Forge World lets the cat out of the bag

They've confirmed they're working on a series of Horus Heresy books, in the style of Imperial Armour. The first will be out in the Autumn.

Epic degrees of YES.

Given how well they took the scene with Badab and made it into a much more rounded and intense story other than "Turn traitor got killed blah" I am seriously eager to see what they're planning here.

Same goes for how much they'll go by the novels.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L2yt7IS0OY&feature=plcp

Book 1, Betrayal, will be out at Games Day. Otherwise we'll be waiting until October.

Only just read this topic, and as someone who is coming somewhat fresh in the whole W40k universe (despite reading all the Horus Heresy books available) what do you mean in the style of Imperial Armour. Also, what would this book cover history wise given the series kinda jumps back in forth in time.

Basically, the Imperial Armour books are a series released by Forge World, who are sort of a peripheral (but official) section of Games Workshop whos sole purpose is "make cool shit, no matter how impractical or expensive."

And no, I'm not kidding with that. That is actually their real reason for being.

They design a lot of models of things you wouldn't normally see in the game, but expand the games background and fill gaps. So you see things like cargo loaders, transport planes, etc, as well as huge models like Titans and super heavy tanks. But they also occasionally do these compilation books where they pick a conflict and expand the background on it MASSIVELY. Like, down to extreme detail. They make huge hardback books filled with amazing artwork, novels worth of background information and loads of new rules for the forces involved that GW doesn't usually specialise in.

These are often more standard line, with new infantry models, characters and tank varients usually. So think of them as expansion packs to 40K in a way, just ultra high quality expansion packs that bump the graphics on the new units too, because Forge World models are amazing.

This book I think will just be set around the time of the Horus Heresy (so long before the current events like in the games). I think they're specialising just to that alone, although I'd imagine the armies will be available to battle newer armies in balance too. Forge World are much better at balancing than GW are.

I call this mostly on Matt [censored] Ward not being involved. :P

This post has been edited by Retrogamer! on Aug 22 2012, 11:20 PM

Ahh, so they fill in the gaps and background details in both model and written form and create stuff to be awesome.

I can get behind that.

Yeah, the idea with Forge World in general is to basically make bigger and fancier, or just more niche stuff, that core GW wouldn't consider profitable enough to sell in stores. Basically letting the fanboys run wild with resin. They make the crazier shit like regular scale Titans, and other setpiece type things.

The Imperial Armour books, for the most part, are partially sourcebooks for 40k (new units, campaigns, occasionally whole new army lists), but also background books. The ones based around specific campaigns or battles are usually stuffed with background, maps, force dispositions, colour plates of notable units or squads. Their background tends to be a little more grounded than the usual 40k output, too.

They've been putting out Honestly Not Horus Heresy stuff since they released the Badab War books. They're pricey, but I really get a sense of value from them.

All the way up to the WH40K scale Manta, which is the biggest (wingspan of nearly a meter) and heaviest (getting on for 13KG) model they make.

It is in the "more money than sense" realm though; getting one will set you back £960.

The Manta is huge. You can use it as a battlefield. And a hanglider.

FELLBLADES

JETBIKES

CATAPHRACTII TERMINATORS

Oh, and

.

The plot thickens.

And the slightly bizarre result of cross-breeding a Land Raider and a Vindicator.

Well, I'll be braving the crowds at Gamesday to see if I can snag a copy of the first Horus Heresy book.

Oh, and FW also announced this.

Yeah, yeah...
Night Haunter. NOW.

Yeah, yeah...
Night Haunter. NOW.

I concur.

Entirely possible. Book Two involves Iron Hands, Salamanders, Word Bearers, Night Lords, and the Mechanicum. It was introduced via images of Cataphractii Terminators for Iron Hands and Night Lords.

Also, turns out, I did manage to snag a copy. I will eventually stop stroking it lovingly and actually read it.

So, initial thoughts.

The Primarchs will fuck your shit up. But they're not simply a row of gratuitous tens. They're hard, and you pay the premium for it (They cost, on average, as much as a super-heavy tank). But it's not insane. You could bring one down. Even Horus could be laid low if you set out to do so.

The army list isn't that bad, either. The most interesting part, for me, is that the Horus Heresy FOC includes a new section called "Lords of War". Just one choice, and it cannot be more than a quarter of the cost of the army. This includes super-heavy vehicles of all stripes, and the Primarchs. Sadly, the Fellblade is just out of reach of a 2000 point game (Being a gnat's whisker over the line).

Also, Mechanicum support. Not much, but it's a start.

And the fluff is great. I'd be tempted to run a War Hound army, but odds are I'd settle for Lunar Wolves. Though eventually we'll get Alpha Legion. And it will be wonderful.

So, background-wise...

The Emperor, after doing the heavy lifting with the Thunder Warriors (who were confirmed to be incredibly unstable - And since they were replaced by, amongst others, the World Eaters, that's pretty fucking unstable. They're also shown to be far tougher, with it needing 4 of the War Hounds, as the World Eaters were originally known, to kill just one of them. In hand to hand.) created twenty regiments of Legiones Astartes. They were only referred to by numerical designation (So I legion, II Legion, etcetera) and had grey power armour. Some earned names and colour schemes through acts of valour, such as the Luna Wolves and the War Hounds (Whose symbol makes me wonder if anyone from Forge World reads EN).

The Unification and Solar-era campaigns of the Great Crusade are pretty awesome. Though there is a pre-Heresy campaign the World Eaters undertook to aid a long-lost Mechanicum splinter-cult. Their foes? The Brotherhood of Ruin, an abhuman league that made use of drill-tanks, manufactory-ships, and used Ork mercenaries. Given that the region is more-or-less right next to the Maelstrom, Chaos Squats, anyone?