Gav Thorpe's Blog, page 21
June 10, 2016
Kickstarter Feature – Moonstone the Game
A month or so ago I stumbled across, as one does, a new game and miniatures range on Facebook. Called Moonstone, I was immediately taken with the visuals (very important in any game!) and it being Facebook I Liked one of the pictures. Much to my surprise, they contacted me and offered to send me one of their test models – a Firespitter.
I said yes, because who turns down a free miniature? And I thought it would be good to try a mini-review of a toy soldier, something I’ve not done before. It turned out that the Kickstarter was going to launch soon, so I also asked Tom from Moonstone to tell me a bit more about the game and their plans.
The Firespitter
I don’t have a lot of experience with resin models, I have to admit. Bearing in mind that this is a test cast, there was very little flash to clean up, and a quick scrape with a knife did the job.
I am all thumbs when it comes to sticking fiddly bits together and I admit I eyed the bendy piping piece in particular with a little wariness. However, I needn’t have worried as the fittings were all great and the parts went together very simply. Put together in the ‘flesh’, I’m impressed by the amount of character and expression and I’m looking forward to painting this fella at some point soon. The detail’s very strong so some washes will really pick out the textures, I reckon, though if you have better suggestions let me know in the comments. I’ll post an update when I get started with a brush.
The History of Moonstone the Game
Tom: The game is set in a whimsical world reminiscent of the 80’s movies The Labyrinth and Dark Crystal. I’m a big Fan of Brian Froud’s art and the idea of creating a game in this sort of setting was a big inspiration, there doesn’t seem to be a game out there at the moment that quite fits this niche. From an artistic point of view I’ve also been quite influenced by some of the artists that contributed to Rackham’s Confrontation, such as Paul Bonner.
I also had some ideas for using card mechanics in a miniatures game brewing for a long while. It started when playing Malifaux and being frustrated that although I was using cards, the way they are used seemed a bit limited, flipping cards off the top of a deck just felt like rolling a 13 sided dice. As a poker fan, I wanted to add some of those elements into a miniatures game. I wanted a hand of options to choose from and methods to mislead my opponents.
I’m also a big fan of deck building games and wanted to introduce some feature of building up killer combo’s, and finding the counters to your opponents’ choices.
My third big influence is that besides table top war-games I also train in Historical European Martial Arts (i.e. competitive sword fighting), so had ideas brewing for a close combat system that was dynamic and involved player decision on how they wanted their character to fight which also lead me to explore card mechanics.
Any my fourth big influence is I have enjoyed playing CCG/board games in both two player and multiplayer modes. The political scheming element you get from group games is a really interesting alternative way to play which some people (especially female gamers in my experience) prefer. So I wanted a miniatures game that would work equally well with two players as with 3 or 4.
The Game
Tom: The game is typically played with 12 miniatures on a 3’x3’ board. This could be two players with 6 each, 3 players with 4 each or 4 players with 3 each. At the start of the game, a handful of Moonstones (D4’s) are dropped in the middle of the table and players try to harvest them out of the ground and then fight/steal them. After 4 turns the player holding the most stones wins.
Apart from the Moonstones themselves (which are dice, but not used in a conventional way), the game mechanics are all card based. There are two custom card decks, the Arcane Deck which is used to cast spells and shoot ranged weapons or heal and the Combat Deck.
We’ve been play testing for about 6-7 months so I’m feeling confident to publish the rules as a Free Download PDF as soon as I get a few more bits of artwork done for it.
The Kickstarter
That all sounds very cool to me. If you agree, I suggest you take a trip over to the Moonstone Fantasy Skirmish Game Kickstarter page and show your support! You should also sign up on their Facebook page, follow them on Twitter @moonstonegame, and take a look at their website.
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June 8, 2016
Interview with 40k Theories – June 2016
Listen to an interview with 40k Theories in which I talk about all kinds of stuff including space skaven, Epic Squats, Warbeast and my forthcoming Horus Heresy novel Angels of Caliban.
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June 4, 2016
Pour L’Empereur & Raumschlacht Bei Port Sanctus
The French and German translations of The Emperor Expects are available today in Hardback – available from Black Library.
Title: Pour L’Empereur
ISBN: 978-1780302713
Format: Relié
Purchase from: Black Library
Des vaisseaux orks sèment la désolation monde après monde, et se dirigent vers Terra. Les citoyens impériaux sont plongés dans le désespoir, pendant que les Hauts Seigneurs cherchent désespérément à prouver qu’une victoire reste possible, quel qu’en soit le coût. Une imposante flotte est rassemblée. Sa mission : frapper un coup décisif contre les orks massés à Port Sanctus, une zone de l’espace aux mains de l’ennemi. Mais lorsque que l’armada impériale arrive sur place, elle est surclassée en nombre et en puissance de feu. Le courage et la foi des hommes pourront-ils l’emporter alors que les chances de victoire sont si minces?
Title: Raumschlacht Bei Port Sanctus
ISBN: 978-1781931608
Format: Gebundene Ausgabe
Purchase from: Black Library
Während die Schiffe der Orks eine Welt nach der anderen verheeren und sich unaufhaltsam auf Terra zubewegen, verzweifeln die Bürger des Imperiums. Die Hohen Senatoren stehen unter Druck zu beweisen, dass ein Sieg möglich ist, und scheuen weder Kosten noch Mühen. Sie versammeln eine gewaltige Flotte, deren Mission es ist, die Orks bei Port Sanctus anzugreifen. Doch als die Armada eintrifft, sieht sie sich überlegenen Kräften gegenüber. Kann der Mut und der Glaube der Menschen gegen solch schreckliche Widrigkeiten bestehen?
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May 31, 2016
Interview with HeelanHammer – May 2016
Although HeelanHammer has been running for some time now, this was my first opportunity to talk to Dan and Wayne, and I bent their ears on a variety of topics. We discussed the pleasures of miniatures gaming in 2016, working for Games Workshop ‘back in the day’, the coming of the Age of Sigmar and, of course, my Warbeast novel (including a chat about the Queen of the Peaks and how I see the relationship with the World that Was).
Episode 152: The Gav Summoner
Interview starts at 21:13.
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May 27, 2016
May 2016 – Q&A
This is a compilation of questions that have been emailed and messaged to me recently.
If you want to ask anything, you can post a comment here or get in touch through the contact page (and newsletter subscribers can just reply to any of my emails).
I’m intending to do a specific Q&A for Angels of Caliban once people have had a chance to read it after release, so if you have any questions then, please send them in!
Carlos ”Dark Angel” Gomez asked: Question! Will we have any Dark Angel Character Cameos from your books in the upcoming game Space Hulk?
The character designs, and thus the primary characters of the story, were already well underway by Streum On by the time I was brought on board. The only character with any crossover with my books is Grand Master Belial.
Daniel Brooks asked on Twitter: Hi Gav, any chance of further Phoenix Lord novellas? The first (and great) one seemed to imply a multi-perspective tale?
I’m working up a synopsis for another one soon.
[Since answering this question, it was revealed at Warhammer Fest that I will soon be submitting a synopsis for a follow-up book to Asurmen. This Phoenix Lord novel will be full-length (about 90,000-100,000 words) and if you’re wondering who the titular character will be, lets just say she makes an appearance in Asurmen: The Hand of Asuryan…]
Daniel Brooks replied: Excellent news… how about some more Raven Guard? I know they’re moving on to the Solar War but another novel would be great.
The various Raven Guard storylines will be (partly) tied down before the end, don’t fear on that account.
[Again, more details were revealed at Warhammer Fest concerning my upcoming Horus Heresy release, Corax.]
Jørgen asked on the blog: [referring to difficulties buying Ravenwing] So my question is that, will there be a paperback omnibus any time soon? Or maybe a reprinting of Ravenwing? I would buy the ebook, but I love the feeling of an actual book in my hands, and that oh so wonderful, new book smell.
There will be a print omnibus at some point… I don’t know exact contents, or whether hardback or a regular omnibus edition.
Stephen Gault asked on Goodreads: Hi Gav, I’m a big 1st Legion fan have been since I started collecting and they returned from the warp in the 90’s! (I miss Naaman) Guess my question is when does the legacy of Caliban continue and will it tie in with Wolf Time we have been seeing with Curse of the Wulfen?
Hi, thanks for reading. As of this moment, bearing in mind plans might change, the Legacy of Caliban trilogy is complete. Which I suppose answers your other questions as well – the Curse of the Wulfen is something entirely separate and comes directly from the Design Studio.
I’m currently writing a book that takes us back to the early days of Azrael’s command, but after that my attention will be turning away from the Dark Angels. (However, I might return to the Consecrators at some point as I had a lot of fun with the Chapter Master in The Unforgiven.)
Mark asked on the blog: Hi-thanks for this article [Three Top tips for Black Library Submissions], it was a really useful read and I used it as a framework for my submission which has passed the first stage and has now been sent to the editors to review. The response did say this could take a while, but do you know how long these things usually take please?
Hi, congratulations on getting over the first hurdle. I don’t know how long you’ll have to wait – it will depend on just how many subs made it through the first phase and what the editors have on in terms of regular workload (which is a lot, I can confidently say). I would spend the time working on the submission before feedback – have a look and see what you would change now if you had the chance, or maybe expand the sample out to 1,000 words to keep the story ticking over.
And finally, thanks to Anders Stormklinge for sending this picture of his cat Paul, she looks like she is enjoying Doom of Dragonback.
Reading the Doom of Dragonback with Paul (my cat) #GavThorpe is such an amazing writer!
May 25, 2016
Corax Wallpaper Available for Download
If you attended Warhammer fest, or read my event report, you will have heard the news that Black Library will be releasing a novel-length anthology entitled ‘Corax’, coming out toward the end of the year. The book brings together all of my tales of the Raven Guard since the end of Deliverance Lost – Corax: Soulforge; Ravenlord; The Shadowmasters; Value of Fear; and Raptor, along with a brand new novella entitled Weregeld (find out more about it here).
Corax will have more awesome artwork from Neil Roberts, and you can download the wallpaper for mobile over at the Black Library website.
**To make sure you don’t miss out on any blog posts, you can keep up-to-date with everything Gav by signing up to my monthly newsletter. As a bonus, every other month I randomly pick a newsletter subscriber to receive a free signed copy of one of my books.**
May 21, 2016
Warbeast Exclusive Edition – Get Yours Now
The Realmgate Wars Exclusive Collector’s Editions were printed in limited runs, so once they’re gone, they’re gone. In my opinion the Warbeast exclusive edition is the best presented of any of my works, a real treat to have on my shelves (just wish I had the space to get the full set).
“Beautifully presented with bespoke artwork on an embossed, soft-touch matte finish hardcover, brass-edged pages and metallic inking, this tome is sure to take pride of place on the shelf of any bookcase. The A5 hardback cover folds out to provide a panoramic view of a battle between the forces of Chaos and Sigmar’s heroic Stormhosts.”
The Story
“The once noble tribes of Ursungorod in Ghur have almost entirely fallen to Chaos, and an infestation of Clans Pestilens skaven has amassed in the caverns beneath the snowy tundra. There, Poxmaster Felk is on the brink of opening a vital realmgate – but Sigmar intends to seize this portal for himself. Arkas Warbeast, Lord-Celestant of the Celestial Vindicators, was once a mortal ruler of these lands. Now, with the aid of the Knights Excelsior, he has returned to free his kingdom from the clutches of Chaos and claim the realmgate in his God-King’s name. But first he must vanquish the ghosts of his past and overcome his own conflicted nature, in order to unleash the beast within.”
**To make sure you don’t miss out on any blog posts, you can keep up-to-date with everything Gav by signing up to my monthly newsletter. As a bonus, every other month I randomly pick a newsletter subscriber to receive a free signed copy of one of my books. The next competition is to win a signed copy of Angels of Caliban, my next Horus Heresy novel.**
May 18, 2016
Angels of Caliban Homework
As many of you will be aware, my next Horus Heresy novel Angels of Caliban will be released in the next few weeks. I hope the story will work as a stand-alone novel (the mechanics of which I’m planning on doing a blog post about soon), but as it obviously ties in to the wider story of the Heresy, readers might like to catch up on the related works before it comes out. This was a question Civilian Reader asked in a recent in-depth interview, so I’ve re-posted an extract from the interview below.
**You could win a signed copy of Angels of Caliban, by signing up to my newsletter – the deadline is lunchtime Monday 23rd May, and the winner will be announced in the newsletter on Friday 27th.**
You work on a number of series for Black Library. Your next Horus Heresy novel, Angels of Caliban, will be published soon(ish). How would you introduce it to a potential reader?
Angels of Caliban is a story about loyalty and honour, but more importantly how those things can be measured differently. And how those measures may change depending on circumstance. It is the culmination and continuance of several storylines that have been playing out through the Horus Heresy series, including the Imperium Secundus arc, the growing rebellion on Caliban and the ongoing homicidal feud between The Lion and Konrad Curze. But there’s also a ton of stuff about the history and organisation of the Dark Angels legion, an examination on the ‘nature versus nurture’ debate on the Primarchs and all the sort of lore you would expect from a Horus Heresy novel. Oh, and an ending that will drop a few jaws and have some folks just wondering what the hell is going to happen next.
How does it fit into the overall series?
That’s really difficult to answer. On one level it simply follows Unremembered Empire and Pharos, with backstory from Descent of Angels and Fallen Angels. But also ties to lots of other work such as the Thramas Crusade stories Savage Weapons and Prince of Crows by Aaron Dembski-Bowden, associated stories from Imperium Secundus, my work in Call of The Lion, The Lion, By the Lion’s Command (detecting a title theme yet?), as well as the audios Guardian of Order, Master of the First and John French’s Grey Angel. What a tangled web we weave…
You can read the full interview here.
If you want to know how my other titles relate to each other (and those of other authors), check out my Reader’s Guide, which I try to keep up-to-date as and when new books are published.
**To make sure you don’t miss out on any blog posts, you can keep up-to-date with everything Gav by signing up to my monthly newsletter. As a bonus, every other month I randomly pick a newsletter subscriber to receive a free signed copy of one of my books.**
May 16, 2016
Warhammer Fest 2016 – Event Report
I spent the last weekend at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry as one of a number of Black Library guests at this year’s Warhammer Fest. Along with writers David Guymer, John French, Jim Swallow, artist Neil Roberts and editor Laurie Goulding I spent Saturday and Sunday signing books (quite a few copies of Lords of Caliban in particular, which was nice to see) and talking to people about writing.
I had hoped to get out and about in the show and see what else was there but my browsing was curtailed to a few snatched minutes here and there. I’ll share a couple of those minutes at the end. So, instead of the usual style of event report I’d like to cover some of the information that came out during the two seminars, and in conversation with the fans I spoke to over the two days.
Corax – Weregeld
On Saturday we revealed, alongside several other wonderful covers, Neil Roberts’ latest rendition of the Raven Guard Primarch. My picture isn’t the best and I’m sure there will be others around on the internet, but even in this image you can see how well Neil has captured the mood of the Primarch. This is a battle he does not expect to survive…
The illustration will be the cover of a special compilation (or bind-up as we sometimes call them) that will be coming out toward the end of the year. Entitled ‘Corax’, it brings together all of the tales of the Raven Guard since the end of Deliverance Lost – Corax: Soulforge; Ravenlord; The Shadowmasters; Value of Fear; Raptor.
As well as these, the volume will also include a new novella to cap off the series and bring the story of Corax up to the point just before the Siege of Terra. Entitled Weregeld, it is the culmination of many of the storylines prior to that, and sees the return of characters such as the Raptor lieutenant Navar Hef, Commander Branne and Therion Vice-Caesarii Marcus Valerius, Librarian Balsar Kurthuri, Gherith Arendi and, of course, Corax himself. It is a story of endings, in more ways than one, and is, for the foreseeable future, my last contribution to the Raven Guard story in the Horus Heresy (though there will be more appearances in different titles). Like the rest of the numbered series it will be initially released in hardback with an author afterword.
Future Titles
On Sunday we talked a bit about work outside the Horus Heresy series and I was pleased to announce two forthcoming titles. I am, this week, about to hand over the first draft of Azrael, a book for the Lords of the Space Marines series. The story takes us to events on war-torn Rhamiel, during which Azrael must take command of the leaderless Chapter and defeat an infernal enemy.
After that I will be submitting my synopsis for a follow-up book to Asurmen. This Phoenix Lord novel will be full-length (about 90-100,000 words) and if you’re wondering who the titular character will be, let’s just say she makes an appearance in Asurmen: The Hand of Asuryan…
Big Things Hitting Each Other
There was a lot of very cool stuff on display at Warhammer Fest, of which I only saw a small fraction. I was also able to catch up with a few folks I know in various parts of GW – Specialist games, Middle-Earth games, licensing, Design Studio. What snippets I gleaned are very exciting (yeah, yeah, vague promises) and it sounds like there are some exceptionally good projects coming down the line.
I’ll leave you with perhaps the most exciting discovery of the weekend (from a Gamer Gav perspective).
Andy Hoare of Specialist Games confirmed a return to Adeptus Titanicus. This (and its successor Space Marine) was my main game for most of my teenage years. Giant war machines clash in the Horus Heresy. Oh my.
Andy’s plans for the game and range sound fantastic and if I smile enough and look charming I might even be able to take the game for a spin some time in the next couple of months! Thirteen year old me would be very impressed.
More news as and when.
And lastly but most importantly, a big thank you to everyone that came to Warhammer Fest, to talk about books, get stuff signed, discuss the intricate nature of Eldar metaphysics and Imperial faith, and generally hang out. Professionals and readers alike, it was great to see you all.
**To make sure you don’t miss out on any blog posts, you can keep up-to-date with everything Gav by signing up to my monthly newsletter. As a bonus, every other month I randomly pick a newsletter subscriber to receive a free signed copy of one of my books.**
May 14, 2016
PLR: Free Money for Authors and Illustrators!
Lets get straight to it.
“Public Lending Right (PLR) is the right for authors to receive payment for the loans of their books by public libraries.”
And it doesn’t just cover authors – if you’re an illustrator/photographer, translator, adaptor/re-teller, ghostwriter, or editor/compiler/abridger/reviser, you may also be eligible for a share of the loan fee too. In the UK, payment comes from the UK Government for loans of books at public libraries, but you and your books have to be registered for PLR by 30 June. The process can take some time, so I’d advise registering sooner rather than later, to ensure you don’t miss out.
As well as receiving additional income, it’s also interesting to see the loan statistics for your books – something I’ve blogged about here. I still get a warm fuzzy feeling when I see that books I released in 2001 are still being loaned out and read 15 years later – presumably well-thumbed and dog-eared.
And if PLR is something new to you, you should also check out my blog about the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS), which performs a similar function for over 40 other countries.
And I’ll say it again, because creative types (including me) aren’t known for our administration skills – THE DEADLINE IS 30TH JUNE. You can buy me a beer to say thank you, when you see me next.
**To make sure you don’t miss out on any blog posts, you can keep up-to-date with everything Gav by signing up to my monthly newsletter. As a bonus, every other month I randomly pick a newsletter subscriber to receive a free signed copy of one of my books.**
