Aeldari - Words // A

My Eldar Encyclopedia is becoming a bit bloated and over complicated so I am attempting to fix this. Starting with the A-Z of Aeldari words I have over there. Whenever I have the urge I will post a section of that page, create a link to this page and see if it tidies up the page and makes me feel happy once more.

A

Aarthia: Showing

Addan: White

addankiamenad: Ash

addin: Dust

addinav: Sandman

Addol: Transparent

Aeldari: A catch-all term for the races of Dark Eldar, Harlequins, Corsairs, Exodites, Outcast and Craftworld Eldar.

ag-: False or lying

Agaith: False face and is the device that is worn by Harlequins to project their foe's worst fears.

Aiek: Grasping.

Aiel: Touching

Aika: Holding

​​aill- (prefix): Possibility or would

Ainaarin: Expecting

Ainiluin: Waiting

Ainulin: Delaying

Aith: Face

Aithben: Nose

Aithliam: Mouth

Alaitocii: From Alaitoc.

Alean: The mythological steed of Khaine.

Aliachemoranthrashe'ill: The swift and final twist of the crescent blade.

am-: Imperative

Amure: Waning

An: Then or Next

Anaris: Dawn Light

Anastari: Raven

Angau: Doom

Angau: Fate

Angaur: Destiny

Ann: Warring one

Anthemion: An Aeldari myth about a wanderer with a Golden Harp.

Arathi: Displaying

Arathinos: Manifesting

Ard: Master

Ardathair: High Avatar

Ard-Iadanna: Pirate Captain

Are: Honoured

Arebennian: The word given to Harlequin Solitaires.

Arioth: Yellow

Arith: Red

Arten: Woman

Ash: World/Planet

Asha: Soon and relates to in the near future

Ashafar: Looking

Ashafares: Seeking

Ashfar: Wanting

Ashkam/Asskam: Who?

Asturi: Respect

Asurentesh: Asuryan's Heart

Asurya: The Eldar word of Phoenix Lord.

at: Pale or light in colour

Athag: Face of

Athair: The Eldar word for the Harlequin unit 'the Harlequin Avatar,' and the same one who plays the Laughing God in their plays.

Athelin Bahail: Mind Choir.

Atherakhia: Destruction

Athesdan: High Warlock

Athe-Sier: Exodite Lord

Athistaur: Master Mime

Autarii: Shades (Shadow people).

Original Materials

This is a project that has been worked on for a while and mainly for my own needs so I never thought of recording page numbers etc. as I never thought it would leave my notebook but for those interested, it has been collected from the following locations:

Rogue Trader (1987), Warhammer 2nd/3rd/4th/5th Editions, Eldar codex (2nd ed/3rd ed/4th ed), Codex Dark Eldar, Citadel Journal #17, White Dwarf #127 (original Eldar army list), Codex: Titanicus, Codex Necrons, Warhammer 40,000 compendium, Warhammer 40k Wargear (2nd ed). Battletome Sylvaneth. Battletome Daughters of Khaine. Battletome Idoneth Deepkin.

Black Library Novels: Shadow Point, Harlequin, Chaos Child, Farseer, Tales from the Dark Millennium, Warrior Coven, Path of the Warrior, Path of the Seer, Eldar Prophecy, Valedor, Asurmen, Jain Zar, Rise of Ynnead: Ghost Warrior, Rise of Ynnead: Wildrider.

**Also there is this web version of an Eldar dictionary that turns out has been around since 1990. It's more complete than what I have collected and better organized. This link was requested to be added by David Grophland: Eldar Language.

Book Review 83 // The Talon of Horus (Black Legion Book #1) by Aaron Dembski-Bowden

The final week of my Thousand Sons books has arrived. What a trip here is a list of the titles I've managed to complete for this project:

Ahriman: Sorcerer

Ahriman: Unchanged

A Thousand Sons

Magnus the Red: Master of Prospero

It's definitely been a month of two halves. The Ahriman titles fell flat for me and left me dis-hearten but then A Thousand Sons and Magnus lifted my spirits and renewed my faith in this reading project. Having now read the most common titles linked to the legion I was struggling as to were to go next. The obvious choice was another Horus Hersey title called the Crimson King but it is 30 titles further along into the series, and I didn't wish to go that far ahead. Lucky for me a friend had a good suggestion and led me to The Talon of Horus. How can a Black Legion book fit into the Thousand Sons month? Let's jump in and find out.

Book Details

Title: The Talon of Horus (Black Legion #1)

Author: Aaron Dembski-Bowden

Publisher: Black Library

Type: E-book

Page Count: 352

Commercial Fluff: When Horus fell, his Sons fell with him. A broken Legion, beset by rivalries and hunted by their erstwhile allies, the former Luna Wolves have scattered across the tortured realm of the Eye of Terror. And of Abaddon, greatest of the Warmaster's followers, nothing has been heard for many years. But when Horus's body is taken from its resting place, a confederation of legionaries seek out the former First Captain, to convince him to embrace his destiny and continue what Horus began.

Review

So how did it tie into the Thousand Sons you ask? Well, this entire story is told by Iskandar Khayon an ex-Thousand Sons sorcerer. It follows on in the wake of the Horus Hersey (by about 1000 years) and how the various traitorous Legions are in a constant state of warfare, for resources, slaves and territory. In this mix of constant warfare Khayon and a mixture of other Astartes hear of a rumour about the resting place of the Vengeful Spirit and go in search not knowing they were taking the first steps in building a new legion and creating a Warmaster.

Ultimately this is a story of how the Black Legion became an all-powerful force within the Eye of Terror. It shows how not all the Astartes are slaves to the dark gods and how some just want to be lead and reclaim past glories and right wrongs. The story is full of great characters and interesting locations, it deals with themes I haven't heard before like aldari serving Chaos Lords and it even has a cameo from Fabius Bile!

A great opening tale to the story and great Thousand Sons read as Khayon is neither a loyal son to Magnus or a follower of Ahriman, he and his followers are claiming their own path and leading the traitor legions into new glories. As soon as I finished this tale I picked up the next novel, which is the highest praise I can give. It is weird to read this tale and find yourself rooting for the villains to win but in a location like the Eye who is to say who the real villains are?

This was a great read to fit in with my timely decision to build a Chaos Army, though not Red Corsairs it does show how different legions can merge to form one force. It has got me thinking of possible characters I can build and create to bring my Corsairs to life and how each might form a separate part of the whole.

As always thanks for stopping by. Please hit follow if you can and drop me a comment to say hi!

Beer Review 94 // Happyness by Superflux

The last of my Superflux beers is now drunk. It is always fun trying new beers and this was no different. I won't waste any time so let us jump into the final beer!

Details

Name: Happyness

Style: American IPA

Brewery: Superflux Brewery

Country: Canada. Vancouver, BC.

ABV: 7.5%

Commercial Fluff: Happyness is a forward-looking take on the classic West Coast IPA. Bright and crisp this beauty is loaded with Mosaic hops. Colourful notes of tropical fruit, pine sap and a medium body of slightly sweet malt.

Own Opinion

The Label: Love it! Bright colourful, full-on 70's disco style logo.

The Pour: A beautiful golden yellow with a good white head. A nice example of west coast IPA.

The Aroma: Smells great good notes of pine and more of orange citrus than the tropical as mentioned above.

The Taste: Now I'm getting the tropical notes, more of the passionfruit flavour in my mind, pairing beautifully with a little sweetness from the notes.

Would I buy it again: Yes. This is by far my favourite of the three brews. Considering the % on this, it is extremely easy to drink. I know for sure if I can get my hands on this again I will be getting a few for sure.

Let me know if you have tried this beer in the comments below.

Comic Review 86 // The Outside Circle: A Graphic Novel by Patti LaBoucane-Benson

Time for something completely different. Been reading a lot of sci-fi comics and graphic novels but I wanted a bit of a palette cleanser, so I turned to a highly recommended comic called The Outside Circle.

Review

Author: Patti LaBoucane-Benson

Illustrations: Kelly Mellings

Type: Paperback

Page Count: 128

Commercial Fluff: In this important graphic novel, two Aboriginal brothers surrounded by poverty, drug abuse, and gang violence, try to overcome centuries of historic trauma in very different ways to bring about positive change in their lives.

Pete, a young Aboriginal man wrapped up in gang violence, lives with his younger brother, Joey, and his mother who is a heroin addict. One night, Pete and his mother’s boyfriend, Dennis, get into a big fight, which sends Dennis to the morgue and Pete to jail. Initially, Pete keeps up ties to his crew, until a jail brawl forces him to realize the negative influence he has become on Joey, which encourages him to begin a process of rehabilitation that includes traditional Aboriginal healing circles and ceremonies.

Powerful, courageous, and deeply moving, The Outside Circle is drawn from the author’s twenty years of work and research on healing and reconciliation of gang-affiliated or incarcerated Aboriginal men.

My thoughts

Wow, this was not what I expected. It really makes you think about the world at large. It makes you question why people do what they do and how sometimes bad things have to happen and the reasons why. The book follows an Aboriginal man called Pete who runs with a local violent gang. Pete has a younger brother called Joey and a mother suffering from drug addiction. In a non-surprising character trait, Pete has trouble controlling his anger and gets extremely violent every time. Following an encounter with his Mother's boyfriend, Pete is sent to jail. With Pete gone for a while, Joey is slowly dragged into the gang life and we slowly see all these bad influences drag down this family.

The artwork is stunning and very detailed which helped support the story-telling. The characters are the real highlight as they should be. This is really a story about personal growth and how Pete's character develops. I highly recommend this novel if you can find it and purchase a copy it is well worth adding to the collection.

Have you read this story? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below and better yet give me a follow!

Thanks for reading and check out these links below if you wish to support the blog:

Amazon (I get a commission, win, win): Paperback

Links to other fun projects: Linktr.ee/Adventureswithpeps

Beginning of the End times.

***Please note this was written before the big release reveals on May 23rd, which is so cool I really enjoy seeing a new edition and how they change or tweak things up. Lucky for me the mainline of Chaos Marines is pretty new and updated so I will concentrate on the bulk of the force and then be able to add any new toys later***

Last week I raised the question of which army should I start next? If you didn't see or read it here is a link.

Basically, it came down to one of two choices Dark Angels or Red Corsairs. Well after a week of deep thought and planning I have decided that Red Corsairs will be the next project. The main reasons for them beating the Dark Angels are as follows:

• A more complex paint scheme that I feel will push me more than the Dark Angels.
• More freedom to convert and play with the design aspect of the models.
• The ability to possibly expand the host to include traitor guard as well.

Now with the army chosen I have to start making what I will call my mood board. Images that will help inspire this project. With this in mind, the rest of this post is going to be a photo dump and I will most likely continue adding to it as I see more images. Thanks for stopping by and I hope I can make some real progress soon with this.

But for now, I will crack open my Forgeworld manuals and reread the Badab Conflicts.

Official Fandom Page: https://warhammer40k.fandom.com/wiki/Red_Corsairs

Huron Blackheart Inspiration

A popular idea of using Abaddon the Despoiler Model to create Huron.

Power Armour Huron Conversion by Eternal Hunt

A more human-looking Huron.

A truer version of Huron in my mind.

OG - Huron. The version I came to love.

Standard Red Corsair Marines

Koltti - Instagram. Some amazing conversions and paint schemes.

Koltti - Instagram. Some amazing conversions and paint schemes.

Koltti - Instagram. Some amazing conversions and paint schemes.

A classic looking scheme.

John Blanche - Red Corsair

Logo - Red Corsair

Book Review 82 // Magnus the Red: Master of Prospero

Wow, week four of the Thousand Son themed month of reading. I didn't actually realize how many Fridays there were in May until it was too late to turn back! So far I have read and reviewed the following titles: 

Ahriman: Sorcerer

Ahriman: Unchanged

Horus Heresy: A Thousand Sons

Got to say the Ahriman titles were a little dull. Dealing more with the side characters rather than the main attraction. The HH series A Thousand Sons was everything I hoped for and more, it really showcased this legion in a more positive and inspiring way. So once I had finished that title I knew I had to move onto the Primarch series and take on Magnus the Red: Master of Prospero.

Book Details

Title: Magnus the Red: Master of Prospero

Author: Graham McNeill

Publisher: Black Library

Type: E-book

Page Count: 208

Commercial Fluff: The third novel in The Horus Heresy: Primarchs series, a brand new sequence of novels focused on the superhuman sons of the Emperor.

Lord of the mystical and uncanny, Magnus the Red has long studied the ancient crafts of sorcery. A psyker without peer, save only for the Emperor himself, he commands his loyal followers of the Thousand Sons Legion in the Great Crusade, always vigilant for any lost knowledge they might recover from the remains of dead human civilisations. Now, fighting alongside his brother Perturabo of the Iron Warriors, Magnus begins to foresee an approaching nexus of fate. Will he remain true to their mutual aims, or divert his own efforts towards furthering his own mastery of the warp?

Review

Having just completed A Thousand Sons I was extremely excited to read that Graham McNeill had written this title as well. I really was hoping for even more behind the scene and character building for this legion. It also soon became apparent that it had a cheeky inclusion of Iron Warriors alongside a non-Xenos threat - a rather rare plot in Space Marines battles. The story happens on Morningstar as it is being destroyed by destructive magnetic storms, into this mix an uprising of sorts has been started by a cult called the Sons of Shaitan. Whilst the Thousand Sons and the Iron Warriors attempt to retrieve as much of the resources of the planet as possible, they bump heads on how best to do it. Magnus and his sons care about the history, culture and knowledge of the planet whilst the Iron Warriors care more for the resources and materials, though the two sides have differing views they are remarkably similar in not hugely caring for the human populace!

For me, a standout part of the tale is the brotherhood of Perturabo and Magnus which Graham McNeill plays out wonderfully out using the characters of Forrix and Ahriman to mirror their gene sires. It is always nice to read about the Traitor Legions prior to their falls especially as it hints to some of Graham McNeill's other books. Well worth the read and a great side story to the Horus Heresy series.

Drop me your thoughts in the comments and hopefully next week I will have the Talon of Horus as the final installment for my month of Thousand Son themed stories.

Beer Review 93 // Colour & Shape by Superflux

Welcome back, drinkers! I am following up last weeks Superflux beer (LINK), with another. Last week's beer did leave me feeling a little underwhelmed with it. For brews reviewed in the 90 point range, I really

expected more. I am hoping this Colour and Shape can will wow me.

Details

Name: Colour & Shape

Style: NEIPA

Brewery: Superflux Brewery - Collaboration with Gigantic Brewing Company

Country: Canada. Vancouver, BC.

ABV: 6.5%

Commercial Fluff: Couldn't find an official description... The best I could discover was - India Pale Ale. Soft, tropical, herbaceous.

Own Opinion

The Label: Another pretty looking label from these guys. It made me think of milkshakes and ice-cream though.

The Pour: Once again like the last can it pours a thick looking, muted egg yolk yellow. A tighter fluffy head on this one, that did actually hang around.

The Aroma: Juicy citrus upfront aroma that is more than happy to say hi and hang around.

 

The Taste: That citrus aroma transfers quite well into the brew. This is definitely a softer brew compared to the last one. Which is surprising as it has a higher %. A pretty dry yet acidic finish with some lingering bitterness.

Would I buy it again: Yeah why not. It's one of those brews I would like to try again but I wouldn't be rushing out to buy it.

Comic Review 85 // The Daily Dredds Vol. 1

Welcome to something a little fun and different. The Daily Dredds is spread across two volumes and showcases all the mini strips published in the Daily Star (a UK newspaper), these came out every Saturday and I didn't even realize they existed until recently (though I'm not surprised as I would have been between the ages of -2 and 3). Let us dive in and see how these go.

Okay, nothing groundbreaking. The first volume contains 319 strips from 1981 to 1986. The first few tales are pretty standard and act as an introduction to Judge Dredd and his world. Then we get about 315 one page quick and dirty stories spread across the years of Chief Judge McGruder and Chief Judge Silver. The stories aren't worth doing breaking down one by one as none off them are worth remembering to be honest. In most of the tales, we get two panels of a crime and then 5-7 panels of Judge Dredd. There are some true highlights like the different Alien lifeforms, the crimes and a fun Max Normal strip. But with such a limited space it is hard to fully immerse yourself into the stories.

I ultimately enjoyed reading these tales, though none are worthy of the ages. What you have here is just a fun pick up reading book. Something to pass a few hours by and just bring a smile to your face. I will hit up the second volume in a week or two. Let me know your thoughts if you have read these until next time here is a Max Normal panel and thanks for stopping by.

What army next? Help me choose.

Normally on a Monday, I would attempt to show off some model I've painted but instead this week I need your help choosing a new army. I love all things Aeldari but I am burnt out on yellow and want to do a pallet cleansing paint session and also have an army to face off my Aeldari against whilst I do some solo playing. The easy part of this decision making has been completed and I have narrowed down my choice to two different forces. This is were you my readers will help me choose! I will go through both factions and write what I like about them and then in the comments, I hope you will tell me which force you would like to see out of the two and hopefully over the summer I can start the building process.

Army Choice One.

Dark Angels

I've been a fan of the Angels for a while, the shameful questing knight's story arc has an appeal and I have enjoyed all the novels I have so far read that have involved them (mainly the Gav Thorpe series). I like the idea of the Fallen and all the monk style robes and mysteries that still surround them. But how would I build them? I feel I would want to go purely down the Primaris Route so no Ravenwing and no Deathwing. I would use the Dark Angels Master Lazarus and build a solid firebase around him.

Pros

• Not yellow
• Enjoy the novels
• Have links to the Iyanden
• The Fallen

Cons

• Only want to use Primaris, so infantry heavy list which might get a bit boring.

Red Corsairs

Now this one is a bit of a throwback to when I once played a Space Marine Army. Way back maybe eight years ago I collected and played Astral Claws the OG Red Corsairs. I really got into the Betrayal of Badab and even ran a blog that focused on other players and collector's blogs. I still have a soft spot for Huron and Garron and still, happily read the Forgeworld Manuals about the conflict. This makes me think that I would enjoy revisiting the story and recreating it for the new setting of 40k.

Pros

• Love the characters and back story
• More freedom to play around with kits and conversions
• Not yellow
• Able to revisit some old favourite books
• Maybe do an all Terminator list to represent a space fleet boarding party?

Cons

• I would have to convert me a Huron, a Valthex and a Garreon
• Might get sucked back into the Malestrom again.
• Will need a pet Hamadrya

If you have an opinion on which way to go let me know in the comments below and follow the blog to see how I get on.

Book Review 81 // A Thousand Sons

Look at that, we are on to the third book of my Thousand Sons month of reading. If you missed the first two here are the links:

Ahriman: Sorcerer

Ahriman: Unchanged

So far I have been left feeling meh, the Ahriman stories seemed to follow non-Thousand Son characters and left me a little disappointed. With that in mind, I made sure I picked up a book that would truly showcase the Thousand Son legion and turned to the Horus Heresy.

Book Details

Title: A Thousand Sons

Author: Graham McNeill

Publisher: Black Library

Type: Paperback

Page Count: 558

Commercial Fluff: Censured at the Council of Nikea for his flagrant use of sorcery, Magnus the Red and his Thousand Sons Legion retreat to their homeworld of Prospero to continue their use of the arcane arts in secret. But when the ill-fated primarch forsees the treachery of Warmaster Horus and warns the Emperor with the very powers he was forbidden to use, the Master of Mankind dispatches fellow primarch Leman Russ to attack Prospero itself. But Magnus has seen more than the betrayal of Horus and the witnessed revelations will change the fate of his fallen Legion, and its primarch, forever.

Review

This wasn't my first time reading this book, but it was so long ago I had forgotten a lot more than I remembered. The main point of this tale is showing how pride always comes before a fall. The pride was Magnus and the fall was the Thousand Sons.

Graham McNeill makes a point of showcasing the Thousand Sons as the Emperor's most loyal sons and as you delve deeper you realize you are watching a car crash in slow-mo and you just can't turn away. Unlike a lot of the Space Marines showcased before the Thousand Sons are unique in the fact that they are free thinkers, trained to ask questions, learn from other cultures and to face the powers of the warp and harness them. Even stranger for them is the fact that they are preparing for life after the crusade, we find out that Ahriman is learning to be a winemaker!!

The novel starts slow, very slow to be honest but soon gains pace until we are running headfirst into the title fight of this stage of the Horus Heresy. For most of the tale, we view it through three sets of eyes, Ahriman - The favoured son of Magnus and future Chaos Champion, Magnus - Proud Primarch of the Thousand Sons and three Rememberancers - Sucked into the action due to having certain powers. This gives us some interesting viewpoints to follow, Ahriman a trusting son who believes his legion is loyal and saving the galaxy from ignorance. Magnus believing he knows everything allows his arrogance to get the better of him and blinds him to the dangers around him. The Remembrancers - Beliving they are with some of the best Space Marines they are wearing rose-tinted glasses right up to the end when the truth becomes known to them

Overall a great read that showed the Thousand Sons at their best and worst. It also had some great links to the Ahriman series and even some sneaky mention of Blood Ravens. Well worth the read and has reinvigorated my joy for the Thousand Sons I would love to hear your thoughts on this novel, have you read it? Drop me a comment below and next week we will move onto the Primarch series and MAGNUS to continue the month of Thousand Sons.

Beer Review 92 // Pretty Much Yeah

Welcome! I'm pretty excited to sit down and write this one. Craft Brand Co. from Toronto managed to secure the rights to help produce some Superflux beers. This is an experimental brewery out of Vancouver, BC Canada. I managed to get my hands on the three available varieties and as a beer and brewery I have never tried I am excited to jump in!

Details

Name: Pretty Much Yeah

Style: Lactose IPA

Brewery: Superflux Brewery - Collaboration with Gigantic Brewing Company

Country: Canada. Vancouver, BC.

ABV: 5%

Commercial Fluff: Pretty Much Yeah is a very aromatic and full IPA made with Galaxy Hops and milk sugar. Softer than a pile of kittens, with pungent passionfruit, clean orange and citrus, and juicy peach notes. Made collaboratively, in Vancouver, with our friends from Gigantic Brewing out of Portland, OR.

Own Opinion

The Label: A Very pretty looking label. Feels a little Ikea picture frame filler, but I feel that a lot with some can labels.

The Pour: Thick, muted egg yolk yellow. A nice fluffy head that was gone in seconds which is a real shame.

The Aroma: Big fruity pineapple juice! It seems like a little bit of sweetness is creeping in as well.

The Taste: Weird. It seems a bit clashing. Sweet sugar type hit early on but finishes bitter and chalky and as the beer warms up you get a strong alcoholic aroma which is a bit off-putting.

Would I buy it again: No. Fun to try but the flavours were just not right for me. I see it scores well with a large number of people whilst the odd one or two seem to dislike it. I didn't hate it but have no urge to drink more. It also seems to be the only one to have not sold out on the Toronto website so maybe that speaks volumes as well.

Let me know your thoughts and thanks for stopping by.

Comic Review 84 // The King in Yellow by I.N.J. Culbard

Welcome to this week's creepy comic review. I've been a fan of Lovecraft and his mythos for a long while, the idea of elder gods and monsters tormenting us mere mortals for some reason really calls to me. I know from reading biographies on Lovecraft that he was inspired by other writers at the time and one such person was Robert W. Chamber. The book which this graphic novel is based on is a collection of weird fiction all tied together using the theme of a play, which is believed to cause the reader to descend into madness if read.

Book Stats

Type: Hardback

Page Count: 143 Pages

Original Author: Robert W. Chambers

Adapted By: I.N.J. Culbard

Publisher: Self Made Hero

Date: 2015

This graphic novel retells the following four stories The Repairer of Reputations, The Mask, The Yellow Sign and In the Court of the Dragon. I ultimately found this to be a worthy retelling with Culbard slightly changing the odd part to help with the flow of the tale. For the graphic novel, Culbard relies on the single character Jack Scott to anchor the story arcs and combine the four tales into one narrative. The artwork is atmospheric and beautifully coloured. I found myself creeped out with a few of the panels and it has left me wanting to read the original source material, I'm intrigued by a few of the themes in the tales which for me is always a great sign.

Have you read this tale? Let me know in the comments below. Thank you for stopping by and I hope you'll hit the follow button.

Miniature Monday // Wooden Clown

Who doesn't love a Clown! When I originally came across this miniature on Reaper I knew I had to paint one. Five years later and I finally got him to a tabletop standard. I knew I wanted him to be a resident of the Dan Abnett Block but what to call him? A quick bit of research leads me to Annihilators TPB Vol 11 and a Rocket story arc involving a clown! A bit more research and I find out he is known as the Wooden Clown.

So introducing officially for the first time The Wooden Clown of Sector 102.

The Wooden Clown.

Backstory: TBA - Going to wait on his back story until more is known about the gang.

(Count as Gang Heavy)

Move	Shoot	Fight	Evade	Resist	Cool	Notoriety
6"	3	3	2	3	3	7

Weapons: Wooden Hammer (Baseball Bat)

A pretty straight forward perp. I originally thought of making him a Futsie but then decided I like the idea of a gang of clowns racing around in a clown car. Now to start searching for some cool clown models and a car! That's it for today, thanks for stopping by and if you have any leads on cool clowns drop me a comment or link below to check out.

Book Review 80 // Ahriman: Unchanged by John French.

Welcome to the second week of my month to the Thousand Sons. The first week was reviewing Ahriman: Sorcerer, which to be honest I had very mixed feelings for. Part of me loved the world the building but it felt slow and a bit overwhelming with all the characters and plot twists. As I entered this final tale in the trilogy I was feeling ready for a triumphant finish. Will the most iconic Villian of the 40k verse give me this? Let's jump in and find out.

Book Details

Title: Ahriman: Unchanged

Author: John French

Publisher: Black Library

Type: Paperback

Page Count: 416 (are all Black Library novels made to this length for any reason?)

Commercial Fluff: The final installment in the Ahriman trilogy

It has taken many long years and countless sacrifices, but finally, Ahriman, former Chief Librarian of the Thousand Sons, now exile and sorcerer, is ready to attempt the most audacious and daring feat of his long life. His quest for knowledge and power has all been for one purpose, and he would now see that purpose fulfilled. His goal? Nothing less than undoing his greatest failure and reversing the Rubric that damned his Legion…

Review

Here we are on the final novel of the series. Ahriman: Unchanged finally sees Ahriman back at his full strength and moving forward with enacting the new Rubric. The story is pretty straight forward as we kind of know what is happening and what the final goal is. Highlights for me include being able to visit some iconic locations like Prospero and the Planet of Sorcerers in the warp. But sadly this book suffers like the second novel and is constantly told through the viewpoints of other characters, so we don't really get to hear or see Ahriman's true plans from his viewpoint. It is also once again a very slow tale that takes forever to reach the point. What this book is good for is world-building, it's great for expanding the world around Ahriman but it truly failed to keep me interested and I am sad to say this series died for me.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this novel, have you read it? Drop me a comment below and next week we will move onto the Thousand Sons.

Comic Review 83 // Restricted Files 03

Yeah, yeah I know I messed up and did volume 04 first. But here I am attempting to correct that issue with jumping straight into volume 03 now. The tales go from 1990 to 1994 and I am intrigued to see how serious the tales actually are.

Story: Carry On Judging Script: Alan Grant Art: Cliff Robinson
A bit of a weird tale using the Carry on film cast as the main theme. Ultimately ends up being a holo-vid illegally imported from Brit-Cit. A very filler piece in my opinion so I will move on.

Story: Beyond the Alley of the Ultra-Vixens Script: Alan Grant Art: David Roach
What starts as a gang shooting, ends up with Dredd closing down an illegal anti-gravity wrestling meet up. Not sure how the two were linked but somehow they are. Very nice artwork and one hell of a weird commentator.

Story: Computer Warrior Script: Alan Grant Art: Ron Smith
A Juve has managed to get his hands on a gaming slug that has been banned due to the violence involved and the theme of the game, fighting crime as Mega-City Ones finest Judge Dredd. We get to watch the child play through the game and as he reaches the end the real Judge Dredd arrives on the scene to arrest the child. Bit of classic story setting but fun none the less.

Story: Sleeping Mutie Script: Unkown Art: Paul Marshall
A weird tale for sure. Thought it was going to be a spin on sleeping beauty, though definitely taking inspiration from it, it then travelled down a different path. Prince Vince is in search of this lost love a blonde-haired frog mutant from the Cursed Earth. Managing to get past the city wall guards, Prince Vince discovers his love in a frozen cell suffering from a brain injury. When Dredd tells Vince what had happened the Prince lashes out against Dredd and of course, loses.

A very filler piece that doesn't serve any purpose but the real question is who wrote it? How did they manage to lose that info?

Story: Top Dogs Script: John Wagner Art: Colin MacNeil
Amazing cross over involving the Strontium Dogs and Judge Dredd! A criminal from the future is using MC-1 as a hideout so the Doghouse sends Johnny Alpha and Wulf Sternhammer to go get him. The only problem is our main man Judge Dredd doesn't like it when people take the law into their own hands. Great first time meeting of the characters can't wait for it to happen again.

Story: Jonathan Livingston Dog-Vulture Script: Alan Grant Artist: Paul Marshall
A funny comedy tale, we meet Jonathan Livingston a vulture-dog from the Cursed Earth. All Jonathan wishes is to hunt like a hawk and enjoy fresh meat, the only problem is their mutation doesn't really allow for grace. Here ensues some comical errors and the first and last viewing of an official Chef Judge.

Story: Christmas is Cancelled Script: Mark Millar Art: Brett Ewins
Judge Dredd is coming down hard on the Scot-Blocks following the discovery of bootlegged whisky. Until the Justice Department discover all the bottles and the distillery no one is celebrating Christmas in these blocks. A pretty straight forward Xmas time comic strip, with some stupid stereotyping happening, I did like the twist at the end (which I won't spoil).

Story: Cult of the Thugee Script: Alan Grant Art: Glynn Dillon
Judge Patel disappeared from the Justice Department, turns out he has been brainwashed by a cult to commit murder in the name of Thugee. Lucky for MC-1 Dredd and Anderson are on the case. Has a quirky comic ending with Dredd sending Anderson to the Kook cubes. I really enjoyed this tale and the artwork.

Story: Love Story II – Futile Attraction Script: John Wagner Art: Ian Gibson
Bella Bagley is back from the Kook Cubes and still in love with Judge Dredd. After killing her first Eldster, Bagley desires Dredd more than ever and takes over an Eldster home and starts killing the hostages one by one. Now it is up to Dredd to flirt the hostages to freedom!

Story: Judge Planet Script: Peter Milligan Art: Shaky Kane & Jo Flatters
Oh my God, this is the original script for that comic in the Restricted Files 04, I finally discovered who Judge Planet is. This is a weird-ass tale with some of the most strange

Story: The Juve Mutated Kung Fu Kleggs Script: Andy Lanning & Steve White Art: Dermot Power
A complete pop culture piece jumping onto the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie that had been released at the time. Basically, swap turtles for Kleggs and you get the idea. Raised to fight crime and to be calmed by ice cream truck music, four Kleggs escape into MC-1 and start causing trouble, here enters Judge Dredd and even more, comedy/chaos happens. A great piece with beautiful artwork and the right amount of laughs.

Story: Auld Aquaintance Script: John Wagner Art: Cam Kennedy
Seemingly written for New Year's Eve, mostly a flashback episode of the year. Also weirdly set in the Scot Blocks once again. Nothing of real note in this strip pure filler.

Story: The Sleeper Script: John Wagner Art: Geoff Senior
A used Droid had a sleeper program activate following the death of his owner. Soon the Droid is exacting revenge for its previous owner and Judge Dredd is soon on the case. The truly exciting part of this tale is the reappearance of Walter the Wobot, now a successfully used Droid salesman and he has lost his lisp! Well until he meets Judge Dredd once again.

Story: Impact Imminent Script: Simon Furman Art: Steve Yeowell
Ian Impact a famous music star has a planned visit to MC-1. Impact mania has taken over an entire sector causing multiple arrests and keeping the Judges extremely busy. Elsewhere exiled Sov-Judges from Kazan's Regime decides to attack MC-1 once more with a Nuke!

Story: The Mystery of Judge (Edwin) Drood Script: Dan Abnett Art: Mike Hadley
A Post-Necropolis story, Edwin Drood is charged with digitalizing old files from the welfare system of MC-1. After being attacked at a Resyk Hall Edwin uses the old files to discover his attacker and attempts to arrest him. The final results are unsurprising considering the links to a novel of the same name.

Story: Roboblock Script: Simon Furman Art: Lee Sullivan & Kev Hopgood
After discovering what was possibly a leaper, Judge Dredd heads into Paul Verhoeven Block. This is no ordinary block, this block has a computer brain and all the tasks are completed by droids. Can Judge Dredd outwit the mainframe before the Robot Chef cooks him alive? A seriously fun little tale never realized Judge Dredd had a hairy chest!

Story: Joovz ‘n’ the Hood Script: John Wagner Art: Richard Preston & Edmund Kitsune
A truly fun look into the life of a MC-1 block. What happens when a crime is committed on the edge of two rival gangs. We get to watch it escalate into a full-on gang war involving two blocks of Juves going head to head. Love the idea of so much destruction happening that the blocks will be possibly torn down.

Story: Parallel Lines Script: Alan Grant & Tony Luke Art: Brett Ewins
In the across dimensional story, we discover an MC-1 run by the technologically advance Judd. They cross over to our Judge Dredd's world and give one offer, join us or get crushed. In classic JD fashion, he refuses to go down and instead does everything in his power to prove who is the real law.

Story: Serial Killer - Silence of the Limbs Script: John Wagner Art: Simon Hunter
A Brit-Cit tourist (?) has come to MC-1 with one goal in mind, to take the title of fastest kills in one night from the "Lefty" serial killer. When the first right hand is discovered with a timestamp, Judge Dredd realizes what is happening and is up against the clock. Can he stop the killer escaping to Brit-Cit and being immortalized in the record books?

I actually remember this tale when it came out, I loved the artwork by Simon Hunter and I remember trying to recreate it. Such an inspiring tale and really quite a classic murder story gave a sci-fi twist. Love it.

Story: The Squealer Script: John Wagner Art: Greg Staples
A woman has information on two perps who committed a bank robbery the day before. But the way she received the info it is completely unbelievable, via dead husband. Soon the woman is squealing on multiple crimes and becomes a paid informant for the Justice Department. That is before the final twist of the tale.

Story: Kinky Boots Script: Robbie Morrison Art: Paul Grist
A bit of a weird tale about two characters who has a serious boot fetish. But what would be the best boot to add to the collection.....Judge Dredd! Bit of a filler tale but fun enough.

Story: Hate Inc. Script: John Smith Art: manual B
An all-new assassination firm is active in MC-1. When it becomes obvious they would have to "whack" Judge Dredd the perps at least had the sense to hire outside muscle. Here enters the Gila-Munja, a cursed earth tribe of mutant assassins. With skin at can blend into the backdrop and claws dripping with poison these creatures are the ultimate killing machine!

This story was pretty good, a little bit action, a little bit thriller and even some Judge Corruption! Set after the Necropolis story arc it seems like a lot of Judges went rogue.

Story: Virtual Unreality Script: John Wagner Art: John Burns
Judge Dredd is investigating missing art objects from paintings when suddenly he is found inside a painting. Believing to have been drugged Dredd follows the clues and plays out the dream/nightmare, before returning to the real world. This is definitely a quirky tale.

Story: Nightmare Man Script: Alan Grant Art: Dean Ormston
A research team creating a relaxing night time beverage have been dying in their sleep. It is up to Judge Dredd to discover the real cause behind these nightmares and bring them to justice. A straight forward tale but some seriously amazing artwork from Dean Ormston, so gritty and dark but also so obviously comical proportions. Loved it.

Story: Call Me Mr. Nice Guy Script: John Wagner Art: Greg Staples
Judge Dredd is on school duty and teaching about crime to the young generation. During the lesson, we learn that Billy's Great Grandad is possibly selling tobacco! This leads Dredd onto an arrest, live in front of the young children. Classic Dredd manipulating the youngsters into informing on their parents, the story ends with every child crying hahaha.

Story: Cage of Knives Script: Alan McKenzie Art: Paul Marshall & Dondie Cox
A bit of a filler tale. A strange new cult has risen in MC-1 and the leader is about to be interrogated by Dredd. The question is who is the actual prisoner? Interesting piece showing the beginning of Judge Dredd's doubts over Chief Judge McGruder's second run in office. This is something we see happen in the case files soon I believe.

Overview

Much better than Volume 04, with more serious (for Dredd) tales that actually progress the story arc. I just wish these were in the case files at the correct time, as a few of these contain not big spoilers but definitely story enhancing plots. Anyway, this was a great way to finish the Restricted Case Files volumes and I am looking forward to diving back into the case files.

Thanks for joining this adventure.

Book review 79 // Ahriman: Sorcerer by John French

Welcome to my month of Thousand Sons reading. I am starting this off with Ahriman: Sorcerer the second in a trio of stories about one of the most famous Thousand Sons in existence. I originally read the first book Ahriman: Exile way back in 2017 and I really should have got back into this series a lot sooner. Let's jump in.

Book Details

Title: Ahriman: Sorcerer

Author: John French

Publisher: Black Library

Type: Paperback

Page Count: 416

Commercial Fluff: Ahriman, greatest sorcerer of the Thousand Sons and architect of the Rubric that laid his Legion low, continues to walk the path towards salvation, or damnation. Searching for a cure for his Legion, he is forced to consider - was the great ritual somehow flawed from the very beginning? The answer may lie within the mysterious artefact known as the Athenaeum of Kallimakus, a grimoire of forgotten lore which is reputed to contain the exact words of the lost Book of Magnus - or, perhaps, even a transcription of the primarch's deepest and most secret thoughts.

Review

The story isn't an instant follow up to Exile. Instead, we have jumped forward in time and events. We now find Ahriman as a leader of a pretty large host of warbands. With a goal finally in place to focus on and give him a reason to live. He is now seeking out an item that he believes will assist him in undoing the damage he caused with the Rubric spell. Into this mix, we have betrayal, jealously and backstabbing from Ahriman's own Warband.

The story itself is pretty slow-burning, attempting to build up the hard task that Ahriman is trying to accomplish. Though the book is called Ahriman he doesn't seem to be the focus of the tale, instead, a large part of the book works on introducing the all-new characters. This world-building exercise though interesting had the unwanted effect of losing me as a reader. I wanted a dominant Ahriman story, instead, I am stuck with some random characters that I really don't care for. I felt the plot was disjointed and jarring at best, whilst all the new characters actually made it hard to keep track of what is happening. Add to this, characters seemingly getting forgotten about and disappearing from this book (what on Earth?).

Ultimately a slow, dragging read that went nowhere! I do feel like this book has dropped me out of this series. But as I am attempting to do a Thousand Sons month I am now starting Ahriman: Unchanged and really hope these issues get fixed in the next novel.

Let me know your thoughts on this novel if you have read it. Am I missing something? Do you agree that the tone has changed? What happened to the Ahriman of the first novel?

Thanks for stopping by.