Warhammer: After 18 years, finally an end

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > The Book Barn > Warhammer: After 18 years, finally an end

Improbable Lobster: Jan 6, 2012; What is the Matrix 🌐? We just don't know 😎.; Buglord

Wax Dynasty posted:

I think this was from Ian Watson's Inquisitor trilogy.

Yeah. The Callidus was a main character. She had surgery so that she could more accurately transform into a genestealer and later got a dreadnought to reverse the surgery.

# ? Jan 14, 2015 00:41

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# ? May 9, 2024 07:38

lite_sleepr: Jun 3, 2003; by Radio Games Forum

berzerkmonkey posted:

Haha what the gently caress? They're charging $24 USD for an ebook. Insanity.

GW is so stupid.

# ? Jan 14, 2015 00:45

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Wax Dynasty posted:

I think this was from Ian Watson's Inquisitor trilogy.

It is

# ? Jan 14, 2015 01:05

Wax Dynasty: Jan 1, 2013; This postseason, I've really enjoyed bringing back the three-inning save.; Hell Gem

Waroduce posted:

It is

As someone pointed out to me once, there is no need for :goonsay:

Every post in this thread is :goonsay:

# ? Jan 14, 2015 03:15

Arquinsiel: Jun 1, 2006; "There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first."

God Bless Margaret Thatcher
God Bless England
RIP My Iron Lady

Groetgaffel posted:

I'm currently in the process of rereading the Gaunt's Ghost series, I'm about midway through the second omnibus, and there's a detail that bothers me.
It's extremely minor spoilers, but I'll put it in spoiler tags just in case.

Right, so Varl as a bionic arm, Domor got a new pair of eyes. Soric is specifically mentioned refusing an augmetic replacement for his lost eye.
Now, the bit that bothers me; after the events of Necropolis a bunch of the ex-hivers that join up are deaf. First and Only, the first book, even specifically mentions soldiers deafened by shells (the very thing that happened to these hivers) and then goes on to say that they're going to need synthetic eardrums or augmetic implants. The tech to repair lost hearing exists. As shown with Varl and Domor, even the common troopers have access to replacements for lost organic bits.
So why are these deaf Verghast Ghosts still deaf? None of them are ever mentioned refusing augmentation like Soric, or it being unavailable to them for whatever reason.

You may remember that all of those characters are "Sergeant" ranked, which if you pay attention to the numbers of dudes under them is more like "Lieutenant" in the "toy mans on the table" scale. Basically any character with bionics can take wargear, with a few exceptions.

SavTargaryen posted:

It's probably also a solidarity thing, honestly. The Ghosts are weird like that, and they seem to get along fine. I mean when your line trooper gets an aug like freaking uh... Merrt? You may shy away until you're more than a trooper and won't have a steam factory on your ears.

He was a Sniper though, which is kind of implied to be Scout-equivalent at times and thus also a cut above regular dudes. Also his injury was kind of life-threatening even out of combat compared to just going deaf. Compare Shoggy and Gaunt's eyes for a better Enlisted/Officer split.

# ? Jan 14, 2015 06:30

Azran: Sep 3, 2012; And what should one do to be remembered?

Also, I guess not everyone's willing to deal with whatever kind of horrific invasive surgery getting those implants implies.

# ? Jan 14, 2015 16:05

OXBALLS DOT COM: Sep 11, 2005; by FactsAreUseless; Young Orc

Arquinsiel posted:

You may remember that all of those characters are "Sergeant" ranked, which if you pay attention to the numbers of dudes under them is more like "Lieutenant" in the "toy mans on the table" scale. Basically any character with bionics can take wargear, with a few exceptions.
He was a Sniper though, which is kind of implied to be Scout-equivalent at times and thus also a cut above regular dudes. Also his injury was kind of life-threatening even out of combat compared to just going deaf. Compare Shoggy and Gaunt's eyes for a better Enlisted/Officer split.

Also didn't the reputation/popularity of the Ghosts fall a lot between the earlier books and after they took in the deaf dudes? Probably part of it is just availability of surgical resources, available R&R time for surgery + healing, plus whatever pull it takes with the Munitorum to get allocated resources

# ? Jan 14, 2015 16:18

mdemone: Mar 14, 2001

Wax Dynasty posted:

As someone pointed out to me once, there is no need for Every post in this thread is

Sometimes I yearn for group pictures of the various megathread regulars. We'd be a motley fuckin' crew, I have no doubt.

# ? Jan 14, 2015 16:56

Groetgaffel: Oct 30, 2011; Groetgaffel smacked the living shit out of himself doing 297 points of damage.

Arquinsiel posted:

You may remember that all of those characters are "Sergeant" ranked, which if you pay attention to the numbers of dudes under them is more like "Lieutenant" in the "toy mans on the table" scale. Basically any character with bionics can take wargear, with a few exceptions.
He was a Sniper though, which is kind of implied to be Scout-equivalent at times and thus also a cut above regular dudes. Also his injury was kind of life-threatening even out of combat compared to just going deaf. Compare Shoggy and Gaunt's eyes for a better Enlisted/Officer split.

As I remember, and I ploughed through the first omnibus like one month ago, Varl lost his arm before he got his stripes, so he was just a regular line trooper. As for the thing that snipers are more valuable that line soldiers; one of the deaf hivegirls, Nessa, is one of those valued snipers. But yeah, hearing isn't that important to a sniper.

Mange Mite posted:

Also didn't the reputation/popularity of the Ghosts fall a lot between the earlier books and after they took in the deaf dudes?

Rather the other way around. The Ghosts didn't have much in the way of respect until after Vervunhive. Before that they were mainly used as cannon fodder in a trench war (First and Only), and has the Volpone order the Ghosts shelled, killing almost a thousand men on Voltemand in Ghostmaker (which is the second book, but chronologically before First and Only.

Really, it's not until Guns of Tanith that they serve with a Lord General, that being Van Voytz, that actually use them in a role that plays on their strengths as a stealth and infiltration regiment.

But of course, since the Munitorium being unable to even stock them with the right ammo is a plot point in Guns of Tanith, I'd believe that that's a good enough reason for the implants to not reach the troops.

Unrelated to the hearing thing, I'm getting a bit tired of how often "soldiering is a male profession!", "Gasp! A woman in the Guard!", etc is brought up in the second omnibus.
You'd think that people wouldn't be that surprised at a woman with a lasgun when the first crusade that settled the Sabbat worlds for the Imperium was led by Saint Sabbat; a woman.
That's one of the things I think Sandy Mitchell handles better in the Ciaphas Cain series.
The Imperium needs all the Guardsmen they can get, but there's still enough room for sexism that the female regiments tend to get rearguard and garrison duties. Mixed sex regiments are uncommon, but no one brings it up every three chapters. And one of the books mentions a planet where matriarchy is the norm. The Planetary Governor, the generals, and most of the local officers are women. Cain makes a note of it, after which it's not really brought up again, and no one seems to think that it's particularly strange.

Oh, and Lijah Fething Cuu! :argh:

# ? Jan 14, 2015 18:43

Arquinsiel: Jun 1, 2006; "There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first."

God Bless Margaret Thatcher
God Bless England
RIP My Iron Lady

Groetgaffel posted:

As I remember, and I ploughed through the first omnibus like one month ago, Varl lost his arm before he got his stripes, so he was just a regular line trooper. As for the thing that snipers are more valuable that line soldiers; one of the deaf hivegirls, Nessa, is one of those valued snipers. But yeah, hearing isn't that important to a sniper.

Well hearing to a sniper, compared to being able to eat for... everyone. Losing your bottom jaw is kind of a big problem to just ignore. I thought Varl was a Sergeant at that point, but he may not have been. The rank structure of the First and Only is kind of weird, with no Captains until Necropolis (and even after that only one for a long while), Corporals only existing to be bad at their job from Straight Silver onwards, no Lieutenants until His Last Command, and bugger all Majors for a unit that size.

Groetgaffel posted:

Unrelated to the hearing thing, I'm getting a bit tired of how often "soldiering is a male profession!", "Gasp! A woman in the Guard!", etc is brought up in the second omnibus.
You'd think that people wouldn't be that surprised at a woman with a lasgun when the first crusade that settled the Sabbat worlds for the Imperium was led by Saint Sabbat; a woman.
That's one of the things I think Sandy Mitchell handles better in the Ciaphas Cain series.
The Imperium needs all the Guardsmen they can get, but there's still enough room for sexism that the female regiments tend to get rearguard and garrison duties. Mixed sex regiments are uncommon, but no one brings it up every three chapters. And one of the books mentions a planet where matriarchy is the norm. The Planetary Governor, the generals, and most of the local officers are women. Cain makes a note of it, after which it's not really brought up again, and no one seems to think that it's particularly strange.

That's not something that I noticed as being too common at the time of reading, but in retrospect and having read the Ciaphas Cain books I was interpreting it as "Gasp! A woman in that male-regiment of Guard! Think of the lost combat efficiency via babies!". Also it might possibly be intended to serve as an indicator of how badly cut off and backward the Sabbat Worlds are due to the invasion? On the other hand, that itself is kind of variable in state. Slaydo had wanted to take them back for years and years, but there are existing resistance movements with people who remember life under the Imperium somehow.

# ? Jan 14, 2015 20:07

Laughing Zealot: Oct 10, 2012

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/total-war-warhammer-leaked-ahead-of-announcement/1100-6424632/

Despite having little to no interest in the Fantasy stuff I'm excited has hell for this. Dawn of War caused me to start reading the 40k books back in the day so maybe I'll end up chasing the fantasy books after playing this thing.

# ? Jan 14, 2015 20:24

SavTargaryen: Sep 11, 2011

Groetgaffel posted:

Oh, and Lijah Fething Cuu!

I can't remember where I read it, but I remember reading somewhere that Cuu was the product of Abnett losing half the manuscript and having to rewrite it hastily. Imagine all the terrible things we could have been spared. Okay, not spared, but terrible things to characters I liked inflicted in other ways.

# ? Jan 14, 2015 20:41

Hot Dog Day #82: Jul 5, 2003; Soiled Meat

I always liked to think that the reason the ghosts were so taken aback from having females in their regiment was because their world was basically a world of country bumpkins and woodsmen. Not exactly the most progressive group of people, even during the best of times!

# ? Jan 14, 2015 20:49

Arquinsiel: Jun 1, 2006; "There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first."

God Bless Margaret Thatcher
God Bless England
RIP My Iron Lady

SavTargaryen posted:

I can't remember where I read it, but I remember reading somewhere that Cuu was the product of Abnett losing half the manuscript and having to rewrite it hastily. Imagine all the terrible things we could have been spared. Okay, not spared, but terrible things to characters I liked inflicted in other ways.

It's in the foreword to the second omnibus IIRC.

# ? Jan 14, 2015 20:53

Azhais: Feb 5, 2007; Switchblade Switcharoo

Azran posted:

Also, I guess not everyone's willing to deal with whatever kind of horrific invasive surgery getting those implants implies.

There's probably also a difference between "born deaf" and "ears blown off and need replacement"

# ? Jan 14, 2015 20:54

Groetgaffel: Oct 30, 2011; Groetgaffel smacked the living shit out of himself doing 297 points of damage.

Arquinsiel posted:

Well hearing to a sniper, compared to being able to eat for... everyone. Losing your bottom jaw is kind of a big problem to just ignore. I thought Varl was a Sergeant at that point, but he may not have been. The rank structure of the First and Only is kind of weird, with no Captains until Necropolis (and even after that only one for a long while), Corporals only existing to be bad at their job from Straight Silver onwards, no Lieutenants until His Last Command, and bugger all Majors for a unit that size.
That's not something that I noticed as being too common at the time of reading, but in retrospect and having read the Ciaphas Cain books I was interpreting it as "Gasp! A woman in that male-regiment of Guard! Think of the lost combat efficiency via babies!". Also it might possibly be intended to serve as an indicator of how badly cut off and backward the Sabbat Worlds are due to the invasion? On the other hand, that itself is kind of variable in state. Slaydo had wanted to take them back for years and years, but there are existing resistance movements with people who remember life under the Imperium somehow.

As I've interpreted it, no matter if it's someone from another regiment, one of the locals, or even some of the Ghosts themselves (Rawne being a prime example), it's always "A woman have no business playing at being a soldier! :bahgawd:

Arquinsiel posted:

It's in the foreword to the second omnibus IIRC.

Correct.

Dan Abnett posted:

Ah, Cuu. At the risk of repeating myself (I've written about this before) Cuu is one of those characters that makes writing fun.
It goes like this... I'd written most of Honour Guard, heading for my deadline, and my computer ate the manuscript, all of it. No, I hadn't backed up.
Yes, I realise that was a bit stupid. To keep schedules on track, I rewrote the book from scratch in a month, and a couple of odd things happened. One was that the second version turned out much, much better than the original, despite the rush. The other was that, although I stuck to the same plot outline, new things happened.
Characters - especially Cuu - just appeared in the new version of the story, took on lives of their own, and refused to go away. Cuu came to determine a great deal of what went on in the next three books. You couldn't make it up and, in Cuu's case, I don't think I really did.

quote:

These are the books where people begin to die. These are the books where we realise that all bets are off, and no one is safe.
And on that cheerful note, enjoy the trip.

gently caress you Abnett's harddrive. :smith:

# ? Jan 14, 2015 21:35

Foxtrot_13: Oct 31, 2013; Ask me about my love of genocide denial!

PRESIDENT GOKU posted:

GW is so stupid.

Who is the more stupid, GW for charging so much for an ebook or the shmuck who pays that much for an ebook?

# ? Jan 14, 2015 22:12

Arquinsiel: Jun 1, 2006; "There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first."

God Bless Margaret Thatcher
God Bless England
RIP My Iron Lady

Groetgaffel posted:

As I've interpreted it, no matter if it's someone from another regiment, one of the locals, or even some of the Ghosts themselves (Rawne being a prime example), it's always "A woman have no business playing at being a soldier! "

Remember though, the Tanith are from a backwater rural planet in Buttfuck, Nowhere, Occupied-territories.

# ? Jan 14, 2015 23:53

Mr.48: May 1, 2007

Groetgaffel posted:

That's one of the things I think Sandy Mitchell handles better in the Ciaphas Cain series.
The Imperium needs all the Guardsmen they can get, but there's still enough room for sexism that the female regiments tend to get rearguard and garrison duties. Mixed sex regiments are uncommon, but no one brings it up every three chapters. And one of the books mentions a planet where matriarchy is the norm. The Planetary Governor, the generals, and most of the local officers are women. Cain makes a note of it, after which it's not really brought up again, and no one seems to think that it's particularly strange.

Dont seem tor remember that one, which Cain book was this in?

# ? Jan 15, 2015 02:13

Groetgaffel: Oct 30, 2011; Groetgaffel smacked the living shit out of himself doing 297 points of damage.

Mr.48 posted:

Dont seem tor remember that one, which Cain book was this in?

I don't actually remember. I think it was an ice planet, so Caves of Ice or Last Ditch maybe?

# ? Jan 15, 2015 08:25

Remora: Aug 15, 2010

It was Last Ditch.

# ? Jan 15, 2015 08:33

Wax Dynasty: Jan 1, 2013; This postseason, I've really enjoyed bringing back the three-inning save.; Hell Gem

I don't know why is taken me this long to figure out, but any book involving the Flesh Tearers is utter poo poo.

# ? Jan 15, 2015 20:14

VanSandman: Feb 16, 2011; SWAP.AVI EXCHANGER

It's because there really isn't a lot to say about a chapter who's defining characteristic is 'angry.'

# ? Jan 16, 2015 09:32

Azran: Sep 3, 2012; And what should one do to be remembered?

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/01/16/holy-ships-battlefleet-gothic-armada-announced/

:stare:

# ? Jan 16, 2015 13:26

berzerkmonkey: Jul 23, 2003

Azran posted:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/01/16/holy-ships-battlefleet-gothic-armada-announced/

Yessssssssssssss...

# ? Jan 16, 2015 13:43

rocket_Magnet: Apr 5, 2005

Azran posted:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/01/16/holy-ships-battlefleet-gothic-armada-announced/

Oh hell yes, took them long enough.

# ? Jan 16, 2015 13:51

Demiurge4: Aug 10, 2011

I didn't like the look of the Space Hulk games at all and Warhammer Quest has some really poo poo micro purchase junk in it. Cautiously optimistic :colbert:

# ? Jan 16, 2015 14:08

Waroduce: Aug 5, 2008

Demiurge4 posted:

I didn't like the look of the Space Hulk games at all and Warhammer Quest has some really poo poo micro purchase junk in it. Cautiously optimistic

Blessed is the wallet too full for doubt

# ? Jan 16, 2015 14:14

Angry Lobster: May 16, 2011; Served with honor
and some clarified butter.

Praise the Emprah! :getin:

Can't wait for some hot ramming!

# ? Jan 16, 2015 14:39

The Rat: Aug 29, 2004; You will find no one to help you here. Beth DuClare has been dissected and placed in cryonic storage.

VanSandman posted:

It's because there really isn't a lot to say about a chapter who's defining characteristic is 'angry.'

Probably an author issue more than anything, because ADB did a fine job with the World Eaters. :black101:

e: also from ADB's short story in this last Sabbat anthology: "Such heroic nonsense."

# ? Jan 16, 2015 14:39

kanonvandekempen: Mar 14, 2009

Wow they are throwing their licences around everywhere now. Are they in financial difficulty or anticipating a change in business because of 3D printing or something?

# ? Jan 16, 2015 14:43

Demiurge4: Aug 10, 2011

kanonvandekempen posted:

Wow they are throwing their licences around everywhere now. Are they in financial difficulty or anticipating a change in business because of 3D printing or something?

Do an HBO series with Gaunt's Ghosts already! :argh:

# ? Jan 16, 2015 14:50

AttitudeAdjuster: May 2, 2010

A Homeworld-style RTS for battlefleet Gothic is something I've been saying that GW should make for years. The other is a mass effect/dragon age RPG where the PC is an inquisitor.

# ? Jan 16, 2015 15:05

Cat Sidhe: Jan 9, 2015

kanonvandekempen posted:

Wow they are throwing their licences around everywhere now. Are they in financial difficulty or anticipating a change in business because of 3D printing or something?

None of us can begin to comprehend the ways in which GW works.

# ? Jan 16, 2015 15:14

HerpicleOmnicron5: May 31, 2013; How did this smug dummkopf ever make general?

AttitudeAdjuster posted:

A Homeworld-style RTS for battlefleet Gothic is something I've been saying that GW should make for years. The other is a mass effect/dragon age RPG where the PC is an inquisitor.

It's by the folks behind Stellar Impact, so it'll be a very well made single-ship control game I think.

# ? Jan 16, 2015 16:24

AttitudeAdjuster: May 2, 2010

HerpicleOmnicron5 posted:

It's by the folks behind Stellar Impact, so it'll be a very well made single-ship control game I think.

Ah fair enough. I saw space cathedrals and my mind filled in the rest of the details.

# ? Jan 16, 2015 17:23

Arquinsiel: Jun 1, 2006; "There is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families. And no government can do anything except through people, and people must look to themselves first."

God Bless Margaret Thatcher
God Bless England
RIP My Iron Lady

Demiurge4 posted:

I didn't like the look of the Space Hulk games at all and Warhammer Quest has some really poo poo micro purchase junk in it. Cautiously optimistic

The stuff for Warhammer Quest is basically just trash that unbalances the game. There's no need to buy the weapons or most of the characters. The extra dungeons and monsters are kind of a matter of taste.

# ? Jan 16, 2015 17:33

Improbable Lobster: Jan 6, 2012; What is the Matrix 🌐? We just don't know 😎.; Buglord

kanonvandekempen posted:

Wow they are throwing their licences around everywhere now. Are they in financial difficulty or anticipating a change in business because of 3D printing or something?

3D printing is very very far away from being a threat to miniatures companies, especially when recasting is cheaper and faster by a humongous margin.

# ? Jan 16, 2015 18:18

Fearless: Sep 3, 2003; DRINK MORE MOXIE

Waroduce posted:

Blessed is the wallet too full for debt

Fixed that for you!

# ? Jan 16, 2015 18:58

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# ? May 9, 2024 07:38

Groetgaffel: Oct 30, 2011; Groetgaffel smacked the living shit out of himself doing 297 points of damage.

Azran posted:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/01/16/holy-ships-battlefleet-gothic-armada-announced/

Oh man those screenshots. :fap:

AttitudeAdjuster posted:

A Homeworld-style RTS for battlefleet Gothic is something I've been saying that GW should make for years. The other is a mass effect/dragon age RPG where the PC is an inquisitor.

I've been saying the exact same things forever.

# ? Jan 16, 2015 19:45

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