[40k] Wolf's Honor

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2008-03-26 03:30pm

So, I saw a copy and picked it up on impulse and thought that while the narrative wasn't quite as good as the prior novels, it more than makes up for it in helpful technical details.

I'm waiting for my last class of the day to begin right now, but when I get back home, I'll start posting some tasty details.

Dartzap · Post by **Dartzap** » 2008-03-26 03:42pm

I didn't like the end. I know that the Lighter pair wanted to finish it off, but the details given to Barak's last stand and Ragnar's ascension to Wolf Lord status were fairly scarce.

There is a new Space Wolf book coming, apparently, not sure who by.

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2008-03-26 03:45pm

Is the book available in the US? I've yet to see it at a local bookstore. (I live in Southern California.)

Connor MacLeod · Post by **Connor MacLeod** » 2008-03-26 05:53pm

the more funky stuff generally is the 600 kilo earthshaker shells and the half ton mortar shells. And Guard issue carapace shrugging off Thousand Son bolter fire (multiple impacts, but probably non explosive rounds due to the shells "flattening" on impact.)

I also liked the implication of Mars class Battlecruisers massing "tens of millions" of tons - a mass more appropriate to ships of that rough size/volume.

KlavoHunter · Post by **KlavoHunter** » 2008-03-26 08:25pm

Is this book an improvement over the declining quality of the more recent Space Wolf novels?

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2008-03-26 09:09pm

p. 106 - 108
A pair of turret-mounted lance batteries are stagger-fired on a chaos raider, allowing the first hit to overload the raider's void shields and the second hit to destroy the vessel.

Three of the remaining raiders then fire a pair of torpedoes each, "each more than forty meters long..." Said torpedoes are unguided, and firing solutions must be calculated beforehand.

Defensive turrets begin firing on the torpedoes at 50 km out.

Torpedoes are equipped with nuclear warheads of indeterminant yield, but a direct hit is not enough to cripple or kill the still heavily damaged Fist of Russ.

p. 138
Earthshakers fire 600 kg shells.

p. 157
Ragnar gets grazed in the head with a stubber round, which bounces off his reinforced skull.

p. 185
Gellar fields aren't just for keeping the daemons out; they project a stable field of reality into the warp, which is what keeps the ship from being destroyed outright. From this, we can reconcile earlier fluff about how the laws of physics range from freely mutable to nonexistent with how ships fail to spontaneously revert to fundamental particles upon making the transition into warpspace.

p. 208
The Fist of Russ can make a full jump cycle before it has to recharge it's warp drive. "It takes many hours to recharge a warp drive under optimal conditions."

p. 357
Some elaboration on how Cyclonic torpedoes work. You can't just drop a warhead and kill a planet, you need to properly disperse the warheads and detonate them in sequence to get a chain reaction that burns a planet.

p. 399
Exterminatus is aborted by order of Berek Thunderfist with three seconds to spare. "Within minutes," the Battle Barge Holmgang is able to fire its bombardment cannons to support a Space Wolf counteroffensive on the ground.

Imperial Overlord · Post by **Imperial Overlord** » 2008-03-27 12:42pm

Holmgang is a great name for a Space Wolves battle barge.

Ritterin Sophia · Post by **Ritterin Sophia** » 2008-04-02 09:26pm

So .50 BMG would just bounce off a Space Marine's head?

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » 2008-04-02 09:46pm

It wasn't a stubber round, it was a bolt pistol round that glanced off the side of Ragnar's head. It was a lucky bounce, but still. They take it out on page 276.

Anyway, I just finished reading the book and the writing was kind of annoying at times, especially some of the repetitive things they did, like continuously referring to Ragnar as 'the young wolf' and such, but it wasn't too bad. I've read worse.

Also, apparently Russ got drunk and tried to throw his spear at the moon, and it took the Space Wolves four days to find it. That's a really long time to search for something thrown by hand when its the size of a spear and probably has enough technological components that scanners could pick it up. Means that Russ had enough strength to throw his spear far enough that they didn't even see where it landed. That's pretty impressive.

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2008-04-02 11:07pm

Academia Nut wrote:Also, apparently Russ got drunk and tried to throw his spear at the moon, and it took the Space Wolves four days to find it. That's a really long time to search for something thrown by hand when its the size of a spear and probably has enough technological components that scanners could pick it up.

From the descriptions in previous books, I assumed the Spear of Russ was a steel point on a wooden shaft, i.e., it's not a force weapon, and the only thing remarkable about it is the psychic energies it's imbued with. I may be wrong, though-- I'm only on page 73 of the book, and will comment further when I finish it. It's okay so far-- like Academia Nut, I've read worse.

Means that Russ had enough strength to throw his spear far enough that they didn't even see where it landed. That's pretty impressive.

Considering a Space Marine's enhanced vision, I'm curious how far that would have to be for a spear. At least two kilometers? Three? Ten?

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » 2008-04-02 11:12pm

No, I always got the impression that the Spear of Russ was some sort of advanced weapon, especially considering the fact that it was a personal gift from the Emperor with an intent to be used as more than just a ceremonial weapon (although since I'm pretty sure Russ was a bit more of an ax guy it got used that way anyway). Plus [size=0]in the fight with Madox it punches through his armour like it wasn't there when nearly a full bolt pistol magazine of psybolts capable of immolating a Chaos Raptor with a single shot was insufficient to kill the guy[/size], so it is almost certainly some form of power weapon.

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2008-04-02 11:20pm

Academia Nut wrote:No, I always got the impression that the Spear of Russ was some sort of advanced weapon, especially considering the fact that it was a personal gift from the Emperor with an intent to be used as more than just a ceremonial weapon (although since I'm pretty sure Russ was a bit more of an ax guy it got used that way anyway).

The Horus Heresy art book shows Russ with a sword. I'm still undecided over whether or not the book is worth 50 USD, considering how many pictures are recycled WITHIN THE SAME FUCKING BOOK. Nice pictures, but recycled nonetheless.

TheMuffinKing · Post by **TheMuffinKing** » 2008-04-03 07:10am

Sidewinder wrote:
Academia Nut wrote:No, I always got the impression that the Spear of Russ was some sort of advanced weapon, especially considering the fact that it was a personal gift from the Emperor with an intent to be used as more than just a ceremonial weapon (although since I'm pretty sure Russ was a bit more of an ax guy it got used that way anyway).
The Horus Heresy art book shows Russ with a sword. I'm still undecided over whether or not the book is worth 50 USD, considering how many pictures are recycled WITHIN THE SAME FUCKING BOOK. Nice pictures, but recycled nonetheless.

In my opinion I found it to be worth the money I paid for it ($38 US, thanks Amazon). Being a fan of 40k I've always wanted to see how they would portray the imperium during the heresy and read the most recent fluff. For that it satisfied me. However, I would certainly try to get it at a discount if I could and also keep in mind that it yields few technical details for many Vs. debates.

Lonestar · Post by **Lonestar** » 2008-04-03 12:09pm

Academia Nut wrote:It wasn't a stubber round, it was a bolt pistol round that glanced off the side of Ragnar's head. It was a lucky bounce, but still. They take it out on page 276.

Anyway, I just finished reading the book and the writing was kind of annoying at times, especially some of the repetitive things they did, like continuously referring to Ragnar as 'the young wolf' and such, but it wasn't too bad. I've read worse.

Also, apparently Russ got drunk and tried to throw his spear at the moon, and it took the Space Wolves four days to find it. That's a really long time to search for something thrown by hand when its the size of a spear and probably has enough technological components that scanners could pick it up. Means that Russ had enough strength to throw his spear far enough that they didn't even see where it landed. That's pretty impressive.

The 13th Company Wolf Lord also relates how Russ took a swing at the Emperor(The Emperor knocked Russ out for a Month with one punch). No doubt this would have been suprising/shocking to M41 Space Wolves, but I found the eas of the Emperor knocking out a Primarch more interesting.

Ol' Horus must have been pumped up with some serious Chaos Mojo to go toe-to-toe with the Emperor.

TheMuffinKing · Post by **TheMuffinKing** » 2008-04-03 01:06pm

The 13th Company Wolf Lord also relates how Russ took a swing at the Emperor(The Emperor knocked Russ out for a Month with one punch). No doubt this would have been suprising/shocking to M41 Space Wolves, but I found the eas of the Emperor knocking out a Primarch more interesting.

Ol' Horus must have been pumped up with some serious Chaos Mojo to go toe-to-toe with the Emperor.

IIRC Horus was acting as a vessel for all four chaos gods.

andrewgpaul · Post by **andrewgpaul** » 2008-04-03 01:09pm

That, and the Emperor was holding back. Once He decided to go all-out, He took Horus down with one (psychic) strike.

Bedlam · Post by **Bedlam** » 2008-04-03 01:30pm

Lonestar wrote: The 13th Company Wolf Lord also relates how Russ took a swing at the Emperor(The Emperor knocked Russ out for a Month with one punch). No doubt this would have been suprising/shocking to M41 Space Wolves, but I found the eas of the Emperor knocking out a Primarch more interesting.

Ol' Horus must have been pumped up with some serious Chaos Mojo to go toe-to-toe with the Emperor.

I think thats mentioned in the 2nd (3rd?) edition Space wolves codex. The Emperor and Russ have a range of contests to proove that the emperors stronger and thus worthy of Russ's loyalty. I think Russ out drinks and eats the emperor but then gets puched out by the Emperor who was using a power fist. I dont think its heretical to the space wolves that Russ attacked him just prooves to them how hard the emperor was.

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » 2008-04-03 02:10pm

Yeah, the Space Wolves don't seem to have a problem with the idea of Russ getting knocked on his ass by the Emperor, because the Emperor is just that badass. As to the range that the spear was thrown, it would have to have been a ridiculously long range for a thrown weapon to have gone. I suppose the best explanation would be that he threw it from the Fang and it fell into a crevasse or something like that, but four days is still a long time when you consider that since it was an important artefact that was a gift from the Emperor, they probably devoted a considerably amount of resources to finding it again. With aerial transport, scanners, and even psychic divination on their side, Russ must have really lost it for it to have taken that long.

Lonestar · Post by **Lonestar** » 2008-04-03 02:37pm

Bedlam wrote:
I think thats mentioned in the 2nd (3rd?) edition Space wolves codex. The Emperor and Russ have a range of contests to proove that the emperors stronger and thus worthy of Russ's loyalty. I think Russ out drinks and eats the emperor but then gets puched out by the Emperor who was using a power fist. I dont think its heretical to the space wolves that Russ attacked him just prooves to them how hard the emperor was.

No...the incident referred to in Wolf's Honour was when the Emperor was breaking up a fight between Horus and Russ, Russ took a swing at the Emperor, Russ got smacked down and knocked unconcious in one punch.

It's one thing to have a contest, it's another to take a swing at your Liege Lord.

Bedlam · Post by **Bedlam** » 2008-04-03 03:29pm

Academia Nut wrote:Yeah, the Space Wolves don't seem to have a problem with the idea of Russ getting knocked on his ass by the Emperor, because the Emperor is just that badass. As to the range that the spear was thrown, it would have to have been a ridiculously long range for a thrown weapon to have gone. I suppose the best explanation would be that he threw it from the Fang and it fell into a crevasse or something like that, but four days is still a long time when you consider that since it was an important artefact that was a gift from the Emperor, they probably devoted a considerably amount of resources to finding it again. With aerial transport, scanners, and even psychic divination on their side, Russ must have really lost it for it to have taken that long.

It could be a case of Chinese whispers.

It might by that if they asked Bjorn the fel handed about it he could tell them that he remembers that day and it took them 30 mins to find it mostly because wolf Guard Bob got longtitute and Latitude mixed up but over the years it became an hour then 2 hours then a day and so on.

white_rabbit · Post by **white_rabbit** » 2008-04-03 03:56pm

Bedlam wrote:
Academia Nut wrote:Yeah, the Space Wolves don't seem to have a problem with the idea of Russ getting knocked on his ass by the Emperor, because the Emperor is just that badass. As to the range that the spear was thrown, it would have to have been a ridiculously long range for a thrown weapon to have gone. I suppose the best explanation would be that he threw it from the Fang and it fell into a crevasse or something like that, but four days is still a long time when you consider that since it was an important artefact that was a gift from the Emperor, they probably devoted a considerably amount of resources to finding it again. With aerial transport, scanners, and even psychic divination on their side, Russ must have really lost it for it to have taken that long.
It could be a case of Chinese whispers.

It might by that if they asked Bjorn the fel handed about it he could tell them that he remembers that day and it took them 30 mins to find it mostly because wolf Guard Bob got longtitute and Latitude mixed up but over the years it became an hour then 2 hours then a day and so on.

These guys are actually likely to have been contempories of Bjorn, as opposed to Space Wolves talking to the ten thousand year old Dreadnaught Bjorn.

Lost Soal · Post by **Lost Soal** » 2008-04-03 05:59pm

Bedlam wrote:
Academia Nut wrote:Yeah, the Space Wolves don't seem to have a problem with the idea of Russ getting knocked on his ass by the Emperor, because the Emperor is just that badass. As to the range that the spear was thrown, it would have to have been a ridiculously long range for a thrown weapon to have gone. I suppose the best explanation would be that he threw it from the Fang and it fell into a crevasse or something like that, but four days is still a long time when you consider that since it was an important artefact that was a gift from the Emperor, they probably devoted a considerably amount of resources to finding it again. With aerial transport, scanners, and even psychic divination on their side, Russ must have really lost it for it to have taken that long.
It could be a case of Chinese whispers.

It might by that if they asked Bjorn the fel handed about it he could tell them that he remembers that day and it took them 30 mins to find it mostly because wolf Guard Bob got longtitute and Latitude mixed up but over the years it became an hour then 2 hours then a day and so on.

Except its a not story of legend to them, it was an actual event which they took part in. This story, and others, hasn't been passed down at all as evidenced by the fact that no one at the fang, with the exception of Bjorn who's keeping shtum, knows that Russ ha4ed the thing and only kept it around because it was a gift from the Emperor.

As to the actual story I enjoyed it more that the last one, especially some of the redressing they did. Ragnar is no longer all mighty king of close combat and gets nicely schooled by Torin while Haegr is given his true dues and a very fitting ending after having his attributes butchered last time.

Lancer · Post by **Lancer** » 2008-04-03 10:33pm

Bedlam wrote:
Academia Nut wrote:Yeah, the Space Wolves don't seem to have a problem with the idea of Russ getting knocked on his ass by the Emperor, because the Emperor is just that badass. As to the range that the spear was thrown, it would have to have been a ridiculously long range for a thrown weapon to have gone. I suppose the best explanation would be that he threw it from the Fang and it fell into a crevasse or something like that, but four days is still a long time when you consider that since it was an important artefact that was a gift from the Emperor, they probably devoted a considerably amount of resources to finding it again. With aerial transport, scanners, and even psychic divination on their side, Russ must have really lost it for it to have taken that long.
It could be a case of Chinese whispers.

It might by that if they asked Bjorn the fel handed about it he could tell them that he remembers that day and it took them 30 mins to find it mostly because wolf Guard Bob got longtitute and Latitude mixed up but over the years it became an hour then 2 hours then a day and so on.

Unlikely. The entirety of the 13th Company has personally met Russ, and the two individuals who relayed the tale were among his inner circle (the Wolf Lord of the 13th and one of the first Rune Priests).

Academia Nut · Post by **Academia Nut** » 2008-04-03 11:36pm

Yeah, the guy who said that it took them four days to find the spear was probably part of the search party looking for it.

Oh, and the 13th company had gone without ale for "six thousand three hundred years, eighteen days, six hours, and twenty-one minutes, give or take" which brings up a rather humorous possibility. That Space Wolves regularly carry around over three thousand years worth of beer in their ships. I can just imagine a kilometre long cargo bay where tens of thousands of kegs and a small brewery are stored, to ensure that the wolves are never without ale.

Sidewinder · Post by **Sidewinder** » 2008-04-04 12:09am

Academia Nut wrote:Oh, and the 13th company had gone without ale for "six thousand three hundred years, eighteen days, six hours, and twenty-one minutes, give or take" which brings up a rather humorous possibility. That Space Wolves regularly carry around over three thousand years worth of beer in their ships. I can just imagine a kilometre long cargo bay where tens of thousands of kegs and a small brewery are stored, to ensure that the wolves are never without ale.

I have GOT TO include this detail if/when I write a Space Wolves story.

Also, I remember reading in 'Maxim' or another men's magazine that, although beer contains each and every nutrient a man needs to sustain life, drinking enough to get the necessary QUANTITY of nutrients will result in severe dehydration (the body uses up a lot of water metabolizing alcohol), and drinking enough to overcome the problem with dehydration results in another problem: alcohol poisoning, likely followed by death.

If my guess is correct, a Space Marine's enhanced physique presumably allows him to live completely off of beer without dying of dehydration or alcohol poisoning.