, there's actually at least one Incursor on the box art.