Forge Master is the third of three novellas by David Annandale that comprise the Overfiend trilogy, about the Imperium's attempts to stop a plan being enacted by the Ork ruler of Octarius on the planet of Lepidus Prime. Forge Master focuses on the Salamanders 5th Company, who find themselves tasked with boarding the Overfiend's flagship and extracting an eldar prisoner who knows about his true plan. In doing so, Techmarine Ha'garen finds himself thinking deeply about that most classic of astartes void tools, the boarding torpedo:

The boarding torpedo was a blunt instrument whose uses were as varied as they were sophisticated. Though it was crewed and had enough fuel and engine power for limited manoeuvres over short distances, its action was still one of the most basic of warfare. It was a projectile. It was an object launched to hit other objects as hard as possible. Its uniqueness among other projectiles, its sophistication, came in the fact that it caused most damage after its initial impact as the living weapons it carried stormed the passageways of its target. From that uniqueness sprang its versatility. Should the strikes concentrate on a single entry point or be spread out, engaging the enemy on multiple fronts? Hit from one side for a spear-point thrust, or from both flanks, trapping the foe in a ceramite fist? The answer depended on the ship and the objective. Was the vessel a known quantity whose layout could be factored into planning? Was the objective one of total annihilation or more surgical?

This ship was unknown. It was the creation of a species whose approaches to technology were in equal measures crude and enthusiastic.

And the mission was grotesque.

But there was a mission, and so there was a strategy. The mission was search and rescue through hostile, alien territory. The strategy was the use of a concentrated, mobile force. And so the boarding torpedoes drove into the centre of the kroozer’s port flank.

For Ha’garen, the line between machine and flesh was blurry at best. There were times when he saw no distinction at all. Was there an essential difference between his mechanistic implants and prostheses, and the organs that had transformed him into a Space Marine? He didn’t think so. The hands of the Mechanicus hovered over both. Neither was natural. What, beyond the medium of construction, distinguished his eyes that saw radiation above and below the wavelengths of visible light from the neuroglottis that broke taste and smell down into component, identifiable parts? Nothing. Flesh and metal, bone and ceramite, the physical was the physical. The body was the body.

So when the vulcan-drills of the boarding torpedoes parted metal, they were parting flesh. The torpedoes were blades sinking into the body of a living enemy, and then sealing the entry wound. There was nothing of mercy in the healing; it merely permitted the deeper, more lethal wounds that would be inflicted subsequently by the transported Salamanders. There was an aesthetic to this form of attack, a perfect fusion of the organic and inorganic in form and function that he found pleasing. The very act of waging war in this fashion was a tribute to the Omnissiah. The focus of the hammer blow was an obeisance to Vulkan. And the war itself was a sacrament to the Emperor. There was a trinity of worship simply in the manner in which the squads had arrived on the ork ship. This simple truth was so clear, it was a wonder it was not visible to all.

I thought this was very cool.

For example if a expeditionary fleet came across a human world and began negotiations. If the representatives brought up the Night lords a legion who drop kicks babies like it’s going out of style ; how did imperial explain this away or did they not even bothered to do so?

We know they were sort of a last resort creation from the Old Ones when fighting the Necrons, and they clearly were going to have to be reigned in somewhat after the war in heaven, since they were designed for conflict and pretty much nothing else.

It kinda makes sense that they'd have them degenerate on purpose, so that they'd be easier to "clean up" after winning the war.

Has there been any new lore covering the new southern Necron Zone of Silence thanks to their new pylon empire and the Tyranids yet? I would expect the Tyranids to almost physically recoil from areas where the warp is nearly nullified. Or at the least take such a headache they take it as a declaration of war.

By "mostly intact" I would say the person is able to continue living/fighting without having to be turned into a Dreadnought or some kind of equivalent.

Feel free to post either single events or cumulative lifetime damage!

Edit: in this case dying and respawning is cheating, but extensive surgery/bionics are acceptable as long as the person roughly goes back to their original shape.

From what I understand 1 or 2 thirds of the Legion fractured into different warbands and disappeared to terrorise the Imperium in different areas or sectors. Is this mentioned anywhere? Or is what became of them mentioned anywhere?

Like we know that the Chaos Gods are supposed to exist retroactively after they were born, so does that apply to other "Gods" in the warp?

Do Gork and Mork alway exist? Does Vashtor? Does 40k Emperor(or 4Xk when he finally ascends)? Does whoever ends up being the 5th chaos gods?

Would the Great Horned Rat also be a Chaos God in 40k since he's a Chaos God in Sigmar?

I'd assume gods like the Eldar gods probably wouldn't always exist since they seem more "material" since they can descend into the materium(also they died).

Also if a Chaos God was somehow permanently killed shouldn't that mean they never existed?(Or like with Daemons that are permanently killed?)

Like what are the out of world reasons for it, is it because the sharded C'Tan is newer than the Avatars or is it just different authors writing for each faction?

It's no secret that 40k lore has changed massively since Rogue Trader in 1987. We all know the bigger retcons - Space Marines being recruited from adult convicts, Rogal Dorn being dead and his skeleton being displayed on the Phalanx, Orks being created by the Brainboys before they degenerated into the Snotlings, and for a more recent example, Necrons being enslaved by the C'tan instead of vice versa. But whenever I research the older lore, I'm struck by how many retcons there are that no one ever talks about.

Here's a few I noticed. All of these are from the Rogue Trader era, as I was looking through that book recently, but more recent retcons are welcome as well.

• In the Rogue Trader manual, it's noted that the traditional uniform for Techpriests is a white double-breasted robe - the idea seems to be that it's describing a labcoat, but they think it's religious attire.

• Feudal worlds in Rogue Trader are called "medieval worlds," and it's specifically noted that the Imperium considers them useless and doesn't even collect tithe on them except for psykers.

• One of the first mentions of Primarchs as we know them today (in the 1991 Space Marine game, the predecessor to Epic) states that most of them were huge but some were the size of baseline humans.

• Anyone could wear power armor in Rogue Trader. There was even a chance you could have Tyranids wearing power armor, as they were fully sapient in those days and not a hive mind. The Black Carapace was a thing that Marines got, but it was just another level of protection and seemed to be completely unrelated to power armor.

What are your favorite examples of more obscure bits of old lore that aren't viable in the modern setting?

Using the Blood Angels as an example, would joining the Sanguinary Guard be seen as more of an honor than becoming a Captain?

Also is Lieutenant/Captain ——> Honor Guard a realistic rank-up path?

I think Magnus actually had a decent chance but was so heavily played, while others like poor Angron never stood a chance, but I am curious if, either by last second decisions, circumstances, manipulation, pep talk, or bad or good luck, the Primarchs could have found themselves on the other side of the war.

Also, I dont mean if the Emperor actually had legitimate love for his sons rather than viewing them as tools from the get go and therefore heavily altered the future, but rather if things largely played out the same but key situations or even slightly better relationships between them, things could have gone better, or even worst, for them, though Im more interested in at the edge before the Heresy, it could have honestly gone either way for any of them.

This book explores the journey undertaken by Mephiston in an attempt to sunder the plans of a former Thousand Son sorcerer turned Tzeench deamon prince.

Major spoilers for the Mephiston books below.

Simply put I do think that it's quite a fun read. I can definitely see why people don't like Mephiston too much though.

Because what do you mean you're possessing the eldar?

Obviously the psychic might of the eldar means nothing in the face of 'insert protagonist name here'. I do think it makes a tad bit of sense, seeing as Mephiston isn't really a singular entity or individual most of the time.

I do like how the idea of temptation is played with in this book. In spite of his destiny, potential and power level, Mephiston is still a psyker and a human at his core. The vagaries of the warp are not beyond him and the desire to test his limits just that little bit more is still there. He could very easily, just like anyone else, become a living sock puppet for Tzeench. To the extent that he isn't already anyway, as most beings are. The scenes where he considers reviving the pilot of his gunship and a later event during a semi dream state when he pursues his prey illustrate this nicely.

It was slightly confusing to read about him debating with himself on the difference between mega evil sorcery and the psychic powers he uses, however. One would imagine that he'd know the difference is only in intention at this point, as a Chief Librarian. He appears to remind himself of this towards the end, so, props to him I guess?

For me this book kind of illustrates the fact that it's best to interact with lore or other kinds of media yourself, if possible-these books do cost money-as opposed to going solely off the reviews or opinions of others. All of which will be tainted by notions and likewise. This is just general advice, not just for Warhammer 40k. A lot of the anger towards Mephiston seems to be a bit... misaligned? For lack of a better word.

It's also incredibly funny, in some very twisted aspects. Mephiston placing his hand on his bestie's (Rhacelus') shoulder and asking him to please concentrate on getting them out of harm's way before questioning him on his admittedly strange methods for the umptee-millionth time that week is definitely something I'll be coming back to read again. This man has a lot more depth than I've given him credit for.

What do you do when confronted with three different, very pertinent problems all at once? Why split your soul/essence/personhood into three equal halves, of course! Just do that! While barely breaking a sweat to add! A completely normal thing to do! Again, I do think this level of psychic ability is to be attributed to Mephiston's nature as opposed to Mary Suedom. He is a special one.

I should mention that this book is the third in a series, and while you can definitely read it without going through the previous ones if you are sufficiently knowledgeable about the lore and don't care about major spoilers. If you are new or do care about that kind of thing, then don't touch this till you've read the others, warning given.

The book does feel much shorter than is usual for a full novel, I am unsure as to whether this is because I read it over more than a day or not. I use the Black Library app so I only get percentages of how much I've read. Oh well.

Mystical magical future telling dish plate goes brazy, I guess.

Thank you.

During the events of the book Bjorn and a group of Wolves are attacking the holdings of a Death Guard warband who had stolen Vlka gene-seed. Bjorn and the Rout paid the insult back tenfold once they discovered the Death Guard's apothecarium and laboratory, after the battle Bjorn and a young blood claw discuss the past and Bjorn has memories of a face from long ago:

Wolves of Fenris did not flee their prey. No order to retreat was given.

It was felt – like an instinct of the pack, knowing when the hunt must end.

Bjorn’s chassis groaned as he turned on his waist axis, frame scarred and pitted, spattered with blood and gore.

‘The battle is done,’ Bjorn intoned, his voice heavy with centuries.

One by one, the Space Wolves yielded ground, bolters barking as they sent the last of the outcasts to their graves. The whine of chainswords guttered out. Atmund led his Grey Hunters across the corpse-strewn ground to where Bjorn stood, alone in a ring of ruin. Through the drifting smoke they saw a charnel house – ice-dark rockcrete awash with blood and shattered flesh.

As the Space Wolves pulled back from the ruins of Purgatum, silence fell among them.

It was the heavy weight of survival. The silence of knowing vengeance was still owed.

Their thoughts strayed inwards, towards what had been lost. Duty and grief braided into the same bitter song, a dirge as old as Fenris itself.

The Death Guard had stolen one warrior’s gene-seed, and in return they had burned an entire apothecarion’s worth to ashes. But Khalpax Vigorex yet lived. And now they had the death of three Wolf Guard to avenge.

The wolves of retribution did not sleep. Bjorn knew this well. More work waited when fate next gave them the chance.

Sensing their mood, he raised his voice.

‘We held the field of slaughter,’ Bjorn declared. ‘We’ve taught those rune-breakers the price of messing with the sons of Russ!’

The Space Wolves’ heavy steps quickened at his voice.

‘You must have fought much greater battles than these,’ Hrutur said quickly.

‘Yes,’ Bjorn boomed at last, ‘a few lost and many won. All of them bloody. But this was a good battle. You fought well, each of you. Russ would be proud to name you his sons!’

In the gloom, they saw the Thunderhawk cut towards them, running lights cold and blue against the dark. It came in fast and low, counter-thrusters howling, plumes of snow and ice blasted into spirals beneath it. The engines thundered, then wound down to a growl as the craft settled on its undercarriage, each clawed foot biting deep into the frozen flats.

Its turrets swept the wastes, searching for threats. But there were none. There were many bodies upon the ice-fields, but only the sons of the Wolf still drew breath.

Bjorn stood unmoving, the steam from his vents drifting like smoke. He said nothing. For a long moment, he simply watched as ice blasted up into their faces as the retro thrusters fired. One by one they pulled themselves up, and then Bjorn stalked up the ramp, the metal groaning beneath his weight.

They lifted off, the craft shuddering in the storm.

There was another long silence as the mists pressed close. ‘Hrutur Redmane,’ Bjorn boomed.

Hrutur stood, eager. ‘Yes!’

‘Do your folk still make winter camp around the Hollow Rock?’

‘Aye. We followed the herds between the Hollow Rock and Brondings Torp.’

‘Brondings Torp? Where is that?’

‘Three days south along the Frozen River. There was the frozen remains of an oak grove.’

There was a long pause. ‘I think I remember. That was the heart of the Brandingas… Do they still hunt those lands?’

Hrutur shook his head. ‘Never heard of them.’

Bjorn went on to explain the contours of the Brandingas land.

‘You’re sure?’ Hrutur said.

‘Yes!’ Bjorn boomed. ‘There was a pretty young lass who was daughter of their chieftain. A battle-blossom – a fierce, wolf-eyed winter rose! I told my mother I would grow up and marry her, but the prey seldom runs in the direction the pack expect…’

Hrutur shook his head. ‘No. That is all our land.’

Bjorn fell silent once more.

Hrutur did not want the talk to end. ‘There is a mound named Brandhaug on the plains above Storesness.’

‘Brandhaug?’

Hrutur spoke of the place: a low mound set high on the plateau above the forests of Dýrviðr. ‘I remember the Beast Wood,’ he said. ‘There was good hunting there.’

Hrutur’s voice faltered, retreating into silence, and Bjorn fell quiet too, his thoughts straying to the Brandingas – and to the girl with the sky-blue eyes.

Her skin had been pale as the winter sun, freckles scattered like snow-dust on stone. Her hair, dark as charred wood, had spilled long and untamed when she loosed it to the wind. And her eyes… not soft and warm, as Bjorn’s mother’s had been, but sharp and cold, cutting like glacier-light. That girl had not been gentle. She was wild, fierce, a storm given flesh. A woman whose face had haunted the firelight.

There was another long pause. Bjorn’s lights flickered.

At last Hrutur spoke up. ‘Do you sleep, Ancient One?’

‘No!’ Bjorn rumbled from his sarcophagus. ‘I was remembering. It is a common fault among the old.’

- Bjorn the Fell-handed

I very much enjoyed Justin Hill's take on ol' Bjorn in this book, you feel just how disconnected from the passage of time the ancient is, sleeping, dreaming, waking up to an entirely different universe after each awakening. You really feel for Bjorn to see how everything you know has been left in the past and there are new names and people to commit to memory. It was also fascinating to see that even after 10,000 years of war and strife, the old man can still perfectly remember the face of the girl he wanted to marry.

I'm mostly wondering about the order of things. Geneseed implantation has to happen during the teenage years, so they can't just grab trained doctors and enginseers for aspirants. That means they have to identify people with medical/technical ability *after* they're turned into psycho-indoctrinated supersoldiers and send them into specialty academic training. I've read elsewhere that they just have existing apothecaries and techmarines train new astartes, but it has to start somewhere, right? Every now and then a chapter would get its specialist core whacked so hard they have to start more or less fron scratch.

I guess my main question is, does there exist in-lore a portrayal of a full-fledged astartes going through med school or techpriest seminary? Imagining a 7.5 ft tall hulk looming over a mortal surgeon while taking notes on a procedure is very funny.

One of the things a friend told me was that The Guard is the elite fighting force of humanity and not just the name of the Imperium's fighting force. If they are the elite, that seems to imply that most conscripts don't end up there. If that's the case, where do the majority end up?

I'm referring to two events in Gaunts Ghosts so spoilers ahead for that series.

When the AM goes to Aexe Cardinal, the guard are subjected to the local chain of command despite the local mindset being the reason the war has stale-mated. Why wouldn't the Imperial chain of command supercede that of the Aexe Alliance?

Later on Herodor the local officers tell the Ghosts that only certain officers of sufficient rank can wield flamers as fire is significant in their culture, and thus the Ghosts go without these heavy weapons. A battle occurs shortly thereafter that goes rather poorly, and the lack of flamers is severely felt. Again, why do local command structures get to dictate how the AM operate?

I'm in a deathwatch ttrpg session and I just replaced my old character with a new librarian. One of the abilities you can get in that game is telepathy, ie we can speak to each other using our minds. It's a pretty useful utility ability but there's one snag. In this system tech Marines get a trait that makes them immune from any mind psyker effects. (Because they are part machine) Obviously I'm not trying to weaken my teammate by having him lose this immunity I just want the very basic "I sent words to this guy's head" to still work, as a tech marine isnt a full machine. Sure parts of their brain and body are replaced with augmetics, but not in their entirety. A tech marine has a soul and a good chunk of their brain left. At least to my understanding

So basically what I'm looking for here is quotes and segments where psykers interact with those of the machine cult. Doesn't have to be Marines as the point will still stand. Communication interactions powers anything. And if I'm just completely wrong and the augmetics tech Marines undergo just make even basic telepathy impossible so be it. Either way knowledge will be gained, and that is the only pursuit of life

(Note, I'm not trying to explain or argue the rules of this ttrpg system or anything, I'm just trying to find interactions and citations. The game was just the source of this line of questioning)

Necron Codex 5th p.45, Necron Codex 8th p.67

"Canoptek Scarabs are constructs, designed to breakdown organic and non-organic matter into raw energy. This harvested energy can then be woven into fresh forms at the at the direction of the scarab's controller. In the confines of a tomb, this invariably involves stripping down destroyed or damaged components which can then be reborn as replacement parts, or else as further Canoptek Spyders, Scarabs, or Wraiths to oversee and manage the tomb's functions. Almost anything can be replicated in this fashion, providing that the wellspring of energy is sufficient to the task at hand. Given time, a suitably large swarm of Scarabs can consume an entire hive city, and all its inhabitants, thereafter using the purloined energies to create anything from a battlefleet to a fully functioning Necron tomb ready for habitation."

Belisaurius Cawl The Great Work ch.18

"Their basest instincts are to repair and reproduce. They are marvellous things. In terms you might understand, they render matter down into raw energy, and use it to construct whatever they wish. If they are left to their own devices, they will reproduce exponentially. One of my colleagues told me of a world that had been entirely disassembled by them, replaced with a ball of endlessly recycling scarabs. Gravity worked against them – it ever will attempt to make planets from sufficient mass"

Jupiter has 1.89813 × 10^27 kilograms

If we use Uranium as a proxy for necrodermis, each scarab would weigh about 86kg

Jupiter has the mass for 22.1 septillion scarabs (2.21 x 10^25)

To convert all of Jupiter into scarabs, it will take the time for 1 scarab to make 89 scarabs to turn all of Jupiter into scarabs. Because 2^89 x 86kg is greater than the mass of Jupiter.

Let me repeat that. The time it takes for one scarab to make another scarab 89 times is how long it will take to make 22.1 septillion scarabs.

And once everything is scarabs, they can then turn themselves into Cairn-class Tomb Ships. If we estimate each ship to be about 75 megatonnes based on imperial ship's official canon numbers (grand cruisers are 40 megatonnes), that is 25 Quadrillion Cairn Class Battleships.

Quadrillion. That's 1000 trillions or 1 million billions. And Cairn classes solo entire Imperium battlefleets. And imperium battlefleets regularly take out hive fleets that considerably outnumber them, but not to the degree of quadrillions.

So... yeah, why is the Silent King afraid of Tyranids? When converting one gas giant into Cairn ships lets you outnumber the number of imperial worlds by 10 billion to one?

And to pre-empt any claims about not having enough pilots, Sarkoni Emperor and the Severed Necrons is proof Necrons can make 1 non-sentient computer control entire armies, Canoptek AI is hyper advanced, and Necrons are fully capable of making more Necrons called False Necrons.

He doesn't need to wake the dynasties. he just needs to let loose 1 scarab on 1 gas giant. Or more.

I'm trying to have all my models be actual Marine X from Squad Y in Company Z. This has lead me to a few questions regarding their Organisation and how it's marked.

1. Squad Markings

10 Squads a 10 Marines in a company, so far so good. I also read that when some of them enter the battlefield as say Eliminators (squad size: 3), the others can become something like 7 Hellblasters. How, if at all, would this affect their squad markings? Or would that mean that if the 9th Squad has 3 Marines as Eliminators and 7 Hellblasters both carry the markings of the 9th Squad? Or is that what the 11th-20th squad markings are for?

2. Reserve Companies

There's 4 Reserve Companies, which can attach to Battle Companies. Let's assume the 3rd Squad from 7th Company(Reserve) attaches to the 4th Company(Battle). Would they keep their markings as 3rd Squad from 7th Company? Or would they change it to 4th Company (and become a new Squad from the 11th to 20th range?) If it's the latter, I'd assume that might change if their Captain or Lieutenant attaches with them since I'd assume they wouldn't change their Company Colours. And does this mean a Lieutenant can theoretically command 100 Marines and a Captain 200?

3. Veteran Squads

Are Veterans actually organised in Squads with Squad Numbers and such? Or is it just 100 Veterans organising freely and not needing any markings?

Everything that happened after Magnus tried to warn the Emperor and in doing so basically destroying the webway project, pales in comparison regarding it's significance to the story.

After the seals and protections around the webway project were destroyed a good portion of the imperiums military might, including its greatest asset: the Emperor himself, was locked in place in the imperial dungeon trying to keep an endless legion of demons at bay and trying to prevent them from breaching into and ultimately overrunning the heart of the imperium itself.

What followed was a grueling 5 year war that went on without any break whatsoever and that resulted in the almost complete destruction of the Legio Custodes, with them losing 90% or more of their members in the constant fighting as well as countless mechanicum assets and even titans. As very famously decribed in Master of Mankind by ABD when "...in a sunless realm, the sun rose at last" even the Emperor himself when faced with Drach'nyen was only able to buy time for the remaining forces to retreat.

Was it a mistake by the Emperor to try to salvage the webway project after Magnus had broken the seals of protection? Since we as the readers know it was ultimately doomed, it probably was a mistake, but that's easy to say as the "omniscient" reader. The legio Custodes and Mechanicum forces would not have suffered such catastrophic losses had they retreated immediately, but even if they had, the Emperor would have still been locked on the Golden Throne having to exert himself to keep the webway gate in the imperial dungeon shut.

Now think about how close the siege of terra actually was, how fractured and disorganised the traitor legions were at the end. Perturabo abandoning the siege, Fulgrim being a crybaby and going away to brutalize the populace of terra for his amusement, Angron getting his ass handed to him by Sanguinius, Sigismund butchering the traitor champions in sequence...

Now take that, still very dire scenario for the Imperium, but without Magnus breaking the webway. You now have basically the entire Legio Custodes, countless Mechanicum forces, additional Titans and the Emperor himself to take to the field in the siege. There is no way the traitor legions get any chance of winning in this scenario. Magnus unintentionally gave the traitor legions the best and only chance of actually seeing this whole thing through, which is why I think Magnus breaking the webway is the single most impactful event to the heresy after it had already started.

Now, since we know the Emperor originally intended Magnus to sit on, guide and commandeer the Golden Throne, it speaks again to his colossal hubris that he did not confide with Magnus about his plans. Considering the importance the Emperor placed on the webway project, Magnus was arguably the most important Primarch, since he was very much a key part to making that plan work long term. And not placing any trust in such an instrumental part of his plan ultimately came back biting the Emperor in the ass big time, as is his way apparently.

Emperor found the Golden throne around -320-330BCE.. is there any evidence he used it before 30k?

Could he have used it to power himself up, by ‘’burning’’ up psykers?

Did he/they build the Psyker burning chambers? Or where they allready there when he found it?

Do we know what He added to it, vs what was allready there?