Before The Heresy?!

[xbenblasterx]

I recently picked up the first Horus Heresy book 'Betrayal' from Forge World and apart from the production values of the book itself being simply fantastic, its possibly the nicest book I own seriously! I've been enjoying reading up on the 40k lore pre-heresy and was wondering if you guys think its likely we'd see a Black Library novel set during a period before the events of the Horus Heresy, personally I'd love the chance to read about the emperors conquest of Terra.

Is there anything such as this rumoured to be in development? What pre-heresy period in particular would you enjoy reading about?

[BrianDavion]

Many of the horus heresy novels stasrt before the heresy takes place, and many of the first phase, so to speak, built up to the start of it.

[Cpt Codpiece]

the word bearers novels 1st herestic and aurelian (one is a limited ed, but should be easy to find if you have any google-fu).

those are probably the longest back pre heresy you will find, and a damn fine brace of books they are.... i actually recommend them to be read after the opening trilogy... almost hand in hand with fulgrim and them mechanicum (the latter is a HUGE book it is a great story though and is quite a hard read at times). there is also a section in outcast dead which deals with the reclamation of Terra and the thunder warriors (mk 1 marines).

i doubt we will get much more past that, unless we get another malcador book (the sigillite is a great audio drama, bugger all to do with the heresy really but great for its depiction of Terra and the revelations it holds), but who knows maybe we will get a lost and damned book covering the two empty primarch plinths..... and pigs may fly, rocking horses may poop, chickens evolve teeth and GW may release a good CSM kit :)

[Charistoph]

There are a couple of eras that are pre-Heresy that could be explored by the Black Library.

One is the War of Heaven between the Old Ones and the Necrontyr/Necrons.

The Fall of the Eldar is also another approach that could be looked at. The characters responsible for the Exodus and the deployment of the Craftworlds. Add on the creation of the Aspects and how the Phoenix Lords came to be, and we have some good space elf approaches.

There is also the Wars of Unification that the Emperor first fought to gain control of the Sol system and its surrounds.

[Bigred]

I am desperate for one solid book on the Unification Wars, with a giant pullout map of Terra, and details of the Emperor's Thunder Warrior regiments, key enemy empires and the campaign to conquer the globe.

[Charistoph]

Don't forget, the Unification Wars started a while before Earth was ever engaged.

[Arkhan Land]

I am desperate for one solid book on the Unification Wars, with a giant pullout map of Terra, and details of the Emperor's Thunder Warrior regiments, key enemy empires and the campaign to conquer the globe.

careful what you wish for, un-augmented toughness 3 humans in unpowered carapace armour...

[Patrick Boyle]

careful what you wish for, un-augmented toughness 3 humans in unpowered carapace armour...

Huh? It was my understanding, gear aside, that Thunder Warriors were actually tougher, better fighters than Marines. That Marines were created to be more 'balanced', capable of leadership and whatnot, as the Thunder Warriors by design were also much more vicious and combat oriented.

[mathhammer]

Huh? It was my understanding, gear aside, that Thunder Warriors were actually tougher, better fighters than Marines. That Marines were created to be more 'balanced', capable of leadership and whatnot, as the Thunder Warriors by design were also much more vicious and combat oriented.

Yep, in fact 1 thunder warrior should be able to kill 5 to 10 space marines.

[Arkhan Land]

well son of wych!

[Popsical]

It would appear that the thunder warriors were subject to burn out due to the proto type nature of their manipulations by the emperor.
This meant staggering strength and toughness and speed, but at the cost of long term sanity and stability and health.
The marines are refined to allow near imortality and stability and sanity, but at the same time reducing their physical power.
Balance is the byproduct of the marine project.

[Bigred]

Yup, I want a single volume "prequel" to the HH hardcovers from Forgeworld that covers the Unification War. Just think of all the color plates, kind of a mishmash of IG regiments for all of the Terran warlords vs the various ThunderWarrior regiments.

Forgeworld Thunderwarrior kits, early vehicles like Malcadors, proto-dreadnoughts, Albion Ironsides, Byzant Janizars, Lucifer Blacks, Merica, Pan-Oceana, all kinds of funky stuff.

It would be amazing!

[Popsical]

Big red youve hit the nail on the head dude. Thats the only thing that would get me to buy another army.
Damn that would rock

[Arkhan Land]

not to mention stormhawks and argo drop ships whatever it is that they actually look like...

[YorkNecromancer]

I always assumed that the Dark Age of Technology was basically Star Trek, and that the forerunner to the Imperium was The Federation. That all the Trek races had basically been exterminated by the 40K ones, most notably the Astartes when the Emperor reunified the Galaxy.

(Geek Confession: I ran a Dark Heresy game based on this premise; a Capitol ship's Servitors had gone rogue and were taking over the millenia-old ship. The twist was that the ship had been built around the frame of the Enterprise, and the Servitors weren't rogue at all; they had simply had their pre-lobotomy personalities restored by a secret AI simulation of Jean-Luc Picard who had been awakened by an Explorator team conducting archaeological excavations at the centre of the ship. They had unearthed the old ship's holosuite, accidentally activated the Picard programme, who was disgusted at the horror of the Imperium, neutralised the team, and set about doing his best to "de-assimilate" (as he saw it) the 'Borg' on the ship. He couldn't remove their implants, but he could restore a modicum of their humanity (and of course, 90% of them were innocent of the 'crimes' they were accused of, so if the players wanted to kill them, they had to do so in full knowledge that they were doing something deeply immoral), and they had formed a rebellion to retake the ship.

None of the players saw that twist coming. Needless to say, blowing up the old holosuite returned the Servitors to their tragic, post-lobotomy state.)

[Renegade]

Well, I hope they go no further back than to the reunification wars and that people are still calling for GW to push the dates for 40K forward when I am 50.

[Bob821]

Well, I hope they go no further back than to the reunification wars and that people are still calling for GW to push the dates for 40K forward when I am 50.

Push foreward not back!

[Charistoph]

Well, I hope they go no further back than to the reunification wars and that people are still calling for GW to push the dates for 40K forward when I am 50.

I don't mind if the Black Library does, but like I said earlier, only for the War in Heaven (Old Ones vs Necron(tyr)) and the Fall of Eldar. Human involvement in such things was minimal, if anything, so I can see them not doing it.

[Wolfshade]

Well, I hope they go no further back than to the reunification wars and that people are still calling for GW to push the dates for 40K forward when I am 50.

Of course once FW's 30k has run dry, it will be in time for FW to release Warhammer 50k with some suitable tag line, "Beyond the Golden Throne", or "After The Astronomicon" or some such...

[AnEnemy]

I would love a Unification Wars book, but it'd be more Human vs Human combat. Xenos players already piss their pants whenever FW releases a HH model or book.

I'd prefer the Great Crusade to be honest. Go to new and exciting places. Meet fascinating people. Then purify them.

The Great Crusade allows for just about anything to be possible.