Joshua Reynolds's Blog, page 39

Cemetery Gun

Last week was the first of the month, and that means there’s a new short story available on my Patreon page. “Cemetery Gun” is a guns and sorcery tale of the decaying city-empire of Ossuary, and the warriors who guard its dead. The gunman known as Beckford is on the third night of his vigil, but treachery and scavenging ghuls may see him interred in the very mausoleum he’s protecting.

If that sounds like something you’d be interested in reading, head over to my Patreon page, pledge a dollar, and check it, as well as the rest of the short stories, out.

Eternal War

Black Library has released a new Warhammer 40,000 audio drama compilation, Champions of the Eternal War. With scripts by David Guymer and Ian St. Martin, it also includes “The Art of Provocation”, my Lukas the Trickster story, which appeared as part of last year’s Black Library Advent Calendar.

You can purchase Champions of the Eternal War in either digital or physical format from Black Library. Why not grab a copy today?

Hounds of Pleasure

Tzekmek, Great Changer of the Barrowflock, shrilled curses as a pervasive, sugar-sweet scent permeated the air of the fens. With the guardians of the dead in disarray, and the Wickenmotte in flames, the magics of the marsh barrows had been theirs for the taking.

But even as the Tzaangor warflock had moved to plunder the ancient ruins, their celebrations were interrupted by the skirl of strange pipes and joyful, inhuman shrieks. The air had taken on an oily sheen the shaman recognised all too well…the veil was drawn thin, and something had issued forth from the realms beyond sensation. 

Now, gaunt, glistening shapes loped through the mists and hunched trees, their abominable laughter tainting the very air. Daemons, but not those loyal to the Feathered Lords. Rather, these served the Great Schemer’s lost sibling, Slaanesh. And with the way so generously cleared of opposition by the Tzaangor, they had come to claim the magics of the barrows for themselves.

Perhaps they thought the charnel grounds held some secret which would return their lost god to them. Perhaps they were simply scavengers. Either way, they could not be allowed to plunder Tzekmek’s hard-won spoils of war.

Not without a fight. 

Previously on useless hobby talk, my Tzaangor warflock managed to defeat Rich‘s Deathrattle forces, and lay claim to the crumbling ruins of the Wickenmotte, after seeing off both the tenacious Wight King and his sanguinary ally.

This time around, Tzekmek and his feathered coven-kin would be facing the servants of another of the Ruinous Powers – Slaanesh – under the command of my pal, David. As always, Wargames Emporium played host, lending us the use of one of their awesome battle-boards for the duration.

While the original plan was to face Dave’s Sylvaneth or his Nurgle Rotbringers, he instead decided to try out his Slaaneshii warband. Dave’s forces consisted of a force of Seekers, Fiends and Furies, led by a Herald of Slaanesh. Roughly a thousand points, according to the General’s Handbook. While not big on numbers, they more than made up for it on speed and brutality. Also of note, Dave’s converted Chaos Furies. Look at those little guys. So pudgy and cheerful.

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I decided to use the same army composition as before, more for the sake of expediency than anything else. Too, once you use Skyfires and Enlightened once or twice, it’s really hard not to want to use them all the time. They just work so dang well, game-wise. That said, next game I might do without the Skyfires, just to see how a Witchfyre Coven plays.

Unfortunately, I haven’t managed to get any painting in, this past month, so my Mardi Gras coven is in pretty much the same state as it was last time around. I know, I know…bad hobbyist. But, hopefully, if fortune is with me, I can break the paints out in the coming weeks and make some progress before the next game.

Anyway, Dave and I decided on playing the second Battleplan from the Disciples of Tzeentch Battletome, ‘Banquet of Magic’. His fast moving Slaaneshii daemons would attempt to thwart my warflock’s plundering of the barrows, which, spoiler alert, they very nearly did!

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Things went sour right off. The blessings of Tzeentch weren’t with me, as Dave won the first turn, took it, and showed me just how fast Slaaneshii daemons can move.

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If you were wondering, they move very, very fast indeed. Dave won the initiative three more times over the course of the game, leading me to privately question my allegiances. Even lost, Slaanesh watches over his servants.

Thus emboldened, the Hounds of Pleasure occupied most of the objectives on the first turn, leaving Tzekmek to unbind one measly ward, as the rest of the warflock swept forwards to contest the others.

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Tzekmek, protected by his cohort of Skyfires, raced across the battlefield, looking to unbind as many wards as he could. I needed to unbind at least four to secure a draw, and Dave’s speed meant at least half of them were contested at any one point. Everywhere Tzekmek went, there were foes present.

As the Shaman and his bodyguards ran afoul of the enemy at every turn, the Enlightened moved to occupy the hill of skulls. But they were met and very nearly thrown back by the Herald and the Seekers, who quickly overwhelmed the blessed warriors, killing one and wounding the others.

The remaining Enlightened responded by doing what they do best. In the following turns, they managed to kill most of the daemon pack after two savage turns of combat, though not without suffering more wounds in turn. Tzekmek, momentarily abandoning his quest, burned the Herald to cinders with his magics, but not before it had removed the head of the Enlightened’s Aviarch. Daemons being daemons, they didn’t fail their Battleshock test. The fight over the hill of skulls would continue for another turn.

The Skyfires’ shooting during this period proved ineffectual – I’ve come to realise over the course of these games that they’re best used as snipers. They’re lethal against characters or large monsters, with the ability to deal out multiple mortal wounds, but against units they can only pick off a few models at a time. While they managed to kill a Fiend, and wound another, that left the rest of the galloping horrors in a position to protect one of the objectives.

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Another Enlightened fell to the Seekers’ claws in subsequent turns. The remaining warrior, down to his last wound, broke off from the conflict and shot across the field, seeking to unbind an undefended ward as the Tzaangor finished off the Seekers.

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The Furies descended on the Tzaangor, wounding one. The winged daemons came off badly in the exchange, receiving a disproportionate amount of damage in response. Nevertheless, the fight for the bloody hill continued, even as Tzekmek and the Skyfires, fresh from unbinding two more wards, swooped towards the fray.

Meanwhile, the lone Enlightened found himself under attack from the Fiends. The bestial daemons intercepted the unlucky warrior as he hurtled towards his objective, cutting him off and very nearly dispatching him out of hand.

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But, Tzeentch finally turned his gaze to the struggles of his children, and the lone warrior managed to eviscerate one of the daemons and fight his way free. As he shot off towards his goal, the remaining Fiend launched itself at the hill of skulls, in an effort to deny the Tzaangor victory.

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As the fifth turn came to an end, the lone Enlightened managed to unbind a fourth ward, safely securing a draw. The rest of the warflock was locked in battle with the single surviving Fiend which managed to survive everything they threw at it – magic, arrows, blades and beaks alike – by the grace of Slaanesh. And with that, the game concluded.

While my strategy was sound, overall, I made a few tactical blunders that nearly cost me the game early on. My Destiny Dice were less help this time around – I mostly used them to ensure Tzekmek’s spells went off without a hitch, after a few bad rolls. Too, I got distracted by my desire to take that blasted hill, and Dave ably played on it, essentially trapping the bulk of my army there for the duration of the game.

In retrospect, I should have peeled the Enlightened off after the first turn and left the Tzaangor to handle the Seekers. And while Tzekmek and the Skyfires managed to unbind three of the wards, I should have left them to get the other two, rather than sending them to join the brawl. Dave was understandably wary of them, and if I’d been thinking, I might have used that to my advantage. Instead, I lost sight of my objective, and became focused on wiping out his army.

But, lesson learned. Next time, I’ll think like a proper devotee of the Great Schemer and concentrate on securing my objectives.

Tzekmek crouched over the smouldering remains of the Slaaneshii Herald, trying to discern some meaning in the residue. The Shaman inhaled the sickly-sweet stink of the daemon, tasting the heady aroma of the magics that made up such creatures. Why had they come to this place? What had drawn the Hounds of Pleasure here?

He turned his head, studying the moss-encrusted ruins that rose from the low, turgid waters of the fen. The stones stank of death-magic, and ancient bindings. The fen kingdoms of the Ghost Bat Bog had once been the outpost of a greater empire by far. One that had stretched across realms, and had challenged the gods themselves, before the coming of Chaos. Perhaps the secrets of that long-vanished empire yet remained hidden somewhere within these ruins. It might explain why the Unseen had chosen this place to weave its schemes. 

The Shaman hissed as he considered his ally. The Magister was cunning, and deceitful. It had used Tzekmek and his kin to clear the way, playing on their greed. But, if there was truly something here – something that both the Unseen and the servants of lesser gods wanted – then it surely served the will of the Feathered Lords that he remain and discover it. Whatever the cost…

Plague-Ridden Pre-Order

My newest novel, Hallowed Knights: Plague Garden, is up for pre-order on both the Black Library site and various international distributors, and I thought I’d take a moment to talk a bit about it.

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Hallowed Knights: Plague Garden is the first of what will hopefully be a new Age of Sigmar series, following the ongoing adventures of the Stormcast Eternals of the Steel Souls warrior chamber, including Lord-Celestant Gardus, Lord-Castellant Grymn and Knight-Vexillor Angstun Drahn, among others – some of whom are appearing for the first time in this book!

Following on from the events depicted in the Realmgate Wars novels, War Storm, Ghal Maraz,Wardens of the Everqueen and Mortarch of Night, the book finds the Steel Souls in an uncomfortably familiar position – one of their own has been lost in the noxious realm of the plague god, Nurgle. But rather than accepting the loss and pressing on, as they did before, Gardus Steel Soul decides instead to lead an assault upon the titular Plague Garden, in order to rescue their comrade.

To that end, the Steel Souls must fight their way through seven vast tiers of toxic horror, containing armies of daemons, lost souls and nightmarish monsters, before a final confrontation on the steps of Nurgle’s manse itself.

This book was a particularly fun one for me to work on. Besides getting a chance to catch up with old friends like Gardus, it was also an opportunity to dig a bit more deeply into how and why the Stormcast Eternals function as they do. Too, I got to explore the Garden of Nurgle in some detail, which was highly entertaining.

As mentioned above, the book is available for pre-order, either as a hardback or an ebook. I’m told that copies of the hardback might also be available for purchase at Warhammer Fest 2017, if you’re planning on attending. I might even be able to sign them for you, if you can find me.

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WIPW: Things Proceed

Things proceed apace, as they are wont to do in this life. Words pile up, paragraph by paragraph, page by page, and it never seems to be enough. Worse, they never seem quite right. But still, things proceed. There’s probably a lesson there, but…eh.

Last week, I managed to finish up the first draft of Book #2 of 2017, bringing it in at just over 100,000 words. This one was a tough nut to crack, on a lot of levels. It seemed simple enough at the outset, but certain story elements proved a bit more difficult to wrangle than I anticipated. Too, the characters were fun to put through their paces, by and large, but I was left with the sense that I might need to flesh some of them out further. In any event, that’s a problem for the next draft. At the moment, I’m just glad it’s done.

Speaking of drafts, I also completed the second draft of Book #1. Luckily for me, there weren’t many changes to make. A few scenes needed to be expanded, some tertiary characters introduced earlier on in the narrative (Bellephus, you magnificent bastard with your fifteen total lines of dialogue across two books – you’re getting a bigger part in the third book, if there is one), and some stuff needed to be cut. Easy enough.

Well, not easy. Comparatively easy, I should say. It took time, effort and a lot of coffee to do, but I done did it and it be done.

Lastly, I’ve started work on a new novella for Black Library, featuring characters from my forthcoming novel, Hallowed Knights: Plague Garden. I’ve only just started this one – I’m only about 12,000 words in – but I’ve got to have it completed by the end of the month.

So that’s what I’ll be working on for the next week or two.

Warhammer Fest 2017

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Just a quick note here to mention that I’ll be attending Warhammer Fest this year, along with authors Paul Kearney, Guy Haley, John French, Chris Wraight and Dan Abnett. There’ll be seminars as well as signings, so feel free to come by and say hello, if you’re there and of a mind.

For more information about Warhammer Fest 2017, visit the Warhammer World site.

Neither Brute Nor Human

It’s the first of the month, and that means there’s a new short story available on my Patreon page. “The Charnel Hounds” finds the Royal Occultist, Thomas Carnacki, and his apprentice, Charles St. Cyprian, facing down a horde of starving ghouls in the trenches of the First World War.

If that sounds like something you’d be interested in reading, head over to my Patreon page, pledge a dollar, and check it, as well as the rest of the short stories, out.

Those Folk Below

Dark Regions Press has released the cover and table of contents for their forthcoming anthology, Arkham Detective Agency, a Lovecraftian-noir tribute to the late C.J. Henderson. I’m proud to say that I have a story in the book, alongside authors such as Konstantine Paradias, Sam Gafford and Glynn Owen Barrass.

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Henderson’s stories have always been a source of inspiration for me. He did hard boiled versus Cthulhu better than anyone, and his Teddy London series were among the influences for my own Royal Occultist stories. When editor Brian M. Sammons offered me the chance to contribute, I leaped at the opportunity to pay tribute to one of my favourite authors, by writing a story set in one of his universes, using his characters as well as my own.

My contribution, “Those Folk Below”, finds Frank Nardi and the Arkham Detective Agency working security as Miskatonic University hosts a rare book auction. The book in question? The Unaussprechlichen Kulten. Things quickly spiral out of control, as you might expect.

Too, as I mentioned above, I couldn’t resist adding a few of my own characters into the mix: Indrid Cold (who has previously appeared in the stories “The Yoth Protocols”, “The Romero Transference”, “Time’s Black Gulf” and “The Pnakotic Puzzle”) and newcomer Count Anton Sforza (who carries a very familiar Webley-Fosbery revolver and may, or may not, be the grandson of a certain Royal Occultist…).

The anthology will be part of a huge, six book Cthulhu Mythos Kickstarter campaign from Dark Regions Press starting May 2nd. A lot of great books will be part of it, so please check that out once it begins for this anthology and more.

Waters Dark and Deep

I’ve been remiss in mentioning that the first issue of Broadswords and Blasters is now out and available for download. Among other fine stories is my tale of sword-wielding monks and devils from the deep blue sea, “The Waters So Dark”.

“The Waters So Dark” is the second adventure of Bartolomeo Corsi, former soldier, Florentine monk and monster hunter. On the eve of the Treaty of Venice, Corsi finds himself hunting down a renegade monk and coming face to face with a horror out of the deepest recesses of the sea.

For those unfamiliar with Corsi’s previous adventures, I encourage you to dig up a copy of the Monk Punk/Shadow of the Unknown Omnibus, which includes the story “Evil Fruit”. 

The first issue of Broadswords and Blasters is available as a Kindle download. I encourage you to check it out.

Saturday Self-Promotion

It’s Saturday, and I feel like selling some books. Interested in some late 19th century escapades? What about a deadly duel atop the Eiffel Tower? An attempted coup in a country teetering on the edge of revolution? Alien conspiracies? Enough literary Easter eggs to choke a rabbit?

If any of that sounds like your sort of thing, then you should check out either (or both) of the two books below.

The Other Log of Phileas Fogg was only the beginning!

Phileas Fogg and the War of Shadows

It is 1889 and Phileas Fogg has settled into a life of quiet sequestration in the rural idyll of his family estate with his wife and children. The millenia-old conflict which once threatened to consume him is over and done. Or so he thought. But when an old foe disrupts his peaceful retirement, seeking his aid against an enemy which threatens them both, Fogg  finds himself once more thrown into the white-hot crucible of war.

Now, with his loved ones under threat of death, and accompanied by the unpredictable colonel who has been described as the second most dangerous man in London, Fogg must dare the dangers of the City of Light in order to uncover the deadly secrets hidden beneath the streets of Paris. And as the wonders of the Exposition Universelle unfold around him and the air quivers with the impossible reverberation of nine great clangings, Fogg  must plunge into the shadowed depths of the Parisian catacombs on the trail of his phantom enemy…

Phileas Fogg and the Heart of Osra

1889. The war of shadows is over, but a new and more deadly conflict has begun in the Central European country of Ruritania. A conflict which threatens to consume the few remaining survivors of the millennia-old struggle between Eridaneans and Capelleans, including Phileas Fogg.

Drawn to the city of Streslau by a mysterious letter, Fogg finds himself accused of a crime he didn’t commit and caught between old allies and new enemies in a struggle for survival. On the run and aided only by the unpredictable Count of Hentzau, Fogg must exert every iota of his famed intellect in order to unravel the mystery of the Heart of Osra – or face the utter annihilation of Eridaneans and Capelleans alike!