Christmas Cards from the Edge

Having managed to bag a weeks leave over the holiday season for the first time in years, you would have thought I'd have had a load of time on my hands, some of which I could devote to the Blog. But festive duties have overtaken me, last minute wrapping of presents, tree decorating and the obligatory family visits have left little time in front of the cogitator.

But lets face it, with gifts to be opened, mountains of food to be scoffed and a few too many bottles of booze to be quaffed; does anyone really want to be glued to the Net at this time of year?

Books in Brief : Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

Once again I'm going to come out of this brief review reeking of 'Danboyism' but the truth is that Dan Abnett is one of the best writers I have had the pleasure of reading works by for some time. I started a bit off track with Legion and then straight into Rising and as with Legion I just couldn't put it down. The detail and depth of the main players and the settings around them are fantastic.

Abnett uses words like paints on a canvas, the images he conjures are so clear; the book aptly captures the heady glories of this Renaissance period of the Imperium and gives a sense of the driving forces behind it. Warfare, science, art and of course religion all intrinsically linked and yet each creating friction with the others and causing cracks to appear in the Emperors master plan.

The potrayal of the Demigod like Primarchs and their superhuman 'sons' the Astartes as having very human qualities that are both a blessing and a curse, reminds me of the legends of ancient Greece; the development of their characters and the relationship with the 'normal' humans around them is very central to the tale and makes for riveting reading.

Oh and the book opens with the kind of twist that a Director such as Christopher Nolan would be proud of and has heaps of bolter banging action as any reader of a Warhammer 40k novel would expect.

Having been following the tales of the Heresy since it's first inclusion into 40K; what was once a simple tale of betrayal is shaping up to be a tragedy of epic proportions.

Tales from the Dark Millennium : Lalinta Prime Pt VI

Dark Pact

“They have returned Lord.”

Bile the Eviscerator looked up from the glowing Hololithic map of the Haxtes battle front, projecting from the chart table and turned his attention to the Death Guard who had entered the command post.

T’kin knelt at a respectful distance his bare head bowed, sloughs of leathery brown skin hanging limply and exposing portions of yellowing skull beneath. The kiss of the Blight Grenade he had used to fell one of the bastard sons of the false Emperor, a Librarian no less had left him some pleasing trophy scars.

“Have they secured the item?”

Battle Report 2 : Ambush at Sanctus Edge and the Salvation of Raltia Hive

Guest submissions by Paul aka 'Pestie' and Bish

Trying to play catch up with the battle reports and general progress of our Lalinta Prime Campaign. Playing, learning and writing notes at the same time takes all my effort during a game at the moment (for me that's still multi tasking on a Heroic difficulty setting) ; but as much of our armies are unpainted at present, not being able to take pictures of the battles doesn't seem too much of a loss for now.

Heresy Online bows out of the Blogosphere

The sharp eyed among you, those who have not spent decades hunched over a poorly lit painting table or fusing your eyeballs playing console/Pc Games until O'Mygodaclock; are blessed with youth or are just named 'Shoggy' Domor. May have noticed my little section of The Webway shrank by one earlier today.

Blood Drinkers Fandex : Origins

I've spent the last week or so of rare and precious free time working on the Blood Drinker Fandex project and after much cursing, gnashing of teeth and the odd ceremonial thump to the side of my cogitators casing (MS Word is truly a devil that refuses to be tamed) I've pieced together the following for the Origins section of the dex, a lot of it is a re-write of work I did over on B&C but having put it through the old grey matter sieve again, I think it's come out for the better.

I've also produced an orbital picture of the Chapter Homeworld of San Guisuga; the project is still in its infant stages and as such I haven't pinned down the layout yet, but I'll keep posting up the meat of the work as I finish it, with a view to eventually turning the whole thing into a PDF.

For Sale: Praetorian XXIV Ltd Edition Box Set

'If it's a miracle, Colour Sergeant, it's a short chamber Boxer Henry No 45 Lasgun miracle.'
'And a bayonet, sir, with some guts behind it.'

The clean up push continues apace, I've advanced into the dusty provinces under my painting table where amongst the piles of flash and broken paintbrushes, I've discovered ancient caskets that have lain undisturbed for many years and within have been some nice long forgotten finds.

Books in Brief : Legion by Dan Abnett

This is the first of my book review posts, these aren't intended to be in depth discourses on the novels (fear not, usual waffle service will be resumed in other posts) and there won't be any spoilers; I've been caught out far too many times by other reviews that have given the game away, to the ruin of my reading pleasure and I won't visit that tragedy upon those of you who visit the Edge. 

These are just brief thoughts on the general quality of the book / author and whether I enjoyed and recommend it, as always I'd be happy to hear your thoughts.

                                                   "Choose an author as you choose a friend." Arthur Helps

Legion by Dan Abnett

This is an outstanding book; I couldn't put it down and ripped through it in two days. Dan Abnett conjures up a vivid future and places you smack bang in the middle of it; with all its brutal conflict and dark intrigue. This was my first Black Library book and the 2nd coming of 40k for me, it's what brought me back to the fold and as a result you may always see a bit of Abnett bias in my reviews, for that I make no apology, the man is a legend to me.

It was great to see the Guard getting a more human face, something that I would continue to discover in the Ghost's series; showing future humanity not just to be a bunch zealots hell bent on fanatical death dealing. The brilliant take on the Alpha Legion, paves the way for a much more versatile slant on the Space Marines and introduces a tragic twist to their choice of allegiance. Also the setting of the Heresy in the wider context of it's relation to the rest of the Universe's inhabitants and their own motives is both fascinating and refreshing.

I particularly like Dan's non explanatory vocabulary, when he coins a word for something, he leaves it to the reader to figure out what he's talking about, you must enter the world the story lives in, not the other way around. I know some readers have a problem with this, but I find it immerses you all the more into his particular take on the 40k 'Verse.

A massive and resounding thumbs up from me, a must read.

Battle Report 1 : Landing at Haxtes

I've had a load of these battle reports laying around since we launched our Lalinta Prime campaign several months ago and in the ongoing war to reclaim my office/painting area (greatly inspired by Ron's recent post over on FTW ) I decided to launch another offensive against scraps of paper.

So here is the first of my battle reports, it features the five player (the whole League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen) opening game of our campaign; Eldar, Ultramarines and Blood Drinkers on one side, each with 1000 points and an opposing force of Tzeentch and Nurgle Chaos Marines each with 1500 points.

After the Storm : My thoughts on the Stormraven

As most of you are probably aware by now, it would seem once again something has gone awry with the Games Workshop cogitators; either by fault or design (remember Palpatine allowed the rebels to know the location of the shield generator, he had an Empire too) and they have leaked a picture of the as yet unreleased Stormraven model. This was picked up by a number of hawkeyed 40k net-hounds; kudos guys and flashed around the world before a GW senior exec could cackle 'Everything is proceeding as I have foreseen....'

Blood Drinkers Fandex

Today sees the inaugural post relating to my Blood Drinkers Fandex project; but wait don't those guys already have a Codex? They're covered in the Blood Angels one aren't they? Yes and yes and please stop typing to yourself it's unhealthy!

As I've mentioned before, I joined ranks with the Blood Drinkers in the time of the original Rogue Trader and since then I've collected pretty much every scrap of info I could about them. And they are just scraps, despite the Chapter being one of the blessed twelve featured within that hallowed tomes pages, they even had transfers (decals) in the MKI Rhino set don't you know; the Drinkers have spent much of their existence in the shadow of their now 'older' brothers the Blood Angels.

There has been the odd paragraph here and there in White Dwarf issues and Codex over the years, they even got a nod in James Swallow's rather underwhelming Red Fury;

Tales from the Dark Millennium : Lalinta Prime Pt V

Hells Kitchen
“Give me the count Lazlo.” Captain Dexion ordered quietly across the hushed bridge.

Brother Sergeant Lazlo Tiberius glanced down at the chronometer, the whirring and clicking of the brass mechanism thunderously loud against the faint background hum of the ships systems at standby power.

The Ultramarine Strike Cruisers Vae Victus and Valin’s Revenge were running silent along with their remaining escort of three Gladius Frigates Guilliman’s Honour, Sword of Ultramar and Grand Duke of Tallasar; having had to abort their strike force insertion two hours before, due to a clamor of Lalintan civilian craft that had fled towards their anchorage from orbit above their beleaguered home world.

Lalinta Prime Campaign Pt II : Rules

A day late, gakking chores, but we are now the proud owners of a brabantia wall mounted washing line and I didn't cause any wall collapses during instillation lol, the good lady is happy. So here is the second half of my current campaign rules; I came up with a special war gear idea so us old school players could wield a few treats from back in the day, as you have to break us old beardys into 5th Ed gently (What no data-faxes?!!).

Lalinta Prime Campaign Pt I : Rules

Having posted up several slices of fiction, I realised with some embarrassment that I hadn't actually posted up much to do with the campaign they were written for. So let me back track a little and introduce you to the current campaign being played by my gaming group, the fondly named 'League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen' (tongue firmly in cheek). It's our first real foray into 40k since hanging up our dice many moons ago and thus I kept it fairly simple as we are still about as rusty as a Gargant's belly.

Tales from the Dark Millennium : Lalinta Prime Pt IV

House of Cards
Lord Perdurabo crouched at the centre of the pentagram, its interwoven lines defied geometry; the eldritch symbols etched throughout its structure writhed in a constant flux. His flowing robes whipped about him as a tarot deck whirled madly above his ornate crested helm; yet he remained perfectly still, the eye of the storm as the cards danced and spun.

Occasionally a card would snap stock still in front of his golden mask; he would ponder its meaning for a moment before allowing it to return to the maelstrom.

The door to the chamber opened and the echoing buzz of flies could be heard briefly over the clattering of the cards; the mighty form of a Thousand Son Marine, clad eternally in his blue and gold armour, entered and the door closed again.

Postcards from the Edge

Three months into this blogging lark and the Veil's Edge is shaping up nicely; I've been adding a few more links mainly for ease of access to other sites and resources I frequent, but also for a little more exposure for the blog as it's always nice to have occasional company out here on the Edge.

Painting has sadly taken a back seat to getting the blog up to speed, catching up with my gaming commitments (from which I have a host of battle reports that I need to file) and a whole heap of real life stuff; but then as a Scottish immortal on a rowing boat once discovered, it's all about balance.

Tales from the Dark Millennium : Lalinta Prime Pt III

Through a Glass Darkly

Alanthrasil watched impassively as the two Tzeentch Strike Cruisers, Waning Moon and Golden Dawn bore down on the hideously bloated corruption that was the Death Guard Capital Ship Plagueclaw; its wretched picket ships entangled in the debris of their recent victims, now a swirling mass of mutated color conjured by some fell warp magic.

He could hear the vessels chanting their names and extolling the false virtues of their masters through the ether. The power of their twisted words made his temples ache and he noted a few spots of blood had fallen from his nose onto his fine robes.

The Angels Tarot : Psychic Power Cards for the Blood Angels Codex

I can't believe a week has gone by since my last post, though I have been busy creating a few new pages on the blog for the purpose of archiving; so I've excused myself from penance for now.

Today I'm posting up some cards I made, again utilising great artwork found online (please see my disclaimer at the foot of the blog); to represent the psychic powers from the 5th Edition Blood Angel Codex. I use them for my Blood Drinker Chapter but obviously they would be relevant to any son's of Sanguinius.

Tales from the Dark Millennium : Lalinta Prime Pt II

A Plague on Both Your Houses

Another shuddering blast, a shower of brown filth erupted from several ruptured intestine like tubes which glistened in the moist darkness above the cavernous rusting bridge chamber of the Plagueclaw.

Lord Ignatius Grulgor wiped some of the spattered mucus from his face and licked at it with his hideously swollen, corpse blue tongue.
He rolled his one bulging bloodshot eye and let out a bellow of hacking laughter; the oozing mass of Nurglings clinging to his command throne giggled manically with him.

The Segmentum Tempestus: Your handy travel map

Here's a little something I've been working on for a while now, a comprehensive map of the Segmentum Tempestus. I make no claims to it being 100% accurate, such statements are rash in the face of constant GW retcons, creative errors and or omissions.

Tank Buster: A lesson in where not to store your models

Tuesday had been a good day all told, the sun had shone, work had been light and ended early; I arrived back at home with plenty of time before my better half would return, perfect for catching up with emails, forums and blogs.

Fortune however can be a fickle thing, as any of us who have ever dared roll a dice know only too well; the day was about to turn and bite me, quite literally in the arse.

Tales from the Dark Millennium

As already mentioned, I am partial to the odd bit of 'Fluff' *pauses for snickering to subside* and that extends to the odd dalliance with fiction writing. It's a past time, I'm not expecting a call from The Black Library anytime soon; but I thought I'd post it up for those of you who may be interested, as I am, in this sort of stuff.

Autumn Offensive

Current projects filling up the painting table. I've got two squads of previously painted Blood Drinkers, one Devastator, one Vanguard Veteran that I'm tweaking. This is due mainly because I've finally rolled over and accepted that the Chapter Insignia is now a black chalice rather than the old yellow icon.

Though I'll never accept the retcon away from 2nd founding; they've been around since RT show some respect for your elders *wags finger in the general direction of Nottingham* they're called a Successor Chapter for a reason Mr Ward!

The Draco Sector - Welcome to the neighbourhood

This is the first in what I plan to be a series of posts focusing on a region of the 40k universe that I have created. It started out a simple objective to find some galactic real-estate to base my Blood Drinkers Chapter in; but over the years the piles of scribbled notes full of musings and meanderings (long night shifts are fertile ground for such things) began to take on a life of their own.

UK Games Day 2010

It's taken a few more days than I'd hoped to post up my first topic; the twin evils of being a Blog newbie and suffering from the Games Day cold which appears to have afflicted most attendees like some new gift from Father Nurgle, thwarted my planned grand opening. But as I'm fond of mis-quoting a Bridge Too Far 'like the cavalry, it's bad form to arrive ahead of schedule; in the nick of time will do nicely.'

Founding

So after much delay sitting around the Fortress Monastery polishing the devotional silverware; it's time to get this Blog operational and what a great way to start, with a recon mission to UK Games Day 2010, more of that in a moment along with a taste of things to come. But first a word of thanks to the renowned remembrancer and imagist Teebs who illuminated the banner you see emblazoned above; cheers mate, all I asked for and more.

Hopefully I'll be posting on a fairly regular basis with content ranging from general 40k related banter, my painting/modeling exploits and the highs and lows of gaming with battle & campaign reports. There will be plenty of 'Fluff' as I work on two labors of love, the writing of a Codex for my Chapter the Blood Drinkers and the creation of the sector from which they hail. A few book reviews and occasional features on my friends and fellow gamers armies. With any luck a little something for everyone and if not well thanks for stopping by, please have a slice of Tyndarian drizzle cake and a shot of Serran Atai before catching the next transport out.