Hi,

as I gathered some of you alread have this book, can you tell use which creatures are in there?

Santiago said:

I second this notion, my copy is on its way to my mail box in Germany, but being in Afghanistan, I will not see if for quite some time (OK, thats a lie, about 40 days, but still).

Thanks.

I had a chance to glance through it at my local game store yesterday. Let me see what I can remember...

Eldar (with stats for a Dire Avenger, a Ranger and one named character, as well lengthly description and some stats for gear), Orks (boyz, nobz, grots and an attack squig, plus description and gear), A bunch of old classic Chaos demons (flamers of tzeentch, khorne hounds, nurglings, I think a khone juggernaught) and a bunch of new demons. The old classic ambul made it in. Plus chapters of beasts, vermin, death worlds, and mechanical monsters that I just skimmed. Some neat stuff, all in all.

Thank you,

Now I realy want the book, there are critters in there I would like to use coming campaign

GrtZ,

S.

Chapter 1 - MUTATION

Using mutation in your game - 6

Archimedes Noxt - 7

Hullghast - 9

Sinner's Plagues of the Drusus Marches - 11

Chapter 2 - FORBIDDEN SCIENCE

Tech-Heresy of the Calixis Sector - 14

Using Forbidden Sxcience - 15

Bronze Maliflects - 16

Dreaming Dead of Hive Gloriana - 19

False-Men of Nomen Rye -21

Logi Daemonis - 23

Obliviates - 26

Schismaticals of the Deep Infotombs - 29

Tech-Witches of Ammicus Tole - 32

Vore Weapons

Chapter 3 - DEATH WORLDS

Using Death Worlds - 38

Kenov III - 39

Ripper-Whips - 40

Phyr - 42

Phyr Cat - 43

Zel Secundus - 44

Osedex - 44

Woe - 47

Chapter 4 - VERMIN & PREDATORS

Using Vermin & predatore in your game - 50

Ambull - 51

Cruorian War Beast - 53

The Fenksworld Pit Thing - 55

Gloomhaunt - 58

Maw-Fluke - 60

Sinophian Boreworm - 62

The Skin Taker of Fedrid - 64

Stenchbeast of Strank - 66

Verminspeaker Elite Advance -69

Xothic Blood Beast - 72

Chapter 5 - XENOS

Using Xenos in your game - 76

Eldar - 77

Dire Avengers - 78

Eldar Rangers - 80

Ulthyr Ellarion - 82

Eldar Equipment - 85

Enoulians - 86

Enslavers - 88

Genestealers - 90

Lictor - 93

Orks - 96

Ork Boyz - 98

Ork Nobz - 99

Gretchin - 100

Attack Squig - 101

Ork Equipment - 102

Simulcra - 104

Capter 6 - FORCES OF CHAOS

Using Chaos in your Game - 108

Assessors of the Black Tontine - 109

Astral Spectre - 111

The Burning One - 113

The Eye of the Abyss - 115

Flamer of Tzeentch - 117

Flesh hound of Khorne - 119

Juggernaut of Khorne - 120

Lady of the Voids - 122

Nurglings - 124

Praedatoris of the Starry Order - 126

The Ruination of Imperfect Beauty - 128

Chapter 7 - ADVERSARIES

The Evil you know: Hereticus - 133

Escalation in Three Parts - 133

A Matter of Minions - 134

Them or Us: Xenos

Moral Quandaries - 137

War is Hell: Malleus

More Than Just Rolling Dice

Defining Expectations to Support Horror

Above Average Adversaries - 142

Adversary Upgrade Tables - 143

Hope That Helps

Mike

That's so awesome. Thank you!

Now I'm really curious about the minor Xenos. Of course, no Necrons, but I suppose that's only to be expected.

"I think they're called Necrons."

"That's it, Exterminatus time."

"But we're standing on the planet!"

"Exactly."

No problem...Adversaries has the mook rules, I'll be using those first chance I get.

"Praedatoris of the Starry Order - 126"

????

I am intrigued.

I wonder if this is a reference to "The temple of the Star Cult" or sensei.

Time will tell................. (or when my order arrives ;P)

The Praedatoris are a homage to something like four different monsters past all jammed down into one. Bonus points for identifying them all.

Astral Spectre - 111

Hmm.. the Astral Spectre is in the main rulebook.

Anyone know if its a spin on it or a total re-write?

Would be good to see a version closer to the original from Rogue Trader (which i wrote up and posted on the old forums )

Far and away my favorite section is the Forbidden Science section. It had a wide variety of threats, and did a very nice job of fleshing out a particular area that had been largely "conceptual" up until now.

Also Kudos to the writer of the Orc section, the humorous overtones were very appropriate.

Truth be told I was only moderately enthused about this book when it was first announced. ("great.. a bestiary. I can stat things myself.") Mia Culpa. There is wonderful story/campaign content and lots of original traits developed for the various threats. Also a lot of new color art. The book does a great job of turning 40k generalities into usable specifics, and I don't mean just statistically.

Honestly, the sections on established xenos were the only ones that didn't really excite me. Orks, Eldar, genestealers.. not a lot new to learn there. (But obviously necessary for completeness.) They did make an effort to spell out how each one was likely to be encountered in the Calixis sector, but there were a few places where they blatantly assumed readers had a background in 40k. (I don't believe the Genestealer entry even mentioned them being a part of the Tyranids.)

The thoughts of the day at the bottom of the pages were a nice touch.

If this is a sign of the FFG produced books to come, I can't wait.

aethel said:

They're not. I mean, they are a Tyranid species and they are found in Tyranid armies, but if you encounter a Genestealer cult or a hulk with a Genestealer hive sleeping in it, they have no more connection to the Tyranid than your acolytes do. Genestealers are highly unusual Tyranid in that they can function utterly autonomously from the Hive Mind, and when seperated they return to their own natural life cycle completely independently from the Hive Fleet that birthed them.

So, in a very real way, the Genestealers aren't Tyranid. I imagine the same is true of the Lictors. This isn't stated in the Tyranid Codex or in any other source that I know, but it is implied because the Lictors have the "we're not Synapse Creatures but we don't need Synapse" ability that they share solely with Genestealers (and, IIRC, with Zoanthropes, though I don't recall exactly).

They're not. I mean, they are a Tyranid species and they are found in Tyranid armies, but if you encounter a Genestealer cult or a hulk with a Genestealer hive sleeping in it, they have no more connection to the Tyranid than your acolytes do. Genestealers are highly unusual Tyranid in that they can function utterly autonomously from the Hive Mind, and when seperated they return to their own natural life cycle completely independently from the Hive Fleet that birthed them.

You mean, apart from the whole "calling down a hive fleet on your head" shtick?

It's not certain that is what happens, but if that does happen it might not be the Genestealers doing it, it might be the natural tendancy of Hive Fleets to move in the direction of nearby Tyranid. Hive Fleets collide all the time for the same reason. It's possible that Genestealers taken directly from a Hive Fleet will call to their own in they're separated, but it's equally possible that one or two cycles of Genestealers later they will be fully autonomous creatures.

Also, it should be noted that Genestealer Cults often as not actually fight the Tyranid invaders rather than sit idly in their face. The Genestealers may or may not have a concept that there's another higher authority, but they have no reason to believe that the Tyranid are they, and at any rate the Hive Fleet will kill them all anyway so they, having developed a self-preservation instinct, will continue to fight. A planet might be put into the precarious placement of its core homeguard being just as overrun by Tyranid as the Hive Fleet they're battling.

EDIT: I hadn't intended to put the certainty I had put on the first sentence. Changed "is" with "might".

Cifer said:

Do they call the Hive fleets or do the Hive fleets just fallow them like hyenas following circling vultures?

Maybe this is the subject for another future product, but I think it would have been interesting if part of the xenos section discussed extinct xenos races in the Calixis sector, what their ruins would be like, etc. (The Halo devices touched on just a general item that could be found in the Halo Stars.)

Salcor

aethel said:

Thanks aethel! I guess this means you received your prize for the scenario contest.

Pneumonica said:

Well the tyranid codicies make it pretty clear that they do. They infiltrate, assimilate, and destabilise whilst the Patriarch sends out an unconscious psychic beacon that the hive mind hones in on. So from the wargame stuff at least, genestealers are vanguard organisms whose main purpose is to find planets with biomass, infiltrate them and set off a homing beacon for the mothership. The broodbrothers all then march in ecstacy into the waiting reclamation pools believeing they will be taken to heaven.

This is a product of the patriarch. If there is no patriarch, there is no signal. A patriarch only starts signalling past a certain age. So if a genestealer population somehow never produced a patriarch they wouldn't attract the hive fleets. They would continue to do what they were programmed to do, infiltrate assimilate destabilise. However they only incite all out rebellion when the hive mind comes within proximity of the planet thus making it completely vulnerable to the hive's attack.

For anyone that has seen the book, can you tell me what kind of range the Dire Avenger's stats are in (obviously not specifics - better than the dark eldar in PtU, the same as the marine minus S/T that sort of thing)? I would be interested to see what an Aspect Warrior in DH looks like.

Hellebore

Hellebore said:

Do they? That's where I get my data as well. The same codex makes it clear that a few generations seperate from a Hive Fleet turns Tyranid species "feral", making them unattached from any Tyranid Hive, and that much of the information about the Tyranid species away from the field of battle is composed of assumption rather than actual tangible data. Thus, from the wargame perspective, in essence, we're both right. Hence why it isn't entirely neccessary to invoke the Tyranid when mentioning the Genestealers - the Calixis Sector might sport a Genestealer infestation that's gone feral.

aethel said:

We should remember that Genestelers were identified as a Tyranid species long after being first encountered by the Imperium, and were for a long time believed to be creatures native to moons of Ymgarl. Maybe the fact that they are a Tyranid species simply isn't ,at this point of time ,known in Calixis sector.

Ordo Hydra said:

How about the Church of Starry Wisdom from H. P. Lovecraft's Ctulhu Mythos stories? It is in the Chaos section of the book after all

Genestealers and their cult activities represent a threat to Imperial worlds all by themselves. Their patriarchs do eventually send out psychic signals that tell Tyranid Hive Fleets that there is great meal at their location, but that part is irrelevant in the Callixus Sector as there are no Hive Fleets in the vicinity. Therefore the threat Genestealers pose to the Callixus Sector is unrelated to being creatures of Tyranid origin.

Indeed what could be better than the children of the emperor (literally) then an elder god!

Yay for the church of the starry wisdom! Go Nyarlathotep! Hes my favourite

along with:

IA! Shub_niggurath! The black goat of the woods with a thousand young!

I can see the Astral Knives now.

AK1: "He's said 'Hastur' at least twice already, we have to kill him, I don't care what it means in his language."

AK2 and 3: "YOU JUST SAID IT!"

AK1: "Just said what? You mean 'Has-'"

AK2's blade: *schnikt*

AK2: "It was for the greater good."

AK3: "What are you, Tau?"

Ross said:

Safe and sound on Tuesday! (I just didn't want to be obnoxious and start plastering the forum with my thoughts on it while everyone else was still waiting.) Though as indicated in my last post, I was very excited and impressed by it.

HELLEBORE- More potent that the Crimson Woe Raiders. A stat line that is par-ish with the Crimson Woe's leader, Akirvas, though lower toughness. Great weapons and armor though obviously no destructor, and a very impressive set of skills and talents.