November Q&A
This is a compilation of questions that have been emailed and messaged to me recently. If you want to ask about 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).
Harry Chamberlain asked: Thanks for being so approachable, Gav! I was curious if you had a list (that you would be willing to share) of recurring characters from across your Dark Angels fiction.
There’s no master character list, in that regard, but I can help you out. Firstly, if you’ve not seen it yet I’ve created a handy reading guide which details the best order to read the books and short stories. That might help.
Secondly, here’s a rough round-up of the major Dark Angels characters in my stories and books (and a few in other people’s, for the sake of helpful continuity)…
Horus Heresy Era
(Descent of Angels and Fallen Angels – The Lion, Luther, Nemiel, Zahariel, Astelan, Lord Cypher.)
Call of the Lion – Astelan and Belath.
(Aaron Dembski-Bowden’s Savage Weapons – The Lion and Paladin Corswain.)
The Lion – The Lion, Corswain, Nemiel.
By the Lion’s Command – Corswain, Belath.
Guardian of Order – Lord Cypher, Zahariel.
Master of the First – Astelan, Luther.
Angels of Caliban (forthcoming…) – Astelan, Luther, Belath, Zahariel, the Lion, Lord Cypher.
40K Era
Purging of Kadillus – Chaplain Boreas, Master Belial, Sergeant Naaman, Apothecary Nestor.
Angels of Darkness – Astelan, Chaplain Boreas, Apothecary Nestor.
Ravenwing – Annael, Telemenus, Sergeant Cassiel, Grand Master Sammael, Librarian Harahel, Apothecary Gideon.
Master of Sanctity – Annael, Telemenus, Grand Master Belial, Supreme Grand Master Azrael, Chaplain Asmodai, Chaplain Sapphon, Astelan.
The Unforgiven – Annael, Telemenus, Grand Master Belial, Supreme Grand Master Azrael, Chaplain Asmodai, Chaplain Sapphon, Chief Librarian Ezekiel, Astelan, Cypher.
Accept No Failure – Grand Master Belial, Chaplain Asmodai, Supreme Grand Master Azrael.
Holder of the Keys – Chief Librarian Ezekiel
All Must End – Librarian Harak, Grand Master Sammael.
Battle Brothers – Sergeant Cassiel, Apothecary Gideon.
Honour of the Third – Master Belial.
A Hunt in the Dark – Grand Master Sammael, Supreme Grand Master Azrael, Chief Librarian Ezekiel.
Morvael asked: My question is related to the Mark of War project. I was eager to see it completed, unfortunately that didn’t happen. The authors promised that they would try to finish the game, even without Kickstarter funds. Social accounts of Warpforged Games seem dead, and web domain is now owned by someone else, displaying some stupid links. Do you know the status of this project? Does some work happen behind the scenes?
Work has been ongoing on the Mark of War game, I’ve had several updates. They are still looking to get a playable demo together from which they then hope to raise further funding, Without the injection of money from a successful Kickstarter or other investment that has had to coincide with regular day jobs and other commitments, so progress has been solid but not swift. Regarding the website and such, they have deliberately allowed the existing terms to lapse, due to unfortunate similarities with a certain freemium game plastered over everyone’s social media in the last few months, and will be relaunching with a new title at some point.
In the words of creator Mike McTyre in his latest email to me –
“Yes things are going well with the team, we brought on a lot of new coders fresh out of college to help us get this done. We now have movement, attacking, casualties, shooting, magic, panic and army deployment working. We are at a point where we are iterating on the implementation to make it fun / feel good. We also have loads of new character models in the game. We are also finally beginning the code for networking and AI which will be a big win. We are very close to a point where we can start showing this off to everyone, but the art isn’t quite ready to show yet. Getting close.
We have the new website in the works right now, it’s close to being complete, [we’re working] at the moment to get enough done that we can launch the site and announce again what we have been working on.”
Dan Morley asked: The thing that foxes me the most is the planning stage. I read your blog post on it and embrace your advice to do some planning. You hear about all kinds of approaches (hero’s journey, 7-point structure etc) but what I’ve never seen is an explanation of the nitty gritty of these. How long do you plan (hours/days/weeks/months)? Do you sit and stare at a structure diagram for a couple of hours and then off you go? What I’m really asking is what a regular day’s planning looks like and whether it’s a case of repeating it the next day.
I’ve been writing for a while, currently plodding through my third novel and had a few short story publications, so I have a bunch of the habits already down. Writing every day is fine, but I’ve usually taken the ‘seat of the pants’ approach with minimal planning. When I’ve tried to plan, I usually end up with a few bullet points under some of the structure headings (mid-point, pinch, plot turn etc) and so my productivity comes in fits and bursts. Writers like yourself who consistently produce quality stories seem to be more towards the planning end of the spectrum and I’d like to shift my own writing towards that.
That’s a really good question, but also a big one, which I can’t answer in a quick response – however I’ll put together a blog post in the near future that looks at my planning and preparation in more detail. Until then, I have a few old posts that talk about planning that might be useful. Hopefully this link will contain what you need, if not, simply go to the writing advice tab and look for the ‘planning’ tag.
It’s also important to remember that everyone’s process is slightly different, and if the seat-of-your-pants has been working out for you then there’s nothing wrong with that. Most of the time when I tell people to plan ahead, I’m addressing those would-be writers that come to me and say they are great at starting but never finish anything. That doesn’t seem to be a problem for you. My process is also heavily informed by the commissioning system of Black Library – they need to know in advance the synopsis for a novel before they will commission it, so a certain amount of preparation is required. In time you’ll find a balance, knowing just how much planning is enough to get you through, and how much flexibility you need to leave yourself.
On something like The Crown of the Usurper, a third book in the trilogy in which I knew pretty well what had to happen, I started writing without a plan and then as I progressed I made notes for future scenes, so the two things happened at the same time.
Hope that helps, keep an eye out for my article before the end of the year 
William Wright asked: In the upcoming book Angels of Caliban, you will be going over one of the first times we see the wings in a major detail. In other works, it’s been hinted at with the Dreadwing that they have access to weapons no other legion has from the secret armories of the Dark Angels. Will we see evidence of said weapons, vehicles, etc in Angels of Caliban? (Like when you created the Mastodon?)
I will be taking a look at some of the more specialised wargear of the Dark Angels, but it’s important to bear in mind that I’ve written a novel rather than a background sourcebook. So while there is some illumination on the legion’s history and organisation, I’ve tried to do so within the narrative, which means it won’t be exhaustive – you’ll have to wait for the Forge World book for the really deep stuff!
William also asked: What can we expect to see from the Raven Guard in the future? A Shattered Legion strike force created from the combined army that Corax has created, a mini-empire like Imperium Secundus, an army to strike with the power of a legion, or a strike and fade force like the raven guard?
I need to clarify what the Shattered Legions are. They are not the same thing as Corax’s forces. The Shattered Legions properly refers to the warriors that were left on Isstvan after the massacre – including some Raven Guard but not many. They are mostly Iron Hands and Salamanders. Corax’s army, conversely, is mostly the Raven Guard that managed to leave Isstvan with him along with a (relatively) few fighters from other Legions that he has mopped up along the way.
Corax’s general approach has been to waylay the traitor forces however and wherever he can. He certainly isn’t looking to establish any kind of base – as seen in Ravenlord, he is willing to liberate planets but won’t be stuck garrisoning them. At the end of that novella the force is very much one that has been split into many parts to strike as a guerrilla army, but he will be bringing them back together to attack as a (much diminished) legion before the war is finished…
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