It looks like Forge World are going to be doing several Imperial Armour books based on the Horus Heresy. Does anyone else feel that the Heresy is being flogged to death by Games Workshop? Quite frankly I don't see love that people seem to have for it.
The Heresy novel series has been running for about four years now and still we haven't got very far in the overall story. I fear that it'll be ten more years, give or take, before it wraps up. That is far too much. A dozen books should have covered it. In other words it should be done by now.
The game is set at the end of the 41st millennium, not ten thousand years ago. The Heresy is part of the background fluff and IMO it should remain there. Let's focus on the here and now please.
The Heresy is one of those things people either love in their games or not. The draw is mainly the different asethic style the armies have (which I personally love), whilst back-ground wise the Great Crusade represents a more hopefully, optimistic time, before the constant doom and gloom of the 40k setting, which can start to grate after a while, while also seeing the start of a lot of storylines that affect the 'modern' 40k setting
ReplyDeleteBusiness-wise, GW would be fools not to do pre-heresy. It's hugely popular and many companies are producing pre-heresy parts for GW models, cleverly skirting round the issue of IP infringment with part-naming shenanigans. There's countless 'Primarch' models out there too. By making their own line then GW can try and claw back those who turn elsewhere for these parts and models and with the books as popular as they are, it's going to be a top-seller.
Btw your point about the book, doing in a dozen books is silly, as that would be less than a book per legion, without even factoring in major events. I quite like how they're doing. Granted there's a couple of naff or filler books (Battle for the Abyss, Descent of Angels, Nemesis) but it's doing a good job on the whole.
Most legions are being fleshed out nicely, although I wish they'd actually show the White Scars some love. I think we've got 4, maybe 5 years left before they finish the main part of the series up. They're at Signus Prime already, the result of which is that the Blood Angels make it back to Terra in time to defend it, something Horus never anticipated, which is the perfect hook to propel the action towards the Siege of Terra. It may have dragged on a little, but it's essentially a sandbox for authors to base stories in. There's loads of stories and events they can write about and slot into the timeline, even after the series wraps up. That's the beauty of the heresy era setting - it's a new world to explore.
I prefer the current time line. I have to agree with something Matt said over on FB, that it was better when the HH was a part of the mysterous past and you imagined it as a time of larger than life heroes and villains. The modern grimdark is far more appealing. At least to me.
ReplyDeleteI don't think GW need to do the HH as part of it's model line. The different armours are cool, but do we need the Primarchs stated up or the vehicles from that era? I don't think so.
We are currently at 20 books (not going the audios or novellas) in the HH series and it has taken 4 or 5 years to get that far. It's too much. You don't need a book for each chapter, just cover the important points.
The mystery of the Horus Heresy was appealing, yes, but there was always the majority of people who wanted more info, so GW and BL catered to it.
ReplyDeleteMany of the vehicles they've written to be from that era are classic 40k vehicle or imports from epic that many 40k players have fond memories of so yesh, there is a demand for it from those with fond memories of that era.
As for Primarchs, I've got a feeling they're going to be monstrously powerful and apocalypse only. Do we need them? No, but they'll make for cool models and people have been making homebrew rules for the Primarchs for years, so there's obviously a demand for them too.
I know you're not a heresy fan, but I'm a Pre-Heresy fan myself, I'm not complaining about any of this. It's just going to be a different way to play 40k and keep the game fresh, which can only be a good thing, whether you're a fan of it or not.
Back to the books: The problem if you just had a book per major event, it's not going to feel fleshed out enough. In books set in the current timeline, having one book cover a major event works, as you know all the background supporting the various factions involved. In 30k the factions are coming from very different places, so need more novels to cover them. I have a feeling they're about to speed up the progression of the story, having laid the groundwork for the setting and characters very well.
I mentioned Signus Prime, which is the next HH book. The next major event after Signus Prime is the opening of the Siege of Terra. Other storylines are starting to be resolved. The stage is being set for a resolution sooner rather than later. They may have dawdled along the way but the timeline books is definitely speeding up. There's been some truely epic books along the way as well, which is really what it's all about, rather than speed through it all
I don't mind the HH fans being catered for but at the moment it seems like too much at once.
Deletealso, they should of made it a different game system anyway, because if they do make the Primarchs, it would be interesting them fighting against current heros, as some wouldnt of been around at the same time as each other! Mixing two story lines into one game wont work!
ReplyDelete