Book Review 76 // Battle for the Abyss by Ben Counter

Following on from Legion comes Battle for the Abyss by Ben Counter. I'm pretty excited for this book as it has the Word Bearers properly in it. Better than that they are gearing up to kick Ultramarines ass!

Book Details

Title: The Horus Heresy #8 - Battle for the Abyss

Author: Ben Counter

Publisher: Black Library

Type: Paperback

Page Count: 416

Commercial Fluff: Now that news of Horus's treachery is in the open, a time of testing has come. Some Legions have already declared their allegiance to the Warmaster, while the loyalty of others lies firmly with the Emperor. As Horus deploys his forces, loyalist Astartes learn that a massive Wordbearers fleet is heading to Ultramar, home of the Ultramarines. Unless they can intercept the fleet, and destroy the mighty battleship that has been sent to reinforce it, the Ultramarines may suffer a blow from which they will never recover.

Review

Having come in straight after Legion this book had a lot to live up to. The novel takes us back into the main time line with the Traitorous forces starting to make their moves whilst the loyalist still haven't worked out what is happening. The story mainly follows the legions of the Ultramarines and the Word Bearers.

The Word Bearers have managed to create an all new class of battleship, which they have named The Furious Abyss. Bigger than any other battleship built so far and with the fire power to take on entire fleets, this ship is designed to destroy worlds. Now the Furious Abyss is heading to Calth leading a fleet of ships, their mission is to destroy Calth whilst the Ultramarines Legion muster on the surface.

Elsewhere Captain Cestus of the Ultramarines, receives a distress call from his brothers who's space craft has been attacked and destroyed by an unknown Warship (The Furious Abyss). Now Cestus is teaming up with a mixture of characters (Brynngar - Space Wolves, Skraal - World Eaters & Mhotep - Thousand Son) to track down and hopefully stop this new menace.

A 30K retelling of a Goliath and David situation. It could only ever have one outcome, but it was definitely a fun trip getting to the end. This is a solid and great read. It was always going to be challenging following on from a Dan Abnett tale. But Counter does a great job at getting us back on track following on from the events of Istvaan.

Would love to hear your thoughts, drop me comment below.

Audio Review 13 // Watcher in the Rain

Unlucky for some it is time for Audio Review 13. Now it won't surprise anyone when I say that it is a Warhammer 40,000 tale. Back in February I had my first adventure into Warhammer Horror with the House of Night and Chains

Title: Watcher in the Rain
Written by: Alec Worley
Running time: 74 minutes
Performed by: Matthew Hunt (Narrator), Deeivya Meir (Narrator), Melvin Rawlinson (Narrator), Richard Reed (Narrator), Toby Longworth (Narrator), Andrew Wincott (Narrator)

Commercial Fluff: In the far reaches of Imperial space, a ferocious warp storm approaches an Administratum world, cutting off the entire planet from the rest of the Imperium. As their towering grey spires are punished by endless rain, countless administrators, tithe-masters, and book-keepers are forced to evacuate. Among them is Greta, a lowly data-drone with a terrible secret, wanted for questioning by the sadistic Imperial interrogator Stefan Crucius. As disaster strikes and the pair are left stranded in the depths of the drowning city, captor and captive must co-operate to stand any chance of escaping. But a mysterious presence stalks them through the abandoned, flooded towers, a dread entity each must confront but which neither dare acknowledge, a Watcher in the Rain

Review

Wow. Once more Black Library have created a immersive world to get lost in. The acting was exciting, the sound effects on point and add depth to the surroundings. And what amazing surroundings they are. We are flung to an Administratum world that is starting to find itself absorbed into a warp storm. As the populace attempts to evacuate the weather weirdly turns south and starts constantly raining, causing the cities to start sinking in overflowing waters.

Into this mix we meet Greta Vern a data drone who seemingly has been wrong accused of a crime by Interrogator Stefan Crucius. Following a quick chase scene the pair are forced to work together in an attempt to escape the sinking city and the planet itself. As the pair continues through the city the Interrogator seems to keep seeing someone or something watching them from a far, is it Greta's cult or something far more sinister...

I really enjoyed this tale from start to finish and the insane patients that have escaped, really made for an exciting and weirdly believable scenario for the pair. I found myself surprised and happy with the conclusion of the tale which I will do spoil.

A definitely worth while listen that I plan on listening to again soon.

Have you partaken any audio dramas of late? What should I check out. Let me know in the comments below. Thank you for reading.

Beer Review 88 // Gravity of Winter by Beyond the Pale

Like a lot of people at this time, I am stuck at home with too much free time. So what is better than blogging and beer. I have to be honest and say my fridge is full of work beers, please expect a lot of BTP reviews over the next few weeks.

Today's brew is a beautiful porter.

Details

Name: Gravity of Winter

Style: Porter

Brewery: Beyond the Pale Brewing Company

Country: Canada, Ontario. Ottawa.

ABV: 7%

Artwork: Captain Tom

Commercial Fluff: Back for the winter - This porter is brewed with 7 different malts & fermented with a Scottish ale yeast. It boasts a medley of chocolate and coffee roast flavour with underlying dark fruit tones.

Own Opinion

Label: A beautiful winter scene Ottawa, in a cold but colourful palette of colours. The amazing artwork on this can is by the talented Captain Tom go check out his Instagram @captain_tom

Pour: The pour is a deep, dark brown almost black colour, whilst the head settles into a light chocolate brown. Very photographic.

Aroma: Bold roasty malt aroma coming off this brew. A little chocolate, but it is mostly roast and coffee coming from this.

Taste: Yep that is delicious, nice coffee notes hit the tongue along with some chocolate malt which adds a slight sweetness. As the tongue gets use to the flavour a little bit of a fruity taste starts to appear. Kind of like a xmas fruit cake, so raisins and prunes. Very pleasant and very easy to drink.

Would I buy it again: Yes. I really enjoy this beer, it is in my top five brews from BTP and always one to be found in my fridge during the season of it's brewing. I just wish they brewed it more often.

Drop me a comment, say hi, let me know how your doing. I read all the comments and attempt to respond when possible.

Comic Review 79 // Insurrection Liberty

Welcome back to the first comic review of the isolation period. I hope everyone is do well, feel free to chat to me in the comments and say hi! In a rare turn of events I was actually able to read the two volumes of Insurrection comics, back to back which is quite nice. If you haven't read the first review please follow this LINK.

We left the team sparking rebellion in the outer rim and causing so much aggro for the SJS. Now we are to find out how it all concludes. I was pretty excited heading into this.

Insurrection: Liberty

Page Count: 96
Written By: Dan Abnett
Artist: Colin MacNeil
Commercial Fluff: MEGA-CITY COLONIAL SPACE, 2135 AD. Mining colony K Alpha 61 renamed itself Libertyafter cutting loose from the Big Meg. Furious at this dissent, and in a bid to stop the revolt spreading to other colonies, the SJS launched a blistering attack on Colonial Marshal Karel Luther’s forces. Now, the alien Zhind have stepped up their attacks on the colony worlds causing an uneasy alliance to form between the SJS and the insurrectionists...

This thrilling conclusion to Insurrection was written by Dan Abnett (Guardians of the Galaxy) with art by Colin MacNeil (Judge Dredd).

Review

We are introduced to Gateway a beautiful well protected colony world in the outer rim. Here we meet Colonel Judge Gallows, who is welcoming his family to the planet. Unfortunately the Zhind lead a surprise attack on the planet. Normally the stationed fleet would deal with the problem but due to Luther's uprising the fleet has been called away, leaving the planet open to attack. Gallow along with a large core of the fleet fail to follow commands and stay back in a failed attempt to save Gateway, in doing so they too become rebels.

After locating Luther's forces on an ice moon, Gallows reports the location to the SJS. Of course the SJS come with overwhelming fleet strength and it looks like the end for the Insurrectionist. That is until the Zhind once again invade Mega City Space, leading to a sixteen week long campaign. During this time the Insurrectionists join forces with the SJS and actually lead the last assault again the Zhind command bunker. Here I will leave the review as I hate to many spoilers the ending is pretty epic and heart breaking, so go read it yourselves.

Amazing tale, amazing art and left ultimately sad at the thought of no more. Great work by the entire team on this. 5 Star comic for sure.

Miniature Monday // The Judge Child - Owen Krysler

The Judge Child - photographed in front of a WIP planter.

For this Miniature Monday I am showcasing a classic 1980's Games Workshop miniature from the Judge Dredd RPG games. The Judge Child aka Owen Krysler - This model is pretty small, not as small as The Gronk from last week, but not far off. Made from classic lead metal the details are quite flat on the model, with the only real texture coming off of his robes. I went for quite a simple paint scheme of a heavy flesh wash and then yellow for his robes, I feel I want to go back and do a little more highlighting on the skin, and fix the eyes as I now realise he is  but ultimately pretty happy with 30 minutes of work.

If you are only here to look at pictures feel free to scroll through and drop me a comment below, but if you would like to read more about this character then carry on....

The Judge Child aka Owen Krysler

Owen Krysler was a 2000 AD villain also known as "The Judge Child". He would show up in several early Judge Dredd story arcs and is one of the better known members of Dredd's rogues gallery.

Appearance

Krysler was a young child in his early teens, although he was a mutant he looked nearly normal past his pitch black eyes and eagle shaped marking on his forehead.

Personality

Krysler showed very little emotion not even shedding a tear when his parents were lynched in front of him (though it could be argued that this was because he had already known it would happen, and so was prepared). However he was cocky and arrogant often mocking others and calling names, and sadistically enjoyed forseeing others deaths. After his abandonment on Xanadu by Dredd, his hatred for the Judge grew and grew.

History

Judge Feyy, a dying member of Psi Division, has a precognitive vision that Mega-City One will be destroyed unless the Judges can find the "Judge Child," a boy called Owen Krysler with extreme telepathic and precognitive powers. He also a birthmark on his head shaped like the Judges' Eagle. Krysler is destined to rule Mega-City One in its direst hour. Judge Dredd is sent after the boy and tracks him across the Cursed Earth to Texas City where the Judge Child falls into the hands of the Angel Gang who escape from Earth. Dredd uses the ship Justice One to pursue the gang and the Child across a number of star systems and through various strange encounters with alien worlds. Dredd becomes convinced that only by using Oracle Spice will he be able to find the Child, and after further dangerous adventures he gains the Oracle Spice on the planet Necros. Oracle Spice gives precognitive powers to whoever takes it (similar to and possibly a rferance to the spice from the Dune saga), but is very dangerous to the inexperienced user. Dredd orders a member of the Justice One crew, Judge Lopez, to take the Oracle Spice. This kills Lopez, but not before he reveals that the location of the Judge Child is known by the 'Jigsaw Man,' whom Dredd traces to the planet Ab. The 'Jigsaw Man' is a human called Prosser who had been the pilot of a spaceship hijacked by the Angel Gang, who are heading to the free robot planet of Xanadu. Prosser's nickname stems from the fact he is a victim of the alien wasting disease known as "Jigsaw Disease", which causes the victims to vanish piece by random piece. Just before he dies he tells Dredd that he believes the Judge Child is evil, because it was the Judge Child who caused him to catch the disease in the first place, apparently intentionally.

Dredd begins to doubt the mission but continues to Xanadu where he confronts and kills most of the Angel Gang, who had also begun to suspect the boy had been manipulating them. However the last of the Angel Gang is killed by the Judge Child himself. Finally having hold of the Judge Child, Dredd looks into his eyes and sees that he is evil. Believing that the ruler of his city has to be pure and uncorrupted, and that Owen Krysler is unfit to rule, Dredd abandons him on the planet and returns home.

For deliberately failing in his mission, Dredd himself had to be judged, in the story's epilogue Block War in prog 182. This story introduced another major character, Judge McGruder, who thought that Dredd had exceeded his authority.

In a sequel called Destiny's Angels, the Judge Child was executed for attempting to assassinate Dredd in revenge for depriving him of the opportunity to rule Mega-City One. In McGruder's eyes this vindicated Dredd's earlier judgement of him, and she authorised the execution herself.

Hope you enjoyed reading about The Judge Child. As always drop me a comment to say hi. Or if you feel generous give me a follow in the top corner of the blog. Thanks for stopping by.

Book Review 75 // Legion by Dan Abnett

With this forced leave from work I am finding time to start working my way through some of the bookshelves of shame. It's crazy to think it was 18 books ago that I read Descent of Angels, shame on me for leaving it for so long.

Book Details

Title: The Horus Heresy - Legion

Author: Dan Abnett

Publisher: Black Library

Type: Paperback

Page Count: 416 (damn weighty book)

Commercial Fluff: A Great War is coming, and it will engulf the Imperium of Man. The Space Marines of the Alpha Legion, the last and most secretive of all the Astartes brotherhoods, arrive on a heathen world to support the Imperial Army in a pacification campaign against strange and uncanny forces. But what drives the Alpha Legion? Can they be trusted, and what side will they choose when the Great War begins? Loyalties are put to the test, and the cunning schemes of an alien intelligence revealed in this latest instalment of the ground-breaking SF series by Dan Abnett, as the fate of mankind hangs in the balance.

Review

Okay some truths I'm big Dan Abnett fan, I have a lot of novels by him and his Sinister Dexter Comic strips for 2000 AD are just a pure joy to read. So far the Heresy Novels have produced some great stories, but I feel this one is in my top 3 (with Fulgrim & Flight of the Eisenstein).

What was a real stand out part of this story was the view point it was coming from. For once we followed the action through the eyes of humans! The main character of the tale from my view point was John Grammaticus, a constantly reincarnated human spy working for a Xeno group known as the Cabal. The Cabal seem to be a group made up of Elder races, with named members being an Eldar Autarch and a Xshesian. They collectively have seen the coming war and are attempting to show the Alpha Legion the dangers of Chaos in hopes of swaying the legion to their cause. They do this by manipulating the Nurth Culture into completely falling to Chaos and manipulating the Alpha Legion to be in position to aid the Geno Five-Two Chiliad.

With the forces in place the Cabal start rising the stakes, but soon seem to lose control of forces in play. Soon the plan unravels and the future is left hanging in the balance.

I found this book an interesting read as it was more a spy/espionage novel. With plenty of manipulation and intrigue going on. It also hints at the whole which side of the war are the Alpha Legion actually on (which still no one really knows, just like the Dark Angels)? This book can easily be read alone from the series, as it is set apart from the series. But for me it is a true masterpiece in the series so far.

Beer Review 87 // Paradise Lost - Soursop Lychee by Blood Brothers

Well as I write this post the isolation has kicked in. Myself and my family are healthy and well and slowly working to the new way of living. I am hoping it will increase my output but no promises as the kids are absorbing the time as they should :)

Up now though is a Blood Brother brew, it's been awhile since my last review and when I drank this last night I knew I had to blog about it straight away.

Details

Name: Paradise Lost - Soursop Lychee

Style: Sour

Brewery: Blood Brothers

Country: Canada, Ontario. Toronto.

ABV: 6.9%

Commercial Fluff: This beer is straight out of the 2020 cruise wear line. Golden body, bright acidity and aromas of citrus and white wine. The combination of soursop and Sabro give the body smoothness and a touch of coconut on the palate. Right when you forgot about the lychee, it comes around the corner and finishes late on the palate.

Own Opinion

Label: Beautiful pale blue, oil effect label with the classic palm tree image from the Paradise Lost series. Nice effect for sure.

Pour: Hazy, hazy, hazy, nice bright yellow with a clean white head.

Aroma: Fruity lychee aroma, smells sweet and makes the mouth water. Very excited to drink this one.

Taste: Fruity and mouthwatering sharpness, bold citrus flavours similar to pineapple I think. Then you get a finishing note of Lychee and Coconut. Extremely drinkable.

Would I buy it again: Yes. Very tasty brew and I am so happy I purchased it. By the time this goes live they should still have bottles available so go treat yourself.

Miniature Monday // Strontium Dogs - The Gronk

Welcome to an actual Miniature Monday! That's right it is a Monday and I have a painted mini. Not a WIP but an actual painted mini. But the shocks don't stop there I actually have two minis...I guess all I needed was isolation to get some hobby done.

So what did I paint.......THE GRONK.

What is a Gronk? Well here is the official history.

The Gronk is a character from the Starlord and 2000 AD strip Strontium Dog. Gronks are a timid life-form from the planet Blas in the Gallego system. Mutant bounty hunter Johnny Alpha first encountered and befriended a Gronk, later named as Gloppus, fairly early in his career, on the astro-liner Sondheim. The creature promptly keeled over and died of a heart attack caused by the shock of being hijacked by space pirate Papa Por-Ka. Alpha's partner, Wulf Sternhammer, took the Gronk's pelt to wear, in deference to the traditions of the Gronk's home planet.

Shortly afterwards, on the planet Paprika (a windswept outpost on the far reaches of the galaxy) Alpha and Sternhammer met another Gronk masquerading as a female human fortune teller called Madame Desiré. This Gronk recognized Wulf's pelt as having belonged to his brother. (All Gronks are identical — to the casual non-Gronk observer, anyway — and apparently have no names, although the second Gronk said that his brother had been called Gloppus. A nickname, perhaps?) The Gronk insisted on joining Alpha and Sternhammer in their adventures as their medic, despite the perils of such an occupation and the tendency of Gronks to suffer heart failure at the slightest sign of excitement.

Eventually, when Johnny Alpha's father Nelson Bunker Kreelman took over the Strontium Dog's orbital HQ, the Doghouse, in order to seek revenge on his son, the Gronk suffered several near fatal heart attacks after discovering his plans. He did, however, manage to free Alpha from his father's torture machine. Following this, the Gronk ceased to accompany Alpha and Sternhammer on missions and, indeed, it was assumed by many that he had died.

According to one account which may or may not be true, following the destruction of the Doghouse and Johnny Alpha's apparent death, the Gronk suffered another heart attack which resulted in a hitherto unsuspected aggressive and fearless side to his nature coming to the fore, and he took up Johnny's badge and, alongside the mutant Feral Jackson, travelled to the homeworld of the Lyran sorcerers in order to release Johnny's soul. In an emotional scene, the Gronk seemingly killed his friend again in order to free him from everlasting torment — a fate worse than death — before declaring of the Lyrans that "nobody gets out of here alives", and apparently destroying them all. NB: This story may be apocryphal. Since new information concerning Alpha's fate has since come to light, it's probably best to regard the entire 'savage Gronk' storyline as not canon.

There you have it, The Gronk. Now you know all about him/it/them let us move onto my painted versions.

As mentioned before I have painted two Gronks the first is a very old metal model made by Games Workshop about 1984. This was back in the time when Games Workshop had the rights to 2000ad and even had a Judge Dredd Roleplaying game (how cool was the 80's). What I don't understand is why they made this as they had no rules or a game to play along with unless someone knows different.

This is most likely lead judging by the age of the model. It was also crazy tiny! It is about the size of my wedding ring. It was a very simple paint job, base coated black, then brown, then dry brush grey and finally white. Of the white I did pallid flesh on the skin and then finally Gulliman Flesh Contrast on this. I then attempted to pick out the eyes and clean up some errors. Definitely not super pretty, but great for table top.

Then we move forward to 2019 and the Warlord Games Gronk. Warlord Games (currently my favourite game producers) managed to pick up some licensees from 2000ad and started producing the Strontium Dog figures before moving onto Judge Dredd. The Warlord Games Gronk shows exactly how far miniature design has come, still made from metal but this time user friendly and not lead. He is also carrying a cool little first aid kit. I love the expression as well, it is full of character and life. I painted it exactly the same way as the Games Workshop one.

Between the two minis I spent about 30-40 minutes tops on these from start to finish and they were truly a joy paint. Now I'm itching to paint more. I am eyeing up a Wulf Sternhammer at the moment so watch this space.

As always I hope you enjoyed this and drop me a comment and if possible hit that follow button! Until next time.

Book Review 74 // Warhammer 30,000 - Primarch: Roboute Guilliman by David Annandale

Been on quite the Judge Dredd trip of late so I am attempting to move away from that and back into the realm of Black Library. I was lucky of late and got my hands on a Humble Bundle e-book deal. In that collection sat Primarch: Roboute Guilliman by David Annandale.

Now the Ultramarines seem to sit in the love them or hate them category due to GW using them for everything. Personally I don't mind them and have on many occasion come close to building an army of them. I am genuinely excited to see how this book plays out.

Book Details

Title: Warhammer 30,000 - Primarch: Roboute Guilliman.

Author: David Annandale

Publisher: Black Library

Type: E-book

Page Count: 192

Commercial Fluff: Roboute Guilliman, the Battle King of Macragge, leads his Legion, the mighty Ultramarines, in conquest of the galaxy as part of his father's Great Crusade. Faced with an alien empire, all his dreams of a shining galaxy of peace threaten to fall into ruin...

Long before the coming of the Imperium, the realm of Ultramar was ruled by Roboute Guilliman, the last Battle King of Macragge. Even after learning of his true heritage as a primarch son of the Emperor of Mankind, he strove to expand his domain as efficiently and benevolently as possible, with the XIII Legion Ultramarines as his alone to command. Now, facing a rival empire on the ork-held world of Thoas, Guilliman must choose his weapons carefully – otherwise his dream of a brighter future could be lost forever.

It's the start of a brand new series of 18 books focusing on the greatest of heroes, the primarchs themselves. This volume kicks it all off with a tale of Roboute Guilliman at the height of his powers, leading his legion into battle at the apex of the Great Crusade.

Review

Straight up lets get passed the obs point...yes it is a book all about Guilliman. The point of this series is to give us a closer look into the Primarchs who tore the galaxy apart on the eve of unity. If you don't know about the Horus Heresy then read up on it first. If you don't want to do that (shame), then no worries all you need to know is that this is set in a time before that. When Guilliman and his sons marched for war under the banner of the Great Crusade!

The book though almost 200 pages in length is only split into nine chapters. Before you start each chapter we are given one of Guilliman's treaties. Of courses these little captions, hint at what is going to happen in the chapter so they are worth a read. It also allows us to delve into the mind of Guilliman as he expands his art of battle, using this to build his pre-cursor to what would become the codex of warfare for the Space Marine Chapters of 40k.

Out of most of the Primarchs I only know his tale from the 40k side. Having not let reached him in the Horus Heresy novels. All I really know is he is a great leader, political genius and the creator of the chapter system. I also know most of his brother primarchs find him annoying as he is almost too good at everything, especially empire building (which I believe gets him in trouble in the 30k story arc). But in this tale we have him as a true Primarch, a fighter, a leader and a killer. And who better for him to fight against than the xeno filth of the galaxy.....ORKS.

What surprises me is the link to Lorgar (his brother) and the Word Bearers. It is due to their feud that we get some of the most interesting sections and plots of the book. We see through Guilliman's eyes his pain at the behest of the Emperor to destroy Monarchia (a city built by Lorgar), in order to teach his wayward brother that the Emperor is not to be worshipped as a God. Because of this destruction we end up with a Guilliman seeking to prove the Ultramarines are builders and not destroyers. This is a theme that comes into play in the book, as rather than orbital cleansing the ork world as his brothers would, Guilliman instead makes planet fall in the hopes of preserving the world for a future colony.

The story itself is a simple one. The Ultramarines are busy getting rid of an ork empire on the edge of the Ultramar system (their homeworld). They are seemingly on the verge of completely removing this empire from the galaxy, when they discover an infested world that once held a human civilisation. Though the humans are long gone there history and architecture remains. And with the guilt of Monarchia still hanging over him, Guilliman decides to make land fall and fight the orks rather than destroying them and the ruined civilisation from space.

The great thing about this novel is Guilliman's interactions and his personality portrayal. You get to experience his way of battle, his leadership and how pragmatic he can truly be. We even see him disliked by some of his "sons" and have doubts over his decisions! This actually gives us a character who is realistically flawed and not as sure of his actions as we are lead to believe. He is truly a human in a godlike form (lol). What this does, is to showcase him as an individual that does care about what is left to be claimed once the fighting finishes.

I have to say no big revels, it is a pretty standard battle for the Space Marines aka Marines find orks, orks get their asses kicked. It is a great way to start the Primarch series with the next book being Leman Russ which I will have to purchase very soon. Down side to this is the urge to create a Ultramarine force! Maybe I can do a killteam?

As always drop me a comment and let me know your thoughts. Or better yet hit follow.

Audio Review 12 // Horus Heresy: Dark Compliance #52

Welcome to another 30k audio book, this time it falls under #52 Herald's of the Siege. By now the Horus Hersey is in full swing, the galaxy is being carved in half by the traitorous forces and the march to Terra is underway. This is just one story of many and I am sure I will revisit the other tales soon so expect more at some point.

Title: Dark Compliance
Number: #52
Written by: John French
Running time: 64 minutes.
Performed by: Gareth Armstrong, Ramon Tikaram, Jonathan Keeble, Matthew Hunt, Cliff Chapman, Steve Conlin, Melvyn Rawlinson, Penelope Rawlins

Commercial Fluff: For more than two hundred years, the armies of the Emperor of Mankind fought to reconquer the galaxy – led by the superhuman primarchs, the Space Marine Legions brought countless worlds back under the rule of ancient Terra. Now Horus, once honoured Warmaster and favoured son of the Emperor, has been corrupted by the whispered promises of Chaos. At his command the Imperium is torn apart by a terrible and bloody civil war, the likes of which the galaxy has never seen... As Horus’s rebellion gains momentum, more and more worlds flock to his banner. For some, it is through fear of annihilation; for others, it is out of malicious desire. Any that consider resistance are given one chance to swear fealty. To do anything other is to court disaster and worse. Accazzar-Beta is one such defier, but in bringing this heavily-fortified Mechanicum world to heel, just how far is the Warmaster willing to go and what truly is the meaning of a dark compliance? As two fleets engage across the gulf of the void, Accazzar-Beta will find out.

Review

A rather simple tale, even though it is only a filler, it does a great job of portraying what is happening in a galaxy wracked by civil war. The tale begins with a planetary system that is refusing to bend the knee to Warmaster Horus. As the Planetary Governor faces off against Emissary Argonis of the Sons of Horus, he is informed of the demise of Accazzar-Beta, a planet that was brought to ruin in one day by the forces of Horus. Why this important? Accazzar-Beta was heavily fortified world and if it can fall so quick, how can anyone hope to survive?

This is basically a fear mongering tale taken to the extreme. Designed to bring systems into the fold without a shot fired. It shows a Horus wanting to preserve troops and resources for the final push on Terra. But it also shows he isn't an out of control killer, he is still the skill tactician and diplomat.

After the 64 minutes comes to an end I feel satisfied by the tale. Did it move the story arc forward? Nope. Does anything special happen? Nah. But as stated above it does show a side of the story we haven't seen for a while but does happen behind the action packed scenes and was well worth listening to.

As always drop me comment or even better hit the follow button!