Well, I got my copy this morning, and the bedamned book has kept me away from work far more than it should have…

Anyway, I am very happy with it, and would say 'Yes, it was worth the wait', or words to that effect. I do like a lot of the less obvious monsters, as they are not things I would automatically have thought of, but in many cases can be ported to other situations quite easily, such as the unquenched, which could be very easily used as a 'cold' monster (freezing rather than dehydrating) if the situation demanded.

I found it a lot more thorough than Creatures Anathema, and though perhaps not as atmospheric, still a good read (well, skim, I have probably only gone over 1/4 of it in any detail). It doesn't reproduce material (so no Eldar rangers or dire avengers, as they are in Creatures Anathema, etc) - one of those things which will leave some people miffed for having to buy another book, and others happy for not buying the same things twice. I am quite happy about the Eldar, as I have Creatures Anathama, but not having the DW xenos book, the missing kroot are a bother….

There are always going to be things that one would like added - I for one would have liked more on Stryxis, which, after Eldar and Kroot are quickly becoming my next favourite alien - maybe Stryxis PCs in the future? (Well, I know they would be down the priority list, but nevermind…)

Anyway, in short, the book should have come out ages ago (to be honest, two years ago - it is probably more useful than Battlefleet Koronus and certainly more so than Hostile Acquisitions), but it is great fun, and I am not peeved in having to wait far longer than anyone thought likely for it.

Well, my 2p anyway.

What does everyone else think? Worth the wait?

All best,

David.

Definitely worth the wait. Some very interesting monsters tied to existing planetary settings that have given me loads of plot ideas already. And I really like the continuing narrative of the put-upon Arch Militant and her somewhat stupid, thrill-seeking Rogue Trader that runs through the book.

However, I can't help but think the chunk in the middle about Eldar and Orks detracts from the rest of it. What I really like is the NEW stuff, the stuff that is unique to the Expanse, the stuff that fires my imagination and gives me new ideas. Orks and Eldar I already know about. And there are already loads of FFG books crammed with info about them. Did we really need twelve ( twelve , for Christ's sake?) new types of Eldar when we could have had a few more new aliens instead? Surely basing every published RT campaign so far around them is enough? And we have Ork stuff coming out of our ears already if you look across all the games and their supplements. It's old ground. We have seen it all so many times before. We don't need it padding out another book.

I am happy, but would have been much happier if that BIG space in the middle of the book that has all this Orky/Elvey stuff was devoted to more creatures and sentient races unique to the Expanse instead.

But even considering that, definitely worth it.

(Can you tell I don't really like the Eldar all that much? )

Well, I know what I'l be buying next payday…

I hope this book sells well enough to convince FFG to make Creatures Anathema II - this time with a looser, more Monster Manual -ish feel.

its neither available at amazon or FFG's shop. where can i order this now?

For some reason, we Europeans have got it and North America does not. Amazon.co.uk currently has copies for sale.

Plynkes, I do see your point about Eldar and Orks, and I can see why you (and no doubt many other people) see there being too much on them. I however, am quite happy with the amount on each species in the book. I found reading (it kept me up all night, **** it!) about Sslyth etc very interesting, but I know in my heart that I almost certainly won't use them, or if I do it would be in a very one-shot sort of way. Partly because I am busy, partly because I am lazy, and partly because my formative 40K experience was playing the 2nd ed of the wargame in the 90s, my adventures are almost solely inhabited by Orks and Eldar - I know enough about them so as to be able to run them without thinking much (and back in the day I had tabletop armies for both of them), and anyone with a passing acquaintance with the 40K universe is familiar with them. Sometimes a new 'baddie' is fun for all concerned, and having some is great, but on a day to day basis, it is generally orks and eldar for us.

Now, these rarer and more localised aliens are great, and really interesting, and something I would like to introduce if I got the chance, but I know from a practical point of view, Orks play the mindless violent alien part very well, and Eldar the cunning, most likely up to something alien part very well, and it is quite convenient to use them far more than anything else.

Or, to put it another way, reading stats of a Howling Banshee aspect warrior is not interesting (when compared to reading about SSlyth, or any other alien unique to the Expanse), but I know that I have a much better chance of actually using those Howling Banshee stats.

I suppose books like this have to strike a balance between utility (as book full of adversaries for you to make use of as needed), and interest (as interesting reads with lots of nice pictures which keep you up all night when you have deadlines…). I think the Koronus Bestiary has got that balance about right, and probably better than Creatures Anathema, which was loads of fun to read, but a bit thin on actual aliens and monsters to fight.

Well, that is what I think anyway.

All best,

David.

I liked the book, but I would have preferred if the entries on known things (most Eldar and Ork things) had been a bit slimmed down (not quite Dark Heresy rulebook slimmed down, but less background) so that the more unique things could get more space.

Though I guess they have to work on the presumption that not all readers are heavily versed in 40k lore.

In regards to Plynkes, until there is a game featuring Eldar, I'll continue to desire every bestiary, supplement and adventure to feature as much Eldar as possible, as they are the best part of 40K by a mile.

I dunno what GW sees in the Imperium, it bores me to tears, every piece of Imperium cut to make way for more Eldar works for me.

I'm sorry, I nodded off there for a moment, as you were talking about the… yawn … Eldar. What was that again?

In my version of the 40K universe Slaanesh must have ate the whole bloody lot of them, because you just don't tend to run into them. Or they never existed in the first place, and are simply what they appear to be: Space Fairies invented by tired mothers to frighten their naughty children into behaving.

Generally speaking, I love the 40K setting, all of it. Apart from three key things, and they all stem from its "Warhammer Fantasy in Space" roots:

1) Space Elves

2) "Comedy" Orks (with all their daft mockney names for everything - they might sound strange and exotic to American ears, but to me they just sound stupid, and rob them of the menace they ought to have)

3) Daemons that are too "Demony." I would prefer my denizens of the warp to be more like weird Lovecraftian eldritch abominations, and less like medieval demons. And they will be.

But that's just me. And I'm pretty much fine with everything else. Apart from Space Dwarves and Space Hobbits that is, but you don't tend to see them much these days.

I guess we'll just have to accept that we don't like the same things, and I'll go on being ticked off by the fact they keep filling Rogue Trader books with Eldar stuff, and you'll go on being ticked off by all these Imperium-based games they keep making. At least both of us are equally unhappy, that's gotta be some consolation for the other.

Plynkes said:

This is the relevant part, for sure. I don't wish they'd stop making space marines, or imperial guard, I just wish they'd let the Eldar have at least 1 of the 4-5 games in the game line. It boggles my mind, honestly.

Dark Heresy, Deathwatch, Rogue Trader, though at least RT has non Imperium elements..Only War is where it really gets me.

You've got Imperial Guards in DH. Do you really need a second Imperium based War game? Bah.

You consider DH a 'war' game?



Anyway, Koronus Besitary is a great book. I really like the narrative that continues all the way through. It's quite amusing, and an excellent framing device (IMO) for the book. I think that Deathwatch players will find the Eldar stuff useful, and the Ork stuff (as there isn't much DW-centric Ork stuff). It would even be good for OW players who want to fight Eldar.

And it has a wonderful Xenos Generator in there! Make more creatures if you want more!

BYE

H.B.M.C. said:

Nah, I was referring to Deathwatch as the first war game.

So guys, mind giving me a quick summary of what it is incide? It would be helpful for my futur decisions. Thanks!

From the other thread about this book:

H.B.M.C. said:

Plynkes said:

While what you say is sort of true we only get this Orkish perspective, even in the Koronus Bestiary, which is otherwise written from the perspective of a human Arch Militant. All those stupid names are treated as if they are the official and only names for these things. If you want them to be menacing instead of comedic you have strip all that nonsense away and not use it or refer to it, and you have to make up new human terms for Ork equipment and personnel, ones that don't sound so bloody ridiculous. That is what I do, but I would prefer not to have to.

Whoever thought it was a good idea to name what is supposed to be a terrifying alien monster a flash git? Is this the grim dark 41st Millenium, or is it an episode of Minder? And I cannot in all honesty ever refer to a major alien antagonist as a "Nob" during a game. It would totally break immersion as I would have to wait five minutes for my players to stop laughing. Where I come from that is slang for *****.

Anyway, it is a small thing I can work around. Doesn't stop me enjoying the setting.

Plynkes said:

Yes, it is not a problem, merely an annoyance.

At some point in Warhammer Fantasy Orc unit leaders became Bosses. Why this did not cross over to the Orks of 40K is beyond me.

It's not even as if there's a lack of precedent, Bosses and Big Bosses date back to Rogue Trader (the tabletop one). It's just… silly.

The Orks started off as a combination between Nazi troopers and English soccer hooligans. They've got a bunch of cockney slang in them, and it's remained so since they first came about. Flash Gits are called that because that's what regular Orks call them - they're the Orks with the ostentatious costumes and fancy gubbinz, so the Ork boys make fun of them.

All makes sense in context IMO.

BYE

Put me down for NOT worth the wait. Overall, I've found Koronus Bestiary to be pretty dull and there isn't really all that much in there that's all too different from what's come before. The Void Kraken is pretty neat - it's a monster with stats for ship combat, so it's fairly fresh, but most of the other stuff in the book doesn't really improve much upon what we've seen in several other products.

>Stryxis

>Medusae

>all of the Dark Eldar Beastmaster's critters

> Kommandos

>Sslyth

>Void Kraken

>Warp Spiders

Oh my God. I need this book. The Dark Eldar army list is almost entirely represented in the games now, my favorite Aspect Warrior finally gets some love, my two favorite xenos (Sslyth and Stryxis) are in, and the pure wonder of the Void Kraken now exists… and should probably be easy to use as a Tyranid critter. This book will be heavily pilfered for future games. The DE alone make it a great purchase.

Kind of dissapointed in the daemons, though.

Plushy said:

Plushy said:

The daemons are interesting because they represent, in my mind at least, the most likely types of daemons one might face as a Rogue Trader. They're all the 'beast' type, that act more as pests or things that hunt you rather than straight up daemonic foot soldiers. That and daemons are probably the least likely foe a RT will face, so these ones seem to fit well with that.

Again, just my opinion, but I think what's there works.

BYE

Plynkes said: