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.