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Warhammer Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader - turn-based Warhammer 40k RPG from Owlcat Games - now with Void Shadows DLC

Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
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Grand Chien
I dare you to read Legion, Know No Fear and Prospero Burns and then tell me with a straight face that they are 'unreadable'. Fucking laughable.
 

thesecret1

Arcane
Joined
Jun 30, 2019
Messages
6,705
I read quite a few 40k books back in the day. Gaunt's Ghosts is indeed one of the more expansive series that introduces a lot of lore to the reader, just bear in mind that it's fairly poor quality where the whole main cast has massive plot armor that gets put in use constantly, to the point of silly shit like winning a 1v1 sword duel against a fucking chaos space marine and similar shit.

Space Wolves novels may actually be a better starting point since the MC starts off as some medieval savage that knows fuck all about the universe, and then is gradually introduced to it. They're also better written, IMO.

Ciaphas Cain novels are likewise pretty good and feature a lot of world building, and are written in a humorous tone rather than super serious grimdark, which may be a plus or a minus depending on your preferences.

Last Chancers also come to mind as having pretty good grimdark tone if you want that, though I don't think they do all that much world building.
 

Fedora Master

STOP POSTING
Patron
Edgy
Joined
Jun 28, 2017
Messages
31,846
Gaunts Ghosts while good is just fairly standard mil-fic and it gets retarded and woke by the end.

The Infinite and the Divine is a great example of a 40K story, precisely because it doesn't revolve around humans.
 

Israfael

Arcane
Joined
Sep 21, 2012
Messages
3,791
I dare you to read Legion, Know No Fear and Prospero Burns and then tell me with a straight face that they are 'unreadable'. Fucking laughable.
Those aren't the best read, Legion in particular (it appeared to me to style itself after some sort of "Creatures of Dark and Light" Zelazny novel, but executed that notion in a middling fashion). I much more enjoyed all the 40k and heresy books by Guy Haley and Chris Wraight, also the Dark Angels primaris novel was an entertaining read (lots of redditors hated it as it blemishes their views of what Dark Angels are (which is the typical three letter agency operatives with their particular mindset))
 

Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
10,449
Location
Grand Chien
I dare you to read Legion, Know No Fear and Prospero Burns and then tell me with a straight face that they are 'unreadable'. Fucking laughable.
Those aren't the best read, Legion in particular (it appeared to me to style itself after some sort of "Creatures of Dark and Light" Zelazny novel, but executed that notion in a middling fashion). I much more enjoyed all the 40k and heresy books by Guy Haley and Chris Wraight, also the Dark Angels primaris novel was an entertaining read (lots of redditors hated it as it blemishes their views of what Dark Angels are (which is the typical three letter agency operatives with their particular mindset))
I liked Scars, but the stakes in that book weren't as high in my opinion. I haven't got to Warhawk yet. I have a bunch of books by Haley coming up. I wanted to read Konrad Curze but it's hard to find. I don't find the Dark Angels particularly interesting tbh.

I thought Legion was fascinating, if a bit of a slow burn. I think that's Dan Abnett's style generally with a lot of his HH books. I certainly wouldn't call it middling, but everyone's tastes are different after all. I'm simply against the idea that they are unreadable, that's ridiculous. Know No Fear in particular is excellent, and widely regarded as such.
 
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
2,602
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming!
I dare you to read Legion, Know No Fear and Prospero Burns and then tell me with a straight face that they are 'unreadable'. Fucking laughable.
Those aren't the best read, Legion in particular (it appeared to me to style itself after some sort of "Creatures of Dark and Light" Zelazny novel, but executed that notion in a middling fashion). I much more enjoyed all the 40k and heresy books by Guy Haley and Chris Wraight, also the Dark Angels primaris novel was an entertaining read (lots of redditors hated it as it blemishes their views of what Dark Angels are (which is the typical three letter agency operatives with their particular mindset))
I liked Scars, but the stakes in that book weren't as high in my opinion. I haven't got to Warhawk yet. I have a bunch of books by Haley coming up. I wanted to read Konrad Curze but it's hard to find. I don't find the Dark Angels particularly interesting tbh.

I thought Legion was fascinating, if a bit of a slow burn. I think that's Dan Abnett's style generally with a lot of his HH books. I certainly wouldn't call it middling, but everyone's tastes are different after all. I'm simply against the idea that they are unreadable, that's ridiculous. Know No Fear in particular is excellent, and widely regarded as such.

TBH fam, Legion is literally the only 40K book I put down (maybe like 10 years ago or so, really a long time) and didnt come back to it yet - and I absolutely love p. much everything that Dan Abnett writes otherwise. Anyway, I plan to give it a go again at some point, though my 40K backlog is pretty long as it is.

Anyway, recently I read:

Outgunned - was p. wary of it at the start since it looked like it had a forced stronk female protagonist, but actually ended up thinking it was OK. One of the relatively few books focused on Aeronautica Imperialis, plus it actually shows stormtroopers/Tempestus Scions in pretty positive light, which is also rather rare take and the one I certainly like as a huge stormtrooper enjoyer.

King of the Spoil - one of the 40K detective books set on the Serb/Croat/Czech hive world. P. decent read, I liked the main characters a lot, the central conspiracy that the book deals with was interesting and I sure hope to see a sequel at some point. Some of the slav names in the book are fairly ridiculous (in a good way) as a bonus, there is a character called Sileny Fiala (ie Šílený Fiala in Czech, which appears to be a dig at the current Prime Minister, I find it hard to believe that this is a coincidence even though the author is supposed to be a britbong).

Incarnation - the second book in the Horusian Wars series and a real banger, just like the first one (Resurection), John French might be on the way to some Eisenhorn/Ravenor tier greatness here, trully a great Inquisition focussed book.
 

Axel_am

Exploring and Enjoying
Patron
Joined
Jul 23, 2023
Messages
730
Location
Buckkeep
Codex+ Now Streaming!
I've read only Fire Caste from the Warhammer books. I've read people say this isn't the typical Warhammer book, but it's self contained and I think it captures the chaotic nature of Warhammer rather well. People dying left and right, the void making people go crazy, insane battles with over the top moments, soldiers tormented by their past, fragile alliances that come with the constant threat that somebody is going to get shot in the back of his head by his so called allies and some pretty cool and memorable characters.

Back then I didn't fully understand what I was reading as everything was so chaoting but now that I have more context about the Warhammer universe I think it captures the whole feeling of 40k pretty damn well.

I have the Grey Knights Omnibus, First and Only and Void King in my library currently. I've started reading Void King which is about a Rogue Trader that has to take up the mantle after his father is assassinated but dropped it halfway. I might get back to it someday but it's for sure something very different compared to Fire Caste.
 

Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
10,449
Location
Grand Chien
TBH fam, Legion is literally the only 40K book I put down (maybe like 10 years ago or so, really a long time) and didnt come back to it yet - and I absolutely love p. much everything that Dan Abnett writes otherwise. Anyway, I plan to give it a go again at some point, though my 40K backlog is pretty long as it is.
So it's a weird one, I listened to it on audiobook and for the first, I dunno hour maybe, I was totally turned off, like what the fuck is this even a Horus Heresy book? But once I took another crack at it and let Dan cook a bit, it started to develop a bit of momentum and by the end I was really impressed by it. The Alpha Legion are a real odd bunch compared to the other legions, traitor or otherwise, but in the end I found it quite refreshing.
 

Yosharian

Arcane
Joined
May 28, 2018
Messages
10,449
Location
Grand Chien
Outgunned - was p. wary of it at the start since it looked like it had a forced stronk female protagonist, but actually ended up thinking it was OK. One of the relatively few books focused on Aeronautica Imperialis, plus it actually shows stormtroopers/Tempestus Scions in pretty positive light, which is also rather rare take and the one I certainly like as a huge stormtrooper enjoyer.
Ooh this looks neat. Gonna pick it up.

Fire Caste is on pbay, awesome
 

Desiderius

Found your egg, Robinett, you sneaky bastard
Patron
Joined
Jul 22, 2019
Messages
14,849
Insert Title Here Pathfinder: Wrath
I've since been told this and gone on a Pathfinder odyssey, playing Kingmaker in TB mode as long as I could. You can really tell the encounter design was built with RTWP in mind. Been brutally burned by Kingmaker so many times that I still haven't found the strength to give WOTR a proper try.
Wotr is better enjoyed using both modes. Harder fights you play on Turn based, fooder you play on RtwP. But honestly, if you didn't vibe with Kingmaker, Wrath is just that turn up to 11 with all the mythic powers.

Personally, i find harder to play WoTR/Kingmaker after playing Rogue Trader. Even if i preffer the building mechanics of Pathfinder, not having to deal with enemies with 56 AC at level 13 is refresing..

fuck everyone involved with Blackwater

No reason to do Blackwater at 13 and if you can’t beat 56AC at that level why are you playing Unfair in the first place? Not like the mobs there are especially dangerous if you don’t kill them right away and the Regen can be turned off with any source of Shock or Adamantine.

They even give you Wand of Call Lightning and Bracers that maje all damage Shock (and give a spontaneous caster Shock spells).
 

Jermu

Arbiter
Patron
Joined
Aug 13, 2017
Messages
1,644
blackwater has been nerfed at least once after release I felt it was pretty easy now compared to my first playthrough struggle

think enemies had higher ac, immunity to lightning too? with my last playthrough I found wintersun area significantly harder

have not played rogue trader for a while I should check if I can still kill final boss in 1 turn/round with cassia and the gang
 

Dishonoredbr

Erudite
Joined
Jun 13, 2019
Messages
2,442
I've since been told this and gone on a Pathfinder odyssey, playing Kingmaker in TB mode as long as I could. You can really tell the encounter design was built with RTWP in mind. Been brutally burned by Kingmaker so many times that I still haven't found the strength to give WOTR a proper try.
Wotr is better enjoyed using both modes. Harder fights you play on Turn based, fooder you play on RtwP. But honestly, if you didn't vibe with Kingmaker, Wrath is just that turn up to 11 with all the mythic powers.

Personally, i find harder to play WoTR/Kingmaker after playing Rogue Trader. Even if i preffer the building mechanics of Pathfinder, not having to deal with enemies with 56 AC at level 13 is refresing..

fuck everyone involved with Blackwater

No reason to do Blackwater at 13 and if you can’t beat 56AC at that level why are you playing Unfair in the first place? Not like the mobs there are especially dangerous if you don’t kill them right away and the Regen can be turned off with any source of Shock or Adamantine.

They even give you Wand of Call Lightning and Bracers that maje all damage Shock (and give a spontaneous caster Shock spells).
The fights aren't hard, just a slog. Especialy with the AI ignoring engagement and targeting anyone they want at any moment.

It just turn into my character chasing demons around entire place because they won't let my archer go. My PC is basically immortal against them.
 

La vie sexuelle

Learned
Joined
Jun 10, 2023
Messages
2,161
Location
La Rochelle
I am looking into playing this, but if you can believe it, I know next to nothing about this 40k universe.
What is a good Codex approved introduction to this world? (video, audio, etc)

I read a few books, most were absolute dogshit, but the first Horus Heresy book was pretty good and it's a good introduction to the world. Gaunt's Ghosts was also enjoyable. Both are available as audiobooks.

For lore and quick introductions to the concepts, Luetin is like the ultimate sleep-to-this channel on YouTube entire:



I'm not that into 40K tbh but I enjoy having Luetin in the background while doing other shit

Only the first HH book is readable.

Complete nonsense.

There are at least 15 books that are excellent.


Name one, non slop warham novel.
 
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
2,602
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming!
I am looking into playing this, but if you can believe it, I know next to nothing about this 40k universe.
What is a good Codex approved introduction to this world? (video, audio, etc)

I read a few books, most were absolute dogshit, but the first Horus Heresy book was pretty good and it's a good introduction to the world. Gaunt's Ghosts was also enjoyable. Both are available as audiobooks.

For lore and quick introductions to the concepts, Luetin is like the ultimate sleep-to-this channel on YouTube entire:



I'm not that into 40K tbh but I enjoy having Luetin in the background while doing other shit

Only the first HH book is readable.

Complete nonsense.

There are at least 15 books that are excellent.


Name one, non slop warham novel.


Horus Rising (in fact most of the Horus Heresy series is p. gud)
Eisenhorn series
Ravenor series
vast majority of the Gaunts Ghosts series (I would perhaps not count Ghost Maker, as it is a collection of short stories)
Horusian Wars series
Shira Calpurnia series
Last Chancers series
Siege of Terra series
Inquisition War series
Execution Hour/Shadowpoint (I guess I could call them a Gothic War series too)
plenty of the old Necromunda books were p. good too - I would name Junction as an example

I mean this is already 30+ books right here, want me to keep going?
 

ERYFKRAD

Barbarian
Patron
Joined
Sep 25, 2012
Messages
29,890
Strap Yourselves In Serpent in the Staglands Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Any good warhammer noir sorta thing while we're here? Other than what you can find on suptg
 

Decado

Old time handsome face wrecker
Patron
Joined
Dec 1, 2010
Messages
2,674
Location
San Diego
Codex 2014
I bought this at launch and put around 9.5 hours into it before performance and bugs pulled me out completely. I haven't touched it since April 15th, but I haven't really played it since probably around Christmas. Is it in better shape now? I'm expecting I will have to start all over, which is fine, since I don't remember a fucking thing anyway.
 

Desiderius

Found your egg, Robinett, you sneaky bastard
Patron
Joined
Jul 22, 2019
Messages
14,849
Insert Title Here Pathfinder: Wrath
I've since been told this and gone on a Pathfinder odyssey, playing Kingmaker in TB mode as long as I could. You can really tell the encounter design was built with RTWP in mind. Been brutally burned by Kingmaker so many times that I still haven't found the strength to give WOTR a proper try.
Wotr is better enjoyed using both modes. Harder fights you play on Turn based, fooder you play on RtwP. But honestly, if you didn't vibe with Kingmaker, Wrath is just that turn up to 11 with all the mythic powers.

Personally, i find harder to play WoTR/Kingmaker after playing Rogue Trader. Even if i preffer the building mechanics of Pathfinder, not having to deal with enemies with 56 AC at level 13 is refresing..

fuck everyone involved with Blackwater

No reason to do Blackwater at 13 and if you can’t beat 56AC at that level why are you playing Unfair in the first place? Not like the mobs there are especially dangerous if you don’t kill them right away and the Regen can be turned off with any source of Shock or Adamantine.

They even give you Wand of Call Lightning and Bracers that maje all damage Shock (and give a spontaneous caster Shock spells).
The fights aren't hard, just a slog. Especialy with the AI ignoring engagement and targeting anyone they want at any moment.

It just turn into my character chasing demons around entire place because they won't let my archer go. My PC is basically immortal against them.
Why is that demon still alive in the first place?

Kill shit.

If you can't manage that use Difficult Terrain. Trivial to make your team immune to it.
 

La vie sexuelle

Learned
Joined
Jun 10, 2023
Messages
2,161
Location
La Rochelle
I am looking into playing this, but if you can believe it, I know next to nothing about this 40k universe.
What is a good Codex approved introduction to this world? (video, audio, etc)

I read a few books, most were absolute dogshit, but the first Horus Heresy book was pretty good and it's a good introduction to the world. Gaunt's Ghosts was also enjoyable. Both are available as audiobooks.

For lore and quick introductions to the concepts, Luetin is like the ultimate sleep-to-this channel on YouTube entire:



I'm not that into 40K tbh but I enjoy having Luetin in the background while doing other shit

Only the first HH book is readable.

Complete nonsense.

There are at least 15 books that are excellent.


Name one, non slop warham novel.


Horus Rising (in fact most of the Horus Heresy series is p. gud)
Eisenhorn series
Ravenor series
vast majority of the Gaunts Ghosts series (I would perhaps not count Ghost Maker, as it is a collection of short stories)
Horusian Wars series
Shira Calpurnia series
Last Chancers series
Siege of Terra series
Inquisition War series
Execution Hour/Shadowpoint (I guess I could call them a Gothic War series too)
plenty of the old Necromunda books were p. good too - I would name Junction as an example

I mean this is already 30+ books right here, want me to keep going?


I asked about non-slop novel, not harlequins for men.
 
Glory to Ukraine
Joined
Nov 22, 2020
Messages
2,602
Strap Yourselves In Codex Year of the Donut Codex+ Now Streaming!
Any good warhammer noir sorta thing while we're here? Other than what you can find on suptg

You may want to check the Warhammer Crime stuff, I can recommend King of the Spoil, Grimm Repast was OK as well.
 

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