It always rains in Nuln – "Three things make the Empire great; faith, steel and gunpowder."

Xathrodox86 reviews: “The End Times” series from Black Library. Part 4: “The Rise of the Horned Rat”

We are finally getting to the semi-decent stuff in the End Times saga. Hard to believe, I know.

Guy Haley is one of my favorite Black Library writers. I practically only know his 40K/Horus Heresy stuff, but he never once disappointed me when it comes to Warhammer fiction. Case in point his End Times entry, “The Rise of the Horned Rat”, is actually… rather good!

I know, shocking! But before you declare me completely insane, read the rest of my review first.

***The cover is excellent, as were all the previous ones! (art by Paul Dainton)***

SPOILERS AHEAD. As usual, I might add.

The 4th book in this series focuses entirely on the fall of the Dawi, the Dwarfs (no humans and elves allowed, halflings too!). It takes place mainly in the lost hold of Karak Eight Peaks where King Belegar Ironhammer of Clan Angrund tries to reclaim the entirety of Vala-Azril-Ungol, the “Queen of the Silver Depths”, as it was also known. Opposing him are the infamous Skaven Warlord Queek Headtaker of Clan Mors, as well as Skarsnik, a powerful and cunning Night Goblin Warboss. Most of the other Dwarven holds have fallen, or are about to be destroyed, as the End Times are in full swing. Will Belegar manage to reclaim his inheritance, before the world inevitably comes to an end?

This is a sad book with some deeply tragic and hopeless themes placed front and centre. It’s not “End Times tragic”, i.e, the good guys must lose because the setting needs to end. No, Haley manages to portray the fall of the Dawi race as at once inevitable, but also a long time in coming. It’s clear that due to the millenia of constant fighting, low birth rate, and also the sheer, uncompromising stubbornness of the Dwarfs, their race is destined to fall. Nowhere is it better described than in the character of Belegar Ironhammer, a Dwarf so obsessed with reclaiming his birthright, that he’ll sacrifice everything and everyone to see his ultimate goal achieved. Even his own flesh and blood is not safe from his blind obsession, which can be seen with him unwilling to let his wife run away with their son in search of safety. Of course the consequences of this decision are, ultimately, tragic. Guy Haley definitely managed to send off the Dawi in a dignified way, showing us a race that could’ve perhaps survived the End Times, if only it managed to conquer its own, stubbornly flawed nature.

On the other hand we have the Skaven and the Orcs and Goblins. Warlord Queek is an absolute powerhouse, a real menace on the battlefield, if slightly mad. He, along with the rest of the Ratkin, are being guided to their ultimate goal by the Verminlords, Greater Daemons of the Horned Rat. I absolutely love their scheming and the description of the Realm of Ruin, the Skaven domain in the Realm of Chaos. It is wonderfully disgusting, a completely insane place more disturbing and otherworldly than the other Chaos Gods’ realms in the Aether, at least in my opinion. I also like the fact that the Verminlords were once mortal Skaven, before being elevated by the Horned Rat to Daemonhood. This just shows that the Under-Father is not averse to rewarding his most successful subjects with the ultimate gift of immortality and everlasting power.

Anyway, Queek is tasked with killing Belegar once and for all and securing the entirety of the “City of Pillars”, as the Karak Eight Peaks is known to the Skaven. Haley describes him as a mighty warrior, completely ruthless and cruel, even for a ratman, but also flawed. Queek is getting old, which means he’s getting slower, more feeble and his eyesight is slowly getting worse. It terrifies him. His master, Warlord Gnawdwell, plays on his fears and manipulates him to further his own goals. The fact that both of these Skaven belong to one of the most martially-oriented clans, doesn’t lessen the fact that they’re still unable to avoid the constant manipulation that is one of the hallmarks of their race. Great stuff.

Skarsnik’s plot was the least interesting to me, not because it was badly written, but because it felt too light and funny for such a sombre book. Yes, there’s the infamous death of Gobbla, his beloved pet Squig, but even this felt kinda comedic, instead of serious and tragic. That said I really liked how utterly ruthless and driven “King of the Eight Peaks” was portrayed in “The Rise of the Horned Rat”, as well as deadly dangerous… especially for a Night Goblin! That’s not surprising, given that Guy Haley wrote a whole novel about him, back in 2013. At one point in the book, he even enters into an alliance of sorts with Skreech Verminking, the most powerful of the Exalted Verminlords, which of course doesn’t end well for ol’ Skarsnik.

The most tragic part, however, is that he gets… completely forgotten by the authors after this book. He leaves Karak Eight Peaks and that’s the last we’ve ever heard of him. Sure, he certainly died when the world got blown up, but until that happened we never discover what befell him after he abandoned the Dwarf hold. These are the End Times for you.

He just kinda… disappears. Lame… (art by *Cheol Joo Lee*)

“The Rise of the Horned Rat” is written in a way that I found really interesting. The book never felt like it overstayed its welcome, most (anti)heroes’ actions were logical and fitting their characters. The battles were super bloody and brutal, a trademark of Haley who knows how to describe combat in a merciless and bloody way. Queek Headtakers’ sheer cruelty and fighting prowess were especially impressive. I absolutely loved his final duel with Belegar, even though reading about the “True King of Karak Eight Peaks” demise was gut wrenching. Also “The Rise of the Horned Rat” has some of the best descriptions of Dwarf holds that I ever encountered in a Black Library publication.

Unfortunately there were some flaws included as well. The last act of the book felt incredibly rushed and, honestly, unnecessary. It moved to Karaz-a-Karak, the Everpeak and capital of Karaz Ankor, and focused on Thorgrim Grudgebearer. Suddenly, after almost a whole book about Belegar, we’re forced to follow the High King of the Dawi, as he prepares to defend the final hold of his race against Queek and his many armies. While the combat engagements were described really well in earlier chapters, here they felt kinda rushed and poorly written. I couldn’t find them as interesting as those which took place in and around Karak Eight Peaks. It’s also here that the whole Incarnates plot rears its ugly head, with Thorgrim briefly becoming the host for the golden Wind of Chamon. I consider the Incarnates idea to be one of the worst pieces of any fiction in existence, and I absolutely detest it ever making its way into Warhammer Fantasy.

Also I understand that this kind of stuff is popular in Warhammer 40,000, but the whole “we can’t repair your armour because we lost the ability to do so millenia ago” is just dumb in fantasy. Thorgrim’s plate gets damaged in combat, and we’re being told that it can’t be fixed because no one knows how to do it anymore. So how in the hell were the Dwarfs able to repair during the last few millennia? I presume that it was damaged often enough in the previous, let’s say, century or two. So what, Thorgrim went to battle in a suit of plate full of holes and rents countless times, because his smiths couldn’t fix it? Give me a break.

The final fall of Karaz-a-Karak is also hilarious, even though the author tries to make it look tragic and grim. You see, the Everpeak fell because Thorgrim… forgot to lock the door to a balcony. Yes, really. He gets shanked by the Deathmaster Snikch who, apparently, managed to SCALE THE ENTIRE MOUNTAIN TO THE VERY TOP, knife the High King, and entered the door leading to the inside of the hold, where he opened the main gates for the invading Skaven army. I wish I was joking. The ratmen’ entire plan was based on the hope that Thorgrim will forget to lock the door behind him.

I mean… wow. Just wow.

While I am nitpicking, there were a few other irritating things here and there, but nothing too serious. Stuff like Nasty Skulkers apparently going toe to toe with Eshin Assassins was pretty implausible. Golgfag Maneater appears suddenly in a way that’s pretty standard for the End Times – you know, the authors needed to cram as many named Warhammer Fantasy characters as possible into their books, so that people familiar with them will recognise their favorite, or least favorite, heroes. It’s actually one of the most annoying things about the End Times, at least for me.

Oh and Grey Seer Thanquol is also present in this book, but his “screen time” is seriously kept to a minimum, which I found to be a rather strange choice. Oh well…

***They did my boy Thanquol dirty! (art by Ralph Horsley)***

However the good clearly outweighs the bad here. While still part of this atrocious event, “The Rise of the Horned Rat” was a fun, mostly satisfying read. Guy Haley is a competent Black Library author, and he did a solid job with this book. If you’ll ever want to read only a single ET tome, then I suggest that you try out this one – it’s the best part of the entire End Times saga, at least for me.

You can buy the entire “The End Times” series via the Black Library app.

Until next time!

Xathrodox86

Public service announcement: “L&T Chat Show” episode with yours truly

Just a short PSA this time – I’ve been invited to take part in a fantastic podcast about using games in teaching and learning.

On May 1st I took part in the “L&T Chat Show” podcast hosted by Roger Saunders where, with a couple of other fantastic people, we talked about utilising TTRPGs in education. We covered topics such as character creation, problem solving, player engagement at the table and more.

***The L&T Chat Show Podcast logo. All rights belong to Roger Saunders***

I was really lucky to be able to discuss role-playing games and swap tabletop stories with wonderful and passionate academics, such as Christopher, Soren and Laura. The chance to talk about my beloved hobby as a way to enhance learning and teaching was a truly unique experience, and I genuinely felt like we were making something that could potentially benefit a lot of folks in the future.

You can listen to the podcast episode on Spotify, which can be found here. The second part will be recorded in September, assuming that nothing unexpected will occur before then. After that there will probably be some time before the episode goes live. I will surely write about it on my blog when it finally becomes available.

I love sharing my passion and enthusiasm about TTRPGs, especially when they can be used to benefit others in some way. I wanted to sincerely thank Roger for inviting me to his podcast, and also thank Laura, Soren and Christopher for the chance to talk, share our role-playing experiences, and just have a fantastic time recording this episode of the “L&T Chat Show”.

I hope that you will enjoy listening to our discussion on Spotify. You can find the “L&T Chat Show” podcast here. “L is for Lecturer”, Roger’s website, can be accessed here.

Christopher Moss’ website, “Dawnstar Gaming CIC”, can be found here.

Dr Sören Henrich’s LinkedIn profile.

Until next time!

Xathrodox86

Xathrodox86 reviews: “The End Times” series from Black Library. Part 3: “The Curse of Khaine”

We return to our regularly scheduled End Times content. This time let’s take a look at Gav Thorpes’ contribution to this controversial, world-shattering event.

SPOILER WARNING… and all that jazz. You know the drill by now.

This book is a huge snooze fest. It’s not particularly terrible, it’s just boring as hell. Gav is a very “safe” Black Library author. Most of his stuff is inoffensive, easily digestible and perfectly functional. It’s also usually very bland and completely forgettable. “The Curse of Khaine” is no different. It focuses on the biggest Oedipus Complex victim in all of Warhammer Fantasy, Malekith! He has to deal with members of his own court plotting against him, his terribly toxic mother, the impending end of Naggaroth at the hands of the forces of Chaos and more. It’s no wonder then, that the ol’ Witch King has his hands full and more often than not feels like he’s getting too old for this crap.

***I gotta say… despite my poor opinion on the ET plot, this series’ covers look sick! (art by Paul Dainton)***

The entire book is written from Malekith’s perspective, showing us how his mind works and how he concocts his many plans and schemes. While I consider Aenarion’s Son to be one of the cooler villains in Warhammer Fantasy, this book, sadly, makes him look like a very indecisive character. One minute he dishes out cruel punishment towards his treacherous underlings like the tyrant we all know and love, and the next he’s full of self doubt and indecisiveness, coming off like a complete and utter pushover. This was especially visible in his later dealings with Alarielle, but also with Teclis. Malekith is not a consistent character in this book, and the godawful revelation that he was the true Heir to Ulthuan all along, if only he lasted slightly longer within the Flame of Asuryan, was pure cringe.

Malekith is not the only one to have his base nature turned upside down. Teclis, as it turns out, is suddendly a master manipulator. He betrays his people to aid Malekith in whom he sees a salvation for the entire Elven race, and not one of the Asur has any idea that the greatest of their mages suddendly dissapears in the middel of the night for long periods of time. Regularly. I don’t know, the High Elves in “The Curse of Khaine” are kinda stupid and inept. But for me Teclis’ sudden Machiavellian makeover doesn’t make sense. Yes, he was always wise and cunning, but not in a way that Gav pushes in his book. He took a long view of all things happening in the world, and played the long game, that’s why he helped establish the Colleges of Magic in the Empire. This Teclis tries very hard to be too smart than he actually should be, and it comes out fake and forced. Like when Malekith decides to become a more reasonable ruler for all Elves at the end of the book – I am simply not buying that change, not after decades of hard, established lore.

The plot itself jumps from one set piece to another. The Druchii abandon Naggaroth. The Druchii then arrive in Ulthuan and need to fight the forces of Tyrion, while being supported by a turncoat Imrik and Teclis, the master manipulator. Malekith learns the truth about his destiny and then leads nearly all of the remaining Elves to Athel Loren. It’s all just… boring as hell. Nothing really happens, even if the author really wants to shock us with the revelations about the Witch King’s true destiny as the Phoenix King (he was wronged, you see) and the fact that Tyrion became a super simp for Morathi, and is now her boy toy, completely in thrall to the psychotic sorceresses’ every whim. Like almost all End Times “revelations”, these feel forced and artificial. The plot rolls on because it has to, and certain things happen because they need to happen, but it never comes out as sincere or clever. Just boring.

But hey, at least this book is light on the whole “incest” thing between mother and son! That’s always a plus.

There are, of course, many other characters present in this book. That said none of them do that much. Imrik is a traitor and a little whiny wuss, irritating not only Malekith but me as well. It’s a shame since I always liked him a lot in the tabletop game. Morathi is completely insane, Alith Anar appears to farm aura and then leaves, not wishing to be in this book any longer than necessary. Same with Shadowblade, the greatest of all Dark Elf Assassins. All of those heroes either don’t do anything substantial or interesting, or they’ve been written in a way that vastly contradicts their long-established characters. Not a good thing in my opinion, not a good thing at all.

There are also retrospections scattered here and there, showcasing Malekith’s eventual turn to the dark side, his motivations, the seething jealousy of the other, seemingly more popular and influential Asur etc. While there are a nice addition to the book, giving us a solid glimpse into the Witch King’s psyche, they are also (I presume) mostly related to Thorpe’s other elven books, mainly the Sundering trilogy. As I haven’t read it, quite a lot of characters included in these flashbacks were completely unknown to me. Thus when one or more of them kicked the bucket, I didn’t cared one bit. Still, showing Malekith in his younger years, as well as the most important moments of his mortal life, was pretty cool.

The battles are what you would expect from an End Times title. They are large, they are bloody and the scale is completely off the charts. I swear, this series has made its authors compete in who can make the biggest combat set piece of them all. Unfortunately most of the fighting, the duels and magical fireworks are simply dull and I found myself thinking about other, more interesting things, while listening as Malekith fought a High Elf Avelornian Mage. There’s also the infamous problem of “how many Elves exactly are there?”, which plagued Warhammer for many years. Time and time again we’ve been told that all of the elven races are dying out,t hat there are not that many of the Asur, Druchii or the Asrai left in the word. Yet the conflict shown in “The Curse of Khaine” is nothing short of apocalyptic, the battles are huge, and the losses insanely high. I know that one of Games Workshop authors (I think that it was actually Gav himself!) said a long time ago, that “there are as many Elves/Eldar as necessary”, or something along those lines. Sure, that’s fair, but it once again creates this strange dissonance with the long-established lore, that GW has been feeding us for literal decades.

So how many of those pointy-eared bastards are there exactly? ***(art by Paul Dainton)***

Heroes’ power levels are also all over the place. Malekith often struggles lamely with his adversaries, mainly Tyrion, while the Dragon of Cothique is absurdly overpowered, taking out dragons and their riders by himself. Sure, by then he wielded the Sword of Khaine itself, but still… That’s just beyond bizarre in my opinion, and doesn’t fit the established rules of the setting at all. Anyone still remembers how hard was it for Tyrion to defeat Malekith’s champion, Urian Poisonblade, during the Battle of Finuval Plain? Or how badly he got mauled by N’Kari, a Keeper of Secrets, while defending the Everqueen? Gav Thorpe certainly doesn’t remember.

Oh and don’t even get me started on the ending. I just love when a book ends in such a way that it was utterly pointless to read it in the first place. Although at least it keeps the End Times tradition of “we can’t have nice things” strong.

I slogged through “The Curse of Khaine” and I can say one thing: it’s not bad, it just… exists. It’s a book set in the world of Warhammer Fantasy, during its final days. It has Elves in it. There are named heroes from the tabletop game. There are battles and there’s death. Other than that, I don’t really remember much about it. It’s safe, predictable and boring – like most of Gav Thorpe’s work. It’s not the most terrible ‘Hammer title I ever read, and it is definitely not the worst entry in the End Times series (scary, I know). It just… exists. Which really should tell you all that you need to know about it.

You can buy the entire “The End Times” series via the Black Library app.

Until next time!

Xathrodox86

In memoriam: John Blanche

John Blanche, one of the most iconic Warhammer artists, passed away on June 1.

He created some of the most unique and well known art pieces for both Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000. His painting style, known as “Blanchitsu”, really helped establish the grimdark aesthetic that 40K is so well known for. He also helped create “John Blanche’s En Guarde”, his last gaming project, as well as licensed his name to a range of paints inspired by his characteristic artistic style.

He also drew one of my favorite WFRP covers of all time: the fantastic rendition of Nuln for the first part of the classic OG “The Enemy Within” campaign, which bore the same title. It’s a truly timeless art piece and one that I always enjoyed a lot.

***I think that it captures Blanche’s characteristic gothic style perfectly! (art by John Blanche)***

I always enjoyed his unique, dark and gothic take on both Warhammer worlds, even if I usually gravitated towards the more “standard” art style of Adrian Smith, David Gallagher and Karl Kopinski. That said, I know one thing – there wouldn’t be Warhammer as we know it today without John Blanche and his incredible mind, as well as unique and bizarre artistic approach. His work on Mordheim, for example, is why I got interested in this game in the first place.

Rest in peace, Mr. Blanche. You will be missed.

Until next time.

Xathrodox86

Happy 19th birthday to Kalevala Hammer!

Another year, another happy anniversary for one of my favorite WFRP-focused websites!

Yesterday Jackdays wrote a birthday post regarding his fantastic domain. Kalevala Hammer is a very special place to me. It helped me tremendously back when I was just starting my Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay adventure as a GM. There are heaps and heaps of super useful material there, including timelines (always a convoluted thing when it comes to Warhammer Fantasy!), supplements about the savage Norsii, mighty Dragons, vicious Greenskins and even… drinks and tobacco! Because sometimes what an adventurer needs is a stiff drink and a fine quality Lustrian Cigar.

Kalevala Hammer also hosts my own WFRP fan-made addons. “Cultrum” is a document about the Empire’s elite spy outfit, the very best of the best. “Secrets of the Path” describes a secretive, Far Eastern criminal organization whose members wield strange and terrible powers. Finally there as two campaign templates – “Blood and Silver” and “Araby or Bust!”. The first one focuses on a military campaign set in the dangerous and lawless Border Princes. The second one is set Araby, the land of scorching sands and many wonders. It offers a mix of intrigue, exploration and massive battles against the Undead armies of dreaded Nehekhara.

Jackdays constantly updates his site, posts news about WFRP and TOW RPG products, and can generally be considered one of the pillars of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay community.

So here’s to Kalevala Hammer’s 19th birthday! May it celebrate many, many more in the future, as it is a fantastic website, and one that is certainly worth exploring. Do yourselves a favor and visit it, you won’t regret it.

***Let’s raise a glass to Jackdays and the fantastic Kalevala Hammer! (art by Sam Manley)***

Keep the Hammer high and… until next time!

Xathrodox86

Xathrodox86 reviews: “The End Times” series from Black Library. Part 2: “The Fall of Altdorf”

Our End Times journey continues. This time we’re travelling to Altdorf, to see if Kurt Helborg will manage to defend the glorious capital of the Empire from the forces of Chaos.

SPOILER WARNING. Obviously.

No, no he won’t. Although that’s not this book’s biggest weakness. We’re on the second ET tome and various idiotic additions to the lore begin to raise their ugly heads, like some kind of a demented, shitty hydra, hell-bent on sucking out the fun of anything even slightly Warhammer Fantasy-related. But let’s start from the beginning, shall we?

***The cover is, at the very least, pretty awesome! (art by Paul Dainton)***

This book, written by Chris Wraight, one of my favorite Black Library authors, is told mostly from the perspective of Kurt Helborg, the 8th Reiksmarshal of the Empire of Man and the Grand Marshal of the Reiksguard Knights. He is considered one of the greatest military commanders in the Old World, as well as the greatest living swordsman in the whole of Sigmar’s realm. The book starts with Kurt, his greatest rival Ludwig Schwarzhelm, and the Emperor himself, riding against a massive force of Chaos goons. Soon the Undead join the battle, led by Walach Harkon who apparently fell to Khorne for some reason.

Because as we all know Vampires in Warhammer Fantasy can succumb to the lure of Chaos. It’s not like their status makes them immune to its power and temptation. It’s not like the servants of Ruin hate them for their strange, twisted nature, as was clearly stated in “Night’s Dark Masters” for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 2nd edition.

So anyway Walach appears and he’s cartoonishly evil, gloating about “teh ultimate powah!”, and heavily wounding Karl Franz, as well as his faithful Griffon, Deathclaw. Kurt himself takes a Great Unclean One’s flail to the face and is knocked unconscious. The battle is lost.

Kurt wakes up later and, all aching and grumpy and, not to overstretch this wonderful summary, he is now the acting ruler in Karl Franz’s stead. He needs to prepare Altdorf’s defences because there’s a huge Chaos army marching towards the capital from the destroyed city of Marienburg. It is led by three plot devices with plot armour so absurdly thick and impenetrable, that it would make Alice from Paul W.S. Anderson’s “Resident Evil” movies green with envy. But that is only the beginning of poor Kurt’s problems, for in the sewers of Altdorf a madman is brewing something truly special for its population, and from the gloomy lands of Sylvania a massive army led by Vlad “The Chad” von Carstein is marching towards the capital as well.

I mentioned before that Kurt Helborg got himself into quite a pickle with the whole “I am in charge now!” situation. The author makes it rather obvious that the man is not fit for the role of a ruler, unlike his liege. Unfortunately Kurts’ biggest problem in this book is that he’s a complete idiot. Once again Chris Wraight proves that he simply hates this character, which was made painfully obvious in the “Sword of Vengeance” book, part two of Schwarzhelm and Helborg duology. For one of the greatest military commanders that the Empire ever had, he makes incredibly stupid and illogical mistakes. He treats almost everyone as a liability, regularly insulting people with whom he is supposed to organise the defense of Altdorf. His harsh, if not outright cruel, treatment of the Amber Wizard Gregor Martak, the new Supreme Patriarch of the Colleges of Magic, is simply bizzarre. Helborg acts as if he has never served alongside an Amber Wizard before, treating Martak like some kind of a filthy savage, shit talking him constantly, ignoring his advice, and just overall being a colossal douchebag.

***This is a damn fine art of, apparently, a very, very stupid man… (art by David Gallagher)***

This kind of portrayal doesn’t make any sense when we consider who Kurt Helborg is, what kind of service record he possesses, and how he’s described in other pieces of Warhammer Fantasy media. For example in WFRP 2e “Realms of Sorcery” there’s a quote from him, making it very clear that he respects Empire Wizards a lot, even if he acknowledges the need to always keep a close eye on them. You know, because of this whole “channeling the power of the Aether” thing. Anyway, it’s clear that as the commander in chief of all the Empire’s military forces, he would know the importance of magic users on the battlefield, treating them exactly the same as he would treat artillery crews and infantry formations. After all, the Empire’s army’s biggest strength is the whole “combined forces” shtick, with many differing elements working closely with each other to achieve victory. Here it’s almost like he forgot what being the Reiksmarshal actually means. It’s really jarring and makes the entire experience of getting through “The Fall of Altdorf” irritating to say the least.

Unfortunately Kurt Helborg’s cretinous lunacy is not the only weak part of this book. You see, around this point in the End Times it starts getting painfully obvious that the forces of Chaos are simply superior to everyone else on the planet, and they will win, no matter the cost and odds stacked against them. Nowhere is this better showcased than in the characters of the Glottkin, the three brothers dedicated to Nurgle who act as the main antagonists of this story and overall leaders of the amassed hordes of Chaos. As I mentioned before, their plot armour is beyond ludicrous. Every single fight they’re in, their enemies get steamrolled. They can’t be stopped by anyone or anything. Otto Glott is a masterful warrior, easily taking down any combatant who’s silly enough to challenge him. Yes, he eventually kills Kurt at the end of the book, and without much fuss. Ethrac Glott is written exactly like every single evil sorcerer in Warhammer, whether it’s Fantasy, 40K or Age of Sigmar – he acts like the “get out of jail free card” with his bullshit powers, being much better at spellcasting than anything the good guys can muster. Finally there’s Ghurk Glott, a heavily mutated, walking battering ram. He is impervious to practically any form of damage, easily smashing through entire formations, walls, fortifications etc.

The best thing? At the end of the day they’re just a trio of random Chaos dudes. There are thousands of guys and gals like them, they came out of nowhere, and yet, for some reason, they pose a bigger threat to the Empire than almost anyone and anything else. What a joke.

Reading about their exploits was, to me, similar to watching a friend play a video game using cheat codes. No matter how many enemies would throw themselves at him, his god mode and infinite ammo hacks would carry the day, ultimately ensuring his victory. Eventually their continuing appearance in “The Fall of Altdorf” would prove boring to me, as there were no stakes involved with their characters. I simply knew that no matter whom they fought, they would win. Their demise, when it finally arrives at the end of this book, was due to the actual God manifesting on the field of battle, and atomising them with his power.

It took Sigmar himself to kill three Chaos randoms. Let that sink in.

***Aura farming on this pic goes hard, but they’re still some of the most annoyingly written characters in the entire Warhammer Fantasy lore…***

There’s also Festus the Leechlord, a corrupted Imperial doctor-turned Nurgle cultist, who performs a powerful ritual underneath Altdorf, opening it to the glory of the Plaguefather’s Garden and making sure that the city’s defenders would need to fight not only the Chaos horde outside, but a myriad horrors rampaging through the streets as well. He took this whole “The Enemy Within” trope to the next level, let me tell you!

Unfortunately, just like it was the case with the Glottkin, Chris only tells us that Festus is super cool and powerful, but not actually making us understand why. The blasphemous rite that he performs is the most basic, bare bones Chaos ritual that was ever described in a Warhammer fiction. It boils down to “put a bunch of people into a big cauldron and dissolve them”. That’s it, that is all there is to it. It reads more like a tutorial-level ritual for the newly indoctrinated Chaos Cultists, than the world-shattering performance of a master corruptor. We’re being told that this was a powerful ceremony, but we haven’t been shown that. Festus’ work allows friggin’ Ku’gath, the Plaguefather himself, one of the most powerful Great Unclean Ones, to enter the material world, but the author didn’t managed to convey the scale of such a rite well enough for the reader to appreciate it, and accept it when familiar with Warhammer Fantasy’s universe rules. To me that was one of the weakest points of “The Fall of Altdorf”, and there are more than few of these, unfortunately.

It’s a shame really, as I still remember my morbid fascination and appreciation of Chris’ description of the grand Slaaneshi ritual at the finale of the Schwarzhelm & Helborg duology. It was excellently and terrifyingly described, being a culmination of literal decades of planning, depravity and utter ruthlessness. Throughout both books we’re seeing glimpses of this unholy effort, terrible, macabre performances which culminate in an orgy of violence, madness and death. It is both wondrous and outright disturbing to witness. Compare this to Festus’ lazy-ass cauldron dunking of a bunch of unfortunates, and your disappointment will be fully justified.

As for the rest of the ensemble cast… They’re pretty weak and forgettable for the most part. We have Jan Herrscher, a Witch Hunter-turned-Vampire. He should be an interesting character, but after his transformation (which doesn’t even make sense since Vlad kills him with a neck snap BEFORE turning him) he mostly just… mopes around and is all sulking and stuff. There’s also sister Margrit, a senior priestess of Shallya, who is stern yet matronly. Because of course she is. She fits every single Shallyan trope out there and her character doesn’t contribute anything major to the story, nor is she memorable in any way. There are also Elector Counts who have gathered in Altdorf (and later mysteriously disappear without any explanation as to what happened to them!), a bunch of various Vampires following Vlad von Carstein, and an assortment of your standard Chaos mooks. They’re all pretty inconsequential and most of them exist only to die horribly during one of this books’ many bloody battles.

There are lots of other, smaller irritating elements present in this book, but the above three are the biggest problems in my opinion. Honorary mention also needs to go to Vlad von Carstein, who is the only being that even got close to beating one of the invincible Glott brothers in close combat, only to screw it up at the last second. How, you may ask? Well it’s obvious that an ancient and experienced being such as Vlad would, after nearly mortally wounding Otto Glott, gloat about being a superior badass, how much Chaos actually sucks, and then… licking the Nurgle champions’ blood from his blade. I wish I was kidding. Vlad’s subsequent retreat from the field of battle, as the poisonous ichor literally dissolves him from the inside, was pure comedy gold. Probably unintentional, but at least it got a good chuckle out of me.

Not to be a total Negative Nancy, I will give this book a few positive marks… Or at least I will try to do so! Fight scenes are mostly decent, except the aforementioned duel between Vlad and Otto. Combat is visceral and brutal, and Wraight always had a flair for describing large-scale engagements really well. I liked the arrival of a large host of Bretonnias’ finest, led by Louen Leoncoeur himself. His character was actually written really well, being all bitter and jaded after the return of Gilles le Breton. It’s clear that old Louen didn’t take the whole “abdication” thing too well. Still, his exploits in “The Fall of Altdorf” were definitely one of its stronger points. Naturally, since these are the End Times and Games Workshop had to kill the entire setting, his ultimate fate is rather grim.

Another well-written character was Gregor Martak, a man painfully out of his element as the new Supreme Patriarch of the Colleges of Magic. It’s obvious that he hates his new role and chafes at it, being completely unsuited for high-level politicking and everything that is associated with it. I found him to be a really sympathetic, grumpy, nature-loving guy who’s been forced into a situation that is beyond his control and expertise.

***A very cool, down-to-earth fella, given the circumstances in which he found himself! (art by David Gallagher)***

Unlike “The Return of Nagash”, which was just boring, “The Fall of Altdorf” irritated me. It did so because I love the character of Kurt Helborg, who’s been utterly degraded in this book and turned into a bona fide moron, whose, supposedly legendary martial skills, were also severely lacking (just like was the case in the “Swords of the Emperor” books, including the “Duty and Honour” short story). While I understand and acknowledge the fact that the author may not like a certain character, I still expect that he’ll portray him in a consistent and dignified manner, true to his nature and accomplishments. Such was not the case here, sadly. Couple that with the utterly ridiculous (and boring) portrayal of the Hordes of Chaos, and just how damn near unstoppable they are, not to mention that whole Festus’ Chaos ritual, and “The Fall of Altdorf” may be one of my least favorite Warhammer Fantasy books of all time. It’s not just boring, which would be a bad thing in itself. It’s insulting as a Warhammer medium, disregarding various long-established lore elements, and treating its readers like they’re simply dumb. For me that is more than enough to not recommend it to anyone, unless you want to go through the entire End Times series, like I did… or you actually enjoyed that world-shattering and poorly written event.

If that’s so, then may Sigmar have mercy on your soul.

You can buy the entire “The End Times” series via the Black Library app.

Until next time!

Xathrodox86

Xathrodox86 reviews: “The End Times” series from Black Library. Part 1: “The Return of Nagash”

I’ve been avoiding this for far too long. Time to take one last leap into the dreaded End Times.

Lately I’ve been taking a small break from Warhammer Fantasy. I am not running any WFRP games and I only occasionally play some Old World. Nowadays I returned to my beloved Classic World of Darkness, a place of comfort and joy, while leaving Warhammer behind. For a good couple of years, from 2024 to early 2026 I was engaged in a lot of WFB/WFRP projects and, well, I got kinda burned out on the setting. When I finally knew that I won’t be able to stomach even a single session of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, I knew that it’s time to take a break. So I wanted to get properly “sick and tired” of this franchise and what better way to achieve this if not by going through the entire “End Times” saga from Black Library?

I have a strange relationship with “The End Times”. My second post ever written for “It always rains in Nuln”, back when I was still on the Blogger platform, was about this event and how “glorious” it’s going to be. Yeah, put it under the “posts that haven’t aged well” category. Later I wrote a bunch of articles about, mostly, my disappointment with the whole thing. I never even finished the whole review of this campaign for Warhammer Fantasy Battle 8th edition, I got so fed up with it. What I am trying to say here is that “The End Times” suck. They really do. But of course this is no review at all and it’s in no way a proper closure for me, so here’s what I am going to do:

I will tell you about each and every major book from this series that got released for the Black Library. These are not going to be “proper” reviews, more like short summaries mixed with my honest feelings about each tome. Then, when they’re all done, I will share my equally honest, and final opinion on the whole thing. These won’t be the vitriol-infused, swear-heavy articles like the ones that I wrote more than a decade ago – I don’t do that anymore (it was peak cringe to be honest). I plan to write my feelings regarding “The End Times”, why I think they failed miserably in their given task, how they could be improved, and whether Games Workshop should retcon them into oblivion and pretend that they never happened.

Spoiler warning: they totally should.

Since this is going to take some time, I will cover this series in a couple of posts, starting with “The Return of Nagash” by Josh Reynolds, the first entry in this epic, world-shattering saga. Also I will not write about any of the short stories written for this series, like Graham McNeill’s “With Ice and Sword” or David Guymer’s “Marienburg’s Stand”. I remember reading some of them a long time ago, and while they were mostly fine, I couldn’t be arsed to re-read them for these articles. Sorry.

Although I do recommend “With Ice and Sword” to any fan of Kislev. Graham did a solid job with this one, even if it’s ultimately for the wrong cause. The quality of this short tale is high, since I remember it quite clearly to this day, as well as the fact that I really liked it.

I will also skip Gotrek and Felix entries from the End Times. While they are referenced in this series, they are not part of it per se. I did finish the entire Slayer saga last year and will certainly review its grand finale in the future. That said this series focuses on the main tomes describing the End Times. That is the reason why I’ll also not write about Phil Kelly’s “Sigmar’s Blood”, the book which is somewhat considered a prequel to this whole mess. Again – maybe one day I’ll write about it in a separate post. Time will tell.

So without further ado join me on this quest to finally put “The End Times” behind me… for when I finish writing this series of blog posts, I don’t plan to tackle that particular subject ever again, no matter what. This is a sort of closure for me, a final reckoning with a literary calamity that almost killed my love for the entire setting of Warhammer Fantasy.

***Even Nagash would be hard pressed to resurrect it, and that’s his whole specialty after all!*** ***(art by Paul Dainton)***

Spoilers ahead! You have been warned.

“The Return of Nagash” is the first book in “The End Times” saga. It was written by Josh Reynolds and covers the resurrection of the Great Necromancer himself, Nagash of Khemri. It focuses on everyone’s “favorite” Warhammer Fantasy arsehole, Mannfred von Carstein, as he works with Arkhan the Black to bring back the Undying King. The stakes are high as the Hordes of Chaos begin their unstoppable rampage towards the civilised lands of the South. All is not sunshine and rainbows for Manny and Arkhan, however, since both the Empire and the High Elves of Ulthuan will do everything in their power to stop the dastardly duo. Oh and there are Dwarfs involved as well, led by Ungrim Ironfist, but they play a relatively minor role in the story.

The book itself is told from multiple perspectives. Aside from the Undead, there’s also Volkmar the Grim and a bunch of Old World priests of various deities, being held captive by Mannfred and Arkhan who plan to use them in a blasphemous ritual to bring their master back from the abyss. Their involvement was pretty bland as it mostly focused on their impotent attempts to escape and being foiled every single time. For real, at one point I felt uncomfortable at how pathetic and weak they were portrayed, especially Volkmar whom I like a lot as a character. Remember when he tore himself free from Be’lakor’s standard and fought his way out of a huge daemonic horde, using only chains attached to his arms? Josh Reynolds certainly doesn’t remember.

Oh and there’s also the subplot about Everchild, Aliathra. She’s Alarielle’s kid and she play a major role in the finale of the book, while also making Arkhan uncomfortable. Her addition to the story is both important and minor, since she doesn’t get that much “screen time”. From what I understand she plays a slightly larger role in the WFB campaign books for “The End Times” but I wasn’t able to verify that.

Finally there’s Erikan Crowfiend, a Blood Knight hailing from a line of ghoulish cannibals. He’s easily the most sympathetic of all the characters in the book, being a deeply melancholic fellow who’s really tired of his existence and disillusioned with his undying state. His interactions with the Necromancer Obald, the Bonefather of Brionne, the man who rescued him from the pyre when he was still a mortal, are seriously touching and very well written. They are probably the peak elements of this story. I also like that Erikan has a rather complicated relationship with Elize von Carstein, a vampiric noblewoman who sired him. Their “Will They or Won’t They” thing was a pretty entertaining experience, not gonna lie.

Ah yes, I completely forgot about the Asur. They’re assholes. Seriously, I hate them in this book, and normally I like High Elves a lot. They were my first ever Warhammer army for Sigmar’s sake! That said they are portrayed as complete douchebags in this book, irredeemably and hilariously racist, unpleasant to read about and overall terrible dicks. Eltharion especially received a heavy-handed treatment, with him apparently being unreasonably hostile towards humans and treating them like dirt. I don’t get that. I still remember his story in the 5th edition High Elf army book and later, when he got blinded during the 6th edition Storm of Chaos era. He always appeared as stoic, dour, taciturn and melancholic – but not like an irredeemable prick. Why Reynolds decided to turn him into such a character I will never understand.

To my huge surprise however, Arkhan the Black turned out to be one of the coolest, most sympathetic antiheroes of this entire story! Yes, some of the things he does are horrible and he wants to resurrect the Great Necromancer, which sucks, but at the same time there’s unexpected depth and, dare I say, compassion to the old Liche that I never knew he possessed. I admit that before “The Return of Nagash” I didn’t read nor cared much about Arkhan. When I finished this book he easily became one of my favorite Warhammer Fantasy characters! I will definitely need to read Mike Lee’s “The Rise of Nagash” series, in which the old Liche plays a major role, from what I heard at least.

When it comes to pacing, intrigue and fight scenes, “The Return of Nagash” does a decent enough job, even if it’s obviously predictable who will come out on top in this whole mess. From the very beginning it’s clear that Mannfred will always be two steps ahead from everyone else, that he is, for some reason, much smarter than all of his adversaries, and that he simply cannot fail. That is something really common in “The End Times” series when it comes to the bad guys, although in later parts it mostly concerns the forces of Chaos. That said, I got bored really quickly reading about a guy who acts like he has cheat codes on all the time, constantly outsmarting his enemies, beating them in magic, hand to hand combat, and trying his best to appear more than just an unpleasant bastard. I liked Mannfred more during the Storm of Chaos, back when he was dastardly but not omnipotent, not to mention when his character traits were at least somewhat tolerable. Having a major protagonist who is irredeemably and purely evil, whiny, spiteful and downright terrible is not pleasant at all. I 100% hated Mannfred von Carstein in this, and he is one of the main “heroes”. In my opinion that’s not a good thing when you despise a major character whose actions shape the entire story of the book. Sure when it’s the whole “you love to hate him” thing, then it’s a totally different situation. Alas that is not the case here, which is a shame.

***Behold! The Erebus of Warhammer Fantasy… without the former’s charm, wit and interesting character traits!***

This is only the beginning of the End Times so there are not that many idiotic additions to the lore, thank the Lord. The Incarnates are still a few books away, but the wall of bone surrounding Sylvania is something that will never not be dumb to me. I really wish that GW back then didn’t try so much to make Warhammer Fantasy like its younger, grimdarker sibling.

Oh and, of course, there are lots of “important” deaths. You know how it works – kill a bunch of established characters so that the readers know that the author is serious about this whole thing, and that the stakes are high. I don’t have to tell you what I think about this kind of approach to writing, do I? Although, truth be told, this book is fairly conservative when it comes to this stuff. Later entries go full ham when it comes to mass murdering known characters from the setting, despite their potential importance to the plot or whether it makes sense for them to die or not. What can I say, these are the End Times for you.

In the end “The Return of Nagash” is just another fantasy book set in a very interesting setting, but tied to a very badly written event. From the beginning it’s obvious that the bad guys will win, the good guys will lose, and that the High Elves are horribly written. It’s the definition of a non-offensive nothingburger – I remember finishing it and then almost immediately forgetting most of the story contained on its digital pages. Trust me when I say that it’s not the worst tome in this series, but it is not a good book either, not by a long shot.

You can buy the entire “The End Times” series via the Black Library app.

So here it is – my first semi-review of “The End Times” title. Next time I will tackle “The Fall of Altdorf” by Chris Wraight, a book that is much more personal to me. It is also much more hilarious, but not necessarily in a good way…

***I wonder if there is a particular reason why Chris hates this man so much…***

Until next time!

Xathrodox86

Xathrodox86 reviews: “Luthor Huss” by Chris Wraight

Luthor Huss is one of my favorite Warhammer heroes. Today I am writing a review of his very own Black Library novel.

I am currently working on a massive review of the End Times series from BL, together with a commentary on this whole, unfortunate event. However it’s a gruelling task, not helped by the actual source material. I should have it ready for my next post and, hopefully, this will be the last time that I’ll write anything about the End Times. Meanwhile I decided to share my thoughts on Chris Wraight’s take on the iconic character of Luthor Huss, the Prophet of Sigmar himself.

***He’s a seriously one tough bastard! (art taken from the Black Library website)***

Obviously there will be spoilers ahead. You have been warned.

Anyone who is even slightly familiar with the venerable Storm of Chaos campaign, knows that Luthor Huss played a major role in it. He was responsible for finding and leading Valten, the so-called “Chosen of Sigmar”. He took part in the final apocalyptic battle for Middenheim, and later was sent by Karl Franz to spread the word of Sigmar to the people of his Empire. All in all a pretty important character, obviously based on the real-world Jan Hus, a former Czech priest, theologian and philosopher from the XVth century. Just like Hus, Luthor was also big on reforming the Church. The second inspiration for the character is, naturally, Martin Luther, a German priest, Augustinian friar and renowned theologian who protested against the corrupt practices of the early modern Roman Catholic Church.

I can already tell you that Huss’ hatred of corruption within the Sigmarite cult is almost nonexistent in this book, something that I think is a really missed opportunity, as it’s one of his core characteristics. A shame really.

That said, let’s start from the beginning. The story is told mainly from two perspectives. There’s of course Luthor Huss himself as he travels (mostly) alone through the Drakwald in search of Beastmen to slay. On the other side we have the Witch Hunter Lukas Eichmann, a man burnt out by his profession who nonetheless does what Sigmar expect from him, and tries to uncover a cult comprised of Beastmen and debased humans, that prepares something nefarious within the murky depths of the Drakwald forest. He knows that the core figurehead of the cult is someone, or something, named “Hylaeus”, also referred to as “Sigmar-in-Forest.” Time is running out for the people of the Empire as within the Drakwald more and more Beastmen are gathering, preparing themselves for war on an unimaginable scale…

The premise is simple enough and the dual protagonist system is interesting enough, especially since Huss and Eichmann are vastly different. Both of them are brooding, troubled characters, but their approach to dealing with the servants of Chaos is varied. Luthor is portrayed as a force of nature in this book. His stamina and combat prowess borders on supernatural at times. He often reminded me more of one of Imperial Space Marines from Warhammer 40,000, than a normal, baseline human being. That is not a critique by the way as Wraight clearly describes him as someone who will sooner die than relinquish his duty to his God and the Empire he serves. It’s also worth noting that at this point Huss is already capable of conducting miracles so the whole “Übermensch” comment is not too far fetched.

Lukas Eichmann, on the other hand, is someone who desperately needs a vacation. He is even told so by his superior in Middenheim where he’s normally posted. The man is one case away from a fully-fledged mental breakdown and I was really surprised that he wasn’t portrayed as having a massive drinking problem. If Eichmann were a hero of modern-day noir story, he would probably smoke ten packs of cigarettes a day, and drink at least a bottle of cheap bourbon to function in any capacity. I gotta say that this take on the classic Witch Hunter trope was really refreshing. Lukas is not your typical gruff monster-slaying badass in a long overcoat and a wide-brimmed hat. Yes, he wears those, but there is clearly a warning in how he’s portrayed. Even the most pious and driven of Sigmar’s faithful may arrive at a point in life, where their fanaticism and zeal have finally caught up with them, hollowing them out and leaving only a shell of a man behind. Eichmann’s portrayal is done really well here.

***I simply love Witch Hunters. They’re some of the best elements of the Warhammer Fantasy lore in my humble opinion! (art by Sam Manley)***

On the other hand the main hero of the story, Luthor Huss, comes off as slightly boring and one-dimensional. He’s more like an automaton, a force of nature that cannot be stopped, but at the same time there’s not much else to his motivation. There are quite a few flashbacks to his youth and training as an acolyte of Sigmar under his mentor Adso Thiess. I gotta say that these moments were really fascinating to experience, mainly because they described the more mundane part of a pious Sigmarite’s life. There was almost no fighting, only daily chores of a cleric of the Hammer God, the life in a secluded temple somewhere in the northern Empire. We see his evolution into the man that became famous as one of the most devout Warrior Priests of all time. Thiess is also not your usual priest of Sigmar. He’s more mundane and down-to-earth, with obvious weaknesses and character flaws. I wouldn’t mind reading a whole story about Luthor Huss’ life in that small monastery, located somewhere on a cliff overlooking the Sea of Claws.

Unfortunately once Luthor starts crusading in the Drakwald, his character becomes much less interesting. He’s just a gloomy, silent bastard, easily slaying every Beastmen and Undead abomination that he comes across. While he does interact with other people, mainly a peasant girl Mia and a crazy survivor/flagellant named Rickard Schlecht, it’s infrequent and rather limited. There’s a scene later in the book during which Luthor raises a whole army of fanatical faithful from the dregs of an Imperial city. We see his oratory skills in full display then, and it’s supposed to showcase his willingness to give those unfortunates who “fell through the cracks” a new purpose in life. However, for me, it only showed Luthor Huss as being very good at manipulating people, mainly those who lost everything, and are now only fit for the meat grinder. To Huss they’re just means to an end, his own personal cannon fodder, ready to be sent to their deaths for the greater good. I’m not gonna lie, it kinda made me dislike Luthor. I am sure that Chris Wraight didn’t want for him to be thought of as such, but Luthor Huss really comes off as a manipulative bastard.

There are quite a few other problems as well. Forces of Chaos using Necromancy, which normally doesn’t happen. The identity of the main bad guy is painfully obvious, once you read through a certain chapter and connect the very visible dots. The idea that a pious Sigmarite would decide to turn himself into a Beastman in order to avoid the ravages of old age was just bizzarre. I already mentioned Huss’ superhuman feats of strength and the ability to walk through even a huge number of enemies without barely a scratch. The man travels through Drakwald alone and is mostly fine. The Drakwald is a notoriously dangerous forest in the Empire, swallowing the unwary travellers without mercy, and even entire, heavily armed expeditions and armies can disappear overnight, without leaving a single trace of their existence. However Luthor just doesn’t give a shit, strolling through the thick undergrowth, smiting Beastmen left, right and centre, like he owns the place. I get that he’s an important named character with his own model, but his exploits in this book were stretching the credibility of his skills to their limits.

***His plot armor in this book is insane! (art from Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning)***

The overall descriptions of Drakwald and the northern parts of the Empire are top notch. Chris Wraight really brings the world of Warhammer Fantasy to life. Some of the small villages that Huss and Eichmann visit can almost be smelled with all their filth and grime, that’s how well they’re presented by the author. I also need to emphasise on how good the combat is. It’s visceral, brutal and merciless. You almost feel every blow, every sword slash and hammer strike. Luthor Huss fights in a purely economic way, his every attack maximised for dealing the most damage. There is also something wickedly cool about witnessing a Warrior Priest dual wielding a Warhammer and a huge hunting knife. Almost makes me want to kitbash a miniature like that for my Empire army for Warhammer: The Old World. Oh and as a nice bonus “Luthor Huss” includes a combat scene between Lukas Eichmann, his henchmen and a Centigor! I think this is the first time I read about these rare Beastmen in a Black Library book.

To sum up my review: “Luthor Huss” is a solid Warhammer Fantasy romp. It delivers a fairly interesting story about two men driven by faith, with each having a different approach to his duty to the Empire, and with Huss possessing insane ammount of plot armor at times. It shows us the past of one Empire’s most famous Warrior Priests, as well as hints about his future quest to find Sigmar Reborn (although, sadly, there are no references to the Storm of Chaos). The combat described by the author is simply top notch. Wraight always delivered when it comes to writing about swords swinging into torsos and axes loping of heads and limbs. The side characters are slightly on the weaker side, with Eichmann’s main henchman, Rafe Udo, being especially one dimensional. He’s just a merry sadist who’s not especially bright and only likes killing people. At times he almost acted like a Khornate cultist, to the extent that I thought that he maybe will turn out to be one! The main villain is also very bland and forgettable. His connection to Luthor is plainly obvious, as mentioned before, although their final fight was entertaining even if the finale itself felt really rushed.

Oh and once again – Chaos Beastmen using Necromancy was just bad. Really bad. Almost on par with “one of the Runefangs gets corrupted by Chaos and then returns to normal” bad, as described in the Kurt Helborg novel “Sword of Vengeance”, which was also written by Chris Wraight. You can read my review of it here. I also need to question the decision to name one of the protagonists “Eichmann”. If you know your history, you know what I mean.

On a plus side, “Luthor Huss” confirms the existence of Sigmarite Angels, something that I find really cool and 100% fitting the setting.

“Luthor Huss” is part of the Warhammer Heroes series. You can buy it via the Black Library app.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to return to work on the End Times novel series review. Hopefully it should be ready for my next post, together with extensive commentary on the whole event and my final thoughts on it. I want it to be more level headed than my early ET posts, with me fully describing why I think that this whole thing was a giant mess, what could’ve been done differently, and if there were any good parts of it at all.

Until next time!

Xathrodox86

Nagash, the Great Necromancer, is finally here!

There are certain milestones during the process of collecting a Warhammer army. For me this is one of them – I finally assembled and based my Nagash model from the 8th edition of Warhammer Fantasy Battle!

While it was released for the controversial (and badly written) End Times, I still love this miniature. The old Nagash was, let’s just say, really damn bad. Ok it’s a classic, but come one – what is this face? He looks like a clown and not the supreme master of the living dead. I still want to add it to my Vampire Counts collection at some point, but only because I am a hopeless completionist, as well as for tradition’s sake.

Fortunately the newer version of Nagash is much, much better. When I got it from a friend, about two years ago, I was shocked to see just how huge and detailed this bad boy actually is. As you can see, he floats above ground, suspended by his dark magics and the many wailing souls, unfortunate enough to get caught into his blasphemous proximity. Nagash can be assembled in quite a few ways, but in my case he is holding his staff, Alakanash, in his left hand. Meanwhile his right arm grapples tightly with a wayward soul of the damned, armed with an ethereal blade. His famous Nine Books of Nagash are always close, swirling around him on the eddies of Dhar. They contain almost all of the necromantic knowledge that ever existed in the Warhammer World, and each of them was written by the Undying King himself. They are also incredibly hard to utilise correctly, even by the strongest of Necromancers, since Nagash was just on a whole different level when he first penned them.

Aside from the books, the Supreme Lord of Undeath carries a few other, equally deadly (and useful) toys. The aforementioned Alakanash, Staff of Power, allows him to be an even bigger nerd, and collect extra power which he can use for his terrifying spells. Nagash is also armed with Mortis, a powerful, serrated sword, forged by his own hand. Known also as “The Great Blade of Death”, which is just 100% metal, it can only be used by the Great Necromancer. It enhances his already superhuman strength substantially, as well as healing him when he deals wounds with it.

Finally there’s Morikhane – Black Armour of Nagash. Not only is it incredibly stylish, exposing his sexy midriff, but it is also fused with his withered body. No one else can wear it, except its owner! He Who Shall Not Be Named (yes, that’s one of his nicknames – suck it Harry Potter!) forged it from an alloy of lead and meteoric iron, and it allows its wearer to cast spells without any problems. The various skulls of, I presume, long-dead Nehekharan rulers are a really nice touch as well!

Naturally all of these descriptions are from the 4th edition Warhammer Armies: Undead book, which makes them even better and definitely not affiliated with the travesty that is the End Times.

I didn’t really have to do that much work with my Nagash, since he was mostly assembled by his previous owner. I just needed to fix a few broken parts here and there, mostly the spines on his back, as well as a single swirl of power near his feet, and that was it. Finally I glued him on a square base, because of course I had to do that. Even though he doesn’t have any rules in Warhammer: The Old World, I still want him on a proper base, and after he gets some paint slapped on his mighty frame, he’ll go into a nice glass cabinet, where I will be able to lovingly gaze at him from my office chair. Before I eventually buy myself a proper Zombie Dragon, I may even use him as one in TOW, who knows!

Anyway I just wanted to share my excitement with me finally treating the biggest, and most important, mini in my Vampire Counts army the right way. Even though gluing together some of the broken parts of Nagash was a pain in the ass, as the glue, for some strange reason, didn’t want to do its job properly, I am still very, very happy that I did him justice. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post – there are certain milestones in the life of every wargamer. Me finally finishing assembling my Nagash was one of them.

***Besides, I don’t want to think what would happen to me if I kept him partially assembled in his box any longer!***

As for the next blog post: I am now in the process of finishing “The Lord of the End Times” by Josh Reynolds, the last part of the End Times saga from Black Library. Next time I will write a huge review of EVERY single one of these books, as well as some final thoughts of mine regarding this whole, unfortunate event. Stay tuned.

Until next time!

Xathrodox86

P.S. All of the photos my Nagash model were taken by my wonderful, lovely wife.

Xathrodox86 reviews: “Beneath the Surface” by Michael Madsen

I’m going on a holiday in a couple of days, but before I set off towards the Caucasus mountains, here’s a quick review of a WFRP scenario!

More specifically a 2nd edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay scenario called “Beneath the Surface”. It was written by Michael Madsen (not the actor, no) but I only discovered that via the RPGGeek website. There are no credits included here whatsoever.

“Beneath the Surface” takes place in the aftermath of the Storm of Chaos in the small village of Elbing in Ostermark (even though I only learned about this by reading a small entry in an NPC profile). Of course the author suggests that the GM can place it anywhere within the Empire, as long as there’s a forest nearby. It has a non-linear structure but is kinda short at the same time. While I do appreciate some interesting side quests included in the PDF, the whole thing has a few elements that do not sit especially well with me.

First of all, and I am saying that as a non-native English speaker, the language used in this scenario is a mess. “Beneath the Surface” is from 2010 (thanks RPGGeek!) but even back then spell check tools existed. A few times I had no idea what I was even reading. Almost every sentence has at least a single spelling error which is too much even for me.

SPOILERS AHEAD!

Onto the premise itself – strange things are taking place in the village of Elbing. The local horse merchant is not selling any horses, even though people can hear them in his stables. The local hunter insists that there’s a large, dangerous creature roaming the nearby woods. Perhaps it is responsible for the disappearance of a local child. And finally, and most importantly, the local priest of Sigmar has disappeared! Given the fact that he was the Village Elder, people are really worried. If the holy man won’t be found soon, a new Elder will need to be elected in a short time.

***It’s worth noting that Elbing doesn’t look as pleasant as the village shown on this art… (Fable Concept Art)***

Of course the truth is much uglier and darker than one might think. This is the Old World after all! Without spoiling too much, all I can say is that there are dark forces involved with the many problems of Elbing, including the undead and the seductive, eldritch powers of Chaos itself! It is up to the players to discover the truth, find out what happened to the priest and put the many horrors ravaging the village to the sword.

While Madsen states that his scenario is mostly open-ended, it is a very short one as well. Unless the PCs are incredibly dim or uninterested, they will quickly discover the first clues that will hopefully lead them towards the villains of this story. There are quite a few of them, and I must say that the main “big bad” is definitely the highlight of the whole adventure. The only thing I did not like about him was an ability that his kind, according to the lore of Warhammer Fantasy, should not possess. Again, I don’t want to say too much but it was clear to me that the author played rather loosely with the lore accuracy in this particular case.

The gathered ensemble of NPCs is pleasant enough, although none is truly memorable. There’s the usual innkeeper who knows everyone, the local hunter who insists that there is SOMETHING in the woods nearby, the local wise, old woman etc. While the non-playable characters are nothing to write home about, I like what Madsen did regarding their knowledge. Every single important denizen of Elbing and its surrounding has three tiers of information: public, private and secret. Given their disposition towards the PCs they might share some of what they know, everything or nothing at all. It is also easy to track their potential activities, thanks to these information tiers. That’s a really nice mechanic in my opinion.

The complexity of various plot points, both main and smaller ones, is not too big. Most parties should not have any problems with progressing the story, although a few of the side adventures will require some initiative and outgoing approach from the player characters. I don’t think that any WFRP party which spends most of their time in a tavern, waiting for another plot hook to come to them, will fare relatively well in this scenario.

Regarding combat encounters: there aren’t many and those that are, are rather basic. Madsen didn’t specify the power level of the PCs intended for “Beneath the Surface”, but I’d say that a bunch of heroes in their first careers should do well enough against the dangers that will be thrown their way here. There are a few potentially risky Willpower tests, as well as some nasty rats carrying the Green Pox, which is honestly hardcore. Ok, there’s only like 10% for the player characters to contract it, if bitten, but still – it’s the Green Pox we’re talking about, one of the worst diseases in 2e, except maybe the Nurgle’s Rot itself. I would probably change it for some less-lethal illness to be honest.

***Although having a surprise Plaguebearers appearance would be… lovely. And deadly… but mostly lovely. Because Nurgle is all about love! (art by John Blanche)***

All in all I mostly enjoyed “Beneath the Surface”. While it has its share of problems, mostly spelling and the not-so-ideal open world approach among others, it is a fun and interesting scenario. It has a few sudden plot twists and surprising revelations along the way, and it takes place in Ostermark, a province that’s been criminally underused in WFRP, no matter the edition. The PDF document also includes a very well done map, an entire list of Elbing’s inhabitants (including Age, Occupation, Family and more) and a complex roster of the most important NPCs, together with their stats, Skills, Talents and the aforementioned information section. All of that is 100% excellent stuff. Michael Madsen did an overall solid job here and I would say that you should give it a try. You can find “Beneath the Surface” in my vast fan-made Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay collection here. Enjoy!

Until next time!

Xathrodox86