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ed balls balls man posted:Shut the heck up idiots. Any thoughts on David Annandale? I read somewhere he has a HH novel coming out, then checked out his work. He has a few eNovellas and a SM battles book but haven't read any of it myself. He is okay. For no-nonsense bolter-porn with decent characterization thrown in every now and then, he's not too bad.
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 16:46 |
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# ? May 8, 2024 05:11 |
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TheStampede posted:Since my passing comment from the other day seems to have sparked off a debate, I'll at least clarify what my understanding was when making it. This is WH40k. It's INSANE. Do not apply logic. That said, I agree with you. Your 20th century F-16 has an onboard system that helps the pilot with as much as possible. It tracks targets, filters them by threat, handles the engine management, breaks things down and displays them in a way that the pilot can react to. There's even a voice that says "PULL UP!" and systems in place that can sense the pilot has let go of the controls and will then level out safely. Now imagine the 40k version of that. We no longer know anything about the "Bitching Betty" voice. We just know that when we fly the machine speaks to us and protects us. "I passed out, but the blessed spirit of my plane spoke and saved me". We also know that if we follow the rituals and press the right buttons, she'll look after us. This is a batshit crazy society who are living in the most superstitious, ridiculous mash up of religious fervour and planet breaking war machines. Your titan knows how to ruin the enemy's poo poo. It WANTS to ruin the enemy's poo poo. It just needs a human to say "go forth and ruin mine enemy's poo poo". Also - this is WH40k. Everything wants to kill you. EVERYTHING. Remember that whole Horus Heresy thing? Mechanicum? Where the bad guys literally infect the entire martian network with a sentient, warp infused virus? That poo poo is STILL in there 10,000 years later. Sure, you might get a tank off the production line that runs exactly as the manual says it should, or it could suddenly spark up some piece of scrap code that kicks in and switches from "who would you like to kill today?" to "Ima gon rape you with tentacles". Remember - even 10,000 years ago they didn't know how things work. It was all broken, and all we know is that when machines have sentience they kind of see us for what we are and go all skynet on us. The Big E has told us not to mess with that poo poo because AIs are dangerous. Not because he's a dick (he is) - but because this actually happened. Machines that can think want to kill us. All of us. Yes, even you. Now the Big E was rediscovering all the old tech, but BOOM - galactic civil war and suddenly everything is sprouting tentacles, horns and trying to kill you. Not to mention all the good work being done by the more progressive mechanicum to de-mistify science is lost. And you're left with the broken toys of 30,000 years of lost progress, no instructions and the very real possibility that switching something on will result in the death of you, your planet and possibly the entire sector. The Imperium can't afford to say "guys, here's the definition for an AI" or "You don't need to sing to your rifle you loving retard". There are too many people, too many minds and too much tainted or misunderstood crazy poo poo to risk it. So you tell Sgt. Expendable to recite the goddam prayer, oil his gun, lovingly rack the first round into the chamber and go kill poo poo. At worst, you're making him maintain a simple piece of kit and ensuring it's in good working order. By the time you get up to the bigger stuff, you're probably saving lives. Do we need to join hands and sing hymns before switchin on a generator on some rediscovered backwater world? Probably not. But this is 40k. The one time you DON'T do that you find yourself being buggered by some tentacle demon that you thought was a toaster, your eyes are forever tainted by the sight of the food blender sprouting horns and a tongue, what you thought was a forklift truck is now tearing round your warehouse screaming "blood for the blood god" and the tannoy keeps killing people with enuncia. Don't worry - the inquisition are on their way. In 40k you don't debate with Baron Bifford. You exterminatus him. And anyone who spoke to him. And anyone that spoke to them. Sorry guys... Dog_Meat fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Feb 18, 2014 |
# ? Feb 18, 2014 18:03 |
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I didn't even start this debate.
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 18:08 |
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MrNemo posted:That's why the God-Emperor gave tank commanders chain swords Eh, for space marines it isn't the worst idea in the world. An axe blade moved by power armor and genhanced muscle is going to be packing enough inertia to tear through just about anything, and the reinforced meat means he isn't going to break his own spine doing it. If someone wants to go full nerd there are masses listed for the weapons in the Deathwatch sourcebooks, and you can model it as a 3 armed pendulum with 2 limited pivots. It would be like calculating a golf swing but one step more complicated because the wrists can flex here. But really, it is 80s death metal as all hell and that inspires most of 40k, and once one side has melee rules the others need them as well.
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 18:20 |
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Baron Bifford posted:I didn't even start this debate. You are the obligatory thread whipping boy. I don't think you're a bad person but you're much better off asking questions than you are at providing answers. You aren't Darth Windu, that's for sure.
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 18:37 |
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Baron Bifford posted:I didn't even start this debate. Innocence Proves Nothing
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 18:40 |
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But, Blessed is the mind too small for doubt.
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 19:06 |
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 19:11 |
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This guy gets it.Aziraphale posted:I found it really amusing in Helsreach when they tried to reawaken some titan killer suit. It turns out that their rituals and solvents were just pre-operation maintenance.
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 19:18 |
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VanSandman posted:You are the obligatory thread whipping boy. I disagree, I think his questions are the worst part. Stuff like "hey I was just reading Lexicanum and I have to ask why don't they just science their way out of being a grimdark future that would be so much better and clearly this means I'm so smart."
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 20:14 |
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Cream_Filling posted:I disagree, I think his questions are the worst part. Stuff like "hey I was just reading Lexicanum and I have to ask why don't they just science their way out of being a grimdark future that would be so much better and clearly this means I'm so smart." everything about all of his posts is the worst part
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 20:30 |
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Dog_Meat posted:This is WH40k. It's INSANE. Do not apply logic. That said, I agree with you. I used to be a crew chief on 16s. You a viper wiper?
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 20:42 |
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To get away from the bullying and pointless nerd-off and back onto literary content, the Night Lords novels have been impossible to get hold off for a while, but the Omnibus is out on May 22nd. I look forward to some quality reading post-exams.
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 20:43 |
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Is there a series about the Word Bearers fighting the ultra marines?
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 21:02 |
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Aziraphale posted:Is there a series about the Word Bearers fighting the ultra marines? They do a lot of it in Know No Fear/Betrayer.
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 21:22 |
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Aziraphale posted:Is there a series about the Word Bearers fighting the ultra marines? Know No Fear and Mark of Calth are all about this.
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 21:24 |
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MisterMarmite posted:To get away from the bullying and pointless nerd-off and back onto literary content, the Night Lords novels have been impossible to get hold off for a while, but the Omnibus is out on May 22nd. I look forward to some quality reading post-exams. Man, I really don't like that representation of Talos on the cover. Something about that helmet looks super derpy. I really liked the art of the original books. This vs. this
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 21:43 |
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The bottom of it is too wide, so it looks weird.
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 21:51 |
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He also looks like Conrad just caught him stealing from the cookie jar.
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 22:14 |
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The combi-bolter looks like it's an over/under version in that art vs. the side-by-side that I'd swear I saw on an earlier cover.
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# ? Feb 18, 2014 22:21 |
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That thing is a Union Jack away from being an Iron Maiden album cover.
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# ? Feb 19, 2014 00:07 |
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Which is actually why despite the goofy helmet, I actually rather like it. Lot better than some of the covers recently; see the individual Salamaders book covers which just look a little off to me. Besides their ... content.
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# ? Feb 19, 2014 00:18 |
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Serpentis posted:Which is actually why despite the goofy helmet, I actually rather like it. Lot better than some of the covers recently; see the individual Salamaders book covers which just look a little off to me. Besides their ... content. Also the helmet is fairly accurate to the actual mk5 mini from Forge World: the fluff justification is that the helmet design was influenced by the development of terminator armor
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# ? Feb 19, 2014 00:37 |
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Huh. Still not necessarily a fan, but nice to know that. While we're on the topic, I've picked up the occasional comment from the thread that the Night Lords books are drat good. Good enough to get the omnibus the minute it becomes available (not read one myself yet)?
Serpentis fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Feb 19, 2014 |
# ? Feb 19, 2014 00:40 |
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The proportions are off. It's too narrow at the top, the "ears" are too far back and a teeeny bit too wide and the height/width ratio is off making it look lanky and pointed rather than squat and square.
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# ? Feb 19, 2014 00:41 |
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Serpentis posted:Huh. Still not necessarily a fan, but nice to know that. While we're on the topic, I've picked up the occasional comment from the chat the Night Lords books are drat good. Good enough to get the omnibus the minute it becomes available (not read a one myself yet)? Absolutely, no question about it.
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# ? Feb 19, 2014 01:20 |
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Serpentis posted:Huh. Still not necessarily a fan, but nice to know that. While we're on the topic, I've picked up the occasional comment from the thread that the Night Lords books are drat good. Good enough to get the omnibus the minute it becomes available (not read one myself yet)? The night lords trilogy is probably the best thing that has ever come out of Black Library.
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# ? Feb 19, 2014 08:17 |
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Serpentis posted:Huh. Still not necessarily a fan, but nice to know that. While we're on the topic, I've picked up the occasional comment from the thread that the Night Lords books are drat good. Good enough to get the omnibus the minute it becomes available (not read one myself yet)? Yes, absolutely. If you filter by my posts I did a re-read not too long ago and reviewed why I love the series so much.
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# ? Feb 19, 2014 09:57 |
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Aziraphale posted:I used to be a crew chief on 16s. You a viper wiper? Sadly, no. Just a flight sim nut and Falcon fan. Aziraphale posted:Is there a series about the Word Bearers fighting the ultra marines? There's always "Battle for the Abyss"
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# ? Feb 19, 2014 10:02 |
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Dog_Meat posted:Sadly, no. Just a flight sim nut and Falcon fan. Yea I just read that and felt they had set up well for a big punch up between the two legions.
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# ? Feb 19, 2014 10:27 |
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Aziraphale posted:Yea I just read that and felt they had set up well for a big punch up between the two legions. You poor man. But really, Know No Fear is what you want.
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# ? Feb 19, 2014 10:29 |
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VanSandman posted:You poor man. But really, Know No Fear is what you want. That being said, Know No Fear is technically part 2 of a great 3-part arc, and it's predecessor, The First Heretic, is about the Word Bearer's fall (and why they have so much beef with the Ultramarines), and not only lends extra fun to the following two books, but is also by ADB and is one of the best Heresy books. If you're interested in Word Bearers vs. Ultramarines, the First Heretic > No Know Fear > Betrayer arc is a must-read.
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# ? Feb 19, 2014 16:20 |
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With Aurelian snuggled in between First Heretic and KNF.
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# ? Feb 19, 2014 17:51 |
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One Legged Cat posted:That being said, Know No Fear is technically part 2 of a great 3-part arc, and it's predecessor, The First Heretic, is about the Word Bearer's fall (and why they have so much beef with the Ultramarines), and not only lends extra fun to the following two books, but is also by ADB and is one of the best Heresy books. If you're interested in Word Bearers vs. Ultramarines, the First Heretic > No Know Fear > Betrayer arc is a must-read. Where does mark of calth fit into this?
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# ? Feb 20, 2014 09:14 |
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Aziraphale posted:Where does mark of calth fit into this? Side-story after KNF.
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# ? Feb 20, 2014 09:32 |
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Ok, I'll check those out after I re-read the NL trilogy. Speaking of, why did Konrad let himself be executed by Mshen? Was it because the emprah rebuked them for their brutality in bringing worlds into compliance? What was it that Curze was vindicated in with his death?
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# ? Feb 20, 2014 17:18 |
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In short, every primarch is an rear end in a top hat with daddy issues, he has a legion full of criminal scum (the same ones he terrorized in his batman days), his legacy of law and order shattered down in his absence and he's half-crazed by painful visions of the future. So yeah, vindication, undestood as a "I was right all along" and "gently caress you universe, I'm tired of all this poo poo". The irony and tragedy is that nobody remembers anything of this in the 40k M, since all of this was kept secret and the major part of his sons couldn't care less about it.
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# ? Feb 20, 2014 17:40 |
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Aziraphale posted:Ok, I'll check those out after I re-read the NL trilogy. From what I've figured of it, Konrad eventually realized that he was the monster he always pretended not to be. He saw himself as serving justice, and his vindication would be that justice will be served by him paying for his crimes, in this case by letting himself be killed. Or he was just batshit insane by that point. The Nightlord Trilogy touches on this in a pretty cool way, especially in the Void Stalker with Talos discovering that his gene-seed is literally killing him, hence why he has prophetic powers just like Kurze.
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# ? Feb 20, 2014 17:44 |
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Aziraphale posted:Ok, I'll check those out after I re-read the NL trilogy. Basically. He got rebuked for using horrific punishment and executions in response to what he arbitrarily deemed crimes. And then the imperium named him traitor and sent an assassin to kill him as punishment. Basically, he was "vindicated" by getting them to do what he was doing, exposing their hypocrisy and getting them to discard their ideals. Basically, the Joker thing. He got them to cross the line they said not to cross and got them to act as badly as he did.
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# ? Feb 20, 2014 17:46 |
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# ? May 8, 2024 05:11 |
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Fried Chicken posted:Basically. He got rebuked for using horrific punishment and executions in response to what he arbitrarily deemed crimes. And then the imperium named him traitor and sent an assassin to kill him as punishment. Basically, he was "vindicated" by getting them to do what he was doing, exposing their hypocrisy and getting them to discard their ideals. I thought it was primarily because he foresaw that was how he would die, and he had been tormented so long by the accuracy of his visions that he was just resigned to let it happen. I figured the whole "LoL, you guys are just as bad as me" was a half-hearted justification to distract from the fact that Kurze has always wanted to die since he loathed himself and the race he was created to protect.
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# ? Feb 20, 2014 19:06 |