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Call of Chaos #15
Blood and Iron
Ferrix, an Iron Warriors warpsmith on the corrupted forge world of Dementius, has his sights set on the most powerful fusion of daemon and machine he has yet attempted, seeking to unleash the violence of Khorne through the ultimate weapon.
Read it because
It chronicles an audacious plan to install a daemonic essence in the mightiest of destructive a corrupted Imperial Titan.
18 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 15, 2015
2 people are currently reading
42 people want to read
About the author
Robbie MacNiven
124 books120 followersRobbie MacNiven is a Scottish author and historian. His published fiction includes over twenty novels in genres ranging from sci-fi and fantasy to historical fiction, written for publishers such as Black Library, Titan, Rebellion and Aconyte Books. He has also written novellas, short stories, audio dramas, comic scripts and graphic novels, has worked on narrative and character dialogue for multiple digital games (SMITE: Blitz, Age of Sigmar: Storm Ground, Raid: Shadow Legends), and has written colour text and branching narratives for multiple RPG and game rulebooks, including the award-winning Undaunted series by Osprey Games. In 2022 his X-Men novel "First Team" won a Scribe Award for tie-in fiction.
On the non-fiction front, Robbie specialises in Early Modern military history, particularly focusing on the 18th century. He has a PhD in American Revolutionary War massacres from the University of Edinburgh - where he won the Compton Prize for American History - and an MLitt in War Studies from the University of Glasgow. Along with numerous articles for military history magazines, he has written eight books on 18th century conflicts including the American Revolution and the Seven Years War, seven for Osprey Publishing and one for Helion Books. He has also written the scripts for over a dozen episodes of the hit YouTube educational channel Extra History.
Outside of work and writing, his passions include historical re-enacting, gaming, and football.
On the non-fiction front, Robbie specialises in Early Modern military history, particularly focusing on the 18th century. He has a PhD in American Revolutionary War massacres from the University of Edinburgh - where he won the Compton Prize for American History - and an MLitt in War Studies from the University of Glasgow. Along with numerous articles for military history magazines, he has written eight books on 18th century conflicts including the American Revolution and the Seven Years War, seven for Osprey Publishing and one for Helion Books. He has also written the scripts for over a dozen episodes of the hit YouTube educational channel Extra History.
Outside of work and writing, his passions include historical re-enacting, gaming, and football.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
December 4, 2017
Bonding a Greater Demon of Khorne to a stolen Battle Titan can be a bloody affair indeed, but Iron Warriors Warsmith Ferrix knows his warpcraft well... and there will be lots of Blood for the Blood God!
An excellent Chaos short tale leaving you wanting for much more and more.
December 19, 2015
I believe Blood and Iron to be the first real piece of Warpsmith fiction from Black Library. As such, it delivered a fairly unique concept in an interesting fashion - capturing and binding daemons to machines is a cool concept in and of itself.
The summoning ritual here was suitably large-scale, though the story's protagonist only takes an active hand in the proceedings during its deciding moments. I would have liked it to show the bonding process too, though, which it did not. In fact, the moment the daemon is "trapped", the plot moves on to the results, so there were no technicalities to be enjoyed as far as the actual smithing went.
Being the third Iron Warrior story in the Call of Chaos series, I think I liked this one the least. The nods to the Warpsmith's Legion were relatively minor in comparison. But that doesn't mean the story was bad, just that it didn't capitalize as much on those aspects as I would have liked.
Overall it is a decent story that focuses on a relatively new addition to the Chaos Space Marine Codex, and I enjoyed it as a result.
The summoning ritual here was suitably large-scale, though the story's protagonist only takes an active hand in the proceedings during its deciding moments. I would have liked it to show the bonding process too, though, which it did not. In fact, the moment the daemon is "trapped", the plot moves on to the results, so there were no technicalities to be enjoyed as far as the actual smithing went.
Being the third Iron Warrior story in the Call of Chaos series, I think I liked this one the least. The nods to the Warpsmith's Legion were relatively minor in comparison. But that doesn't mean the story was bad, just that it didn't capitalize as much on those aspects as I would have liked.
Overall it is a decent story that focuses on a relatively new addition to the Chaos Space Marine Codex, and I enjoyed it as a result.
March 25, 2016
Blood and Iron, Mr. MacNiven's 3rd foray into the wonderfully twisted world of Warhammer 40k was great. While action was definitely a part of this story, it wasn't the sole focus, which was nice(and seems to be a little theme of the authors, at least thus far). The love story between an awesome Khorne daemon and a formerly Imperial Titan was glorious to behold. The match-maker himself, Warpsmith Ferrix was very nicely done, showing what I still love about the Iron Warriors. The resolute, unbending will to use chaos as a tool against the Imperium rather than becoming a slave to it. The story was paced very well, and the twist was great. I think I would have liked the ending a little better if it was done differently, but then at the same time, it was still definitely a very IV Legion thing to do.
Wish Goodreads had "Half-star" ratings, as I think it's a solid 4.5/5
Wish Goodreads had "Half-star" ratings, as I think it's a solid 4.5/5
January 10, 2016
"On the heretekal forge world of Dementius, warpsmith Ferrix of the traitorous Iron Warriors plans an awakening; one that will tether one of Khorne's most ferocious beasts to one of the grandest machines of war ever created; an Imperial Titan twisted to the whim of the Dark Lords.
That is the succinct overview of Blood and Iron, Robbie MacNiven's second foray into the Black Library 2015 Advent Calendar. It's no secret that I enjoyed MacNiven's A Song for the Lost tremendously, so much so that I fast-tracked this second story to the top of the reading pile. And I am glad that I did. Where A Song for the Lost was a more character-driven story, focusing on the insane Noise Marine Ulix, Blood and Iron shows his versatility in evocative world building.
This isn't to say that the characters in Blood and Iron aren't fully-rounded. Our protagonist, Ferrix, plays his cards very close to his chest until the very end, telling us much by telling us very little. A former Techmarine before his ascension to warpsmith, he possesses a limited emotional palette. MacNiven craftily shows us which outcomes elicit a positive response through subtle emotional cues.
With the secondary characters, MacNiven has fun painting them in the colors of the Gods they have given themselves over to, including an Iron Warrior gone over the deep end to Khorne, and a disgusting, oozing, overly-fawning magos in the thrall of Nurgle.
As mentioned before, a great deal of attention is tendered to the setting. We are given a richly rendered portrayal of this corrupted forge world, allowing the reader a seamless immersion into the tale being told. In fact, as much of the action occurs around a grand arena which serves as a testing ground.
Perhaps what MacNiven does best in Blood and Iron is properly convey scale. This is integral, given that at the heart of the story is the awakening of a Chaos Titan. Here we get an excellent portrayal of this event; a massive, monstrous release predicated upon a thrilling duel of wills between the warpsmith and a bestial hound of Khorne. Sometimes Chaos and its unrelenting "rivers of blood" motif honestly bores me but here the excess is not in excess.
So once again, we have a wonderful, fun short story from Robbie MacGiven full of vivid imagery and descriptions. While I give a slight edge to Song for the Lost for the twisted beauty of its ending, Blood and Iron is a great build-up to an ending of epic scale, literally. Highly recommended."
You can read my full review here:
http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/20...
That is the succinct overview of Blood and Iron, Robbie MacNiven's second foray into the Black Library 2015 Advent Calendar. It's no secret that I enjoyed MacNiven's A Song for the Lost tremendously, so much so that I fast-tracked this second story to the top of the reading pile. And I am glad that I did. Where A Song for the Lost was a more character-driven story, focusing on the insane Noise Marine Ulix, Blood and Iron shows his versatility in evocative world building.
This isn't to say that the characters in Blood and Iron aren't fully-rounded. Our protagonist, Ferrix, plays his cards very close to his chest until the very end, telling us much by telling us very little. A former Techmarine before his ascension to warpsmith, he possesses a limited emotional palette. MacNiven craftily shows us which outcomes elicit a positive response through subtle emotional cues.
With the secondary characters, MacNiven has fun painting them in the colors of the Gods they have given themselves over to, including an Iron Warrior gone over the deep end to Khorne, and a disgusting, oozing, overly-fawning magos in the thrall of Nurgle.
As mentioned before, a great deal of attention is tendered to the setting. We are given a richly rendered portrayal of this corrupted forge world, allowing the reader a seamless immersion into the tale being told. In fact, as much of the action occurs around a grand arena which serves as a testing ground.
Perhaps what MacNiven does best in Blood and Iron is properly convey scale. This is integral, given that at the heart of the story is the awakening of a Chaos Titan. Here we get an excellent portrayal of this event; a massive, monstrous release predicated upon a thrilling duel of wills between the warpsmith and a bestial hound of Khorne. Sometimes Chaos and its unrelenting "rivers of blood" motif honestly bores me but here the excess is not in excess.
So once again, we have a wonderful, fun short story from Robbie MacGiven full of vivid imagery and descriptions. While I give a slight edge to Song for the Lost for the twisted beauty of its ending, Blood and Iron is a great build-up to an ending of epic scale, literally. Highly recommended."
You can read my full review here:
http://hachisnaxreads.blogspot.com/20...
December 19, 2015
Day fifteen in the 2015 Black Library Advent Calendar provides Blood and Iron, Robbie MacNiven’s second contribution and the third story to feature the might of the Iron Warriors. On the Dark Mechanicum forge world of Dementius, Warpsmith Ferrix oversees the gory rituals necessary to bind a powerful daemon into the body of a captured Titan, sacrificing much to create a weapon of devastating power. As the blood flows and the daemon rises, Ferrix knows he must use all of his knowledge and skill to complete his greatest work.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/20...
September 6, 2025
That’s was rather good, very cool read and the ending was just marvellous
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews