[Macros]

Would definitely recommend Calgars Siege as a way to dip into space marines, he's an ace combat writter

[Tsundoku]

 Macros, on 12 March 2021 - 08:18 AM, said:

Would definitely recommend Calgars Siege as a way to dip into space marines, he's an ace combat writter

+1 can't go wrong with Paul Kearney.

I'll just put this reco from Wert here:

https://thewertzone....ul-kearney.html

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 12 March 2021 - 08:37 AM

[Garak]

Grab something to eat man, we can wait.

Don't know when The Victory part 2 might come out but there are only two books right now that would form it (The Warmaster & The Anarch) so you could just grab those. I'm generally the guy who prefers to have a physical copy of a book, I've read ebooks and then still bought a physical copy (if I didn't it would bee like watching a movie at the cinema while there's a small kid kicking the back of the seat constantly) but you might want to consider a Kindle, if it will make your life easier.

The Chaos presence in book six was light but if I recall, they also joined that conflict recently so there wasn't time for the usual shenanigans. You'll get to see some proper Chaos whatthefuckery in book 8 but this is still tamer than when the Traitor Legions get involved (that's when the really bad juju comes out, especially if any of the big names are involved).

[Aptorian]

Gaunt 7 prologue:

Spoiler

Yeah, finally getting some proper chaos presence is thrilling. That was one of my complaints about the earlier books, there's so little weird magic and demon shit going on. Mostly it's just ugly crazy people.

What does it actually take for demons to manifest I wonder? In book one somebody gets struck by a totem splinter and turns into a giant demon. Doesn't seem like it takes that much for them to get through.

[Aptorian]

Gaunt 7 end of chapter 5.

Spoiler

The healing pool returned Gol Kolea's mind! Oh, this makes me happy. Now I just need him to personally choke Cuu to death and this will be the best book. Knowing Abnett, that sadist, Cuu'll probably kill Kolea next.

Gotta say I love this revelation of actual spiritual magic. Too often this kind of stuff is just left dubious and vague.

[Garak]

Regarding injuries and fixes.

Spoiler

I think the main reason the Vervunhive gals didn't opt for cybernetic fixes was that they had gotten used to it. Also they probably saw what cheap fixes were available and went nope. Domor, Varl and Feygor couldn't really say they'd function fine without the cybernetics, however.

That said, the Imperium actually does have subtle, artistic and even subdermal cybernetics aplenty. Problem is they cost. So either you're filthy rich, really important/useful to someone who is rich or are in the Adeptus Mechanicus. Of course the Mechanicus doesn't care about how inhuman they end up looking but do have the best toys and anyone high up in their organization is always to be treated as highly dangerous because he's probably a walking armory. Space Marines can get really good cybernetics but they don't care about how it looks, they care about functionality (most of them anyway). Inquisitors of course also get access to the best stuff and so does anyone working for them (assuming said Inquisitor isn't an asshole). Cloning replacement bits and grafting them on is also a possibility but again it requires money/power/influence. Which common Guardsmen simply don't have and seeing how many of them there are, a quick cheap fix is seen as the best approach.

[Aptorian]

 Garak, on 14 March 2021 - 08:45 AM, said:

Regarding injuries and fixes.

Spoiler

I think the main reason the Vervunhive gals didn't opt for cybernetic fixes was that they had gotten used to it. Also they probably saw what cheap fixes were available and went nope. Domor, Varl and Feygor couldn't really say they'd function fine without the cybernetics, however.

That said, the Imperium actually does have subtle, artistic and even subdermal cybernetics aplenty. Problem is they cost. So either you're filthy rich, really important/useful to someone who is rich or are in the Adeptus Mechanicus. Of course the Mechanicus doesn't care about how inhuman they end up looking but do have the best toys and anyone high up in their organization is always to be treated as highly dangerous because he's probably a walking armory. Space Marines can get really good cybernetics but they don't care about how it looks, they care about functionality (most of them anyway). Inquisitors of course also get access to the best stuff and so does anyone working for them (assuming said Inquisitor isn't an asshole). Cloning replacement bits and grafting them on is also a possibility but again it requires money/power/influence. Which common Guardsmen simply don't have and seeing how many of them there are, a quick cheap fix is seen as the best approach.

Spoiler

I believe there is a throwaway line in the book about Verunhive where someone does indeed mention that returning people's hearing is expensive and complicated.

I do find it a bit thin that a deaf soldier is allowed on the front line. They'd be a liability in a host of situations.

Regarding injuries it's also impressive how often people get seriously injured and are back to mostly normal in a matter of months. Like, Rawne gets gut shot and loses the use of his legs and is able to walk with difficulty the next week and 4 months later there's no signs of the damage.

They're must have some awesome stem cell treatment in the Guard.

[Macros]

The grinder always needs more meat

[amphibian]

I'm deaf. We're not as useless as you might think in squad combat, especially in an era where silent communication is prioritized and urban warfare is the norm.

[Aptorian]

You'd certainly know more about the handicap than me but I would still find it a problem that you can't pinpoint where shooting is coming from, people sneaking in the dark, what's happening around a corner before you poke your head around, you can't give or receive instructions without line of sight, etc.

If there is technology available for these future soldiers, I'd assume it was demanded of them.

[Garak]

Generally not considered worth the time and money. There is a popular saying that goes "the most of abundant resource the Imperium has is manpower" and by the Golden Throne do they ever abuse that saying and taking it up to eleven. Those soldiers can see and shoot, that's basically as much as the Munitorum gives a damn. In regards to the Tanith regiment, if I recall a lot of those deaf troopers are among the snipers, so they can rely on their spotters acting as their ears. Is it perfect? No but it works and it's still more sane than what other regiments practice (with the Death Korps of Krieg taking the cake - as if that name isn't already a giant warning that they are nuts).

Also recall the Munitorum left Kolea to serve in the Guard after Phantine. Meat for grinder is all they care about.

This post has been edited by Garak: 14 March 2021 - 08:16 PM

[Garak]

What is confusing? If it's what I think it is then read on, all will be made clear.

[T77]

 Briar King, on 14 March 2021 - 01:57 AM, said:

Come on T77 3 of us are on Sabbat Martyr and you ain’t updated us in quite awhile now.

I know, I'm slacking. There's no way I can keep up with you guys. Most of my reading is done with audiobooks, and they are only up to 5, which I will get to soon. My evening reading gets split up with comics, non-fiction and fiction, with the occasional strategy game.

[Garak]

Only read if you finished the series. SERIOUSLY!!!!

Spoiler

I'm laughing and biting my tongue so hard right now. Emperor give me strength.

Now regarding what you posted BK:

Spoiler

Just keep in mind that not everything labeled a healing pool or whatever actually does anything. Like today's religions, the Ecclesiarchy labels all sort of things as holy or whatnot but they don't necessarily channel any power. Living Saints, which are super rare, do however channel a tiny fraction of power from the Emperor. It's still warp power of course.

Not gonna comment the other thing. Read and find out.

Oh and the rebels Gaunt fought on Darendara. As you can imagine, the Imperium takes a dim view of anyone wanting to go their own way. To be fair to the Imperium, which is nuts, planets that go on their own can't really survive the various horrors of the setting. So they either die or join a foreign power. That could be Chaos .... which is heresy. Or it could be certain alien powers like the Tau Empire out in the Eastern Fringe. Joining aliens is viewed as race treason and race traitors are hated more than heretics. Let's just say Jake Sully of Avatar would experience interesting horrors if he lived in 40k and the Imperium got him.

[Garak]

Oh yeah, stuff is going to be fiery.

[Aptorian]

I've got a bigger question for the universe.

What is the actual goal of the people serving Chaos? Just conquering worlds and worshipping the Chaos gods? Abnett is just beginning to touch on the subject in Traitor General but most of the interactions with Chaos seems like it's just crazy people being evil for the sake of being evil.

Also, what does it actually take to summon a demon? You'd think the servants of chaos would just be summoning all the demons, all the time - but you rarely see or hear of demon activity in the worlds the Ghosts are active on. Are the demons shy?

[Garak]

Daemon summoning? Ritual and sacrifice, possession of psykers also works. They won't come without that and they need it to keep their bodies in the material world (they weaken over time unless they can keep being fed since they are made up of warp energy and solidified emotion) the stronger the deamon the bigger the required sacrifice (a battle can be a sacrifice if it's arranged properly). Now, if the area is already warp corrupted and has warp rifts then they can show up of their own volition. Daemons have very simple desires when in the material world - kill stuff, eat souls, corrupt stuff. Leaving aside the leaders of the Chaos forces here, mortals are rarely nuts enough to summon daemons nor do they really know how. Chaos marines, the Word Bearers especially, are the ones who go around with deamon summoning. There's also the fact that deamons give no fucks, anyone not a deamon is meat to them. The Word Bearers tend to think of them as allies and there are various loonies who treat deamons as "people" but they are not to be trusted. Also say goodbye to ordered battle plans if you involve them.

Regarding goals. Short answer is everything under the sun. Long answer is it differs from group to group. Some of them want to destroy everything, others want to convert humanity to Chaos Worship thinking that's salvation, others just try to survive, others want to bring down the Imperium and don't care about what comes after. And that's before we introduce the forces that serve one particular god or another (with Tzeentch aligned forces then adding more chaos, because the Changer of Ways has a bajillion schemes going on at the same time with plenty of them contradicting each other and screwing his own forces and as long as stuff keeps happening, Tzeentch is pleased). The Chaos forces in the Sabbat Worlds are from the Sanguinary Worlds and all evidence points to them being aligned with Khorne, the Blood God. War for it's own sake is usually what Khornate forces go for. To quote Khorne's greatest champion "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!" The Blood Pact and others seen here are actually very sane for Khornate troops.

This post has been edited by Garak: 17 March 2021 - 11:27 AM

[amphibian]

There are 5 Chaos Gods and the way being a Chaos God works is by accumulation of power into some minimum (yet high) amount that snaps the entities into having immense power in their specific domain.

Khorne is the most powerful and covers murder + slaughter + fighting. Doing that feeds Khorne and in the WH40K world, there's a lot of that. Tzeentch is about changing physically, emotionally, and mentally - so mutations, betrayal etc all are feeding Tzeentch. Slaanesh is about evil bacchanalia and decadence - reveling in the pleasures especially in an evil way. Lots of Slaanesh cultists are among the elves and rich humans. Nurgle is about corruption, decay, and plague - so disease and zombification feeds Nurgle. Malice is a sometimes appearing Chaos God that seems to thrive off everyone fighting internally.

The Chaos Gods seek to have their domains rule as much of sentient life and to rule other demons, who attempt to balance their own ambitions and serving Gods.

The demons mostly pop up when the Warp is involved because they mostly live in another dimension and are able to come through where the division between the dimensions are weak. So if the world isn't connected much to the Warp and there's no strong psykers around, there won't be that many demons if any.

[Garak]

The names of the Chaos Gods are basically a brown note for anyone hearing it. They are also not widely know since that is Heresy. Standard Imperium procedure regarding troops who end up fighting daemons is mind wipe (if important like Astartes) or bullet to the head. Because knowledge about daemons can give said daemons power or corrupt the one who knows to Chaos.

[champ]

I've not read any of the Warhammer books but I am interested in the lore, there is a Youtube channel that I like to listen to whilst falling asleep with some great lore/history videos re Warhammer.

https://www.youtube....sMgNspTI-GTFenQ

If you haven't already, you guys should check it out.

This post has been edited by champ: 17 March 2021 - 03:15 PM