Games Workshop Warhammer 40,000 Gathering Storm Rise of the Primarch (Hardcover)

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The first two novels were originally set at the tail end of the Indomitus Crusade, but no longer! The long-awaited book 3 – Godblight– has now been released, alongside update editions of the first two books which have been adjusted so that they now take place during the crusade, rather than at its conclusion. I haven’t personally read Godblight or the new editions of books 1 and 2, but it doesn’t sound like the tweaks are massive beyond that adjustment in the timeline.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is how the book starts to work with a few old ideas. Having tried and failed to keep people interested with just a direct link from one story to the next, the writers opted to offer multiple hints and threads for potential future plotlines with this one. While we're going to leave most of these to the next book, let's just say that a few unexpected twists are in store for the galaxy. Some very big ones, which could change the expected outcome of the Long War for better or worse.

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Daemonic Adversaries – these special rules allow you to field Grey Knights against enemies that are not necessarily Daemonic in nature, meaning your Grey Knights can be fielding without breaking narrative; I felt that some of story arcs were actually improved in this book; RJ used to hop around a lot more, splitting a plotline in halves or thirds and then shuffling other things into it, creating mini-cliffhangers. In this book, it seems that we stay with some of the main arcs for much longer, often to their ultimate conclusion, and I found that to be very, very satisfying. A data-burst suddenly lit up his mind. She had come to him in his forge on Mars, where he had laboured so long at his sacred task. She had compelled him to venture forth, to take his precious cargo to its long-intended destination. The time is now, she had whispered, and he had been unable to resist. How strange that, until now, he had forgotten that meeting.

Surprisingly, Guilliman himself also proves to be a major source of goodness all throughout the tale. It's true that Games Workshop has a notorious habit of over-promoting the primarch and his sons, often to the determent of everyone else. While Matt Ward's contributions will often be pointed to as the chief problem behind this, even the otherwise fantastic Horus Heresy rulebooks and novels have an irritating habit of dipping into this over and over again. Yet, despite this, Robute is in fine form here. He's still the demigod we know, still the expert strategist and tactician who rebuilt the Imperium, but the writers rarely feel the need to push this. They let him punch the heads off of traitors, regroup his forces and turn a losing battle into an abrupt victory but never feel the need to add something like "and thus this proved the Ultramarines were better than all others" or have him kill an entire Titan Legion with a glance. Oh, don't roll your eyes at that, we've seen stupider things in the past. NOTE: until such time as BL produces an official resource, I’ll do my best to keep this reading list up to date with new releases as and when they’re published. This version of the article was created in January 2021, but I’ve added books in here and there along the way – the last minor update was in August 2022. If you are here to remind me once again of old promises, xenos, then you have come too late. My ships are already preparing to depart as we speak,’ Cawl said. I think Psychic Awakening was harmed by four main things. The first thing that hurt it was being over hyped. Taken on its own the series is fine as an expansion to the lore and rules. It set up some new zones of conflict, and allows players to fight them out. It gave every faction something new to play with. We’ve seen expansions like this before, such as Vigilus, and they were fine. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong with it. However the series was over hyped. It’s hard to feel that it was a bigger event then anything we’ve seen before, as it was sold to us. On that front the event was hyped to a level that it could never deliver.Formations allowing you to field The Fallen, the Grey Knights’ Bulwark of Purity, the Victrix Guard of the Ultramarines and the Triumvirate of the Imperium; It's something I personally like to call the Steven Moffat effect, where things happen just because they can and the story needs them to. Personally, I wouldn't harp on this so much, were these not basic things which should have been easily ironed out of the book but arise so many times that it reads like an early draft which has yet to be run past an editor. This is the first step towards the time foretold, with the return of the primarchs and the final war against Chaos. Old myths, prophecies and suggestions of a new age are coming to pass, and with the revival of the Avenging Son, it suggests that there might be more truth to them than we first realised. The question now is, even if he has returned, is there still enough of an Imperium left for him to command and help save? These moments tend to be akin to the description of the initial assault during Know No Fear - particularly the shipyard sequence - some of the larger battles, or even moments reserved to cover an entire battle in full. It certainly pulls away from the core of the action, but it's welcome thanks to just how much it fleshes out events. A personal favourite takes place during the retreat from Cadia itself, where several paragraphs are spent outlining the tactics used, fleet formations and the ships Emperor's Wrath and Dominus Victor, both of who suffer a particularly sadistic fate. Plus it gives the book an excuse to show void battles, which is always a bonus in these sorts of stories. If you’re a fan of Inquisitor Greyfax, this four-part audio drama is the next step in her story after Eye of Night. It also heavily features Saint Celestine, and has brilliant performances from Katherine Tate (Greyfax) and Emma Gregory (Celestine). I wouldn’t say it was essential to the ongoing story, but it provides a good look at the Ecclesiarchy and the Inquisition post-Great Rift.

The first book in the brand new Dawn of Fire series, this effectively takes place as the Indomitus Crusade begins. If you haven’t already read Dark Imperium , this is definitely the place to start with the Era Indomitus stories. There’s lots about Guilliman and masses of great new lore, but also all sorts of interesting arcs featuring the Imperial Navy, the Inquisition and the Administratum. Six new Relics for Ecclesiarchy and six Mechanicum Relics, which can be used by the forces of the Adept Sororitas and Cults Mechanicum. I haven’t read this, the third book in the Dawn of Fire series, so I can’t say too much about it. From what I understand though, it changes the focus of the series away from Imperial forces battling Chaos and onto the Space Wolves facing off against the greenskin menace led by the legendary ork warlord Ghazgkhull Thraka. Gathering Storm: Fall of Cadia is a campaign supplement for the Seventh Edition of Warhammer 40,000. It is the first part of the Gathering Storm series. Perhaps, what is most notable more than anything else, however, is how it weaves the character pieces and larger text together. Past books have usually had some difficulty trying to balance out the small segments written in a manner akin to novels, and the larger overall text. Often it seemed as if a writer had a certain quota to fill by adding in so many ones per book rather than any exact plan, and while Traitor's Hate and a few others had some great scenes, a number of moments still felt out of place. Here though, many have been almost perfectly placed time and time again, often coinciding or expanding upon certain events. While the core story will tell you the essentials to a satisfying degree, and will still provide enough details for you to go by that alone, the character segments add more context to certain scenes. For example, the finale features a major battle between the Vengeful Spirit and an Ark Mechanicus warship, and focuses upon the battle. This initially looks as if it is simply due to their constant hunt for their enemy, but a side text provides more context for this action.

Essential Novels

The Shadowseer’s mask settled, forming a countenance that Cawl hadn’t seen for millennia. The likeness lingered for a moment, then dissolved into a vortex of dancing light. In the Two Rivers, the Whitecloaks ride in pursuit of a man with golden eyes, and in pursuit of the Dragon Reborn. Read my review of Ghost Warrior or my Rapid Fire interviews with Gav about Ghost Warrior and Wild Rider. What else? Following the tumultuous events in 'The Fall of Cadia' & 'The Fracture of Biel-tan', the rag tag Celestine Crusade, as well as the followers of Ynnead reach an uneasy alliance, towards a shared purpose; The resurrection of the Ultramarines Primarch Roboute Guilliman (aka Papa Smurf) British Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Pictures used for illustrative purposes only.