Let's Read the Horus Heresy 31: Praetorian of Dorn

The ghost image collapsed into smoke.

 - The Horus Heresy: Praetorian of Dorn, John French

This one's available in print, for some reason. Even though this project has taught me to appreciate ebooks, it's still nice to read an actual, physical book and not stare at a screen all the time.

We're back with the Alpha Legion, which is excellent, and with the Imperial Fists, which is not. The plot of Praetorian of Dorn is a ludicrously overcomplicated scheme by the Alpha Legion to attack Terra, but where Legion was 'Allo, 'Allo 40,000, this is a technothriller.

The book is not without its weaknesses. Clearly, in a story like this, the loyalists kinda do have to be Imperial Fists, but they and Dorn are just so, well, boring. Rogal Dorn doesn't come across as quite such a repulsive, violent bully as he's been in some of the previous installments, but he's just dull, as are all of his legionnaires. There's also a largely pointless interlude around the middle of the book that's more or less the battle of Helm's Deep, but with Imperial Fists.

For the most part, this is absolutely silly and quite enjoyable, and in that a worthy successor to Legion. It's actually better than Legion in that there's no sexism or other macho bullshit, apart from Dorn's buffoonery. But it's very badly let down by the ending, which feels rushed and unsatisfactory. I think I'm going to choose to believe that the events of the last three chapters are after-the-fact Imperial propaganda with only a tenuous relationship to reality.

Honestly, before the ending, I was going to recommend this, but it's actually so bad this doesn't make my "do read" list. So be advised.

Epic: Ruin of the Salamanders

The Ruin of the Salamanders supplement for Legions Imperialis is here, and I'm delighted to report that my wish has been granted, and we now have an Astartes super-heavy formation and some new very large tiny tanks.

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First off, though, let me note a disappointment: the Falchion. In its 28mm incarnation, it had a twin volcano cannon, which is spectacularly silly. However, Legions has now downgraded it to a neutron laser that's almost exactly the same as the one on the Cerberus. I just think that's really boring. I was hoping for a Space Marine version of the Shadowsword, with at least some kind of Engine Killer weapon. I already have a pair of Cerberuses so I don't see the point.

Right now, the only Engine Killer weapon in the entire Marine list is the siege melta array on the Mastodon, and that's just bizarre. I thought for sure that would have been the Falchion's niche.

I did, however, get a box of Fellblades, and with the Demolisher cannon and everything, it's definitely a Space Marine Baneblade.

These were fun to build. I did a little converting and made pintle-mounted bolters with closed hatches for both of them.

The Fellblades can form a Super-Heavy Spearhead with my Cerberuses and Kratices, which I definitely have to try in my next game.

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As if all these super-heavies weren't silly enough, Shaun was kind enough to give me the gift of true stupidity this holiday season: two Mastodons. They remind me of the GI Joe mobile command center, one of which I remember we found at a flea market when I was a kid, and I got my parents to buy.

They were quite straightforward to build, if heavy flamer sponsons in three parts each do make me wonder: why?

They're ludicrously massive though, I love them.

I painted one for my Word Bearers. No idea what to use it for, but it is gloriously silly.

I took a picture with some other models for scale, just so you can fully appreciate the stupidity.

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Speaking of models that look like they're straight out of GI Joe, when I saw the profile of the Storm Hammer Auxilia super-heavy, I knew I needed to get some.

I loved the original Storm Hammer, a slab-sided, twin-turreted beast of a super-heavy. What they seem to have done with it is relegated one of the turrets to one of those casemate-like structures that the Horus Heresy era designers are so inexplicably fond of, and then given the design to a child and told them to draw more guns on it. If the Mastodon looks like something out of GI Joe, the Storm Hammer is even more so. And I love it.

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All this 8mm stuff has been fun, but I've also been thinking about what to do with my small collection of 6mm scale miniatures, mostly from Epic 40,000 and Epic: Armageddon. A while ago, I picked up some Battletech miniatures, and painted them in the colors of the Magistracy of Canopus. So it did occur to me to paint my 6mm stuff for Battletech as well.

At the end of last year, however, I was persuaded to look into NetEpic, which is basically a fan-made version of good old second edition Space Marine. I was delighted by it, and unless I'm entirely mistaken, my 6mm collection should build a Chaos Marine army with Imperial Guard allies.

I mention this now because it goes with the superheavy theme: I have what I believe is an Epic Armageddon-era Baneblade. I'd started painting it, but some Finnish generic brand over cleaner helped me strip the paint off.

This is the first time I've properly repainted an old miniature like this. And here's how it ended up:

We'll see if this is the beginning of something.

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It's been a lot of fun building and painting big little tanks. The Legions Imperialis models continue to be superb quality and a lot of fun to put together. I hope we get more super-heavies; there's a Capitol Imperialis in one of the Horus Heresy novel anthologies, so I certainly expect a model of one!

Let's Read the Horus Heresy 30: The Path of Heaven

A thousand years might pass and it would never lose its fascination.

 - The Horus Heresy: The Path of Heaven, Chris Wraight

It's the White Scars again! Cue up the Hu.

The Path of Heaven picks up where Scars left off, with the White Scars trying to evade Horus's legions and make it back to Terra. As they're surrounded and pursued by the Death Guard and the Emperor's Children, they go looking for an alternate path back to Terra, and things get interesting.

I think this is actually better than Scars, and goes firmly on my "do read" list. I still like the characters; despite the whole space Mongolian stereotype, Wraight makes the White Scars interesting and at least a little three-dimensional. They're the best loyalists out there by far. Jagathai Khan seems to have the unique distinction of being a loyalist Primarch who isn't a violent, stupid bully. When we've been brutalized with so many tedious and banal Primarch inner monologues, at least the Khagan stays a little aloof and superhuman.

I also like that the plot is proper space opera, with the Navigator houses thrown in for some proper Imperial plotting. I think this got to me because I read the novel while recovering from a slightly arduous trip abroad, but I really appreciate how Wraight conveys that the Horus Heresy is a massive, endless slog through a huge galaxy, and how incredibly tired everyone from Horus himself down is.

So here we are: the White Scars have been one of the great pleasant surprises of this reading project.