1ncarnadine

That's fair, they do stick out a lot more. I honestly love it. They look more anchored to the carapace for a beetle-back look,* look like they might give more real estate for transfers and other designs, and also appear more practical for arm range of motion (which could also lead to better poses with the sculpts and more open poseability with resculpting and reposing). I'm hoping this model design also has a complete helmet instead of the half-helms for easier head swapping, but that remains to be seen. *The old Cataphractii are great, but something I really didn't like is when the double-stacked pads would have a huge gap between the pads and torso. It just looked like too much weight stacked awkwardly over the shoulder joint, and like a giant bullet trap. So I'd always move the top pads in as far as possible.

It's good to see that Death Guard & some other legions seem to be getting some of their armoury back in Legacies. Though I think it's weird that Blood Angels are missing a similar entry. They could have at least done an Angels Tears Fire Support Squad with assault cannons in a support slot or something. Also, while I'm on the topic of chem flamers... I noticed in the leaks that the Grave Wardens Heavy Alchem Flamer doesn't cause Panic like normal flamers. The weapons that have been described as either alchemical emerald fire or aerosolized gouts of deadly microbial and biochemical solutions? The latter I'm imagining as being like tear gas sprayers but instead of just painful spicy air, your target's flesh melts off. That's not causing Panic!? Either of those are somehow less terrifying than your average flamer? Come on, SG team. Hopefully that gets changed.

There are separate profiles for Power Armour, Terminator, and Saturnine Terminator Praetors in the Libers, so I think it stands to reason that there are Jetbike and Outrider Praetors in the Legacies PDF. And if not, then fair enough, we can all riot. I'm being patient, but that would definitely be fair cause for pitchforks in my eyes. It's very frustrating how much hinges on that document at this point. And whichever corporate window-licking mouth-breather made the decision that the only rules that can be published are for existing models definitely deserves a little surprise trip in an unmarked van either way.

Going off what's on Lexicanum, which I'm pretty sure is straight from the Aranthian Succession: Emphasis mine. Also worth pointing out these are basically disintegrator pistols vs what the Astartes might have deployed in the Great Crusade/Heresy. It is a theme of Necromunda (and the Warhammer Crimes series, for that matter) that select, highly privileged and powerful families of major hive worlds have access to archeotech they probably shouldn't, by way of pilfering, blackmailing and bribing their way into accessing troves of stuff like this. They might even hire gangs to retrieve mysterious boxes that may have something like a disintegrator or two in them. Ain't none of this going to the Astra Militarum, that's for sure, and it's not necessarily reliable enough to survive long in the high intensity warfare that Astartes are known for. Also, Helmawr's personal retinue was supposedly made up of these guys. Even the WarCom article makes multiple references to guarding nobility, not low-rank enforcers. And if nobility does want to get into a hive scuffle, that's their business. Sometimes they do it because they're just bored. Like the Emperor Commodus putting on lion furs and going around beating commoners while imagining he's inherited the power of Hercules.

Do you mean just the flamer profile they could attack with? Grave Wardens still have Death Cloud under their Special Rules instead of as wargear, as does Typhon, and Mortarion. Tarantulas have unit type Vehicle, so they're excluded from benefiting from the bonus under the WS legion tactica.

He's interesting because he gives a damn about humanity as a concept, but the instant they move to a kind of "out group" territory he's happy to slaughter them with zero remorse. In reality, he's significantly more concerned with the act of toppling a perceived oppressor than he is with liberating humanity, and it constantly shows in his decision making. As with Lorgar and his mask of humility, it's a kind of excuse to disguise what he really wants to do. When he liberates people, it's almost a happy accident as a consequence of toppling a tyrant. But if it is a lie that he cares about humanity, it's one that he does believe in himself. Mortarion is one of the most self-delusional Primarchs, if not the most.

I've long thought that Imperium Secundus is a really fascinating concept that would work great as a story told in the Heresy black book format. Cloaked in historical revisionism and unreliable historical narrators trying to retroactively justify all of what happened out there, and way, way less of the view from the ground and the perpetual/primarch story lines. It could be really fascinating, and there should be a ton of conflicts between traitor Forge Worlds, lingering elements of the Shadow Crusade and Thramas Crusade, daemonic incursions, inter-Imperium disputes, blackshields, piratical fiefdoms, etc. And many of the inter-Imperium disputes could easily be called "wars in the interest of the security of the noble cause of Imperium Secundus and the greater Imperium iteslf, against an upstart, blackguard pirate kingdom..." again, retroactively, even if you can read in between the lines and realize that some loyalists didn't want to go along with the whole idea and had to be "forcefully reincorporated." It's the sort of thing that lends itself to further drama in the Scouring, too. But yeah, TUE kind of stinks. I'm in agreement that I've read it once over a decade ago and I'm not going back. Oh hey, I've also broken my Siege of Terra reading block and read a lot lately. I'm going to go ahead and do a rapid-fire round-up rate-what-I've-read since roughly Christmas. Flesh and Steel- Heck yeah, this was fantastic. The looks into the AdMech conclave was really fascinating, and the explanations of their forms and their holy meanings was something I'd love to see more of. The main character is (for better or worse) deeply relatable to me. I've been sitting on this and other Warhammer Crime for ages now and could never find the time to get to it, and this was a great starting point. 9/10 Grim Repast- More crime series, more evil perpetuated by the elite ruling class. Solid, but echoing a lot from Flesh and Steel and Bloodlines (though I read that after this). Just a little warp cult stuff, nothing too big. I actually kind of wish it hadn't even went there, tbh. We could have evil Slaanesh and Khorne leaning cultists without an explicit "blood for the bl-" winky wink. 8/10 Bloodlines- Still great, still not quite as good as F&S. I loved the secret serpent cult reveal. All three of these make me really hope they do a second wave of Crime books, but especially Bloodlines and Flesh and Steel. Hopefully Haley and Wraight get at least one more shot on these, though it seems like they've pumped the brakes on Crime & Horror for the most part. 8.5/10 Ghazghkull: Prophet of the WAAAGH- The best explanation of Ork metaphysics, probably? If Makari is trustworthy, so, maybe not. I think this one suffers a little for wanting the reader to know a little about the wars for Armageddon, but as a long-time fan it all tracked really well. Loved this one. 9/10 Mortarion: The Pale King- I have not been a fan of the Primarchs series books using the black book exemplary battles as a writing prompt, and imo the best of this series have been the books that avoid doing that, like Fulgrim, Lorgar, & Perturabo. But Annandale added several layers to the conflict with the Order on Galaspar that made it more than just a re-telling of the section from the black book, ultimately bringing Mortarion's vision for himself and his purpose into clear view and providing an example of yet another time that he rejected any kind of direction from the Emperor as a father figure. Solid, 7.5/10. These next 4 I listened to as audios over commuting: Elemental Council- Oh dang, this was good. There are so many layers at play, with a xenos faction that's often presented as asian-coded attempting the imperialist subjugation of a world that itself is layered in Chinese/SEA culture and is a member of a much older empire. And the Imperium is operating an insurgency via a Raptors captain? Artamax steals the show as the antagonist here and deservedly so. This novel demonstrates the relative naivety of the T'au as a race incredibly well, and their lack of questioning regarding their Ethereal caste and the Greater Good does highlight why, as a species, they haven't resonated with the warp much... yet. Something that stuck with me after this one is that the catastrophe Artamax nearly enacts is kind of inevitable the larger the T'au Empire gets? It's only a matter of time, but at the same time it's easy to feel relief that he was thwarted. Bellisarius Cawl: The Great Work- Very functional story, fun Cawl stuff, and doing the work of "cleaning up" the fall of Sotha and the OG Scythes of the Emperor. 7/10 Wrath of Iron- I had never read this one, but I've always heard good things. It's very good, though feels a little dated and heavy on the action now. I'm hoping to get to Guymer's Iron Hands at some point after this, too, but I haven't yet so I can't compare/contrast his with this. The Kaesoron cameo is fun. The Iron Hands are dicks. IMO the best parts of the book were ultimately the interactions with Lord Commander Nehata and how he struggled with how to deal with the Iron Hands. Ultimately the ends justify the means here when it comes to the Iron Xth, but you have to wonder how often that is not the case. 7.5/10 Krieg- Oof, dark. I really appreciate how grounded this one was. There are no warp entities, xenos, cults, or anything else on the planet Krieg. Just uncompromising humanity, retreading why, once again, we can't have nice things. The darkest part of this book to me was the Cadian trooper ultimately settling into admiration and respect for the Krieg soldiery, even though they had been disturbed at various points by the behavior of the Krieg troops. 7/10 Not many low scores here, but to be fair, most of these books were rated fairly well by most folks around here so I wasn't exactly taking a chance on much. It's a big chunk out of my BL backlog, but also probably time for a well deserved break to read some non-BL fiction and non-fiction.

It took me a little while to find time for the last 40 pages (busy weekend), but I finished this yesterday and have a few more thoughts. This one is my definition of a 6/10, maybe a 6.5/10. It's fine! I'd generally recommend it, especially for anyone interested in the Emperor's Children or maybe the Black Templars. It suffers a bit for standing against some of what is probably the best BL fiction ever, Josh Reynolds's EC works (Fulgrim: The Palatine Phoenix and the Fabius books), and there are still a bunch of other great EC reads too. Addressing the lack of focus on Fulgrim himself, there's something about Tamaris's journey that reminds me of a line from the Sanguinius Primarchs book where they basically say (paraphrasing) "he's just like us, but more so" when referring to Sanguinius vs the Blood Angels Legion, implying that despite his serene facade, Sanguinius does in fact struggle with the Red Thirst. Though we never see it explicitly, even when he has a perspective in a Heresy novel. As Fulgrim: The Perfect Son wrapped up, I think it did much the same. As Tamaris reflects on how hollow the victory felt and his father leans in to tell him he's a perfect son, one can imagine Fulgrim himself experiencing something very similar with the Emperor. It was a nice little ending. And I think Jude's own reply in the WarCom interview backs me up here: Regarding Berengar's vision at the start of the novel, how it repeats until he encounters the Emperor's Children, and how Fulgrim then seems aware of his dreams and eventually appears in one, I'm left wondering if his visions were a product of Fulgrim's powers the whole time. Fulgrim has been appearing in dreams and visions ever since his ascension in the Heresy, so it's possible. There's also a slightly tragic element to Fulgrim trying to sway Berengar over that recalls his similar attempts with Ferrus Manus, but tbh I'm kind of stretching for these themes because the novel itself doesn't make any of this explicit. I do have a pretty big criticism. The Emperor's Children have such a rich and messed up history, with individual legionaries dealing with a complex mix of emotions, and the book doesn't really grapple with much of that past and how it continues to affect them. To be fair, it is standing alongside a bunch of novels that have already done so, so maybe having EC making comments on the Heresy, Legion Wars, Skalathrax, Harmony etc would be treading ground we've already seen them discuss in other books. For example, Lord of Excess just recently hit on how its main character is essentially repeating a self-indulgent cycle of petty empire building and has been in this cycle for 10,000 years. Still, feels like there could be more pathos grounded in that to give its characters a little more depth and make them more sympathetic. I think this one was a little too short, and maybe could have used another 40-50 pages to do that work. As it stands, the characters were mostly flat and one-dimensional (like the moustache twirling sorcerer, or the predictably treacherous apothecary). Tamaris does stand out a bit here, at least, but he should because he's the main character. Jude Reid did describe these characters as following "single-minded pursuits" in the WarCom promo piece on this, so that does track, but I think there could still be deeper characterization, and maybe a little more on Mauvais's relationship with Fulgrim, and what he was or has been. And for that reason, I'm not sure the Black Templars were the best choice of antagonist/foil to this depiction of the EC? They are, by their nature, typically pretty one-dimensional and single minded, so when the EC are also given a somewhat shallow depiction, it's easy for the BT to seem like they were depicted "better" than the EC. I think that's the heart of the criticism I've seen from a lot of folks out there, but I don't personally find it particularly outrageous, because the EC often are shallow, narcissistic and downright evil. I don't think the depiction of the EC was inaccurate, even if it's flat at times. And the book does end with a Black Sword defiled by Chaos and the heads of every Templar on Crucible on spikes, so, it's hard for me to say the author was playing favorites with the BT. I'd also echo that the PDF arc was pretty solid. Easily one of the best perspectives in the novel. This is my first Jude Reid book, and I probably won't go back and pick up the stuff on Cadia or Morvenn Vahl because my reading time is limited and those are subjects I'm just not as interested in, but I do look forward to seeing more work from her in the future. She's not an author I'd auto-buy the special edition version of a book for (and I didn't with Fulgrim: TPS despite being a huge EC fan), but if she's covering a faction or part of the setting I'm interested in then I'm down to keep giving her books a shot.

I'm like 2/3rds of the way through this one and I'll probably finish it tonight, but for what it's worth: Regarding Berengar's vision at the start of the novel: Fulgrim is significantly more present in this story than Angron in The Red Angel and has a marked and constant effect on the Emperor's Children, even if he's not constantly front and center. The Black Templars are shown as so extreme that they're actively pushing the civilians and PDF members into the hands of the cult supporting the invading EC. They also are definitely not a majority of the book... So right there, I think that cuts past most of the knee-jerk reactions I've seen (oof, the reddit whine-fests). That said, the story itself is fine so far. The dialogue of the characters feels pitch perfect for who and what they are, but the plot itself is pretty standard. There's some great grimdark Slaanesh stuff that I've enjoyed. I'm listening to the audio and there's a bit of post-production that's neat to listen to, modulating Fulgrim's voice and adding a vox effect when someone's on comms. I'll come back around with a few more thoughts and maybe an arbitrary score when I've finished it. I don't think this one will stand alongside Josh Reynolds's Fabius books or his Fulgrim novel, or Wraight's EC from Path of Heaven, but it's solid enough of a read and very distant from actively offensive in any way (again, with the caveat "so far").

Dang, the Thousand Sons bots are definitely off. This is exactly like comparing the Mechanicum Castellax vs the much goofier AdMech Kastelan bots. Like many here, I agree they should have taken more cues from the 30k Achea automata. The Sekhetar even share the mirror dome face with the Kastelan.

Ok I just want to say regarding the mystery arc, that it really felt like this clip. Like, yo, Bree, come on. I guess I have to spoiler tag this: Otherwise, great book.

Put me down as another reader burnt out by TEatD III. It took me most of the year to get through it, and ended up walling me off from reading other works. I picked it up and then would just quit on it for weeks at a time, and at one point over a month. I think I was actually burnt out by Volume II, because III actually felt pretty good? I have plenty of criticisms, but it handled Horus vs the Emperor really well. Other than that, I've read Lord of Excess, and I'm currently about 2/3rds of the way through Eidolon. So I guess my book of the year is Lord of Excess for now, due to having no real competition. I won't count TEatD III. It's 1/3rd of a larger novel, or so they said.

The Sagittarum Guard set was explicitly made to represent the Custodians in that picture. It's been a while, but I do distinctly remember Tony Cottrell bringing it up when they were first shown at the 2017 HH Weekender.